Words Wonder Beginners Guide To Literature

Book excerpt: Words’ Wonder: Beginners’ Guide to Literature is an attempt to introduce students to the wonder of words in literature. The beauty and extraordinariness of words used in literature may help increase students’ aesthetic and intellectual growth. Studying literature is not merely cognitive oriented but also transformative. By gaining knowledge about literature from a variety of culture across the world, students can grow their sense of becoming human beings so as to develop their global citizenship, tolerance and ethical responsibility. In Indonesian context, as in any parts of the world sometimes wrecked by prejudice and intolerance, good values from different literary traditions should be implanted in the young age as early as possible. Only then can people foster positive attitudes, put aside resentment and bigotry, remove anger and bitterness. The purpose of this guidebook is thus to make students aware of the joy, charm and fascination of reading literary works, while cultivating their artistic, affective and social aspects of life through the power of words.