OVERCOMING BARRIERS

By Angylla Karla and Lourdes Morais

We are going to develop a reflective text about our experiences. Lourdes as an English teacher with 14 classes at a public school in Bayeux, and Angylla as an English teacher to be, a trainee at Language School.

Our objective is to share with all Letters students everything that we have faced: our experiences, difficulties, fears and also pleasure because these experiences have been a challenge for us, but it has also given us satisfaction. We are motivated and want to encourage Letters students in order to help them not to give up.

BARRIERS AT A PUBLIC SCHOOL

I have 14 English classes at a public school, in total, this would be about 400 students. At school, we do not have enough resources in order to promote English language learning. This hinders the teaching-learning process.

When I started to work with Literacy practices at UFPB, I began to think about the possibility of how I could change the reality in my classrooms, and improve my classes. It is important to give students the opportunity to learn English and make them understand that the English language is present in their daily lives.

That it is very difficult; the lack of didactic resources, for instance, when the school receives some materials teachers of other subjects receive these materials except the difficulties I find are: lack of motivation to learn, most students do not like English and saye English teachers. Fortunately in 2011, the Programa Nacional do Livro Didático (PNLD) will send the English and Spanish books to public schools; the rooms are not big enough to suport almost 60 students; there, we teachers do not have any time to make plans because the director says that “ the teachers cannot stop to plan because the students have to study”. The school director does not understand that if all teachers make plans it will improve the quality of the teaching-learning process.

I do not know why it happens, but I believe maybe it happens because the government and also the school thinks that to study a foreign language is not important.


BARRIERS AT A LANGUAGE SCHOOL

As a Letters student at UFPB, I have already studied many subjects such as: Psychology of Education V, English Phonetics and Phonology, Audio visual Techniques and Resources, Learning Assessment and English Teaching Practice. All of them have helped me, and made me more aware of the importance of group work, because what is most important is specially the exchange of information and experiences. Group work enhances the students´ learning process.

My mind was opened and now I am sure that I will be more aware as a teacher. Doing my internship for my English Teaching Practice class, I have realized that all these subjects have been important for my knowledge base.
So far, I have just observed the English classes, but It was possible to perceive that different situations happen in every class and I have learnt to deal with them.

I already observed classes of many different teachers, and can say certainly that there are teachers which are not worried with their students. They are just worried about money, and complain that they are underpaid and this has affected the teaching-learning process. Most students at this school still do not speak anything in English, even though they are in an intermediate level. I believe that this kind of teacher is not ready to teach yet.

On the other hand, there are also teachers that are more aware, and also worry about their students learning a foreign language, for instance English. In this case the teachers are much more dedicated than the others. It is quite noticeable the development of the students in relation to the four skills, specially speaking and writing.

In my course I learnt if we do not want our students to speak in Portuguese during the classes, we have to teach them how to do it.

I believe the objective of the teacher is not only to present the issues in English, but this work is specially to focus on the learning process of their students. Our mission is to observe, guide, help and understand that mistakes are part of the teaching-learning process. I know this thanks to the Letters course at UFPB, today my point of view changed completely.

UNDERSTANDING DIFFICULTIES: NEWCOMERS AT UNIVERSITY

By Elvis Bernado and Philipe Augusto

Everyone at some point in life has to face some kind of change. When this turning point is the rupture between leaving high school and entering university, the factors that surround this change are maximized. Departing from this perspective - that all of us have to face a turning point, and that this moment is strongly marked by important and most of the times difficult circumstances, we decided to talk about the obstacles faced by newcomers at university.

The words 'entering university' are surely magic words, to such a great extent that they – the students – forget to take into account that this great dream may not be so easy to accomplish.

Before entering university newcomers should try to research about the main course contents, and difficulties they may study/face during their academic life, thus avoiding a possible frustration. Why so? Because after we gladly enter university, after years of hard work and headaches, we say to ourselves “I did it”, but the reality turns out to be more excruciating than expected. We do not expect that the passage from “highschoolhood” to “universityhood” to be so demanding in terms of dealing with our own way to see ourselves, our own identities.

Somehow after entering university we have to craft different identities, most of the times we feel like fish out of water, due to the fact that many if not all practices in our early years of academic life seems to be strange or at least unfamiliar, and of course it takes a while for us to manage to place all of them in the right proper space inside our mind. To illustrate this idea – of how hard this transition from high school to university is – let’s take a look at this particular student report about how the arrival at the university was:

“My first semester at university was really shocking. Beginning in the very first day, I had no idea where things were, before coming to UFPB I studied for some months at – back in that time – CEFET-PB, and I had no idea that UFPB was that huge when I arrived here.

Also in the first semester I went to the final exam in a subject, and that was really frustrating, but also very good because that was like a message telling me that things here were nothing like they were in high school, here I really had to study. …”

It is possible to notice in this excerpt some issues that are part of the earlier years of our academic life. We can notice in the second paragraph when the student says “things here [UFPB] were nothing like they were in high school, here I really had to study”, the beginning of the process of identity construction, but what is this identity? The answer to that is not simple, but gladly discovered during the years spent at university. This ID has to do with one’s image of oneself concerning his/her academic life, it is exactly this new “I” that will arise  in the midst of this process of creating a critical being ready to explore the opportunities that this new ID can provide. But the path towards this great achievement is - as said before - not simple, one “really has to study” after entering the university, and at least in Brazil, Northeast, Paraíba, João Pessoa ithis issue is not well addressed during our high school years. High school students are not encouraged or even directed to develop a reflective stance when studying, and because of this for some, the “ […] first semester at university [can be] really shocking … “.

According to Hamilton, (2008): “people’s understanding […] is an important aspect of their learning, and people’s theories guide their actions.” Once the student goes through this process of identity construction that in reality seems to be endless, one begins to understand and handle the academic life more effectively. Hamilton talks about people’s theories, and that is certainly another issue that we may take into account while dealing with the difficulties newcomers may face in their earlier years of academic life, as if it were not enough having to be able to craft new identities, the student must deal - most of the times - with the breaking of their own theories i.e. the breaking up of the expectation(s) about the university environment or even about the course they will be attending; But how so? Earlier in the text we have said that the student may also do a piece of research about the content of the course for avoiding possible frustrations, why? Because many students find out that the course they are attending has nothing to do with what they thought it would be. To exemplify this idea let’s read the following excerpt:

“ […] It was weird to see many of my classmates giving up the course, for the fact that they were not studying Modern Languages Course to become teachers, and I thought, how is that so? Because I remembered that before applying to university I had read the manual, and already knew that the course was a “licenciatura”, so I did know I was studying to become an English teacher in the future, but my classmates that left some terms after, thought that the Modern Languages Course would prepare them to become translators or something different […]”

In this excerpt we can realize that many students do not indeed research about the course they will be attending, and discover that the course does not match their expectations or vice-versa  and abandon it. Many of the student’s classmates “thought that the Modern Languages Course would prepare them to become translators or something different”, and once their theories are shattered, it may trigger a chain of frustrations, that for sure can become a problem if not solved.

Needless to say, there is no possibility that a course one would attend in any field will correspond completely to one’s expectations, it would be unfair or at least untrue to say that this is going to occur, but we strongly believe that if one is ready to face this moment of change it would turn out to be a worthy experience.

In sum there are many issues a newcomer must deal with after entering university. Most of the times, as we mentioned before, this process may be more excruciating for some than it is for others, many will give up, but that few that remain may find in the end that the whole process was worthwhile. Furthermore, this is only the beginning of something huge for those who wish to continue their academic life after finishing the undergraduate course. Maybe our theories will never fit our findings, but constructing new ones makes the whole experience worthwhile.

INTRODUCING TO YOU: LINGUISTICS

By Priscila Evangelista and Thaísa Aureliano

“Linguistics? What is this?” This was the first question that crossed my mind when we got our class schedule at UFPB. Hence, this question triggered my research about it, even before starting to study this subject.

I first thought in a logical way: Linguistics has to do with language. However, I thought that there is not only one kind of language, there is animal language too. Thus, I reckoned, Linguistics has to do with human language. Whereas Priscila used logic, I questioned some friends who had already studied this subject. However, they did not know how to answer my question in a few words. For this reason, I surfed on the net.

Our first experience with Linguistics was not very good. We were exposed to many theoretical views of Linguistics. Therefore, we thought that Linguistics was not a practical discipline. When we kept attending the program we realized that this subject can also be applied. Sociolinguistics, Pragmatics, and Applied Linguistics are examples of how Linguistics is diverse. Sociolinguistics, for instance, is focused on social context of a language in a certain community. In this way, William Labov studied the relationship between language and society, with the intention to systematize the variations in the spoken language through research that considers extralinguistic elements, such as social life, age, and others elements to show the link between the linguistic content of the speakers and the social environment in which they live, in terms of using the sound changes.

On the other hand, Pragmatics studies the use of a language. For Grice, the main question is the meaning. This is fundamental in Pragmatics. The user is the interlocutor. Grice considers that, in a conversation, there are principles for the listener to recognize the intention of the speaker. Furthermore, teaching the grammar of a language as a functional grammar has to do with language in use. Talking about Applied Linguistics, Moita Lopes discusses the connection between language and identity, focusing on "social practices". For Moita Lopes, identities are constructed through language use.

In order to clarify this theme, we  interviewed a specialist of this area, Carla L. Reichmann, a teacher who works with Linguistics at UFPB.

1. WHAT IS LINGUISTICS? IS LINGUISTICS A SCIENCE?

Well, according to my Webster´s dictionary, Linguistics is “the science of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics; sometimes subdivided into descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical and geographical linguistics: often general linguistics”. Please bear in mind that this is the definition a person would see on checking this dictionary – in other words, this is a very formal view. (And so sorry about other fields left out, such as pragmatics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, amongst others….). Anyway, so much has changed since my first contact with the field in the LAEL program at PUC-SP, back in the mid-eighties. In the last couple of decades, the field has grown immensely, shifting to socially relevant linguistics, more in line with the Social Sciences, and it currently involves very diverse perspectives such as Discourse Analysis and Applied Linguistics, for example. And although our learners crave for a clear-cut definition, this definition eludes us: it is important to point out that nowadays these areas overlap and differences can be quite fuzzy, quite subtle – so, depending on who you talk to, where and when, Linguistics will be portrayed differently.

2. WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF LINGUISTICS?

I guess that from my perspective, as an applied linguist, I would say that Linguistics has a vital contribution to make, in terms of comprehending social life in very diverse settings and institutions - not only educational ones, but also within various institutional settings, such as family and professional ones, for example. The implications of language use are currently being explored in qualitative research in all the Social Sciences, a shift that different authors have called the ‘narrative turn’, ‘the sociocultural turn’, ‘the interpretative turn’, ‘the discursive turn’ – anyway, it is interesting to note that all these perspectives involve text, language, and discourse practices. We come across studies about the greater narratives, the micronarratives, the situated, the local, the socially constructed identities, positioning – studies involving language actions, language choices,  language work - in other words, what we are doing with language in different contexts, over time, and how our discursive histories shape who we are and who we can become, what we can do with language. All this is very exciting for us, teacher-researchers interested in language classrooms. Has Linguistics benefited life in the language classroom? I would say yes, definitely. We have a less naïve, and a more complex view of why we do what we do as teachers.

3. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LINGUISTICS AND EDUCATION?

This relationship is an extremely productive one, specially for us, language teacher-researchers and language teacher educators. My praxis is exactly in this intersection, language and education: my focus is on exploring how language is shaped by and shapes educational processes, specifically related to foreign language teacher education. There are some excellent Brazilian publications which are available online – D.E.L.T.A. (PUC-SP):, Linguagem em (dis)curso (UNISUL); Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada (UFMG), Letras & Letras (UFU) and Trabalhos em Lingüística Aplicada (UNICAMP), just to name a few academic journals addressing Linguistics and Education. There´s also our local publication, Letra Viva, (UFPB) which will soon be available online.

4. WHO ARE THE TEACHERS WHO WORK WITH LINGUISTICS IN OUR DEPARTMENT?

To name a few - Anderson de Souza, Andréa Ponte, Betânia Medrado, Clélia Barqueta, Daniel Alves, Danielle Almeida, Francieli Freudenberger Martiny, Maria Hortênsia Blanco, Pilar Roca, Roberto Assis, Rosalina Chianca, Maura Dourado, Rubens Lucena, myself… You can check more about our work through the DLEM website (www.cchla.ufpb.br/dlem), by clicking on our CV Lattes links/CNPq database.

5. WHAT IS YOUR AREA? WHICH PROJECTS ARE YOU INVOLVED WITH?

As I mentioned earlier, my area is Applied Linguistics, and I am currently involved with a research project at Proling (the Linguistics graduate program at UFPB), involving EFL teacher education and teacher literacy practices. For example, this newspaper literacy project, Letters4U, is a new endeavor. My research interests are deeply connected to my own life experiences - besides having grown up in a multilingual environment at home and at school, since a very young age I loved writing, kept travel journals and was a 'serious letter-writer'. Along these lines, my current work focuses on documenting teaching practice and teacher learning, by means of reflective journals, portfolios and blogs, for example. I enjoy exploring language and professional reconstructions over time, teacher learning, professional socialization, and so on.

6. WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FOR LINGUISTS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY?

As Moita Lopes has already pointed out, current challenges involve theoretical-methodological hybridism, the questioning of objectivity and neutrality, and, last but not least, ethics. Flexibility, social responsibility, and tolerance to ambiguity are crucial in order to construct coherent and sensitive research projects, consistent linguistic analyses, and interesting, thought-provoking academic stories – texts which can make a difference. The bottom line is that we all know that the world is in pretty bad shape, and my understanding is that as teachers and learners, we can jointly reimagine classroom life and promote meaningful life experiences, somehow reinventing our social fabric. You know what, I have a dream…

In sum, after we attended three Linguistics courses our conception of Linguistics has changed. We realize that this science is essential in order to understand how language works. In this way, we can expose students to the target language in a real life context. As Letters students, it is fundamental to know all the aspects of the language that we are studying, in order to be able to teach. Thinking about our students, on applying linguistic theories to our teaching, and on theorizing our classroom practices, we can help our pupils learn a foreign language in a practical way.

IT'S GOOD AND IT'S FREE

By Michele Coelho and Vivian Melo

RECREATION ROOM

When I started studying Letras at UFPB, my youngest son was five. I used to bring him to classes with me because nobody in my family could take care of him. It was embarrassing because he used to walk into the classroom or sleep in my arms during the classes. One day a classmate told me that there was a Recreation Room (RC) at the university where students could leave their kids playing while attending classes. It was marvelous, I thought! Since that moment I could attend classes without worrying about my son’s mess in the classroom. Nowadays, he asks me to leave him at RC every night. He made friends there, and can play with them until I arrive to get him.
In the RC there are competent professionals to take care of the children. While they are playing they have the opportunity to be observed by a psychologist, and she can work with the child if it is necessary. If you want to sign up your child there, it is necessary to present your schedule and fill out a questionnaire with information about the child such as name, age, address, and possible allergies. The RC opens from Monday to Thursday, from 7 p.m. to 9 30 p.m. Three to ten year-old children are accepted. The RC is located at the Centro de Educação building, right behind the 'Direção do Centro' - there´s an old sign on the door, saying LATED.
(Source: Vera Lúcia de Brito Barbosa, coordenator)



CHIP

It is a place where you can use computers in order to write your university tasks, surfing the net. It is only for CCHLA students. If you have any doubts, you can ask for help because there are prepared people to help you when it is necessary. In order to join CHIP, you have to present your schedule or your student card. After that, you receive a password and you will be required to change it the first time you access the net. This new password will be asked every time you log in. Everything you do on the computer can be saved, and you can search for all your information when you get to your final term at university.



JOSÉ AMÉRICO FOUNDATION

FJA is an institution founded to supply the university students’ needs in relation to health. There are gynecologists, general doctors and dentists who give assistance to the students. The FJA is located at Av. Getúlio Vargas, downtown. The work hours are,in the morning, from 7:30 a.m . to 11:30 a.m., and in the afternoon, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., from Monday to Friday. Students in the first term can join this foundation, but it is necessary to present a xerox of the current student card and also the schedule. In order to keep registered, the student should renew his/her registration every semester, proving that he/she is still studying at UFPB.



RU

The university restaurant was created for students with low family income. It is located next the Main Library. To join RU you need to go to COAPE (first floor, Reitoria), and present a xerox of the following documents:
• Family income
• Your parents´ income tax
• Schedule
• ID
• Current photo (3x4)
• Address – João Pessoa and/or your hometown

For additional information you can call (83) 3216-7078

MAIN LIBRARY

The Main Library (ML) is an excellent place to research, study and develop our academic papers. There we can research without having to worry if the source is reliable, that is, very different from the sources we can get from the internet.
The ML helped me a lot throughout the semesters, especially when I was studying Phonetics , Phonology , and Literature, because I needed as much reading as possible so as to organize seminars and to understand the subjects.
This current semester, my colleagues and I discovered many useful services that the ML offer, and many students do not know about it. There are people who can help students write their monographs according to ABNT, academic journals to research and a room filled with rare books. The collection is excellent. The only negative aspect is that you can read those books at the library, but cannot take them home. The ML also offers Braille material.
The ML hours are: Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m. until 9:30 p.m., and Saturdays, from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

STUDYING ABROAD

By Daniel Limeira (DL) and Deborah Menezes

The Universidade Federal da Paraíba has partnerships with many foreign universities, so that Brazilian students can study abroad during a semester or two. These partnerships are part of a project called “PIANI” (Programa de Intercâmbio Internacional) . I had the opportunity to interview Deborah Menezes, a Letters English student who went to Leeds University (2008-2009).

DL: Deborah, why did you decide to enroll in the PIANI project?

Deborah: Studying abroad was already a dream of mine. I always dreamed about studying in England.

DL: How did you get to know about the PIANI PROJECT?

Deborah: My mother told me about a biology student who had experience abroad as a PIANI scholarship holder. Therefore, I got interested in participating in this project as well.

DL: What did you do to get more information?

Deborah: I looked at the AAI (Assessoria de Assuntos Internacionais), and there I found out some requirements in order to apply for the exchange program.

DL: What kinds of requirements were these?

Deborah: One has to have a 7,0 as minimal CRE average; to have covered at least 40% of the course; to take a proficiency test at DLEM, and probably, depending on the foreign university requirements, the TOEFL or the IELT. As for myself, I took the proficiency test at DLEM and the IELT in Recife in 2007. The candidate also has to make a study plan, an academic record; after being selected it is necessary to fill out a form that is available on-line at the university website, and to translate the academic record and the study plan into English; to get two recommendation letters from people who are involved in your academic life.

DL: Describe briefly how the university and people were.

Deborah: I was accepted by the University of Leeds, and I arrived in London on September 11th. Before going to Leeds I enjoyed myself on a three-day trip to Birmingham. When I got to the Leeds bus station, some people from the university came and took me to the campus. They offered campus and city tours. We had lots of meetings before the classes began. We had a campus map, cooking lessons for those in self-catered accommodation. I used to be well informed and always knew where to go. The university is huge, has lots of libraries, and very modern staff. A “paradise” for any student. They also offer English classes, teaching packs about academic writing, oral presentations, among other useful tools. The university even offers medical and psychological assistance. They offer a place for Muslims to pray, and special menus according to religion creeds and diets, such as Jewish,Muslim and vegetarian.

DL: What kind of advice could you give to those who intend to study abroad?

Deborah: Learn as much as possible about the place you want to go. Save much money because studying abroad is not cheap. One has to pay for airfare, accommodation, food, transportation, among others expenses. One has to have good writing skills, since teachers demand many essays. Finally, always check on the AAI website to get news updates. Enjoy your experience abroad as much as you can.

1 http://www.ufpb.br/aai/editavel/alunos_brasileiros/programas_de_intercambio/piani.html

Literature classes and their major points – sharing experiences

By Wagner Angelo and Marccela Alexandria

As Literature students, we believe that much useful information about this field could be given to Letters students before we actually study it. Based on our experience, however, we can say we knew almost nothing. Some information about the main literary works in each course can be very helpful. Whereas some people are interested in specific authors, others do not know them at all. In this sense, previous exposure to literary references would help students become more interested in reading/discovering different literary works. On thinking about this fact, we decided to write this short, but caring article. Every paragraph addresses our experiences and preferences about literature studies in order to inform you, current and future literature students, what you will probably encounter in this subject each semester along the program.

Literature studies are based on different socio-historical perspectives, and enriched with the knowledge and experience of the UFPB professionals. In other words, each professor´s different specialty makes the subject turn into a more interesting, and unique academic experience.

The various courses are delivered in a progressive way, starting with Introdução aos Estudos Literários. In this course, a general overview is given, so as to introduce students to the literature theories which will follow. This applies to all the modern foreign languages in the Letters program, such as English, French and Spanish. In class, poems are read, works are discussed, and authors are shown, such as King Oedipus by Sophocles, and The Birthday of the Infanta by Oscar Wilde, for instance. The students gradually develop an increased awareness, as well as a more complex literary point of view.

“I will never forget the presentation on Oscar Wilde. Sometimes, I can still hear the professor’s voice talking about Oscar Wilde’s works, in especial The Picture of Dorian Gray”. (Wagner)

Concerning Teoria da Literatura I, we learned about theory with great authors, such as T.S. Eliot with The Social Function of the Poetry and Antônio Cândido with O direito à literatura, for instance. The course helped us develop our capacity of analyzing poems in a deeper manner. We could make a bridge between theory and practice, because the theory gave us the basis to understand and interpret Literature in a technical way.

“It is very interesting to discover the details in the poems. The author constructs the work in such a way so as to produce a specific effect. Discovering these effects is part of the gradual literary awareness process. So, the students are more able to produce meaning while interpreting texts.” (Marcela)

Regarding Teoria da Literatura II, the narrative and novel theories were the main focus in our studies. We read about Julio Cortázar, one of the most famous writers in Argentina, as well as a well-known author around the world for his works related to mythology and novel theories. Don Quixote was one of the works we studied, not the complete work, since a long time is required. We had the chance to present some stories in class, at the same time correlating theory and literary work. Alice in Wonderland was one of the chosen works to be discussed.

“Lewis Carroll presented his book Alice in Wonderland utilizing real people from his everyday life, and turned them into the nonsense characters in his work. Alice is one good example of that”. (Wagner)

In relation to Literatura Inglesa I, we could say that Virginia Woolf was a mirror of/for all women which reflected, to those who looked at it, their feelings hidden deep in their hearts. From pleasure to madness, the social treatment against the female sex by a sexist society clearly introduced us to the social perspectives of the 20th century. Other incredible authors were shown, namely, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and D.H. Lawrence, among others.

“Araby, written by James Joyce, is a rich example of detailed description in literature. It is amazing to read this short story because of the mental image we construct in our minds”. (Marcela)

So far, Literatura Inglesa II could be considered as the time of the Irony. Northanger Abbey is one of the novels written by Jane Austen. This book portrays a heroine responsible for dreaminess, magical and phantom stories, the well-behaved women in the Victorian age, as well as a beautiful and unusual love story. You are going to travel, going back to an old period between the end of the 18th century and the 19th century. Romantic, Pre-Victorian and Victorian Literature are the main points of this period. The highlighted authors that you are going to study in this term are: William Blake, Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens.

“Dearest Catherine… - The superlative is of the literary characteristics used by Jane Austen in her novels. It is important to consider its effect in Irony”. (Wagner)

In Literatura Inglesa III, we looked at English Literature from its source until the 17th century. The main authors of this period are Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare. The works of these authors are discussed and analyzed in class to show students the wealth of literary resources and mechanisms. Hamlet was amazingly studied in class. Poor man – his destiny was not so fair -and poor of us, audience, who needed to stop laughing at Hamlet’s insanity.

“To be or not to be, that’s the question – and that is Hamlet’s unrest in relation to existence, the fact of being”. (Marcela)

Finally, Literatura Americana I introduces the student to Literature in United States during the 17th–18th century. We had the opportunity to learn about the authors of this period and their main works. Although the patriotism of North America is not taken in its whole development, we study the first colonial literature produced in North America. The influences of religion and description of the country as blessed by God, among other written points, are shown to us. Our American studies focus on Jonathan Edwards, Anne Bradstreet, St. Jean Crevecoer and others.

“’Early to Bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.’ From the Preface of Poor Richards’ Almanack, written by Franklin”. (Wagner)


Literature is a complex area that demands our time and effort, but studying it is a great habit that develops our imagination and humanity. Antônio Cândido, in his work named O direito à Literatura, calls our attention to the human necessity in having a “momento de fabulação” - a crucial necessity. According to him, no one can live without Literature because it develops all kinds of feelings, delighting people in an age where automatism directs human actions.

As we can see, Literature has a vital function because it produces different feelings, reminding readers of their human nature. We live in the world of globalization directed by capitalism, and its continued search for profit and advantage. In this context, Literature shows its importance, because it provokes “humanization”, as T.S. Eliot and Antônio Cândido have observed. Finally, Literature is an amazing world in which you can travel with patience and passion. The wealth of this area is infinite and it is your responsibility, as a Letters student, to explore it. We hope you have enjoyed our article. Thanks for reading and… have a good journey!!!