How do you define literature and civilization?

Kyle Howarth - biology pre-med student at UC Davis
"Literature is a form or body of writing that serves a purpose (to entertain, inform, etc.). Literature is words with meaning."
"Civilization is a group that comes together and agrees on laws and regulations and has a government that holds them to a standard."
  
Caroline Brown - child development student at TCU
"Literature is the use of writing to tell a story or convey a certain ideal, and is often passed down through history."
"Civilization is the history of how cultures are made up and how peoples groups interact within those people groups."

Barbara Howarth - retired accountant
"Literature records social structure, current thoughts, and a certain point of time for history in a written form that everyone can understand."
"Civilization is a moral and social structure that creates a forward progressing peaceful existence."