ABSTRACT This study attempts to see if there was a relationship between EI (emotional intelligence) and literary appreciation. To explore this ninety university students who were all studying English literature were chosen from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Out of the ninety participants, fifty participants were female and forty were male. They were aged from twenty to twenty seven. The Bar-On EQi (1997) was used in order to obtain the participants’ EI level. Literary appreciation test was designed by Earl Foreman (1951) to assess literary awareness of detail, characterization and the sense of purpose and continuity. The findings show that students of literature are different in their ability to appreciate literature and literary texts. This study shows that there is a relation between literary appreciating and Emotional Intelligence.

Keywords