An overview of literature

1. INTRODUCTION TO
LITERATURE
Prepared by: Princess De C. Puntual

2. LITERATURE
• The collected ORAL and WRITTEN works of a society that reflects the
people’s beliefs, values, mores, and aspirations as well as their struggles in life.
• Today, the word LITERATURE often refers to the written works – stories,
poems, and essays – which, in earlier times was developed from ORAL
traditions such as MYTHS and LEGENDS. Oral literature is now called
ORATURE by critics.

3. WHAT IS WORLD LITERATURE?
• A literary work that has READERSHIP and IMPACT beyond its original
language and cultural area. Examples include the Bible and the plays of
William Shakespeare, both of which have been translated into more than a
hundred languages and are being read or performed in almost every
continent.

4. THE FIVE LITERARY GENRES:
• Short Story
• Novel
• Drama or Play
• Essay
• Poetry
These five genres are classified
under two general types of
literature – PROSE and
POETRY.

5. PROSE – literary works in the form of sentences and paragraphs.
It has two kinds: FICTION and NON-FICTION.
FICTION – are prose narratives containing setting, characters, plot, conflict,
climax, and resolution based on the author’s CREATIVE IMAGINATION.
Under fiction are the short story, novel, and drama.
NON-FICTION – refers to prose literature based on FACTS, REASON,
and LOGIC. The essay is the most common form of non-fiction.

6. SHORT STORY
• A brief narrative that concentrates on one situation and involves two or
three main characters.
ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY:
Setting – the time and place of the story.
Atmosphere – the prevailing mood of the story; it can be humorous, gothic,
romantic, etc.

7. Characters – persons involved in the story. FABLES have animals as the
characters in the story. Characters may be:
ROUND/THREE-DIMENSIONAL – undergoes change
FLAT/ONE-DIMENSIONAL – remains the same throughout the story
CENTRAL/PIVOTAL – around whom the story revolves, or
SUPPORTIVE/SATELLITE – circulating in the central character’s orbit,
providing a supportive role

8. Plot – the significant order of events. It has the following basic elements:
EXPOSITION – the setting and characters are introduced as well as other essential
information necessary for the development of the plot.
RISING ACTION – the unraveling of the conflict/s
CLIMAX – the story’s most decisive crisis, the highest point or the surprising turn of
events.
FALLING ACTION – events leading to the resolution, a relief from the climax.
DENOUEMENT – the final resolution, untying of the plot, indicating the end of the
story.

9. Theme – the underlying message. It is the author’s statement of purpose,
philosophy, or an attitude toward life.
Point of View – the perspective or the position from which the story is
presented, the one who tells the story. It is also known as the narrative
technique. It may be in the first person or the third person.
Style – refers to the way the writer chooses words; the verbal identity of the
author.
Symbolism – pertains to the use of an object to stand for or represent a
person, thing, or an idea.

10. NOVEL
• An extended narrative that includes more characters and a more complicated
plot.
TYPES OF NOVELS:
MYSTERY – events are not explained until the plot or conflict is resolved. E.g.
Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
EPISTOLARY – told in a series of letters. E.g. Daddy Long Legs by Jean
Webster, Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

11. ADVENTURE – emphasis on the set of adventures by the main character.
E.g. Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
PSYCHOLOGICAL – emphasizes the mental and emotional responses of its
characters designed to affect the readers psychologically. E.g. Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
GOTHIC – has elements of horror and the supernatural. E.g. Dracula by Bram
Stoker, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
HISTORICAL – the setting and some of the events are drawn from history.
E.g. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

12. SCIENCE-FICTION – deals with the imaginary results of scientific or
technological developments. E.g. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, Star Wars
by various authors
FANTASY – employ motifs, themes and approaches of fantasy; usually
involves magic, beasts, and different worlds only existing in the author’s mind.
E.g. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

13. DRAMA
• A literary work intended to be presented on stage in the form of dialogues,
to portray life or character or to tell a story. The word drama comes from the
Greek verb which means “to do” or “act”
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA:
PLOT – sequence of events in the story
CHARACTERS – people involved in the story

14. DIALOGUE – the words spoken by the characters. It is essential in advancing
the plot, establishing the setting and revealing character.
STAGING – also known as spectacle or the over-all look of the theatre on
stage, this refers to the visual details of a drama or play such as make-up,
costumes, lightning, sound effects, gestures, blocking, scenic backgrounds and
props.
THEME – the central message, meaning and significance of the play which is
derived from the other four elements.

15. ESSAY
• a short non-fiction, non-imaginary work about a subject. It has three main
parts: the introduction, body and conclusion.
• Introduction / Beginning
The opening part of the write up that shows the topic sentence of the
essay or the thesis statement.

16. • Body / Middle
Explain, illustrate, discuss, or provide evidence to support the main idea
(thesis or claim) of the essay.
• Ending / Conclusion
Recapitulation of the ideas in the whole essay which brings it to a logical
end.

17. POETRY – writing in a language chosen and arranged to create specific
emotional effect and is written in the form of lines and stanzas. There are three
basic types of poem:
NARRATIVE – a lengthy poem containing a story, the most common
example is an EPIC, a narrative poem that tells the adventures of heroes and
their heroic deeds such as The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Mahabharata.
LYRIC – a shorter poem that deals with strong emotions and the appreciation
of beauty.
DRAMATIC – one in which the poet expresses not his own individual
emotion but that of some other person.

18. ELEMENTS OF POETRY
• VOICE – the persona or speaker in the poem. A poet can either use his own
voice or use an imaginary voice and act as an imaginary speaker.
• DICTION – refers to the author’s choice of words, the linguistic style of
poetry which can involve the vocabulary, metaphor, simile, personification,
etc. The way of expressing oneself.

19. IMAGERY – the vivid mental pictures that the readers create through the
words used in the poem. Imagery in poetry need not only visual but could be
any of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell)
He wears too much aftershave. (Smell)
His lips taste sweet like ripe fruit (Taste)
He has a high-pitched laugh (Sound)
His hair feels wiry (Touch)
A greasy stove (Touch)

20. • FIGURES OF SPEECH – a literary device used to represent something in a
nonliteral manner such as simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, irony,
etc.
Simile – a comparison of two objects with the use of “as” “like” or “than”.
E.g. O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.
“A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns

21. Metaphor – a comparison that is made directly without the use of “as” “like”
or “than”.
E.g. The snow is a white blanket.
The classroom was a zoo.
Life is a rollercoaster.
Irony – implies a distance between what is said and what is meant. It is a
difference between the appearance and reality.
E.g. A man looked out of the window to see the storm intensify. He turned to
his friend and said, “Wonderful weather we’re having!”

22. Hyperbole – uses extreme exaggeration to make a point or show emphasis. It is
perfect to use in creative writing to add color to your work.
E.g. I’ll love you dear, I’ll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,
I’ll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry.
“As I Walked One Evening” by W.H. Auden

23. Personification – a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes or
qualities. These non-living objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel they
have the ability to act like human beings.
E.g. The sky weeps while the fire swallowed the entire forest.
The flowers danced in the gentle breeze.
The wind whispered through dry grass.
Look at my car, she is a beauty, isn’t she?

24. • SYMBOLISM – objects in the poem that are meant to represent abstract
concepts, like a rose symbolizes love
• THEME – the underlying message or philosophy of the poem, there may be
one theme in some poems, the overall meaning and significance
• STRUCTURE – the form, how a poem appears. Poems can be:
• Closed Form – also known as the fixed form, follows a pattern of lines, meters, rhyme
schemes, stanzas.
• Open Form – also known as free-form, does not follow a certain pattern, does not have
rhyme or a certain number of feet per line.

25. SOUND – the rhyme or the matching of the final vowel and constant sounds
in two or more words
TYPES OF RHYME
Perfect Rhyme – occurs when differing consonant sounds are followed by
identical stressed vowel sounds.
E.g. FOE – TOE
Half-Rhyme – only the final consonant sounds are identical
E.g. SOUL – OIL , MIRTH – FOURTH

26. Rime Riche – words that sound exactly the same but have different spellings
and meanings.
E.g. NIGHT – KNIGHT
Eye-Rhyme – appears to be a rhyme but does not actually rhyme
E.g. COUGH – BOUGH

27. E.g. A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.
There once was a man who wasn’t very smart,
For instance, he once tried to drive a shopping cart.
End Rhyme – corresponding sounds occur at the end of the lines. The
rhyming words are placed at the end of two consecutive sentences.

28. Internal Rhyme – corresponding lines occur within lines, which means two
or more rhyming words appear in the same line.
E.g. I went to town, to buy a gown.
I took a car, it wasn’t far.
Internal Rhymes could also be in the middle of two consecutive
sentences.
E.g. I hear the seas calling my name,
the birds and bees beckoning me.
It could also be an ending word rhyming with a word in the middle
of the next line.
E.g. I once went to a soccer arena
The teams were Argentina and Spain

29. ASSIGNMENT
• Make an essay about the importance of Literature in the 21st century
• Bring a copy of the poems from China entitled “To My Husband” by Hsu
Shu and Questions and Answer Among the Mountain by Li Po for a
discussion next meeting