The Literary Genres

What is Literature ?Imaginative or creative writingDistinguished writing, with deep sublime, or noble feelings. It includes oral tradition passed on from generation by word of mouth(proverbs, myths, legends, epic, folk song, etc.)

The Academic Value of Literature to StudentIn a addition to the personal benefits

of literature for young readers, there are also several important academic benefits.Reading. Many teachers and librarians believe that regular involvement with excellent and appropriate literature can foster language development in young people and can help them to learn to read and to value reading.

Writing. Since people tend to assimilate or adopt what they like of what they read and hear, young people may, by listening to and reading literature, begin to develop their own writing “voice”, or unique, personal writing style. Devices found in books such as the use of dialects, dialogue, and precise description are often assimilated into students’ own writing.

Content Area Subject. In reading about and discussing the literature, you will often hear the phrase literature across the curriculum. This means using works of literature as teaching materials in the content area of reading.

Art Appreciation. Illustration in some literature books(Children’s Literature) can be appreciated both for its ability to help tell the story(cognitive value) and for its value as art (aesthetic value)For this reason, illustrations in picture books are said to be integral to the story. Without the illustrations, therefore these books would diminished, and in some case the story would make no sense or would be nonexistent.

Generic Classification:

1. Prose is the most common form of written or spoken language, which uses ordinary grammar and natural flow of speech

Prose. There are two subgenres within this category: prose fiction and prose non-fiction.

1. Fiction-  is the form of any work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not real, but rather, imaginary and theoretical - that is, invented by the author.

• these include the short stories, novels, myths, parables, romances, and epics.

Short story- a story with a fully developed theme but significantly shorter and less elaborate than a novel.

Novel- a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism.

Myth - a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.

Parable- a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.

Romance- prose narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry, romantic exploits, adventures of knights in warfare as they rescue fair maidens and confront supernatural challenges.Epic - a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation.

2. Nonfiction- is a narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are believed by the author to be factual

Drama. Plays are written with characters, implied action, and dialogue, and are usually intended for actors to perform on stage.

Poetry. Poetry is highly imagistic, and it is written in condensed language, stylized syntax, and figures of speech not found in ordinary communication.

Drama is a form of art that explores and expresses human feelings trough performance.

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading.

Kinds of DramaAll drama cannot be the same kind because life itself is varied.

Here are some of the different kind of plays.

1. Tragedy. A tragedy is a play in which the leading character is overcome by trouble of some kind.

2. Comedy. A comedy is a play in which the leading character overcomes the obstacles placed in his way and wins in the conflicts; thus the comedy ends happily.

3. Farce. A farce is comedy in which the situations are too ridiculous to be true, the characters are so exaggerated that they seem to be caricatures, and the motives are absurd and undignified.

4. Pantomime. A pantomime is a play in which the story is told entirely by action. It may be either a comedy or tragedy.

5. Historical play. A historical play is one in which some events of history is dramatized.

6. Puppet play. A puppet play is one in which the parts are acted by puppets or marionettes. A puppet is a small figure in human form, constructed with jointed limbs, which are made to move by means of wires operated by someone from either above, or below the stage.

7. Plays or Fantasy. In a play of fantasy , the action could not take place in real life, but not in the imagination of the writer

Characteristics of a PlayA play is a story told by means of dialogue and action on a stage.

Just as a story must possess the ff. characteristics so, too must a play;

1. Characters. The characters are the people who take part in the action.

2. Settings. The setting tells when and where the vents happened.

3. Plot. The story of the play is told in a series of incidents arranged in such a way that there is a beginning, a middle, and an end.

4. Conflict. The plot must give an account of a struggle, or conflict, it may be struggle between to persons, or between two group of peoples, or the struggle maybe a mental one.

5. Suspense. As the story moves toward the clashing of the two forces, the account of the incidents must be told, so that each one grows more and more exciting

6. Climax. With the growth of excitement the action becomes more and more intense until the highest point of interest is reached with clashing of the two forces.

7. Single effects. The story of the play must arouse some feeling in the reader. the emotion maybe that of anger, humour, fear, sadness, or pity. One emotion, or effect, predominates.

8. Theme. the author discovered something about life that he or she thinks is worth knowing- a general truth that he wishes to present; or he has made a general observation that he thinks would be of interest to others.

9. Style. Style I the manner in which the play is written. Words frequently used to describe style are; clear vivid, simple, forceful, humorous, polished, individual.Features that belong to play but do not belong to a story or these.

1. Stage Properties.2. Stage Directions.

Exposition and Inciting MomentExposition : introduces the characters, establishes the relation among them, makes clear the setting, and strikes the key mode of the dominating mood.Inciting moment: in one act play the main characters are likely to be engaged in the initial dramatic situation(inciting moment).

Complication : the reaction of character to character, and of character to circumstances will necessarily develop a second dramatic episode out of the first; and perhaps, a third of the second.  

Crisis and climax: the series of dramatic episodes must finally bring the action to a head where the cumulative force of character and circumstances press for a solution to the problem.

Resolution: it marks the beginning of the resolution. It also answers the main question but leaves certain minor ones – bearing usually on the reaction of the characters.

Surprise ending: the ending of a one act play may take a turn wholly unexpected in that nothing in the play has foreshadowed it. This is usually brought about by what Percival Wilde calls the “secondary climax”

CHARACTER• Is the stuff out of which drama is made• “No play can rise above the level of its

characterization”• Action properly motivated can be

understood freely only in terms of character.• Usually revealed first by the appearance

and dress of the individual• Self-characterization through dialogue must,

of course, not always taken at face value

PLOT AND THEMEPlot is the design into which the stuff is

wovenWhile Plot is the design of constructed story,

Theme is the central idea which the story elaborates, or the fundamental truth which it exemplifies

Plot gives the story formTheme gives it significanceTheme, however is by no means

synonymous with “moral”

ATMOSPHEREEach scene or locality, by virtue of the

nature, appearance, and arrangement of its components parts, arouses certain one reaction.This somewhat intangible reality is known as atmosphere.

A play may be described as the dominating mood which the plays generates

In a period play, costumes, stage properties, and dialogue are the elements most potent in yielding atmosphere.

POETRYIt is a literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm.Studying poetry can increase your sensitivity to sounds and words and to the intricacies of rhythm, and you may often to be amazed at how much can be implied with so few words.

NARRATIVE POETRY: the central feature in all narrative poetry is the story being told.

• Three kinds of narrative poetry:1. Ballad- is a tightly metered poem which tells

a story.-ballads theme includes

disappointment in love, revenge, super natural beings and events, and physical strength or agility.

2. Metrical tale-is a relatively long poem which tells a

completely developed story in verse3. Epic poem-is a very long narrative

HOW DOES THE SPEAKER SPEAK?”

PROSODY: is the art of patterning poetry..

• These patterns may be on: the repetition of sensory images, literary images, tone color or meter.

Component Elements of Poetry• Tone Color- is the repetition of like

sounds throughout a poem. These sounds become significant if they are repeated often enough to show a pattern.

There are five primary kinds of tone color which a poet may employ: alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme, and onomatopoeia.

1.) AlliterationAlliteration is the repetition of identical

consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of the words in close proximity, throughout a poem.

Ex. I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day.2.) AssonanceAssonance is the repetition of identical

vowel sounds in words in close proximity throughout a poem.Ex. And all is seared with trade; bleared,

smeared with toil.

3.) ConsonanceConsonance is the repetition of identical

consonant sounds that are preceded by different vowel sounds, for example, struts, frets.

Ex. The cold, hard diamond was held in her hand.

4.) RhymeRhyme is an element of poetry which

helps us unify a poem by keeping thought groups together. Rhyme exist when the word have the same vowel succeeding sounds with different preceding sound.

Ex. sang-rang, high-dry, sailing-failing

5.) OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia, the last aspect of

tone color, involves words that sound like their meanings that imitate actual sounds.

Ex.In Emily Dickson’s poem, “I Heard a

Fly buzz When I Died”

• Meter- Poetry is a crystallized experience, and because it is so condensed, it rhythm is more pronounced than the rhythm in prose and drama.

Conventional poetry poems which have a regular rhythmic base.

There are eight common types of metrical feet; iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, spondee, pyrric, amphibrach and amphimacer (also called cretic)

The following terms are used to represent the number of feet in a line of poetry :

One foot : MonometerTwo feet : DimeterThree Feet: trimesterFour Feet: TetrameterFive Feet: PentameterSix Feet; HexameterSeventh Feet: SeptameterEight Feet: Octameter

Understanding the Genre of Essay

Essay is a relatively short literary composition of a personal nature that deals with a single, often with clearly organized beginning, middle and end.

There are many different kind of essays, and each kind suggests an appropriate performance style.

Humorous Essay- make point through wit, satire and comicality.

Expository Essay- sets out to develop an idea in order to instruct or inform.

Personal or Familiar Essay- is highly lyrical and relates firsthand experience, and relating them to appropriate external objects.

Formal Essays- is pre-occupied with ideas, its treatment is generally serious, the writer having a healthy respect for his own ideas and expecting his readers to share them.

Editorial Essay- in general is a part of a newspaper page.

There are various types of Editorial Essays.

1. Editorial of Interpretation2. Editorial of Criticism3. Editorial of Entertainment4. Editorial of Commendation,

Appreciation, or Tribute5. Editorial of Argument

TYPES OF TRADITIONAL LITERATUREThe term traditional literature to refer to

the entire body of stories passed down from ancient times by the oral tradition.

The term folktale is sometimes used in the same way.

The term retold tale refers to a version of a tale that is obviously based upon earlier.

Variant, a term often used in reference to folktales, refers to a story that shares fundamental elements of plot or character with other stories, and therefore is said to be in the same story family.

Fable- is a simple story that incorporates characters-typically animals, whose action teach a moral lesson or universal truth.

Religious Stories- Stories based on religious writings from religious manuscripts are considered to be religious stories.

Common Figures of Speech

1.  Alliteration- is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in successive or closely associated words. 

• Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. 

2.  Assonance- (slant rhyme) is the resemblance of similarity in sound between vowels followed by different consonants in two or more stressed syllables in a line of poetry. 

• Example: Then came the drone of a boat in the cove. 

3.  Hyperbole- is a figure of speech in which conscious exaggeration is used for effect. 

• Example: I had a headache the size of a washtub. 

4.  Personification- is a figure of speech in which animals, ideas, abstractions or inanimate objects are endowed with human qualities. 

• Example: Death reached down and carried the old man away. 

5.  Simile- is a figure of speech in which a similarity between two objects or ideas is expressed using the words "like" or "as." 

• Examples: She sings like a bird.     • Considering how much you hurt me, you might

as well have put a dagger through my heart! 

6.  Metaphor- is a figure of speech which imaginatively identifies one object with another and attributes to the first object one or more qualities of the second.  Simply stated, a comparison that does not use "like" or "as." 

• Examples: The pretty young girl is a vixen.  • John was a tiger in the battle, fighting with tooth

and claw. 

• 7.  Synecdoche- is a figure of speech in which a part is used metaphorically to represent a whole, or a whole is used to represent a part. 

• Examples:” The factory had more than a hundred hands working three shifts.

• The Spanish Armada was 150 sail strong. 

• 8.  Metonymy- is a figure of speech in which a closely associated object is used metaphorically to represent the thing, person, etc. with which it is associated. 

• Examples: All of Magwitch's fortune was confiscated by the crown. 

• The White House issued a statement about the September 11, 2001 attacks. 

9.  Litotes- is a figure of speech in which something is expressed with a negation of the contrary. 

• Examples: The soccer stadium was filled with no small number of exuberant fans. 

• In Medieval England, public hangings were no rare occurrence, and not a few of the citizens came to see them. 

10. Pathetic Fallacy- is a type of personification in which inanimate nature is given human qualities. 

• Examples: Every flower enjoys the air it breathes.  • The happy sunshine streamed through the clouds

into the peaceful valley. 

11. Oxymoron- is a figure of speech in which opposites are paired for effect. 

Examples: Bittersweet.Deafening silence.

 12. Onomatopoeia- is a poetic

sound device in which words are used that actually simulate the sounds they represent. 

Examples: Crash.  Bang.  Pop.  Pow.  Rattle. 

13.  Apostrophe- is a type of personification in which an author addresses an inanimate or non-living object or idea as if that entity were alive and could converse with him.  

A good example is Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" in which he directly addresses the urn.  Another example is Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" in which he speaks directly to the wind.

Prepared By:• John Aldrin B. Relevo• Alissa Mae D. Bayaban• Kaye B. Delos Santos• Allycka N. Espiritu

• Samantha S. OrmacidoBSMT-2