ALBAN0, JL | ABPSYCH| WORLD LITERATURE ALBAN0, JL | ABPSYCH| WORLD LITERATURE ALBAN0, JL | ABPSYCH| WORLD LITERATURE

LITERATURE 2. Virgil (70 BC-19 BC) Widely known as one of 6. Leo Tolstoy (1828 – 1910) Tolstoy was a Russian
Rome’s greatest poets, Virgil had a major writer. He is best known for the novels "War and
▪ Literature comes from the Latin word “litera”
influence on Western literature. The Aeneid, is Peace" and "Anna Karenina. “War and Peace"
which literally means an acquaintance with
modeled after Homer’s works and it tells the focused on detailed descriptions of the French
letters, the root definition of literature.
story of a Trojan, named Aeneas, who was invasion of Russia and the impact of the
▪ It is a body of literary production, either oral,
adopted by the Romans. His work had such an Napoleonic era on Tsarist society through
written or visual, containing imaginative
impact that Dante used him in his Divine aristocratic eyes.
language that realistically portrays thoughts,
Comedy to guide him through hell. 7. Charles Dickens (1812-1870) Often referred to as
emotions, and experiences of the human
3. Dante Alighieri (1265 – 1321 CE) Dante was a the greatest novelist of Victorian times. His first
condition.
writer, philosopher and political thinker, who recognized work was in 1836 with The Pickwick
WORLD LITERATURE was exiled from Florence when he wrote his Papers. Some of his famous works are Oliver
most famous work, "The Divine Comedy." It's Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol.
▪ World literature is the totality of all national divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and 8. Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) Dumas is one of the
literatures. Paradiso. "The Divine Comedy" has influenced most prominent French writers with his historical
▪ The formation of literature in different countries popular depictions of hell and culture greatly. novels that tell of adventurous tales. Since the
happened not at the same time. 4. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400) Geoffrey early 20th century, his works have been made
▪ world literature emerged only in the 19th Chaucer is known as the Father of English into about 200 movies. His complete works total
century when the literary connections of Literature, was the first poet to have been 100,000 pages. He is known for The Count of Monte
different countries had spread and buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster abbey. Cristo, and The Three Musketeers.
strengthened. the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages. His 9. Sun Tzu (544-496 BC) Sun Tzu was a military
▪ The term “world literature” was introduced by best known work, "The Canterbury Tales," is a strategist in ancient China. His book – The Art of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. collection of stories presented as part of a War – was written as a strategy for the Chinese
▪ He used the word “Weltliteratur” in 1827. story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims. It military. It is still widely read today by leaders of
▪ Goethe studied the characteristic features and was vital in popularizing the literary use of the armed forces.
interrelationships of different national English vernacular. 10. Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) Dickinson wrote
literatures, the tendencies of their development 5. Miguel de Cervantes (1547 – 1616) Cervantes nearly 1,800 poems. Few of Dickinson’s poems
and their achievements. was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright about art, gardens, joy, love, death and Grief.
AUTHORS AND WORKS who was highly influenced in his writing by his 11. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) An ordained
time as a soldier and as a slave. His best known minister, philosopher, essayist and poet whose
1. Homer (c.8th/9th Century BCE) Homer is known work,"Don Quixote," first modern European insightful prose explored the mind of man and his
for being the author of both the "Iliad" and the novel and the most influential work of literature relationship with nature. Emerson’s uniquely
"Odyssey." Because of his contributions, he is from the Spanish Golden Age. American vision and writing style is illustrated in
often considered the greatest ancient Greek the 1836 essay Nature and the 1841 essay Self-
epic poet. His works have greatly influenced the Reliance.
history of literature as well as mythology.
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12. Robert Frost (1874-1963) the four-time LITERARY GENRES d. Folktale is part of folklore (traditions
Pulitzer Prize winner wrote much of his transmitted through memory and practice
1. PROSE - This type of written text is different from
poetry about rural New England. Some of rather than printed page).
poetry in that it has complete sentences organized
his best-known poems—”After Apple-
into paragraphs. Prose focuses on characters and e. Novel can be defined as a substantial
Picking,” “Mending Wall,” “Birches,” “The
plot, rather than focusing on sounds. narrative with many characters and a plot
Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods
that stretches over a long time span (not
on a Snowy Evening” A. Nonfiction is literature that is written in
always) and may have many settings.
13. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) Known ordinary, non-metrical language and
for his stories about sin, guilt and communicates facts or opinions about reality. f. Short story is brief fictional prose narrative
witchcraft in Puritan New England, the writer's primary purpose is to convey that typically can be read in one sitting and
Salem, Massachusetts-born Hawthorne is information or persuade readers. focuses on a self-contained incident or series
revered for his 1837 short story collection, of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking
Twice-Told Tales; his 1850 masterpiece The a. Biography is the story of a person’s life. An
a "single effect" or mood.
Scarlet Letter; and the 1851 classic The autobiography is a biography written by the
House of the Seven Gables. person him/herself. 2. POETRY - uses metrical language with lots of
14. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) A literary rhythm and rhyme to create word pictures. Poetry
b. Essays are a short literary composition
critic in his time, Poe wrote eerie, grim and employs all kinds of word play, figurative language,
that reflects the author’s outlook or point.
cryptic tales exemplified in his 1839 short and imagery.
story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” 1843 c. Publications, Diary, Letter, Journal
A. Narrative Poetry - A narrative poetry tells a
short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” and 1845 B. FICTION is also written in ordinary, non- story in verse.
poem “The Raven.” metrical language, but it is the product of the
15. Mark Twain (1835-1910) ]Mo., Twain was a. Epic retells in a continuous narrative the
writer's imagination.
inspired to write his classic novels The life and works of a heroic or mythological
a. Fable is a story which usually has a moral
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1876, and person or group of persons. It is considered
(lesson) that is being taught. The story often
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1884, as the oldest form of literature.
uses animals that speak and act like
twain has been dubbed the Father of humans. b. Metrical tale is a narrative poem that
American Literature. relates to real or imaginary events, straight
b. Myth is a story or group of stories that
BASIC CONCEPTS forward language, life experiences, and
form part of the traditional knowledge of a
emotional situations.
▪ Genre is a specific style or category of society. Myths often use imaginative plots.
writing. Genres make use of the various Myths are early people’s way to explain the c. Metrical Romance is a long narrative
literary forms as foundations from which universe. poem that presents remote or imaginative
to stretch out in many directions of incidents.
c. Legend is a story of some wonderful
expression. Forms and genres join with events popularly believed to have historical d. Ballad is a song that tells a story, often
content to create the meaning of a piece of basis and passed down through the ages. one dealing with adventure or romance.
writing.
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B. Lyric Poetry - A lyric poem is a poem that d. Melodrama is the depiction of simple classic ▪ Style is the writer’s individual and distinct way of
expresses the emotions, feelings and characters like heroes and villains dealing writing.
observations of the writer. Unlike narrative poem, with sensational, romantic, and often perilous ▪ Symbol is an object, expression or event that
it presents an experience or a single effect, but it situations. represents an idea beyond itself.
does not tell a full story. ▪ Theme is the underlying truth that is being
COMMON LITERARY TERMS
conveyed in the story
a. Song is a lyric poem set to music and is
▪ Allegory is a narrative that has a symbolic ▪ Tone refers to the attitude the work takes toward
intended to be sung.
meaning. Characters are the people (or the audience and subject.
b. Sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem focused animals, things, etc. presented as people)
SOUND DEVICES
on a single theme. appearing in a literary work.
▪ Conflict is the struggle between two 1. Alliteration - It involves the repetition of the initial
c. Elegy is a solemn and formal lyric poem
entities. consonant sound of a series of words, often
about death. It may mourn a particular person
▪ Flashback refers to a technique in which consecutively.
or reflect on serious or tragic theme.
an author interrupts present events with a 2. Assonance - It is the repetition of the same or
d. Ode is a long, formal lyric poem with a look at past events. similar vowel sounds within words, phrases, or
serious theme. It often honors people, ▪ Foreshadowing is an early clue about what sentences.
commemorative events, respond to natural will happen later in a piece of fiction. 3. Onomatopoeia - It is the use of words whose
scenes, or consider serious human problems. ▪ Imagery refers to a description of sounds seem to imitate the sound of the object or
something to be seen, hear, smelled, or action being named.
3. DRAMA - Drama combines elements of prose touched. FIGURES OF SPEECH
and poetry into plays that are usually intended ▪ Irony shows contrast between what 1. Allusion It is a reference to a well-known Person,
to be performed on stage. monologues and seems, and what is, and could be. place, event, literary work, or work of art to
dialogues. hidden meanings and messages that ▪ Motif refers to a series of reoccurring enrich the reading experience by adding
take some work to decipher. details that have symbolic importance in meaning.
a. Comedy is lighter in tone and is intended to the story. 2. Antithesis The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas
make the audience laugh and usually come to ▪ Plot is the order of events in the story. in balanced phrases.
a happy ending. ▪ Point of view, also called “angle”, signifies 3. Apostrophe It is a direct address to some
the way a narrative is told, and from inanimate thing or some abstract idea as if it
b. Tragedy is based on darker themes. It where. were living person or some absent person as if it
portrays serious subjects like death, disaster, ▪ Rhyme is created when two words are were present.
and human suffering in a dignified and similar in sound. 4. Hyperbole It is an obvious exaggeration which is
thought-provoking way. ▪ Rhythm is the pattern of stressed and not meant to be taken literally.
c. Farce features exaggerated or absurd unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. 5. Litotes It is a form of understatement in which a
forms of comedy. ▪ Setting is where and when the story takes sentiment is expressed ironically by negating its
place. contrary.
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6. Metaphor It is the comparison between things by

stating that one thing literally is something else.
It is used to bring clarity to ideas by forming
connections. Often, metaphors reveal implicit
similarities between two things or concepts.
7. Metonymy It is meant for a change of name. It is
a substitute of the thing names for the thing
meant.
8. Oxymoron It is descriptive phrase that combines
two contradictory terms to create a totally fresh
image or idea.
9. Paradox It is a statement that reveals a kind of
truth although at first it seems to be self-
contradictory and untrue.
10. Personification It is an attribution of personal
nature, intelligence or character to inanimate
objects or abstract notions.
11. Simile It is a very common figure of speech that
uses the words “like” and “as” to compare two
things that are not related by definition.
12. Synecdoche A figure of speech in which a part is
used to represent the whole or the whole for a
part.