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Introduction To Literature

Introduction-To-Literature
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
39 views4 pages

Introduction To Literature

Introduction-To-Literature
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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INTRODUCTION

According to Salman Rushdie (1990), Literature is the one place in any society
where within the secrecy of our own heads, we can hear voices talking about everything
in every possible way. In this new generation, the number of millennials who prefer to
read is decreasing. Some prefer comprehending what their friends on social media are
trying to say, deciding what picture to post that will gain a lot of reactions, and giving
more importance to the updates of the person they are following. Thus, they already
forget to enjoy reading a good text. However, there are some who enjoys a good read,
whether it is a novel that moves to tears, a play that intrigues or a poem that rouses
their passion, a piece of well-written literature can have an impact on our emotions, on
our behavior and on our value-systems.

MEANING OF LITERATURE
The term literature came from the Latin literatura which means, “writing formed
with letters” in English. This term is further derived from litera which means “letter” in
English. Hence the main root word origin of this term is or litera. (Root word origin is
derived from www.etymonline.com.)
“Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible
degree.” [Ezra Pound, “ABC of Reading”]
There has been a lot of definitions attached to the term literature. Some of them
include:
Literature is a product of particular culture that concretizes man’s array of values,
emotions, actions and ideas.
It is therefore a creation of human experiences that tells about people and their
world.
Literature is an art that reflects the works of imagination, aesthetics and creative
writing which are distinguished for the beauty of style or expression.
“Literature raises life to a new level of meaning and understanding, and in the
process restores sanity and justice in an insane and unjust world.” – Cirilo F. Bautista
In the course of our study, we will define literature as a term which refers to the
totality of oral and written accounts of man reflecting his ideas and views of life
transferred to generations. From this, we can assume that “Literature is the reflection of
life.” Therefore, following this line of thought, we can safely conclude that “Literature is
life.”

IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE
As any field of academic discipline, the study of literature proves to be a useful
endeavor. It has its own unique way of expressing its benefits and advantages.
Students of literature will realize these things during or after reading or studying a
literary masterpiece. The importance of literature includes:
1.Literature helps us grow both personally and intellectually.
2.Literature links us with the rest of the world of which we are apart.
3. Literature enables us to transcend our immediate time, place, and culture and to
make connections with other human beings and their concerns.
4. Literature encourages us to develop mature empathy with all forms of life: human,
animal, plant.
5. Literature sharpens our sense of moral judgment.
6. Literature stimulates our imagination and ingenuity.
7. Literature shows the significance of irony, paradox, oxymoron and ambivalence of
life.
8. Literature allows us to see the world in different vantage points.
9. Literature relives history.
10.Literature reminds us that we are human beings.

GENERIC TYPES OF LITERATURE


Literature is divided in two types: Prose and Poetry.
Prose. It refers to any written work that follows a basic grammatical structure (think
words and phrases arranged into sentences and paragraphs). Prose simply means
language that follows the natural patterns found in everyday speech. Prose can be
classified as Fiction and Nonfiction.
Fiction. These are writings that use characters, setting, and plot to convey stories that
are not real. It comes from the Latin word fictus means “to form”. The following are
types of Fiction
 Novel. This is a long narrative divided into chapters. The events are taken from true-
to-life stories and span a long period of time. There are many characters involved.
Example: WITHOUT SEEING THE DAWN by Stevan Javellana
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen
 Short Story. This is a narrative involving one or more characters, one plot, and a
single impression.
Example: THE LAUGHTER OF MY FATHER by Carlos Bulosan
THE TELL-TALE HEART by Edgar Allan Poe
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI by O. Henry
 Plays. This is presented on a stage. It is divided into acts and each act has many
scenes.
Example: THIRTEEN PLAYS by Wilfredo M. Guerrero
ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare
HAMLET by William Shakespeare
 Myth. It is a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or
explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural
beings or events.
Example: TUNGKUNG LANGIT AND ALUNSINA
 Legend. These are fictitious narrative, usually about origins.
Example: THE BIKOL LEGEND by Pio Duran.
 Fables. These are also fictitious and they deal with animals and inanimate things who
speak and act like people and their purpose is to enlighten the minds of children to
events that can mold their ways and attitudes.
Example: THE MONKEY AND THE TURTLE

Nonfiction. This is a branch of literature comprising works of narrative prose


dealing with or offering opinions or conjectures upon facts and reality, including
biography, history, and essay. The following are types of nonfiction.
 Essay. This expresses the viewpoint or opinion of the writer about a particular
problem or event. The best example of this is the Editorial page of a newspaper.
 Biography. The life history of an individual, written by someone else.
 Autobiography. The story of a person's life, written by that person.
 News. This is a report of everyday events in society, government, science and
industry, and accidents, happening nationally or not.
 Oration. This is a formal treatment of a subject and is intended to be spoken in public.
It appeals to the intellect, to the will or to the emotions of the audience.

Poetry. Poetry is a type of literature based on the interplay of words and rhythm. It often
employs rhyme and meter (a set of rules governing the number and arrangement of
syllables in each line). In poetry, words are strung together to form sounds, images, and
ideas that might be too complex or abstract to describe directly. Poetry is classified into
Narrative, Lyric, and Dramatic Poetry.

NARRATIVE POETRY. This form describes important events in life either real or
imaginary. The following are types of narrative poetry.
 Epic. This is an extended narrative about heroic exploits often under supernatural
control. It may deal with heroes and gods.
Examples: THE DIVINE COMEDY by Dante Alighieri
THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY by Homer
BEOWULF
 Metrical Tale. This is a narrative which is written in verse and can be classified either
as a ballad or a metrical romance. Examples of these are simply idylls or home tales,
love tales, tales of the supernatural written for a strong moral purpose in verse form.
Examples: THE CANTERBURY TALES by Geoffrey Chaucer
 Ballads. This is considered the shortest and simplest narrative poem. It has a simple
structure and tells a single incident. There are also variations of these: love ballads, war
ballads, sea ballads, humorous, moral, historical or mythical ballads. In the early times,
this referred to a song accompanying a dance.
Examples: THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER by Samuel Taylor
Coleridge

LYRIC POETRY. This refers to that king of poetry meant to be sung to the
accompaniment of a lyre, but now, this applies to any type of poetry that expresses
emotions and feelings of the poet. They are usually short, simple, and easy to
understand.
 Folksong (Awiting Bayan). These are short poems intended to be sung. The
common theme is love, despair, grief, doubt, joy, hope, and sorrow.
 Sonnets. This is a lyric poem of 14 lines dealing with an emotion, a feeling, or an idea.
Examples: PETRARCHAN SONNET was founded by Francesco Petrarch
SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET was popularized by William
Shakespeare
 Elegy. This a lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief and melancholy, and whose
theme is death.
 Ode. This is a poem of a noble feeling, expressed with dignity, with no definite number
of syllables, or definite number of lines in a stanza.
 Psalms (Dalit). This is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing a
philosophy of life.
 Song (Awit). This has measures of twelve syllables (dodecasyllabic) and slowly sung
to the accompaniment of a guitar or banduria.
 Corridos (Kuridos). These have measures of eight syllables (octosyllabic) and
recited to a martial beat.

DRAMATIC POETRY. Dramatic poetry encompasses a highly emotional story that's


written in verse and meant to be recited. It usually tells a story or refers to a specific
situation. This would include closet drama, dramatic monologues, and rhyme verse.
 Comedy. The word comedy comes from the Greek term “Komos” meaning festivity or
revelry. This form usually is light and written with the purpose of amusing, and usually
has a happy ending.
 Melodrama. This is usually used in musical plays with the opera. Today, this is related
to tragedy just as the farce is to comedy. It arouses immediate and intense emotion and
is usually sad but there is a happy ending for the principal character.
 Tragedy. This involves the hero struggling mightily against dynamic forces; he meets
death or ruin without success and satisfaction obtained by the protagonist in a comedy.
 Farce. This is an exaggerated comedy. It seeks to arouse mirth by laughable lines;
situations are too ridiculous to be true; the characters seem to be caricatures and the
motives are undignified and absurd.
 Social Poems. This form is either purely comic or tragic and it pictures the life of
today. It may aim to bring about changes in the social condition.

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