What is literature?

A faithful
reproduction of man’s
manifold experiences
blended into one’s
harmonious language.
Medium Content Purpose

language ideas entertainment

persuasion
Literature

a rhetoric engaging the

human senses, desires,
and emotions and
conveying ideologies an
d ideological messages
 GENRE AUDIENCE AUTHOR WORK

Drama group absent performed

Epic group present recited
Short story private concealed read
Novel private concealed read
Poetry ignored present recited (or sung)

Essay private implied read

Drama
Fiction
Poetry
Essay
Structure

In literature structure refers to the

relationship among the parts of an
artistic written work

Structural Base
It means what defines a part
structured in terms
of plot

character’s
consciousness

tone, involving both

sound and mood

theme
 Each literary genre is
most typically
structured in terms of
one of the four.
Structural Bases of the
Literary Genres
tone
character
plot
theme
 The typical
structure derives
from the
presentation
that defines the
genre.
 read sound and what sound
expresses, mood

event, the building

witnessed blocks of the plot

Experienced consciousness, the

realm of the characters

communicated the message to be

understood, its theme
The Bible or the
Sacred Writing
The basis of Christianity
originating from Palestine and
Greece.
Koran /Quran
The Muslim’s holy book originating from
Arabia
The Iliad and
the Odyssey
Source of myths and
legends of Greece,
written by Homer
 The Mahab-harata
The longest epic of the world, containing the history and
religion in India
Canterbury Tales
The tale originated from England,
written by Geoffrey Chaucer that
depicts the religion and customs
of the English in the early days,
Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, depicted the

sad fate of slaves, this became the basis of
democracy later on.
The Divine
Comedy

This shows the religion and

customs of the early Italians
This shows the cultural
Characteristics of the
Spaniards and their
national history

El Cid
Compeador
Song of Roland
Book of the Dead

Includes the cult of Osiris and the

mythology and theology of Egypt
Book of the Days
Written by Confucius of China, became the
basis of the Christian religion
One Thousand and
One Nights /
The Arabian Nights

Came from Arabia and Persia (Iran). It

shows the ways of government, of
industries and of the society of the Arabs
and Persians
To continue with what we left last meeting…
Literature and its Standards
PROF. VIOLETA CRUZ - ESPERANZA
 What is the title of the
text?
Why is the text
Questions
meaningful to you?
How were you able to
relate with the text?
 Choose one selection you’ve read
last school year.

TASK
Reflect about your chosen
selection for five minutes. You
may recall the events/ details or
discuss the lesson found in the
text.
Task:

Answer the three Prepare a 2-

questions minute video of
presented earlier. your answer.
What is literature according
to selected famous writers?

"Literature adds to reality, it

does not simply describe it. It
enriches the necessary
competencies that daily life
requires and provides; and in
this respect, it irrigates the
deserts that our lives have
already become." - C.S. Lewis
What is literature according to selected
famous writers?

"Literature always
anticipates life. It does
not copy it, but molds it
to its purpose. " - Oscar
Wilde
What is literature according
to selected famous writers?

“He liked the mere act of

reading, the magic of
turning scratches on a
page into words inside his
head.” - John Green, An
Abundance of Katherines
Literature is…
SEVEN LITERARY STANDARDS

• An important characteristic of a
✓Permanence great literature is that it lasts.

William Shakespeare’s novels/ plays

Shakespeare’s Romeo
and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy
about two young star-crossed
lovers whose deaths ultimately
reconcile their feuding
families.

This was believed to have been

written between 1591-1595
and was first published in
1597.
SEVEN LITERARY STANDARDS
• It must suit the taste of a range of
✓Universal people across different age groups,
Appeal nationalities, cultures, and beliefs.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novel series

 Rowling’s Harry Potter
Novels
According to an article entitled
The Power of Potter, “Everyone
was reading books. People of all
ages. ”
The author of the book The
Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin
stated, “The magical world is so
attractive and detailed and rich
and so alluring.”
SEVEN LITERARY STANDARDS
• A good literature should be well
written and appeal to our creative
✓Artistry sides with beautifully crafted
phrases and sentences.

Conversation between the Mad Hatter and Alice…

Conversation
between the
Mad Hatter
and Alice…
SEVEN LITERARY STANDARDS
• Words used by the writer are
creative and are presented in an
✓Style unusual way that is entertaining
and interesting

Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette

Semple’s Where’d You
Go, Bernadette
Maria Semple did not follow the
conventional way of writing novels.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette is written in
many formats such as e-mails, letters, FBI
documents, correspondence with a
psychiatrist and an emergency- room bill .
These pieces are strung together wittily
that it showed how every detail was
unveiled imaginatively
SEVEN LITERARY STANDARDS
• Literary texts usually inform us about
our past, our present or the world
✓Intellectually around us. Texts help us understand
Valuable our lives and realize truths about
humanity and life.
• They mentally stimulate us and enrich
our thoughts.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Lowry’s Number the Stars
Number the Stars (1989) is a
historical fiction narrating the
escape of a Jewish family during the
occupation of Denmark in Second
World War.

The novel was awarded as the “most

distinguished contribution to
American literature for children”
There’s more to literature than meets the eye.
 What your English
teacher thinks the What the author
author meant. meant.

For instance: “The curtains were blue.”

What your teacher thinks: What the author meant:
“The curtains represent his “The curtains were
immense depression and blue.”
his lack of will to carry on.”
SEVEN LITERARY STANDARDS
• Literature should carry many
associations that lead beyond the
surface meaning.
✓Suggestiveness
• The reader is left to establish what the
author is suggesting, and this captures
the reader’s imagination by making
them think about what they are
reading and engaging them into the
story
Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter
The scarlet letter is meant to be a symbol
of shame, but instead it becomes a
powerful symbol of identity to Hester.

Instead of being embarrassed, Hester

changed the letter “A” as the mark of
being an adulteress to stand for the word
“able”.
SEVEN LITERARY STANDARDS
• Great works of literature are often
✓Spiritual thought to have an underlying
Value moral message that can potentially
make us better people.
• Values are often written between
the lines and can help them
become better people
Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s
The Little Prince

“It is only with the heart that one can see

rightly. What is essential is invisible to
the eye.”

“It is the time you have wasted for your

rose that make your rose so important.”
That is all for
now…
 LIT 2:
World Literary
Masterpieces Studies
PROF VIOLETA CRUZ-ESPERANZA
 A literary text can be
studied in several ways:

• for its thematic value,

• for entertainment value,
• for the richness of its plot.
• for comparison with other
works,
 A literary text can be
studied in several ways:

• for the ideas it contains,

• for its emotional power,
• for character analysis, as an
appeal to move readers to
action,
• for social reforms,
 A literary text can be
studied in several ways:

• for its representations of

literary movements and
techniques,
• for the author’s unique use of
language (style) and most
importantly
• for its reflection of life itself
 PROSE POETRY
Written in Written in stanza
Form paragraph form or verse form
All literature Expressed in Expressed in
ordinary language metrical,
falls under two Language rhythmical and
main divisions: figurative
language
Appeal To the intellect To the emotion
To convince, Stir the
inform, instruct, imagination and
Aim imitate and reflect set an ideal of how
life should be
 Prose
Prose Prose
Essay
Drama Fiction

Biography and
Autobiography
• Biography Journal
• Letter
• Diary
 • Historical Prose • Travel
• Scientific Prose • Parody
Other Prose
• Satirical Prose • Anecdote
Forms:
• Current • Character
Publications Sketch
• Literary • Parable
Criticism • Pamphlet
• Book Review • Eulogy
• Philosophy • Speech
 Speech

Address
Oration
Lecture
Talk
Sermon
 • Fiction
Literary • Poetry
Genres • Essay
• Drama
 Fiction
imaginative recreation and
re-creation of life.

includes short stories and

novels.
 Short story
often referred to as a “slice of life” is a
fictitious narrative compressed into one
unit of time, place and action; it deals
with a single character interest, single
emotion called forth by a single
situation.

Example: “Dead Stars” by Paz Marquez

Benitez
 a fictitious narrative with a
complicated plot: it may have a main
plot and one or more sub-plots that
develop with the main plot; characters
and actions representative of the real
Novel life of past or present times are
portrayed in a plot; it is made up of
chapters.

Example: “Dog eaters” by Jessica

Hagedorn
 Elements of
Fiction
• Character
• Setting
• Conflict
• Plot
• Point of view
• Mood
• Tone
• Symbolism
• Images
• Theme