Scribd
Upload
182 views

Introduction To Literature 2

The document discusses different classifications of literature. It describes epics as long fictional stories revolving around a hero that were precursors to the modern novel. Epics are distinguished from other poetry by their narrative structure and plot patterns. The document also discusses the emergence of the novel in the 17th-18th centuries and how it employs elements of romance. Common plot structures, characters, and narrative perspectives are also summarized.

Uploaded by

Alwi Z4sa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
182 views

Introduction To Literature 2

The document discusses different classifications of literature. It describes epics as long fictional stories revolving around a hero that were precursors to the modern novel. Epics are distinguished from other poetry by their narrative structure and plot patterns. The document also discusses the emergence of the novel in the 17th-18th centuries and how it employs elements of romance. Common plot structures, characters, and narrative perspectives are also summarized.

Uploaded by

Alwi Z4sa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 16

Literary Genres

in Mario Klarer’s An Introduction to


Literary Studies
(2004)
First classification of Literature Recent classification of literature

Epics Fiction (novel, short story,


novelette/novella)
Drama Drama
Poetry Poetry
1. Epics
an old form of fiction. The majority of
traditional epics revolve around a hero who has
to fulfill a number of tasks of national or cosmic
significance in a multiplicity of episodes.
Classical epics in particular, through their roots
in myth, history, and religion, reflect a self-
contained world-view of their particular periods
and nationalities
 Although traditional epics are written in verse, they
clearly distinguish themselves from other forms of
poetry by length, narrative structure, depiction of
characters, and plot patterns and are therefore
regarded—together with the romance—as precursors
of the modern novel

Examples of Epics
 Iliad and the Odyssey (c.seventh century BC)
 John Milton’s (1608–74) baroque long
poem Paradise Lost (1667)
Epics Romance
The scope of the traditional epic The romance condenses the action
is usually broad, cosmic and and orients the plot toward a
national problems particular goal

In epic, the main character the protagonist or main character is


functions primarily as the depicted in more detail and with
embodiment of abstract heroic greater care
ideals.

allegorical and typified epic hero The protagonist of the novel, with
individual and realistic character
traits
 The novel, which emerged in Spain during the
seventeenth century and in England during
the eighteenth century, employs the elements
of romance

 Early form of novel:


 Miguel de Cervantes’ (1547–1616) Don
Quixote (1605; 1615)
 Daniel Defoe’s (1660–1731) Robinson Crusoe
(1719),
Samuel Richardson’s (1689–1761) Pamela (1740–
41) and Clarissa (1748–49),
 Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones (1749), Laurence
Sterne’s (1713–68) Tristram Shandy (1759–67)

 All the works above, mark the beginning of this


new literary genre, which replaces the epic.
 picaresque novel relates the experiences of a vagrant rogue
(from the Spanish “picaro”) in his conflict with the norms of
society. E.g Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones (1749)

 Bildungsroman (novel of education) describes the development


of a protagonist from childhood to maturity
E.g George Eliot’s (1819–80) Mill on the Floss (1860)

 epistolary novel, which uses letters as a


means of first-person narration, as for example Samuel
Richardson’s
Pamela (1740–41) and Clarissa (1748–49)
 historical novel, such as Sir Walter Scott’s (1771–1832) Waverley
(1814)
 satirical novel, such as Jonathan Swift’s (1667–1745)
 Gulliver’s Travels (1726) or Mark Twain’s (1835–1910)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)

 utopian novels or science fiction novels create alternative worlds as a


means of criticizing real sociopolitical conditions, as in the classic
Nineteen Eighty-four (1949) by George Orwell (1903–50) or more
recently Margaret Atwood’s (1939–) The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)

 gothic novel, which includes such works as Bram Stoker’s


(1847–1912) Dracula (1897)

 Agatha Christie’s (1890–1976) Murder on the Orient Express (1934).


Plot What happens?

Characters Who acts?

Narrative
Who sees what?
perspective

Where and when do the events take


Setting
place?
exposition—complication—
climax or turning point—
resolution
 The exposition or presentation of the initial
situation is disturbed by a complication or
conflict which produces suspense and
eventually leads to a climax, crisis, or turning
point. The climax is followed by a resolution of
the complication (French denouement),
with which the text usually ends.

 Most traditional fiction, drama, and


film employ this basic plot structure, which is
also called linear plot since its different elements
follow a chronological order.
 In many cases—even in linear plots—
flashback and foreshadowing introduce
information concerning the past or future
into the narrative.
 the first-person narrator posthumously
relates the events that lead to his death while
drifting dead in a swimming pool
 Flat character : single feature

 Round character: complex features


 Explanatory method / naration or telling

 Dramatic method (dialogue/ monologue) or


showing
 The way in which a text presents persons, events,
and settings:
1. omniscient point of view
through external narrator who
refers to protagonist in the third
person
2. first-person narration
by protagonist or by minor
character
3. figural narrative situation
through figures acting in the text

You might also like