LITERATURE

The body of written works of a language, period, or culture

DIVISIONS OF LITERATURE
I.

Poetry a rhythmic imaginative language arranged in lines with regular

rhythm, meter and rhyme scheme

CHARACTERISTICS OF POETRY
A. Rhythm regular occurrence of stressed and unstressed, long and short, or highpitched and low-pitched syllables creating a pattern in the lines of a poem.
a. Meter (Organized Rhythm) measured pattern or grouping of syllables called
metric foot, according to accent and length; sequence of foot
Four Basic Patterns:
i.
Iambic Foot consists of unaccented syllable followed by an accented
syllable (x/)
ii.
Anapestic Foot consists of two unaccented syllable followed by an
accented syllable (xx/)
iii.
Trochaic Foot consists of an accented syllable followed by an
unaccented syllable (/x)
iv.
Dactylic Foot consists of an accented syllable followed by two
unaccented syllables (/xx)
b. Rhyme and Other Sound Devices - regular recurrence of similar sounds
usually at the end of lines or also within one line
B. Imagery refers to expressions evocative of objects of sensuous appeal (five
senses appeal)
a. Figures of Speech - a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense to add rhetorical force
to a spoken or written passage.
i. Simile comparing two unlike things using like or as
ii. Metaphor an implied comparison between two unlike things that actually
have something in common
iii. Alliteration repetition of beginning consonant sounds
iv. Hyperbole major exaggeration or overstatement
v. Onomatopoeia use of a word which imitates a sound
vi. Personification giving human traits or characteristics to something that
isnt human, such as animals, objects or non-living things
vii.
Apostrophe a direct address to a person or thing
b. Symbols - images or concrete references that stand for something else in
reality and suggest another level of meaning
C. Sense or Meaning a poem must say something that it must enlighten, reveal a
truth, open new vistas, give new perceptions, enable to understand the world
around us more deeply, and see things beyond the physical senses

KINDS OF POETRY

1. Lyric Poetry utterance of the human heart in poetic form, brief and subjective,
marked by imagination, melody and emotion, and creating single unified expression
a. Simple Lyric includes those lyrical poems that do not properly belong under
any of the other types of lyrics
b. Song short lyric poem which has a particularly melodious quality and is
intended primarily to be sung, or can be easily set to music
c. Sonnet a lyric of fourteen lines with a formal rhyme scheme or pattern
d. Elegy lamentation or an expression of mourning for the dead
e. Ode most majestic type of lyric poetry exalted in tone and expresses lofty
praise for some person, event or idea
f. Idyll a descriptive poem of rural or pastoral character which expresses poets
feeling of his immediate landscape
2. Narrative Poetry it tells a story following a chronology of events
a. Ballad short simple narrative poem composed to be sung and altered as it was
orally transmitted from generation until it was written down much later
b. Metrical Tale relates real, ordinary or imaginary events in simple
straightforward language
c. Metrical Romance long rambling love story in verse rich in allegory revolving
around the adventures of knights and lords and their highborn ladies during the
age of chivalry
d. Epic long majestic narrative poem which tells of the exploits of a traditional
hero and the development of a nation
3. Dramatic Poetry focuses on characters feelings rather than narrative and it is
designed to be spoken or acted on stage
a. Dramatic Monologue a long speech in a play or a story delivered by a single
person
b. Soliloquy message spoken by a speaker in a poem or by a character in play
except that there is no one present to hear him
c. Character Sketch poem in which writer is concerned less with matters of
story, complete or implied, than he is with arousing sympathy, antagonism, or
merely interest for an individual
d. Comedy a dramatic play of light and humorous character with a cheerful or
happy ending
e. Tragedy portrays struggle of a strong-willed protagonist against fate
f. Dramatic History a dramatic play dealing with past historical event
g. Farce a comic play marked by broadly satirical comedy and improbable plot
h. Melodrama characterized by heavy use of suspense, sensational episodes,
romantic sentiment and conventional happy ending
i. Mosque a form of dramatic entertainment of the 16 th and 17th century
performed by masked actors

II.

Prose the ordinary form of spoken or written language without metrical

structure

CHARACTERISTICS OF PROSE
A. Narrative: writing which tells a story (can be fiction or non-fiction); usually told in
chronological order; has characters; follows the basic plot-line - exposition, rising
action, climax, falling action
B. Expository: gives basic information; used often in speeches and essays; does not
tell a story or argue
C. Descriptive: describes something in detail, again without telling a story or arguing
a point; used most often in combination with another mode of writing, but alone is
often found in scientific or medical reports
D. Persuasive: argues a point (or two sides of a question); gives evidence in favor or
against

DIVISIONS OF PROSE
1. Non-fiction - prose writing that is based on facts, real events, and real people
a) Anecdote a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or
person
b) Essay a short piece of writing on a particular subject
c) Memoir a historical account or biography written from personal knowledge
or special sources
d) Letter written message addressing a person or an organization
e) Epistles literary composition in a form of a formal letter
f) Journal a composition published periodically for an exclusive readership
g) Diary a daily account of what happened in someones life
h) Article a piece of writing included with others in a newspaper, magazine, or
other publication
i) Biography an account of someone's life written by someone else
j) Autobiography - an account of a person's life written by that person
2. Fiction prose writing that is based on imagination
a) Short Story a story with a fully developed theme but significantly shorter
and less elaborate than a novel
Elements of Short Story
Character a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in
the action of a short story or other literary work
Kinds of Characters
o Round Characters are convincing, true to life and they have
many different and sometimes even contradictory personality
traits.
o Dynamic Characters undergo some type of change or
development in story, often because of something that happens
to them
o Flat Characters are stereotyped, shallow, and often symbolic
and they have only one or two personality traits
o Static Characters do not change in the course of the story

o Protagonist the main character

o Antagonist the character who opposes the protagonist
Methods of Characterization
Direct Characterization the author develops the personality
of a character by direct statements
o Indirect Characterization revealing a characters personality
through the characters thoughts, words, appearance and
actions
Setting the time and place in which it happens
Plot a series of events and character actions that relate to the
central conflict
Components of Plot
o Introduction the start of the story, the situation before the
action starts
o Rising Action the series of conflicts and crisis in the story
that lead to the climax
o Climax/Turning Point the most intense moment either
mentally or in action the reader wonders what will happen
next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
o Falling Action the events and complications begin to resolve
themselves
o Resolution the conclusion, the untangling of events in the
story
o

Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story

Types of Conflict
a. Interpersonal Conflict
Human vs. Human
Human vs. Nature
Human vs. Society
b. Internal Conflict
Human vs. Self
Point of View - the angle or perspective from which the story is told
o First person POV told from the viewpoint of one of the
characters, using the first person pronoun I
o Second person POV the main character in the story is
referred to using the second person pronoun you
o Third Person POV the story is told using a narrator who is
located outside of the action of the story and uses third person
pronouns such as he, she, his, her, they etc.
Types of Third Person POV
- Omniscient the narrator has the power to show the reader
what is happening though a number of characters eyes
- Limited Omniscient third person, told from the viewpoint
of a character in the story

b)

c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)

Objective third person, told as if from a camera that

follows the characters. Only what is said and done is
recorded
Theme is the central idea or belief in a short story which is either
stated directly or implied in the actions or events
Forms of Themes
o Irony opposite of the real meaning
- Verbal Irony: This is the contrast between what is said
and what is meant. In other words: sarcasm
- Dramatic Irony: This is the contrast between what the
character thinks to be true and what we (the reader) know
to be true
- Situational Irony: This is the most common in literature
which is about the contrast between what happens and
what was expected (or what would seem appropriate)
o Symbolism - represents an idea, quality, or concept larger than
itself
o Flashback - this is a writers technique in which the author
interrupts the plot of the story to recreate an incident of an
earlier time
o Foreshadowing - this is a writers technique in which the
author provides clues or hints as to what is going to happen
later in the story
Novel a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length, portraying
characters, actions and scenes representative of real life in a more or less
intricate plot
Novelette shorten than a novel, longer than a short story
Tales of Adventure deals with stories involving danger and unknown risks
or mans encounter with nature
Fable stories about animals
Parable stories from the Bible
Myth deals with supernatural beings, gods and goddesses
Legend deals with the origin of things
Folktale is characteristically anonymous, timeless and placeless tales
circulated orally among people
Fairytale narrative of adventures involving fantastic forces and beings
Prose Romance prose narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds,
pageantry, and romantic exploits usually in a historical or imaginary setting
Prose Allegory narrative prose from which abstract ideas are personified