Literature

- latin: “litera”- aquintance with letters

- critism of life
- different varities or genre
- an enduring expression of a significant human experience

2 divisions of literature
 prose
o sentences, paragraphs
o short stories,novels,essay,fiction
 poetry
o lines, stanzas
o uses figurative language
o language of the soul
o universalizing a thought, idea,feeling,sensation or internal experience
Elements of poetry
 Stanzas- grouping of lines, usually 4
 Rhythm- stress (/) and unstress (v)
-“rhythmos”- measured motion
v / v / v / v /
- Come live with me and be my love
 Rhyme- creates the sound or song like of the poem
-End rhyme- terminal rhyme/ tail rhyme
- alternate lines
- last words in two or more lines rhyme w/ each other
- The hand that held my wrist
At every step you missed
- Internal rhyme- middle
- occurs within a single line or between phrases
- I went to town to buy a gown.
 Lines- building blocks to create a poem
 Meter- grouping of rhythmic structure
-Metrical Norms -Mono, di, tri, tetra,penta,hexa
- Major Foot Structures
 Iamb- unstressed -stressed (v /)
 Anapest- two unstressed-one stressed (vv/)
 Dactyl- one stressed- two unstressed (/vv)
 Trochaic- one stressed- one unstressed (/v)
3 Types of Poetry
 Narrative- in a form of stanza, stories,free verse
 Descriptive- purely description, giving ideas, non-free verse
 Humorous
 PRE-SPANISH PERIOD
 Literary pieces were transmitted by words of mouth; others were preserved on bamboo and
leaves.
 3 Literary Categories
1. Folk Narratives
 Myths- believed by people that it is not true
 Legends- prose tells about the origin of a place, thing or name. Imaginary,
unbelievable. Aim is to entertain.
 Fables- usually about animals that is intended to teach a lesson.
 Epics- long narrative poems. Series of heroic events.
2. Folk speech
 Proverbs- saying that gives advice about how people should live or expresses a
belief that is thought to be true.
 Riddles- 4-12 syllables. Made up of one or more measured lines with rhyme.
3. Folk songs
 Songs mirrors the early forms of culture.