MARIO G. BARLOLONGFACULTY MEMBERPANPACIFIC UNIVERSITY NORTH PHILIPPINES

LECTURE in LITERATURE

“an education in the arts is an

education in feelings”

WHAT IS LITERATURE?Derived from the Latin term LITERA, which means letter. It has been defined differently by various writers.

It is a faithful reproduction of man’s manifold experiences blended into one harmonious expression.

It is an art of expressing beauty through a medium called language.

It expresses the feelings of people to society, to the government, to his surroundings, to his fellowmen and to his Divine Creator

It is a recreation of human situation and experience through language.

True literature is a piece of written work which is undying.

PURPOSES OF STUDY LITERATURE

We can better appreciate our literary heritage.

We can trace the rich heritage of ideas handed down to us by our forefathers.

THREE MAIN INGREDIENTS:

1. subject

2. form or structure

3. point of view

THREE TYPES OF POINT OF VIEW

1. first person point of view

2. omniscient point view

3. limited/modified omniscient point of view

Narrator--The person telling the story. First-person--Narrator participates in action but sometimes has limited knowledge/vision. Objective--Narrator is unnamed/unidentified (a detached observer). Does not assume character's perspective and is not a character in the story. The narrator reports on events and lets the reader supply the meaning. Omniscient--All-knowing narrator (multiple perspectives). The narrator takes us into the character and can evaluate a character for the reader (editorial omniscience). When a narrator allows the reader to make his or her own judgments from the action of the characters themselves, it is called neutral omniscience. Limited omniscient--All-knowing narrator about one or two characters, but not all.

VALUES OF LITERATURE

1. aesthetic value- main aim is to give pleasure to the readers.

2. cognitive value- gives its readers knowledge.

3. social value- capacity to inspire the readers to change themselves

APPROACHES TO LITERATURE

FORMALISTIC OR LITERARY APPROACH-

- selection is viewed intrinsically or for itself, independent of author, age or any extrinsic factor.

MORAL OR HUMANISTIC APPROACH-

-the nature of man is essential to literature. The reader presents man as essentially rational with intellect and freewill.

HISTORICAL APPROACH-

-it sees literature as both a reflection and a product of the times and circumstances in which it was written.

SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH

-an extension of the historical approach. It considers literature as principally the expression of a man within the given social situation.

CULTURAL APPROACH

-considers literature as one of the principal manifestations and vehicles of a nation’s or a race’s culture and tradition

PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH

-considers literature as an expression of “personality”, of “inner drives”, of “neuroses”. It includes the psychology of the author, of the characters, and even the psychology of creation.

IMPRESSIONISTIC APPROACH

-it is very personal, very relative, sometimes very fruitful, sometimes simply the lazy man’s way out. Unconditioned by explanations and often taking the impact as a whole.

LITERARY STANDARDS

1. UNIVERSALITY-literature appeals to everyone, regardless of culture, race, sex and time which are considered significant.

2. ARTISTRYliterature has an aesthetical appeal and thus possesses a sense of beauty.

3. INTELLECTUAL VALUE-literature stimulates critical thinking that enriches mental processes of abstract and reasoning, making man analyze the fundamental truths of life and its nature.

4. SUGGESTIVENESS-literature unravels and conjures man’s emotional power to define symbolisms, nuances, implied meanings, images and messages, giving and evoking visions above and beyond the plane of ordinary life and experience.

5. SPIRITUAL VALUE-literature elevates the spirit and the soul and thus has the power to motivate and inspire, drawn from the suggested morals and lessons of the different literary genres.

6. PERMANENCE-literature endures

across the time and draws out the time factor timeliness occurring at a particular time, and timelessness, meaning invariable throughout the time.

7. STYLE-literature present peculiar ways on how man sees life as experienced by the formation of his ideas, forms, structures, and expressions which are marked by their memorable substance.

LITERARY/STORY ELEMENTS

1. setting- refers to the locale and period in which a story occurs. A story must take place in space and time.

2. CHARACTERRefers to any make-believe persons we encounter in fiction. Characters are classified as HERO or protagonist and VILLAIN or antagonist. As regards to characterization, they may be flat or static, round or developing

WAYS OF REVEALING LITERARY CHARACTERS

1. Actions of the characters2. Thoughts of the characters3. Descriptions of the

characters4. Descriptions of the other

characters5. Descriptions of the author

KINDS OF CHARACTERS

Protagonist--Major character at the center of the story. Antagonist--A character or force that opposes the protagonist.

Minor character--0ften provides support and illuminates the protagonist. Static character--A character who remains the same. Dynamic character--A character who changes in some important way.

Characterization--The means by which writers reveal character. Explicit Judgment--Narrator gives facts and interpretive comment. Implied Judgment--Narrator gives description; reader make the judgment

3. PLOT

This is the sequence of the actions in the story.

•Causality--One event occurs because of another event. •Foreshadowing--A suggestion of what is going to happen. •Suspense--A sense of worry established by the author.

•Conflict--Struggle between opposing forces. •Exposition--Background information regarding the setting, characters, plot.

•Complication or Rising Action--Intensification of conflict. •Crisis--Turning point; moment of great tension that fixes the action. •Resolution/Denouement--The way the story turns out.

DEVICES USED IN THE PLOT:

A. Chronological sequence

B. FlashbackC. ForeshadowingD. SuspenseE. Deus ex machina

4. CONFLICTRefers to the opposing forces among the characters with the events and the situations in the piece presented.

Conflict is the essence of fiction. It creates plot. The conflicts we encounter can usually be identified as one of five kinds.

A. MAN VERSUS MAN

This is the type of conflict where one character in the story has a problem with one or more of the other characters.

B. MAN VERSUS SOCIETY

The type of conflict where a character has a conflict or problem with the element of society- the school, the law, the accepted way of doing things, and so on.

C. MAN VERSUS SELF

The type of conflict where a character has trouble deciding what to do in a particular situation.

D. MAN VERSUS NATURE

The type of conflict where a character has a problem with some natural happening, a storm, an avalanche, the bitter cold, natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami, and so on.

E. MAN VERSUS FATEThe character has to battler what seems to be an uncontrollable problem. Whenever the problem seems to be strange or unbelievable coincidence, fate can be considered the cause and effect.

5. MOODThis is the feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for a reader. Connotative words, sensory images and figurative language contribute to the mood of a selection.

6. THEMEGeneral or the central truth or idea embedded in the literary piece. The writer’s perception about life or human character that a story implicitly or explicitly embodies.

7. TONEThe attitude a writer takes toward his/her subject. All the elements in a work of literature creates its tone, which migh be humurous, serious, angry, bitter or detached.

8. SYMBOL

It is the image of one thing but presents another thing.

9. IMAGERYThese are the words and phrases that create vivid sensory experiences for the reader, these may be similar to figures of speech.

THE MAIN DIVISIONS OF LITERATURE

PROSEA literary medium which is distinguished from poetry especially by its greater irregularity and variety of rhythm and its close resemblance to the patterns of everyday speech.

TWO DIVISIONS OF PROSE

FICTION include stories that do not happen in real life, or they lack facts for their basis

NON-FICTION

Composed of true-to-life events and stories

KINDS OF FICTION

SHORT STORY- a story read in one sitting. Its aim is unity of characterization, theme and effect

NOVEL- a prose of considerable length. It has many plots, characters and settings.

LEGENDS- stories of the origin or the existence of a place, person, object etc.

ADVENTURES are stories filled with suspense from beginning to end.

ALLEGORIES are stories that give moral/lessons

Drama is a narrative with characters, plot and theme and is presented on stage

KINDS OF NON-FICTION

Biography is a story of a person’s life written by another person

AUTOBIOGRAPHY is a story of a person’s life written by himself.

DIARY is a record of day to day activities of the writer.

LETTERS are notes sent to persons by the writer.

JOURNALS are written reports on certain fields of education.

ESSAYSAnalytic, interpretive or critical literary composition usually much shorter and less systematic and formal than a dissertation or thesis and usually dealing with its subject from a limited and personal point of view

KINDS OF ESSAYS

A. STRICT AND IMPERSONAL ESSAYSDeal with the serious topics that are authoritative and scholarly in treatment. It reveals the writer’s mastery of the subject where its tone is dictated, characterized as something detached, objective, clear and straightforward.

B. CASUAL OR FAMILIAR ESSAYS

Deal with light, ordinary, casual, conversational, friendly, often humorous, and appeals more to the emotion than the intellect, touching on the sensitivity first then the mind.

ELEMENTS OF ESSAY

A. IDEA

Explores the general proposition or thesis that the essay argues about its topic whether it is spelled out fully at the start or revealed gradually. I should be true but arguable and limited enough in scope to be argued in short composition.

B. MOTIVE

identifies the reason for writing, which is suggested at the start of the essay and echoed throughout. It establishes the reason why one has thought of the topic that needed taking up and why the reader should care.

C. STRUCTURE

Forms the shape of the ideas, the sequence of sub-topics and sections through whichthe ideas are unfolded and developed. This takes place through the complimentary activities of convincing the reader and exploring the topic.

D. EVIDENCES

Identify the facts or details, summarized or quoted, that one uses to support, demonstrate and prove the main idea and sub-ideas. They are ample, concrete, and explicitly connected to the idea.

E. EXPLANATIONS

Are bits of background information, summary, context to orient the reader/s who are not familiar with the text being discussed. It includes essential plot information, precise location of scene or comment, setting up a quotation, telling who is speaking, in what context, and what the reader should be listening for in it.

F. COHERENCE

Shapes the smooth flow of argument created by transition sentences that show how the next paragraph or section follows from the preceding ones, thus sustaining momentum and echoing key words or resonant phrases quoted or stated earlier.

G. IMPLICATIONPlaces speculation on the

general significance of the particular analysis of a particular text. One suggests issues of argumentation raised about the author’s work or generally about the work of its kind, or about the way fiction or criticism works.

H. PRESENCE

Points out the sensations of life in writing, of a mind invested in and focused on a subject, freely directing, and developing the essay, not surrendering control to easy ideas, sentiments and stock phrases.

Current publications are news items, articles in newspapers and magazines and in other forms of publications

History- is a record of the past

POETRY

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in the tranquility. Greek poetry is found in free verse and we have rhymes in the Persian poem.

Writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific response through its meaning, sound and rhythm.

Poetry can be defined as ‘literature in a metrical form’ or ‘a composition forming rhythmic lines

Take a look at these words:

so much depends upon the red wheel barrow glistened with rain water beside the white chickens

so much dependsupona red wheelbarrow

glazed with rainwater

beside the whitechickens

ELEMENTS OF POETRY

1. SENSE OF A POEM2. SOUND OF A

POEM3. STRUCTURE OF A

POEM

I. SENSE OF A POEM1. Denotation vs. Connotation

denotation is the dictionary meaning of the word while connotation is the suggested meaning/s associated with the word beyond its dictionary definition.

2. IMAGERYIt is the use of sensory details or descriptions that appeal to one or more of the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. These are otherwise known as the “senses of the mind”.

3. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGEIt is a language used for descriptive effects in order to convey ideas or emotions which are not literally true but express some truths beyond the literal level. Figures of speech are specific devices that uses words, phrases and sentences in a non-literal definition but rather give meanings in abstractions.

TYPES OF FIGURES OF SPEECH

A.Allusion is a reference in a work of literature to a character, a place, or a situation from history, literature, the Bible, mythology, character or place.

EXAMPLE OF ALLUSIONI imagine myself thus,My fearless navigator, as you scribe

Antonio Pigafetta annotatingThe progress of our journey inside

The Trinidad, the sturdy galleonOf our newfangled love.

B.ANTITHESIS

-is a disparity of words or ideas.

Example:It is virtually a sea but dry like a heart

That has forgotten compassion.

C. APOSTROPHE

-the address to an inanimate object, an idea, or a person who is absent or dead.

Not yet Rizal, not yetSleep not in peace.

D. HYPERBOLE-is an exaggeration used to express strong emotion, to make point or to evoke humor.

“This heat”, I mutter,“melts the very bones”.

E. IRONY-is a contrast or discrepancy between appearance and reality.

Neither is man aware of the unkind

Fight for time; for, though it gives him life

It is dragging him nearer to his grave.

F. METAPHOR-implies comparison instead of a direct statement and that equates two seemingly unlike things or ideas.

She is the apple of my eyeBut the sweetest thorn on my neck.

G. ONOMATOPOEIA-is the use of a word/phrase that actually imitates or suggests the sound of what it describes.

“croaking of the frog”“hissing of the snake”“tweeting of the birds”

H. PERSONIFICATION-is giving human attributes/characteristics to inanimate objects, an animal, force of nature, or an idea.

Sunflowers pushed out of the shadows

Betrayed into tracking the sun.

I. SIMILE-uses the word or phrase such as “as” or “like” to compare seemingly unlike things or ideas.

His lips are as soft as rose petals.

Her hair is as black as the night.

Elegy: This type of poem is the lamenting of the death of a person or his near one. Elegy Written in Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray is one of the famous poems marked as sad poems of the ages.

Ode: Ode is the formal and long poem serious in nature.

Allegory: Allegory is the famous form of poetry and is loved by the readers because of its two symbolical meanings. One is the literal meaning and another is the deep meaning.

Epic and Mock epic: Epics are the narrative poems that convey moral and culture of that period. The Odyssey and Iliad are one of the largest philosophical epics written by Samuel Butler.

Style: refers to the way the poem is written. Poems are written in various styles, such as free verse, ballad, sonnet, etc., which have different meters and number of stanzas.

Symbol: represents the idea and thought of the poem. It can be an object, person, situation or action. For example, a national flag is the symbol of that nation.

Imagery: Imagery is another important element that a poet often uses in poems that appeal to our senses. In the age of modernism, T.S. Eliot used images of urban life in his poems. Wordsworth used nature as poetic images in his poems.

Rhyme and rhythm: Rhyme is an element that is often used in poetry. It’s a recurrence of an accented sound or sounds in a piece of literature. Poets and lyricists use this device in various ways to rhyme within a verse.

Meter: This is an important rhythmic structure of poetry. It is described as sequence of feet, each foot being a specific series of syllable types - such as stressed/unstressed and makes the poetry more melodious

.

Alliteration: Alliteration is another element used in poetry for the sound effect. It indicates two or more words with same repetition of initial letter, for example, "dressy daffodils". Here the sound of the letter ‘d’ is repeated

Metaphor: Metaphor is used in poetry to make an implicit comparison. Unlike simile, here the comparison is implied, for example, ‘Her laughter, a babbling brook’.

Onomatopoeia: This is one important element of poetry, which refers to words that sound like their meaning, for example, buzz, moo and paw

Theme: This is what the poem is all about. The theme of the poem is the central idea that the poet wants to convey. It can be a story, or a thought, or a description of something or someone – anything which is what the poem is all about.

In Conclusion:These are the basic elements of poetry. They are an essential part of what any good poem is all about, structurally. Of course, it does not mean, that all poems must have all these elements. It depends entirely upon the poet, who is has all these tools at his disposal, to use in order to convey his ideas most effectively.