CONCEPT AND DEFINITION CONCEPT AND DEFINITION

Based on rich imagination of the author – narrative,

Definitions: descriptive, dramatic.

Manipulation of facts to produce literary work of art

•derived from the Latin term litera which
means letter Literary conventions – meaning is so widely understood
•Anything that mirrors life within a society that authors can expect their audiences
to accept
•Anything written that reflects an
existing society Literary criticism – descriptions, analyses,
interpretations and evaluations of works of literature
•Anything written creatively that using different (philosophical or ideological) theories
conveys author s personal experience, or viewpoints
thoughts, ideas, emotions, opinion,
Literary canon – a group of works generally agreed
vision and dreams. upon by critics to be masterpieces; appears again and
again in anthologies of literature and course syllabi.

Why We Need to Study Philippine

Literature?

General Types of Literature

• better appreciation of literary heritage
Literature can generally be
• can trace the rich heritage of ideas handed
down to us from our forefathers. divided into two types; prose and
poetry.
• can understand better and take pride in
being a Filipino.
PROSE consists of those written within the
common flow of conversation in sentences and
paragraphs, while POETRY refers to those
expressions in verse, with measure and rhyme,
b. SHORT STORY. This is a
line and stanza and has a more melodious tone. narrative involving one or more
characters, one plot and one
I. PROSE single impression.

There are many types of prose. These include

the following:
c. PLAYS. This is presented on a
a. NOVELS. A long narrative divided into
stage, is divided into acts and
chapters and events are taken from true-to-life each act has many scenes.
stories.

f. ANECDOTES. These are merely products

d. LEGENDS. These are fictitious narratives, of the writer s imagination and the main aim
usually about origins. is to bring out lessons to the reader.

g. ESSAY. This expresses the viewpoint or

opinion of the writer about a particular
e. FABLES. These are also fictitious and they problem or event. The best example of this
deal with animals and inanimate things who is the Editorial page of a newspaper.
speak and act like people and their purpose is
to enlighten the minds of children to events h. BIOGRAPHY. This deals with the life of a
that can mold their ways and attitudes. person which may be about himself, his
autobiography or that of others.
Example: THE MONKEY AND THE TURTLE
 A. NARRATIVE POETRY. This form
i. NEWS. This is a report of everyday events describes important events in life either real
in society, government, science and industry, or imaginary.
and accidents, happening nationally or not.
The different varieties are:
j. ORATION. This is a formal treatment of a 1. Epic. This is an extended narrative about
subject and is intended to be spoken in public.
It appeals to the intellect, to the will or to the heroic exploits often under supernatural
emotions of the audience. control.
Example: THE HARVEST SONG OF
II. POETRY ALIGUYON translated in English by Amador
T. Daguio
There are three types of poetry and these are
the following: 2. Metrical Tale. This is a narrative which is
written in verse and can be classified either
as a ballad or a metrical romance.

1. Folksongs (Awiting Bayan). These are short

3. Ballads. Of the narrative poems, this is poems intended to be sung. The common
considered the shortest and simplest. It has a theme is love, despair, grief, doubt, joy, hope
simple structure and tells of a single incident. and sorrow.
There are also variations of these: love ballads,
war ballads, and sea ballads, humorous, moral,
and historical or mythical ballads. In the early Example: CHIT-CHIRIT-CHIT
time, this referred to a song accompanying a
dance. 2. Sonnets. This is a lyric poem of 14 lines
dealing with an emotion, a feeling, or an idea.
B. LYRIC POETRY. Originally, this refers to These are two types: the Italian and the
that kind of poetry meant to be sung to the Shakespearean.
accompaniment of a lyre, but now, this applies
to any type of poetry that expresses emotions
and feelings of the poet. They are usually
short, simple and easy to understand.
3. Elegy. This is a lyric poem which 6. Awit (Song). These have measures of twelve
syllables (dodecasyllabic) and slowly sung to
expresses feelings of grief and the accompaniment of a guitar or banduria.
melancholy, and whose theme is
death. Example: FLORANTE AT LAURA by Franciso
Balagtas
4. Ode. This is a poem of a noble
feeling, expressed with dignity, with 7. Corridos (Kuridos). These have measures of
no definite number of syllables or eight syllables (octosyllabic) and recited to a
definite number of lines in a stanza. martial beat.

Example: IBONG ADARNA

5. Psalms (Dalit). This is a song
praising God or the Virgin Mary and
containing a philosophy of life.

C. DRAMATIC POETRY 3. Tragedy. This involves the hero

struggling mightily against dynamic forces;
1. Comedy. The word comedy comes from he meets death or ruin without success and
the Greek term komos meaning festivity or satisfaction obtained by the protagonist in a
revelry. This form usually is light and comedy.
written with the purpose of amusing, and
usually has a happy ending. 4. Farce. This is an exaggerated comedy. It
seeks to arouse mirth by laughable lines;
2. Melodrama. This is usually used in situations are too ridiculous to be true; the
characters seem to be caricatures and the
musical plays with the opera. Today, this is motives undignified and absurd.
related to tragedy just as the farce is to
comedy. It arouses immediate and intense
emotion and is usually sad but there is a 5. Social Poems. This form is either purely
happy ending for the principal character. comic or tragic and it pictures the life of
today. It may aim to bring about changes in
the social conditions.
Exercises 7. This was written by Confucius of China. This
became the basis of Roman Calendar.

1. Deals with ideas, thoughts, and emotions of 8. This deals with the life of a person which
man. It is said to be the story of man. may be about himself, his autobiography or
that of others.
2. Literature as a faithful reproduction of
man s manifold _______ blended into one 9.These have been the source of myths and
harmonious expression. legends of Greece. They were written by
Homer.

3-5. Three reasons why do we need to study 10.This is a lyric poem of 14 lines dealing with
Philippine Literature. an emotions, a feeling, or idea.

6. Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe of the US.

This depicted the sad fate of slaves; this
became the basis of democracy later on.

ANYTHING
author

VISION!

Experience written creatively

LITERATURE
CONVEY
dreams
OPINION