Introduction to

Literature
 Literature
• Refers to writings having excellence of
form or expression and presenting ideas of
permanent or universal interest.
• It is the body of written works produced in
a particular language, country, or age.
 Types of Literature
• Prose – a literary medium distinguished from
poetry especially by its greater irregularity and
variety of rhythm and its closed resemblance to
the patterns of everyday speech.
• Poetry – 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.
Major Literary Genres
 Short Story
• A brief fictional prose narrative usually
concerned with a single effect conveyed in
a single significant episode or scene and
involving a limited number of characters.
 Famous Short Story Writers
• Edgar Allan Poe • Anton Chekhov
– The Cask of – A Father
Amontillado – The Lottery Ticket
– Tell-Tale Heart
– The Fall of the House
of Usher
• Guy de Maupassant
– The Necklace
– The Jewels
 Drama
• A composition intended to portray life or
character or to tell a story usually
involving conflicts and emotions through
action and dialogue and typically designed
for theatrical performance.
 Essay
• An analytic, interpretative, 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 often
personal point of view.
 Kinds of Essay
• Familiar Essay – an informal, light-hearted form
of the essay.
• Formal Essay – a serious form of the essay
– Michel de Montaigne – first applied to his prose
pieces the term essais in 1571
• The Profit of One Man is Damage to Another
– Francis Bacon – Famous essayist from England
• Of Studies
 Novel
• A fictional prose narrative of considerable
length and a certain complexity that deals
imaginatively with human experience
through a connected sequence of events
involving a group of people in a specific
setting.
 Kinds of Novels
• Picaresque Novel – an early form of the novel,
usually first person narrative, relating the
adventures of a lowborn adventurer who drifts
from place to place and from one social milieu to
another in an effort to survive.
– Don Quixote dela Mancha – Miguel de Cervantes
– The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
 Kinds of Novels
• Gothic Novel – European romantic,
pseudomedieval fiction having a prevailing
atmosphere of mystery and terror.
– Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
– Dracula – Bram Stoker
– Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
 Kinds of Novels
• Historical Novel – has its setting a period
in history that attempts to convey the spirit,
manners, and social conditions of a past
age with realistic detail and fidelity to
historical facts.
– War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
– Without Seeing the Dawn – Stevan Javellana
POETRY
 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

NARRATIVE POETRY LYRIC POETRY DRAMATIC POETRY

Epic Ode Tragedy

Ballad Elegy Comedy

Metrical Tale Sonnet Melodrama

Farce
Idyll

Social Play
is a sub-division of poetry which tells
or narrates a story. It may be lengthy
as an epic, or short as a ballad and
typically measured as a metrical tale.
NARRATIVE POETRY

Epic
A long narrative
Ballad
poem
Metrical Tale recounting the
deeds of a hero
with
supernatural
powers.
 Famous Epics
• The Iliad – consists of 24 books covering
the last 49 days of the tenth year of the
Trojan War in the 10th century B.C. Most
of the books give detailed accounts of the
fierce battles waged on the plains of Troy.
 Famous Epics
• The Odyssey – also by Homer, consists
also of 24 books, is closely connected with
The Iliad in as much as it represents the
ten-year struggle of the Greek Ulysses
(Odysseus) to reach and save his own
kingdom, Ithaca, after the fall of Troy.
 Famous Epics
• The Aeneid – the great epic of Rome, was
written by Virgil in the first century A.D.
The story tells of how Aeneas is able to
establish the city of Rome.
 Famous Epics
• Beowulf – is England’s oldest epic. It is
about the heroic deeds of Beowulf who
helped save the kingdom of Heorot.
 Famous Epics
• The Shah Namah – is the great epic of
Persia. It was written by Firdausi, meaning
“Singer of Paradise.” The story tells of the
struggle of Persia to overthrow her
enemies.
 Famous Epics
• The Nibelungenlied – a folk epic
consisting of 39 parts called adventures. It
tells the story of Siegfried and how he
helped King Gunther win his bride. It is
also about the lack of union between rival,
kindred tribes.
 Famous Epics
• The Song of Roland – the great epic of
France was probably written near the end
of the 11th century. The story depicted the
great struggle of Christian knights of
France under Charlemagne against the
Moors or the Mohammedans.
 Famous Epics
• El Cid – is the great folk-epic of Spain,
written about 1200 A.D. The story tells of
the deeds of the great Cid or lord Rodrigo
in his wars with the Moors.
 Famous Epics
• The Divine Comedy – written by Dante, is
the great epic of Italy and of Medieval
Christianity. The epic has three parts:
Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The
great purpose to be accomplished in the
epic is the salvation of the soul.
NARRATIVE POETRY A short narrative
poem which could
Epic be sung. It’s very
short and told in
Ballad great rapidity. It tells
a simple, serious
Metrical Tale
story which usually
has a tragic ending.
Love, tragedy, and
the supernatural
predominate
 Lord Randal
"Lord Randall", or
"Lord Randal", is
an Anglo-Scottish
border ballad
consisting of
dialogue between a
young Lord and his
mother.
 Richard Cory

The poem describes a person who is wealthy,

well educated, mannerly, and admired by the
people in his town. Despite all this, he fatally
shoots himself in the head.
Richard Cory

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich – yes, richer than a king –

And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
NARRATIVE POETRY A long rambling love
story in verse. It is the
Epic popular type of
literature during the
Ballad
Middle Ages. Chivalry,
romantic love, religion
Metrical predominate.
Tale Wonderful and
impossible adventures
are set forth.
NARRATIVE POETRY
a narrative poem
which narrates a story
Epic
in a “metered” or
“measured” number of
Ballad
syllables hence it was
called metrical. There
Metrical
are two popular
Tale variations in
Philippine Literature,
the Awit and Corrido.
NARRATIVE POETRY
Awit is a romance
metrical tale of
Epic
dodecasyllabic
measure which is
Ballad
recited during formal
performances or
Metrical
informal gatherings.
Tale
Awit

Corrido
Florante at Laura by Francisco
“Balagtas” Baltazar.
NARRATIVE POETRY Corrido is a martial or
adventure metrical
Epic tale of octosyllabic
measure which is
Ballad
recited for
recreational
Metrical purposes.
Tale
Corrido
 Ibong Adarna
by Jose Corazon dela Cruz.
 Metrical Romance
– Le Morte de Arthur
– Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
 Metrical Tale
• A short story in verse. It deals with any emotion
or phase of life. Its story is told in as simple,
straightforward, and realistic manner as possible.
– The Canterbury Tales – written by Geoffrey
Chaucer; a collection of isolated stories about different
people of Medieval England.
– The Decameron – written by Giovanni Boccaccio; a
collection of tales told by a group of young people
escaping the Black Death from the city.
NARRATIVE POETRY
• a simple
Epic descriptive work
in poetry or prose
Ballad
that deals with
Metrical rustic life or
Tale
pastoral scenes or
Idyll suggests a mood
of peace and
contentment.
Example:

Beside the Pasig

River by Jose Rizal.
is a sub-division of poetry which
features poems intended to be sung
with the accompaniment of the
musical instrument called “lyre” hence,
lyric poetry.
 POETRY

NARRATIVE POETRY DRAMATIC POETRY

LYRIC POETRY The most majestic type

of lyric poetry. It
Ode expresses enthusiasm,
Elegy
lofty praise of some
person or thing, deep
Sonnet reflection or restrained
feeling.
Ode to the West Wind
(Percy Bysshe Shelley)
 Ode to Duty
(William Wordsworth)
Ode to a Nightingale
(John Keats)
 POETRY

DRAMATIC POETRY
NARRATIVE POETRY

LYRIC POETRY
A lyric poem that
Ode voices the author’s
personal grief for a
Elegy loved one or a
Sonnet meditation on death.
It is a poem of
Idyll lamentation.
 Elegy
– Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
(Thomas Gray)
– She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways
(William Wordsworth)
– Break, Break, Break (Alfred Lord Tennyson)
 POETRY

DRAMATIC POETRY
NARRATIVE POETRY

LYRIC POETRY
Composed of 14
Ode iambic pentameter
lines. The Italian writer
Elegy Petrarch was the first
to write the sonnets. In
Sonnet England, Shakespeare,
Spencer, Sidney, and
Idyll
others wrote them.
 Sonnet
– Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets (Sonnets 14,
18, and 29 are the most popular)
– How Do I Love Thee (Elizabeth Barrett
Browning)
a sub-division of poetry which
features poems meant to be
performed on stage. theater plays
and dramatic presentations belong
to this type.
 POETRY

NARRATIVE POETRY LYRIC POETRY DRAMATIC POETRY

a dramatic poetry
Tragedy
which features a hero Farce
whose hubris or Social Play
shortcoming eventually
Comedy
causes his downfall or
defeat often ending in a Melodrama
very sad conclusion.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
 The Three Rats
by Wilfrido Ma. Guerero
 POETRY

NARRATIVE POETRY LYRIC POETRY DRAMATIC POETRY

Tragedy
is a dramatic poetry
which is an Farce
exaggerated comedy Social Play
that aims to elicit Comedy
laughter hence, Melodrama
relaxation.
Importance of Being Earnest
by Oscar Wilde.
 POETRY

NARRATIVE POETRY LYRIC POETRY DRAMATIC POETRY

Tragedy
a dramatic poetry which
tackles social issues and Farce
problems such as poverty,
corruption, discrimination, Social Play
racism, sexism, among Comedy
others, with an aim to bring Melodrama
awareness and bring about
positive change.
Zsazsa Zaturnah
by Carlo Vergara.
 POETRY

NARRATIVE POETRY LYRIC POETRY DRAMATIC POETRY

Tragedy
a dramatic poetry
Farce
which is similar with
tragedy except that the Social Play
hero triumphs and
overcomes the odds
Comedy
Melodrama
towards the end and
emerges victoriously.
 The Twelfth Night
by William Shakespeare.
 POETRY

NARRATIVE POETRY LYRIC POETRY DRAMATIC POETRY

Tragedy
a dramatic poetry
Farce
which is a
Social Play
combination of the
elements of tragedy Comedy

and comedy yet ends Melodrama

in a happy note.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
 Dramatic Monologue
• Has one speaker and is not adapted for
regular stage presentation. It is, however,
sometimes used for declamatory purposes.
– My Last Duchess (Robert Browning)
 Satire
• Topical literary composition holding up
human or individual vices, folly, abuses, or
shortcomings to censure by means of
ridicule, irony, or other methods,
sometimes with an intent to bring about
improvement.
– Plays of Aristophanes
 Wanted: A Chaperon
(Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero)
 Simple Lyric
• Touches every mood and emotion of the
human heart. All the other poems that do
not properly belong under any of the types
of lyrics are called simple lyric poems.
– The Tiger (William Blake)
– The Road Not Taken, Stopping by Woods
on a Snowy Evening (Robert Frost)
– Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore)
Figures of Speech
 Figures of Speech
• A form of expression used to convey
meaning or heighten effect by comparing
or identifying one thing with another that
has a meaning or connotation familiar to
the reader or listener.
 Simile
• A comparison between two unlike entities.
The resemblance is explicitly indicated by
the words “like” or “as.”
– He eats like a pig.
– I wandered lonely as a cloud.
 Metaphor
• A word or phrase that denotes one kind of
object or action used in place of another to
suggest a likeness or analogy between
them.
– You are the apple of my eyes.
– What is a sonnet? ‘Tis the early shell that
murmurs of the far-off murmuring sea; A
precious jewel carved most curiously; it is a
little picture painted well.
 Personification
• Human characteristics are attributed to an
abstract quality, animal, or inanimate
object.
– Death lays his icy hand on kings.
– The windy waves were dancing.
 Dramatic Poetry
• Dramas written in verse form. The poetic
form is used to set forth life and character
by means of speech and action.
– Oedipus Rex (Sophocles), Medea (Euripedes)
– The dramas of Shakespeare
 Hyperbole
• An intentional exaggeration for emphasis
or comic effect.
– I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.
– It’s raining cats and dogs.
 Synecdoche
• A part represents the whole.
– Hired hands
– No roving foot shall crush thee here.
 Metonymy
• Using the name of one thing for something
else with which it is associated.
– The eye of heaven
– Lands belonging to the crown
 Antonomasia
• Some defining word or phrase is
substituted for a person’s proper name.
– The Bard of Avon (William Shakespeare)
– The Brain of the Katipunan (Emilio Jacinto)
 Oxymoron
• A word or group of words that is self-
contradicting.
– Bittersweet
– Cruel Kindness
 Allegory
• An extended metaphor.
• A more or less symbolic fictional narrative that
conveys a secondary meaning or meanings not
explicitly set forth in the literal narrative.
– Allegory of the Cave (Socrates)
– The Little Prince (Anton de Saint Exuperry)
– Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Aurelio
Tolentino)
 Apostrophe
• A speaker turns from the audience as a
whole to address a single person or thing.
– O Death, be not proud!
– Break, break, break, on thy cold grey stones, O
Sea!
 Assonance
• Relatively close juxtaposition of similar
sounds, especially of vowels. This is also
called vowel rhyme.
– I arise from dreams of thee.
– In the first sweet sleep of night
 Alliteration
• The repetition of consonant sounds in two
or more neighboring words or syllables.
– The splendor falls on castle walls.
 Anaphora
• Repetition of a word or words at the
beginning of two or more successive
clauses or verses.
– “For everything there is a season, and a time
for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up
what is planted…”
 Allusion
• An implied or indirect reference to a
person, event, thing, or a part of another
text.
– I’m not Lazarus, nor Prince of Hamlet.
– Literature is my Achilles’ Heel.
– Beware of Greeks bearing gifts
 Literary Devices
• Stream of Consciousness Technique – a
narrative technique in non-dramatic fiction
intended to render the flow of myriad
impressions – visual, auditory, physical,
associative, and subliminal.
– The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
– The Waves (Virginia Woolf)
– May Day Eve (Nick Joaquin)
 Literary Devices
• Foreshadowing – the organization and
presentation of events and scenes in a work
of fiction or drama so that the reader or
observer is prepared to some degree for
what occurs later in the work.
 Literary Devices
• Flashback – a literary or theatrical
technique used also in motion pictures and
television that involves interruption of the
chronological sequence of events by
interjection of events or scenes of earlier
occurrence.
 Quotable Quotes
• “A little learning is a dangerous thing.”
– Essay on Criticism (Alexander Pope)
 Quotable Quotes
• “If eyes are made for seeing, then beauty is
its own excuse for being.”
– The Rhodora (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
 Quotable Quotes
• “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man
healthy, wealthy and wise.”
– Poor Richard’s Almanac (Benjamin
Franklin)
 Quotable Quotes
• “Water, water everywhere, but not a drop
to drink.”
– The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Samuel
Taylor Coleridge)
 Quotable Quotes
• “To see the world in a Grain of Sand and a
heaven in a Wild flower, hold Infinity in
the palm of your hand, and Eternity in an
hour.”
– Auguries of Innocence (William Blake)