Negros College, Inc.

INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE
Tampocon 2, Ayungon. Negros Oriental

INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY STUDIES

A. NATURE AND DEFINITION OF LITERATURE
 The word literature is derived from the Latin term litera (“literae” plural) which means letter.
 Literature is anything that is printed, as long as it is related to the ideas and feelings of people, whether it is true, or just a
product of one’s imagination. (Webster)
 “True literature is a piece of written work which is undying. It expresses the feelings and emotions of people in response
to his everyday efforts to live, to be happy in his environment and, after struggles, to reach his Creator.” (Atienza, Ramos
et.al.)
 Literature refers to composition that deal with life experiences. It tells stories, dramatizes situations, expresses emotions,
analyzes, and advocates ideas.
 In the past, literary works were recited or sung, and were retained only as long as people performed these oral acts by
which these literary traditions are handed down from generation to generation. In some societies, these oral traditions of
literature still exist, with most poems and stories being spoken rather than read from the pages of a book. Even today
parents delight their children with stories and poems; poets and story writers read their works to live audiences; and plays
and scripts are interpreted on stage or before cameras.

 Oral literature - literature handed down from generation by word of mouth (Oral Tradition)
Examples are riddle, folk song, tales, epics, ballad, etc.
 Written literature - hand written, recorded or printed.
Examples are novels, short stories. Etc.
 Literature and history are closely interrelated. History can also be written and this too, is literature. Events that can be
written down are part of true literature. Literature, therefore, is part of history.

B. IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING LITERATURE

1. Literature helps us grow, both personally and intellectually.
2. Literature links us with the world of which we are a part.
3. Literature enables us to transcend our immediate time, place, and culture and to make connections with other
human beings and their concerns.
4. Literature helps us develop mature empathy with all forms of life – human, animal, and plant.
5. Literature sharpens our sense of moral judgment.
6. Literature stimulates our imagination and ingenuity.
7. Literature shows the significance of irony, paradox, oxymoron, and ambivalence.
8. Literature allows us to see the world in different vantage points.
9. Literature relieves history.
10. Literature reminds us that we are human beings.

C. THEORIES OF LITERATURE
1. It is initiative. It is believed in the study of literary background that writers follow the examples of other authors
before they arrive at their own original works.
2. It is representative. Any literary work is a substitute for reality.
3. It is appreciative. Literature gives us a bigger view of life. It enables us to grasp the nature, worth, quality, or
significance of life.
4. It is symbolic. Literature is scattered in different meanings.

D. SUBJECTS OF LITERATURE
There are varied topics or ideas that could be subjects of what people write. These could be based on their concepts
and observations about people, places, history, objects, events, or occasion, experiments, actions, and experiences.
Anything which attracts or inspires the writers can be subjects of literature.
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E. 7 LITERARY STANDARDS (QUALITIES OF GREAT LITERATURE)

1. Artistry – it is the quality that appeals to the readers’ standard of beauty. In terms of painting or literature, its
elements work together to express its intended meaning.
2. Intellectual value - the quality that enriches our mental life by making us realize the fundamental truth about life and human
nature. It helps us uncover indispensable truths about life and human nature.
3. Suggestiveness - this is the quality associated with emotional power of literature. It makes us sympathize and
empathize with the people involved in the artwork.
4. Spiritual value – it appeals to our sense of morality by making us undergo self-realization; elevates the spirit by
bringing out moral values which make us better person. It subsumes the capacity to inspire ordinary people who do
things extraordinary well.
5. Permanence - a great work of literature endures; an excellent artwork lasts. It stands the test of time. It can be read
on several occasions with the feeling that you are reading it for the first time for each reading provides new insights
about the world we live in.
6. Universality - a superb artwork is timeless and timely; it is forever relevant; it appeals to all regardless of race,
educational attainment, gender, religious affiliation, and social status because it deals with elemental feelings,
fundamental truths, and universal conditions.
7. Style – an artwork manifests the artists’ ingenuity and originality. This is the peculiar way in which writer sees life,
form his ideas and express them. He deviates from the usual convention, but he is able to showcase his talent
beyond mediocrity.

F. GENRES (DIVISIONS / CLASSIFICATIONS) OF LITERATURE

1. PROSE
 PROSE FICTION
 Prose is a writing that does not adhere to any particular formal structure not totally rhyming.and is written to be read
rather than acted or performed, and the events depicted are told to us by a narrator, not enacted or dramatized;
fictitious writing that presents a story that is invented and not literally “true” and are based on the writer’s imagination
a. Myth – is often a story of origins, how the world and everything in it came to be. It orients people to the metaphysical
dimension, attempts to explain the origins and nature of the world, as well as certain customs and practices of a
human society.
Example: TUNGKUNG LANGIT AND ALUNSINA
b. Legends. These are fictitious narratives, usually about origins. The word ‘legend’ comes from the Latin adjective
“legenda” which refers to unverified story handed down from earlier times, especially one popularly believed to be
historical.
Example: THE BIKOL LEGEND by Pio Duran
c. Parable – is a simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson
Example: THE PARABLE OF THE SEEDS AND THE SOWER
d. Fables. These are also fictitious and they deal with animals and inanimate things who speak and act like people and
their purpose is to enlighten the minds of children to events that can mold their ways and attitudes.
Example:THE MONKEY AND THE TURTLE
e. Fairy Tales – is a kind of folktale or fable. In this story, we meet witches and queens, giants and elves, princes,
dragons, talking animals, ogres, princesses, and sometimes even fairies.
Example: SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
f. Short story. This is a narrative involving one or more characters, one plot and one single impression.
Example: HOW MY BROTHER LEON BROUGHT HOME A WIFE by Manuel Arguilla
g. Novels. A long narrative divided into chapters and events are taken from true-to-life stories.
Example: WITHOUT SEEING THE DAWN by Stevan Javellana
h. Novella – is a fictional prose narrative that is longer than a short story, but shorter that a novel.
Example: Pocket Novella by Precious Hearts Romance
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 NONFICTION PROSE
 This type of prose presents factual information or expresses a viewpoint.
 The characters and the events are based on truth and are not fictitious.

a) Autobiography which comes from the Greek word auton, ‘self’, bios, ‘life’ and graphein ‘write’ is a biography written
by
the person himself or herself.
b) Biography. which comes from the Greek words “bios” meaning life, and “graphein” meaning write is personal account
of a person’s life written by another person.
Example: CAYETANO ARELLANO by Socorro O. Albert
c) Character Sketch is an abbreviated portrayal of a particular characteristic of people. It emphasizes the most striking
part of a person’s life.
d) Diary or Journal is a daily record of events in a person’s life.
e) Editorial is a statement or an article by news organization, newspaper or magazine that expresses the opinion of the
editor, editorial board, or publisher.
f) Essay. This expresses the viewpoint or opinion of the writer about a particular problem or event.
The best example of this is the Editorial page of a newspaper.
g) Anecdotes. These are merely products of the writer’s imagination and the main aim is to bring out lessons to the
reader.
Example: THE MOTH AND THE LAMP
h) News. This is a report of everyday events in society, government, science and industry, and accidents, happening nationally or
internationally.
i) Oration. This is a formal treatment of a subject and is intended to be spoken in public.

2. POETRY
 A genre of literature which refers to those expressions in verse with measure and rhyme, line and stanza and has
more melodious tone.
 It is a piece of art written by a poet in meter or in verse expressing various emotions where are expressed by the use
of variety of techniques including metaphors, similes and onomatopoeia.
 The emphasis is the use of aesthetics of language and the use of techniques such as repetition, meter, and rhyme.
 It heavily uses imagery and words associated to quickly convey emotions.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF POETRY
a. LYRIC POETRY
 Is a comparatively short, non-narrative poem in which a single speaker presents a state of mind or an emotional state.
 Originally, this refers to that kind of poetry meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre.
 It retains some of the elements of song which is said to be its origin.
Examples:
1. Awit (Song). These have measures of twelve syllables (dodecasyllabic) and slowly sung to the accompaniment of a
guitar or banduria.
Example: FLORANTE AT LAURA by Franciso Balagtas
2. Sonnet. This is a lyric poem of 14 lines dealing with an emotion, a feeling, or an idea.
These are two types: the Italian and the Shakespearean.
3. Elegy. This is a lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief and melancholy, and whose theme is death.
Example: O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman
4. Ode. This is a poem of a noble feeling, expressed with dignity, with no definite number of syllables or definite
number
of lines in a stanza.
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5. Folksongs (Awiting Bayan). These are short poems intended to be sung. The common theme is love,
despair, grief,
doubt, joy, hope and sorrow. Example: SITSIRITSIT
6. Psalms (Dalit). This is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing a philosophy of life.
Example: Psalm 23
7. Corridos (Kuridos). These have measures of eight syllables (octosyllabic) and recited to a martial beat.
Example: IBONG ADARNA

b. NARRATIVE POETRY
 It gives a verbal representation, in verse, of a sequence of connected events; it propels characters through a plot;
 It is always told by a narrator; it may tell a love story, the story of a father and son, or deeds of a hero or heroine.
The different varieties of narrative poetry are:
1. Epic. This is an extended narrative about heroic exploits often under supernatural control.
Example: Biag ni Lam-Ang
2. Metrical Romance. This is a narrative which is written in verse and which tells a story that ends happily whether
love is involved or not. It represents a chivalric theme or relates improbable adventure of idealized characters
in some remote or enchanted setting.
3. Ballad is a song, originally transmitted orally, which tells a story. It is an important form of folk poetry which was
adapted for literary uses from the 16 th century onwards. The ballad stanza is usually a four;line stanza, alternating
tetrameter and trimeter. Of the narrative poems, this is considered the shortest and simplest. It has a simple
structure and tells of a single incident.

c. DRAMATIC POETRY
 Like narrative poetry, tells stories. But in dramatic poetry, the poet lets one or more of the story’s character act out
the story. Many plays are written as dramatic poetry. The difference between drama and dramatic poetry is a matter
of degree. If the dialogue of a play rhymes, has repeating rhythms, or features of other distinct poetic elements, the
play is considered to be dramatic poetry.
1. Dramatic Monologue - is a combination of the words dramatic and monologue. The “dramatic” says that it could be
acted out and is a form of drama while a monologue defines it as a speech that one person makes ether to him or to
another.
2. Soliloquy - is a long speech in which a character who is alone on a stage expresses his or her private thoughts or
feelings. It is intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflection.

3. DRAMA / PLAY
 Drama come the Greek word “dran” which means “to do” or “to act” It is a story acted out. It shows people going
through some eventful period in their lives, seriously or humorously. The speech and action recreate the flow of
human life, which comes fully to life on the stage.
 Plays are presented on stage, divided into acts and each act has many scenes.
Example: THIRTEEN PLAYS by Wilfredo M. Guerrero

CLASSIFICATIONS OF DRAMA / PLAY

1. Tragedy. This refers to a drama in which a heroic protagonist meets an unhappy or calamitous end. This involves the
hero struggling mightily against dynamic forces.
2. Comedy. It comes from the Greek term “komos” meaning festivity or revelry. It depicts humorous incidents in which
protagonists are faced with moderate difficulties but overcome them and the play ends happily. This form usually is
light and written with the purpose of amusing, and usually has a happy ending.
3. Melodrama. This is usually used in musical plays with the opera. It is formed by combining music and stage play.
Negros College, Inc. INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE
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4. Farce. This is an exaggerated comedy. This depends upon ridiculous situations, exaggerated character types, coarse
humor, and horseplay for its comic effects.
5. Social Plays. This form is either purely comic or tragic and it pictures the life of today. It may aim to bring about
changes in the social conditions.

G. ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE

 ELEMENTS OF PROSE FICTION (SHORT STORY)

1. Setting – does not only refer to the time and location in which the story takes place but it actually encompasses
both the physical locale that frames the action and the specific time including dates and year, the climactic
actions, and even the historical period during which the story took place; it provides the historical and cultural
context for the emotional state of characters
Atmosphere – is an aspect of a story that is closely related to setting; this is the mood or feeling that pervades a
literary work
Example: light and cheerful
gray and lonely

2. Plot – is the sequence of events of a story; the series of events and character actions that relates to the central
conflict of the story; the development of the story in terms of beginning, middle, and end.

Parts of a Plot (Elements of a Plot)

a. Exposition – (also called the introduction) is the opening section of the story; in here, the information
on the setting and the characters are presented; the situation is established and some of the characters
are introduced.
b. Rising Action – (also called the complication) is the series of events that builds from and during
conflict. It begins with the inciting force and ends with the climax.
c. Climax – (also called the crisis) is the highest and the turning point of the story. Frequently, it is the
moment of the highest interest and the greatest emotion – the point at which the outcome of the conflict
can be predicted.
d. Falling Action – (also called reversal) is where the tension subsides and the crisis starts to boil
down.; this is where the crisis starts to untangle.
e. Resolution – (also called denouement) is the ending of the story which rounds out and concludes the
action. It can resolve the conflict or close the action; it is where the conflict is finally resolved.

(Freytag Diagram)

3. Character & Characterization

Character – is the person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of a short story and other
literary works.

Characterization – is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of the characters
Modes of Characterization:
1. Expository Mode of Characterization – direct and explicit way of characterizing; it tells what the
character like
2. Dramatic Mode of Characterization – indirect and implicit way of characterizing through the speech,
actions, thoughts of the characters

Characters in fiction or short story may be classified in different ways:

 Negros College, Inc. INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE
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A. According to their role and importance in the story

3. Main / Major Character – primarily responsible for the major actions in the story
Protagonist (hero/heroine) - central or leading character, the good guy in the story
Antagonist (villain) - character who opposes the protagonist; the bad guy in the story
4. Secondary / Minor Character – provide support and illuminate the protagonist; extra characters who are
all-good or all-bad, can be interesting or amusing in their own right, but they lack depth; they are not so
important characters

B. According to the complexity of their characterization

1. Flat – simple and one – dimensional; remain essentially unchanged throughout the story
2. Round – complex and multi-dimensional; exhibits a number of traits which may be conflicting

C. According to their role in advancing the plot

1. Static - characters that do not effect changes in the story
2. Dynamic – characters who make things happen and that they can alter the course of events in the
story

4. Conflict – is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move. Without
conflict,
there will be no plot. This is the essence of the story. It creates plot. Conflict can be classified into the
following:
1. Internal Conflict – conflict that occurs within the character himself
2. External Conflict – the opposition of characters against each other
a. Man vs Man
b. Man vs Nature
c. Man vs Beast / Animals
d. Man vs Society
e. Man vs Technology
f. Man vs Supernatural being

5. Point of View – pertains to who tells the story and how it is told; established by the narrator or the person telling
the story. He could be classified as:
a) First Person – The narrator is a character in the story; uses the first personal pronouns (e.g. I, me,
my, mine, we, us, our, ours)
1) First Person Observer (narrator plays a minor role)
2) First Person Participant (narrator is major character)

b) Third Person – the narrator is using third personal pronouns (such as he, him, his, she, her, hers, it,
its,
they, them, their)
1) Third Person Omniscient (All-knowing)
2) Third Person Limited (does not know all about the character)

6. Theme – the central idea or insight that comments on human conditions, a truth in life which is the heart of the
story; usually implied rather than stated
Examples:
1) Good vs Evil (personal evil or dark forces in ma’s environment such as disease, poverty and
war) or
2) Life process (childhood joys and fears or growing – up pains of teenagers)

7. Tone – the authors attitude (stated or implied) toward a subject, can be revealed thru authors choice of words and
details.
Examples: pessimism, optimism, earnestness, seriousness, bitterness, humor, and joy

8. Symbolism – a person, place, or object which has a meaning in itself but suggest other meanings as well.
Things, characters, and actions can be symbols. A symbol is anything that suggests a meaning beyond the
obvious.
Examples:
1. Dove – symbolizes freedom (or peace)
2. bright sunshine – symbolizes goodness (or happiness)
3. water - symbolizes cleansing (or life)
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9. Imagery – words used by authors to make a concrete representation of a sense impression, a feeling, or an idea
which appeals to the readers’ one or more sense.

Types of Imagery
1. Visual imagery – pertains to the sense of sight (eyes)
2. Audio imagery – pertains to the sense of hearing (ears)
3. Tactile imagery – pertains to the sense of touch (skin)
4. Olfactory imagery – pertains to the sense of smell (nose)
5. Gustatory imagery – pertains to the sense of taste (tongue)

10. Denotation and Connotation

Denotation – means the direct specific meaning as distinct from implied or associated idea; the dictionary
meaning of the text
Connotation – something suggested by a word or thing; the suggesting of a meaning by a word apart from
a thing it explicitly names or describes

 ELEMENTS OF POETRY

1. Poetic Line – is the basic unit of composition in poems

Enjambment (or run-on lines) – idea or feeling which is expressed in one line and is frequently continued into
the next line
 Scheme: A scheme refers to the rhyming pattern within a verse of poetry. The scheme could contain words that
rhyme at each of every line throughout the stanza, or alternating lines, or in couplets. We often signify the rhyme
scheme using an arrangement of letters.

 Verse: The verse of the poem is a way to describe the relationship between rhyme and meter in a poem.

 Stanza: A stanza is a group of lines within the verse of a poem. They often follow a similar pattern or meter or
contain a similar idea, but not always. They are separated from other stanzas within the poem through the use of a
break or a blank line.

 Persona – speaker in the poem, the one who is talking in the poem

2. Rhyme - the regular recurrence of similar sounds usually at the end of lines; repeats similar or corresponding
sounds in some apparent scheme.
Types of Rhyme
a. Internal Rhyme
Example:
Henny Penny is a hen;
Henny Penny is a red hen

b. End of the Line Rhyme (External Rhyme)

Examples:
Come live with me and be my love, I think that I shall never see,
And we all the pleasures prove; A poem lovely as a tree;
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, A tree whose hungry mouth was pressed,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields. Against the earth’s flowing breast.

3. Rhythm - the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.

Examples:
ALONG CAME the DOCtor!
ALONG CAME the NURSE!
ALONG CAME the LAdy!
With BIG FAT PURSE!

4. Meter - refers to words with regular rhythm. Example: the sun is shining brightly now.
Four Types of Meter
Type of Meter Meaning Examples
1. Iambic By far, the most popular and the most Whose woods / these are / I think / I know
natural in English expression. Its basic unit
or foot is one unaccented (unstressed) If all the world and love were young
syllable followed by one accented (stressed) And truth in every shepherd’s tongue
syllable. If all these pleasures might me move
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To live with thee, and be thy love

Twinkle, twinkle little star
The reverse of iambic meter. Each foot
How I wonder what you are
consist of accented (stressed) syllable
2. Trochaic Up above the world so high
followed by an unaccented (unstressed)
Like a diamond in the sky
syllable
This contain in each foot two unaccented For the moon, never beams
3. Anapestic (unstressed) syllables followed by one Without bringing me dreams
accented (stressed) syllable.
This is the opposite of anapestic. It consists
Hickory, Dickory Duck
4. Dactylic of one accented (stressed) syllable followed
by two unaccented (unstressed) syllables

Forms of Poetry
a. Haiku (3 lines) – an unrhyme Japanese verse form of poetry with 5,7,5 syllables
b. Tanka (5 lines) – an unrhymed Japanese verse form of poetry with 5,7,5,7,7 syllables
c. Limericks – humorous, rhyming five-line poems with a specific rhythm pattern and rhyme scheme
d. Sonnet – a fixed verse form of Italian poetry of 14 lines usually 5-foot iambics rhyming
e. Free Verse – is a poetry that lacks a regular rhythmical pattern or meter
f. Blank Verse – is a poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

5. Shape - poets often play with the shapes of words on page to suggest meaning.

6. Image/ Imagery - is the use of concrete words or details that appeal to the senses of sight, sound, touch, smell, taste or to
internal feelings (sensory image)
- More than a visual detail, it includes sounds, textures, feel, odors, and sometimes even tastes

7. Tone – This reveals the attitude toward the subject and in some cases the attitude of the persona or implied speaker of
the
poem as well.
Examples:
Cheerful, sad, reflective, serious, angry, anxious, etc

8. Figures of Speech
A figure of speech is a word or phrase that possesses a separate meaning from its literal definition. It can be a
metaphor or simile, designed to make a comparison. It can be the repetition of alliteration or the exaggeration of hyperbole to
provide a dramatic effect.
Examples:
g. Repetition- the repeated use of a sound, word, phrase, sentence, rhythmical pattern or grammatical pattern.
Example:
h. Alliteration- the repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Example: over the cobbles, he cluttered and clashed in the dark inn yard.
i. Consonance is the repetition of internal consonants sounds
Example: the spotted kitten slept quietly on matted fur.
j. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds.
Example: young fuzzy puppy.
k. Onomatopoeia words that sound like what they mean.
Example: crunch, chirp, roar, etc.
l. Parallelism is the repetition of grammatical pattern.
Example: through the door and up the stairs.

Classification of Figures of Speech and Rhetorical Devices

Figures of speech and rhetorical devices can be classified according to:
Parallelism and / Arrangement of
Resemblance Emphasis Sound Effects Substitution
Contrast Words
1. Simile 1.Hyperbole 1.Antithesis 1.Alliteration 1.Metonymy 1.Climax
2.Metaphor 2.Meiosis 2.Paradox 2.Assonance 2.Synecdoche 2.Anti-climax
3.Personification 3.Litotes 3.Irony 3.Onomatoepia
4.Apostrophe 4.Repetition 4.Oxymoron 4. Pun
5.Allusion 5. Rhetorical Questions 5.Chiasmus 5.Euphemism
6.Antonomasia 6.Consonance
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H. FIGURES OF SPEECH & RHETORICAL DEVICES

FIGURES OF SPEECH
A figure of speech is a word or phrase that possesses a separate meaning from its literal definition. It can be a
metaphor or simile, designed to make a comparison. It can be the repetition of alliteration or the exaggeration of hyperbole to
provide a dramatic effect.
In truth, there are a wealth of these literary tools in the English language. But, let's start out by exploring some of the
most common figure of speech examples.
Figures of speech lend themselves particularly well to literature and poetry. They also pack a punch in speeches and
movie lines. Indeed, these tools abound in nearly every corner of life. Let's start with one of the more lyrical devices,
alliteration.

Examples of Figures of Speech

A. RESEMBLANCE

Simile
A simile is a comparison between two unlike things using the words "like" or "as."
Examples include:
 As slippery as an eel
 Like peas in a pod
 As blind as a bat

Metaphor
A metaphor makes a comparison between two unlike things or ideas.
Examples include:
 Time is money
 The world is a stage
 He's an ogre (ōgər).

Personification
Personification gives human qualities to non-living things or ideas.
Examples include:
 The flowers nodded.
 The snowflakes danced.
 The thunder grumbled.
 The fog crept in.
 The wind howled.

Apostrophe
Directly addressing a nonexistent person or an inanimate object as though it were a living being.
Example:
 "Oh, you stupid car, you never work when I need you to," Bert sighed.

Allusion
A reference in a work of literature to another work of literature, or to a well-known person, place, or event outside
of literature.
Example:
 Mythological Allusion: Magnus is the Adonis of his class.
 Literary Allusion: Political Pied Pipers try everything.
 Historical Allusion: Some call Marcos a modern Hitler.
 Biblical Allusion: (“The Duel” by Emily Dickinson)

Antonomasia
Is a special type of allusion which make use of a title or an epithet (a descriptive word or phrase) instead of a
proper name.
Examples:
Persons or Places Idea or Emotion Conveyed
Abraham father of his people; father of mankind
Achilles’ heel flaws or weakness
Apollo manliness
Cain murderer of his brother
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Circe witchcraft
Methuselah old age / long life

B. EMPHASIS

Hyperbole
Hyperbole uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect.
Examples include:
 I've told you to stop a thousand times.
 That must have cost a billion dollars.
 I could do this forever.
 She's older than dirt.
 Everybody knows that.

Meiosis
Is a positive understatement intended to suggest a strong affirmative.
Examples:
 I’m a bit worried because I am failing in almost all of my subject.
 She is a bit hurt because you did not invite her to your birthday party

Litotes
A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.
Example: A million dollars is no small chunk of change.

Repetition
Is repeating words, phrases, or whole constructions in order to intensify the feeling or meaning.
Example: “Never give in, never give in. Never, never, never, never yield to force.” - Churchill

Rhetorical Question
Is a question to which the speaker expects no spoken answer but hopes for the mental one that he forcefully
suggests
Example: “What will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in
exchange for his life?”

C. PARALLELISM & / CONTRAST

Antithesis
The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.
Example:
 As Abraham Lincoln said, "Folks who have no vices have very few virtues."

Paradox
A statement that appears to contradict itself.
Example:
 "This is the beginning of the end," said Eeyore, always the pessimist.

Irony
Irony occurs when there's a marked contrast between what is said and what is meant, or between appearance
and reality.
Examples include:
 "How nice!" she said, when I told her I had to work all weekend. (Verbal irony)
 A traffic cop gets suspended for not paying his parking tickets. (Situational irony)
 The Titanic was said to be unsinkable but sank on its first voyage. (Situational irony)
 Naming a tiny Chihuahua Brutus. (Verbal irony)
 When the audience knows the killer is hiding in a closet in a scary movie, but the actors do not. (Dramatic
irony)

Oxymoron
An oxymoron is two contradictory terms used together.
Examples include:
 Peace force
 Kosher ham
 Jumbo shrimp
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 Sweet sorrow
 Free market

Chiasmus
A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.
Example:
 The famous chef said people should live to eat, not eat to live.

D. SOUND EFFECTS

Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of the beginning sounds of neighboring words.
Examples include:
 She sells seashells.
 Walter wondered where Winnie was.
 Blue baby bonnets bobbed through the bayou.
 Nick needed new notebooks.
 Fred fried frogs' legs on Friday.

Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds (not just letters) in words that are close together. The sounds don't have
to be at the beginning of the word.
Examples include:
 A - For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore. (Poe)
 E - Therefore, all seasons shall be sweet to thee. (Coleridge)
 I - From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire. (Frost)
 O - Oh hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. (Wordsworth)
 U - Uncertain rustling of each purple curtain (Poe)

Consonance
Consonance is the repetition of internal/medial consonant sounds of the words that are close together.
Examples:
 the spotted kitten slept quietly on matted fur
 the big, fat, cat, slept on the mat

Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is the term for a word that sounds like what it is describing.
Examples include:
 Whoosh
 Buzz
 Oink

Pun
A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound
of different words.
Example:
 Jessie looked up from her breakfast and said, "A boiled egg every morning is hard to beat."

Euphemism
Euphemism is a mild, indirect, or vague term that often substitutes a harsh, blunt, or offensive term.
Examples include:
 'A little thin on top' instead of 'going bald.'
 'Fell of the back of a truck' instead of 'stolen.'
 'Letting you go' instead of 'firing you.'
 'Passed away' instead of 'died.'
 'Economical with the truth' instead of 'liar.'

Anaphora
Anaphora is a technique where several phrases or verses begin with the same word or words.
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Examples include:
 I came, I saw, I conquered. - Julius Caesar
 Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition! - King John II, William Shakespeare
 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. - A
Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
 With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right. - Abraham Lincoln
 We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end... we shall never surrender. - Winston Churchill

E. SUBSTITUTION

Metonymy
 A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the
rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it.
Example: "That stuffed suit with the briefcase is a poor excuse for a salesman," the manager said angrily.

Synecdoche
Synecdoche occurs when a part is represented by the whole or, conversely, the whole is represented by the part.
Examples include:
 Wheels - a car
 The police - one policeman
 Plastic - credit cards
 Coke - any cola drink
 Hired hands – workers

F. ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS

Climax
It is the arrangement of words, phrases, clauses, or sentences in an ascending order
.
Example:
 I came, I saw, I conquered!
 Some books
 We dared; we fought; we triumphed.

Anti - climax
It is abruptly ending a climax buil=up with an insignificant item; opposite of climax
.
Example:
 I die; I faint; I fail.
 “He spoke the greatest orators the world has ever known – Pericles, Demosthenes, and now me.”

https://whatisliterature001.blogspot.com/2019/03/what-is-literature.html
https://www.slideshare.net/soriano1234567/fundamentals-of-literature

I. LITERARY FIGURES
The following are the different literary figures:
1. Author - originates or initiates something in writing literary pieces
2. Critic - person who offers a value judgment, analysis, or an interpretation of a literary work.
3. Dramatist - an author of dramatic compositions
4. Essayist - who writes compositions which can be about any particular subject.
5. Journalist - is a person who practices journalism.
6. Novelists - are writers of novels
7. Poets - are authors of poems

J. LITERARY COMPOSITIONS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE WORLD

LITERARY COMPOSITIONS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE WORLD.

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1. The Bible or the Sacred Writings

2. Koran
3. The Iliad and the Odyssey
4. The Mahab-harata
5. Canterbury Tales
6. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
7. The Divine Comedy
8. El Cid Campeador
9. The Song of Roland
10. The Book of the Dead
11. The Book of the Days
12. One Thousand and One Nights or The Arabian Nights

K. CRITICAL APPROACHES IN STUDYING LITERATURE

Critical Approaches to Literature and Criticism

(Thanks to Marilyn Patton with a few additions)

1. Reader-Response - Focuses on the reader (or "audience") and his or her experience of a
literary work, in contrast to other schools and theories that focus attention primarily on the
author or the content and form of the work. Reader-response criticism is rooted in the belief that
a reader's reaction to or interpretation of a text is as valuable a source of critical study as the
text itself.

2. Formalism: Formalism compels readers to judge the artistic merit of literature by examining its
formal elements, like language and technical skill. Formalism favors a literary canon of works
that exemplify the highest standards of literature, as determined by formalist critics.

3. Feminist Criticism—Focuses on female representation in literature, paying attention to female

points of view, concerns, and values. Three underlying assumptions in this approach are:
Western Society is pervasively patriarchal, male centered and controlled, and is organized in
such a way as to subordinate women; the concept of gender is socially constructed, not
biologically determined; and that patriarchal ideology pervades those writings which have been
considered “great works of literature.” Feminist criticism focuses on prevailing societal beliefs about
women in an attempt to expose the oppression of women on various levels by patriarchal systems both
contemporary and historical. It also explores the marginalization of women in the realm of literature
itself. As the feminist movement gained steam in the mid-twentieth century, literary critics began
looking to gender studies for new modes of literary criticism. One of the earliest proponents of
feminist criticism was Virginia Woolf in her seminal essay, A Room of One's Own. Other notable
feminist critics include Elaine Showalter and Hélène Cixous.

4. Queer Theory: Combined area of gay and lesbian studies and criticism, including studies of
variations in biological sex, gender identity, and sexual desires. Emphasis on dismantling the
key binary oppositions of Western culture: male/ female, heterosexual/ homosexual, etc. by
which the first category is assigned privilege, power, and centrality, while the second is
derogated, subordinated, and marginalized.

5. Marxist Criticism—Focuses on how literary works are products of the economic and
ideological determinants specific to that era. Critics examine the relationship of a literary
product to the actual economic and social reality of its time and place (Class stratification, class
relations, and dominant ideology).

6. Historical-biographical criticism examines literature through the perspective of the author’s

historical context. This approach assumes that the significance of a particular piece of literature
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is inextricably linked to its historical context. For example, historical-biographical critics evaluate
Shakespeare’s work within the context of English literature, history, and culture during the late
sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries

7. Moral - Philosophical Criticism: This literary criticism style approaches literature based on its
ethical merits. Moral-philosophical critics evaluate literary works based on the moral statements
and judgments the characters and author express throughout the literary text.

8. Psychoanalytic criticism: This form of literary criticism examines literature based on the
psychological desires and neuroses of the characters within a particular piece of literature.
Psychoanalytic critics believe that an author’s unconscious thoughts are expressed through
their work. Psychological Criticism—Focuses on a work of literature primarily as an
expression, in fictional form, of the state of mind and the structure of personality of the
individual author. In other words, a literary text is related to its author’s mental and emotional
traits. Furthest extension is Psychoanalytic Criticism, emphasis on phallic symbols, wombs,
breasts, etc. Theorists include Lacan and Klein.

9. Deconstruction—Focuses on the practice of reading a text in order to “subvert” or “undermine”

the assumption that the text can be interpreted coherently to have a universal determinate
meaning. Typically, deconstructive readings closely examine the conflicting forces/meanings
within the text in order to show that the text has an indefinite array of possible
readings/significations. Deconstruction: Proposed by Jacques Derrida, deconstructionists pick
apart a text’s ideas or arguments, looking for contradictions that render any singular reading of
a text impossible.

10. New Criticism – The proper concern of literary criticism is not with the external circumstances
or effects or historical position of a work, but with a detailed consideration of the work itself as
an independent entity. Emphasis on “the words on the page.” Study of poetry focuses on the
“autonomy of the work as existing for its own sake,” analysis of words, figures of speech, and
symbols. Distinctive procedure is close reading and attention to recurrent images; these critics
delight in “tension,” “irony,” and “paradox.” (Similar to Formalism or Neo-Aristotelian). New
critics focused on examining the formal and structural elements of literature, as opposed to the
emotional or moral elements. Poet T.S. Eliot and critics Cleanth Brooks and John Crowe
Ransom pioneered the approach in the mid-twentieth century.

11. Archetypal/Mythic Criticism—Focuses on recurrent narrative designs, patterns of action,

character types, or images which are said to be identifiable in a wide variety of literary works,
myths, dreams, and even ritualized modes of behavior. Critics tend to emphasize the mythical
patterns in literature, such as the death-rebirth theme and journey of the hero.

12. Post-structuralism: Post-structuralist literary criticism abandoned ideas of formal and

structural cohesion, questioning any assumed universal truths as reliant on the social structure
that influenced them. One of the writers who shaped post-structuralist criticism is Roland
Barthes—the father of semiotics, or the study of signs and symbols in art.

13. New Historical Criticism—Focuses on examining a text primarily in relation to the historical
and cultural conditions of its production, and also of its later critical interpretations. Cultural
materialism, a mode of NHC, argues that whatever the “textuality” of history, a culture and its
literary products are always conditioned by the real material forces and relations of production
in their historical era.
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For more on Literary Theory, check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/1/

Approaches to Literary Criticism (Other References)

Author-Focused: How can we understand literary works by understanding their authors?

Biographical criticism focuses on the author’s life. It tries to gain a better understanding of the literary work by
understanding the person who wrote it. Typical questions involved in this approach include the following:

 What aspects of the author’s life are relevant to understanding the work?
 How are the author’s personal beliefs encoded into the work?
 Does the work reflect the writer’s personal experiences and concerns? How or how not?

Psychological criticism applies psychological theories, especially Freudian psychoanalysis and Jungian
archetypal depth psychology, to works of literature to explore the psychological issues embedded in them. It
may analyze a story’s characters or plot, a poet’s use of language and imagery, the author’s motivations for
writing, or any other aspect of a literary work from a psychological perspective. It can be classified as an
author-focused approach because its emphasis is on reading the work as an expression of the author’s
unconscious processes, such that one can analyze and interpret the work in the same way a psychoanalyst
would do with a patient’s dream. Typical questions involved in this approach include the following:

 What psychological forces and factors are involved in the words, behaviors, thoughts, and
motivations of the characters in a story?
 Do dreams or psychological disorders play a part in the work?
 How did the author’s life experiences affect his or her intellectual and emotional formation? How
is this psychological impact evident in the text and/or the author’s act of writing it?
 What unintended meanings might the author have embedded or encoded in the work?

Text-Focused: How can we understand literary works in terms of themselves?

Formalism, along with one of its more conspicuous modern iterations, New Criticism, focuses on a literary
text itself, aside from questions about its author or the historical and cultural contexts of its creation. Formalism
takes a story, poem, or play “on its own terms,” so to speak, viewing it as a self-contained unit of meaning. The
formalist critic therefore tries to understand that meaning by paying attention to the specific form of the text.
New Criticism was a particular kind of Formalism that arose in the mid-twentieth century and enjoyed great
influence for a time. Typical questions involved in this approach include the following:

 How does the structure of the work reveal its meaning?

 How do the form and content of the work illuminate each other? What recurring patterns are there
in the form, and what is their effect?
 How does use of imagery, language, and various literary devices establish the work’s meaning?
 How do the characters (if any) evolve over the course of the narrative, and how does this interact
with the other literary elements?

Reader-Focused: How can we understand literary works by understanding the subjective experience of
reading them?
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Reader-response criticism emphasizes the reader as much as the text. It seeks to understand how a given
reader comes together with a given literary work to produce a unique reading. This school of criticism rests on
the assumption that literary works don’t contain or embody a stable, fixed meaning but can have many
meanings—in fact, as many meanings as there are readers, since each reader will engage with the text
differently. In the words of literature scholar Lois Tyson, “reader-response theorists share two beliefs: (1) that
the role of the reader cannot be omitted from our understanding of literature and (2) that readers do not
passively consume the meaning presented to them by an objective literary text; rather they actively make the
meaning they find in literature.” Typical questions involved in this approach include the following:

 Who is the reader? Also, who is the implied reader (the one “posited” by the text)?
 What kinds of memories, knowledge, and thoughts does the text evoke from the reader?
 How exactly does the interaction between the reader and the text create meaning on both the
text side and the reader side? How does this meaning change from person to person, or if the
same person rereads it?

Context-Focused: How can we understand literary works by understanding the contextual

circumstances—historical, societal, cultural, political, economic—out of which they emerged?

Historical criticism focuses on the historical and social circumstances that surrounded the writing of a text. It
may examine biographical facts about the author’s life (which can therefore connect this approach with
biographical criticism) as well as the influence of social, political, national, and international events. It may also
consider the influence of other literary works. New Historicism, a particular type of historical criticism, focuses
not so much on the role of historical facts and events as on the ways these things are remembered and
interpreted, and the way this interpreted historical memory contributes to the interpretation of literature. Typical
questions involved in historical criticism include the following:

 How (and how accurately) does the work reflect the historical period in which it was written?
 What specific historical events influenced the author?
 How important is the work’s historical context to understanding it?
 How does the work represent an interpretation of its time and culture? (New Historicism)

Feminist criticism focuses on prevailing societal beliefs about women in an attempt to expose the oppression
of women on various levels by patriarchal systems both contemporary and historical. It also explores the
marginalization of women in the realm of literature itself. Typical questions involved in this approach include
the following:

 How does the work portray the lives of women?

 How are female characters portrayed? How are the relationships between men and women
portrayed? Does this reinforce sexual and gender stereotypes or challenge them?
 How does the specific language of a literary work reflect gender or sexual stereotypes?

Post-colonial criticism focuses on the impact of European colonial powers on literature. It seeks to understand
how European hegemonic political, economic, religious, and other types of power have shaped the portrayals
of the relationship and status differentials between Europeans and colonized peoples in literature written both
by the colonizers and the colonized. Typical questions involved in this approach include the following:

 How does the text’s worldview, as evinced in plot, language, characterization, and so on, grow
out of assumptions based on colonial oppression?
 Which groups of people are portrayed as strangers, outsiders, foreign, exotic, “others”? How are
they treated in the narrative?
 How does the work portray the psychology and interiority of both colonizers and colonized?
 How does the text affirm (either actively or by silence) or challenge colonialist ideology?

Critical race theory focuses on systemic racism and interrogates the dynamics of race and race relationships.
In origin, it is a specifically American school of critical theory that sees White racism as an everyday fact of life
in America, visible throughout all aspects of culture and society. As such, it encompasses all aspects of life,
including literature. Its purpose is to expose and overturn the factors that enable systemic racism to exist. As a
literary critical approach, its typical questions include the following:
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 What is the significance of race, either explicit or implicit, in the literary work being examined?
 Does the work include or exclude the voices and experiences of racism’s victims?
 How does the work either affirm/reinforce (whether actively or by silence) or challenge/subvert
systemic racism?

Prepared by TETCERA _AUGUST 2024