21st Century Literature from the Phil and the

World
Lesson 1
Definition of Literature
• comes from the Latin root word, “Littera” which means letter of the alphabet or words

• Literature can be defined as an expression of

human feelings, thoughts, and ideas whose
medium is language, oral, and/or written. It is
not only about human ideas, thoughts, and
feelings but also about the experiences of
the authors. It can be a medium for humans to
communicate what they feel, think, and experience
to the readers
Forms

• 1. Oral literature -- epics, riddles,

proverbs, sayings or maxims, lullabies,
songs, hymns, chants
• 2. Written literature (Prose form) -- essay,
short story, novels, creative non-
fiction( memoirs, travel essays,
autobiography, reviews)
Horace’s Functions of Literature
• According to the Roman poet and literary critic Horace,
the function of literature is to both "instruct and delight":
• Teach: Literature should serve a didactic purpose, and
poetry is a useful teaching tool because it's pleasurable.
• Delight: Literature should provide pleasure.
Functions of Literature
• 1. Literature educates people in the society
-- carrier of the values and traditions of the community worthy to
be passed down to the next generation.
• 2. Literature expresses people’s culture-- mirrors/reflects the
traditions, mores, beliefs and aspirations of society
• 3. Literature is used to entertain people-- a form of amusement,
to while away the time,a form of escape, a diversion, a form of
relaxation
• 4. Literature is used to influence people in the society-- motivate
or encourages people to act, to propel people to change and
transform society
Functions
• 5. Literature is used to develop language - a way of
learning language --its vocabulary, syntax and its creative
uses
6. Literature is used to liberate people, mentally and
physically--contain messages that liberates or frees us from
the oppression of society
7. Literature is used to criticize the society. -- it makes fun,
castigates the foibles of our leaders ( it satirizes)
Importance of the Study of Literature
• 1. It expresses our emotions, beliefs, aspirations, and
sentiments.
• 2. It reflects the ideologies and philosophies of life.
• 3. It informs, entertains, and teaches a lesson.
• 4. It allows one to discover himself and grow through
exposure to the beliefs, attitudes, values, customs, and
traditions of the people of the world.
• 5. It enables the reader to appreciate literary
masterpieces and value the meaning of life.
Importance of Literature
• 6. It allows us to understand literary trends and
techniques.
• 7. It gives the distinctive qualities of literary works and
ideas peculiar to a certain group of people or nation.
• 8. It makes us realize the universality of events in human
life which we need to understand and accept.
• 9. It enables students to understand the values of other
peoples of the world.
Genres of Literature
• Prose- can be defined as a form of literature that follows a
normal progression of conversation and syntax.
• a. Biography- telling the story of someone’s life.
• b. Anecdotes- which are made up by people in order to teach a
lesson or illustrate a point to one’s audience.
• c. Essay- typically illustrates the thoughts of an author on a
specific issue, event, or philosophy.
• d. News- which is the announcing of daily incidents or updates
within government, culture, industry, etc.
• e. Oration- is basically a speech, and caters to the intellect,
emotions, and will of the audience.
Prose
• f. Novels- is generally long and narrative. It tells a story with
characters, a plot, and a setting.
• g. Short Story- is exactly what it sounds like, a narrative story
that is short. Like a story, you could read to someone in just a short
amount of time over coffee or tea. However, even though they
are shorter they still contain characters, a plot, and a setting.
• h. Fables- is also a story that is passed down. A fable’s overall
purpose is to teach a lesson. However, all the characters in a fable
are things that can’t normally talk. A fable is about animals,
plants, or forces of nature that can talk and act like humans.
Prose
• i. Legends- are about real-life people and what they
did. Legends always have an important purpose,
• j. Plays- tell a story with scripted dialogue, but are meant
to be performed on a stage with actors, vocalists, props,
etc
Poetry
• Lyric Poetry- is a type of poetry intended to be sung with an
instrument. However, the definition has expanded to just be
anything that expresses the feelings and emotions of the poet.
• a. Corrido- a popular type of poetry or song that typically has a
measure of eight. These poems are generally about
suppression, historical events, and what daily life is like for
servants.
• b. Ode- has no specific structure, however, classic odes
typically contain 3 big parts: The strophe, the antistrophe,
and the epode. Odes are typically spent praising an event or
individual in a very emotive and intellectual way.
Lyric Poetry
• c. Elegy- is a rather downcast type of poem. An elegy conveys
feelings of sadness, heartache, and suffering. Also, it generally conveys
a theme of death
• d. Awit- generally contains four stanzas with 12 syllables in each stanza.
Awit translates to mean song. It is written with the intent of being
sung. An awit tells a story, and each stanza is a grammatically
correct sentence.
• e. Folk Songs- are made to represent a very specific culture or
region. Folk songs are typically songs that are passed down from
generation to generation. These are very short poems and can be written
about pretty much anything.
• f. Sonnets- adheres to a very specific form. They all contain 14 lines.
Lyric Poetry
• Psalms- are a type of lyrical poetry that expresses
thoughts and emotions in light of truth about God.
Psalms are meant to extol and glorify God.
Narrative Poetry- is when a very influential phenomenon or incident is being described.

• A. Epic- is a classical kind of poetry that found its

beginnings in Greece. Epics contain a legendary hero, like gods
and goddesses. The hero contains some type of superhuman
strength and valor. The action of the hero is typically
spread out across multiple settings and contains an
exaggerated writing style.
• b. Ballads- is actually intended to be a song, but it is a
type of narrative poetry because it is driven by a plot and
contains multiple characters. A ballad is broken up into 4-line
stanzas and contains a rhyming scheme. It tells a story by
laying out all the crucial events in detail.
Narrative Poetry
• c. Metrical Tale- can be fiction or nonfiction, and can
have a range of topics. Generally, the topics are love,
stages of life, or a longing for adventure.
Dramatic Forms
• Drama- is a type of literature that is written for the purpose of being
performed in front of an audience. It is written in the form of a script and
the story is told through lines of the characters played by actors.
• a. Farce- is written with the intent to be acted out on stage or in film.
They are meant to engage the audience with embellished,
exaggerated, and wildly unlikely situations. A farce incorporates a
lot of physical humor; which just means that they use their bodies in a
ridiculous way for laughs.
• b. Melodrama- is specifically written to attack the emotions.
Melodramas place a heavy focus on the plot rather than the
characters themselves. Often times you will see melodramas used in
operas
Dramatic forms
• c. Comedy- has also found its origin in Greece. Comedy
refers to a work that is designed to evoke laughter. It was
originally used in Ancient Greece in the form of Political
satire in order to sway the minds of the voters.
• d. Tragedy- is centered around various types of
human suffering. Typically, there is a main character who
is at the top and eventually plummets to the bottom. A
tragedy is designed to evoke feelings of pity and/or fear
in an audience.