Literature - comes from the Latin word litera which means letter; any printed matter; deals with

ideas, thoughts and

emotions of man (the story of man)
General Types of Literature:
1. Prose – written within common flow of conversation
2. Poetry – expressions in verse, with measure and rhyme, line and stanza and has more melodious tone.
Types of Prose:
1. Novels - A long narrative divided into chapters and events are taken from true-to-life stories.
2. Short story - This is a narrative involving one or more characters, one plot and one single impression.
3. Plays - This is presented on a stage, is divided into acts and each act has many scenes.
4. Legends - These are fictitious narratives, usually about origins.
5. 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.
6. Anecdotes - These are merely products of the writer’s imagination and the main aim is to bring out
lessons to the reader.
7. 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.
8. Biography -This deals with the life of a person which may be about himself, his autobiography or that of
others.
9. News - This is a report of everyday events in society, government, science and industry, and accidents,
happening nationally or not.
10. Oration - This is a formal treatment of a subject and is intended to be spoken in public. It appeals to the
intellect, to the will or to the emotions of the audience.
Types of Poetry:
A. Narrative Poetry
1. Epic - This is an extended narrative about heroic exploits often under supernatural control.
2. Metrical Tale - This is a narrative which is written in verse and can be classified either as a ballad or a
metrical romance.
3. Ballads - Of the narrative poems, this is considered the shortest and simplest.
B. Lyric Poetry
1. .Folksongs (Awiting Bayan) - These are short poems intended to be sung. The common theme is love,
despair, grief, doubt, joy, hope and sorrow.
2. Sonnets - 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.
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.
5. Psalms (Dalit) - This is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing a philosophy of life.
6. Awit (Song) - These have measures of twelve syllables (dodecasyllabic) and slowly sung to the
accompaniment of a guitar or banduria.
7. Corridos (Kuridos) - These have measures of eight syllables (octosyllabic) and recited to a martial beat.
8. Comedy - The word comedy comes from the Greek term “komos” meaning festivity or revelry. This form
usually is light and written with the purpose of amusing, and usually has a happy ending.
C. Dramatic Poetry
1. Melodrama - This is usually used in musical plays with the opera. Today, this is related to tragedy just as
the farce is to comedy. It arouses immediate and intense emotion and is usually sad but there is a happy
ending for the principal character.
2. Tragedy - This involves the hero struggling mightily against dynamic forces; he meets death or ruin
without success and satisfaction obtained by the protagonist in a comedy.
3. Farce - This is an exaggerated comedy. It seeks to arouse mirth by laughable lines; situations are too
ridiculous to be true; the characters seem to be caricatures and the motives undignified and absurd.
4. Social Poems - 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.
Divisions of the Philippine Literature History
  Prehistoric Period
 Spanish Period
 American Period
 Japanese Period
 Philippine Republic Period
 Martial Law Period
 Contemporary Period

A. Prehistoric Period
- Literature was principally oral in as much as writing was not yet invented.
- Most of the works were concise poetic forms such as: riddles, proverbs, maxims, and folksongs.
- With the passage of time, oral literature became lengthy, and one of this long forms was the epic.
B. Spanish Period
- Spanish friars mission was to spread Christianity.
- They exerted all efforts in converting the natives (indios or illiterate) into Christians.
- Doctrina Cristiana – first book printed in the Philippines in xylography.
- Francisco Baltzar (Balagtasan), Crisostomo Sotto (Crisotan), Pedro Bukaneg (Bukanegan).
- Fr. Modesto de Castro - authored the book of etiquette of lettters changed between two sisters, Urbana at
Felisa
- The propagandists who battled for reforms and for assimilation wrote in Spanish and published their
articles in the newspaper called La Solidaridad.
C. American Period
- Introduced the Public School System and the English language.
- Thomasites were the first English teachers.
- Philippine Literature in English was born.
- Freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
- Establishment of writers guild, PEN (Poets, Essayists, Novelists)
- Clashing schools of thought emerged:
o art for art’s sake dictum by Jose Garcia Villa
o art for society's sake dictum by Salvador Lopez
D. Japanese Period
- writing activities came to a halt - the writers stopped wielding pens and started wielding guns.
- Nippongo or Nihongo
- Haiku, tanka, and senryu (their poetic forms)
- Haiku - short descriptive poem about nature consisting of 17 syllables (5-7-5)
- Senryu - 3 line 5-7-5; unrhymed; human nature; tone is usually satirical or ironical
- Tanka - 5 lines 31 syllables (5-7-5-7-7)
E. Philippine Republic
- New award giving bodies came out
- Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for literature - known to be the most prestigious and the longest-
running award-giving body of literature
- By this time the Philippine writers were producing works in English, the vernacular, and Filipino (one of
the official language of the country and the Tagalog-based national language as promulgated by Pres.
Manuel L. Quezon)
F. Martial Law Period
- Commission on Election (COMELEC) - Ferdinand E. Marcos
- National Movement for Free Election (NAMFREL) - Corazon Aquino - first woman president
- Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Fidel V. Ramos , Secretary othe Department pf
National Defense (DND) Juan Ponce Enrile, together with Marcos loyalist soldiers sided with Honasan's
group.
- Filipino writers enjoyed the benefits of press freedom.
- To inspire the Filipino Artists in the different genres of art to excel in their respective fields, the National
Artist Awards were given to deserving individuals.
Figures of Speech
A. Imagery - Descriptive writing that appeals to the senses (sight, taste, touch, smell, and hearing); mental image
Example: “The delicate white bird flew gracefully through the blue sky” is an example of imagery
because it gives the reader a mental image by appealing to the senses.
B. Simile - Comparing two unlike things using like or as
 Example: She ran like the wind.
Explanation: Running and the wind are unlike things. When you compare the speed of running to the
speed of the wind, you are using a simile.
C. Metaphor – comparing two unlike things without using like or as
Example: Simile: Fido is as soft as a teddy bear.
Metaphor: Fido is a teddy bear.
D. Alliteration - is the repetition of beginning consonant sounds, such as “Six silly swans went swimming in the
sea.”
- It’s important to note that not every word in the sentence has to begin with the same letter in order
for it to be considered alliteration.
E. Hyperbole - A major exaggeration or overstatement used for emphasis or humor
Example: I’m making a pizza the size of the sun.
F. Onomatopoeia - a word that sounds like its meaning.
Example: screech, whirr, sizzle, crunch, bang, pow, zap, roar, growl, click, snap, crackle, and pop.
G. Personification - Giving human traits or characteristics to something that isn’t human, such as animals, objects
or non-living things
Example: The willow tree shook her long hair.
Explanation: The example is referring to the way that the willow tree’s long branches sway in the
wind. By saying “shook her long hair”, the tree is given characteristics of a human.
Elements of Fiction
A. Characters - the representation of a human being; persons involved in a conflict.
Types of Characters:
1. Round Character - a dynamic character who recognize changes in the circumstances.
- a fully develop character, with many traits – bad and good – shown in the
story.
2. Flat Character - also known as the stock or the stereotype character who does not grow and
develop; flat character is not fully developed.
3. Others:
a. Protagonist – hero/heroine
b. Antagonist – a foil to the protagonist
c. Deuteroganist – second in importance
d. Fringe – one who is destroyed by his inner conflict
e. Typical or minor characters
B. Setting - The locale (place) or period (time) in which the action of a short story, play, novel or the motion
picture takes place (also known as the background of the story); local color described as local scenery,
the writer uses words, mentions things in the native language, gives names to character’s lines to
create a vivid picture of a native place.
C. Conflict - The struggle or complication involving the characters, the opposition or persons or forces upon
which the action depends in drama or fiction. [There is conflict if there is a struggle which grows out
of the interplay or opposing forces (idea/interest)].
Types of Conflict:
1. Internal Conflict - occurs when the protagonist struggles within himself or herself.
- the protagonist is pulled by two courses of action or by differing emotions.
2. Interpersonal Conflict - pits the protagonist against someone else.
- person-against-person.
3. External Conflict - happens when the protagonist is in conflict with the values of his or her
society.
D. Plot - The sequence of events, what happens as a result of the main conflict is presented in a structure format;
the sequence of events which involves the character in conflict. (beginning, middle, ending)
Narrative Order:
1. Chronological – the most common type of narrative order in children’s books.
2. Flashback – occurs when the author narrates an event that took place before the current time of
the story.
3. Time lapse – occurs when the story skips a period of time that seems unusual compared to the rest
of the plot.
Pyramidal Structure of a Plot
 1. Exposition (beginning) - introduces the time, place, setting and the main characters.
2. Complication (rising action) – unfolds the problems and struggles that would be encountered by
the main characters leading to the crisis.
3. Climax (result of the crisis) – part where the problem or the conflict is the highest peak of interest;
the highest point of the story for the reader, frequently, is the highest moment of interest and
greatest emotion; also known as the crisis or the point of no return.
4. Falling Action – the untying of the entangled knots, or the part that shows a conflict or a problem
is solved, leading to its downwards movement or end.
5. Resolution (end) – contains the last statements about the story.
Plot Devices
1. Flashback – something out of chronological order, to reveal information, to understand a
character’s nature.
2. Foreshadowing – a device to give a sign of something to come’ its purpose is to create suspense,
to keep the readers guessing what will happen when.
3. Suspense – this is the feeling of excitement or tension in the reader’s experiences as the action of
the plot unfolds.
4. Surprise Ending – this is the ending that catches the reader off guard with an unexpected turn of
events.
5. In Media Res – the technique of beginning a story in the middle of the action, with background
information given later in flashbacks.
E. Point of View - The writer’s feeling and attitude toward his subject; determines who tells the story; it
identifies the narrator of the story (the form of narration also affects the story itself).

Name Characteristics Pronouns

Speaker part of the story, can observe
First Person characters, but reveals things and reactions I, me, mine, we, us, our(s)
only of self
Third Person Story told only as one character can observe
He, him, his, she, her(s), they,
Limited Third Narrator part of the story, cannot read any
them, theirs
Person character’s mind
He, him, his, she, her(s), they,
Omniscient Narrator/author knows all and sees all
them, theirs

F. Theme - the central or dominating idea in a literary work;