The

Literary
Genres

What is Literature ?
Imaginative or creative writing
Distinguished writing, with deep
sublime, or noble feelings. It
includes oral tradition passed on
from generation by word of
mouth(proverbs, myths,
legends, epic, folk song, etc.)

The Academic Value of Literature to

Student
In a addition to the personal benefits
of literature for young readers, there
are also several important academic
benefits.
Reading. Many teachers and
librarians believe that regular
involvement with excellent and
appropriate literature can foster
language development in young
people and can help them to learn to

Writing. Since people tend to

assimilate or adopt what they like of
what they read and hear, young
people may, by listening to and
reading literature, begin to develop
their own writing voice, or unique,
personal writing style. Devices
found in books such as the use of
dialects, dialogue, and precise
description are often assimilated
into students own writing.

Content Area Subject. In

reading about and discussing
the literature, you will often
hear the phrase literature
across the curriculum. This
means using works of
literature as teaching
materials in the content area
of reading.

Art Appreciation. Illustration in

some literature books(Childrens
Literature) can be appreciated
both for its ability to help tell the
story(cognitive value) and for its
value as art (aesthetic value)For
this reason, illustrations in
picture books are said to be
integral to the story. Without the
illustrations, therefore these
books would diminished, and in
some case the story would make

Generic Classification:
1. Proseis the most
common form of written or
spoken language, which
uses ordinary grammar and
natural flow of speech

Prose. There are two subgenres

within this category: prose
fiction and prose non-fiction.
1. Fiction- is the form of any work
that deals, in part or in whole,
with information or events that
are not real, but
rather,imaginaryandtheoretic
al - that is, invented by
theauthor.
. these include the short stories,

Short story- a story with a

fully developed theme but
significantly shorter and less
elaborate than a novel.
Novel- a fictitious prose
narrative of book length,
typically representing
character and action with
some degree of realism.

Myth - a traditional story,

especially one concerning the
early history of a people or
explaining a natural or social
phenomenon, and typically
involving supernatural beings or
events.
Parable- a simple story used to
illustrate a moral or spiritual
lesson, as told by Jesus in the

Romance- prose narrative

depicting heroic or marvelous
deeds, pageantry, romantic
exploits, adventures of knights
in warfare as they rescue fair
maidens and confront
supernatural challenges.
Epic - a long poem, typically one
derived from ancient oral
tradition, narrating the deeds
and adventures of heroic or

2. Nonfiction- is
anarrative,account, or other
communicative work whose
assertions and descriptions are
believed by theauthorto
befactual
Drama. Plays are written with
characters, implied action, and
dialogue, and are usually intended
for actors to perform on stage.
Poetry. Poetry is highly imagistic, and
it is written in condensed language,

Drama is a form of art that explores

and expresses human feelings
trough performance.
A play is a form ofliteraturewritten
by aplaywright, usually consisting of
scripteddialoguebetweencharacter
s, intended
fortheatricalperformance rather
than justreading.

Kinds of Drama
All drama cannot be the same kind
because life itself is varied.
Here are some of the different kind of
plays.
1. Tragedy. A tragedy is a play in which
the leading character is overcome by
trouble of some kind.
2. Comedy. A comedy is a play in which
the leading character overcomes the
obstacles placed in his way and wins
in the conflicts; thus the comedy ends
happily.

3. Farce. A farce is comedy in which

the situations are too ridiculous to be
true, the characters are so
exaggerated that they seem to be
caricatures, and the motives are
absurd and undignified.
4. Pantomime. A pantomime is a play
in which the story is told entirely by
action. It may be either a comedy or
tragedy.
5. Historical play. A historical play is
one in which some events of history

6. Puppet play. A puppet play is one in

which the parts are acted by puppets
or marionettes. A puppet is a small
figure in human form, constructed
with jointed limbs, which are made to
move by means of wires operated by
someone from either above, or below
the stage.
7. Plays or Fantasy. In a play of fantasy
, the action could not take place in
real life, but not in the imagination of
the writer

Characteristics of a Play
A play is a story told by means of dialogue and
action on a stage.
Just as a story must possess the ff.
characteristics so, too must a play;
1. Characters. The characters are the people who
take part in the action.
2. Settings. The setting tells when and where the
vents happened.
3. Plot. The story of the play is told in a series of
incidents arranged in such a way that there is a
beginning, a middle, and an end.

4. Conflict. The plot must give an account of a

struggle, or conflict, it may be struggle
between to persons, or between two group
of peoples, or the struggle maybe a mental
one.
5. Suspense. As the story moves toward the
clashing of the two forces, the account of
the incidents must be told, so that each one
grows more and more exciting
6. Climax. With the growth of excitement the
action becomes more and more intense until
the highest point of interest is reached with
clashing of the two forces.

7. Single effects. The story of the play must arouse

some feeling in the reader. the emotion maybe that
of anger, humour, fear, sadness, or pity. One
emotion, or effect, predominates.
8. Theme. the author discovered something about life
that he or she thinks is worth knowing- a general
truth that he wishes to present; or he has made a
general observation that he thinks would be of
interest to others.
9. Style. Style I the manner in which the play is
written. Words frequently used to describe style are;
clear vivid, simple, forceful, humorous, polished,
individual.
Features that belong to play but do not belong to a
story or these.
1. Stage Properties.
2. Stage Directions.

Exposition and Inciting Moment

Exposition : introduces the
characters, establishes the relation
among them, makes clear the
setting, and strikes the key mode of
the dominating mood.
Inciting moment: in one act play the
main characters are likely to be
engaged in the initial dramatic
situation(inciting moment).

 Complication : the reaction of character

to character, and of character to
circumstances will necessarily develop a
second dramatic episode out of the first;
and perhaps, a third of the second.
Crisis and climax: the series of dramatic
episodes must finally bring the action to
a head where the cumulative force of
character and circumstances press for a
solution to the problem.

 Resolution: it marks the beginning of the

resolution. It also answers the main question
but leaves certain minor ones bearing
usually on the reaction of the characters.
Surprise ending: the ending of a one act play
may take a turn wholly unexpected in that
nothing in the play has foreshadowed it. This
is usually brought about by what Percival
Wilde calls the secondary climax

CHARACTER
Is the stuff out of which drama is made
No play can rise above the level of its
characterization
Action properly motivated can be
understood freely only in terms of character.
Usually revealed first by the appearance and
dress of the individual
Self-characterization through dialogue must,
of course, not always taken at face value

PLOT AND THEME

Plot is the design into which the stuff is
woven
While Plot is the design of constructed story,
Theme is the central idea which the story
elaborates, or the fundamental truth which
it exemplifies
Plot gives the story form
Theme gives it significance
Theme, however is by no means
synonymous with moral

ATMOSPHERE
Each scene or locality, by virtue of the
nature, appearance, and arrangement of its
components parts, arouses certain one
reaction.This somewhat intangible reality is
known as atmosphere.
A play may be described as the dominating
mood which the plays generates
In a period play, costumes, stage
properties, and dialogue are the elements
most potent in yielding atmosphere.

POETRY
It is a literary work in which the
expression of feelings and ideas is
given intensity by the use of
distinctive style and rhythm.
Studying poetry can increase your
sensitivity to sounds and words and
to the intricacies of rhythm, and you
may often to be amazed at how
much can be implied with so few
words.

 Three kinds of narrative poetry:

1. Ballad
- is a tightly metered poem which tells
a story.
-ballads theme includes
disappointment in love, revenge,
super natural beings and events, and
physical strength or agility.
2. Metrical tale
-is a relatively long poem which tells a
completely developed story in verse
3. Epic poem

HOW DOES THE SPEAKER SPEAK?

PROSODY: is the art of patterning
poetry..
These patterns may be on: the
repetition of sensory images, literary
images, tone color or meter.

Component Elements of
Poetry
Tone Color- is the repetition of like
sounds throughout a poem. These
sounds become significant if they
are repeated often enough to show
a pattern.
There are five primary kinds of
tone color which a poet may
employ: alliteration, assonance,
consonance, rhyme, and
onomatopoeia.

1.) Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of identical
consonant sounds, usually at the
beginning of the words in close proximity,
throughout a poem.
Ex. I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day.
2.) Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of identical
vowel sounds in words in close proximity
throughout a poem.
Ex. And all is seared with trade; bleared,
smeared with toil.

3.) Consonance
Consonance is the repetition of identical
consonant sounds that are preceded by
different vowel sounds, for example, struts,
frets.
Ex. The cold, hard diamond was held in her
hand.
4.) Rhyme
Rhyme is an element of poetry which helps
us unify a poem by keeping thought
groups together. Rhyme exist when the
word have the same vowel succeeding
sounds with different preceding sound.
Ex. sang-rang, high-dry, sailing-failing

5.) Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia, the last aspect of
tone color, involves words that
sound like their meanings that
imitate actual sounds.
Ex.
In Emily Dicksons poem, I Heard a
Fly buzz When I Died

 Meter- Poetry is a crystallized

experience, and because it is so
condensed, it rhythm is more
pronounced than the rhythm in prose
and drama.
Conventional poetry poems which
have a regular rhythmic base.
There are eight common types of
metrical feet; iamb, trochee,
anapest, dactyl, spondee, pyrric,
amphibrach and amphimacer (also
called cretic)

The following terms are used to represent

the number of feet in a line of poetry :

One foot : Monometer

Two feet : Dimeter
Three Feet: trimester
Four Feet: Tetrameter
Five Feet: Pentameter
Six Feet; Hexameter
Seventh Feet: Septameter
Eight Feet: Octameter

Understanding the Genre of Essay

Essay is a relatively short literary
composition of a personal nature that
deals with a single, often with clearly
organized beginning, middle and
end.
There are many different kind of
essays, and each kind suggests an
appropriate performance style.

 Humorous Essay- make point

through wit, satire and comicality.
Expository Essay- sets out to
develop an idea in order to instruct
or inform.
Personal or Familiar Essay- is highly
lyrical and relates firsthand
experience, and relating them to
appropriate external objects.
Formal Essays- is pre-occupied with
ideas, its treatment is generally
serious, the writer having a healthy

 Editorial Essay- in general is a part of

a newspaper page.
There are various types of Editorial
Essays.
1. Editorial of Interpretation
2. Editorial of Criticism
3. Editorial of Entertainment
4. Editorial of Commendation,
Appreciation, or Tribute
5. Editorial of Argument

TYPES OF TRADITIONAL LITERATURE

The term traditional literature to refer to the
entire body of stories passed down from
ancient times by the oral tradition.
The term folktale is sometimes used in the
same way.
The term retold tale refers to a version of a
tale that is obviously based upon earlier.
Variant, a term often used in reference to
folktales, refers to a story that shares
fundamental elements of plot or character
with other stories, and therefore is said to
be in the same story family.

 Fable- is a simple story that

incorporates characters-typically
animals, whose action teach a moral
lesson or universal truth.
Religious Stories- Stories based on
religious writings from religious
manuscripts are considered to be
religious stories.

Common
Figures of
Speech

1. Alliteration- is the repetition of initial

consonant sounds in successive or closely
associated words.
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of
pickled peppers.

2. Assonance- (slant rhyme) is the

resemblance of similarity in sound between
vowels followed by different consonants in
two or more stressed syllables in a line of
poetry.
Example: Then came the drone of a boat in
the cove.

3. Hyperbole- is a figure of speech in

which conscious exaggeration is used for
effect.
Example: I had a headache the size of a
washtub.

4. Personification- is a figure of speech

in which animals, ideas, abstractions or
inanimate objects are endowed with
human qualities.
Example: Death reached down and
carried the old man away.

5. Simile- is a figure of speech in which a

similarity between two objects or ideas is
expressed using the words "like" or "as."
Examples: She sings like a bird.
Considering how much you hurt me, you might as
well have put a dagger through my heart!

6. Metaphor- is a figure of speech which

imaginatively identifies one object with another
and attributes to the first object one or more
qualities of the second. Simply stated, a
comparison that does not use "like" or "as."
Examples: The pretty young girl is a vixen.
John was a tiger in the battle, fighting with tooth
and claw.

 7. Synecdoche- is a figure of speech in which a

part is used metaphorically to represent a whole, or
a whole is used to represent a part.
Examples: The factory had more than a hundred
hands working three shifts.
The Spanish Armada was 150 sail strong.

8. Metonymy- is a figure of speech in which a

closely associated object is used metaphorically to
represent the thing, person, etc. with which it is
associated.
Examples: All of Magwitch's fortune was confiscated
by the crown.
The White House issued a statement about the
September 11, 2001 attacks.

9. Litotes- is a figure of speech in which something

is expressed with a negation of the contrary.
Examples: The soccer stadium was filled with no
small number of exuberant fans.
In Medieval England, public hangings were no rare
occurrence, and not a few of the citizens came to
see them.

10. Pathetic Fallacy- is a type of personification in

which inanimate nature is given human qualities.
Examples: Every flower enjoys the air it breathes.
The happy sunshine streamed through the clouds
into the peaceful valley.

11. Oxymoron- is a figure of speech

in which opposites are paired for
effect.
Examples: Bittersweet.
Deafening silence.

12. Onomatopoeia- is a poetic

sound device in which words are
used that actually simulate the
sounds they represent.
Examples: Crash. Bang. Pop. Pow.
Rattle.

13. Apostrophe- is a type of

personification in which an author
addresses an inanimate or non-living
object or idea as if that entity were
alive and could converse with him.
A good example is Keats' "Ode on a
Grecian Urn" in which he directly
addresses the urn. Another example
is Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind"
in which he speaks directly to the
wind.

Prepared By:
John Aldrin B. Relevo
Alissa Mae D. Bayaban
Kaye B. Delos Santos
Allycka N. Espiritu
Samantha S. Ormacido
BSMT-2