Literature liberates people from

political oppression, social injustice,

economic, inequality, and emotional
inhibition as reflected in short stories,
novels, dramas, essays, and other
literary genres.
 It is the beautiful expression of man’s personal
interpretation of some aspect of human life, or a wording out in
a unique, beautiful, and personal manner of saying what an
author thinks is a passionate meaning of life. This is saying that
literature not only becomes but is “life itself.”
 It is an eternally burning flame, exuding light
that renders significance to civilization. It can die only
if the printed word disappears from the face of the
earth, and if man ceases to give effective expression
to his thoughts and emotions.
 It develops a keener sensitiveness to
life, a clearer self-knowledge, a more
balanced sense of values.
 It adds to reality. It does not simply
describe.
 It is a term used to describe written or
spoken material. Broadly speaking, “literature” is
used to describe anything from creative writing to
more technical or scientific works, but the term is
most commonly used to refer to works of the
creative imagination, including works of poetry,
drama, fiction, and nonfiction.
 It is strewn with the wreckage of men who
have minded beyond reason the opinion of
others.
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 encourages us to
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.
Literature began as soon as the different
forms of writing were invented by the
early people who put into writing
everything that they have observed in the
surroundings.
CUNIEFORM- a form of writing made –up of wedge -shaped
characters
HIEROGLYPICS – picture writing which were seen in some
pyramids found in Egypt and other ancient countries. These
pictures depict the events that took place aand are regarded
as significant for they have divine and religious symbolism.
Gilgamesh/epic of Gigamesh – oldest existing
literary work (2700-2000 B.C. it is an ancient text
from Summeria that is considered to be older than
Greek and Roman literatures.
1. Intellectual –the way how a particular work is
presented and what are the basic truths realized. It
gives us more knowledge of things, it feeds our
hungry minds so that we could thus become more
learned and informed.
2. Emotional – the personal appeal made to the
reader. A particular literary could touch our soul by
the emotional value that it carries and imparts.
Some of the authors define the values of literature
as the following;
1. Aesthetic –concerns with the beauty enclosed in
a particular literary work, in terms of how it has
been written, the lines aand most especially bthe
message it conveys.
Some of the authors define the values of literature
as the following;
2. Didactic – this value literature which imparts
moral aspects in which it can bring about
improvement in the customs and norms of the
society.
Some of the authors define the values of literature
as the following;
3. Functional – defines the use of literature. Most
writers use their works as avenues in expressing
their ideas and thoughts while others use their
works in order to echo their grievances a social and
political system either presently or in the past.
Some of the authors define the values of literature
as the following;
3. Functional – defines the use of literature. Most
writers use their works as avenues in expressing
their ideas and thoughts while others use their
works in order to echo their grievances a social and
political system either presently or in the past.
Some of the authors define the values of literature
as the following;
3. Functional – defines the use of literature. Most
writers use their works as avenues in expressing
their ideas and thoughts while others use their
works in order to echo their grievances a social and
political system either presently or in the past.
1. Artistry – it appeals to sense of beauty.
2. Intellectual value – it stimulates one’s intellect
and can enrich mental activity by realizing the
basic truths in life and human nature.
3. Suggestiveness – a good literary work moves
and stirs deeply the feeling and imagination
4. Spiritual value – literature elevates the spirit by
bringing out moral values which can motivate
readers to become better persons.
5. Permanece – a great work of literature endures.
It can be read repeatedly for its appeal is lasting.
6. Universality – A great literary piece is timeless
and timely. Forever relevant, it appeals to one and
all, anytime, anywhere because it deals with
universal and fundamental truths and conditions.
7. Style – It is the unique way in which a particular
writer sees life, forms his ideas, and presents them
to the readers.
These refer to the very important aspects in a
literary work that writers must adhere to:
1. Form – It is a verbal and artistic structuring of
ideas in any literary piece. It maybe in the form of
stanzas, rhyme, meter for poetry; of arrangement of
incidents in a particular plot or of the sequence in
which ideas are developed fo
for the novel, of the development and sequence of
ideas for the essay. It is somehow always
connected with arrangement and, in the larger
sense, the satisfaction of man’s need for significant
patterns.
2. Subject – Any work of literature is about
something , and for this reason, it has a subject. It
usually refers to a person or ideas events and
human condition or system of value in which the
topic of the poem deals.
3. Point of View – This s referred to the angle of vision of the
narrator. It could also mean the tone of utterance that is the
sense that the reader gains from the author’s attitude
toward the subject. It deals with the problems of persons
and irony, where the statement of the characters and/or
narrator are not necessarily those of the author. It is the voic
through which a writer tells a story.
 The use of figures of speech makes writing rich
and interesting , it must however observe four
characteristics namely (Bargo, 2012)
1. Generally brief
2. Freshness (original and spontaneous)
3. Likeness and unlikeness to the original idea
4. Appropriateness and harmony of effect
 Most figures of speech are classified according to
basis namely; ( Serrano and Ames, 1986 as cited
by Bargo,2012)
A. Based according to Likeness
1. Simile – comparison of two things using
“like/as”
Example; as soft as cotton
 2. Metaphor - word or phrase denoting an idea or
object in place of another to suggest a likeness
between the two.
Example: The Lord is my shepherd
The past is a bucket of ashes
 3. Personification- representation of inanimate
objects or abstract ideas as living beings or having
human qualities.
Example: The storm claps its hands….
Let not ambition mock their useful toil…
4. Apostrophe – a device by which a writer
addresses a person who is usually either absent or
deceased, an inaminate object, or an abstract idea.
Example:
Death is like a thief in the night…
Bloom forever, O Republic
5. Allegory – an expression by means of symbolic
figures and actions of truth or generalizations about
human experience.
Example:
I feel like a dog btoday
Scratching as I get on the train, I sniffed a
passing female.
B. Based upon other Relations
1. Metonymy – it is the use of a word or phrase for another
to which it bears an important relation; an effect for the
cause, that abstract for concrete, and similar
constructions.
Example
Estates belonging to te crown… (meaning land owned
by ruler…)
B. Based upon other Relations
2. Synecdoche – It is a form of metonymy which
shows part representing thewhole, the whole
representing a part, the species for the genus, or
vise versa…
Example: The tribe has traditionally asked for the
maiden’s hand….
B. Based upon other Relations
3. Hyperbole – it is a form of inordinate
exaggeration according to which a person or thing
is depicted as being better or worse, larger or
smaller than is the actual case.
Example: Say that his hand-grip has thirty men’s
strength.
C. Based upon Sentence and Structure
1. Climax – it is the arrangement of words, clauses,
or sentences in the order of importance from the
least to most.
Example: … “Lost, waded, broken, dead within an
hour.”
William Shakespeare
C. Based upon Sentence and Structure
2. Anti-climax – it is sequence of ideas that abruptly
diminish in dignity or importance at the end of the
sentence or passage used to get the satirical
effects.
Example: he lost his family, his car and his
cellphone.
C. Based upon Sentence and Structure
3. Irony – It is dryly humorous or lightly sarcastic
mode of speech in which words are used to convey
a meaning contrary to their literal sense.
Example; Billy Gates won a computer
C. Based upon Sentence and Structure
4. Alliteration – It is the sound device in which
consonant sounds as beginning of two or more
consecutive words are repeated.
Example: Washes its wall on the southern side.
C. Based upon Sentence and Structure
5. Antithesis – It is the juxtaposition of two words,
phrases, clauses, or sentences contrasted or
opposed in meaning in such a way as to give
emphasis to contrasting ideas.
Example: love is an ideal thing, marriage is a real
thing.
C. Based upon Sentence and Structure
6. Paradox – it is a statement that seems
contradictory or unbelievable but is actually true in
fact.
Example; Love’s pleasure drives his love away.
- presents a story that is invented and not literally “true.”
It 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.
1. Myth 5. Fairy Tale
2. Legend 6. Short Story
3. Parable 7. Novel
4. Fable 8. Novella
1. Prose allegory – refers to stories in
which the characters , ideas, and
actions stand for something else or
for a system of ideas with meanings
implied.
a. Fable – short allegorical tale
conveying a moral or principle of
behavior on which the characters are
usually animals talking like human
being.
b. Myth – is a traditional tale common to
a tribe, race revolving the supernatural
and serving to explain natural
phenomenon or suggest a religious or
moral truth.
c. Legend – is a story of some wonderful
events popularly believed to have
historical basis.
2. Prose Romances – stories in which
some supernatural or magical events,
fantastic and realistic occur.
a. Fairy tale – a story with stock characters with
magic and supernatural changes and
restorations.
b. Folk tale- story about adventure, love, horror and
humor where one can derive lesson.
3. Prose Satires – stories in which human
follies and vices are held to redicule.
a. Fabliau – is a short, amusing tale often
brawly or obscene, slyly satirical directed
against women, the clergy, and marriage.
4.Novel – a story on a large scale (book length)
5. Novelette/Novella – a short story too short to be a
novel but too long to be a short story.
6. Short story – compressed into one unit or place,
time and action leaving a single definite unified
expression on the reader through one predominating
character and pre-dominating event.
Elements of the Short Story
1. Setting
2. Plot
3. Characters
4. Theme
Other Essentials and Literary Devices
These are used by the author to create certain
effects on the readers mind and to make the story
interesting.
1. Climax
2. Symbol
3. Flashback
4. In media res
Other Essentials and Literary Devices
Climax – is the highest emotional or dramatic interest
Symbol – is the visible effect that suggests something
else as presented in the story.
Flashback – is the characters recollection of past events
which are unfolded/explained in the story.
In media res- literary device used by the author.
Other Essentials and Literary Devices
5. Point of view
a. First person point of view
b. Omniscient
c. Third person
CHARACTER
 A. According to their role and importance in the story
 Main characters
 Secondary characters
B. According to their complexity in characterization
 Flat-represents a single dominant trait or characteristics. Simple/one
dimensional
 Round- complex and multi-dimensional
C. According ton their role in advancing the plot
• Dynamic –make things happen
• Static- do not effect changes in the story
Methods of characterization
1. Expository Mode- explicit and direct/tells what character is like
2. Dramatic mode- indirect and implicit
Plot- series of events and character actions that
relate to the central conflict.
 Exposition
 Complication
 Conflict
 Climax
 Falling action or reversal
 Resolution or denouement
Point of View
 Refers to two things:
 The person narrating the events in the story
 Is the position of that narrator in relation to the events in the
story. This is classified as first-person or third person.
 First person observer-plays a minor character
 First person participant-plays a major character
 Third- person omniscient is used when the writers
wants to present a wide spectrum of events and experience..
The narrator is not a character in the story.
 Limited omniscient the narrator chooses a character
and presents the events as they are seen and regarded by a
particular character
Theme
 It is the central idea or belief in a short
story. The plot is considered as the body of
the story and theme is its soul.
CHARACTER
 A. According to their role and importance in the story
 Main characters
 Secondary characters
B. According to their complexity in characterization
 Flat-represents a single dominant trait or characteristics. Simple/one
dimensional
 Round- complex and multi-dimensional
C. According ton their role in advancing the plot
• Dynamic –make things happen
• Static- do not effect changes in the story
Methods of characterization
1. Expository Mode- explicit and direct/tells what character is like
2. Dramatic mode- indirect and implicit
-is the art of rhythmical composition, written
or spoken, for exciting pleasure by
beautiful, imaginative or elevated thought.
- An expression of the author’s feelings and
thoughts in figurative language,
Characteristics of Poetry
1. It is compact
2. It is figurative and metaphoric
3. It is rich in images.
4. It is rhythmic.
Ornaments of Poetry
1. Line or verse: a single line of poetry
2. Stanza: a group of verses froming a single
unit
3. Rhythm: the arrangement of words so that the
accented syllables come at regular intervals
Ornaments of Poetry
4. Meter: the regular recurrence of accented and
unaccented syllables
5. Feet: groups of regularly recurring accented
and unaccented syllables
6. Rhyme: similarly of sound, usually at the end
of lines. It is the matter pronunciation, not of
spelling
Ornaments of Poetry
7. Scansion; dividing a verse into its feet
8. assonance: Vowel rhyme or similarity of
vowel sounds
8. Alliteration: repetition of a sound or near the
beginning of words
9. Onomatopoeia: fitting the sound to the
meaning Ex. Buzz, roar, howl, splash
Ornaments of Poetry
11. Free Verse: poetry which does not follow a
regular pattern of rhythm
12. sonnet; a poem of fourteen iambic
pentameter lines
1. Lyric Poetry 3. Dramatic Poetry
a. Song 2. Narrative Poetry a. Dramatic
b. Sonnet a. Ballad Monologue
c. Elegy b. Metrical b. Soliloquy
Romance
d. Ode
c. Epic
1. Lyric poetry – is the expression of the ideas and
thoughts of the author with his reflection and feelings.
a. Ode- a majestic type of lyric poetry, has an exalted
mood in which expresses a restrained feeling,
enthusiasm and deep reflection a particular person or
thing.
2. Elegy- a lyric poetry which has death as its subject
and expresses deep lamentation of the author.
3. Sonnet
4. Song – lyric poems which are meant to be sung
2. Narrative Poetry – gives a verbal representation, in verse , of
a sequence of connected events.
a. Epic- a long narrative kind of poem which deals with
the adventures and the heroic deeds of men is important in the
history and customs of a particular place or country.
Characteristics of epic
In media res – the story started out in the middle
Deus et machina – there is the presence of divine
intervention
2. Ballad – focuses on person’s personal feelings
folk ballad- one which has no author
literary ballad one which has an author
3. Metrical romance – shorter in form and less dignified in style
on which the characters are often noble descent and the setting
is usually in places and castles adorned with lavish costumes,
4. Metrical tale- tackles any subject and an opposite of the
modern short story which comes in realistic, simple but straight
forward manner.
3. Dramatic Poetry- tells stories but the poets let one or more of
the story’s characters act out in the story.
a. Dramatic monologue – a combination of drama and
poetry which presents the speech of a single character in a
specific situation with audience listening but remain silent.
b. The Soliloquy – like the monologue except there is no
one present to hear so he can freely express his thoughts and
emotions without inhibition.
3. Dramatic Poetry- tells stories but the poets let one or more of
the story’s characters act out in the story.
c. Character Sketch – the writer’s concern is focused
more on the individual rather than the matters of story. The
difference between the character sketch and the usual poem
written about people, is the “element of suspense, conflict, or
tension incorporated in the former.
- Comes from 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 and
humorously.
 2. Comedy
1. Tragedy a. Satirical Comedy
b. The Comedy of Manner
a. Tragicomedy c. Romantic Comedy
b. Melodrama d. Black Comedy
e. Farce
 Elements of Drama
A. Setting – identifies the time and place in
which the events occur. It consists the
following:
1. Historical period
2. The moment, day and season when
Characters are the people in the play, thus,
considered as the principal material in a drama.
 Character Aspects
 1. Physical identifies peripheral facts such as age, sexual
category, size, race and color. It deals with external attributes
which may be envisaged from the description of the playwright
or deduced from what characters say.
 2. Social embraces all aspects that can be gleaned from the
character’s world or environment.
 3. Psychological discloses the inner mechanism of the mind of
the character as exemplified by habitual responses, attitudes,
longings, purposes, likes and dislikes.
Character Aspects

 4. Moral –discloses the decisions of the characters, either

socially acceptable or not, exposing their intentions thus
projecting what is upright or not.
 PLOT – lays the series of events that form the entirety of the
play. It serves as the structural framework which brings the
eventsto a cohesive form and sense.
 Types of Plot
1. Natural Plot – is a chronological sequence of events
arrangement where actions continuously take place as end-
result of the previous action.
2. Episodic Plot – is made up of series episodes where the story
builds up and characters interrelate cohesively as a theme
develops.
Plot as Framework
 1. Beginning identifies information about the place, such as
geographical location, social, cultural, political background,
period when the event took place.
 Exposition – is the point where the playwright commences his
story. It reveals theidentity of the story’s initial crisis.
 Unfolding plot – establishes the story at a point near the climx,
conclusion, or end. The events leading to the climax little by
little.
 Accretive Plot – begins the narration from the very first
incident to its peak. An an early point of attack is expected;
however, the sequence of events moves chronologically.
Plot as Framework
 2. Middle is composed of a series of difficulties.
 A. Complications bring changes and alterations in the movement of
the action which takes place when discovery of novel information,
unexpected alteration of plan, choosing between two courses of
action.
 B. Crisis reveals the peak of anticipation in the series of incidents
 C. Obligatory Scene – identifies the open collision between two
opposing characters or forces.
 D. Discovery – discloses points which are previously unknow,
characterized as something mysterious, strange, unfamiliar and thus
revealed through objects, persons, facts, values or self-discovery,
 E. Ending – the final major component of the story which brings the
condition back to stability.
 D. Theme is considered as the unifying element that defines
the dramatized idea of the play.
 E. Style – refers to the mode of expression or prevention of
the play which points the playwright’s position or viewpoint
in life.

 Major Dramatic Attitude

 1. Realism is an accurate detailed, and life-like description
in a play.
 2. Non-realism – is a method of presentation
identified as something stylized or theatricalized
whereby artist uses imagination inprojecting his
ideas.
Comedy
 Depicts humorous incidents in which protagonists are faced with
moderate difficulties but overcome them and the play ends
happily.
 Satirical comedy generally ridicules human folly and associated
political, social or moral problems.
 Romantic comedy involves idealized romantic love as in
romance.
 Black comedy induces laughter as as a kind of defense
mechanism
 Farce depends upon ridiculous situations, exaggerated character
types, coarse humor, and horseplay for its comic effects.
Tragedy
 Refers to a drama in which heroic protagonist meets
an unhappy or calamitous end.

 Tragicomedy refers to fictional works that blend

aspects of the genres of tragedy or comedy.

 Melodrama uses music to increase the spectator’s

emotional response or to suggest character types.
 Dialogue This is an indispensable element of a drama from other
literary works.
 It functions like the expository section a short story’s plot.
 It reveals the situation and it also introduces the characters.

Plot tells us what happens and tells why it happens.

Character

CHARACTER IN DRAMA USES THREE METHODS:

• Through name and physical appearance
• Through action, through what the characters do in the course of the play
• Dialogue the most important one
-
- Presents factual information or expresses
a viewpoint.
1. Autobiography
2. Biography
3. Character Sketch
4. Diary or Journal
5. Editorial
6. Essay
1. Reader-Response 6. Historical Background
Approach Approach
2. Marxism 7.Deconstruction
3. Feminism 8.Moral/Intellectual
4. Queer theory Approach
5. Formalism
 FORMALISM focuses on the inherent features of a text that
capitalizes on form rather than content. These features
encompass the literary elements and devices such as plot,
character, and setting.
 HISTORICAL-BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH embraces the
idea that text and author are inseparable. The reader must dig
the author’s life history to know what compelled him from
writing the text.
 DECONSTRUCTION strives to exhibit that any text is not
disconnected whole but contains conflicting meanings
therefore; text has more than one meaning.
 READER RESPONSE APPROACH establishes the
interaction between the reader and the piece of literature.
The readers response to the text and how the text impinges
on the reader.
 MARXISM focuses on class conflicts as well as class
distinctions by emphasizing social, economic, and political
inequalities.
 FEMINISM examines the subjugation/supression of women
in the society.
 QUEER THEORY scrutinizes, problematizes, and criticizes
the role of gender in literature