A Short Introduction to Literature

by Professor Dr. Prudent Injeeli

Literature (from Latin littera, litterae (plural); letter) is the art of written works, that have a
definite style of writing, entertaining quality and a lasting value. Literally translated, the word
literature means "acquaintance with letters" knowing letters or being familiar with letters, by
letters, we mean, words. The French parallel for literature is belles letters, meaning, beautiful
letters, because literature is a composition of words in a beautiful style, more appropriately,
beautiful words written in a beautiful way.
Main Divisions: Fiction: Short story, Novel , Poetry, Drama, Epic Non-Fiction: History,
Biography, Autobiography, Diary (incl. newspaper, textbooks, science etc.)
Elements of Fiction / Literature
1. Plot or storyline. It is the ordering of the events and actions of a story. On a general level, plot
consists of action and reaction, also referred to as the cause of an action and the following
response. On a bigger level, plot has a beginning, middle, and an ending, that make up the
structure of the whole story.
2. Exposition refers to a fiction story's early setup, where, setting is established, characters are
introduced, and conflict is established. For example:
It was a dark and stormy night. The old woman looked at the shadowy man walking passed her
old wooden hut, located in the valley of the surrounding green hills.
3. Foreshadowing, is a technique used by authors to provide clues for the reader to be able to
predict what might occur later in the story. In other words, it is a technique in which an author
drops hints about plot developments to come later in the story.
4 The Rising action in a story follows the exposition and leads up to the climax. The rising
action's purpose is usually to build suspense all the way up the very end. The material beyond
the climax is known as the falling action.
5. Climax In a work of fiction, the climax often comes near the end of the text or performance,
after the rising action and before the falling action. It is the moment of greatest danger for the
protagonist(hero / the main character) and usually surprises you to the point that gets you excited
to see what is to come in the end.
6. Falling action is the part of a story, usually found where the story is settling down and you
start to feel that all the problems are now going to get solved and all the questions answered.
7. Resolution occurs after the climax, where the conflict is resolved.

8. Conflict: Conflict is the main problem in any piece of literature and is often classified
according to the nature of the protagonist or antagonist, as follows:
8.1 Types of conflict: 1. Person vs. Person (Protagonist vs. Antagonist) 2. Person vs. Him or
Herself 3. Person vs. Society 4. Person vs. Nature (natural disasters, tsunami, earthquake, floods,
storms etc.) 5. Person vs. Supernatural (ghosts, monsters, aliens etc.)
9. Character: A character is a person or agent that performs or carries out the action in a work of
fiction. Characters may be of several types:
1. Protagonist: The driver of the action of the story and therefore responsible for achieving
the story's Objective Story
Goal (the surface journey). Protagonist is usually the Main
Character.
2. Antagonist: The character that stands in opposition to the protagonist.
3. Static character: A character who does not significantly change during the course of a
story.
4. Supporting character: A character that plays a part in the plot, but is not major
5. Minor character: A character in a bit/cameo part.
9.1 Methods of developing characters
1. Appearance: describes the character's outward appearance for the readers to be able to
identify them.
2. Dialogue: what they say and how they say it.
3. Action: what the character does and how he/she does it.
4. Reaction of others: how other characters see and treat him/her.
5. Motivation: reason or intention for doing something.
10. Setting, the location and time of a story.
11. Theme, is the central idea or concept, answer to 'What you learnt from the piece of fiction?
12. Style, choices fiction writers make, consciously or subconsciously, as they create a story, they
include the choices of grammar, punctuation, word usage, sentence and paragraph length and
structure, tone, the use of imagery, chapter selection, titles, and on and on.
13. Categories: Types of prose fiction:
1. Flash fiction: A work of fewer than 2,000 words. (1,000 by some definitions) (5 pages).
2. Short story: A work of at least 2,000 words but under 7,500 words. (5-25 pages).
3. Novelette: A work of at least 7,500 words but under 17,500 words. (25-60 pages).
4. Novella: A work of at least 17,500 words but under 50,000 words. (60-170 pages).
5. Novel: A work of 50,000 words or more. (about 170+ pages).
6. Epic: A work of 200,000 words or more. (about 680+ pages) .

14. The Tragic Flaw:

a. facts unknown
b. wrong calculation / assessment
c. volunteer surrender
15. Language: Diction- word choice that both conveys and emphasizes the meaning or theme of
a poem through distinctions in sound, look, rhythm, syllable, letters, and definition Figurative
language - the use of words to express meaning beyond the literal meaning of the words
themselves
16. Imagery - the authors attempt to create a mental picture (or reference point) in the mind of
the reader. Remember, though the most immediate forms of imagery are visual, strong and
effective imagery can be used to invoke an emotional, sensational (taste, touch, smell etc.) or
even physical response.
17. Point of View - pertains to who tells the story and how it is told. The point of view of a story
can sometimes indirectly establish the author's intentions.
Narrator - The person telling the story who may or may not be a character in the story.
First-person - Narrator participates in action but sometimes has limited knowledge/vision.
Second person - Narrator addresses the reader directly as though she is part of the story. (i.e.
You walk into your bedroom. You see clutter everywhere and)
Third Person (Objective) - Narrator is unnamed / unidentified (a detached observer). Does not
assume character's perspective and is not a character in the story. The narrator reports on events
and lets the reader supply the meaning.
Omniscient - All-knowing narrator (multiple perspectives). The narrator knows what each
character is thinking and feeling, not just what they are doing throughout the story.
18. Symbolism - when an object is meant to be representative of something or an idea greater
than the object.