Literature

 Literature, a body of written works. The name has traditionally been

applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by
the intentions of their authors and the perceived aesthetic excellence of
their execution. Literature may be classified according to a variety of
systems, including language, national origin, historical period, genre,
and subject matter.

Prose
 Prose is a form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It
applies a natural flow of speech, and ordinary grammatical structure,
rather than rhythmic structure, such as in the case of traditional poetry.

Fiction
 Fiction, literature created from the imagination, not presented as fact,
though it may be based on a true story or situation.

Examples:
 #1: Alice in Wonderland (By Lewis Carrol)
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a good example of fiction.
The story narrates various adventures of the main character, Alice, in
a fictitious land full of incredible creatures and events. Alice has to go
through certain magical experiences in the wonderland. According to
the story, one day, while reading book, Alice grows bored, and
notices a white rabbit. She follows the rabbit when it goes into a hole
in the ground.

When peeping through the hole, Alice loses her balance and falls in.
She floats down slowly into the hole, and observes everything
around her. Then Alice enters Wonderland, where she witnesses a
number of weird things. This entire magical tale is fabricated and
imaginary, which makes it a good fiction to enjoy.
 #2: Pride and Prejudice (by Jane Austen)

Another ample example to portray fiction is, Pride and Prejudice by

Jane Austen. It is one of the most famous English novels. Unlike the
previous example, this story is set in a real-life-like setting. All
characters are humans, and no magical or strange events take place
in this novel. All of the characters, and the entire story is a made-
up narrative, each element the product of Jane Austen’s imagination.
She not only presents the issues of the contemporary life faced by
middle class families, but also daily preoccupations of the common
people. The novel presents a good fiction of actual life of nineteenth
century.

 Example #3: Hamlet (by William Shakespeare)

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is another apt example of fiction. The

story of the play moves around the main character, Prince Hamlet.
He is informed by the Ghost of his father that his uncle murdered his
father, King Hamlet, and married his wife and Hamlet’s mother,
Queen Gertrude. The Ghost elicits a promise from Hamlet that he will
avenge his murder by killing the murderer. This becomes
Hamlet’s dilemma. He vows to kill his uncle, but delays it on one
pretext or another. Overall, the story is all about the intrigues and
plots of the royal castle of Elsinore in Denmark. The story may have
some connection with the real life events and characters, yet it is
completely a fabricated story created by Shakespeare to entertain
the Elizabeth audience of that time.

 Example #4: The Time Traveler's Wife

the story of Clare, a beautiful, strong-minded art student, and Henry,
an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare
was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was
twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because
Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement
Disorder: his genetic clock randomly resets and he finds himself
misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his
life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous and
unpredictable, and lend a spectacular urgency to Clare and Henry's
unconventional love story. That their attempt to live normal lives
 together is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor
control makes their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

 Example #5: Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near
the forest. Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding
cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Riding Hood.
Suddenly, the wolf appeared beside her. A few minutes later, Red
Riding Hood knocked on the door. The wolf jumped into bed and
pulled the covers over his nose. "Who is it?" he called in a cackly
voice. He grabbed the wolf and made him spit out the poor
Grandmother who was a bit frazzled by the whole experience, but
still in one piece. The woodsman knocked out the wolf and carried
him deep into the forest where he wouldn't bother people any longer.
Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother had a nice lunch and a
long chat.

Elements of Fiction

 PLOT
Literature teachers sometimes give the impression that plot is not
important, that anyone interested in plot is an immature reader. Of
course plot is important. It was what got us interested in reading in
the first place. It was the carrot on the string that pulled us through a
story as we wanted to see what would happen next. That said, let me
emphasize that plot is rarely the most important element of a good
story. As much as I’ve always loved surprise endings, if the only
thing a film or a story has is a great twist ending, it doesn’t have
anything on a second look. And it’s worth noting that recent fiction
and film have deemphasized plot, frequently stressing character or
conflict for example. In film, for example, think David Lynch or Pulp
Fiction.
 SETTING

Stories actually have two types of

setting: Physical and Chronological. The physical setting is of
course where the story takes place. The “where” can be very
general a small farming community, for example or very specific a
two story white frame house at 739 Hill Street in Scott City, Missouri.
Likewise, the chronological setting, the “when,” can be equally
general or specific. The author’s choices are important. Shirley
Jackson gives virtually no clues as to where or when her story “The
Lottery” is set. Examination suggests that she wants the story to be
universal, not limited by time or place. The first two stories you will
read each establish a fairly specific physical setting; consider what
each setting brings to each story.

 CHARACTER

What type of individuals are the main characters? Brave, cowardly,

bored, obnoxious? If you tell me that the protagonist (main
character) is brave, you should be able to tell where in the story you
got that perception. In literature, as in real life, we can evaluate
character three ways: what the individual says, what the individual
does, and what others say about him or her.

 CONFLICT

Two types of conflict are possible: External and Internal. External

conflict could be man against nature (people in a small lifeboat on a
rough ocean) or man against man. While internal conflict might not
seem as exciting as external, remember that real life has far more
internal than external conflict. Film and fiction emphasize external
conflict not simply because “it’s more interesting” but also because
it’s easier to write. In a film script, you merely have to write “A five
minute car chase follows” and you’ve filled five minutes. How
longwould it take to write five minutes worth of dialogue?
 SYMBOL
Don’t get bent out of shape about symbols. Simply put, a symbol is
something which means something else. Frequently it’s a tangible
physical thing which symbolizes something intangible. The
Seven/Eleven stores understood that a few years ago when they
were selling roses with a sign saying, “A Rose Means ‘I Love You.’”

The basic point of a story or a poem rarely depends solely on

understanding a symbol. However important or interesting they
might be, symbols are usually “frosting,” things which add interest or
depth.

It’s normal for you to be skeptical about symbols. If I tell you that the
tree in a certain story symbolizes the Garden of Eden, you may ask
“Is that really there or did you make it up?” or “How do you know
what the author meant?”

Literature teachers may indeed “over-interpret” at times, find symbols

that really aren’t there. But if you don’t occasionally chase white
rabbits that aren’t there, you’ll rarely find the ones that are there.

In the film 2001, a computer named HAL is controlling a flight to

Jupiter. When the human crew decides to abort the mission, HAL
programmed to guarantee the success of the mission—“logically”
begins to kill off the humans. Science fiction’s oldest theme: man
develops a technology which he not only cannot control, it controls
him.

Consider HAL’s name. Add one letter to each of the letters in his
name. Change the H to I, the A to B, and the L to M. When you
realize how close HAL is to IBM, the first response is disbelief. But
clearly the closeness of the names is either an absolute accident or
an intentional choice. As much as we are startled by the latter, we
probably agree that the odds against the former—it being an
accident—are astronomical.

Somebody thought that up. Or maybe a computer.

 POINT OF VIEW
Point of View is the “narrative point of view,” how the story is told—
more specifically, who tells it.

There are two distinctly different types of point of view and each of
those two types has two variations.

In the First Person point of view, the story is told by a character

within the story, a character using the first person pronoun, I.

If the narrator is the main character, the point of view is first person
protagonist. Mark Twain lets Huck Finn narrate his own story in this
point of view.

If the narrator is a secondary character, the point of view is first

person observer. Arthur Conan Doyle lets Sherlock Holmes’ friend
Dr. Watson tell the Sherlock Holmes story. Doyle frequently gets
credit for telling detective stories this way, but Edgar Allan Poe
perfected the technique half a century earlier.

In the Third Person point of view, the story is not told by a

character but by an “invisible author,” using the third person pronoun
(he, she, or it) to tell the story. Instead of Huck Finn speaking
directly to us, “My name’s Huckleberry Finn” and telling us “I killed a
pig and spread the blood around so people would think I’d been
killed”, the third person narrator would say: He killed a pig and
spread the blood…..

If the third person narrator gives us the thoughts of characters (He

wondered where he’d lost his baseball glove), then he is a third
person omniscient (all knowing) narrator.

If the third person narrator only gives us information which could be

recorded by a camera and microphone (no thoughts), then he is
a third person dramatic narrator.
In summary, then, here are the types of point of view:

First Person Narrator

Protagonist
Observer
 Third Person Narrator
Omniscient
Dramatic

Different points of view can emphasize different things. A first

person protagonist narrator would give us access to the thoughts of
the main character. If the author doesn’t want us to have that
access, he could use the first person observer, for example, or the
third person dramatic.

 THEME
Theme isn’t so much an element of fiction as much as the result of
the entire story. The theme is the main idea the writer of the poem or
story wants the reader to understand and remember.

You may have used the word “Moral” in discussing theme; but it’s not
a good synonym because “moral” implies a positive meaning or
idea. And not all themes are positive.

One word—love, for example—may be a topic; but it cannot be a

theme.

A theme is a statement about a topic.

For example: “The theme of the story is that love is the most
important thing in the world.” That’s a cliché, of course, but it is a
theme.

Not all stories or poems (or films) have an overriding “universal”

theme.

Fable
 A fable is a short piece of fiction that features animals in the role of
the protagonist and usually includes or illustrates a moral. A fable
can also have other inanimate objects, mythical creatures, or forces
of nature as main characters. The distinguishing feature of a fable is
the anthropomorphism or personification involved that leads to a
moral lesson being taught. At times, this moral lesson is summed up
at the end of the fable in a short maxim.
 Example:

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was
caught in the toils of a hunter’s net. Unable to free himself, he filled
the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and
quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the
great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon
the Lion was free. “You laughed when I said I would repay you,” said
the Mouse. “Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion.”

Myth
 A myth is a story that comes from an ancient culture and often
includes supernatural elements. These elements may be anything
from talking animals to people with superhuman powers to the
interference of gods and goddesses in human affairs. Myths
traditionally were created to explain the origins of the world or of
belief systems, practices, or natural occurrences in the location of
that culture. Most myths are set in a time before recorded history or
exist somehow outside of time (e.g., “once upon a time” is a frequent
opening line for myths in that it indicates a distant past without
specifying when that past could have occurred). Though myths do
not necessarily contain any “truth,” they often display the biases and
values of the culture from which the myth came.

Examples:

Icarus flying too close to the sun until his wax wings melted and he
crashed into the sea.

The Tower of Babel being created that led to the proliferation of

different languages among humans.

A great flood wiping all most or all of the humans at the time
(prevalent in creation myths from around the world).
Legend
 Originated from Latin legendus, legend means “something which
ought to be read.” According to J. A. Cuddon, a legend is “a story
or narrative that lies somewhere between myth and historical fact
and which, as a rule, is about a particular figure or person.”
Traditionally, a legend is a narrative that focuses on a historically or
geographically specific figure, and describes his exploits. Similar to a
myth, a legend can provide an etymological narrative, often filling in
historical gaps.

Example:

The legend of Faust presents an over-ambitious man, who

surrenders his moral integrity for the achievement of worldly powers
and success for a limited period of time. This kind of character
teaches us the lessons of moral integrity, and the value of ethical
uprightness.

Folktale
 Folktale is a collection of fictional stories about animals and people,
of cultural myths, jokes, songs, tales, and even quotes. It is a
description of culture, which has been passed down verbally from
generation to generation, though many are now in written form.
Folklore is also known as “folk literature,” or “oral traditions.”

Examples:

The Seven Ravens

Stories of brothers and sisters abound in world literature, and I

particularly like tales where the girl saves the day. In the delicious
compendium of folkloric motifs known as the Aarne-Thompson Index,
these narratives are classified as Type 450, the Brother and Sister
Tale. The most famous example is “Hansel and Gretel,” where the
girl — employing both cunning and strength — rescues her younger
brother from being eaten by a ravenous witch. “The Seven Ravens,”
by the Brothers Grimm, is an even more adventurous story.
Parable
 Parable is a figure of speech, which presents a short story, typically
with a moral lesson at the end. You often have heard stories from
your elders, such as The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and All is Vanity.
These are parables, because they teach you a certain moral lesson.
Parable is, in fact, a Greek word, parable, which means
“comparison.” It is like a succinct narrative, or a universal truth that
uses symbolism, simile, and metaphor, to demonstrate the moral
lesson intended to be taught. Like analogy, we find the use of
parables in verse and prose, specifically in religious texts, such as
the Upanishad or the Bible.

Example:

The Cow (From The Holy Quran)

The holy Quran narrates a parable in second chapter, Al Baqra 2:

259, in which a man happened to pass through hamlet – a place
where people died centuries ago. The man doubted the power of
God, and thought of how He would resurrect them on Doomsday.
Subsequently, God caused him to die, resurrected him after a
hundred years, and asked him how long he slept, to which he replied
only a day.

However, his food was still fresh, which he brought with him. This
shows that God has control over all things and time. The traveler’s
donkey, on the other hand, was dead and had become a skeleton.
Then, God joined the bones, muscles, flesh, and blood of the donkey
again before the man, and brought it back to life. Hence, this parable
taught us a moral lesson in three ways:

1. God can change time.

2. God has power over life, death, resurrection, and no other can have this
power.
3. Humans have no power, and they should put their faith only in God.
Fairytale
 A fairy tale is a story, often intended for children, that features
fanciful and wondrous characters such as elves, goblins, wizards,
and even, but not necessarily, fairies. The term “fairy” tale seems to
refer more to the fantastic and magical setting or magical influences
within a story, rather than the presence of the character of a fairy
within that story. Fairy tales are often traditional; many were passed
down from story-teller to story-teller before being recorded in books.

Example:

Cinderella - Her evil stepmother and stepsisters would not let her go
to the ball, but her fairy godmother made it happen with magic. She
danced with the prince and they fell in love. Since she had to leave
by midnight, she ran and lost one slipper. The prince found the
slipper and searched for her. After he found her, they were married
and lived happily ever after.

Short Story
 A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in
one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of
linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a "single effect" or mood,
however there are many exceptions to this.

Example:

Advising A Fool

This short story Advising A Fool is quite interesting to all people.

Enjoy reading this short story.

On a mango tree in a jungle, there lived many birds. They were

happy in their small nests. Before the onset of the rainy season, all
the animal of the jungle repaired their homes. The birds also made
 their homes more secure.

Many birds brought twigs and leaves and others wove their nests.
“We should also store some food for our children," chirped one of the
birds. And they collected food, until they had enough to see them
through the rainy season. They kept themselves busy preparing for
the tough times.

Soon the rains came. It was followed by thunder and lighting. All the
animals and birds stayed in their homes.

It continued raining for many days. One day, a monkey wet in the
rain came into the forest. He sat on a branch, shivering with cold,
water dripping from its body.

The poor monkey tried his best to get shelter, but in vain. The leaves
were not enough to save him from the rains. “Brrr! It is so cold!" said
the monkey.

The birds were watching all this. They felt sorry for the monkey but
there was little they could do for him. One of them said, “Brother! Our
small nests are not enough to give you shelter."

Another bird said, “All of us prepared for the rainy season. If you had,
you would not be in this piteous situation."

“How dare you tell me what to do?" said the monkey, growling at the
bird. The monkey angrily pounced on the bird’s nest, tore it and
threw it on the ground. The bird and her chicks were helpless.

The poor bird thought, “Fools never value good advice. It is better
not to advise them.

Novel
 Novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, normally in prose,
which is typically published as a book.

Example:
 The Handmaid's Tale

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the

home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food
markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because
women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once
a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant,
because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other
Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can
remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her
husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter;
when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge.
But all of that is gone now.

Novelette
 Novelette may refer to: A novella, especially with trivial or
sentimental themes. A narrative work of prose fiction shorter than a
novella and longer than a short story.

Example:

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness is a strictly controlled novella, with a classic

status, describing a story of late nineteenth century about
imperialistic and colonialist process. This novella focuses on the
search of the central character, Kurtz, who goes too far for
exploitation of the natives for the sake of an ivory trade. Conrad’s
readers plunge deeper into the horror of darkness to see what
happened after the invasion of the Europeans.