literature courses

first course: what is literature

the energy of mind and imagination released by the creative use of

mind ( LC Knights)

literature should represent an experience, giving something to the reader and

employing all the ressources of language

the text should be balanced with properly literary matching of form and content

(Barrel)

the formula for literature lies in: the diction, movement, style and manner and their

perfect proportion to one another (M.Arnold)

each individual has their own literary standards and defines the essence of literature

in relation to these

writings that has permanence and value- literature is the truth, that is what makes it

literature (Wain)

writings that are valued for their beauty of forms

(Oxford English Dictionary)

 2nd course: literary genre

genre: is the term used to describe the various types of literature. genreis a french

term derived from the latin genus, generis meaning type, sort or kind

it is devided into two subgenres: fiction and non-ficyion

1/fiction: includes drama, fable, fairytales, fantasy, fiction in verse, folklore, historical

fiction, horror, humour, legend, mystery, mythodology, realistic fiction, science

fiction and tall tales

2/ non-fiction: includes biography, autobiography,essay,narrative nonfiction,

nonfictional, speech, magazines, newspapers, cooking books

3rd course: basic literary terms

antagonist: a character or force in conflict with the main character

character (major or minor): a person or an animal who takes place in the story; major

is a character that has a big part in the story, a minor character is a character that

has less of a role in the story

characterisation: the means by which characters are depicted or created- commonly

by accounts of their physical appearance, psychological characteristics, direct

speech, and the opinions of the narrator or other characters about them
 climax: the point of the story where the story line reaches its high point

conflict: a struggle between opposing forces

cultural context: the historical and cultural context and the circumstances in which the

work was produced

denouement: the ending or the closing of a story

dialect: regional version of a language

dialogue: spoken words between characters

exposition: a writing or a speech that informs or explains

figures of speech: the rhetorical devices often used to give decorative and

imaginative expression to literature for example: simile, metaphor, puns, irony...ect

flashback: a section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate

an event from an earlier time

foreshadowing: a method of hinting what is to come later in the story earlier in the

book

grammar: the relationships of the words in sentences, which might include such

items as the use of adjectives for description, of verbs to denote action, switching

between tenses to move between present and past, or any use of unusual

combinations of words or phrases to create special effects

hero/heroine: the character in the story that the reader is supposed to side with and

does all of the brave and daring obstacles in the story

idiom: a speech form or expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of

its seperate words as in keep tabs on

implicit: understood though not directly stated

explicit: clearly and precisely expressed

jargon: confused, nonsensical, meaningless talk; usually of a particular group or

activity

literary devices: the devices commonly used in literature to give added depth to a

work for example imagery, point of view, symbolism, allusions...

 moral: a lesson teaching literary work

narrator: the person telling the story. this may be the author , assuming a full

knowledge of characters and their feelings: this is an omniscient narrator. it might

alternatively be a fictional character invented by the author. there may also be

multiple narrators. you should always be prepared to make a clear distinction

between author, narrator, and character-even though in some texts these may be ( or

appear to be) the same

narrative mode: this is usually either te first person singular (i am going to tell you a

story about...) or the third person singular (the duchess felt alarmed...)

narrative: the story which is being told: that is, the history of the events, characters,

or whatever matters the narrator wishes to relate to the reader

parable: a short story with a simple moral lesson

plot: the outline of the story and the main ideas and events

point of view: the literary strategy by which an author presents the events of a

narrative from the perspective of a particular person-which may be the narrator or

may be a fictional character. the point of view may be consistent, or it may switch

between narrator and character(s). it should not be confused with the mere opinion of

a character or the narrator

protagonist: the character or force the main character is up against

rhyme: the repetition of sound at the end of words

rhythm: the beat for a poem

setting: the localisation and time frame in which the action of a narrative takes place

stanza: a group of lines in a poem considered as a unit

structure: the planned underlying framework or shape of a piece of work. the

relationship between its parts in terms of arrangement or construction

syntax: the arrangement and logical coherence of words in a sentence; the

possibilities for re-arrangement are often used for emphasis or dramatic effect

theme: the underlying topic or issue, often of a general or abstract nature, as distinct
 from the overt subject with which the work deals. it should be possible to express

theme in a single word or short phrase-such as 'death', 'education', or 'coming of age'

tone: the author's attitude to the subject as revealed in the style and the manner of

the writing. this might be for instance serious, comic, or ironic

vocabulary: the author's choice of individual words-which may be drawn from various

registers such as colloquial, literary, technical, slang, journalism, and may vary from

simple and direct to complex and sophisticated

4th course: literal and figurative language

literal language: if a person uses literal langiage it is true to fact and is used in a

completely standard way with its primary or basic meaning

figurative language: language is either figurative (metaphorical) or literal. figurative

language suggests more than words themeselves, in order to achieve a special

meaning or effect

eg:

grass looks green----> literal language

the grass looks like spiky green hair----> figurative language

sand feels rough----> literal language

sand is solid water----> figurative language

5th course: denotation and connotation

what a word or name denotes is what it means or refers to,that is to say the word has

a literal or obvious meaning as destinguished from the suggestive meaning or

 association

denotation: in literary usage, the denotation of a word is its primary meaning or what

it refers to; the denotation is the explicit or specific meaning commonly given by a

dictionary, and destinguished from suggestions, associations, ans

connotations eg: one denotation of "light" is " illumination; the electromagnetic

radiation that makes vision possible"

connotation of a word or phrase is an association or idea suggested by that word or

phrase. the connotation is the idea or quality it makes you

think of eg: water---> life, growth, cleansing, religious rites

6th course: stylistic devices

the stylistic devices are the use of any of a variety of techniques

to give an auxiliary meaning, idea or feeling to the literal or the written

stylistic devices are devided into four branches: imagery, sound,

structure, miscellaneous

imagery:

simile: a kind of comparison in which two things are compared because they

have something in common though they are in all other respects different. the the

imaginative comparison is explicitly made with the help of like or as.

* she walks like an angel

* i wandered lonely as a cloud

metaphor: a comparison between two things which are basically quite different

without using the words like or as. while a simile only says one thing is like another, a
 metaphor says that one thing is another

* all the world's stage and all the men and women merely players (shakespeare)

* life's but a walking shadow (shakespeare)

personification: a kind of metaphor in which animals, inanimate objects or

abstract ideas are represented as if they were human beings and possessed human

qualities

* justice is blind

* necessity is the mother of invention

symbol: something concrete that stands for something abstract or invisible

* the cross is the symbol of christianity

* the dove symbolize peace/is symbolic of peace

metonymy: a figure of speech in which a concrete term or the name of an attribute

is used to refer to some wider idea that it characterizes that is to say, a word is

substituted by another with which it is associated

* 'the crown' for the monarchy

* 'the turf' for the horse racing

* 'the stage' for the theatrical profession

* 'the bench' for the judiciary

synecdoche: a kind of metaphor in which a part of something is used to sighify the

whole, or vice versa

* forty sail to refer to forty ships

* lend me your ears= give me your attention

sound:

alliteration: the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of neighbouring

words

* oh dear daddy of death dance...

 * i can sense the sweet smell of success

assonance: the repetition of vowel sound within stressed syllables of neighbouring

words

* fertile-birth

consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or the end of

neighbouring words

* strength-earth-birth

* blank-think

onomatopoeia: the use of words which imitate the sound they refer to

* splash, knock, clap, ding dong, buzz, boom, zoom

rhyme: the use of word which end with the same , usually at the end of lines

* tiger! tiger! burning bright/ in the forests of the night

internel rhyme: rhyme within a line

* letters of joy from girl and boy

impure rhyme: inaccurate repetition of sounds

* hill-full; man-mean; sky-fine; seem-weak

eye-rhyme: rhyme that does not depend on sound but on spelling

* flow-how, beat-great, over-discover

structure:

anaphora: the repetition of a word or several words at the beginning of succesive

lines, sentences or paragraphs. anaphora is a form of parallelism

* in every cry of every man/in every infant's cry of fear/in every voice,in every ban

(W.Blake,London)

chiasmus: a reversal in the ord words so that the second half of a

sentence balances the first half in inverted word order

* do i love you because you are beautiful? or are you beautiful because i love you?

climax: a figure of speech in which a series of words or expressions rises step by

step, beginning with the least important and ending with the most important. the term

may also be used to refer only to the last item in the series

* some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed

and digested

anticlimax:the sudden fall from an idea of importance or dignity to something

unimportant or ridiculous in comparison, especially at the end of a series

* the bomb completely destroyed the cathedral, several dozen houses and my

dustbin

enumeration: the listing of words or phrases. it can stress a aspect eg by giving a

number of similar or synonymous adjectives to describe something

* today many workers find their labor mechanical, boring, imprisoning, stultifying,

repetitive, dreary and heartbreaking

inversion: a change of the usual word order

* a lady with a ducimer/ in a vision once i saw

portemanteau words: factitious word blending the sounds and combining the

meanings of two

* brunch=breakfast+lunch

* motel=motor+hotel

parallelism: the deliberate repetition of similar or identical words, phrases or

constructions in neighbouring lines, sentences or paragraphs

* let every nation know that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any

hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the seccess

of liberty

antithesis: the use of contrast for effect. the construction in the sentence is parallel
 that is to say verbs contrasted with verbs, adjectives with adjectives, etc

miscellaneous:

allusion: an indirect reference to people or things outside the text in which it occurs,

without mentioning them explicitly

* i was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio's

ambiguity: the deliberate use of a word or phrase that has two or more relevant

meanings. ambiguity is the basis for a lot of wordplay

euphemism: hiding the real nature of something unpleasant by using a mild or

indirect term for it

* he has passed away instead of he has died

* the underpriviledge instead of the poor

understatement: the deliberate presentation of something as being much less

important, valuable etc than it really is

* these figures are a bit disappointing- instead of are disastrious

* he was quite upset- instead of he went into a terrible rage

hyperbole: -overstatement & exaggeration- obvous and deliberate exaggeration. its

purpose is to emphasize something or to produce a humorous effect

* i am so hungry, i could eat a horse

* i have a million things to do

* if i can't buy that new game, i would die

* he's got tons of money

litotes: an (ironical) understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the

negative of the contrary..often used in everyday speech, frequently with a negative

assertion, and usually with laconic or iconic intentions

* she is not ungreatful (she is greatful)

* not bad (very good)

 irony: saying the opposite of what you actually mean. do not use "ironic" in the

vague sense of "funny/humorous"

* teacher:" you are absolutely the best class i've ever had- actual meaning: the worst

class

sarcasm: bitter and aggressive humour used to express mockery or disapproval

* light travels faster than sound, this is why some people appear bright until they

speak

* i never forget a face, but in your case i'll be glad to make an exception

satire: a kind of text which critisizes certain conditions, events or people by making

them appear ridiculous. satirical texts often make use of exaggeration, irony and

sarcasm

*jonathan swift was a satirist. he satirized the society of his time

paradox:a statement that seems to be self-contradictory or opposed to common

sense. on closer examination it mostly reveals some truth

* the child is father of the man

* it is awfully hard work doing nothing

* you can save money by spending it

oxymoron:a combination of openly contradictory words and meanings

* o hateful love! o loving hate

* pretty ugly- definitly maybe-living dead- walking dead- only choice- amazingly

awful-alone together

pun: a play on words that have a similar sound but different meanings. the english

language seems to lend itself to wordplay more than most languages because of its

many homophones, that is to say words with the same sound as another.

homophones lose their ambiguity as soon as they are written

*
 * s to say wordssseems to lend itself to

* at the drunkard's funural, four of his friends carried the bier

a word with the same form as another but with a different meaning is called

homonym:

* is life worth living? it depends on the liver

rhetorical question: a question to which the answer is obvious and therefore not

expected. in reality rhetorical questions are a kind of statement

* don't we all love peace and hate war?

* shouldn't we try to be friendlier towards each other?