LITERATURE -A Latin word “litera” which means letter.

This is a body of literary productions, either oral,

written or visual containing imaginative language that realistically portrays thoughts, emotions and
experiences of the human condition.

TYPES OF LITERATURE
I. Prose - “prosa” which means straightforward. It consists written works within the common flow of
conversation presented in a straightforward manner.
Types of Prose
1. Novel This is a long narrative divided into chapters. The events may be taken from true-to-life stories
and spans for a long period of time. There are many characters involved.
2. Short Story This is a narrative involving one or more characters, one plot and one single impression.
3. Plays This is presented on a stage, is divided into acts and each act has many scenes.
4. Legends These are fictitious narratives, usually about origins. It provides historical information
regarding the culture and views of particular group of people or country. Examples: The Bikol Legend,
Legend of Pineapple Legend of “Makahiya”
5. Folktales A traditional narrative, usually anonymous, and handed down orally. Example: The
adventures of Juan, The Hawk and the Hen Fairy Tales
6. Fables (special type of folk tale) These are also fictitious and they deal with animals and inanimate
things who speak and act like people. Their purpose is to enlighten the minds of children to events
that can mold their ways and attitudes. Examples: Aesop’s Fables, The Lion and the Mouse
7. Myths A traditional sacred story, typically revolving around the activities of god sand heroes, which
aim to explain a natural phenomenon or cultural practice. Example: The Story of Cupid and Psyche
The Fall of Troy The Myth about Creation - Tagalog
8. Anecdotes These are merely products of the writer’s imagination and the main aim is to bring out
lessons to the reader. “The Moth and the Lamp” – Dr. Jose Rizal, The Best Advice I ever Had
9. Essay This expresses the viewpoint or opinion of the writer about a particular problem or event. The
best example of this is the Editorial page of a newspaper. Examples: Of Studies – Francis Bacon On
Doors – Christopher Morley
10. Biography This deals with the life of a person which may be about himself, his autobiography or that
of others. Example: Cayetano Arellano – Socorro O. Albert
11. News This is a report of everyday events in society, government, science and industry, accidents etc.,
happening nationally or not.
12. Oration This is a formal treatment of a subject and is intended to be spoken in public. It appeals to
the intellect, to the will or to the emotions of the audience. Examples: “Because of What We Are, and
What We Believe” I have A Dream – Martin Luther King

II. Poetry It is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic
language choices as to evoke emotional response.
A. Narrative Poetry: This form describes important events in life either real or imaginary.
1. Epic It is an extended narrative about heroic exploits under supernatural control. It may deal with
heroes and gods. The hero/heroine usually has the following characteristics: idealism, courage, wisdom,
beauty, endurance, chivalry and justice.
Two Kinds of Epic poetry
a. Popular or ancient epic – often without a definite author and is of slow growth.
 b. Modern epic – with a definite author. Examples: Biag ni Lam-ang Epic
2. Metrical Tales This is a narrative which is written in verse and can be classified either as a ballad or
metrical romance. Examples of these are simple idylls or home tales, love tales, or tales of the
supernatural or tales written for a strong moral purpose in verse form. “The Lady of Shallot” by Lord Alfred
Tennyson
3. Ballads This is considered as the shortest and simplest of the narrative poems. It has a simple structure
and tells of a single incident. Variations of these are: love ballads, war ballads, sea ballads, humorous,
moral, historical, or mythical ballads. Example: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, Ballad of a Mother’s Heart Jose La Villa Tierra
B. Lyric Poetry: Originally, this refers to that kind of poetry meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a
lyre, but now, this applies to any type of poetry that expresses emotions and feelings to the poet. They
are usually short, simple and easy to understand.
Types of Lyric Poetry
1.Folksongs (Awiting Bayan) These are short poems intended to be sung. The common theme is love,
despair, grief, doubt, joy, hope, and sorrow.
2. Sonnets This is a lyric of poem of 14 lines dealing with an emotion, a feeling or an idea. There are two
types: the Italian and the Shakespearean, Sonnet: By The Creek By Paul.
3. Elegy This is a lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief and melancholy, and whose theme is death.
4. Ode This is a poem of a noble feeling, expressed with dignity, with no definite number of syllables or
definite number of lines in a stanza.
5. Psalms This is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing a philosophy of life.
6. Awit (Song) These have the measures of twelve syllables (dodecasyllabic) and slowly sung to the
accompaniment of a guitar or banduria. Example: Florante at Laura(Francisco Balagtas)
7. Corridos These have measures of eight syllables (octosyllabic)and recited to a martial beat. The songs
are often about oppressions, daily life of peasants, and other socially important information.
C. Dramatic Poetry: This is an emotional piece of literature which includes a story which is recited or sung.
Soliloquy and dramatic monologues are the main instruments of this form of poetry.
1. Comedy This word comes from the Greek term “Komos” meaning festivity or revelry. This form usually
is light and written with a purpose of amusing, and usually has a happy ending.
2. Melodrama This is usually seen in musical play with the opera. Today, this is related to tragedy just as
the farce to comedy. It arouses immediate and intense emotion and is usually sad but there is a happy
ending for the principal character.
3. Tragedy This involves the hero struggling mightily against dynamic forces; he meets death or ruin
without success and satisfaction obtained by the protagonist in a comedy. Examples: Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet
4. Farce This is an exaggerated comedy. It seeks to arouse mirth by laughable lines; situations are too
ridiculous to be true; the characters seem to be caricatures and the motives undignified and absurd.
5. Social Poems This form is either purely comic or tragic and its pictures the life of today. it may aim to
bring about changes in the social conditions.

FUNCTIONS OF LITERATURE
 ENTERTAINMENT Known as “pleasure reading”. In this function, literature is used to entertain its
readers. Literary works are consumed for the sake of one’s enjoyment.
 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FUNCTION Literature shows how society works around them. Literature
helps the reader “see” the social and political constructs around him/her and shows the state of
the people and the world around him/her.
 IDEOLOGICAL Literature shapes our way of thinking based on the ideas of other people. Literature
also displays a person’s ideology placed in the text consciously and unconsciously.
 MORAL Literature may impart moral values to its readers. The morals contained in a literary text,
whether good or bad, are absorbed by whoever reads it, thus helps in shaping their personality.
 LINGUISTIC Literature preserves the language of every civilization from where it originated. They
are also evidences that a certain civilization has existed by recording the language and preserving
it through wide spans of time.
 CULTURAL Literature orients us to the traditions, folklore and the arts of our ethnic group’s
heritage. Literature preserves entire cultures and creates an imprint of the people’s way of living
for others to read, hear, and learn.
 EDUCATIONAL Literature teaches us of many things about the human experience. Literature is
used to portray the facets of life that we see, and those that we would never dream of seeing.
Literature, therefore, is a conduit for the chance to experience and feel things where we can learn
things about life.
 HISTORICAL Ancient texts, illuminated scripts, stone tablets etc. keep a record of events that
happened in the place where they originate. Thus they serve as time capsules of letters that is
studied by scholars and researchers of today.

LITERARY DEVICES
Two Kinds of Literary Devices
Literary Elements have an inherent existence in literary piece and are extensively employed by writers to
develop a literary piece e.g. plot, setting, narrative structure, characters, mood, theme, moral etc.
Writers simply cannot create his desired work without including Literary Elements in a thoroughly
professional manner.
Common Literary Elements

 Plot: It is the logical sequence of events that develops a story.

 Setting: It refers to the time and place in which a story takes place.
 Protagonist: It is the main character of story, novel or a play e.g. Hamlet in the play Hamlet
 Antagonist: It is the character in conflict with the Protagonist e.g. Claudius in the play Hamlet
 Narrator: A person who tells the story.
 Narrative method: The manner in which a narrative is presented comprising plot and setting.
 Dialogue: Where characters of a narrative speak to one another.
 Conflict. It is n issue in a narrative around which the whole story revolves.
 Mood: A general atmosphere of a narrative.
 Theme: It is central idea or concept of a story.
Literary Techniques, on the contrary, are structures usually a word s or phrases in literary texts that
writers employ to achieve not merely artistic ends but also readers a greater understanding and
appreciation of their literary works. Examples are: metaphor, simile, alliteration, hyperbole, allegory etc.
In contrast to Literary Elements, Literary Techniques are not unavoidable aspect of literary works.
Common Literary Techniques
1. Imagery: It is the use of figurative language to create visual representations of actions, objects and
ideas in our mind in such a way that they appeal to our physical senses.
For example:

 The room was dark and gloomy. -The words “dark” and “gloomy” are visual images.
 The river was roaring in the mountains. – The word “roaring” appeals to our sense of
hearing.
2. Simile and Metaphor: Both compare two distinct objects and draws similarity between them. The
difference is that Simile uses “as” or “like” and Metaphor does not.
For example:
 “My love is like a red red rose” (Simile)
 He is an old fox very cunning. (Metaphor)
3. Hyperbole: It is deliberate exaggeration of actions and ideas for the sake of emphasis.
For example:
 Your bag weighs a ton!
 I have got a million issues to look after!
4. Personification: It gives a thing, an idea or an animal human qualities.
For example:
 The flowers are dancing beside the lake.
 Have you see my new car? She is a real beauty!
5. Alliteration: It refers to the same consonant sounds in words coming together.
For example:
 Better butter always makes the batter better. She sells seashells at seashore.
6. Allegory: It is a literary technique in which an abstract idea is given a form of characters, actions or
events.
For example:
 “Animal Farm”, written by George Orwell, is an example allegory using the actions
of animals on a farm to represent the overthrow of the last of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and
the Communist Revolution of Russia before WW II. In addition, the actions of the animals on
the farm are used to expose the greed and corruption of the Revolution.
7. Irony: It is use of the words in such a way in which the intended meaning is completely opposite to their
literal meaning.
For example:
 The bread is soft as a stone.
 So nice of you to break my new PSP!
Literary Compositions that have influenced the World.
1. The Bible or the Sacred Writings: This has become the basis of Christianity originating From Palestine
and Greece.
2. Koran: The Muslim Bible originating from Arabia.
3. The Iliad and the Odyssey: These have been the source of myths and legends of Greece. They were
written by Homer.
4. The Mahabharata: The longest epic of the world. It contains the history of religion in India.
5. Canterbury Tales: It depicts the religion and customs of the English in the early days. This originated
from England and was written by Chaucer.
6. Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe of the U.S. This depicted the sad fate of slaves;
this became the basis of democracy later on.
7. The Divine Comedy: (by Dante of Italy) This shows the religion and customs of early Italians.
8. El Cid Compeador: This shows the cultural characteristics of the Spaniards and their national history.
9. The Songs of Rolando: This includes Doce Pares and Roncesvalles of France. It tells about the Golden
Age of Christianity in France
10. The Book of the Dead: This includes the Cult of Iris and the mythology and theology of Egypt.
11. The Book of the Days: This was written by Confucius of China.
12. One Thousand and One Nights or the Arabian Nights: From Arabia and Persia (Iran). It shows the ways
of governments, of industries and of the society of the Arabs and Persians.