Module 1: Literary Themes technique usually occurs with a single

word or phrase, or a particular group

What do you mean by the term?
of words or phrases, at one single
Central Idea of a text focusing on 2 point in a text. Unlike literary elements,
points: literary techniques are not necessarily
• Readers’ thoughts on the text present in every text
• Thoughts on the text to be
passed unto the readers
A literary device is any specific
aspect of literature, or a particular
Prevalent Literary Themes in 21st
work, which we can recognize, identify,
Century
interpret and/or analyze. Both literary
1. Identity … fast pacing elements and literary techniques can
intersection of cultures and rightly be called literary devices. A
philosophies.
literary device is any specific aspect of
a. Gender
b. Age group literature, or a particular work, which
c. Social status we can recognize, identify, interpret
2. History and Memory … the and/or analyze.
notion of multiplicities …
history is filtered through
ALLITERATION: The repetition of consonant
human perspective and
sounds within close proximity, usually in
experience.
consecutive words within the same sentence
a. Beginning
or line.
b. Cause & Effect
c. Depiction ANTHROPOMORPHISM: Where animals or
3. Technology … potential inanimate objects are portrayed in a story as
benefits to humanity people, such as by walking, talking, or being
a. Future given arms, legs and/or facial features. (This
b. Utopia technique is often incorrectly called
c. Integration personification.)
4. Intertextuality … making a
CREATIVE LICENSE: Exaggeration or
broader conversation, context
alteration of objective facts or reality for the
and body of work.
purpose of enhancing meaning in a fictional
a. Textual Relationship
context.
b. Making Meaning
c. Derivation

DIALOGUE: Where characters speak to

one another; may often be used to substitute
Review: Virtual Center by: Raissa
for exposition.
Claire U. Rivera

DRAMATIC IRONY: Where the audience or

Module 2
reader is aware of something important, of
which the characters in the story are not
aware.
Literary techniques are specific,
deliberate constructions of language
which an author uses to convey EXPOSITION: Where an author interrupts a
meaning. An author’s use of a literary story in order to explain something, usually to
provide important background information
about events, settings, characters, or other VERISIMILITUDE simply means ‘the quality of
elementsof a work to the audience or readers. resembling reality.’ A work of art, or any part
The word comes from the Latin language, and of a work of art, has verisimilitude if it seems
its literal meaning is “a showing forth.” realistic. The word verisimilitude is derived
Exposition is crucial to any story, for without it from the Latin words verum and similis
nothing makes sense. meaning “truth”and “similar.” A
verisimilitudinous story has details,
subjects, and characters that seem similar or
true to real life.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Any use of

language where the intended meaning differs
VIGNETTE is a short, descriptive scene. It’s
from the actual literal meaning of the words
beautifully crafted in finite detail. Vignettes are
themselves. There are many techniques which
intended to leave an impression on the
can rightly be called figurative language,
audience’s mind. This literary device that brings
including metaphor, simile, hyperbole,
us deeper into a story. Vignettes step away
personification, onomatopoeia, verbal irony,
from the action momentarily to zoom in for a
and oxymoron.
closer examination of a particular character,
concept, or place. Writers use vignettes to shed
light on something that wouldn’t be visible in
FORESHADOWING: Where future events in the story’s main plot.
a story, or perhaps the outcome, are
suggested by the author before they happen.
Foreshadowing can take many forms and be A literary element refers to
accomplished in many ways, with varying components of a literary work
degrees of subtlety. However, if the outcome is
(character, setting, plot, theme,
deliberately and explicitly revealed early in a
frame, exposition,
story (such as using a narrator or flashback
structure), such information does not ending/denouement, motif, titling,
constitute foreshadowing. narrative point--‐of--‐view). These
are technical terms for the “what” of a
work. A literary device refers to a
IMAGERY: Language which describes literary technique employed by the
something in detail, using words to substitute author to produce an effect (tone,
for and create sensory stimulation, including irony, figurative language, symbolism,
visual imagery and sound imagery. Also refers foreshadowing).
to specific and recurring types of images, such
as food imagery and nature imagery.
SETTING
Refers to time periods, geographic locations,
SYMBOLISM: The use of specific objects or cultural contexts, immediate surroundings,
images to represent abstract ideas. This term weather, times of day, or times of year
is commonly misused, describing all employed in the story. A setting can be
representational relationships, which in fact used to create a mood, as an integral part of
are more often metaphorical than symbolic. A the plot (creating a conflict, etc.), to bring out
symbol must be something tangible or visible, certain aspects of the characters, and can
while the idea it symbolizes must be also be used figuratively or symbolically to
something abstract or universal. hint at the story’s theme or reflect an interior
state of the characters.

TONE
It refers to the attitude the work takes toward A character who stands in the way of the
the audience and subject. A work’s tone can be protagonist’s movement in the story. Often
playful, serious, upbeat, detached, ironic, times, this is a villain but it does not have to
intimate, haughty, objective and any other be.
number of great adjectives used to describe an
STATIC VS DYNAMIC CHARACTERIZATION
attitude toward something.
Refers to what the author does with the
NARRATIVE P E RSP E CTIVE OR POINT -OF-VIEW
character over the course of the book. If the
Refers to the point-‐of view from which the story character changes a lot over the course of the
is narrated. The story can be from the first- story, the author has made the character
person point-‐of-‐view (“I saw…”) or the third dynamic. If the character stays pretty much
person point-‐of-‐view (“he saw”). Notably, the same, he/she is static.
there are some important variations on both
ROUND VS FLAT CHARACTERIZATION
major points-‐of-‐view:
Refers to how complex the author makes
First person protagonist– the person telling
character. If the character is very complex in
the story is also the main character
his/her motivations and/or actions, he/she is
First person observer–the person telling the round. If the character is straightforward in
story is a secondary character in the story. his/her motivations and/or actions, he/she is
flat.
Third person limited – the narrative follows
around one character primarily and has access THEME
to his/her thoughts. This narrative perspective
Refers to a broad idea or moral in a story.
also describes things happening around
Remember, a good theme shouldn’t be
him/her.
something broad like “death” and also cannot
Third person omniscient – has access to be something so specific, like “the death of
multiple character’s thoughts and actions. Violet” as to only be applicable to that one
work. The best themes are specific but could
Third person objective – describes only the be applied to other works.
actions of the characters. We see the
actions of the book almost as if on a stage RESOL UTION/ D ENO U EMENT
with no access or limited access to
It refers to a story’s final “untying” or
character’s thoughts.
resolution. The story’s denouement is always
MOTIF at the end, after the climax. Some of the short
stories we have read have denouements that
Refers to a series of reoccurring details that purposefully don’t resolve the plot’s central
have symbolic importance in the story. conflict.
IMAGE RESOL UTION/ D ENO U EMENT
It refers to a description of something to be It refers to a story’s final “untying” or
seen, hear, smelled, or touched. resolution. The story’s denouement is always
CHAR ACTERIZATION at the end, after the climax. Some of the short
stories we have read have denouements that
It refers to how the author describes purposefully don’t resolve the plot’s central
his/her characters. conflict.
PROTAGONIST
The main character in a story. M3: Literary Approaches
He/she is often a hero butsometimes
is not. He/she can also be the story’s narrator. It is used to thoroughly read, analyze,
evaluate, interpret and judge a specific
ANTAGONIST literary piece, leading to the act of
Literary Criticism.
 • based on Karl Marx theory
of Marxism
Traditional Approach focuses on
• "Marxism attempts to
tracking the influence used in the
reveal the ways in which
making and publication of the literature.
our socioeconomic system
-it follows a principle that every literary is the ultimate source of
text is NOT a stand-alone piece of our experience" (Tyson
literature, that not all contexts are 277)
based on the words inside it. • concerns itself with class
differences including the
-
implications and
complications of the
system
New/ Interpretative Approach focuses • aches to answer the
on what is within the text rather than question:
what the author intended it to be. • “whom does it [the work, the
effort, the policy, the road,
- Follows a principle that every
the government, etc.]
literary text can be stand-alone
benefit? The elite? The
as a piece of literature, that the middle class? “
essential context is just within • shows interest in how the
it. lower or working classes are
oppressed
• shows analysis of the
Traditional Approach: clash of opposing social
classes in society, namely;
HISTORICAL APPROACH
the ruling class
- dependent on the author and his world. (bourgeoisie) and the
working class (proletariat)
- for the literary work to make sense, the
as it shaped the events
reader must dig in into the world of the
that come to light in the
authors and be informed about his
story
beliefs, prejudices and as well as his
timetable in making the text.
- adaptation of real historical events. Gender-Queer (FEMINIST)
APPROACH
- greatly influenced by the Feminist
BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH
Approach (concerns with the woman’s
- Dependent on the author’s role in society as portrayed through
life texts)
- Showcase how the
- see the sight on issues of sexuality,
author’s life has a
power, and marginalized populations
significant bearing in
(woman as other) in literature and
shaping the literary work...
culture
- Considers the author’s
background including his - "Effective as this work [feminism] was
way of living in changing what teachers taught and
- Bringing out a part of the what the students read, there was a
author’s life, past and sense on the part of some feminist
present, into the text. critics that...it was still the old game that
was being played, when what it needed
MARXIST APPROACH was a new game entirely. The argument
posed was that in order to counter
patriarchy, it was necessary not - deals chiefly with the text
merely to think about new texts, but to and not with any of the
think about them in radically new ways“ outside considerations
(Richter) (author, the real world,
audience, era or even
other literature)

-There is a set up of series

- meaning is determinant, all
of binary oppositions
other considerations are
(active/passive,
irrelevant
sun/moon...father/mother,
logos/pathos). Each pair can be
analyzed as a hierarchy in which
- challenges other
the former term represents the
positive and masculine and the approaches to treat each
work as its own distinct
latter the negative and feminine
piece
principle" (Richter)

NEW/ Interpretative Approach - since the text is

considered autonomous,
- Reader-Response Approach “close-reading” on the
elements present in a
focuses on how the work is perceived by
literary work is expected
the Audience

-Readers' REACTIONS to
literature is considered VITAL to
understanding the sense of the text; that
each Reader's perception MAY be
different from each other but of SAMe POETRY
Acknowledgement of IMPORTANCE
MODULE 4

-"...reader-response theorists
share two beliefs: 1) that the role of the What is Poetry?
reader cannot be omitted from our • Poetry is a type of literature that
understanding of literature and 2) that conveys a thought, describes a scene or
readers do not passively consume the tells a story in a concentrated, lyrical
meaning presented to them by an arrangement of words. Poems can be
objective literary text; rather they structured, with rhyming lines and
actively make the meaning they find in meter, the rhythm and emphasis of a
literature" (Tyson 154) line based on syllabic beats. Poems can
also be freeform, which follows no
formal structure.
-the Author is no longer
RELEVANT once the work is published;
"the Death of the Author" What is Poetry?
• The basic building block of a
FORMALIST APPROACH poem is a verse known as a stanza. A
stanza is a grouping of lines related to
the same thought or topic, similar to a which all or some of the lines have a
paragraph in prose. A stanza can be rhyme word at the end.
subdivided based on the number of lines
it contains. For example, a couplet is a
stanza with two lines. Free Verse
• Free verse poetry is poetry that
lacks a consistent rhyme scheme,
Meter in Poetry
metrical pattern, or musical form.
• Meter is the basic rhythmic
structure of a line within awork of poetry.
Meter consists of two components: The Epics
number of syllables. A pattern of
• An epic poem is a lengthy,
emphasis on those syllables.
narrative work of poetry. These long
poems typically detail extraordinary
feats and adventures of characters from
What is a Stanza?
a distant past.
• In poetry, a stanza is used to
describe the main building block of a
poem. It is a unit of poetry composed of Narrative poetry
lines that relate to a similar thought or
• Like an epic, a narrative poem
topic—like a paragraph in prose or a
tells a story. Henry Wadsworth
verse in a song. Every stanza in a poem
Longfellow’s “The Midnight Ride of Paul
has its own concept and serves a
Revere” and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s
unique purpose.
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
exemplify this form.
Rhyme Scheme
• There are many different types Haiku
of rhymes that poets use in their work:
• A haiku is a three-line poetic
internal rhymes, slant rhymes, eye
form originating in Japan. The first line
rhymes, identical rhymes, and more.
has five syllables, the second line has
One of the most common ways to write
seven syllables, and the third line again
a rhyming poem is to use a rhyme
has five syllables.
scheme composed of shared vowel
sounds or consonants.

Pastoral poetry
Types of Poetic Forms • A pastoral poem is one that
concerns the natural world, rural life,
and landscapes. These poems have
Blank Verse persevered from Ancient Greece (in the
poetry of Hesiod) to Ancient Rome
• Blank verse is poetry written
(Virgil) to the present day (Gary
with a precise meter—almost always
Snyder).
iambic pentameter— that does not
rhyme.

Sonnet
Rhymed Poetry • A sonnet is a 14-line poem,
typically (but not exclusively) concerning
• This is poetry that is divided into
the topic of love. Sonnets contain
stanzas or verses (groups of lines) in
internal rhymes within their 14 lines; the • A soliloquy is a monologue in
exact rhyme scheme depends on the which a character speaks to him or
style of a sonnet. herself, expressing inner thoughts that
an audience might not otherwise know.
Soliloquies are not definitionally poems,
Elegies although they often can be— most
famously in the plays of William
• An elegy is a poem that reflects
Shakespeare.
upon death or loss. Traditionally, it
contains themes of mourning, loss, and
reflection. However, it can also explore
Villanelle
themes of redemption and consolation.
• A nineteen-line poem consisting
of five tercets and a quatrain, with a
Ode highly specified internal rhyme scheme.
Originally a variation on a pastoral, the
• Much like an elegy, an ode is a
villanelle has evolved to describe
tribute to its subject, although the
obsessions and other intense subject
subject need not be dead— or even matters.
sentient, as in John Keats’ “Ode on a
Grecian Urn”.
DRAMA
Limerick
• A limerick is a five-line poem Drama
that consists of a single stanza, an
• Drama is a mode of fictional
AABBA rhyme scheme, and whose
representation through dialogue and
subject is a short, pithy tale or
performance. It is one of the literary
description.
genres, which is an imitation of some
action. Drama is also a type of a play
written for theater, television, radio, and
Lyric poetry film.
• Lyric poetry refers to the broad
category of poetry that concerns
feelings and emotion. This distinguishes BRIEF HISTORY OF
it from two other poetic categories: epic
DRAMA :
and dramatic.

HOW THE “DRAMATIC

Ballad
"JOURNEY BEGAN
• A ballad (or ballade) is a form of
narrative verse that can be either poetic
or musical. It typically follows a pattern HISTORY OF DRAMA
of rhymed quatrains. From John Keats
•Drama is the specific mode of
to Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Bob
functional representation, through
Dylan, it represents a melodious form of
dialogue and performances ( play,
storytelling.
opera, mime, ballet, etc.), performed in
a theatre or radio or television. The term
“drama” comes from a Greek word
Soliloquy
meaning “action”. Thus, it is one of the
literary genres, which is an imitation of
some action. In simple words, a drama • These hymns were later
is a composition in verse or prose, adopted for choral processions in which
presenting a story in pantomime or participants would dress up in costumes
dialogue. and masks. Eventually, some members
of the chorus evolved to take special
roles within the processions in which
•It contains conflict of characters participants would dress up in costumes
particularly the ones who perform in and masks. Eventually, some members
front of the audience on the stage. The of the chorus evolved to take special
two masks associated with drama roles within the procession, but they
represent the traditional generic division were not yet actors in the way we
between comedy and tragedy. The understand. That development came
history of drama stretches back to some later in the 6th century BC.
of mankind’s earliest civilizations.

• A festival of entertainment
•The two famous mask of drama called ” City dionysia” began to be held
represent the division between comedy in honour of the God Dionysus and it
and tragedy. They are symbols of the featured competitions in music, singing,
ancient Greek Muses, Thalia and dance and poetry. The most remarkable
Melpomene. Thalia was the Muse of winner in the competition was called
comedy, while Melpomene was the “Thespis”. According to tradition, in 534
Muse of tragedy. or 535 BC, Thespis astonished the
audience by leaping onto the back of the
wooden cart and reciting poetry,
•The enactment of drama in enacting the character whose lines he
theatre, performed by actors on stage was reading. Thus, world’s first ” actor”
before an audience, presupposes was born and this is how we got the
collaborative modes of production and a coinage “Thespian “.
collective form of reception. Western
drama originated in Greece. The origin
of drama is deep-rooted in the religious Types of drama
predispositions of mankind. This is not
only applicable in case of English drama
but with the dramas of other nations as Comedy
well.
• Comedies are lighter in tone
than ordinary works and provide a
happy conclusion. The intention of
• This is not only applicable in
dramatists in comedies is to make their
case of English drama but with the
audience laugh. Hence, they use quaint
dramas of other nations as well. The
circumstances, unusual characters, and
ancient Greek and Roman dramas were
witty remarks.
mostly concerned with religious
ceremonials of people. It was the
religious element that resulted in the
Tragedy
development of drama. The earliest
origins of drama are to be found in • Tragic dramas use darker
Athens where ancient hymns, called themes, such as disaster, pain, and
Dithyrambs, were sung in honor of the death. Protagonists often have a tragic
God Dionysus. flaw — a characteristic that leads them
to their downfall.
 Melodrama if” books, speculative literature changes
the laws of what’s real or possible as we
• Melodrama is an exaggerated
know them in our current society, and
drama, which is sensational and
then speculateson the outcome.
appeals directly to the senses of the
audience. Just like the farce, the
characters are of a single dimension
The History of
and simple, or may be stereotyped.
Speculative Fiction

Musical Drama
• Writers have written about
• In musical dramas, dramatists
hypothetical events for centuries.
not only tell their stories through acting
Speculative fiction dates to ancient
and dialogue, but through dance as well
Greece when playwrights like Euripides
as music. Often the story may be
explored alternate versions of the truth.
comedic, though it may also involve
For example, in Medea, Euripides
serious subjects.
speculated a world in which a
shamaness killed her own children,
rather than them being killed by the
Function of Drama
Corinthians.
• Drama is one of the best literary
forms through which dramatists can
directly speak to their readers, or the • Stories like William
audience, and they can receive instant Shakespeare’s A
feedback of audiences. A few dramatists
Midsummer Night’s Dream and J. R.
use their characters as a vehicle to
R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
convey their thoughts and values, such
are also considered speculative
as poets do with personas, and
fiction, even though the term did not
novelists do with narrators. Since drama
exist at the time. A Midsummer
uses spoken words and dialogues, thus
Night’s Dream conjures a world in
language of characters plays a vital role,
which characters move seamlessly
as it may give clues to their feelings,
through time and space in the
personalities, backgrounds, and change
woodland and the Fairyland; The
in feelings. In dramas the characters live
Lord of the Rings speculates
out a story without any comments of the
mythical creatures that do not exist
author, providing the audience a direct
in our world.
presentation of characters’ life
experiences.
• The term “speculative fiction”
was used for the first time by Robert
Speculative Fiction
Heinlein in 1947. Term was largely
associated with only the science
fiction genre in the late twentieth
What Is SpeculativeFiction?
century, as science fiction is a
widely-read genre that contains
speculative elements. The term
Speculative fiction is a literary
expanded in the twenty-first century
“super genre,” which encompasses
to encompass more subgenres
several different genres of fiction, each
beyond just science fiction, like
with speculative elements that are
fantasy and dystopian literature.
based on conjecture and do not exist in
Today, speculative fiction is a blanket
the real world. Sometimes called “what-
term for the stories that take place • stories about civilizations the
beyond our known world. authors deem to be perfect, ideal
societies.

SUB-GENRES OF
SPECULATIVE FICTION DYSTOPIAN FICTION
•Most speculative fiction novels • stories about societies deemed
fall under at least one of the following problematic within the world of the
genres. Some may fall into multiple novel, often satirizing government rules,
genres depending on the story structure: poverty, and oppression.

SCIENCE FICTION: APOCALYPTIC FICTION

• stories with imagined • stories that take place before
technologies that don’t exist in the real and during a huge disaster that wipes
world, like time travel, aliens, and out a significant portion of the world’s
robots. population. The stories center around
characters doing everything they can to
stay alive—for example, running from
SCI-FI FANTASY zombies or trying to avoid a deadly
plague.
FICTION
• sci-fi stories inspired by
mythology, folklore, and fairy tales that POST-APOCALYPTIC FICTION
combine imagined technologies with
• stories that take place after an
elements of magical realism.
apocalyptic event and focus on the
survivors figuring out how to navigate
their new circumstances—for example,
SUPERNATURALFICTION emerging after a global nuclear
• sci-fi stories about secret holocaust or surviving a total breakdown
knowledge or hidden abilities including of society.
witchcraft, spiritualism, and psychic
abilities.
ALTERNATE HISTORY
FICTION
SPACE OPERA FICTION
• a play on the term “soap opera,” • stories that focus on true
sci-fi stories that take place in outer historical events but are written as if
space and center around conflict, they unfolded with different outcomes.
romance, and adventure.
URBAN FANTASY FICTION
• fantasy stories that take place in
an urban setting in the real world but SUPERHERO FICTION

operate under magical rules. stories about superheroes and

how they use their abilities to fight
supervillains.

UTOPIAN FICTION
 =END OF REVIEWER=

“May the odds be always be in

your favor.”