2 Major Division of Literature

Prose

- Derived from the Latin word “prosa” meaning “Straightforward”.

- Writing that resembles everyday speech.

Poetry

- Defined as rhythmic imaginative language expressing the invention, thought,

imagination, taste, passion, and insight of the human soul.

- The purpose if enthrallment or fascinated or liking.

- William Wordsworth describes it as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.

Two Divisions of Prose

Fiction

- Defined as a series of imagined facts which illustrates truths about human life.

- Made up story from the author’s imagination.

- May be based on facts that has beginning, middle, and end.

- For fun or entertainment.

Non-Fiction

- Retelling of actual people, places or events.

- Based on provable facts.

- Has table of contents.

- Read for information to learn.

Two Types of Fiction

Traditional

- Stories that are passed down from one person to person.

Modern
 - More realistic and plausible. Often is printed or written.

5 Examples of Traditional Fiction

A. Myth / Mythology

- It pertains to the stories of Gods and Goddesses, origin of the universe and the creation

of mankind.

- These stories usually reflect a culture’s religious or other deeply held beliefs.

B. Legend

- Origin of places, things, plants, or animals. Stories known throughout a cultural group,

about people and their actions or deed they perform to save their people or nation.

- Based on facts but also includes imaginative material.

C. Fables

- Characters are animals that are given human attributes.

- Kind of folkore in which a brief story is used to teach a lesson about human nature.

- Aesop’s fables usually ends with a moral or lesson.

D. Parables

- Stories from the Bible with symbols.

- Biblical Stories that are allegorical (Symbolical) Short, didactic story that is meant to

teach a lesson or moral.

- Uses human characters in believable situations so people can relate.

E. Fairy Tale

- May feature folklore characters, enchantments, often involving farfetched sequence of

events or poetic justice.

- In some, there are talking animals or incidents of magic in the stories.

3 Examples of Modern Fiction

A. Short Story
 - A brief narrative that can be read on one sitting, single plot, few characters, and the

setting is limited.

Example: The Dead Stars Paz Marquez-Benitez & The Last Leaf by O. Henry.

B. Novel

- Extended narrative that is divided into characters. Has one main plot and consists of sub

plots. Could also have several settings divided into chapters.

Example: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald & To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

C. Novella or Novelette

- A modern fiction that is shorter than a novel but is longer than a short story.

Example: Animal Farm by George Orwell & Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.

7 Examples of Non-Fiction

A. Diary

- Written account of a person’s experience.

Example: The Diary of a Young Girl or The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank.

B. Journal

- Entries are more profound because they contain serious thoughts and reflections of the

writer.

Example: Leonardo da Vinci journal & Marie Curie journal

C. Biography

- Life story of a person which is a literary work that gives the life account of a person

written by another person.

Example: Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges in 1983 biography & Steve Jobs

by Walter Isaacson

D. Autobiography

- Life story of a person which is a literary work where the author writes his own life

account.
 Example: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin & Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson

Mandela

E. Essay

- Expository type of writing that contains the point of view of the writer on a given topic.

6 Types: Persuasive, Informative, Narrative, Expository, Descriptive and Argumentative.

Examples: Virginia Woolf – Death of the Moth & George Orwell – Shooting an Elephant

F. News

- Reports of expected and unexpected events in the society and government and incidents

in the field of science, business etc.

Example: BBC News, ABS CBN, GMA News

G. Letters

- Written message which displays aspects of an author’s psychological make-up and not

immediately apparent in his more public writings.

Example: Elizabeth Barrett Browning To Robert Browning & Oscar Wilde To Lord Alred

“Bosie” Douglas.

6 Characteristics of Poetry

Figures of Speech

- Ways of describing or explaining things in a non-literal or non-traditional way.

Descriptive Imaginary

- Describes what the poet sees, hears, or otherwise senses, be it a literal image or one that

exists in his mind.

Sound & Tone

- Poets uses this to poetry to change the way it sounds. Like for ex. “Do not go gentle into

the goodnight”.
 Choice of Meter

- Meter of a poem is the rhythm or pattern of speech. Poets use different meters to give

their poetry different rhythms.

Iambic Pentameter

- Iambic pentameter is a style of writing in poetry where each line is five feet long. Each foot

contains two syllables, one is stressed and second in unstressed. In simple way each line carry ten

syllables; five stressed and five unstressed.

Rhythm

- Regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed, long/short, or high/low-pitched syllables

creating a pattern in the lines of a poem.

Feet

- Number of lines in a pattern of 2 or more accented or unaccented syllable occurring a

line.

3 Kinds of Poetry

1. Lyric Poetry

- Derived from the Latin word, “Lyricus” meaning “of or the lyre”.

- These short poems were originally accompanied by music.

- The mood is melodic and emotional.

- The poet uses words that express his/her state of mind, percceptions, and feelings, rather

than telling a story.

- Verse poem that is susceptible of being sung to the accompaniment of a musical

instrument, usually a lyre.

5 Types of Lyric Poetry

A. Simple Lyric

- Includes those lyrical poems that do not properly belong under any of the other types of

lyrics.

Example: Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

- Short lyric poem which has a particularly melodious quality and is intended primarily to

be sung or can be easily set to music.

Example: Bohemian Rhapsody Song By Queen

C. Elegy

- Lamentation or an expression of mourning for the dead.

Example: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is a poem by Thomas Gray.

D. Ode

- Most majestic type of Lyric Poetry .

- Exalted in tone and expresses praise from some person, event, object, or idea.

- In formal structure and elaborately design.

Example: Ode on Solitude by Alexander Pope

E. Sonnet

- Lyric of 14 lines with a formal rhyme scheme or pattern.

There are three types of sonnets

1. Italian or Petrarchan Sonnet

- Named after Francesco Petrarch.

- Consist of as octave which develops the theme, followed by a sestet, which recapitulates the idea.

- Octave has a rhyme scheme of abba abba and the sestet cde cde or cdcdcd, or some other

combination.

Petrarchan Sonnet: A B B A A B B A C D E C D E or C D C D C D

2. English/ Elizabethan/ Shakespearean Sonnet

- Named after William Shakespeare or Queen Elizabeth I.

- Divided into 3 quatrains plus a couplet with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcde efef gg.

- The idea is developed in the three quatrains and is summarized and reinforced in the closing

couplet.

English Sonnet: A B A B C D C D E F E F G G
 3. Spenserian Sonnet

- Named after the English poet, Edmond Spenser.

- Divided into 3 quatrains and a closing couplet with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd ee.

Spenserian Sonnet: A A B B C B C C D C D E E

2. Narrative Poetry

- It tells a story following a chronology of events.

3 Types of Narrative Poetry

A. Ballad

- Short simple narrative poem composed to be sung and altered as it was orally transmitted

from generation to generation until it was written down much later.

Example: Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

B. Metrical Tale

- Relates real or imaginary events in simple straightforward language. Has a wide range of

subjects, characters, life experience etc. Usually concerned with ordinary events.

Example: “Evangeline” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

C. Epic

- Long majestic narrative poem which tells of the exploits of a traditional hero and the

development of a nation.

Example: “The Odyssey” by Homer

3. Dramatic Poetry

- Any drama that is written in verse, that is meant to be recited, it usually tells a story or

refers to a situation.

5 Types of Drama

A. Comedy
- Written with sparkling dialogue and peopled by amusing characters that are in funny

situations.

B. Tragedy

- Drama in which characters are victims of unhappy fashions or are involved in desperation

instances.

C. Fantasy

- Setting is generally unrealistic and the characters are usually fancifully portrayed.

D. Farce

- Exaggerated comedies written primarily to entertain people.

E. Romantic Drama

- Outstanding feature in poetic language. Characters are frequently noble.