Introduction to Literature

By: Nur Asiyah, M.A

 The Essences of teaching and learning
literature for the students
The essences of teaching and learning Literature
inherent the message content of Literary works
1. Prepare for personal growth
2. Understanding the product of Culture
3. Deal with all aspect of life
4. Having skills to Judge, decide, and
appreciate
5. As a work of art
6. Contributing to future Career
The essences of teaching and learning Literature
inherent the message content of Literary works
7. A source of Information on history
8. To understand about culture
9. To get Pleasure
 The Essences of teaching and learning
literature for the students
The essences of teaching and learning Literature
inherent the message content of Literary works

1. Prepare personal growth

The values of learning literature inherent literary
studies have the potentials to contribute to the
personal growth and development that the
students are better prepared to face their future.
The future of life deals with the relationship
between their selves and the environment, either
family or the whole people in the world.
2. Understanding the product of culture
By understanding the other culture, the students are led
to be aware of cultural differences and to “have a
greater tolerance for cultural differences” (MacKey,
1986:191)

3. Deal with all aspects of life

Students can see different characteristics of human
being both strengths and weaknesses. Literature can
help to “enrich and deepen the students’ human
sensibility” (Mandel, 1970: 2)

The essences of teaching and learning

Literature inherent the message
content of Literary Works
4. Having skill to judge, decide, and appreciate
By understanding literature, it is hoped that
students have the ability to discriminate, to judge,
and to decide.
The students learn how to “appreciate, and feel the
difference between what is really important and
what is really important and what is trivial or easily
dispensable” (Moody, 1968:4)

The essences of teaching and learning

Literature inherent the message content of
Literary works
 5. As a work of art
Knapton and Evan stated that “among all potentials
that literature can offer, the best things a literary
work can do is to provide experience of itself as a
work of art, an aesthetic experience, which exercises
a salutary effect in inner being” (1967:5). As an art
literature has “moving power” that moves the
reader in “Poignant personal ways” (Mandel,
1970:49)

The essences of teaching and learning

Literature inherent the message content of
Literary works
 6.Contributing to future Career
Literature can broaden human’s horizon. It can
increase one’s literary sensitiveness. Therefore it
can open many kinds of professions such as:
teacher, lecturer, translator, writer, entertainer,
secretaries, cashier, administrative staff,
diplomat, entrepreneur, public relation officers,
travel agencies, etc.
The essences of teaching and learning
Literature inherent the message content of
Literary works
 7. A source of information on History
Literature as a cultural production reflects the history of life in
certain society. By reading works of literature one can understand
the history of life reflected in the story. For examples The Scarlet
Letter presents the history of puritan society in America, Narrative
life of Frederick Douglass tells the history of Black People try to
get freedom from slavery. Raven Steals the Lights describes the
relationship between human and nature in Native American
Indian. It tells how the Origin of Lights in their perspective. The
Chimney Sweeper expresses how the child works in the Chimney
that is dangerous for the child.

The essences of teaching and learning

Literature inherent the message content of
Literary works
 8. To understand about culture
In understanding the culture, two main points are: the
people and the life style. Native American People really
honor the land, the tales and the nature. In their life style,
they are forbidden to wear high heel that may destroy the
land. They believe that life in this world like in spider web, if
we do the best for the web the web will do the best for us.
Our deed will come back to ourselves whether good deeds
or bad deeds.

The essences of teaching and learning

Literature inherent the message content of
Literary works
 9. To get pleasure
Literary works can be media of escapism. People try to
forget the harsh of life and less the burden of life by
enjoying certain literary works. Native American People
often forget their problem with The White people by
gathering to tell the trickster tales. The can laugh by
enjoying the story and the characters reflected in the
tales.

The essences of teaching and learning

Literature inherent the message content of
Literary works
 Linguistic Varieties
Literary texts often contain a number of different linguistic
varieties, such as “formal written register, conversational
style for dialogues, informative style for narrative, poetic
style, and local dialects” (Littlewood, 1986:176).
Brumfit and Carter also stated that “literature offers
evidence of extensive and subtle vocabulary usage and
complex syntax, providing language resources being used to
full” (1986:15)

The essence of learning literature concerning

the pragmatic use of the language form
 Linguistic Knowledge
Brumfit and Carter stated that there are two levels of
linguistic knowledge: the level of usage and level of use.
Usage involves knowledge of linguistic rules; whiles use
entails knowing how to use the rule for effective
communication (1978: 31)

The essence of learning literature concerning

the pragmatic use of the language form
 There have been various attempts to define literature.
However, the answers of such a question, so far, have never
been satisfactory. It is defined as anything written. It is too
broad and too narrow then it excludes oral literature. Robert
Frost as quoted by Barnet at all tries to define literature as a
“performance in words” (1963: 3). At the same time, this
project also weaken Dazinger’s and Johnson’s attempt to
avoid the dichotomy of written and oral literature by broadly
defining literature as “a verbal art” (1961:1).

What is Literature?
 Furthermore, Barnet says that literature is a “short of
make-believe” as suggested by its genres: fiction, drama,
and poetry. If literature is defined as something
‘creative’ or ‘imaginative’, it is still open arguments.
Eagleton argues that it is defined as “any writing which
has the power to move readers’ hearth or to stir his/her
emotions”.

What is Literature?
 Some others attempts to define as “the expression of
beautiful thoughts and ideas in beautiful language. This
may be not always acceptable”. Eagleton states that
literature may be better defined according to its particular
use of language. He bases his statement upon Jacobson’s
idea saying that literature is” a kind of writing which
represents an organized violence committed on ordinary
speech (and which) transforms and intensifies ordinary
language and makes it deviate systematically from everyday
speech”.

What is Literature?
 Anyhow, there is a notion worth considering: Literature
is a cultural production which is in a certain society and
in certain era regarded as literature. This view rests on
facts that literature is not a free object. In specific term
literature is defined as a permanent writing which
expresses and communicates thought, feeling, and
attitudes toward life and the world (William: 1965).

What is Literature?
 A. Prose (Fiction)
What is fiction?
Fiction is a vague and general term for an imaginative
work, usually prose. At any rate it does not normally
cover poetry and drama, though both are a form of
fiction in that they are molded and contrived --- or
feigned. Fiction is now used in general of the novel, the
short story, the novella, and related genres.

Form of Literature
 On the basis of length
The novel, a long work of fiction
The short story, a short work
The novella, a work of in-between length

Prose/ Fiction
 Novel
The term of novel is used in its broadest sense to
designate any extended fictional prose narrative.
Novel Presents:
Character
Development of event/ action
Principle plot – theme or idea

Novel
 The Novel
Kinds of novel
The Picaresque Novel
The Epistolary Novel
The Didactic Novel
The Satirical Novel
The Gothic Novel
The Romance
The Historical Novel
The Science Fiction
The thriller ---- Detective and mystery Novels

Novel
 Short story is scarcely stories at all, but have some revelation of
character, some though, some observation, as their point. Edgar Allan
Poe sum up the difference of short story from novel
A short story should create a single impression.
It must be capable of being read at one sitting
Every word should contributed to the planned effect
The effect should be created in the opening sentence and developed
throughout the work
The story should end at its climax
Only such characters are essential to the effect should appear

Short Story
 Theme A general truth or observation about life-the author’s main
point. It might not be stated directly in the book, but it is the idea that
holds the work together.
Character A person in the story. Characters are presented to the reader
through their actions, dialogue, other characters’ reactions to them, and
sometimes through the author’s comments on them.
Plot The plan ordering of events in a story. The plot usually involves
some conflicts, a problem or struggle faced by the character in the story.
The conflict builds toward a climax, or turning point, when the conflict is
resolved.
Setting The time and place of the story. A story might take place in the
past, present, or future. It might be set in particular are of this country
or in another country or even in other galaxy.

Elements in Literary work

 B. Poetry
Poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience
expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic
language choices so as to evoke an emotional response.
Poetry has been known to employ meter and rhyme, but
this is by no means necessary. Poetry is an ancient form
that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention
over time. The very nature of poetry as an authentic and
individual mode of expression makes it nearly
impossible to define. (http://contemporarylit.about.com)

Poetry
 William Wordsworth defined poetry as "the
spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, recollected
in tranquility“. Poetry is the most condensed and
concentrated form of literature, saying most in the
fewest number of words.

In the simple word, Poetry might be defined, initially, as a kind of

language that says more and says it more intensely than
ordinary language.

Poetry
 The types of drama
Drama may be classified in one of two ways:
According to the basic types of tragedy and comedy,
and their less serious counterparts --- force,
melodrama, etc.
On an historical basis --- classical, medieval, etc.

Play/ Drama
Thank You