Unit 7: Appreciating Literary Arts

UNIT 7
Appreciating Literary Arts

Introduction
“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings
are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You
belong” (F. Scott Fitzgerald).
Literature creates a way to connect people through literary masterpieces. It
makes us realize our worth as humans. This allows us to understand the
different perspectives of people around us.
In this module, you will learn to appreciate the expression of arts through
literary works. You will learn to sympathize with others and to analyze the
complexity of humans. It will broaden your intellectual horizons and it will
stimulate a more active imagination. This allows you to learn about where
they came from and how past events work to shape the different cultures.
So, what are you waiting for? C’mon let’s ride on the literary vehicle and
explore the wonders of literary arts.

Unit Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, you will be able to:
a. discuss the characteristics of literature and its major forms;
b. explain the significance of literary arts and appreciation;
c. provide examples of texts for each form or type of literature, and
d. demonstrate a genuine appreciation of literary arts.

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Topic I. An Overview of Literary Arts

Time Allotment: 3 hours

Learning Objectives
At the end of the session, you will be able to:
a. define literature and literary arts,
b. identify the major forms and genres of literature,
c. classify the general elements of a masterpiece; and
d. analyze a prose.

Presentation of Contents
What is literature?
Definitions of the word literature tend to be circular. The 11th edition of
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary considers literature to be
“writings having the excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas
of permanent or universal interest.” The 19th-century critic Walter Pater
referred to “the matter of imaginative or artistic literature” as a “transcript,
not of mere fact, but of fact in its infinitely varied forms.” But such
definitions assume that the reader already knows what literature is. And
indeed its central meaning, at least, is clear enough. Derived from the Latin
litera, “a letter of the alphabet,” literature is first and foremost humankind’s
entire body of writing; after that, it is the body of writing belonging to a
given language or people; then it is individual pieces of writing.
Literature as an Art
As an art, literature might be described as the organization of words to give
pleasure. Yet through words, literature elevates and transforms experience
beyond “mere” pleasure. Literature also functions more broadly in society
as a means of both criticizing and affirming cultural values.
Major Forms of Literature
1. Prose
This form of literature has no formal metrical structure. It is so-
called “ordinary writing” since it is a literary piece which is written
in the pattern of ordinary spoken language and within the common
flow of conversation.

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2. Poetry
This form of literature is a vast subject, as old as history and older,
present wherever religion is present, possibly—under some
definitions—the primal and primary form of languages themselves.

Genres of Literature

a. Poetry
A masterpiece that evokes a concentrated imaginative
awareness of experience or a specific emotional response
through language chosen and arranged for its meaning,
sound, and rhythm.

b. Prose fiction
A literary work that is wholly or partly imagined or
theoretical.
Examples are novels, short stories, epics, legends and myths.

c. Drama
Drama is a mode of fictional representation through dialogue
and performance. It is one of the literary genres, which is an
imitation of some action. Drama is also a type of a play
written for theater, television, radio, and film.

d. Non-fiction Prose
A literary work that is mainly based on fact, though it may
contain fictional elements in certain cases. It is a writing that
gives information or describes real events, rather than tells a
story. Non-fiction or nonfiction is content whose creator, in
good faith, assumes responsibility for the truth or accuracy
of the events, people, or information presented. Common
literary examples of nonfiction include expository,
argumentative, functional, and opinion pieces; essays on art
or literature; biographies; memoirs; journalism; and
historical, scientific, technical, or economic writings
(including electronic ones).

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General Elements of Literature

1. Humanistic Value
This element of literature can be attained in the masterpieces when the
readers will be able to enhance their understanding about themselves and
be able to value their essence as rational human beings in the society.
Example #1: An excerpt from Amado V. Hernandez’s poem entitled
“Foreigner,” which was translated by Cirilio F. Bautista into English.
‘Finds faults with things that are native- customs and living, food and
dress- were it not for his brown skin you’d think he was foreign and born
somewhere else.’
Example #2: “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, shows that woman’s
vanity changes the normality of life, but at the same time, the change is to
the advantage of the individual for it leads to self-understanding and a
clearer outlook in life.
‘What would have happened if she had never lost those jewels? Who knows?
Who knows? How strange life is, how fickle! How little is needed to ruin or
to save!’
2. Intellectual Appeal
A literary piece can enhance your ability to think in logical way.
Example #1: The Art of Rhetoric (By Aristotle). Aristotle is using
syllogistic arguments here, where some of the arguments or assertions
remain unstated. Since Socrates is a man; therefore, he is mortal; all men
are mortal so. Eventually, they will die.
‘All men are mortal.
Socrates is a man.
Therefore, Socrates is mortal.’

Example #2: Rizal‟s two revolutionary novels, the Noli Me Tangere and
El Filibusterismo, are good illustrations of literature of intellectual appeal.
Both add knowledge or information and remind the reader of what he has
forgotten. Specially, in one of his philosophical ideas “on consecration to
a great idea,” he said:
‘Don’t you realize that it is a useless life which is not consecrated to a
great idea? It is a stone wasted in the fields without becoming part of any
edifice. (Simoun to Basilio)’

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3. Emotional Appeal
One of the important elements of literary art is to appeal to the emotions of
the readers. A literary artwork has its emotional appeal when it can
persuade and be able to arouse the feelings of the reader.
Example #1: (Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”) Mr. Collins’
confession to Elizabeth that he wants her to be his future partner evokes
feelings of sympathy in readers, as they feel an emotional intensity in his
proposal.
‘Believe me, my dear Miss Elizabeth, that your modesty adds to your other
perfections. But you can hardly doubt the object of my discourse, however
your feminine delicacy may lead you to dissemble. For, as almost as soon
as I entered the house, I singled you out as the companion of my future
life!’
Example #2: (An excerpt from Act V of William Shakespeare’s Romeo
and Juliet). Romeo’s servant Balthasar invokes pity among the audience,
when he informs Romeo – who was waiting impatiently to hear about
Juliet – that Juliet is dead and is buried in her family’s vault. We feel sorry
for the untimely death of Juliet and her heartbroken Romeo.
‘Then she is well, and nothing can be ill.
Her body sleeps in Capels’ monument,
And her immortal part with angels lives.
I saw her laid low in her kindred’s vault.’

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Topic 2: Appreciating Poetry

Time Allotment: 3 hours

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the session, you will be able to:
a. define poetry and its elements;
b. make a collage based on the poem given; and
c. demonstrate appreciation for poetry.

Presentation of Contents
What is Poetry?
Poet Meena Alexander, in an address to the Yale Political Union on
April 23, 2013, began with a line from Shelley’s 1821 essay, “A Defence of
Poetry.” The English poet’s work famously stated, “Poets are the
unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Alexander concludes: “The
poem is an invention that exists in spite of history… In a time of violence,
the task of poetry is in some way to reconcile us to our world and to allow
us a measure of tenderness and grace with which to exist… Poetry’s task is
to reconcile us to the world — not to accept it at face value or to assent to
things that are wrong, but to reconcile one in a larger sense, to return us in
love, the province of the imagination, to the scope of our mortal lives.”
Other poets have attempted to interpret “what is deeply felt and is
essentially unsayable.” Here are a few brief definitions of poetry by famous
poets.
“Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the
happiest and best minds.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley
“I would define, in brief, the Poetry of words as the Rhythmical
Creation of Beauty. Its sole arbiter is taste. With the intellect or with the
conscience, it has only collateral relations. Unless incidentally, it has no
concern whatever either with duty or with the truth.” – Edgar Allan Poe
“Poetry is at bottom a criticism of life; that the greatness of a poet
lies in his powerful and beautiful application of ideas to life — to the
question: How to live.” – Matthew Arnold
Poetry is art by means of words. The word itself is of Greek origin
and its etymological meaning is "making" (to say that someone is a poet is
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to call him or her a "maker"). The word also shares an ancestor with the
Sanskrit word “cinoti”, meaning "he gathers, heaps up." This old art form
was first evident in songs (and dances). Though poetry is an emotional
language, it is not without rationality either.
Trying to define poetry is probably a useless enterprise. The
literature on it is vast. Most poets have written about it.
In essence, poetry is the creation of beautiful meaning through
words, which both create and express who or what we are.

ELEMENTS OF POETRY
• Theme – this is particular idea, subject or issue that is discussed or
described in the poem.
Ex. Annabel Lee (By Edgar Allan Poe)
“I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.”

This short extract, taken from Poe’s poem, depicts the theme of love.
• Persona/Speaker - A persona, is a character taken on by a poet to
speak in a first-person poem. A persona is a dramatic character,
distinguished from the poet, who is the speaker of a poem.
• Tone- refers to the atmosphere, feeling, attitude, stance, or the way
the poet looks at his subject or the world. It is generally conveyed
through the choice of words, or the viewpoint of a writer on a
particular subject. The tone can be formal, informal, serious, comic,
sarcastic, sad, or cheerful, or it may be any other existing attitude.
Ex. Robert Frost, in the last stanza of his poem The Road Not Taken, gives
us an insight into the effect of tone:
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,

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And that has made all the difference.”

Frost tells us about his past with a “sigh,” which gives the above lines an
unhappy tone. This tone leads us into thinking that the speaker in the poem
had to make a difficult choice.
• Imagery- is the term for figures of speech or words that create
strong mental pictures and sensations. Imagery includes figurative
and metaphorical language to improve the reader’s experience
through their senses.

• Sounds
❖ Repetition- Poets may repeat sounds, words, phrases or lines
for effect.

Ex. O Captain! My Captain! (By Walt Whitman)

“O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up — for you the flag is flung — for you the bugle
trills…”

The poet uses refrain throughout this poem to emphasize the

mournful theme. See the repetition of the words “captain,” “rise up,”
and “for you” in just these two lines. This theme continues
throughout.
❖ Alliteration- the repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Ex. From Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner”
“The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.”
In the above lines we see alliteration (“b”, “f” and “s”) in the phrases
“breeze blew”, “foam flew”, “furrow followed”, and “silent sea”.
❖ Assonance- the close juxtaposition of vowel sounds creates
assonance.

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Ex. From Dylan Thomas’ famous poem, Do Not Go Gentle into the Good
Night:
“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage, against the dying of the light.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight,
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

The poet deliberately uses assonance in the above lines to slow down the
pace of the poem, and to create a somber mood, as the subject of the poem
is death.
❖ Consonance- the repetition of consonants
Ex. This poem by Dickinson entitled ‘As Imperceptibly as Grief ‘makes
good use of consonance:
“A Quietness distilled
As Twilight long begun,
Or Nature spending with herself
Sequestered Afternoon—

Here, Emily Dickinson has relied on the consonant “n” to create the
intended effect.
❖ Onomatopoeia- refers to words whose sound is suggestive of
its meaning.
Ex. An example of onomatopoeia in poetry, read this excerpt from Edgar
Allan Poe’s “The Bells”:

How they clang, and clash, and roar!

❖ Rhyme- in poetry, rhyme is used to echo sounds; one word

sounds like another.
Ex. "He never wanted to fly / because he didn't want to die."

• Poetic language is the use of any of the literary/poetic language

techniques that are used by poets to convey their message. The
following are some of the most common techniques:

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➢ Figurative Language Examples

1. Simile – comparing two unlike things with the use of like or as.

Ex. I wandered lonely as a cloud. (William Wordsworth)

2. Metaphor - is a form of figurative language, which refers to

words or expressions that mean something different from their
literal definition.

Ex. All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely
players.
They have their exits and their entrances. (William Shakespeare)

3. Personification -giving a human quality to a non-human thing.

Ex. Earth felt the wound; and Nature from her seat,
Sighing, through all her works, gave signs of woe. (Paradise
Lost by John Milton)

This classic poem from John Milton has TONS of personification,

especially about the Earth. Here, he makes the earth sigh as the great
fall happens.

4. Symbolism -- an object or person that represents some other

quality.

Ex. My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold (By William Wordsworth)

“My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when mssy life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old, …”

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Summary of the Unit

Literature has been defined in many ways. It is subdivided in two
major forms: Prose and Poetry. Also, it has four different genres namely;
poetry, prose fiction, drama, and non-fiction prose. Each of these genres has
different literary elements. Yet, as a human individual, one must realize that
literature is life. Through appreciating literary arts, you can have a glimpse
on the past, have a chance to view the wonders, cultures, traditions, and
beliefs of the people around the globe and most importantly you will be able
to learn to respect the cultures and practices of your fellowmen. Having the
knowledge and wisdom of appreciating literature will help you build and
shape your own principles in life.

References
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April 9, 2019.
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literature-definition-examples-quiz.html. Accessed April 9, 2019
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Accessed April 9, 2019.

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Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-

terms/persona. Accessed April 9, 2019.
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