Introduction to Literature and Its Philosophy 1 Outline

I. Introduction
● Literature is a byproduct of man's imagination and experiences in life
transferred from one generation to another.
II. Module 1 (The Meaning and Importance of Literature)
A. Introduction to Literature - deals with emotions, thoughts and ideas of
man.
1. Emotions
2. Thoughts
3. Ideas
B. Definition of Literature - The word literature derived from the Latin term
literatura which means “writing formed with letters”. The term is derived
from the litera which means “letters” in English.
1. Literatura - Writing formed with letters.
2. Litera - Letter
C. Importance of Literature
1. Refining writing skills
2. Expand Vocabularies
3. Time Travel
4. Reliving History
5. Enhancing Empathy
6. Helps us grow
7. Reminds our humanity
8. Stimulates imagination and ingenuity
9. Sharpens our moral judgment
10. Emotional
D. Conclusion - This module is all about the introduction, history or
background of literature
III. Module 2 (Frameworks of Literature)
A. Literary Theories
1. Formalism - an interpretative approach that emphasized literary
form and the study of literary devices within the text.
 a) Interpretative Approach
2. Traditional Literary Criticism - academic literary criticism prior to
the rise of “Ne Criticism” in the United States tended to practice
traditional literary history.
a) Tracking influence
b) Establishing writers in the literary periods
c) Clarifying historical context
3. Reader Response Criticism - a dynamic interaction between the
text and the reader.
a) Dynamic Interaction
4. New Criticism - viewed the work of literature as an aesthetic
object independent of historical context and as a unified whole
that reflected the unified sensibility of the artist.
a) Explication du texte - reading of the text itself.
5. Marxism and Critical Theory - tend to focus on the
representation of class conflict as well as the reinforcement of
class distinctions through the medium of literature.
a) Representation of class conflicts and,
b) Class distinctions
6. Structuralism - sought to bring to literary studies a set of
objective criteria for analysis and a new intellectual rigor.
a) Extension of “Formalism”
b) Scientific
c) Objective
7. Psychoanalytical Criticism - centers on the psychology of the
characters and analyzes character motivation, behavior and
actions.
a) Focus on Character’s Psychological Behavior
b) Based on the theories of Freud
c) Analyses the character’s actions and behavior
8. New Historicism Criticism - here, you research the historical time
period and discuss the work within its historical context.
a) Discussing with Historical Context
 9. Post-Colonial Criticism - focuses on relationships between
colonizers and colonized people in literary texts.
a) Analyze the issues of colonialism
b) Dynamics of racism
c) Third World politics
10. Gender Studies And Queer Theory - it is postmodern in that it
challenges the paradigms and intellectual premises of western
thought, but also takes an activist stance by proposing frequent
interventions and alternative epistemological positions meant to
change the social order.
a) Feminist Gender Theory - focuses on analyzing gender
inequality.
(1) Gynocriticism (Elaine Showalter)
(2) Postmodern (Judith Butler)
B. Conclusion - This module is all about the different literary theories that
we can use as our guide when reading different literary works.
IV. Module 3 (Literary Standards)
A. 7 Literary Standards
1. Artistry - has an aesthetic appeal and thus possesses a sense of
beauty.
a) High Artistic Quality
b) Aesthetic
c) Has a sense of beauty
2. Suggestiveness - unravels and conjures man’s emotional power
to define symbolisms, nuances, implied meanings, images and
messages, giving and evoking visions above and beyond the
plane of ordinary life and experience.
a) Implied meanings
b) Define symbols
c) Suggests themes
3. Intellectual Value - stimulates critical thinking that enriches
mental processes of abstract and reasoning, making man
realize the fundamental truths of life and its nature.
a) Critical thinking
 b) Enhances mental processes and,
c) Reasoning
4. Spiritual Value - elevates the spirit and the soul and this has the
power to motivate and inspire, drawn from the suggested morals
or lessons of the different literary genres.
a) Motivational
b) Moral lessons
5. Permanence - endures across time and draws out the time
factor: timeliness, occurring at a particular time, and
timelessness, remaining invariable throughout time.
a) Timeliness
b) Timelessness
6. Universality - appeals to everyone, regardless of culture, race,
gender, and times which are all considered significant.
a) Universal theme
(1) Individual struggle towards a personal goal
(2) A person’s struggle with humanity
(3) Falling in love
(4) Life cycles
(5) Karma
(6) Coping with tragedy
(7) Adolescence and,
(8) Discovering the world around us
7. Style - presents peculiar way/s on how man sees life as
evidenced by the formation of ihs ideas, forms, structure, and
expressions which are marked by their memorable substances.
a) Elements of Style
(1) Brevity
(2) Clarity
(3) Flow
(4) Simplicity
(5) Unity
 B. Conclusion - This module is all about the 7 literary standards that may
help us to understand when reading or guide us when writing a literary
piece.
V. MODULE 4: CLASSIFICATION AND TYPES OF LITERATURE
A. CLASSIFICATION OF LITERATURE
1. Fiction
i. Can be fabricated
ii. fantasy
2. Non-Fiction
i. Facts
B. TYPES OF LITERATURE
1. Prose - “prosa” which means straightforward.
i. Novel - this is a long narrative divided into chapters.
Example: Movie adaptation
ii. Short story - this is a narrative involving one more character,
one plot and one single impression.
Example: the necklace
iii. Plays - this is presented on a stage, is divided into acts and
each act has many scenes.
iv. Legends - these are fictitious narratives, usually about origins.
v. Folk tales - a traditional narrative, usually anonymous, and
handed down orally.
vi. Fables - these are also fictitious and they deal with animals and
inanimate things who speak and act like people.
vii. Myths - a traditional sacred story, typically revolving around the
activities of gods and heroes, which aim to explain a natural
phenomenon or cultural practice.
viii. Anecdotes - these are merely products of the writer’s
imagination and the main aim is to bring out lessons to the
reader.
ix. Essay - this expresses the viewpoint or opinion of the writer
about a particular problem or event.
x. Biography - this deals with the life of a person which may be
about himself, his autobiography or that of others.
 1. Cayetano arellano - socorro o. Albert
xi. News - this is a report of everyday events in society, govt.,
science and industry, accidents, etc., happening nationally or
not.
xii. Oration - this is a formal treatment of a subject and is intended
to be spoken in public.
2. Poetry - it is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed
through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices as to evoke
emotional response.
i. 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.
a. Popular or ancient epic - often without a definite
author and is of slow growth.
b. Modern epic - with a definite author.
2. Metrical tales - this is a narrative which is written in verse
and can be classified either as a ballad or metrical
romance.
3. Ballads - this is considered as the shortest and simplest
of the narrative poems.
ii. 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.
1. Folk Songs - these are short poems intended to be sung.
2. Sonnets - this is a lyric poem of 14 lines dealing with an
emotion, a feeling or an idea.
a. Italian
b. Shakespearean
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 and stanza.
5. Psalms - this is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary
and containing a philosophy of life.
6. Awit - these have the measures of twelve syllables
(dodecasyllabic) and slowly sung to the accompaniment
of a guitar or banduria.
7. Corridos - these have measures of eight syllables
(octosyllabic) and recited to a martial beat.
iii. Dramatic poetry - this is an emotional piece of literature which
includes a story which is recited or sung.
1. Comedy - this word comes from the Greek term “komos”
meaning festivity or revelry.
2. Melodrama - this is usually seen in musical plays with
opera.
3. Tragedy - this involves the hero struggling mightily
against dynamic forces.
4. Farce - this is an exaggerated comedy.
5. Social poems - this form is either purely comic or tragic
and its pictures the life of today.