GEE 19 Learning Materials 22 23

Verities &Varieties - The Literatures of the World
MODULE 1
OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE
Introduction
Studying is fun and enjoyable? Don’t you think so? Indeed, it’s fun and enjoyable specially if you are taking
it by heart. But how are we going to make it fun, easy, and enjoyable? Let me tell you how we are going to
make it.
How much do you like stories, poems, drama, songs, and movies? I hope, you like them very much
because if you do, then this subject will surely prove enjoyable for you.
Let us start by defining “LITERATURE”…
Definitions of Literature
During your younger years many interesting nuggets of wisdom have been shared to you by your
elders including other people. You have enjoyed a lot of poems, songs, and drama already. All these are
forms of man's expressions for what is beautiful, true, important, meaningful, and enjoyable in life. These
are the expressions of literature.
 Literature is a record of man’s greatest thoughts. According to Webster, it pertains to the

written or printed productions of the human mind collectively dealing with themes of
permanent and universal interest, characterized by creativeness and grace of expression, as
poetry, fiction, essay, etc. distinguished from works of scientific, technical, and journalistic
nature. (Webster)
 It is a body of written works. The name is often applied to those imaginative works of poetry
and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the excellence of their execution.
Literature may be classified according to a variety of systems, including language, national
origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter. (MS Encarta Encyclopedia)
 It consists of writings which interpret the meanings of nature and life, in words of charm and
power, touched with the personality of the author, in artistic forms of permanent interest.
(Henry Van Dyke)
These and many other definitions of literature are just some of the many that you have encountered and
taking the common denominators in the definitions from various authors and sources, we can, thus, identify
the important features of literature.
1. It is written. Literature is preserved through the written medium, thus they come to us
through written or printed books and manuscripts. Although there may be oral literatures in
the past or that some of them started through the oral traditions, still, they were given form in
writing.
2. It is characterized by greatness of expression. Literature is a form of human expression, and

a lofty one at that since it is the expression of man’s highest thought, noblest aspirations, and
deepest feelings. But not everything man expressed in words--even when he has thoroughly
organized and written them down can be considered as literature. Those writings that are
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primarily informative--technical, scholarly, journalistic--would be excluded from the rank of

literature, mainly because, and especially if they are not written with artistic consideration or
they lack artistic merit. Literature is an art, and it must be created artistically.
3. It is presented by using distinct artistic forms. These works of literature make use of artistic
presentations like poetry, drama, short story, novel, essay, etc. The different literary forms
used to package these great ideas and enjoyable stories of man’s experiences is what we call
literary genre. (pronounced as zhan-ra) Genre is a category of artistic composition, as in music
or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.
4. Its appeal is not ephemeral. Unlike journalistic writing, their appeal and relevance are good
only for a period when news are fresh to readers. However, literature provides insights of
lasting value.
5. It deals with life. Man’s life is the focus of literature. It interprets and presents life in artistic
manner in order for man to gain deeper insights into his humanity.
6. Literature varies depending on language used, epoch or time, nation or culture of origin,
and genres. Literature is broad since every nation and language has its own literature, every
era in human civilization can boast of a body of literature it has produce. Added to this, literary
forms or genres are so varied that every national literature may also have distinct literary forms.
The term literature is derived from the Latin littera, "a letter of the alphabet." Thus, we can say that
literature is first and foremost mankind'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 has an obvious kinship with the other arts. When presented, a play is drama. Most
important films have been based upon written literature, usually novels, although all the great epics and
most of the great plays have been filmed at some time. Conversely, the techniques required in writing for
film have influenced many writers in structuring their novels and have affected their style. Literature
provides the libretto for operas, the theme for tone poems or interpreted in music and provides the lyrics of
songs. Many ballets and modern dances are based on stories or poems. Sometimes, music and dance are
accompanied by a text read by a speaker or chanted by a chorus.
The good thing about this relationship is the fact that we may enjoy literature by using other art
forms based on literature. Modern day technology has given us a chance to enjoy Shakespeare, for
example, by watching a movie based on his play. Let us just bear in mind that in studying literature, the
main focus is appreciation of what is good, what is true and what is beautiful.
The Aims/purpose of Literature
Literature is not simply studied; it is enjoyed. But along with the enjoyment that it gives are a host
of other benefits.
1. Literature appeals to man’s higher needs and nature – spiritual, intellectual, and creative.
Man can survive without literature. But that is all he can do. He cannot truly live without it. To
live is after all not just to survive or simply exist. Imagine life if it is simply a form of survival. It is a
struggle. But we live and we live full lives - abundant, meaningful, and productive.
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Let me bring your attention to the idea of Abraham Maslow. Maslow believes that man has needs
and that his needs come in a hierarchy, or ladder. To illustrate:
 Basic physiological needs are the primary elements that the physical body of man needs to
survive. It includes food, water, air, clothing, shelter, and sex.
 Security and safety needs are seen in those mechanisms which he used to protect himself from
harsh forces of nature, thus, he would build sturdier houses, arm himself, etc.
 Love and belongingness is manifested in his social needs to belong to a group or being with
people with whom he share mutual interest and even love.
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 The fourth level of man’s needs include those seen in his effort to be a better person by means
of gaining education, developing his talents and skills, exposing himself into fashion, good
grooming and works of arts so that people would appreciate him to be educated, cultured, and
of high self-worth.
It is at this level of his needs that literature is included. Literature, like all other forms of art, is
used by man to fulfill his aesthetic needs, or the need to appreciate beauty. As a humanizing
element, it is a form of higher need. Unlike his basic needs which he shares with the rest of the
members of the animal kingdom, the need for beauty is one that makes him more than an
animal but more of a human being.
 The last level is self-actualization. It is the point by which a man realized his potentials,
accepts, and improved his weakness, and strives to be more of a creation of God.
Thus, it is the primary aim of literature to enable man to address his higher needs, In order that he
may actualize himself and gain self-fulfillment.
2. Literature, like all forms of art, entertains and gives pleasure. Pleasure is derived from the
reading of beautiful lines and dialogues, in lofty ideas and freshness of expression.
3. It fires the imagination and arouses noble emotions. Reading provides vicarious experience.
It allows the reader to be aware of an experience without going through the real process. As a result, noble
emotions are aroused in him as he relates with characters he meets in the stories. It is just like saying, you
don’t need to lose someone you love in order to understand sorrow. You can relate with Romeo when he
discovered that Juliet died.
4. It enriches man by enabling him to reflect on life and by filling him with new ideas. Great
ideas are embodied in a literary work. A good reader would always look for something that would enable
him to understand his existence. Discussed as a literary standard, intellectual value of literature enables man
to think deeply.
5. It gives the ability to cope with life. By reading literature we are able to develop an
understanding of human nature and gain new perception of life and people. Thus, it adds new dimension to
our lives in the form of greater sensitivity and awareness, refinement of feelings, lofty ideals, nobility of
purpose, and added culture. Man becomes more capable of thinking not only of his self-interest but the
welfare of his fellowmen.
It should be remembered, however, that the main attraction of literature is that it is studied for
appreciation. We study literature to enjoy beauty found in nature, in experience, in ideas, in relationship,
and life, in general.
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Why do people write?

1. The basic reason why people write is self –expression. When one's heart is full of emotion, he
wants to tell others about it. If man conceives a new idea, he does not keep it on his own, he would like to
share it. There is an excitement in man to reveal and share what he feels, think or believe.
2. Some writers write to entertain and give pleasure.
3. Some would like to convey ideas and values and form attitudes.
4. Some would like to spread knowledge and information worth recording and remembering. For
them, writing is a way to preserve truth. People also write for the love of truth, accuracy, and evaluation.
Some writers believe that what they write enables others to evaluate, analyze, form valid judgments and
make wise decisions.
Benefits of Reading Literature
“Reading maketh a full man.” Thus goes the saying of Francis Bacon, a noted English essayist.
Indeed, by reading, a man may develop his total being.
There are four main purposes for reading which we shall acronym as IIEE. This stands for
information, instruction, entertainment, and enlightenment. We say that these four purposes relate to the
development of man’s total being.
 Information, for instance, we obtain a body of knowledge that we store in our mind. It expands
our awareness of what, how, and why things happen the way they do. It enriches our mental
faculties and develops our reasoning power.
 Instruction, on the other hand, focuses on the development of what the hands can do or his
capability to do something. He is gains the ability to apply theoretical knowledge and produce
something of benefit or transforms his ideas into products or services. It is the development of
one’s skills, talents and aptitude to do something.
 Entertainment is the education of the heart. When we enjoy or is entertained by what we read,
we gain greater sensitivity towards an experience. As the experience becomes more vivid and
vicariously felt by the reader, the reader develops an awareness and understanding of his
emotional responses.
 Enlightenment is the education of the soul. It is the development of one’s willpower to face the
challenges of life. As a reader finds inspiration from he what he reads and clarification of life’s
realities, he becomes more positive in his outlook in life, thus making him brave to meet the
demands and the tests of times. He strengthens his soul, his total being, as he sees
enlightenment to life’s realities.
Reading is indeed an experience that gives wings to what the mind can perceive, what the hands
can perform, what the heart can feel, and what the soul can achieve. So read and develop yourself into
being a full man!
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Ways of Studying Literature
There are many ways of studying literature. It can be viewed from the personal perspective of man,
from the perspective of the culture and nation that produced it, or from the universal point of view of how
civilization and life emerge.
1. From the personal point of view, we understand man’s life to be composed of different
aspects: physical, social, moral, religious, political, economic, psychological, mental/ intellectual, etc. Thus,
it can be studied by looking into the experience of man and relating it with what one reads. A reader may
focus on any or all aspect of man’s life and make his interpretation of what he reads.
2. From the historical point of view, a piece of literature can be considered as an outcome of
certain events or as producer of certain effects. Take for instance the novel of Rizal, the Noli me Tangere.
Because of the abuses of the Spanish friars and the death of Gomburza, Rizal wrote this novel which in turn
was instrumental in awakening the nationalistic spirit of the Filipinos and ignited the fervor for revolution.
3. As a reflection of the national life of a people, a piece of work depicts their experiences.
From it we know their customs and traditions. From the epics, for instance, we are able to understand their
aspirations as a people.
4. As a record of the conditions and customs of an era, the Noli and Fili of Rizal, for instance,
made us realize the suffering of the Filipinos during the Spanish regime. Journals and diaries, like the Diary
of Anne Frank, gave us an idea of the plight of Jews ``````````````````````````````during the Nazi invasion of
Germany.
5. As expression of great movements and as a way to discover great social movements and
tendencies, as in the French Revolution in the Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, or slavery in the US
in Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
6. As expression of author's personality. Many works would reveal the author’s personality,
his orientation, background, personal experiences, even his convictions and beliefs.
7. As an appeal to move readers to action for social reforms. La Solidaridad, for instance, is
the mouthpiece of the Reform movement.
8. As a form of entertainment.
9. For analysis of its different elements: plot, character, setting, atmosphere, mood, and tone.
10. As representation of literary movements and techniques. Literary works can be studied for
its distinct style and ideas that reflects the literary movements and techniques followed by writers.
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Literary Standards
How does one know whether a piece of reading materials he is reading is good or not? A good
literary piece can be considered great or of high literary value if it possesses the following standards:
1. Artistry- refers to the artistic value of a literary work. As a work of art, literature possesses
artistic merit. It is this quality that appeals to our sense of beauty and makes us admire the literary piece.
2. Intellectual Value – great literature is something that enriches our mental life. In other words, it
is a tool to make us think deeper and be able to gain rational insights into the experience of man presented in
a literary work. Between a comic book and a classical novel, for example, which do you think will make
you think more or deeply? That which requires more complex mental activity and makes you gain more
knowledge and wisdom is a better piece of literature.
3. Spiritual Value – great literature inspires us. It strengthens our will to live by enabling us to see
the brighter side of life. It makes us aware of the true meaning of life. It also heightens our awareness of
our relationship with God, thus, giving us more positive enlightenment.
4. Permanence – the products of literature that we can consider great are those that transcend time.
Their effect, value, or relevance is lasting. Like a multi-faceted gem that can be viewed in different angles, a
good piece of literature can be read in many ways, thus, every new reading gives the reader fresh insights.
5. Suggestiveness – a good literary piece is one that enables the reader to experience something or
moves the reader to feel. This is the emotional power of literature. Its greatness can be viewed in terms of
how effective it is to touch the readers’ emotion and draw out the proper emotional response.
6. Universality – a good piece of literature has wide-reaching effect; not only in terms of place or
locality buy even of time. It possesses the quality of being timeless and timely. It is timeless, in the sense
that it appeals to the people in the past, present and future. It is timely because it is relevant to all people,
regardless of race, creed, religion, or status in life. Some of the elements of literature that makes it universal
are fundamental truths it presents or discusses, universal human conditions it portrays, and expresses
elemental feelings.
7. Style – the peculiar or unique way by which an author formulates his ideas about life and
presents them is called style. It is a personal and distinct quality that identifies a literary work with its
author’s, as it is reflective of his ideas, beliefs, conviction and personality.
In summary, we can say that these standards apply to two important components of literature: its
content and form. For a literary work to be truly great, it must be good both in content and structure.
Contents refers to what it wants to say, what it is all about, its subject and message. Form on the other hand
refers to its structure or craftsmanship, or how it says what it wants to say or the manner of expressing
content. A good piece of literature, therefore, it one which expresses a noble or admirable idea or ideas and
in a manner that is artistic and admirable.
Distinctions Between Prose and Poetry
By looking at the structure of a literary work, one will know whether it is prose or poetry. By their
structure, we identify a poem as being written in lines or verses and stanzas. On the other hand, prose
writings come in sentences and paragraphs.
The difference between the two does not end there. In terms of style, poetry is more elaborate and
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stylized as it expresses a strong emotion or a lofty thought in a compressed and intense utterance. On the
other hand, prose uses simple and a more direct style since it is generally concerned with the presentation of
an idea, point of view in a more ordinary and leisurely manner. In terms of purpose, poetry aims more to
give pleasure or delight while prose aims to provide the readers with information, instruction, and
enlightenment. The appeal, therefore, of poetry is more to the emotion and imagination while that of prose
to man's intellect and reason.
Let us focus on meanings. Meanings may be denotative or connotative. Denotation is the literal or
dictionary meaning of the word. Connotation, on the contrary, is the figurative or associative meaning of
the word. For example, star, in the literal sense, is a heavenly body that shines or twinkles during nighttime.
But to refer to star as a guide, or symbol of direction, hope or salvation, then we are using its figurative
meaning.
This knowledge of meaning is important in understanding literary works. Most often, the literal
meaning is used in understanding prose, although at time it may also use figurative language. In poetry, on
the other hand, the interpretation of the lines require more than just the understanding of the literal meaning
of the words. It involves the understanding of the figures if speech which can only be interpreted
symbolically, or by reference to what we associate it with. In other words, its associative meaning.
or is similar with poetry by answering the SAQ below.
Divisions of Literature and the Different Literary Genres
As we have earlier identified in terms of structure, the two divisions of literature are prose and
poetry. Under each division are the different literary types or genres.
Poetry. Poetry has four major types: the lyric, narrative, dramatic and the modern genre known
as prose poetry.
1. Lyric poetry. Lyric poetry is the “utterance of the human heart in poetic form.” Holman and
Harmon describe a lyric poem as “brief and subjective, marked by imagination, melody and emotion, and
creating a single unified expression.” The term originally refers to those poems intended to be sung to the
accompaniment of the lyre. This older meaning has been retained in referring to the words of the song as its
lyrics.
Generally, its subject and mood dwell on love (especially romantic love), death and grief, religious and
patriotic feelings, the beauty and love or nature, art, the past, the world of fancy and imagination, the
environment and many more. It is the most subjective type of poetry since it is the spontaneous expression
of the heart or man’s innermost feeling and of his mind or his ideas and thoughts.
Some of the types of lyric verse are:
1. The Ode. The ode is the most majestic type of lyric poetry. It is an expression of lofty praise for
some person, object, even, or idea. It is a projection of deep feelings, thus it is elaborately designed
and is formal in structure and content. Popularly, we call it encomium, (plural encomia) a term for
early Pindaric ode. Ode dates back to ancient Greece where the poet Pindar perfected it.
2. The Elegy. This is a lament or expression of sorrow or mourning for the dead. It may voice the
personal grief of the author over the loss of a loved one, or it may be a meditation on death in
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general. The poems mood is solemn and sorrowful, yet it usually contains suggestions of faith and
hope to allay the sorrow.
3. The Song. The song is a short lyric poem which has a particularly melodious quality and is
intended to be sung, or can easily be set into music. It is said to be the spontaneous form of poetry.
It can be either sacred/religious or secular. Sacred songs include hymns, anthems, and oratorios.
Secular songs deal with different themes and emotion, including present day protest.
4. The sonnet. A sonnet is a lyric of 14 lines with a formal rhyme scheme or pattern of similar
sounds. This verse form was devised in Italy in 1220'S and Francesco Petrarca (Francis Petrarch)
was the first important poet to popularize and perfect it. In the sixteenth century, Sir Thomas Wyatt
and the Earl of Surrey popularized it in England. By tradition, the lines are in iambic pentameter or
five combinations of unaccented and accented syllables. Rhyme scheme determines the sonnet
types, of which there are three:
a. Italian or Petrarchan – devised by Francis Petrarch, an Italian poet, this type is

divided one octave (eight rhyming lines) and a sestet (six lines) with a rhyme scheme
of abba abba and cdccdc
b. English/Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet - this type is divided into three
quatrains (four rhyming lines) and a couplet (two lines) with a rhyme scheme of abab
cdcd efef gg. The idea is developed in the three quatrains and is summarized and
reinforced in the closing couplet.
c. Spenserian Sonnet. Named after the English poet Edmund Spenser, it is divided,
like the Shakespearean sonnet, into three quatrains and one couplet with a rhyme
scheme of abab bcbc cdcd ee.
5. The Simple Lyric. This classification includes all those lyrical poems that do not properly belong
under any other types of lyrics. It embraces a wide variety of poems
Of course, there are other types of lyrics based on form such as the ballade, rondel and rondeau.
However, we will not go into a detailed discussion of these types. Suffice it to say that what we presented
are the five most common types of lyrics.
2. Narrative Poetry. This type of poetry tells or narrates a story, following a chronology of
events. Among the most common narrative poems are epics, ballads metrical tales and metrical romances.
With innovations in writings, however, modern poets have come up with modifications not classified under
these conventional or traditional types which they simply classify as modern narrative poems.
a. The Epic. An epic is a long narrative poem in which the characters and action are of heroic
proportions. From the epics of Homer, a famous Greek epic poet who gave us Iliad and
Odyssey, and Virgil of Rome who gave us Aeneid, certain characteristics became established
in the West as standard attributes of the epic:
1.The underlying theme concerns basic and eternal human problems;
2. The narrative is a complex synthesis of experiences from a whole epoch of man's history or
civilization;
3.The hero embodies national, cultural or religious ideals;
4.The style is earnest and dignified;
5.The story starts in medias res or into a low point in the middle of the action.
6.The epic is broad in scope and theme; its subject matter is often a mixture of legend, history,
myth, religion, and tradition.
7.The plot consists of numerous episodes and sub-plots as well as of numerous characters, each
with his own adventures or story, held together by a unifying theme.
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Not all epics conform to all these convention, although they agree in each instance in most of
them. In the epic is found practically all that has been given to a civilization at that particular stage
of development.
Epics may be traditional or folk or literary. A folk epic is one without certain authorship.
Literary epics, on the contrary, have certain authorship or the author is known.
Among the most popular epics are:
Folk Epics
Country of Origin Title Author
Greece Iliad Homer
Odyssey Homer
India Mahabharata Vyassa
Ramayana Valmiki
France Song of Roland Theroulde
Germany Nibelungenlied Anonymous
Scandinavia Volsunga Saga Anonymous
England Beowulf Anonymous
Spain El Cid Anonymous
Assyro-Babylonia Gilgamesh Epic Anonymous
Finland Kalevala Elias Lonrot(wrote the final form)
Egypt Epic of Panta-our Anonymous
Literary Epics
Rome Aeneid Virgil
Persia or Iran Shah Namah Firdausi (Abul Kasim Mansur)
Italy Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri
England Paradise Lost John Milton
Paradise Regained John Milton
Faerie Queene Edmund Spenser
Portugal The Lusiads Luis de Camoens
America John Brown's Body Stephen Vincent Benet
The Song of Hiawatha Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
b. The Ballad. The ballad is a narrative song-poem, usually relating a single dramatic
incident, in a form suitable for singing or rhythmical chanting. It was most often altered
as it was orally transmitted from generation to generation until it was written down much
later. This kind of ballad, called the folk or primitive/popular/traditional ballad was
anonymous. Ballads were widely circulated and there were variety of texts as singers
would inject their personal interpretations.
On the other hand, literary ballads are written by a conscious writer, thus they are
more artistic and stylized than folk ballads which were simple compositions of the
common folks. Popularly, we call ballads as "composo."
c. The Metrical Romance. This is a long rambling love story in verse revolving around
the adventures of knights and lords and their highborn ladies during the age of chivalry.
It is usually favored with romance, fantastic events, supernatural occurrences, magic,
and the ideals of the medieval period such as honor, truth, courage, justice, and
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reverence for woman. The most famous romances are stories of King Arthur and his
Knights of the Round Table.
d. The Metrical Tales. A metrical tale is a narrative poem relating real or imaginary
events in simple straightforward language. It is similar to the ballad but usually longer
and has a well-developed plot and uses characterization and setting more extensively.
An example of this is Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
3. Dramatic Poetry. Dramatic poetry closely relate to drama either because it is written in
some kind of dramatic form or it is part of a drama, or it uses a dramatic technique. It may also
suggest a story but there is more emphasis on the character rather than the narrative of events.
Dramatic poetry includes soliloquy, character sketch, and dramatic monologue.
a. Soliloquy- a form of talking to oneself. It is a poetic form usually employed by
Shakespeare in which a speaker or an actor talks to himself as in a loud whisper. It is
actually a form of voicing out loud his thoughts and feelings. When Hamlet recites “To
be or not to be…” or Juliet when she asks “Romeo, my Romeo, wherefore thou art my
Romeo…” or “What’s in a name?…” these characters are actually soliloquizing.
b. Character sketch – this form of poetry paints a picture of a personality or character.
The best examples are the descriptions of the Geoffrey Chaucer’s pilgrims presented in
the prologue of his “The Canterbury Tales.”
c. Dramatic monologue – a monologue is a supposed to be the part of one speaker in a
conversation only that it is a one-sided talk in which the part of the other person is not
heard or presented but only relied by the responses of the speaker in the poem. An
example of this is “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning.
4. Prose Poetry. Prose poetry is defined by Holman and Harmon in A Handbook of

Literature as a form of "prose with marked (although preferably not too regular) cadence and
frequently with extensive use of figurative language and imagery."
Simply stated, a prose poem is mainly prose in form but reflects imaginative and enriching
features of poetry in the use of poetic words. It is a modern literary genre developed by American
and French poets, although examples are cited from the Bible and Shakespearean prose dialogues.
PROSE. Prose is a discourse which uses sentences usually forming paragraphs to express ideas,
feelings, and actions. The three most common types of prose are fiction, non-fiction, and drama.
1. Fiction. Fiction is "a series of imagined facts which illustrates truth about human life." In
other words, works written as products of man's imagination are works of fiction. However, it does
not mean that they are false, untrue or opposed to truth. Rather, it is opposed to the actual and to the
historically true. It is not contrary to truth at all since incidents may not have actually happened but
there are possibilities that they may and can happen, as long as the laws of probability and necessity
are not violated.
The principal types of fictions are short stories and novels. We can add one classification which
may include myths, legends, fables, parables, and minor narratives like anecdotes and exemplum.
A. The Short Story. This is a brief artistic form of prose fiction which is centered on a
single main incident and is intended to produce a single dominant impression. Such impression may
be one of sadness, surprise, sympathy, terror, or other reactions. Among the notable short story
writers are Edgar Allan Poe who gave us the first detective stories, Guy de Maupassant, O. Henry,
Anton Checkov, William Faulkner, D.H. Lawrence, Ernest Hemmingway, and thousands more.
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B. The Novel. The novel is an extensive prose narrative. It is much longer than the short
story and is divided into chapters. It has a greater number and variety of characters, a more
complicated plot, a more elaborate use of setting, a greater complexity of theme than the short story.
The novel may be classified according to different bases:

1. The author’s vision of life. This involves the author’s attitude towards
experiences which may be romantic, realistic, naturalistic, etc.
a. romantic – The romantic view chooses the remote in time and place, the
adventurous and daring in action, the heroic and dashing in the case of characters. The
interpretation of life is optimistic and usually idealistic. The preference is for the happy
ending.
b. Realistic – It prefers the familiar and common place in setting, characters who are
ordinary men and women like those we meet daily, though according to theme and other
feature, they may rise to the level of heroism. The action itself is limited to facts of daily
experience which are observed thoroughly and recorded faithfully.
c. naturalistic – It is exaggerated and of extreme realism dominated by materialism,
pessimism and determinism. Characters are portrayed as having little or no free will, the
environment is hostile; men’s efforts are doomed to failure and sometimes, death. Observation
and recording of the dismal and cruel aspects of life are carried out with more accuracy and
persistence.
2. The writer’s choice of material. This may be historical, psychological, social, etc.
a. historical – a historical novel chooses an age or era in the past. It recaptures the
spirit and atmosphere of that period and chooses historical events and characters to give
authenticity to the narration. But the novelist usually creates characters and situations of his
own devising to fulfill his particular objectives.
b. psychological – It focuses of what is in the mind of the character; its insights are
on the motives behind the yearnings and impulses of the characters. The stream of
consciousness is the term applied to the method of externalizing the thoughts, sensation,
memories, and impressions that rush through the mind without order or coherence.
c. social – This novel deals with the mores and customs of a distinct social group
and the problems faced by those in this society, be these problems be political, economic,
racial, etc. – often without presenting a solution. Noli and Fili are example of this.
When the novel favors or advocates a theory or doctrine it is called the novel of
propaganda. When it deals sympathetically with the problems of the working class, the
novel is called a proletarian novel.
2. The structure of the novel. According to structure, the novel may be panoramic or
dramatic.
a. the panoramic novel – follows a linear development of a loosely constructed plot
and portrays a broad section of life. It gives relatively little importance to
character and action as motivating forces, hence, they so not greatly influence the
leisurely development of the narrative. The chronicle is of this type.
b. the dramatic - emphasizes the interaction of character and action. This type of
novel employs the principle of causality in the unfolding of plot, in the
relationship of characters and action, in the influence of environment and heredity
both in the growth of characters and its relation to action. Some of the greatest
novels belong to this category, like War and Peace by Tolstoy; The Red and Black
by Stendhal; The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.
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3. other forms. There are many other forms of fiction, most of these were the forerunners or
precursor of the modern literary genre of short story. Some of these were written in verses or poetry.
Among these are:
a. Myth – a symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional,
that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief. It
is distinguished from symbolic behavior (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects
(temples, icons). Myths are specific accounts of gods or superhuman beings involved in
extraordinary events or circumstances in a time that is unspecified but which is understood
as existing apart from ordinary human experience. The term mythology denotes both the
study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition. It usually
served to explain some natural phenomenon.
b. Parable - short fictitious narrative that illustrates a moral attitude, a doctrine, a

standard of conduct, or a religious principle. The term originally referred to a Greek
rhetorical figure, a kind of extended simile, involving the use of a literary illustration. The
parable differs from the fable in the inherent plausibility of its story and in the exclusion of
anthropomorphic animals or inanimate creatures, but it resembles the fable in the essential
qualities of brevity and simplicity. The storytelling aspect of a parable is usually
subordinated to the analogy it draws between a particular instance of human behavior and
human conduct at large. The simple narratives of parables give them a mysterious,
suggestive tone and make them especially useful for the teaching of moral and spiritual
truths. Parables can often be fully understood only by an informed elite, who can discern the
meaning within their brief, enigmatic structures.
To a Western audience, some of the most famous parables are in the New Testament; in
them, Jesus uses the form to illustrate his message to his followers by telling a fictitious
story that is nevertheless true-to-life. There are also parables in the Hebrew Bible (notably
those of II Samuel 12:1-9 and II Samuel 14:1-13), but they have suffered in popularity by
comparison with the New Testament parables.
c. Fable - The word fable derives from the Latin word fabula, which originally meant
about the same as the Greek mythos; like mythos, it came to mean a fictitious or untrue story.
Myths, in contrast, are not presented as fictitious or untrue.
Fables, like some myths, feature personified animals or natural objects as characters.
Unlike myths, however, fables almost always end with an explicit moral message, and this
highlights the characteristic feature of fables--namely, that they are instructive tales that
teach morals about human social behavior. Myths, by contrast, tend to lack this directly
didactic aspect, and the sacred narratives that they embody are often hard to translate into
direct prescriptions for action in everyday human terms. Another difference between fables
and myths relates to a feature of the narratives that they present. The context of a typical
fable will be unspecific as to time and space; e.g., "A fox and a goose met at a pool." A
typical myth, on the other hand, will be likely to identify by name the god or hero concerned
in a given exploit and to specify details of geography and genealogy; e.g., "Oedipus was the
son of Laius, the king of Thebes."
d. Legend - Legends are traditional stories or groups of stories told about a particular
person or place. Formerly the term legend meant a tale about a saint. Legends resemble
folktales in content; they may include supernatural beings, elements of mythology, or
explanations of natural phenomena, but they are associated with a particular locality or
person and are told as a matter of history.
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In common usage the word legend usually characterizes a traditional tale thought to
have a historical basis, as in the legends of King Arthur or Robin Hood. In this view, a
distinction may be drawn between myth (which refers to the supernatural and the sacred) and
legend (which is grounded in historical fact). Thus, some writers on the Iliad would
distinguish between the legendary aspects (e.g., heroes performing actions possible for
ordinary humans) and the mythical aspects (e.g., episodes involving the gods). But the
distinction between myth and legend must be used with care. In particular, because of the
assumed link between legend and historical fact, there may be a tendency to refer to
narratives that correspond to one's own beliefs as legends, while exactly comparable stories
from other traditions may be classified as myths; hence a Christian might refer to stories
about the miraculous deeds of a saint as legends, while similar stories about a pagan healer
might be called myths. As in other cases, it must be remembered that the boundaries between
terms for traditional narratives are fluid, and that different writers employ them in quite
different ways.
e. Exemplum - from Latin "example," (plural EXEMPLA), an exemplum is a short

tale originally incorporated by a medieval preacher into his sermon to emphasize a moral
lesson or illustrate a point of doctrine. Fables, folktales, and legends were gathered into
collections, such as Exempla (c. 1200) by Jacques de Vitry, for the use of preachers. Such
exempla often provided the germ or plot for medieval secular tales in verse or prose. The
influence of exempla can be seen in Program FilesBritannica2001cacheeb:/gatewayg
%3fgtype=article_view&doc_name=core114749_1.html&terms=exemplum
exemplum Canterbury Tales (1387-1400) in the haunting "The Pardoner's Tale."
b. Non-fiction
1. The Essay. The essay is a prose composition of moderate length, usually
expository in nature, which aims to explain or elucidate an idea, a theory, an impression
of a point of view. It is conveniently classified as formal (impersonal) and informal
(personal or familiar).
a. The formal essay deals with a serious and important topic, usually derived
from philosophy, theology, science, politics, morality, etc. It is authoritative and
scholarly in treatment, and reveals the writer’s mastery of his subject. Its interest is in
the intellectual. The tone is objective and impersonal. The style is clear and
straightforward. Its main purpose is to teach or to instruct.
b. The informal or familiar essay may deal with any subject, even the
commonplace and ordinary, which it raises to the level of the literary through technique
and style. Hence where the formal is objective, the familiar is subjective in the handling
of the topic. The main source of interest is the personality of the author revealed in the
style and treatment of his subjects. The main interest of this essay is in the imaginative
and its primary purpose to entertain and amuse; therefore its tone is light, friendly, often
humorous like that of a person talking among friends, sure of their interest and affection.
Among the most popular familiar essayist are Michel Eyquiem de Montaigne, father of
essay, Charles Lamb, Chesterton and Christopher Morley.
2. Oration – Often contrasted to the essay by its structure and purpose, the oration
represents another form of prose. Its language is carefully chosen to convey ideas clearly
and forcefully. It is usually inspired by a significant event or an important issue. Its
language is meticulously chosen to produce the desired impact on the audience. It is
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intended to be delivered orally, thus its style is eloquent and forceful with a purpose to
convince and persuade.
3. Biography – A biography is a record of human life, an account written by

someone else, of an individual’s significance experiences, their effects on him, and his
personal reactions and response to them. Holman and Harmon define biography as “the
accurate presentation of the life history from birth to death of an individual, along with an
honest effort to interpret the life so as to offer a unified expression of the character, mind,
and personality of the subjects.”
2. Personal Writings. This group of literary works includes the author’s personal
documents, in other words, writings about the author which he himself has written.
a. Autobiography – it is an account of a person’s life written by the person himself. It
is usually more revealing of the person’s interior self.
b. Memoirs – a form of autobiography but more specifically take into account
significant events in which the author was a witness or participant, and other noted
personages involved.
c. Journals & diaries – daily records of events and experiences in the author’s life.
They tend to reflect the private personality of the writer, the diary more intimately
than the journal. They may or may not be written for publication. Note again that
not all diaries and journals are literary. Literary standards must be the basis of its
literary merits.
d. Letters and Epistles. In literature, these are private and personal correspondence
between notable figures and convey ideas and feelings of the writer . Epistles are
letters but are more formally written and are generally address to and mean to be
read by a group of persons.
c. Drama - Drama is a type of literature usually written to be performed. People often make
a distinction between drama, which concerns the written text, or script, for the performance, and
theater, which concerns the performance of this script. Many of the most honored and influential
works of literature around the world have been dramas. They begin with the classical Greek
tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides and continue with the plays of such major
dramatists as William Shakespeare in England, Molière in France, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in
Germany, Henrik Ibsen in Norway, and August Strindberg in Sweden.
The two major kinds of drama are tragedy and comedy. During the Renaissance (14th
century to 17th century) other forms of drama appeared, and dramatists modified the two
traditional forms. Shakespeare divided his plays into comedies, tragedies, and histories, the latter
presenting national history in dramatic form. He also departed from classic practice by putting
important comic scenes into his tragedies. In Italy, certain critics and dramatists began mixing
elements and aspects of the two traditional kinds of theater to create a third kind, called
tragicomedy. The mixture of moods would become much more common in the 19th and 20th
centuries.
1. Tragedy. Traditionally, a tragedy is dominated by a serious tone, concerns kings and

princes, deals with profound issues, and usually concludes with the death of the leading character,
or the tragic hero. This tragic hero is a man of high estate. The struggle of the protagonist or hero
against the conflict is such that it affirms his capacity for greatness. In modern tragedies, however,
the tragic hero is not necessarily high-born but he maintains a "nobility of character" in the midst
of conflict an in its usually unhappy conclusion.
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This type of tragedy is sometimes called pure or true tragedy. Examples are Oedipus Rex
and Antigone by Sophocles; Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, Hamlet by William Shakespeare; A
Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee William; The Death of a Salesman and The Crucible by
Arthur Miller; Phaedre by Jean Racine; The Father by August Strindberg; Murder in the Cathedral
by T.S. Eliot; The First Born by Christopher Fry.
a. Serious Drama - drama which may have tragic overtones or details, and a general tone of
seriousness, but which may not end in catastrophe for the hero. The conclusion may even be hopeful
with main characters who are ordinary men and women, as contrasted with the tragic heroes of
classical or pure tragedy. Serious drama, usually written in prose, describes many modern non-
comic plays written in realistic style.
b. Tragicomedy - has similar characteristics to serious drama but is more of a combination
of the tragic and the comic.
c. Melodrama - it is serious in tome but characterized by the sensational and the theatrical.
Characters and situations are somewhat exaggerated to produce an excessive appeal to the emotions
of the audience. Characterization is usually superficial: the heroes are very good and the villains,
very bad. There is predominance of physical movement, and it generally ends in a contrived triumph
over unlikely circumstances. It is a popular form in cinema and television drama, esp. the soap opera.
2. Comedy. A comedy typically deals with common people, is dominated by a light tone
that encourages laughter (or at least amusement or entertainment), and ends happily, often with the
uniting of a pair of young lovers. It portrays the lighter and brighter side of life and is meant to
evoke laughter.
a. comedy of humors or comedy of character - originate from the specific traits of a
character
b. comedy of situation - originate from the situation of plot
c. comedy of manners - originate from the manners, customs, and lifestyle of a particular
class of society or community
d. farce - "farce is to comedy what melodrama is to tragedy." It is characterized by
exaggeration where character types are placed in ridiculous and improbable situations
intended to produce laughter. If it focuses on predominance of physical action like
sliding on the banana peelings, or falling from the carabao into its dung, it is called
slapstick.
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ELEMENTS OF POETRY AND PROSE
Poetry and its Elements
Poetry is a kind of imaginative literary _expression that produces its effect by the sound and
imagery of its language. Poetry is essentially rhythmic or possessing musical quality or beat and is
usually metrical. It is frequently structured in stanzas. Poetry generally projects emotionally and
sensuously charged human experience in metrical language.
Poetry consists of three elements that distinctly characterize it from the rest of imaginative
writings. These are rhythm, imagery, and sense or meaning.
A. RHYTHM. It is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, long or short, or low-
pitched or high-pitched sounds. It determines the rising and falling of the voice. It is the element that
marks the musical quality of the poem and makes it pleasing to the ears.
The word rhythm comes from the Greek word “rhein”, which means "to flow". Rhythm in
poetry is the flow of sound produced by language, by the stress we put on words or specific
syllables, on the rising and falling of our voice when we read it.
Rhythm has two essential elements- meter and rhyme.
1. Meter or organized rhythm. It is the measured pattern or grouping of syllables, called

metric foot, according to accent and length. A group of metric feet forms a poetic line or verse. A
group of poetic lines or verses is called a stanza.
There are for most common variants of patterns or feet:

a. the iamb - (Iambic foot) which consists of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented
syllable. (x / ) It is, made up of divisions, or feet, that alternate an unstressed and a stressed syllable
(sometimes designated by x and /, respectively) in rising rhythm (unstressed followed by stressed).
"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day."

("Elegy in a Country Churchyard," Thomas Gray)
b. anapest - (anapestic foot) consists of two unaccented syllable followed by an accented

syllable. (x x / )
Did you fail in the race

Did you faint in the spurt? ("The Best, Robins)
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c. trochus- (trochaic foot) - consists of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented

syllable.(/ x)
Up the airy mountain

Down the rushy glen. ("The Fairies," Allingham)
d. dactyl - (dactylic foot) - consists of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented

syllables. (/ xx )
This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks.
According to the number of feet in a poetic line, the principal verse lengths are: monometer -
consisting of one foot, dimeter (two feet), trimeter (three feet) , tetrameter (four feet), pentameter
(five feet), hexameter (six feet), heptameter (seven feet), octameter (eight feet), nonameter (nine
feet), and decameter (ten feet )
If a line is predominantly iambic and contains five feet, then it is described as iambic
pentameter. In the case of the first example, there are three iambs or combination of unstressed and
stressed syllables, thus we label it as iambic trimeter.
Free verses are those that do not follow a specific meter or pattern of accented and
unaccented syllables. It is also called cadenced poetry. It should be understood that not all poems
have meter. Their musical quality depends on the use of fresh combinations of words, sound devices,
or even simply on the natural cadence of words, its balance, or rhythmic flow. Other devices used are
parallelism, repetition, repeated phrasing, and particular rhythmic patterns.
The process of labeling lines or verses based on verse length and stress pattern is called
scansion.
2. Rhyme and other sound devices. The regular recurrence of similar sounds usually at the
end of lines (end rhyme) or also within one line (internal line) is called rhyme. The pattern or
sequence in which the rhyme words occur in a stanza or poem is called the rhyme scheme. To find
the rhyme scheme, the same letter of the alphabet is usually assigned to each similar sound in the
stanza.
For example,
It matters not how straight the gate, a
How charged with punishment the scroll, b
I am the master of my fate: a
I am the captain of my soul. d
(Invictus, William Ernest Henley)
In terms of stanza length, (number of lines in the stanza or the rhyming pattern) the
following are the most common:
a. Octave - eight rhyming lines c. Quatrain - four rhyming lines
b. Sestet - six rhyming lines d. Couplet - two rhyming lines
Not all poems have rhymes. Those that do not have are called blank verses.
Aside from rhyme, there are other systems by which the poem may attain its musical quality.
These are sound devices or sound echoes. Sometimes they are also referred to as rhetorical devices.
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1. alliteration - the repetition of initial identical consonant sounds in a series of words.

Some good examples of this are our tongue-twisters like:
She sells sea shells at the sea shore.

Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled pepper.
Full fathom five thy father lies. (The Tempest, William Shakespeare)
2. onomatopoeia - a devise whereby the sound of the words used by the poet suggests the
thing itself.
Examples: Bang, hiss, screech, hoot, buzz, splash
Note that the words above are also the sound which suggests the meaning, like the hooting of
the owl also sounds hoot, and the sound of the snake is also hiss.
3. assonance - the rhyming of accented vowel sounds but not of consonants. Used in
poetry and prose, assonance is a phonetic device in which writers repeat similar vowel sounds
without a corresponding repetition of consonants. Assonance helps to provide rhythmic structure in
informal metrical schemes. The assonant i (ay) sounds in the lines below function as vowel rhymes.
Examples:
Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness;
Thou foster child of silence and slow time. ("Ode on a Grecian Urn," John Keats)
The boy with a new toy is full of joy.
4. consonance - This is an irregular form of rhyme. Consonance occurs when similar

consonant sounds are repeated within a line of verse. This selection from "The Kind Ghosts" by
English poet Wilfred Owen demonstrates the technique with the repetition of the s, l, and t sounds.
She sleeps on soft, last breaths; but no ghost looms

Out of the stillness of her palace wall,
Her wall of boys on boys and dooms and dooms.
5. Anaphora - the repetition of words or phrase in the beginning of several successive

verses, clauses or sentences.
Love is real, real is love.
Love is wanting, to be loved.
Love is searching, searching love.
The American poet Theodore Roethke used no rhyme scheme and no meter in "Root Cellar"
(1943). The unpredictable form of Roethke's poem echoes the unexpected behavior of the things in
the cellar:
Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as a ditch,

Bulbs broke out of boxes hunting for chinks in the dark,
Shoots dangled and drooped,
Lolling obscenely from mildewed crates,
Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes.
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And what a congress of stinks!

Roots ripe as old bait,
Pulpy stems, rank, silo-rich,
Leaf-mould, manure, lime, piled against slippery planks.
Nothing would give up life:
Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.
B. IMAGERY
Imagery is a system of expressions evocative of sensuous appeal. Imagery refers to the
sensations that language creates in the mind. These sensations, or images, are often thought of as
being like pictures. But images are not limited to visual sensations. It includes all that our senses
perceive: what we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. The lines of "The Snow Man" (1923) by the
American poet Wallace Stevens, for instance give us sensations of touch and hearing:
One must have a mind of winter

To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine trees crusted with snow;
And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter
Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In these lines, such phrases as "crusted with snow," "shagged with ice," and "rough in the
distant glitter" help us sense the texture of things. In the third stanza, "the sound of the wind" and
"the sound of a few leaves" create images of things heard.
1. Direct description. To create imagery involves giving direct descriptions or pictures in

words.
2. Figurative language involves use of figures of speech and symbolism. Figure of speech is
the use of words in certain conventional patterns of thought and _expression.
For example, we might read that "The spy was cornered like a rat ... The crowd surged
forward ... The redcoats withdrew ... Justice hung her head ... Here was mercy indeed! ... The entire
nation screamed vengeance."
Figures of speech are the flowers of rhetoric. They give to poetry much of its beauty and
fragrance, its sweetness and germinal power. John Milton wrote, in "On His Being Arrived at the
Age of Twenty-Three,"
How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,

Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.
Without consciously analyzing which one is metonymy, personification or and metaphor, the
reader still senses the richness of imagery and poetic thought.
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In detail the figure of speech are discussed here.
a. Simile - is a figure of speech used in describing or explaining something. It points out a

likeness between two different objects or ideas by using a connective words, usually like or as. An
example of a simile would be, "He is as hungry as a horse," or "She ran like a deer."
The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low, // Each like a corpse within its grave…
("Ode to the West Wind," Percy Bysshe Shelley)
As I read in the white, morning sunlight,// The letter squirmed like snakes.
(" Patterns," Amy Lowell")
b. Metaphor - as a figure of speech, it is an _expression taken from one field of experience

and used to say something in another field. For example, when we say, "He's a sly fox," we are using
metaphor. That is, we are using the name of an animal to describe a man. A metaphor suggests a
comparison without using the word like or as. The statement "He is like a sly fox" or "He is sly as a
fox" is a simile.
"All the world's a stage." - As You Like It, Shakespeare
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor.
("The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes")
c. Personification- the giving of human attributes and functions to inanimate objects,

animals, or even ideas.
The tree whose hungry mouth is pressed// Against the earth's sweet flowing breast. -
("Trees," Joyce Kilmer)
d. Apostrophe- a direct address to an absent person or thing as though it were present, to a

dead person as though it were alive, and to an inanimate object as though it were alive.
Helen, thy beauty is to me like Nicean barks of yore.
("To Helen," Edgar Allan Poe)
e. Metonymy - often, words are used figuratively, rather than literally. Some of these forms
of expressions are called metonymy. When we "turn on the light," we actually flip a switch, closing
an electric circuit and causing the light. But we give the name of the effect to the cause. When we
"listen to records," we really hear music, but we name the cause to mean the effect. When we ask for
"another cup," we really mean more coffee. The container symbolizes what it contains. These are
common forms of metonymy.
Metonymy actually consists of naming a thing by one of its attributes. An

object/place/person may also be identified by the name usually given to or associated with it.
I am proud of my native land, the Pearl of the Orient Seas.
f. Synecdoche- In synecdoche, which is related to metonymy, we name the part for the
whole. For instance, on board a ship, the order "All hands on deck" calls the crew to assemble on the
deck. The word hands is used to refer to the members of the ship's crew.
Many squatters dream of roofs over their heads.
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g. Irony- is a device used in speaking and writing to deliberately express ideas so they can be
understood in two ways. There are three basic kinds of irony: (1) verbal irony, (2) dramatic irony,
and (3) irony of viewpoint.
Verbal irony is used to strengthen a statement by forcing the listener or reader to seek its true
meaning. Suppose, for example, that a soccer player gives the ball away several times and the coach
says, "You played a great game!" The coach is using irony, and actually means the opposite of what
the words seem to say.
In prose, irony is also used. Dramatic irony occurs in a play or story when events work out
contrary to expectations. In the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus quarrels with a
man and kills him. He does not know that the man is Laius, his father. Oedipus puts a curse on the
slayer of Laius. The irony here is that Oedipus has unknowingly cursed himself.
Irony of viewpoint is also a popular literary device. It occurs in drama or fiction when a
character--or the audience or reader--knows something that the other characters do not know.
Suppose that the characters are preparing a party for a returning soldier. But the reader knows that
the soldier has been killed in an accident on the way home. The irony lies in the contrast between the
characters' expectations and what the reader knows.
You are so beautiful; you look like a Christmas tree!
Whisper the sound of silence.
h. Paradox- the use of two contrasting statements but which in effect are true. Example:
Cowards die a thousand death before they die. (Shakespeare)
i. Hyperbole - is a figure of speech which is an exaggeration. People often use expressions

such as "I nearly died laughing" and "I tried a thousand times." Such statements are not literally true,
but people make them to sound impressive or to emphasize something, such as a feeling, an effort, or
a reaction. Sometimes there is humor in such statements, and usually everybody knows they are not
true. Hyperbole is common in everyday speech and in literature.
All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hands. ("Macbeth," Shakespeare)
We nearly die laughing.
3. Symbols- images or concrete references that stand for something else in reality and
suggest another level of meaning. Such meaning is not literal. For example, a flying bird may
symbolize freedom, a torch may symbolize knowledge and a white flag surrender.
It is said that since we Filipinos are a superstitious people, it is easy for us to understand
symbols. Do you believe this? What symbols do you know?
C. SENSE OR MEANING. The last element of poetry we will discuss is Sense or meaning.
This is the message of the poem that it wants its readers to understand. We must remember that the
poem’s purpose is not just to let us enjoy its sounds but also its content. The poem allows us to gain
more and fresher insights and perceptions. It will allow us to see things beyond the ordinary; it will
widen our thoughts and arouse our imagination so that we can vicariously experience something.
In summary, we can say that the beauty of the poem is seen in two aspects: its form and its
content. The form is shaped by the beauty of the sounds of words through the rhythm which may be
patterned or determined by meter, rhyme, and other sound devices or simply through the natural
cadence of words when we read the poem. In addition, the fresh combination of words contribute to
the beautiful sound of the words. The vividness of images created a system of imagery through direct
descriptions and figures of speech contribute to the beauty of form.
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The beauty of content, on the other hand, is also created by the images which evoke our
imaginations and create sensations or feelings that appeal to our senses. Likewise, discovering the
meaning of the figures of speech, symbols and the total message of the poem will allow us to enrich
our minds, inspire our hearts and enlighten our soul.
Prose and its Elements
Prose is the ordinary form of spoken or written language. It is plain language not arranged in
verses or poetic lines. Most often prose writing is characterized by narration, description, and
exposition, like those used in novels, plays, and articles. To Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and English
writer, a good prose is--proper words in their proper places. To distinguish the form and style of
prose then we must think of it as the kind of writing we use in short stories, novels, diaries, journals,
letters, and essay while that of poetry are those in our poems.
Elements of fiction. Fiction is “a series of imagined facts which illustrates truths about
human life.” In other words it is a story created from an author's imagination. Although it may also
be written in verse, our focus here are the fiction written in prose like novels and short stories.
Fiction is best understood if we contrast it with non-fiction. Biographies, histories, journals

and diaries are nonfiction works since they are based entirely on facts or they are historically true.
That means that is the name of the person is used, there really is that person. That is not the case with
fiction. Names are not necessarily names of people who existed or events of incidents which really
took place.
A. Characters - the persons involved in the story or affected by actions and ideas. In fables
and parables, characters may also be objects.
Motivation means the reasons for a character's actions. Writers try to ensure that the motives
of their characters make sense. In literature, as in life, character determines action.
The characters in the story may be the following:

1. Protagonist - the main character or the hero. The female protagonist is called a heroine.
2. Antagonist - the anti-hero or the villain. He is the “contra-bida,” a person who fights,
struggles, or contends against the hero. The female antagonist is called a villainess.
Other characters may be identified as the confidant (male) or confidante (female), a close
friend of the hero/heroine with whom he/she share her/his secrets.
Characterization may be dynamic or developing character. This is the type of character that
changes as the story or novel progresses. On the other hand, there is also the flat or stereotype
character which show only one type of personality; he is either too good to be true or too evil to be
accepted. The round character, a term coined by Porsters, is multi-dimensional. Meaning, he shows a
wide range of trait, and is dynamic as the developing character.
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According to Aristotle, there are three main traits expected of characters:

1. consistency ( in goodness or evil), even in their changes or inconsistencies;
2. believable or probable, that is they are life-like or realistic in their actuations or actions, in
their thoughts and in their feelings;
3. properly motivated, meaning, they act according to certain behavioral laws or reasons.
There are certain ways by which we can identify characters and how they characterize
themselves. The ways of revealing characters are the following:
1. By the direct or dramatic way, a character reveals himself by the outright description of
his physical look, his age, gender, even his traits.
2. Indirectly or analytically, a character may be known through:
a. dialogue or what he/she says;
b. revealing his secret thoughts and feelings including interior monologue, unheard
speech or unspoken thoughts;
c. juxtaposition with other characters - placing him side by side with other characters
and comparing them;
d. what other characters say about him;
e. what his name implies (e.g. Leon has to be “fierce” while Rosa may be charming.)
B. Setting - the place in which a character's story occurs. Literary characters, like the people
who read about them, do not exist alone in space. They act and react with one another. They also
respond to the world in which they live, a world imagined or described by the author.
In addition to place, setting also includes time and the social milieu in which the story
happened. The Manila of 1800’s, for example, is different from the Manila of today, not only in
terms of the physical environment like the buildings, parks and other landmarks but also the social
and political atmosphere shown in the customs, traditions, costumes, and even values of the
characters.
Atmosphere is related to setting. Atmosphere is largely, but not wholly an effect of setting.
Actually, it is the emotional climate produces or evoked in the story, as a result of various elements-
setting, imagery, diction or choice of words, tempo of action, degree or clarity or logic, even use of
details. To illustrate, the atmosphere of a detective story or novel is usually tense, suspenseful or at
times even horrifying.
C. Plot and Conflict. Plot usually refers to a summary of a story. More properly, it means
the overall structure of the play, the arrangement of events. On the bigger sense, it is not just the
sequence of events but refers to the causal relationship of events in the story, identifying the cause of
events and how they are interrelated to each other.
In this sense, it is the most important element of drama. In terms of structure, we identify
them as the following:
1. Exposition - or the beginning of a story, which gives the audience information about
earlier events, the present situation, or the characters. In some stories, the author focuses on a
question or a potential conflict. The author brings out this question or conflict through the second
event, the inciting incident. In some stories, this may not be included.
2. Rising action- also known as the inciting moment, sets the action in motion. The inciting
incident makes the audience aware of a major dramatic question, the thread that holds the events of
the play together.
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3. Conflict- or complications, are the problems that the hero faces. These are incidents,
discoveries and decisions that change the course of action.
4. Climax- The complication leads to a crisis, or climax. This is the turning point when
previously concealed information is at least partly revealed and the major dramatic question may be
answered. This is the highest peak of the reader’s interest; the most exciting part of the story.
5. Resolution or denouement- (pronounced as dey-nu-man) is the final part of the story. It is
also known as the falling action. It is the outcome of the series of events. The resolution often
extends from the crisis to the final curtain. It pulls together the various strands of action and brings
the situation to a new balance, thus satisfying the expectations of the audience.
Plot tells what happens to the characters in a story. A plot is built around a series of events
that take place within a definite period of time. No rules exist for the order in which the events are
presented. Some may be told chronologically or from the beginning to the end, based on the order
according to time in which they took place. Some writers used the device called flashback, where
action starts at the middle, returns to the beginning, moves back to the middle and proceeds to the
ending.
The conflict in the story may be the following:

1. Man vs. man - also known as man on the road. Man here is in conflict with another man
or a group of people. A variation of this is man vs. society.
2. Man vs. nature - man contends with the forces of nature. Stories of this type of conflict
tells us how man struggles against natural phenomena like floods, volcanic eruptions, fire, lightning,
snow, cold mountains, hot dessert, typhoons, landslides and others.
3. Man vs. himself - man’s enemy is himself in the sense that he undergoes an inner conflict,
especially on his decisions, or choices between good and evil, right or wrong. He battles with his
conscience of what course of action to take.
D. Theme - is a statement or the basic idea expressed by a work of literature. It develops

from the interplay of character and plot. A theme may warn the reader to lead a better life or a
different kind of life. It may convey the author's moral or political beliefs. It is a universal truth
embodied in a literary work. It is the conclusion the reader may make about life after reading the
story or any literary work.
Theme is the world-view of the author which he may explicitly or implicitly share with the
reader to have a better understanding of life. It is a universal philosophy; an insight into human
conditions. The theme usually deals with four general areas of human experience:
1. the nature of humanity, that is who we really are;
2. the nature of society, or how we relate with each other;
3. the nature of man’s relationship to the cosmos/ universe or even God;
4. the nature of our ethical/moral responsibilities.
Theme may be suggested by the title, by the dialogue of the characters, through the use of
symbols or imagery that hint it. Most importantly, the theme is revealed by the total impact of the
story, on the insights and reflects you get after considering the ways and thoughts of the character,
their actions and the effects or results of their actions.
E. Mood &Tone - manner of speaking or writing; state of mind or feelings conveyed in the
stories. Tone is the narrator’s predominant attitude toward the subject, whether that may be a definite
locale or setting, situation or event, a character or set of characters, idea or theme.
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The most dominant tones in the story are happy, sad, tragic, loving, tender, accusing, or
protesting. It may also be cynical or distrustful or pessimistic, focusing on negative outlook in life. It
may be shocking, flippant or joking, stoical or long-suffering, condescending or snobbish,
patronizing or arrogant, angry, detached or uncaring, satirical or mocking and critical, pathetic or
pitiful, or it may be apathetic or indifferent. In other words, the tone and mood of the story may
vary depending on it subject matter, treatment, and style of the author.
G. Point of View- the way a story is presented, is another part of style. The different points
of view may be internal or external. It is internal if the storyteller or narrator is one of the character
and external if he is not. It is the angle of narration that identifies who tells the story.
Specifically, we have the following:

1. First person point of view - uses the pronoun (I) as though the narrator were a major or
minor character in it
2. Third person (he or she) method, in which the narrator stands apart from the characters
and describes the action. This point of view may be:
a. Third person limited point of view- the narrator describes the events as a single character
might see and hear them.
b. Third person omniscient- or all-knowing point of view where the narrator reports on
what several characters are thinking and feeling.
The Elements of Drama. The drama is related to the short story and novels in terms of its
elements. It has also the characters, plot, conflict, setting, and theme. We will discuss here, therefore,
those elements we have not discussed under fiction.
Aristotle, a Greek philosopher who lived in the 300's B.C., wrote the earliest surviving and
most influential essay on drama, called Poetics. In it, he identified the parts of a tragedy as (1) plot, (2)
character, (3) thought, (4) diction, (5) music, and (6) spectacle. These six elements are fundamental
to all types of drama, not just tragedy. In a well-written play, all of the elements combine to form a
unified, coherent, and purposeful sequence of incidents.
The thought referred by Aristotle here is the theme. Every play, even the most light-hearted
comedy, involves thought in its broadest sense. In dramatic structure, thought includes the ideas and
emotions implied by the words of all the characters. Thought also includes the overall meaning of the
play, sometimes called the theme. Not all plays explore significant ideas. But every play makes some
comment on human experience, either through direct statement or, more commonly, by implication.
Another part of drama is diction, or dialogue. It is the use of language to create thought,
character, and incident. Music involves either musical accompaniment or, more commonly today, the
arranged pattern of sound that makes up human speech. Spectacle deals with the visual aspects of a
play, especially the physical actions of the characters. Spectacle also refers to scenery, costumes,
makeup, stage lighting, and props.
Elements of Essay. Leopold Yabes, a noted Filipino writer, describes the essay as the
“most contemplative of all prose forms.” The essay reveals the inner thoughts, sentiments, and
feelings of the writer. The term essay came from the French word essais, meaning, to attempt or to
try. This term was popularized by Michel Eyquiem de Montaigne (153-92) when he wrote his Essais,
a collection of short delightful compositions.
As a form of composition, the essay makes use of words to express ideas and thoughts it wants to
convey. It is a unified writing where there is a beginning, middle and end.
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Most often, an essay is expository writing. It aims to explain an idea, or answer a real or an
imaginary question. It is the writer's way of presenting facts or of explaining what a thing means,
how it works, or why it is important. The way ideas are developed in the essay may be varied. It
conforms with the paragraph development we are familiar with like definition, exemplification or
giving examples, comparison and contrast, narration, description, argumentation, and others.
Narration is used to develop an essay when the writer gives an account of action or events
and tells the reader what is happening to illustrate a point. On the other hand, description is used to
picture something that the writer wants the reader to see. Writers use description to tell us about
appearance of a person, object or place. Through description, the writer appeals to the reader's sense
of touch, taste, smell, or hearing.
Argument tries to convince readers of an attitude, or to persuade them to share the writer's
attitude. A writer may try to change the reader's mind by using argument that appeals to reason, to
emotions, or to both. He may present causes and effects, problems and solution, and analyzing
functions, process, and relationship of one element with another. It may also give judgment,
reflection, and summary.
ASAQ
ANSWER TO SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE
ASAQ 1. Identifying Rhythm and Sound Devices
1. poetic line or verse 6. anapest 11. alliteration
2. stanza 7. blank verse 12. anaphora
3. rhetorical devices 8. quatrain 13. onomatopoeia
4. dactyl 9. scansion 14. tetrameter
5. iamb 10. rhyme 15. free verse
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MODULE 3
REPRESENTATIVE WORKS OF POETRY AND PROSE
This lesson presents the discussion of representative literary works in prose and poetry and
how they could be analyzed for understanding and appreciation.
This will enable the student to:

a. be familiar with some of the world masterpieces;
b. analyze the elements of a literary work
c. find out the important features of a literary work that enable the reader understand its theme or
message;
d. appreciate the literary merit or worth of a work by pointing out its artistic features and
craftsmanship;
e. draw inspiration from or be enriched with important and meaningful ideas presented by the
literary works
f. appreciate the beauty and continuing relevance of works from the different period
g. link literature to its time and to our own and recognize how the examples of literary works
transmit the common cultural values.
Sample Poems
Sample Ballad
A ballad is a song that tells a short narrative. It reflects the lives and thoughts of the common people.
While the romances of the Middle ages delighted the aristocracy, the popular ballads interested the unlettered people
of the times.
Most early ballads used the echoic repetition to make it easy to memorize as most of them were handed
down through the centuries by word of mouth. Likewise, they make use of foreshadowing and question and answers
as techniques in unraveling the simple stories they tell.
Lord Randall
Anonymous
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“O where hae ye been, Lord Randall my son? “What got your leavings, Lord Randall, my son,
O where hae ye been, my handsome young man? “What got your leavings, my handsome young man?”
“I hae been to the wild wood; mother, make my bed soon, “My dog and my bloodhounds, mother, make my bed soon,
For I’m weary wi hunting, and fain1 wald lie down.” For I’m weary wi hunting, and fain wald lie down.”
“Where gat ye our dinner, Lord Randall my son? What become your bloodhounds, Lord Randall, my son
Where gat ye our dinner, my handsome young man?” “What become your bloodhounds, my handsome young
“I din’d wi my true-love; mother, make my bed soon, man?”
For I’m weary wi hunting, and fain wald lie down.” “O they swell’d and they died; mother, make my bed soon,
For I’m weary wi hunting, and fain wald lie down.”
“What gat ye to your dinner, Lord Randall, m y son?
What gat ye to your dinner, my handsome young man?” “O I fear ye are poison’d, my handsome young man!”
“I gat eels boiled in broo; mother make my bed soon, “O yes! I am poison’d; mother, make my bed soon,
For I’m weary wi hunting, and fain wald lie down.” For I’m sick at the heart and I fain wald lie down.”
Sample Metrical Romances & Tales
caitiff knight, who had made her lover captive

Sir Gawain was nephew to King and despoiled her of her lands. King Arthur
Arthur, by his sister Moragana, married commanded to bring him his sword, Excalibar,
to Lot, king of Orkney, who was by and to saddle his steed, and rode forth without
Arthur made king of Norway. Gawain’s delay to right the lady’s wrong. Ere long he
brother were Agravain, Gaharet, and reached the castle of the grim baron, and
Gareth. challenged him to the conflict. But the castle
stood on magic ground, and the spell was such
Sir Gawain was one of the most that no knight could tread thereon but straight his
famous knights of the Round Table, and courage fell and his strength decayed. King
is characterized by the romancers as the Arthur felt the charm, and before a blow was
sage and courteous Gawain. To this struck his sturdy limbs lost their strength, and his
Chaucer alludes in his “Squiere’s Tale,” head grew faint. He was fain to yield himself
in which the strange knight “saluteth” prisoner to the churlish knight, who refused to
all the court- release him except upon condition that he should
return at the end of a year, and bring a true
“With so high reverence and answer to the question, “What thing is it which
observance, women most desire?” or in default thereof
As well in speeche as in surrender himself and his lands. King Arthur
countenance, accepted the terms, and gave his oath to return at
The Gawain, with his olde the time appointed.
curtesie,
Though he were come agen out During the year the king rode east, and he
of faerie, rode west, and inquired of all whom he met what
Ne coude him not amenden with thing is it which all women most desire. Some
a word.” told him riches; some pomp and state; some
mirth; some flattery; and some a gallant knight.
Sir Gawain’s Marriage But in the diversity of answers he could find no
sure dependence. The year was well nigh spent
Once upon a time King Arthur when, one day, as he rode thoughtfully through a
held his court in merry Carlisle, when a forest, he saw sitting beneath a tree a lady such
damsel came before him and craved a hideous aspect that he turned away his eyes, and
boon. It was for vengeance upon a when she greeted him in seemly sort made no
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answer. “What wight art thou,” the lady King Arthur rode homeward, but not
said, “that will not speak to me? It may light of heart; for he remembered the promise he
chance that may I resolve thy doubts, was under to the loath lady give her once of his
though I be not fair of aspect.” “If thou young and gallant knights for a husband. He told
wilt do so,” said King Arthur, “choose his grief to Sit Gawain, his nephew, and he
what reward thou wilt, thou grim lady, replied, “Be not sad, my lord, I will marry the
and it shall be given thee.” “Swear me loath lady.” King Arthur replied:-
this upon thy faith,” she said, and
Arthur swore it. Then the lady told him “Now nay, now nay, good Sir Gawaine,
the secret, and demanded her reward, My sister’s son ye be;
which was that the king should find The loathly lady’s all too grim,
some fair and courtly knight to be her And all too foule for thee.”
husband.
But Gawain persisted, and the king at
King Arthur hastened to the last, with sorrow of heart, consented that Gawain
grim baron’s castle and told him one by should be his ransom. So one day, the king and
one all the answers which he had his knights rode to the forest, met the loathly
received from his various advisers, lady, and brought her to the court. Sir Gawain
except the last, and not one was stood the scoffs and jeers of his companions as
admitted as the true one. “Now yield he best might, and the marriage was solemnized,
thee, Arthur,” the giant said, “for thou but not with usual festivities. Chaucer tells us:-
hast not paid thy ransom, and thou and
thy lands are forfeited to me.” Then “There was no joyse, ne feste at alle;
King Arthur said:- There n’as but heviness and mochel sorwe,
For prively he wed her on the morwe
“Yet hold thy hand, thou proud baron, And all day after hid him as an owle,
I pray thee hold thy hand. So wo was him whose wife loked so foule!”
And give me leave to speak once
more, When night came, and they were alone
In rescue of my land. together, Sir Gawain could not conceal his
This morn, as I came over a moor, aversion; and the lady asked him why he sighed
I saw a lady set, so heavily, and turned away his face. He
Between an oak and green holly, candidly confesses it was on account of three
All clad in red scarlet. things, her age, her ugliness, and her low degree.
She says all women would have their The lady, not at all offended, replied with
will, excellent arguments to all his objections. She
This is their chief desire; showed him that with age is discretion, with
Now yield, as thou art a baron true, ugliness security from rivals, and that all true
That I have paid my hire.” gentility depends, not upon the accident of birth,
but upon the character of the individual.
“It was my sister that told thee Sir Gawain made no reply; but, turning
this,” the churlish baron exclaimed. his eyes on his bride, what was his amazement to
“Vengeance light on her I will some perceive that she wore no longer the seemly
time other do her as ill a turn.” aspect that had so distressed him. She then told
him that the form she had worn was not her true
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form, but a disguise imposed upon her dissolve the charm. The lovely lady now with
by a wicked enchanter, and that she was joy assured him that she should change no more;
condemned to wear it until two things but as she now was so would she remain by night
happen; one, that she should obtain as well as by day.
some young and gallant knight to be her
husband. This having been done, one “Sweet blushes stayned her rud-red chek,
half to the charm was removed. She Her eyen were black as sloe,
was now at liberty to wear her true form The ripening cherrye swelled her lippe,
for half the time, and she bade him And all her neck was snow.
choose whether he would have her fair Sir Gawain kist that ladye faire
by day and ugly by night, or the reverse. Lying upon the sheete,
Sir Gawain would fain have had her And swore, as he was a ture knight,
look her best by night, when he alone The spice was never so sweete.”
should see her, and show her repulsive
visage, if at all, to others. But she The dissolution of the charm which had
reminded him how much more pleasant held the lady also released her brother, the “grim
it would be to her wear her best looks in baron,” for he too had been implicated in it. He
the throng of knights and ladies by day. ceased to be a churlish oppressor and became a
Sir Gawain yielded, and gave up his gallant and generous knight as any at Arthur’s
will to hers. This alone was wanting to court.
From the Bible: The Bible is called the living monument of Hebrew literature. It mainly
discusses religion but other forms of literary work such as history, wisdom literature, tales, prophetic
books, drama and poetry are found in it. The book of Psalms is a collection of 150 hymns, some of them
written by Kind David. A psalm, therefore, is a form of a song.
PSALM XXIII (song)

From the Book of Psalms (King James Version)
King David
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters,
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me to the path of righteousness
for His name’s sake;
Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death.
I will fear no evil for Thou art with me,
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me
Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
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Points for study:
1. Figures of speech: The opening line in this psalm is a metaphor. It directly compares the Lord with
the shepherd, thus implying that we are the sheep. As a shepherd, the Lord provides for our needs
and we will not want or be lacking.
2. Symbols: The succeeding lines tell us how God provides for us. (1) Green pastures may be taken as
a symbol for material abundance. Isn’t it that when we consider a place for material prosperity or
economic opportunity we call it the greener pasture? (2) On the other hand, leading the lambs and
sheep to still or calm waters suggests physical security. Sheep are very obedient; they will follow
where they are led; thus a good shepherd see to it that they go to a safe place, beside the still waters,
not the strong current of the river.
Rod and staff may also be taken as symbol. Rod may be the chastening rod or an instrument
used to correct us when we go wrong, or punish those who may harm us, like the wolves who go after
the sheep. Staff or the cane is a symbol for guidance. Shepherd make the sheep walk along the right
path and not wander or go somewhere else.
3. Theme: Physical abundance and security are just two of the ways by which God provides us with
our needs like a good shepherd. However, there are other ways by which fulfills our need. He
provides us with special treatment as His children; with psychological security that regardless of our
enemies, of harm, or even death, He is there for us. Above all, He fulfills our spiritual need; he gave
us salvation for our soul.
The closing lines (last two) tell us of a Christian response, that is, the assurance for goodness
and mercy, and his commitment to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Dwelling here does not
mean living in a church but living according to the will of God.
4. Imagery: The images we can see depict a pastoral life, typical of what we can see in the pastures of
Israel. The images tells us what we can see, or even hear and feel like the green pastures, the still
waters, the running of oil over your head, the dark valleys and shadows, a table with food, the rod and
staff, etc.
5. Rhyme and Rhythm: This poem is a free verse; there is no specific rhythm and there is no specific
rhyme, or a blank verse. Nevertheless, there is musical quality in it as suggested by the movement
and sound of words.
6. Technique: The poem used the first point of view. We read the pronoun I, taking the personal note.
So the reader assumes the speaker and the poet’s conviction becomes our personal conviction.
Try these techniques, analyzing other poems for study here based on other elements outlined in
the guide questions.
Chartless
Emily Dickinson
I never saw the moor,

I never saw the sea;
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Yet know I how the heather looks,

And what a wave must be.
I never spoke with God,

Nor visited in heaven
Yet certain am I of the spot.
As if the chart were given.
SAQ1. Guide questions for Chartless:
1. What do the following words mean?

Moor ____________________________________
Heather__________________________________
2. Does the poet express unbelief in God? Does she doubt that God exists?
___________________________________________________________’
3. What does she refer as spot? _____________________________________
4. Why do you think is the poem entitled Chartless? __________________
_________________________________________________________________
5. Why is chart used here? What does it suggest? What comparison does the author imply?
____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
6. For what does chart here stand as a symbol? ____________________
This poem makes us analyze once again our faith. I hope the Dickenson’s simple poem teach us
great lessons; that is faith goes beyond the bounds of what our eyes can see. After all, the
Infinite Being affirms his existence in more ways than one, that even nature glorifies Him.
The following poem is about longing for a loved one. I am sure, that at one time in your life, you
have missed someone you love. The poem is written by a Filipino author, Carlos Angeles, during the
American period.
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LANDSCAPE
Carlos Angeles
Sun in the knifed horizon bleeds the sky,

Spilling the peacock stains upon the sand,
Across some murdered rocks refuse to die
It is your absence that touches my sad hands,
Blinded like flags in the wrecked of air.
And catacombs of cloud enshroud the cool
And calm involvement of the darkened plains,
The stunted mourners here and there a full
And universal tenderness that drains
The sucked and golden breath of sky comes bare.
Now, while the dark basins the void of space
Some sudden crickets ambushing me near.
Discovered vowels of your whispered face
And subtly cry, I touch your absence here
Remembering the speeches of your hair.
Please observe the guide questions in analyzing poems.
Guide questions for Landscape:
1. What figure of speech is suggested by the following:

a. knifed horizon
b.bleeds the sky
c. murdered rocks refused to die
d.your absences touches my sad hands
e. speeches of your hair
2. What rhetorical devices are used in the following lines/phrases:
a. catacomb of cloud enshroud the cool and calm
b.cloud enshroud
c. spilling the peacock stains upon the sands
3. Is there rhyme in the poem? If there is, what is the rhyme scheme?
4. What do you think was the feeling of the speaker in the opening lines of the poem?
5. Was there a change in the mood or feeling of the persona? If there is, what caused this change?
6. What is the significance of the lines “ It is your absence that touches my sad hands,//” and I touch
your absence here.”
7. What is the speaker, a man or a woman? What is your clue?
8. How does the person regard the feeling of missing a loved one? What words suggest this feeling?
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The poem below is an example of an ode, or poem of praise. Jonson is an English poet.
35
To Celia
Ben Jonson
Drink to me only with thine eyes,

And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in a cup
And I’ll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise

Doth ask a drink divine
But might I of Jove’s nectar sop
I would not change for thine.
I sent thee late a rosy wreath, ~

Not so much honoring thee
As giving it a hope that there
it could not wither’d be.
But thou thereon did only breath,

And sent’st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells I swear
Not of itself but thee.
Guide questions for “To Celia”:
1. What do you think the line “Drink to me only with thine eyes” mean?
2. To what is the kiss compared as expressed by the first stanza? What quality does the wine and the
compared idea share or is in common?
3. Reference to Jove or any mythical, historical, or biblical character/object or idea is called allusion.
Who is Jove and what is a nectar?
4. Does the speaker envy Jove?
5. To whom does the speaker send a wreath of roses? What is the speaker’s purpose of sending it?
6. What did the receiver do with the rose?
7. What did the speaker do with the rose?
8. What strange thing did the speaker find about the rose?
There’s no wrong answers; only poor answers if you don’t explain

your ideas well; so I hope you do your very best!
More poems for study below…
The poem that follows is an example of a song. This song is very familiar. This is a modern song
that reflects the times. Find out why it is entitled Blowin’ in the Wind and how it reflects these ideas.
BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND

Bob Dylan
How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they’re forever banned
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The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind

The answer is blowin’ in the wind
How many times must a man look up

Before he can see the sky?
Yes, ‘n’ how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
How many years can a mountain exist

Before it’s washed to the sea?
Yes, ‘n’ how many years can some people exist
Because they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times can man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
Guide questions for Blowin’ in the Wind:
1. Why do you think the author used questions to drive his ideas?
2. What answer did he give to these questions?
3. What is meant his answer? In what way can you consider an answer being blown by the wind?
4. The questions raised suggest that man has become indifferent. To what aspect of life has he been
indifferent? There are three possible answers. Support your answers.
37
Elegy: Break, Break, Break That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
This elegy was dedicated to Arthur Hallam, Sonnet X

Tennyson’s friend and associate at Cambridge John Donne
University. In 1833 when Hallam died at the age of 22,
Tennyson was stunned with grief. From the depths of Death, Be not proud, tho’ many have called thee
that pain came the poem that marked the beginning of Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
his success as a poet. He became the Poet Laureate of For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
England in 1850. Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
For rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Break, break, break, Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,
On thy clod gray stones, O Sea! And soonest our best men with thee do go, rest of their bones
And I would that my tongue could utter, and soul’s delivery.
The thoughts that arise in me. Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, Kings and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
O well, for the fisherman’s boy And better than thy stroke; why swell thou then?
That he shouts with his sister at play! One short sleep past, we wake eternally
O, well for the sailor lad, And Death shall be no more; Death thou shalt die.
That he sings on his boat on the bay!
And the stately ships go on

To their haven under the hill;
Sonnet LXXV
But O for the touch of a vanished hand,
Edmund Spenser
And the sound of the voice that is still.
(from Amoretti, a collection of sonnets celebrating Spenser’s
Break, break, break, courtship
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea! to the lady who became his bride)
But the tender grace of the day that is dead,
Will never come back to me. One day, I wrote her name upon the sand,
But came the waves and washed it away:
Again, I wrote it with a second hand,
And came the tide and made my pains his prey.
Sample Sonnets “Vain man,” said she, “that dost in vain assay
a mortal thing so to immortalize
Sonnet XXIX For I myself shall like to this decay,
William Shakespeare And ere? My name be wiped out likewise.”
“Not so” quoth I; “let baser things devise
When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:
I all alone beweep my outcast state My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries And in the heavens write your glorious name;
And look upon myself and curse my fate, Where, when death shall all the world subdue,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Our love shall live and later life renew.
Featured like him, like him with friends possess’d,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least,
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising
Happily, I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings
38
PROSE FICTION
Motivation:
What makes a woman beautiful? What do you thinks are the things that bring contentment to a
woman/person?
THE NECKLACE
Guy de Maupassant
A borrowed diamond necklace symbolizes a false sense of values. In this story Mathilde Loisel, the main
character, pays dearly for her vanity and dreams of grandeur. Find out how she realizes the meaninglessness of her
life too late.
She was one of those pretty and charming girls who are sometimes, as if by a
mistake of destiny, born in a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no expectations, no
means of being known, understood, loved, wedded, by any rich and distinguished man;
and she let herself be married to a little clerk at the Ministry of Public Instruction.
She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was as unhappy as
though she had really fallen from her proper station; since with women there 1, neither
caste nor rank; and beauty, grace, and charm act instead of family and birth. Natural
fineness, instinct for what is elegant, suppleness of wit, are the sole hierarchy, and make
for women of the people the equals of the very greatest ladies.
She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the
luxuries. She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from the wretched look of the
wall., from the worn-out chairs, from the ugliness of the curtains. All these things, of
which another woman of her rank would never even have been conscious, tortured her
and made her angry. The sight of the little Breton peasant who did her humble
housework aroused in her regrets which were despairing, and distracted dreams. She
thought of the silent antechambers hung with Oriental tapestry, lit by tall bronze
candelabra, and of the two great footmen in knee breeches who sleep in the big
armchairs, made drowsy by the heavy warmth of the hot air stove. She thought of the
long salons fitted up with ancient silk, of the delicate furniture carrying priceless
curiosities, and of the coquettish perfumed boudoir made for talks at five o’clock with
intimate friends, with men famous and sought after, when all women envy and whose
attention they all desire.
When she sat down to dinner, before the round table covered with a tablecloth
three days old, opposite her husband, who uncovered the soup tureen and declared
with an enchanted air, “Ah, the good pot-au-feu! I don’t know anything better than
that,” she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silver ware, of tapestry which peopled
the walls with ancient personages and with strange birds flying in the midst of a fairy
forest; and she thought of delicious dishes served on marvelous plates, and of the
whispered gallantries which you listen to with a sphinx-like smile, while you are eating
the pink flesh of a trout or the wings of a quail.
She had no dresses, no jewels, nothing. And., she jewel nothing but that; she felt
made for’ that. She would so have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be
sought after.
She had a friend a former schoolmate at the convent, who was rich, and whom
she did not like to go and see any more, because she suffered so much when she came
back.
But one evening, her husband returned home with a triumphant air, and holding
a large envelope in his hand.
“There.” said he, “here is something for you.”
She tore the paper sharply, and drew out a printed card which bore these words:
“The Minister of Public Instruction and Mme. Georges Ramponneau request the honor
of M. and Mme. Loisel’s company at the palace of the Ministry on Monday evening, January
18th.”
Instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she threw the invitation on the
table with disdain, murmuring:
“What do you want me to do with that?”
“But my dear, I thought you would be glad. You never go out, and this is such a
fine opportunity. I had awful trouble to get it. Everyone wants to go; it is very select,
and they are not giving many invitations to clerks. The whole official world will be
there.”
She looked at him with an irritated eye, and she said, impatiently:
“And what do you want me to put on my back?”
He had not thought of that, he stammered: “Why, the dress you go to the theater
in. It looks very well to me.”
He stopped, distracted, seeing that his wife was crying. Two great tears
descended slowly from the corners of her eyes towards the corners of her mouth. He
stuttered.
“What’ s the matter? What’s, the matter?”
But, by a violent effort, she had conquered her wet cheeks: “Nothing. Only I have
no dress, and therefore I can’t go to this ball. Give your card to some colleague whose
wife is better equipped than I.
He was in despair. He resumed: “Come, let us see, Mathilde. How much would
it cost, a suitable dress, which you could use on other occasions, something very
simple?”
She reflected several seconds, making her calculations and wondering also what
sum she could ask without drawing on herself an immediate refusal and a frightened
exclamation from the economical clerk.
Finally’, she replied, hesitatingly: “I don’t know exactly, but I think I could
manage it with four hundred francs.”
He had grown a little pale, because he was laying aside just that amount to buy a
gun and treat himself to a little shooting next summer on the plain of Nanterro, with
several friends who went to shoot larks down there, on a Sunday.
But he said: “All right. I will give you four hundred francs. And try to have a
pretty dress.”
The day of the ball drew near, and Mine. Loisel seemed sad, uneasy, anxious.
Her dress was ready, however. Her husband said to her one evening:
“What is the matter? Come, you’ve been so queer these last three days.”
And she answered: “It annoys me not to have a single jewel, not a single stone,
nothing to put on. I shall look like distress. I should almost rather not go at all.”
He resumed: “You might wear natural flowers. It’s very stylish at this time of the
year. For ten francs you can get two or three magnificent roses.”
She was not convinced.
“No; there’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women
who are rich.”
But her husband cried:
“How stupid you are! Go look up your friend Mme. Forestier and ask her to lend
you some jewels. You’re quite thick enough with her to do that.”
She uttered a cry of joy: “It’s true, I never thought of it.”
The next day she went to her friend and told of her distress.
Mme. Forestier went to a wardrobe with a glass door, took out a large jewel box,
brought it back, opened it, and said to Mme. Loisel: “Choose, my dear.”
She saw first some bracelets, then a pearl necklace, then a Venetian cross, gold,
and precious stones of admirable workmanship. She tried on the ornaments before the
glass, hesitated, could not make up her mind to part with them, to give them back. She
kept asking: “Haven’t you anymore?”
“Why, yes. Look. I don’t know what you like.”
All of a sudden, she discovered, in a black satin box, a superb necklace of
diamonds; and her heart began to beat with an immoderate desire. Her hands trembled
as she took it. She fastened it around her throat, outside her high necked dress, and
remained lost in ecstasy at the might of herself.
Then she asked, hesitating, filled with anguish:
“Can you lend me that, only that?”
“Why, yes, certainly.”
She sprang upon the neck of her friend, kissed her passionately, then fled with
her treasure.
The day of the ball arrived. Mme. Loisel made a great success. She was prettier
than them all, elegant, gracious, smiling. All the men looked at her, asked her name,
endeavored to be introduced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wanted to waltz with her.
She was remarked by the minister himself.
She danced with intoxication, with passion, made drunk by pleasure, forgetting
all, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in’ a sort of cloud of
happiness composed of all this homage, of all this admiration, of all these awakened
desires, and of that sense of complete victory which is so sweet to woman’s heart.
She left about four o’clock in the morning. Her husband had been dozing since
midnight in a little deserted anteroom with three, other gentlemen, whose wives were
having a good time.
He threw over her shoulders the wraps which he had brought, modest wraps of
common life, whose poverty contrasted with the elegance of the ball dress. She felt this
and wanted to escape so as not to be remarked by the other women, who were
enveloping themselves in costly furs.
Loisel held her back. “Wait a bit. You will catch cold outside. I will go and call a
cab.”
But she did not listen to him, and rapidly descended the stairs. When they were
in the street, they did not find a carriage; and they began to look for one, shouting after
the cabmen whom they saw passing by at a distance.
They went down towards the Seine, in despair, shivering with cold. At last, they
found on the quay one of those ancient noctambulant coupes which, exactly as if they
were ashamed to show their misery during the day, are never seen round Paris until
after nightfall.
It took them to their door in the Rue des Martyrs, and once mere, she climbed up
homeward. All was ended for her. And as to him, he reflected that he must be at the
Ministry at ten o’clock.
She removed the wraps, which covered her shoulders, before the glass, so as
once more to see herself in all her glory. But suddenly she uttered a cry. She had no
longer the necklace around her neck!
Her husband, already half undressed, demanded:
“What is the matter with you?”
She turned madly towards him: “I have, I have, I’ve lost Mine. Forestier’s
necklace.” He stood up, distracted.
“What! how? Impossible”’
And they looked in the folds of her dress, in the folds of her cloak, in her pockets,
everywhere. They did not find it.
He asked: “You’re sure you had it on when you left the ball?”
“Yes, I felt it in the vestibule of the palace.”
“But if you had lost it in the street we should have heard it fall. It must be in the
cab.”
“Yes. Probably. Did you take his number?”
“No. And you, didn’t you notice it?
They looked, thunder struck, at one another. At last Loisel put on his clothes.
“I shall go back on foot,” said he, “over the whole route which we have taken, to
see if I can find it.”
And he went out. She sat waiting on a chair in her ball dress, without strength to
go to bed, overwhelmed, without fire, without a. thought.
Her husband came back about seven o’ clock. He had found nothing.
He went to the Police Headquarters, to the newspaper offices, to offer a reward;
he went to the cab companies everywhere, in fact, whither he was urged by the least
suspicion of hope.
She waited all day, in the same condition of mad fear before this terrible
calamity.
Loisel returned at night with a hollow, pale face; he had discovered nothing.
“You must write to your friend,” said he, “that you have broken the’ necklace
and that you are having it mended. That will give us time to turn around.”
She wrote at his dictation. At the end of a week, they had lost all hope.
And Loisel, who had aged five years declared: “We must consider how to
replace that ornament.”
The next day they took the box which had contained it, and they went to the
jeweler whose name was found within. He consulted his books.
“It was not I, madame, who sold the necklace; I must simply have furnished the
case.”
Then they went from jeweler to jeweler, searching for a necklace like consulting
their memories, sick both with chagrin and with anguish.
They found, in a shop at the Palais Royal, a string of diamonds which seed to
them exactly like the one they looked for. It was worth forty thousand francs. They
could have it for thirty-six.
So, they begged the jeweler not to sell it for three days yet. And they made a
bargain that he should buy it back for thirty-four thousand francs, in case the other one
before the end of February.
Loisel possessed eighteen thousand francs which his father had left him. He
would borrow the rest.
He did borrow, asking a thousand francs of one, five hundred of another, five
louis here, three louis there. He gave notes, took up ruinous obligations, dealt with and
all the race of lenders. He compromised all the rest of his life, risked his signature
without even knowing it he could meet it; and, frightened by the pains yet to come, by
the black misery which was about to fall’ upon him, by the prospect of all the physical
privations and of all the moral tortures which he was to suffer, he went to get the new
necklace, putting down upon the merchant’s counter thirty six thousand francs.
When Mme. Loisel took back the necklace Mme. Forestier said to her, with a
chilly manner:
“You should have returned it sooner, I might’ have needed it.”
She did not open the case, as her friend had so much feared. If she had detected the
substitution, what would she have thought, what would she have said? Would she not
have taken Mme. Loisel for a thief?
Mme. Loisel now knew the horrible existence of the needy. She took her part,
moreover, all of a sudden, with heroism. That dreadful debt must be paid. She would
pay it. They dismissed their servant; they changed their lodgings; they rented a garret
under the roof.
She came to know what heavy housework meant and the odious cares of the
kitchen. She washed the dishes, using her rosy nails on the greasy pots and pans. She
washed the dirty linens, the shirts, and the dishcloths which she dried upon a line; she
carried the slops down to the street every morning, and carried up the water, stopping
for breath at every landing. And, dressed like a woman of the people she went to the
fruiter, the grocer, the butcher, her basket on her arm, bargaining, insulted, defending
her miserable money sou by sou.
Each month they had to meet some notes, renew others, obtain more time.
Her husband worked in the evening making a fair copy of some tradesman’s
accounts, and late at night he often copied manuscript for five sous a page.
And this life lasted ten years.
At the end of ten years, they had paid everything, everything with the rates of
usury, and the accumulations of the compound interest.
Mme. Loisel looked old now. She had become the woman of impoverished
households strong and hard and rough. With frowsy hair, skirts askew, and red hands,
she talked loudly while washing the floor with great swishes of water. But sometimes,
when her husband was at the office, she sat down near the window, and she thought of
that gay evening of long ago, of that ball where she had been so beautiful and so feted.
What would have happened if she had not lost that necklace? Who knows? Who
knows? How life is strange and how changeful! How little a thing is needed for us to be
lost or to be saved!
But, one Sunday; having gone to take a walk in the Champs Elysees to refresh
herself from the labors of the week, she suddenly perceived a woman who was leading
a child. It was Mme. Forestier, still young, still beautiful, still charming.
Mme. Loisel felt moved. Was she going to speak to her? Yes, certainly. And now
that she had paid, she was going to tell her all about it. Why not?
She went up. “Good day, Jeanne.”
The other, astonished to be familiarly addressed by this plain good wife, did not
recognize her at all, and stammered:
“But—madame! —I do not know you —You must have been mistaken”
“No. I am Mathilde Loisel.”
Her friend uttered a cry.
“Oh, my poor Mathilde! How you are changed!”
“Yes, I have had days hard enough, since I have seen you, days wretched enough
and that because of you!”
“Of me! How so?”
“Do you remember that diamond necklace which you lent me to wear in the
ministerial ball?”
“Yes. Well?”
“Well, I lost it.”
“What do you mean? You brought it back.”
“1 brought you back another just like it. And for this we have been test years
paying. You can understand that it was not easy for us, us who had nothing. At last, it is
ended, and I am very glad.”
Mme. Forestier had stopped. “You say that you bought a necklace of diamonds
to replace mine?”
“Yes. You never noticed it, then! They were very much alike.”
And she smiled with a joy which was proud and naive at once. Mme. Forestier,
strongly moved, took her two hands. “Oh, my poor Mathilde’ Why, my necklace was
paste. It was worth at most five hundred francs!”
Discussion:
1. understanding the elements of the story(review past lessons in Module 2)

a. Characters. Identify and characterize each persona in the story.
1. Madam Loisel _________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
2. Monsieur Loisel _______________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
b. Setting: the place: ________________________________________
The time: _________________________________________
c. Plot: Recount some important incidents in the story.

3. The rising action - What incident started the story?
________________________________________________________
4. Conflict - What are the problems encountered by the characters? Identify the conflict
whether man against man; man vs. nature or man vs. himself.
______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
5. Climax - what is the most interesting part of the story?

________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
6. Resolution /Denouement -
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
2. Understanding the Theme
a. Why was Mathilde so unhappy?
b. Is her unhappiness due to marriage or a result of her character?
c. What change in Mathilde took place after the ball?
d. How did Mathilde take the suffering? What about her husband?
e. What is the significance of the title?
f. What emotional effect does the story elicit? What did you feel upon reading the story?
3.Technique:
a. The story used dramatic irony for its ending. It ends in a way that we do not expect. Does this
ending help drive the idea or message of the story? In what way?
______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
b. What details in the early part of the story prepare the reader for the “surprise” ending?
_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
4. Generalization
Give your interpretation of the line, "In women, there is neither caste nor rank."
5. Evaluation: (to be submitted as assignment

Evaluate the short story by answering the following:
1. What makes the story good? Bad?
2. What is the message of the story? Was it substantially developed and presented by the
actions, and thoughts of the characters as well as with the plot of the story?
3. Is the story difficult or easy to understand? What makes it so?
4. Are there people like Mathilde today?
SAMPLE ESSAY
Why do young men and women go to school? Does a man stop studying after he has earned a
diploma? What do you understand by the word studying or studies?
A well-written explanation attempting to answer the above questions us called an essay, the literal
meaning of which is “an attempt.” As a literary type, an essay is a piece of prose attempting to explain
something or to express one’s ideas or feelings about a subject.
In the essay below, Francis Bacon’s explanation of studies or studying embodies his own views on the
matter. The essay is short but every sentence is full of meaning. You will find yourself reflecting on almost
every statement before you can fully grasps its idea. But every sentence is well worth the effort. Later in life
you may find yourself quoting some of his lines which you have understood and memorized. As you read
them, note such statements which are called epigrams or short witty sayings. Can you explain them by use of
illustrations?
I HAVE A DREAM
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was born Atlanta and educated at Morehouse University,
Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University. He began his career by serving as pastor of a
church in Montgomery, Alabama. During an active career, Dr. King lectured widely, was selected as one
of ten outstanding personalities in the country in 1956 and won the Nobel Peace Prize for 1964. he was
assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed in
Emancipation Proclamation.1 This momentous decree came as great beacon light of hope to millions of
Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to
end the long night of captivity.
But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One
hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles 2 of segregation and the
chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the
midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the
corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So, we have come here today to
dramatize an appalling condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation’s Capital to cash a check. When the architects of our
republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were
signing a promissory notes3 to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all
men would be guaranteed to unalienable4 rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of
color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a
bad check; a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the
bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of
opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check- a check that will give us upon demand the
riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed 5 spot to remind America
of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the
tranquilizing drug of gradualism.6 Now is the time make real the promises of Democracy. Now is the time
to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time
to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the
quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the
determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass
until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. Those
who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if
the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the
Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of
our nations until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads
into the palace of justice. In the process of fining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful
deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our
creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights
of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy 7 which has engulfed the Negro
community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced
by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their
freedom inextricably8 bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that w shall march a head. We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees9 of civil rights, “when will you be satisfied?” we can never
be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can
never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels
of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility 10
is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in New in
Mississippi cannot vote, and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we
are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a
mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. 11 some of
you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your request for
freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You
have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is
redemptive.12
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go

back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this
situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still
have a dream. It is dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We
hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” 13
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of
former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering with the heat of
injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice,
I have a that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by
the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor’s lips are presently dripping
with the words of interposition and nullification,14 will be transformed into a situation where little blacks
boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walks together as
sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream today that one day every valley shall be made low, the rough places will be made
plains, and crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together.15
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able
to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the
jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able
to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go jail together, to stand up for freedom
together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the that when all of god’s children will be able to sing with new meaning. My
country, ‘tis of thee,//Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing://Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,//From every mountains-side
Let freedom ring.
And if America it to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the
prodigious16 hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from mighty mountains of New York. Let
freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenis of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous17 peaks of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let
freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every
state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all God’s children, black men and white
men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholic, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the
old Negro spiritual, “ Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!”
Word guide:
1 Abraham Lincoln 10 being movable
2 chains/handcuffs/shackles 11 troubles/problems
3 promissory notes 12 redemptive.12
4 unalienable4 13 opening lines of the Declaration of Independence
5 sacred/holly 14 nullification,14
6 gradualism6 15 from the Bible
7 militancy7 16 extraordinary/unusual/ phenomenal
8 inextricably8 17 shapely
9 follower/supporter
“I Have a Dream” by M.L. King Jr.:
1. What is the subject matter of the essay?

2. What is the main theme of the essay? What does it tell of the Negro experience?
SAMPLE NOVELS
For sample novels, the following suggested movies are adapted from famous classic and modern
novels written by respected authors.
View them and apply the given guidelines for understanding fiction:
1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (England)

2. The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas (France)
3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (France)
4. Gulliver’s Travel by Jonathan Swift (England)
5. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (England)
6. Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn (America)
7. Great Expectation by Charles Dickens (England)
Other movies based on other literary genre:

8. Helen of Troy adapted from “the Iliad” by Homer (Greece) – epic.
9. Troy adapted from “the Iliad” by Homer (Greece) – epic.
10. The Odyssey adapted from the same title by Homer (Greece) – epic.
11. The Ten Commandments from the Bible
12. First Knight adapted from “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table” (England) –
metrical romance.
13. A Knight’s Tale adapted from “Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer (England) – metrical tale
14. Pocahontas based on the Journal of Capt. John Smith
15. Aladdin based on the Arabian Nights Entertainment
MODULE 4
REPRESENTATIVE NARRATIVE POETRY AND MINOR PROSE FORMS

This module presents representative epics and metrical romances, which are considered among
the best classical works. It gives a summary of the epics and metrical romances as springboard for
discussion of great ideas that have influenced man throughout the ages.
After the end of the session, it is expected that you will be able to:
1. be familiar of famous works and characters in literature;

2. gain insights into the human conditions and reactions;
3. understand timeless ideas and philosophy advocated by the literary works;
4. appraise and appreciate literary style and craftsmanship of writers;
5. make critical and creative evaluation of the literary work studied.
Lesson 1: The Great Epics of Homer
THE ILIAD
Mythological background:. The Judgment of Paris
The story. Agamemnon holds as his concubine a Trojan captive, Chryseis. Although Chryses,
father of Chryseis, a priest of Apollo, offers a ransom, Agamemnon refuses to release the girl. At the
request of Chryses, Apollo sends a plague on the Greeks as punishment. Agamemnon finally relents and
gives up Chryseis, but to replace
her, he takes Briseis, the concubine of Achilles, the son of Peleus and Thetis and leading Greek warrior.
Thereon, Achilles refuses to fight and sulks in his tent. The battle rages and without Achilles, Diomedes
and Ajax showed valor and courage. Seeing how the Trojans are dying in combat, Patroclus, the close
friend of Achilles, borrows Achilles’ armor and is killed in battle by Hector, the chief Trojan warrior and
son of Priam and Queen Hecuba. Infuriated, Achilles becomes reconciled to Agamemnon, re-enters the
battle, and kills Hector in combat and drags the body of Hector around the city of Troy seven times. He
refuses to give up the body of Hector for proper burial. After much pleading by Priam, Achilles accepts a
ransom for Hector’s body. The poem ends with the funeral of Hector and the burial of his remains.
THE ODYSSEY
Mythological background: After the death of Hector, Achilles is killed by Paris. At the
suggestion of Odysseus, the Greeks prepared a huge, hollow wooden horse, fill it with warriors, pretend
to lift the siege, and sail away. The Trojans persuaded by Sinon, a Greek who poses as a deserter, to take
the horse into the city. That night Sinon releases the men from inside the horse. The warriors open the
gates of the city to the returning main body of Greeks, who then killed the Trojans and retake Helen. The
Greeks set out for their homeland.
The Story: There are three main threads to the story: (1) Telemachus’ search for Odysseus, (2)
the wanderings of Odysseus, and (3) Penelope’s struggles with her suitors
(1’] Telemachus, son of Odysseus, sets out from Ithaca to find his father. He seeks in vain at
Pylos and Sparta
(2) Odysseus with his subjects leaves Troy to return to Ithaca. He meets with many adventures in
route:
a. a battle with the warlike Cicones
b. encounter with Lotus-eaters (The fruit induces loss of vigor, initiative and ambition) where his
men were dragged to the ship since they did not want to go home anymore,
c. a fight with Polyphemus, a Cyclops;
d. meeting King Aeolus, God of the wind and a near shipwreck caused by the release of winds
which Aeolus put inside the bag
e. a visit at Aeaea, land of Circe, an enchantress who changes Odysseus men into swine; they are
restored by moly, an herb furnished by Hermes
a. an interview with the spirit of the dead;
f. an escape from sirens, beautiful nymphs who lure sailors to destruction in shallows;
g. eluding of Scylla and Charybdis, sea monsters lurking in the straits between Sicily and Italy,
h. killing the sacred oxen of the Sun God and a subsequent shipwreck;
i. a sojourn for several years in the island of Ogygia with Calypso;
j. a shipwreck in the hands of Poseidon at the prayer of Polyphemus;
k. rescue by King Alcinous, king of the Phaecians when he was found on the shore by Nausicaa,
the king’s daughter
l. departure and arrival at Ithaca.
3. Penelope, wife of Odysseus, holds many suitors at bay for several years. The suitors have wasted
and exploited Odysseus wealth and have even plotted to murder Telemachus.
4. Odysseus and Telemachus returns to Ithaca. When they were reunited they plotted against the
suitors of Penelope. Unaware of her husband’s return, agrees to marry whoever can bend the old bow of
Odysseus. None of course had. Odysseus, disguised as an old man tried his luck and s succeeded in
bending the bow, kills the suitors, and then reveals his identity to Penelope.
Both epics deal with legendary events that were believed to have occurred many centuries before
their composition. The Iliad is set m the final year of the Trojan War, fought between the Greeks and the
inhabitants of the city of Troy. The legendary conflict forms the background for the central plot of the
story: the wrath of the Greek hero Achilles. Insulted by his commander in chief, Agamemnon, the young
warrior Achilles withdraws from the war, leaving his fellow Greeks to suffer terrible defeats at the hands
of the Trojans. Achilles rejects the Greeks’ attempts at reconciliation but finally relents to some extent,
allowing his companion Patroclus to lead his troops in his place. Patroclus is slain, and Achilles, filled
with fury and remorse, turns his wrath against die Trojans, whose leader, Hector (son of King Priam), he
kills in single combat. The poem closes as Achilles surrenders the corpse of Hector to Priam for burial,
recognizing a certain kinship with the Trojan king as they both face the tragedies of mortality and
bereavement.
The Odyssey describes the return of the Greek hero Odysseus from the Trojan War. The opening
scenes depict the disorder that has arisen in Odysseus’s household during his long absence: A band of
suitors is living off of his wealth as they woo his wife, Penelope. The epic then tells of Odysseus’s ten
years of traveling~ during which he has to face such dangers as the giant Polyphemus and such subtler
throats as the goddess Calypso, who offers him immortality if ho will abandon his quest for home. The
second half of the poem begins with Odysseus’s arrival at his home island of Ithaca. Here, exercising
infinite patience and self-control, Odysseus tests the loyalty of his servants; plots and carries out a bloody
revenge on Penelope’s suitors; and is reunited with his son, his wife, and his aged father.
Iliad and Odyssey are Homer’s great contribution to Greek literature. These epic poems define
the aspects of culture that posterity would latch as truly Greek. The heroic outlook is the chief insight of
both epics. The basic premise in the heroic vision is noble action undertaken at the cost of personal
security and happiness and in the face of extreme odds.
In Iliad, courage and zeal are poured into a thankless task; a long drawn-out war waged against a
foreign country in order to bring back the king’s wife, Helen wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, who had
been abducted by Paris, prince of Troy. The Greek army is charged into feats of valor by its general
Agamemnon, and its finest warrior, Achilles. The Greeks know the extent of sacrifice: their wits on end,
the flower of their race on the chopping block. Sacrifice is often aggravated by the often capricious
meddling of the gods in the lives of men.
In the Odyssey, the heroic is seen in the unrelenting path of self-mastery through test upon test of
hope and ingenuity. If the Iliad is essentially the life and holocaust of Achilles, the Odyssey is the saga of
that wisest of Greeks, Odysseus. Set after the siege of Troy, it chronicles the sailor’s adventures of his
way home. It is not a peaceful voyage,” nor will the homecoming be a smooth one. (Odysseus is not
aware that troubles plague his household in Ithaca). Led astray by storms, Odysseus and. his men find
themselves in the realms of drug—induced complacency of sorcery and grotesque boasts and perhaps the
most compelling magic of all, romantic love. The heroism that Home forth in the character of Odysseus is
radical and notably Greek. It tells us of the triumph of reason, including its practical application,
shrewdness over illusion and the dark reaches of a pre-scientific imagination.
In both epics, struggle is both spectacle and private pain. War is crosscut with scenes of personal
torment; pilgrimage is threatened not only by all manner of mishaps and monsters but by the all-too-
human desire for repose. It’s the certainty of the here— and—now versus the unknown future. The gods
are shown depriving men of the full range of their will. Thus the power to choose is limited to strategy, as
in the exercise of Achilles physical prowess and Odysseus intellect. The spirit of competition brings out
both the best and the worst in men; we note the rancorous infighting among the Greeks which are actually
part of the heroic vision. Another aspect is the sense of honor that the Greeks and the Trojans too are
shown to revere more than life. The value pf commitment and loyalty is ultimately wrapped up with
fellow feeling in terms of those relationships: ruler and subject, friend and friend; father-son; host—guest;
husband—wife. The claims on the individual of any of these relationships bring a personal meaning to the
sense of honor, but they also make judgment, difficult and desperate easy. But only from the crucible of
limited choice and great action can heroism occur.
RAMAYANA
Ramayana (Sanskrit, “Story of Rama”), shorter of the two great Sanskrit epics of ancient India,
the other being the Mahabharata. Rich in its descriptions and poetic language, it consists of seven books
and 24,000 couplets and has been translated into many languages. It was probably begun in the 3rd
century BC, with the beginning and possibly the ending added later. The Ramayana tells of the birth and
education of Rama, a prince and the seventh incarnation of the god Vishnu, and recounts his winning of
the band of Sita in marriage. Displaced as rightful heir to his father’s throne, Rama goes into exile,
accompanied by Sita and by his brother Lakshmana. Sits is carried off by the demon king Havana. With
the aid of the monkey general Hanuman and an army of monkeys and bears, Rams, after a long search,
slays Ravana and rescues Sita Rama regains his throne and nibs wisely. In the probable addition, Sita is
accused in rumors of adultery during her captivity. Although innocent, she bears Rama’s twin sons in
exile, sheltered by the hermit Valmiki, said to be the author of the poem. After many years Rama and Sita
are reunited.
MAHABHARATA
Mahabharata (Sanskrit, Great Story), longer of the two great epic poems of ancient India; the
other is the Ramayana. Although both are basically secular works, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana
are ritually recited and are thought to confer religious merit on their hearers.
The central theme of the Mahabharata is the contest between two noble families, the Pandavas
and their blood relatives the Kauravas, for possession of a kingdom in northern India. The most important
segment of the poem is the Bhagavad-Gita, a dialogue between Krishna, the eighth incarnation of the god
Vishnu, and the Pandava hero Arjuna on the meaning of life. It has influenced devout Hindu believers for
centuries. The Mahabharata was composed beginning about 300BC and received numerous additions
until about AD300. It is divided into is books containing altogether about 200,000 lines of verse
interspersed with short prose passages.
El Poems del Mio Cid
El Cid (circa 1040-99), Spanish warrior, whom later legend made into a national hero and the
embodiment of chivalry and virtue. Called, in full, El Cid Campeador (“The Lord Champion”), he was
originally named Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar.
The son of a minor Castilian nobleman, although related to the great landowning nobility on his
mother’s side, El Cid was born at Vivar near Burgos. He grew up in the household of the future king,
Sancho II of Castile, and in the military campaigns against Aragon for control of Zaragoza he
distinguished himself as the king’s premier knight. After Sancho was assassinated in 1072, Rodrigo
entered the service of the new king, Alfonso VI. In 1081, however, he ran afoul of Alfonso and was
exiled from the kingdom. With his retinue, he then set off for eastern Spain in search of honor, glory, and
booty He subsequently served the Moorish king of Zaragoza and other Muslim rulers. His military career
culminated in his capture of Valencia (1094), which he held and ruled in defiance of Aimoravid attacks
until his death on July 10,1099.
El Cid’s exploits are recorded in the 12th-century Latin chronicle Historia Roderici and in the
most famous Spanish epic, El cantar de mio Cid (The Song of the Cid). Composed about 1200, the epic
describes in a realistic, convincing manner the golden age of medieval chivalry, as well as El Cid’s heroic
deeds. Illuminating the militaristic frontier culture of medieval Spain. It contrasts worthless nobles of
high social rank with such men as El Cid, who are of humbler status but fight for honor and glory and are
prudent, brave, generous, and loyal to family, king, and religion and thus superior in virtue.
BEOWULF
Beowulf an Anglo-Saxon epic poem, the most important work of Old English literature. The
earliest surviving manuscript is in the British Library; it is written in the West Saxon dialect and is
believed to date from the late 10th century. On the basis of this text, Beowulf is generally considered to be
the work of an anonymous 8th-centuiy Anglican poet who fused Scandinavian history and pagan
mythology with Christian elements. The poem consists of 3182 lines.
The somber story is told in vigorous, picturesque language, with heavy use of metaphor; a famous
example is the turn “whale-road” for sea. The poem tells of a hero, a Scandinavian prince named
Beowulf, who rids the Danes of the monster Grendel, half man and half fiend, and Grendel’s mother, who
comes that evening to avenge Grendel’s death. Fifty years later Beowulf, now king of his native land,
fights a dragon who has devastated his people. Both Beowulf and the dragon arc mortally wounded in the
fight. The poem ends with Beowulf’s funeral as his men chant his epitaph.
Literary Epics
THE DIVINE COMEDY

Dante’s epic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, was probably begun about 1307; it was
completed shortly before his death. The work is an allegorical narrative, in verse of great precision and
dramatic force, of the poet’s imaginary journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven. It is divided into
three sections, correspondingly named the Inferno (Hell), the Purgatorio (Purgatory), and the Paradiso
(Paradise). in each of these three realms the poet meets with mythological, historical, and contemporary
personages. Each character is symbolic of a particular fault or virtue, either religious or political; and the
punishment or rewards meted out to the characters further illustrate the larger meaning of their actions in
the universal scheme. Dante is guided through hell and purgatory by Virgil, who is, to Dante, the symbol
of reason. The woman Dante loved, Beatrice, whom he regards as both a manifestation and an instrument
of the divine will, is his guide through paradise.
Each section contains 33 cantos, except far the first section, which has, in addition, a canto
serving as a general introduction. The poem is written in terza rima (third rhyme), a three-line stanza
rhyming aba, bcb, cdc, etc. Dante intended the poem for his contemporaries and thus wrote it in Italian
rather than Latin. He named the poem La commedia (The Comedy) because it ends happily, in heaven,
his journey climaxed by a vision of God and by a complete blending of his own will with that of the deity.
The adjective divina (divine) was first added to the title in a 1555 edition.
The work, which provides a summary of the political, scientific, and philosophical thought of the
time, may be interpreted on four levels: the literal, allegorical, moral, and mystical. Indeed, part of the
majesty of this work rests on its multiplicity of meaning even more than on its masterfully poetic and
dramatic qualities. It is supreme as a of medieval Christian theology’, but even beyond that framework,
Dante’s imaginary voyage can be understood as an allegory of the purification of one’s soul and of the
achievement of inner peace through the guidance of reason and love.
OTHER PROSE FORMS
PARABLE FROM THE BIBLE
The Parable of the Good Samaritan

St. Luke 10:30-37
A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among the thieves, who stripped
him of his raiment~ and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on
the other side,
And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the
other side.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and went to him and he saw him,
he had compassion on him; mad went to him, and bound his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set
him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
And on the morrow when he departed, be took out two pence, and gave them to the. host, and
said unto him, “Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay
thee.”
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?
Discussion:
A. Parable of the Good Samaritan

This parable is often interpreted for the lessons of being a good neighbor especially that it was
narrated by Jesus when He was ask about who is man’s neighbor. So we get an understanding that one’s good
neighbor is one who helps in times of need.
Above this moral truth, we find another interpretation such as one about, hypocrisy, sincere love and
concern for fellowmen, and racial tolerance. The priest and the Pharisee, people who are looked up in the
Jewish society as pious and devout are expected to show real concern for people in need. They should be
models for what they preach yet they were the very ones who disregarded the wounded man’s plea for help. In
other words, they were also hypocrites.
The parable is also a lesson on racial tolerance. Samaritans were actually considered of lesser
upbringing, thus are outcasts. They were avoided by the Jews as being not one of their kind.
Above these lessons, this is a story of encounters. The bandits, the priest and Pharisee, and the good
Samaritan, represent three types of encounters we have in life. We meet people who may bring us harm, those
who pass through our lives and never made any difference at all, and those who may do us good or may lift us
from harm.
Sample Fable
THE MAN, THE BOY, AND THE DONKEY

By Aesop
A Man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. my were walking along by its
side a countryman passed them tad: “You fools, what is a Donkey for if not to ride upon?”
The Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their But soon they passed a group of men,
one of whom said: “See lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.”
The Man ordered his Boy to get off and got on himself. But hadn’t gone far when they passed
two women, one of whom said to the other: “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son tag along.”
The Man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his son up before him on the Donkey. By this
time they had come to town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The stopped and asked
what they were scoffing at. The men said: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor
Donkey of yours—you and your hulking son?”
The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last
they cut down a pole, tied the Donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the Donkey to their shoulders.
They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the
Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the
struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned.
“That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them.
“PLEASE ALL AND YOU WILL PLEASE NONE.”
THE MISER AND HIS GOLD
ONCE upon a time there was a Miser who used to hide his gold at the foot of a tree in hit garden;
but every week he used to go and dig it up and gloat over his gains. A robber, who had noticed this, went
and dug up the gold and decamped with it. When the Miser next came to gloat over his treasures, he
found nothing but the empty hole. He tore his hair, and raised such an outcry that all the neighbors came
around him, and he told them how he used to come and visit his gold. “Did you ever take any of it out?”
asked one of them.
“Nay,” said he, “I only came to look at it.”
“Then come again and look at the hole,” said a neighbor; “it will do you just as much good.”
“WEALTH UNUSED MIGHT AS WELL NOT EXIST.”

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Verities &Varieties - The Literatures of the World

Let us start by defining “LITERATURE”…

 Literature is a record of man’s greatest thoughts. According to Webster, it pertains to the

2. It is characterized by greatness of expression. Literature is a form of human expression, and

primarily informative--technical, scholarly, journalistic--would be excluded from the rank of

The Aims/purpose of Literature

Why do people write?

Benefits of Reading Literature

Ways of Studying Literature

Distinctions Between Prose and Poetry

or is similar with poetry by answering the SAQ below.

Divisions of Literature and the Different Literary Genres

Some of the types of lyric verse are:

a. Italian or Petrarchan – devised by Francis Petrarch, an Italian poet, this type is

Among the most popular epics are:

4. Prose Poetry. Prose poetry is defined by Holman and Harmon in A Handbook of

The novel may be classified according to different bases:

b. Parable - short fictitious narrative that illustrates a moral attitude, a doctrine, a

e. Exemplum - from Latin "example," (plural EXEMPLA), an exemplum is a short

3. Biography – A biography is a record of human life, an account written by

1. Tragedy. Traditionally, a tragedy is dominated by a serious tone, concerns kings and

ELEMENTS OF POETRY AND PROSE

Poetry and its Elements

Rhythm has two essential elements- meter and rhyme.

1. Meter or organized rhythm. It is the measured pattern or grouping of syllables, called

There are for most common variants of patterns or feet:

"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day."

b. anapest - (anapestic foot) consists of two unaccented syllable followed by an accented

Did you fail in the race

c. trochus- (trochaic foot) - consists of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented

Up the airy mountain

d. dactyl - (dactylic foot) - consists of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented

1. alliteration - the repetition of initial identical consonant sounds in a series of words.

She sells sea shells at the sea shore.

The boy with a new toy is full of joy.

4. consonance - This is an irregular form of rhyme. Consonance occurs when similar

She sleeps on soft, last breaths; but no ghost looms

5. Anaphora - the repetition of words or phrase in the beginning of several successive

Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as a ditch,

And what a congress of stinks!

One must have a mind of winter

1. Direct description. To create imagery involves giving direct descriptions or pictures in

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,

In detail the figure of speech are discussed here.

a. Simile - is a figure of speech used in describing or explaining something. It points out a

b. Metaphor - as a figure of speech, it is an _expression taken from one field of experience

c. Personification- the giving of human attributes and functions to inanimate objects,

d. Apostrophe- a direct address to an absent person or thing as though it were present, to a

Metonymy actually consists of naming a thing by one of its attributes. An

i. Hyperbole - is a figure of speech which is an exaggeration. People often use expressions

Prose and its Elements

Fiction is best understood if we contrast it with non-fiction. Biographies, histories, journals

The characters in the story may be the following:

According to Aristotle, there are three main traits expected of characters:

The conflict in the story may be the following:

D. Theme - is a statement or the basic idea expressed by a work of literature. It develops

Specifically, we have the following:

REPRESENTATIVE WORKS OF POETRY AND PROSE

This will enable the student to:

Sample Metrical Romances & Tales

caitiff knight, who had made her lover captive

PSALM XXIII (song)

Points for study: