INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE

Meaning of Literature

There are different definitions given to literature by different writers, but let us summarize some
of them.

1. Taken from Oxford English Dictionary:

Literature is literally “acquaintance with letters” (from the Latin littera meaning letter);
The term has generally come to identify a collection of texts or work of art;
The class of writings in which imaginative expression, aesthetic form, universality of
ideas, and permanence are characteristic features, as fiction, poetry, and drama;
It may also mean any printed material.

2. According to Robert Frost, Literature Is “a performance in words”.

3. According to Henry Van Dyke, Literature 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.

4. To Arsenia Tan of University of Santos Tomas, Literature is life which presents human
experience.

All of these definitions are true to Literature. Literature exists because there are people who wanted
to express their feelings, emotion, and experiences in writing. They used language craftsmanship and
artistry to convey their perceptions in life.

IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE

In the emergence of media technology, literature has now katen another form. Literature has now
come alive in the Filipino television set through Telenovelas which were the counterpart of Soap
Operas in radio. Why are these programs patronized by the national audience? Some of the possible
answers will be:
 For pleasure and entertainment
 For emotional gratification
 For information and education

The most common answer would be for pleasure and entertainment. But because curiosity is a
natural instinct of man, people want to talk people want to know about people. This helps man
understand life by reflecting on their own and others’ lives. By reading literature, man picks-up
something in life that he applies to his own.

Why then, is literature a part of our curriculum? One of the objectives of education is to develop
the personality and mode of being of the student. Literature aids in the attainment of this goal. Formal
studies do not just aim to enhance technical knowledge in the profession but also caters to the enablement
of students to become mature in dealing with life. Students will never completely learn about life by
simply focusing on the mechanics of computer; accounting, engineering, or the technical side of any
vocation. Life could be learned from the life of others. Thus, Literature teaches students how to live. It
is in Literature that students learn about the art of living.

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How to study literature?

Primarily, what we should learn from literature is what the writer wanted to convey us. The
subject that the author wanted to figure out in us is the first concern of the study of literature. The subject
could be anything under the sun like love, forgiveness, regrets, courage, nature, etc. Next to the subject is
the technical part which arts and beauty. It is here where the students have to be acquainted with the
different literary genre and their elements. It is a great help for the student to study the different literary
genre or type so that he may appreciate better the Literature.

Forms of Literature

Two main division of literature are Prose and Poetry

Poem is a composition usually written in verse. Poems rely heavily on imagery, precise word
choice, and metaphor; they may take the form of measures consisting of patterns of stresses (metric feet)
or of patterns of different-length syllables (as in classical prosody); and they may or may not utilize
rhyme.

Prose consists of writing that does not adhere to any particular formal structures (other than
simple grammar). It is spoken or written language without metrical structure as distinguished from poetry
or verse.

Kinds of Poetry

A. Narrative Poetry – A narrative poetry tells a story in verse.

1. Epic retells in a continuous narrative the life and works of a heroic or mythological person or
group of persons. It is considered as the oldest form of literature since it existence is known to be
along the ancient history. Most of the epic are handed down orally from generation to another as
part of the oral tradition of certain nations, until they are translated into writing. This might also
have been the reason as to the narrators could have added as they please since the stories are
handles orally and nobody could check whether they are verbatimly duplicated.

There are two notions as to the emergence of the epic as a literary art form: First, is that, it was
the product of early people’s desire for entertainment. Back then, they were no Medias hypes,
nor achieves for books and works of art. A favorite past time activity is to recall and recite in
audible poetic manner the adventures of their heroes. This would have been done by anyone,
most especially the elderly who were fond of narrating stories in front of many people; Second, is
that the epics were chronicled to trace and describe the way of life of ancient tribes or nations as
part of their cultural heritage and pride.

2. Ballad is songlike poem that tell a story, often one dealing with adventure or romance. Many
ballads employ repetition of a refrain or incremental repetition in which a refrain is varied slightly
each time it appears. Example of this is “Lord Randall”

3. The Metrical Tale is a narrative poem that relates to real or imaginary events in simple, straight
forward language, from a wide range of subjects, characters, life experiences, and emotional
situations. The characters are ordinary people concerned with ordinary events. A good example
of this is the “Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer.

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 4. Metrical Romance is a long narrative poem that presents remote or imaginative incidents rather
than ordinary, realistic experience. The term Romance originally used to refer realistic
experience. The term Romance originally used to refer to medieval tales of the deeds and loves
of noble knights and ladies. ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knigth” and “Morte d’ Arthur” by
Malory are examples.

B. Lyric Poetry – A lyric poem is a poem that expresses the emotions, feelings and observations of
the writer. Unlike a narrative poem, it presents an experience or a single effect, but it does not
tell a full story.

1. Song is a lyric poem set to music and is intended to be sung.

2. Sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem focused on a single theme.

3. Elegy is a solemn and formal lyric poem about death. It may mourn a particular person or reflect
on serious or tragic theme.

4. Ode is a long, formal lyric poem with a serious theme. It often honors people, commemorative
events, respond to natural scenes, or consider serious human problems.

5. Simple lyric or simply lyric includes all lyric poems that do not fall under the 4 other types.

HAIKU

Haiku is another kind of poetry which originated in Japan. It is a 700-year-old Japanese verse
form. A three line poem consisting of seventeen syllables. (5, 7, 5, i.e. five syllables of the first line,
seven for the second, and five for the final line). Haiku crams a wealth of observation feeling and
philosophy in just seventeen syllables. It attempts to compress a great amount of meaning in the fewest
possible words. Usually, the poems suggest things. It is up to the reader to understand.

Most Haiku verses deal with nature. Looking at nature or its picture enables one to write a Haiku,
and it makes one think.

Kinds of Prose

A. Fiction (from the Latin fingere, “to form, create”) is prose writing that tells about imaginary
characters and events. Some writers of fiction base their stories on real people and events, while
others rely on their imagination.

1. Short Story is a brief prose narrative that usually can be read in one sitting. It contains few
characters and single plot that resolves around the main character.

2. Novel consists simply of a long story written in prose. It has more characters with several
sub-plots.

3. Drama is a narrative prose intended to be played on the stage. It usually called play. It is
written in scripted form to be reacted by the actors.

4. Fable is a brief story usually with animal characters that teaches a lesson or moral.

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 5. Parable is a short narrative that is at least in part allegorical and that illustrates a moral or
spiritual lesson.

6. Legend is a story that reflects the people’s identity or cultural values, generally with more
historical and less emphasis on the supernatural.

7. Myth is a fictional tale, originally with religious significance that explains the action of gods
or heroes, the causes of natural phenomena or both.

8. Fairy tale is a story featuring folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants,
talking animals and others. The fairy tale is a sub-class of the folktale. These stories often
involve royalty, and modern versions usually have a happy ending.

B. Non Fiction is a prose writing that presents and explains ideas or tells about real people, places,
objects or events.

1. Autobiography, from the Greek auton, self, bios, ‘life’ and graphein, ‘write’, is a biography
written by the author about himself.

2. Biography (from the Greek words bios meaning life, and graphein meaning write) is a genre
of literature based on the written accounts of individual lives.

3. Essay is a short work of writing that treats a topic from an author’s personal point of view.
Essay in English derives from the French essai, meaning ‘attempt’. Thus one can find open-
ended, provocative and/or inconclusive essays. The term ‘essays’ first applied to the self-
reflective musings of Michel d Montaigne, and even today he has a reputation as the father of
this literary form.

Essay is the most common form of literature. Feature articles and Editorials in the newspaper
could be classified as essay. Even the speech is an essay. In an essay read aloud in front of
an audience, it becomes a speech. Essay is the easiest form of literature to write. There are
only two elements in it to be considered: the paragraph construction and the main idea. As
long as these two are utilize, anyone could write an essay.

4. Diary or journal is a book for writing discrete entries arranged by date reporting on wha has
happened over the course of a day or other period.

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