I.

POETRY
A. Narrative Poetry. Along with dramatic and lyric verse, narrative poetry is one of the three main groups of poetry. It tells a
series of events through poetic devices such as rhythm, rhyme, compact language and attention to sound. There are also
elements of the short story that could be found in narrative poetry like character, setting, conflict and plot.
1. Epic is a long narrative poem that tells the adventures of a hero, warrior, king or god. It embodies the religious
and philosophical beliefs, moral codes, customs and culture, sciences and traditions of the regions from which it
came from.
 Main character is larger than life
 The deeds of the heroes are presented without favoritism, including his failures
 The adventures reveal the more-than-human strength of the heroes
 The setting covers several nations, the whole world or universe
 The episodes, even though fictional, provide an explanation for some of the circumstances or events in
history
 The gods and lesser divinities play an active role in the outcome of the story; and
 All the various adventures form organic whole where each event relates to a central theme.
2. Metrical Romance recounts the quest undertaken by a knight to gain a lady’s favor. It’s central theme focuses on
courtly love, tournaments fought and dragons and monsters slain for the damsel in distress. It stresses chivalry—
courage, loyalty, honor and mercy. It delights in world’s wonders and marvels.
3. Metrical Tale is a simple straightforward story in verse.
4. Ballad is a narrative poem which is meant to be sung, usually composed in the ballad stanza.
B. Lyric Poetry. It is generally considered the most intense of all the genres of poetry. It is private, often visionary act of
intelligence and emotion that becomes public through the music language. It is also highly concentrated poem of direct
personal emotion, most often written in the first person. Moreover, lyric poetry is an artifact of language, capable of great
beauty and excitement in its exploration of new perceptions.
1. Ode is a dignified and elaborately structured lyric poem praising and glorifying an individual, commemorating an
event, or describing nature intellectually rather than emotionally. Odes originally were songs performed to the
accompaniment of a musical instrument.
2. Elegy is a lyric poem, written in elegiac couplets, that expresses sorrow or lamentation, usually for one who has
died. This type of work stemmed out of a Greek word known as elegus, a song of mourning or lamentation that is
accompanied by the lyre.
3. Sonnet is a short poem with 14 lines, usually written in iambic pentameter. There are many rhyming patterns for
sonnets. Kindly note the changes based on what I discussed last time, naghalo-halo yata ako.
a. Petrachan (Italian) Sonnet – abba abba (octave); cdcdcd (sestet)
b. Spenserian Sonnet – abab bcbc cdcd (three quatrains); ee (couplet)
c. Shakespearean (English) Sonnet – abab cdcd efef (three quatrains); gg (couplet)
4. Song is a short lyric or narrative text set to music. The music often reproduces the mood of and lends a
heightened emotional expression to the song’s text, which is often a poem.
5. Simple Lyric is a short poem expression an intense emotion or a profound thought.
6. Dramatic Poetry presents one or more characters speaking, usually to other characters, but sometimes to
themselves or directly to the readers.
a. Dramatic Monologue – is a literary device that is used when a character reveals his or her innermost
thoughts and feelings, those that are hidden throughout the course of the storyline, through a poem or
speech. This speech is recited while other characters are onstage. This monologue often comes during
climactic moment in a work and often reveals hidden truths about a character, their history and their
relationships.
b. Soliloquy – is the act of speaking while alone, especially when used as a theatrical device that allows a
character’s thoughts and ideas to be conveyed to the audience.
II. PROSE
A. Fiction is a literary production of man’s imagination finding shape in stories of people or events.
1. Prose Allegory is a form of prose wherein characters, ideas and actions stand for something else or for a system
of ideas with implied meanings. Concrete characters are personifications of abstract ideas.
a. Fable is a short allegorical tale conveying a moral or principle of behavior, the characters are usually
animals talking and acting like human beings, but keeping their animal traits. Often, the moral is appended
in the form of a proverb.
 b. Parable a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.
c. Myth is an anonymous, traditional story that explains a brief, a custom or a mysterious natural
phenomenon. It could also deal with the origin of the world and the universe.
d. Legend is a story of creation or origin of specific objects, places and events.
2. Prose Romances are types of stories in which there are supernatural or magical events, fantastic and unrealistic.
a. Fairy tales, use folklore motifs, commonplace expressions and typical themes that develop from stock
characters such as cruel king, evil stepmother, wicked stepsister, substitute brides, magic and supernatural
changes and restorations. Once the strange element in the situation is accepted, fairy tales assume a reality
of their own. Virtue is rewarded and fairy tales always end happily.
b. folk tales are part of folklore(traditions transmitted through memory and practice rather than printed
page). A folk tale is a story which consists of one or a combination of many folklore themes (motifs). Folk
tales easily pass from language to language and spread all over the world; hence they are sometimes called
“migratory tales.”
3. Satire are stories in which human vices and follies are held up to ridicule. E.g. fabliau, a short amusing tale often
bawdy or obscene, cynically an slyly satirical directed against women, the clergy and marriage. The humor arises
from the plot, an intrigue, or practical joke told in a rapid succession of events that form a single episode. Among
standard characters are the jealous, stupid husband, the braggart and the unfaithful wife.
B. Non-fiction
1. Essay is a short literary composition in prose dealing with a single matter usually from a personal point of view.
Thus, it is revelatory of the author’s taste, opinions, prejudices, moods and in general, his personality. Essays may
either be formal or informal.
1. reflective
2. narrative
3. descriptive
4. biographical
5. nature
6. critical
7. periodical
8. didactic
2. Biography is the life story of a person written by another.
3. Autobiography is the life story of a person written by himself.
4. Letters
5. Epistles are letters intended for public reading/ consumption
6. Diaries
7. Journals
8. Book reviews
9. Literary criticism
10. Scientific and current publication
C. Novel is a long prose narrative with complex conflict, plot and set of characters.
1. epistolary 6. detective 11. religious
2. picaresque 7. science-fiction 12. sociological
3. gothic 8. naturalistic 13. romantic
4. utopian 9. psychological 14. sentimental
5. western 10. stream-of-consciousness 15. realistic
D. Short story is a prose narrative of limited length which must have characterization, unity, cumulative interest, climax and
a resolution. In a less exclusive sense, short stories should include the earliest forms of short narratives—stories of gods and
demons, anecdotes, fables, mythical tales, lives of saints (hagiography), parables and folk tales.
E. Novelette are prose narratives that are intermediate between short story and novels. It is about 50 to 100 ordinary pages
long but no exact limits can be given as to its length. It is more elaborate than a short story but can be read in one single
and can produce a single concentrate effect.
F. Drama is a literary work written in dialogue and intended for presentation and/or interpretation by an actor. The essence
of a drama is the make believe by which an actor impersonates a character of the play.
Note: Novel, short story and novelette can either be fiction or non-fiction.