Keep This In Mind!

The Two Divisions of Literature In its broadest sense, literature

mirrors human existence. It exudes the realities and truths of
life encrypted in every letter and symbol of the texts. Reading
a literary text offers an experience to dwell in its very essence
and to build the mind and character of the person connected
to the universal truths. A good literature elevates the spirit by
bringing out moral values in any genre of a literary
composition that conforms to the manner, forms and styles.
With this, it is only fitting for us to be acquainted with the
divisions of literature.
Literature is divided into PROSE and POETRY.
They differ in form, structure and style, but both
deliver themes relatable to life experiences.
POETRY is said to be the oldest form of literature.
It is a literary work written in verse and stanzas.
Our ancestors even recited lines of verse having
aesthetic qualities. It contains rhythm, sound
pattern, and meter. In poetry, words are played
with rhythm to show creativity and style.
 PROSE (Fiction/Creative POETRY
Nonfiction)

written in paragraph form written in stanza or verse

form

FORM written in paragraph form written in stanza or verse

form

LANGUAGE expressed in ordinary form expressed in metrical,

(common language) or rhythmical, figurative
straightforward manner language and imaginative
tone

APPEAL appeal to the reader’s intellect awaken the

intellect reader’s emotion

AIM to convince, reflect, to stir the imagination and

instruct, inform and set an idea of how life
educate the learner should be
ELEMENTS OF POETRY
Imagery – This is one of the essential
elements of poetry that give the reader
the totality of the poem. The writer
shows what the poem is all about and not
merely tells. Powerful imageries in the
poem are used to make it appealing to the
senses of the reader. This imagery is in
the form of words, images, and symbols
Rhythm –It refers to the sound pattern and
the arrangement of rhyming words that
make up the poem.

Sound – It refers to how the poem sounds

like when read. There are poems that
sounded soft and melodious. This is called
euphony. Others are sounded brittle and
stiff. This is called cacophony.
 Density – It is what distinguishes poetry from prose.
This is the ability to say little and mean much
through the use of metaphors and non-conformity
with traditional grammar styles. Incorporating sounds
and rhythm also allows density.

Line – It is a very important part of poetry. It is

an element that makes it unique to prose. Line
in poetry is like sentence in prose. However,
we are not obliged to put a period since poetry
does not adapt to strict grammar rules.
 TYPES OF POETRY
Lyric Poetry-This type of poetry expresses powerful
emotion and feelings through musical verse. This is a kind
of poem that uses rhyme, meter or literary devices to
create a song-like quality. Examples of lyric poetry are Ode,
Sonnet, Elegy, and a Song.
Narrative Poetry-This type of poetry narrates a detailed
story about life and events that might be true or imaginary.
This is quite long and descriptive written in metered verse.
Narrative poetry does not need rhythmic schemes. Epic,
Ballad and Metric Tale are examples of narrative poetry.
Dramatic Poetry It is known as dramatic verse. This
literary art is written in blank verse that tells a story
and connects the readers through emotions. Dramatic
poetry suggests a story, but there is more emphasis on
character rather than on the narrative. Dramatic
poetry includes soliloquy, monologues, closed drama
(tragedy, comedy, melodrama or farce), and rhyme
verse.

PROSE is any written or spoken language that is naturally used

without metrical or rhythmic structure unlike the traditional
poetry. It applies the ordinary form of the language that is easily
understood by the readers. Unlike poetry which measures in
meter and or in verse, a prose is written in paragraph form. Most
of this type is informative and entertaining in nature
Early Literary Genres
Literature during the earlier period or traditional
literature per se was governed by almost similar styles
such as being educational and mythological. It was
primarily oral as it was spoken, recited and sung. Also,
it revolves around typical themes of fantasy and
positivism. At those times, publication of any literature
was something of a tedious work as there were no
printing machines, computer or even internet. Early
literature was written manually in scrolls and lots of
papers and the reproduction of such is strenuous.
GENRES OF THE EARLY PERIOD
. Folksongs-are traditional songs of our ancestors that have
been passed down from one generation to another.
B. Proverbs- are simple and traditional sayings that give us
nuggets of wisdom.
C. Riddles- are playful statements or questions having an
obscure meaning intended to be answered or solved.
D. Tales- are stories that generally talked about how one
thing came to be.
E. Epics- are long-narrative poems about the heroic deeds,
adventures, and even misfortunes of a hero.
21ST Century Literary Genres
The art of literature is as unique as any form
of arts. It conforms to the writer’s style and
techniques, manner, and form. Overtime,
these formats were changed as literary writers
also expose themselves to new techniques and
genres. The 21st Century literature refers to
literary works written in the year 2000s. It
deals with current existing themes and culture
and override traditional writing.
GENRES OF 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
Twenty-first century poetry often takes shape in
fragmented sentences, with a heavy use of enjambment,
without strict forms of punctuation, grammatical or
syntactical rules, and rarely any distinct rhyme scheme.
However, the free verse form that much of twenty-first
century poetry takes upon either a dissociated take on
the ideals presented, or a direct first person, almost
letter like approach to writing poetry, using pronouns to
directly make the reader feel as if they are either the
receiving audience or the writer/speaker themselves.
 Hyperpoetry -is another 21st Century literary genre that is also
called as cyber poetry. This genre cannot serve its purpose without
the use of computer. It is a type of digital poetry that uses links using
hypertext. This poem is found online which directs the reader to the
texts in response to the links that the reader chooses.
Textula - is a coined term of the English word “TEXT” and Filipino
word “TULA.” It is initially started by Frank Rivera. Textula is a new
trend where a one or two-stanza poem is written in a text message
format. This mobile phone poetry has a rhythmic scheme of aabb,
abab, abba
Spoken Word -is a type of poetry that is geared to be performed
onstage for an audience rather than merely exist in print somewhere
for others to read. Its characteristic of being created to be
performed for an audience makes it a subset of the art of poetry.
 FICTION – It is a creative literary work of an
author that is imaginary. The events, people, or
places are pure products of the writer’s mind.
TYPES OF FICTION
Chick Lit- refers to a literary piece written by women authors, about women, and intended
for women to read. It tackles about issues regarding women.
Flash Fiction- is a fictional literary work that is brief in form. Typically, flash fiction is
written under 1500 words.
Speculative Fiction -is a literary fiction encompassing genre with futuristic, supernatural
and imaginative themes.
Novel -refers to imaginative stories published as a book. It is relatively long narrative
written in prose.
Short Story -is a work of fiction that is shorter than a novel, and usually deals with only few
characters. The elements of a short story are setting, characters, plot, conflict, climax,
denouement, point of view, mood, theme and symbols.
THE ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY
Setting – This refers to when and where the story
takes place.
Characters – These are the persons, animals, or
things that compose the story.
Plot – It is the sequence of events in the story.
Conflict – It refers to any complications or issues that
build up the story.
Climax – It is the highest dramatic tension or major
turning point in the story.
Denouement/Resolution – It is the final outcome of
Point of View – It is the voice of the story
as to how it was told.
Mood – This refers to the atmosphere and
tone of the story.
Theme – It pertains to the main idea and
the universal truth in the story.
Symbols – It refers to the imageries used
in the story that signify something.
CREATIVE NONFICTION is a form of literary writing that dictates facts,
accuracy, and truthfulness that remains compelling. It follows the same
style in writing fictional stories and poems but differs in content as
creative nonfiction speaks of factual details.

TYPES OF CREATIVE NONFICTION

Biography is a life story of a person written by someone else.
Autobiography is an account of the author’s own life written by
himself.
News refers to substantial and significant information about
recent happenings.
Anecdote is an interesting and amusing detailed write-up about a
real life incident that took place.
Essay is a brief form of writing that interprets a specific topic or
Digi-Fiction - is a combination of three platforms: online website,
movie/video, and book. Digi-fiction genre is not a digital version of any
printed literature. It is established digitally that once removed online,
its whole beauty and essence disappear.
Blog - is said to be first created by Justin Hall in 1994, the Links.net.
Weblog or blog is an informative webpage presenting random topics. It
is likely an online journal of a writer. This literary genre is a platform
for writers to share inputs regarding a certain subject. It follows a
reverse chronological order where the latest post comes first on the
website.
Manga- is a term used for all published comic books originated from
Japan. It conforms to artistic and storytelling style of writing. It strictly
follows the traditional way of Japan in reading. Japanese Manga differs
from the typical books because it is read from right to left.
Graphic Novel is a narrative work made up of comic
content. The story is delivered using combination of
texts and images. The graphic novel refers to a
complete story presented as a book.
Illustrated Novel is a literary genre that is composed
of almost 50% illustrations and images. In order to
fully understand the whole picture of the story, the
reader must interpret the images. Some examples of
Illustrated Novels may not have words at all.
Literature, like language is dynamic and changing.
Thus, we cannot really determine which literary
writing is traditional or modern. However, each has its
EARLY LITERATURE 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE

Traditional Predominantly oral, educational, and mythical

Free verse no set rhyme scheme or format

Difficult to publish and reproduce Easier to publish and reproduce

Spoken Written or Audio-Visual

Conventional point-of-view Unconventional point-of-view