Literature

-A Latin word “litera” which means letter.

This is a body of
literary productions, either oral,
written or visual containing
imaginative language that
realistically portrays thoughts,
emotions and experiences of
the human condition.
 2 Major Types of Literature

I. Prose
- “prosa” which means straightforward. It consists written
works within the common flow of conversation presented in
a straightforward manner.

Types of Prose
a.Novel
This is a long narrative divided into chapters.
The events may be taken from true-to-life stories and
spans for a long period of time. There are many characters
involved.
Examples:
J a ne Aus te n
b. Short Story
This is a narrative involving one or
more characters, one plot and one single
impression.
Examples:
c. Plays
This is presented on a stage, is divided
into acts and each act has many
scenes.
d. Legends
These are fictitious narratives, usually about
origins. It provides historical
information regarding the culture and
views of particular group of people or country.
Examples:

The Bikol Legend

Legend of Pineapple
Legend of “Makahiya”
e. Folk tales
A traditional narrative, usually
anonymous, and handed down orally.

Example:

The adventures of Juan

The Hawk and the Hen

Fairy Tales
f. Fables (special type of folk tale)
These are also fictitious and they deal with
animals and inanimate things who
speak and act like people. Their purpose
is to enlighten the minds of children
to events that can mold their ways and
attitudes.
Examples:
Aesop’s Fables
The Lion and the Mouse
g. Myths
A traditional sacred story, typically
revolving around the activities of gods
and heroes, which aim to explain a
natural phenomenon or cultural practice.
Example:
The Story of Cupid and Psyche
The Fall of Troy

The Myth about Creation - Tagalog

h. Anecdotes
These are merely products of the writer’s
imagination and the main aim
is to bring out lessons to the reader.
“The Moth and the Lamp” – Dr. Jose Rizal
The Best Advice I ever Had
i. Essay
This expresses the viewpoint or opinion
of the writer about a particular problem
or event. The best example of this is
the Editorial page of a newspaper.
Examples:
Of Studies – Francis Bacon
On Doors – Christopher Morley
j. Biography
This deals with the life of a person which
may be about himself, his autobiography
or that of others.
Example:

Cayetano Arellano – Socorro O. Albert

k. News
This is a report of everyday events in society,
government, science and industry,
accidents etc., happening nationally or not.
l. Oration
This is a formal treatment of a subject
and is intended to be spoken in public.
It appeals to the intellect, to the will or
to the emotions of the audience.

Examples:
“Because of What We Are, and What We Believe”

I have A Dream – Martin Luther King

II. Poetry
It is an imaginative awareness of
experience expressed through meaning,
sound, and rhythmic language choices
as to evoke emotional response.

A. Narrative Poetry:
This form describes important events in
life either real or imaginary.
. Epic
It is an extended narrative about heroic exploits
under supernatural control. It may deal with heroes
and gods. The hero/heroine usually has the following
characteristics: idealism, courage, wisdom, beauty,
endurance, chivalry and justice.

Two Kinds of Epic poetry

a. Popular or ancient epic – often without a
definite author and is of slow growth.

b. Modern epic – with a definite author.

Examples:

Biag ni Lam-ang Epic

2. Metrical Tales
This is a narrative which is written in verse and
can be classified either as a ballad or metrical
romance.

Examples of these are simple idylls or home tales,

love tales, or tales of the supernatural or tales written
for a strong moral purpose in verse form.

“The Lady of Shallot” by Lord Alfred Tennyson

3. Ballads
This is considered as the shortest and
simplest of the narrative poems. It has
a simple structure and tells of a single
incident.

Variations of these are:

love ballads, war ballads, sea ballads, humorous,
moral, historical, or mythical ballads.
Example:
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner –
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Ballad of a Mother’s Heart
Jose La Villa Tierra
The night was dark,
For the moon was young,
And the Stars were asleep
and rare,
The clouds were thick,
Yet Youth went out,
To see his Maiden fair.

Dear one,
he pleaded as he knelt
before her feet in tears.
My love is true,
Why you have kept me
waiting all this years?
The maiden looked at him.
Unmoved it seemed,
And whispered low,
 Persistent Youth,
You have to prove by deeds,
Your love is true.
"There's not a thing
I would not do for you, Beloved" said he.
"Then, go." said she. "To your mother dear,
And bring her heart to me.

Without another word,

Youth left and went to his mother dear.
He opened her breast and took her heart!
But he did not shed a tear.

Then back to his Maiden fair,

He run unmindful of the rain.
But his feet slipped, And he fell down,
And loud, he groaned with pain!
 Still in his hand he held the prize,
That would win his Maiden's hands.
But he thought of his mother dear,
So kind, so sweet, so fond.

And then,
he heard a voice!
Not from his lips,
But all apart!

"Get up" it said.

"Were you hurt, Child?"
It was his mother's heart.
B. Lyric Poetry:
Originally, this refers to that kind of
poetry meant to be sung to the
accompaniment of a lyre, but now, this
applies to any type of poetry that expresses
emotions and feelings to the poet.
They are usually short, simple and easy
to understand.
Types of Lyric Poetry
1.Folksongs (Awiting Bayan)
These are short poems intended to be sung.
The common theme is love, despair, grief,
doubt, joy, hope, and sorrow.
2. Sonnets
This is a lyric of poem of 14 lines dealing
with an emotion, a feeling or an idea.
There are two types: the Italian and the
Shakespearean.
Sonnet: By The Creek
By Paul McCann

I escaped down to the creek today .

I lost my way and wished you would come
I sat down on the grass in the sun,
In the silence I began to pray .
In the water some stepping stones lay
where my reflections just had begun .
Your presence I felt had overcome,
I was not lost and alone that day .
I walked away and stood on a stone .
In the water I saw the blue sky.
You came to me in a quiet place.
In reflective prayer I'm not alone
with the sound of water flowing by,
on stepping stones I walk in Gods grace.
 3. Elegy
This is a lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief
and melancholy, and whose theme is death.

Angie 

No one knows what really happened to her 
all they know that she was good and dead 
some people say it was foul play some people say 
it was something wrong in her head 
but then I began to have these weird dreams about her 
some beautiful some horrible,
but how do we know what's real and what's a fantasy 
when Angie's not here to tell.
4. Ode
This is a poem of a noble feeling,
expressed with dignity, with no definite
number of syllables or definite number
of lines in a stanza.
Ode to Sir Lucius Gray and Sir H. Morison
Ben Jonson (1572-1637)

It is not growing like a tree

In bulk, doth make man better be;
standing long an Oak, three hundred yea
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sear.
A Lily of a day
Is fairer far, in May
Although it fall and die that night;
It was the plant and flower of light.
n small proportions we just beauties see
And in short measure, life may perfect be
5. Psalms
This is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary
and containing a philosophy of life.
 Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 
The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 
    He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 
    he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
4 
Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.
5 
You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
    forever.
6. Awit (Song)
These have the measures of twelve syllables
(dodecasyllabic) and slowly sung
to the accompaniment of a guitar or banduria.
Example: Florante at Laura(Francisco Balagtas)

O pagsintang labis ng kapangyarihan,

Sampung mag-aama’y iyong nasasaklaw;
Pag ikaw ang nasok sa puso ninuman,
Hahamakin ang lahat masunod ka lamang!
7. Corridos
These have measures of eight syllables
(octosyllabic)and recited to a martial beat.
The songs are often about
oppressions, daily life of peasants,
and other socially
important information.
Ibong Adarna

Sagot sa Panalangin

Diyos nga’y di natutulog

at ang tao’y sinusubok;
ang salari’y sinusunog!
ang banal ay kinukupkop!
C. Dramatic Poetry:

This is an emotional piece of literature

which includes a story which is recited
or sung. Soliloquy and dramatic
monologues are the main
instruments of this form of poetry.
.Comedy
This word comes from the Greek term “Komos”
meaning festivity or revelry. This form usually
is light and written with a purpose of amusing,
and usually has a happy ending.
 Daddy Fell into the Pond
a poem by Alfred Noyes

Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.

We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And then there seemed to be nothing beyond,
Then Daddy fell into the pond!

And everyone's face grew merry and bright,

And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed!" Click!
Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft,
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
Oh, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
When Daddy Fell into the pond!
2. Melodrama
This is usually seen in musical play
with the opera. Today, this is related
to tragedy just as the farce to comedy.
It arouses immediate and intense emotion
and is usually sad but there is a happy
ending for the principal character.
Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
3. Tragedy
This involves the hero struggling mightily
against dynamic forces; he meets death or
ruin without success and satisfaction
obtained by the protagonist in a comedy.
Examples:
Romeo and Juliet

Hamlet
4. Farce
This is an exaggerated comedy.
It seeks to arouse mirth by laughable
lines; situations are too ridiculous to be
true; the characters seem to be
caricatures and the motives undignified
and absurd.
5. Social Poems
This form is either purely comic or tragic
and its pictures the life of today.
it may aim to bring about changes in
the social conditions.
Literary Compositions that have influenced the World.

1. The Bible or the Sacred Writings: This has become the

basis of Christianity originating
From Palestine and Greece.

2. Koran: The Muslim Bible originating from Arabia.

3. The Iliad and the Odyssey: These have been the source
of myths and legends of Greece. They were written by Homer.

4. The Mahabharata: The longest epic of the world. It

contains the history of religion in India.
5. Canterbury Tales:
It depicts the religion and customs of
the English in the early days.
This originated from England and was written by Chaucer.

6. Uncle Tom’s Cabin:

Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe of
the U.S. This depicted the sad
fate of slaves; this became the basis of democracy later on.

7. The Divine Comedy:

(by Dante of Italy) This shows the religion and
customs of early Italians.
8. El Cid Compeador:
This shows the cultural characteristics of the
Spaniards and their national history.

9. The Songs of Rolando:

This includes Doce Pares and Roncesvalles
of France.
It tells about the Golden Age of Christianity in France

10. The Book of the Dead:

This includes the Cult of Iris and the
mythology and theology of Egypt.
11. The Book of the Days:
This was written by Confucius of China.

12. One Thousand and One Nights or the

Arabian Nights:
From Arabia and Persia (Iran).
It shows the ways of governments,
of industries and of the society
of the Arabs and Persians.