Western Institute of Technology

College of Engineering
Luna Street, La Paz, Iloilo City, Philippines, 5000

English 2 Reviewer
Module 1: An Introduction to Literature
Literature (origin of term- litera, which means letter) deals with ideas, thoughts and
emotions of man- thus it can be said that literature is the story of man. (Kahayon, 1998, p 5-7);
Literature comes from the French phase “belles-letters” which means beautiful writing.
(Baritugo, et al. 2004).
-refers to artistic expression of significant human experience using the medium of language.
 Literature, in its broadest sense, is everything that has ever been written.
 Literature appeals to man’s higher nature and its needs-emotional, spiritual, intellectual,
and creative.
 Like all other forms of art, literature entertains and gives pleasure; it fires the imagination
and arouses noble emotions and it enriches man by enabling him to reflect on life and by
filling him with new ideas.
 Literature offers us an experience in which we should participate as we read and test what
we read by our own experience.
Why do people read literature?
 For information
 For amusement
 For higher and keener pleasure
 For cultural upliftment; and
 For discovery of broader dimensions in life

Great literature is distinguishable by the following qualities: (Garcia, 1993)

a. Artistry – when a literary work appeals to our sense of beauty
b. Intellectual value- when it stimulates thought and enriches our mental life by making
us realize the fundamental truths about life and human nature
c. Suggestiveness- the quality associated with the emotional power of literature, such that
it should move us deeply and stir our creative imagination, giving and evoking vision
above and beyond the plane of ordinary life and experience;
 Western Institute of Technology
College of Engineering
Luna Street, La Paz, Iloilo City, Philippines, 5000

d. Spiritual value- when a literary piece elevates the spirit by bringing out moral values
which make us better persons
e. Permanence- when a great literary work endures- it can be read again and again as
each reading gives fresh delight and new insights and open new worlds of meaning and
experience; and
f. Universality- when a great literature is timeless and timely- forever relevant in terms of
its theme and conditions.

Two main divisions of all literature:

1. Prose
-Written in paragraph form
-Expressed in ordinary language
-Appeals to the intellect
-Aims to convince, inform, instruct, imitate, and reflect

2. Poetry
-Written in stanza form
-Expressed in metrical, rhythmical, and figurative language
-Appeals to the emotion
-Aims to stir the imagination and set an ideal of how life should be
 Western Institute of Technology
College of Engineering
Luna Street, La Paz, Iloilo City, Philippines, 5000

Module 2: Poetry
Poetry is derived from the Greek word “poesis” meaning “making or creating”. Poetry is
a kind of language that says it more intensely than ordinary language does.
Poet- someone who sees something extraordinary even in the most common things and
who shares this perception with the reader. The poet may employ rhyme or rhythm or choose to
write in free verse. Their poem may tell a story (narrative) or express a feeling (lyric).
 Poetry is a concentrated thought.
 Poetry is a kind of word-music.
 Poetry answers our demands for music.
 Poetry is observation plus imagination.
 Poetry is as varied as the nature of man- unique in some sense along with man’s
eccentricities yet clings if appreciated or if deeply imbibed by the reader.

Some of the best definitions of poetry:

 Gemino Abad contends that “A poem is a meaningful organization of words.”
 T.S. Eliot categorized poetry as “The fusion of two poles of mind, emotion and thought.”
 Manuel Viray states that “Poetry is the union of thoughts and feelings.”
 William Wadsworth says, “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings
recorded in tranquility.”
 Edgar Allan Poe thinks, “It is the rhythmic creation of beauty.”
 Percy B. Shelly thinks, “It is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest
and best minds.”
 Jaime G. Ang posits, “Poetry is the ‘essence’ of the creative imagination of man.”

Elements of Poetry
1. Sense- is revealed through the meaning of words, images and symbols.
a. Diction- denotative and connotative meanings/symbols.
b. Images and sense impression-sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, motion, and
emotion.
c. Figures of speech- simile, metaphor, personification, apostrophe, metonymy
2. Sound- is the result of combination of elements.
a. Tone color- alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme, repetition, anaphora.
 Western Institute of Technology
College of Engineering
Luna Street, La Paz, Iloilo City, Philippines, 5000

b. Rhythm- ordered recurrent alteration of strong and weak elements in the flow
of the sound and silence: duple, triple, running or common rhyme.
c. Meter- stress, duration or number of syllables per line, fixed metrical pattern or
a verse form.
d. Rhyme scheme- formal arrangement of rhymes in stanza or the whole poem.
3. Structure- refers to arrangement of words, and lines to fit together and the organization
of parts to form a whole.
a. Word order- natural and natural arrangement of words.
b. Ellipsis- omitting some words for economy and effect.
c. Punctuation- abundance and lack of punctuation marks.
d. Shape- contextual and visual designs: jumps, omission of spaces, capitalization,
lower case.
 Western Institute of Technology
College of Engineering
Luna Street, La Paz, Iloilo City, Philippines, 5000

Lesson 1: Connotation and Denotation

Context:
Connotation and Denotation are two principal methods of describing the meanings of
words. Connotation and denotation are not two separate things/signs. They are two aspects/
elements of a sign, and the connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative
meanings
Connotation- refers to the wide array of positive and negative associations that most
words naturally carry with them
-represents the various social overtones, cultural implications, or emotional meanings
associated with a sign.
Denotation- is the precise, literal definition of a word that might be found in a dictionary
-represents the explicit or referential meaning of a sign, the literal meaning of a word,
the ‘dictionary definition.’
Example: ‘Hollywood’ connotes such things as glitz, glamour, tinsel, celebrity, and
dreams of stardom. At the same time, the name ‘Hollywood’ denotes an area of Los Angeles
known worldwide as the center of the American movie industry.
 Western Institute of Technology
College of Engineering
Luna Street, La Paz, Iloilo City, Philippines, 5000

Lesson 2. Figures of Speech

A figure of speech is a word or phrase that possesses a separate meaning from its literal
definition.

1. Alliteration- is the repetition of the beginning sounds of neighboring words.

Example: She sells seashells.
2. Anaphora- is a technique where several phrases or verses begin with the same word or
words
Example: I came, I saw, I conquered. - Julius Caesar
3. Assonance- is the repetition of vowel sounds (not just letters) in words that are close together.
The sounds don’t have to be at the beginning of the word.
Examples: A - For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore. (Poe)
E - Therefore, all seasons shall be sweet to thee. (Coleridge)
4. Hyperbole- uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect.
Examples: I’ve told you to stop a thousand times.
That must have cost a billion dollars.
5. Personification -gives human qualities to non-living things or ideas.
Examples: The flowers nodded.
The snowflakes danced.
6. Simile -a comparison between two unlike things using the words “like” or “as”
Examples: As slippery as an eel.
Like peas in a pod
7. Irony- use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. Also, a statement or
situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.
Example: “Oh, I love spending big bucks” said my dad, a notorious penny pincher.
8. Onomatopoeia- The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions
they refer to
Example: The clap of thunder went bang and scared my poor dog.
 Western Institute of Technology
College of Engineering
Luna Street, La Paz, Iloilo City, Philippines, 5000

9. Oxymoron- A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by

side
Example: silent scream, living dead
10. Paradox- statement that appears to contradict itself.
Example: “This is the beginning of the end” said Eeyore, always the pessimist.

Coverage & Types of Test:

Figures of Speech- Identification- 18
Prose vs Poetry
Elements of Poetry
Types of Poetry: Lyric or Narrative
Grammar Review- 10
Matching Type
Multiple Choice
Reading Comprehension (Poem)