Major Genre in Literature

EPIC / FICTION POETRY DRAMA

 • The English novel appeared in 18th century
in England.
• According to Ian Watt, the novel appeared
as a reaction against the romance.
• According to Mikhail Bakhtin, the novel
appeared as a reaction against the epic
Fiction • The precursors of the novel, its ancestors;
- Epic and Romance.
• Novel, novella, and short story.
• The short story has been influenced by The
Arabian Nights, Boccaccio’s The Decameron ,
and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
 Epic and Romance
• Epic:
- The majority of traditional epics revolve
around a hero who has to fulfill a number
of tasks of national significance.
- Examples: Homer’s Odyssey and Edmund
Spenser’s The Faerie Queene.
- Epics are usually written in verse
• Romance:
- An extended fictional prose narrative about
improbable events involving characters that
are quite different from ordinary people.
Knights on a quest for a magic sword and
aided by fairies and trolls. The setting is
usually a remote place in a distant time.
- Examples: Miguel De Cervantes’ Dox Quixote,
Apuleius’ Golden Ass, and Le Morte d’Arthur
by Thomas Malory.
- Usually written in prose but some are written
in verse such as Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight
 Plot is independent of mythology,
history, legends and focus on the
.present time and the individual

Some of the
Novel Unique Characters: are realistic. Characters
should have psychological depth.
Qualities Characterization. Characters should
be detailed as their environment
According to
Ian Watt
Characters should have full real
names instead of historical names
.or type names
 Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Molly •
The First Flanders (Autobiographical / Picaresque
novels )
English Samuel Richardson’s Pamela Andrews •
Novels (Epistolary novel)
Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones ( Realist novel) •
accordin Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (Satirical
novel )
•

g to the Laurence Strene’s Tristram Shandy (

Experimental novel )
•

Canon
 Picaresque

Bildungsroman

Epistolary
Subgenres Historical
(types) of the
Satirical
novel
Gothic

Detective

Science fiction
 Plot

Characterization
Elements
of Fiction Narrative perspective or point of
view

Setting
 Plot
Linear narrative •
.Non-linear narrative •
 Characterization •
Flat character •
Round Character •
Typified character •

Modes of presentation •

Characterization and Telling: explanatory •

usually narrating the
Modes of presentation events as they are
.observed

Showing: Dramatic. •
Usually contain
monologue and/or
dialogue
 st
Points of View, 1 / 2
• “Darl Jewel and I come up from the
field, following the path in single file.
Although I am fifteen feet ahead of
him, anyone watching us from the
cottonhouse can see Jewel’s frayed
and broken straw hat a full head
above my own.” William Faulkner’s
As I Lay Dying
nd
• “While standing in his parents
kitchen, you tell your boyfriend
you’re leaving. You’re not going to
college. You’re not buying into the
schedules, the credits, or the points.
No standardized success for you.”
Heather McElhatton’s Pretty Little
Mistakes.
 rd
Points of View, 3 / 1
• “Thomas Gradgrind, sir. A man of
realities. A man of facts and
calculations. A man who proceeds
upon the principle that two and two
are four, and nothing over, and who
is not to be talked into allowing for
anything over.” Charles Dickens’ Hard
Times
st
• “True! --nervous --very, very dreadfully
nervous I had been and am; but why will
you say that I am mad? The disease had
sharpened my senses --not destroyed --
not dulled them. Above all was the
sense of hearing acute. I heard all things
in the heaven and in the earth. I heard
many things in hell. How, then, am I
mad? Hearken! and observe how
healthily --how calmly I can tell you the
whole story.” Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-
Tale Heart
Points of View
• First, second, and third person narrators. ( I,
You, He/She)
• The first-person narration is done by the
protagonist or a minor character.
• Omniscient and limited point of view.
• Figurative narrative situation. The narrator
does not interfere in the fictional world as
he offers no commentary on the scenes.
Similar to dramatized mode of presentation
• Reliable and unreliable narrators
• Intrusive narrators
• Novelists of the 19 th century generally speaking
use third person omniscient narrator such as
Charles Dickens.
• Modernist Novelist usually use first person
limited or third person unreliable narrators.
• Modernist like to play with narrative
perspective such as Ian McEwan’s Atonement
and Margert Atwood’s The Edible Woman
 Setting
• Historical period, location,
and social surrounding of
the book’s birth.
• Location, place, building,
Surrounding, weather, time,
paths.
• The protagonist in the Kate Chopin’s “Story of an
Hour” looking out of the window.
• Historical background of Hard Times, mainly the
industrial revolution ( 1760 /1820 and 1840).
• A novel set in a place torn out by war such as
When We Were Orphans by Ishiguro. The novel
is set in Shanghai during the Sino-Japanese war
starting 1937
The Story of an
Hour by Kate
Chopin
• Symbolism
• Examples of symbols in the story are the
following:
• Springtime (Paragraph 5): The new,
exciting life that Mrs. Mallard thinks is
awaiting her.
• Patches of Blue Sky (Paragraph 6):
Emergence of her new life.
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin,
Figures of Speech
1. The sounds, the scents (Paragraph 9): Alliteration
1. Revealed in half-concealing (Paragraph 2): Paradox 2. Thing that was approaching to possess her (Paragraph
10): Metaphor/Personification
2. Storm of grief (Paragraph 3): Metaphor
3. Monstrous joy (Paragraph 12): Oxymoron
3. Physical exhaustion that haunted her body (Paragraph
4): Metaphor/Personification 4. She carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of
Victory (Paragraph 20): Simile
4. Breath of rain (Paragraph 5): Metaphor
5. Joy that kills (Paragraph 23): Paradox. The phrase is also
5. Song which someone was singing (Paragraph 5): ironic, since the doctors mistakenly believe that Mrs.
Alliteration Mallard was happy to see her husband
6. Clouds that had met (Paragraph 6): Personification
 Literary terms
1. Antagonist:
the main character in a work of fiction who comes into conflict with the protagonist (hero
or heroine). Note that the antagonist does not always have to be a character; it could be a
thing or a situation (a monster, a storm, a flood, etc.).
Example: Bob Ewell, in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, is a malevolent antagonist.
2. Protagonist:
the principal or main character in a literary work.
Example: Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
3. Figurative Language:
language that does not mean exactly what it states but instead requires the reader to make
his or her own association from the comparison.
Examples: hyperbole, understatement, analogy, personification, onomatopoeia, simile,
metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, and many others.
 …
• Simile:
a comparison of two different things using the words like or as.
Example: His eyes were like blazing coals.
• Metaphor:
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of
another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in "drowning in debt").
Examples:
He is the apple of my eye . In this example, there is, of course, no real apple in a person's eye. The "apple" here is
referring to someone beloved and held dear.
With a wooden face, he watched the car approach . His face wasn't really made of wood, but the metaphor
communicates that he had a still, stoic expression.
• Hyperbole:
a figure of speech that describes something as better or worse than it actually is by way of extreme exaggeration.
Example: She is as thin as a toothpick; I was so hungry, I could have eaten a horse!
 …
• Imagery:
the images collected and used in a written work to add to the ambiance; language used by a writer that causes readers to imagine pictures
in their minds, which gives them a mental image of the people, places, and things in a story.
Example: He could never escape from the iron grip of desire.
• Metonymy:
a figure of speech in which a word is replaced by something that is associated with it; it may provide a common meaning for that word.
Examples:
Crown – in place of a royal person.
We must wait to hear from the crown until we make any further decisions.
Ears – for giving attention ("Lend me your ears!" from Mark Antony in Julius Caesar).
• Motif:
the reoccurring aspect (object, issue) in a story; can also be two binary elements in a piece of writing (e.g., bad versus good). A recurring
salient thematic element, especially a dominant idea or central theme.
• Onomatopoeia:
words that imitate, sound like, or evoke their own meaning; the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated
with it (such as buzz or hiss).
Example: Words related to the voice. Sounds that come from the back of the throat tend to start with a gr- sound, whereas sounds that
come out of the mouth through the lips, tongue, and teeth begin with mu-.
Giggle / buzz / grunt
 …
1. Personification:
• attributing human characteristics to something that is not human (a thing, an
animal, or an abstraction).
• Example: Lightning danced across the sky; the flower begged to be watered.
1. Symbol:
• Image source: Julia Revitt/StockSnap.io
• something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship,
association, convention, or accidental resemblance, especially a visible sign of
something invisible; an object or act representing something in the unconscious
mind that has been repressed.
• Example: Birds are often used as symbols of freedom
 …
1. Definition of Hyperbole
• Hyperbole, derived from a Greek word meaning “over-casting,” is a figure of
speech that involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis.
Common Examples of Hyperbole
• My grandmother is as old as the hills.
• Your suitcase weighs a ton!
2. Definition of Oxymoron
• Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create
an effect. The common oxymoron phrase is a combination of an adjective
proceeded by a noun with contrasting meanings, such as “cruel kindness,” or
“living death”.
• A damned saint, an honorable villain!
 …
1. Paradox Definition
• The term paradox is from the Greek word paradoxon, which means
“contrary to expectations, existing belief, or perceived opinion.”
• It is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly, but which
may include a latent truth. It is also used to illustrate an opinion or
statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas. A paradox is often used
to make a reader think over an idea in innovative way.
• Example #2: Hamlet (By William Shakespeare)
• In William Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet, the protagonist Hamlet says:
• “I must be cruel to be kind.”
 …
1. Verbal Irony
• Verbal irony takes place when the speaker says something in sharp
contrast to his or her actual meaning. The speaker often makes a
statement that seems very direct, yet indicates that the opposite is in
fact true, or what the speaker really means. Looking at Alanis
Morrissette’s “Ironic” again, the one true instance of irony comes
when the man whose plane is going down says, “Well, isn’t this nice.”
Clearly, the plane crash is anything but nice, and thus this utterance
conveys the opposite of the man’s true feelings.
 …
1. Dramatic Irony:
• dramatic irony, which often shows itself as some type of
miscommunication, occurs when the reader becomes aware of something
important of which the characters in the story are not aware.
2. Situational Irony
• Situational irony consists of a situation in which the outcome is very
different from what was expected. There are contradictions and contrasts
present in cases of situational irony. For example, in The Wonderful Wizard
of Oz, the citizens of the Emerald City assume that Oz is great and all-
powerful, yet the man behind the curtain is revealed to be an old man with
no special powers.