INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE

2150 NGM

Course Instructor: Ms. Vijaya Vanamala

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course introduces students to the concept of literature and what qualifies a text as
literary. Students will study the basic elements of the three major genres of literature –
poetry, novel and drama. The course will equip students with knowledge of literary terms
to further their understanding of the differences between poetry, fiction and drama and
help them to appreciate the genres better.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

1. To identify different types of literary genres (poetry, fiction, drama)

2. To learn the terms associated with these genres
3. To gain knowledge of what distinguishes a piece of writing as literature
4. To identify the devices that writers use to make their writing literary

WEEKLY COURSE PLAN

Week 1: Introduction to the course -- an overview; introducing the textbook and useful
websites

Week 2: ‘What is Literature?’ and ‘What is English Literature?’ – From Anthony

Burgess, English Literature

Week 3 & 4: Literary terms in general use: allegory, flat/round characters, genre,
humours, hyperbole, imagery, connotation/denotation, irony, subjectivity/objectivity,
paradox, satire, style, symbol, theme, wit, autobiography/biography; quiz on general
literary terms

Week 5 and 6: Poetry – poetic diction, rhyme, alliteration, consonance/assonance,

simile/metaphor, personification, image, blank verse, stanza, couplet, tercet, refrain,
types of poems (lyric, ode, elegy, ballad), sonnet and its structure; worksheet on poetry

Week 7: Interm Exam

Week 8 & 9: Drama: characterization, plot, tragedy/comedy, tragi-comedy,

director/producer, miracle/mystery/morality plays, set, soliloquy; Types of plays such as
farce, melodrama, absurd drama; analyzing an extract from a play; quiz on drama

Week 10 & 11: Novel/Fiction: flashback, characterization, context, novella, picaresque,

stream of consciousness, Gothic novel, etc.

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Some useful websites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVsRc5VDKKw
(Teaches genres of literature)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc5ND82zc0U
(Teaches characters and characterization)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaYPoeMJECg
(Teaches onomatopoeia, simile, metaphor, personification)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2WvUktcyP0
(Teaches imagery)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mb6NxixRk8
(Teaches personification)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YTnxhENCDc
(Teaches Alliteration, Assonance and Consonance)

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Chapter 1. What is Literature?

Why are the sciences and arts important? This is the question asked in this chapter. Science
has given us many things to make our life comfortable. Scientists are curious people. They
ask questions about our world – what, why and how. They want to know the Truth. For
example: What are stars? Is the sun also a star? Is the earth round or flat? These are important
questions because they help us to understand our world better and also make our lives easier.
So, the value of the scientist is Truth.

Why do we need artists? What is the value of the artist? The value of the artist is Beauty.
Many philosophers say that truth and beauty are the same thing. Let’s look at an example to
understand this – sugar. If I don’t have eyes, I will taste sugar and say it is something sweet.
But if I look at it and don’t taste it, I will say that it is hard and white in colour. Both descriptions
are true, but they are not complete. When you put the two descriptions together, then we have
a clear picture of sugar. The same is true of the sciences and arts. We need both the sciences
and the arts because they complete the picture for us.

The scientist and the artist are looking for Truth and Beauty in the world. When scientists
discover something, they feel excited at having found the answer to a problem. In the same
way, when artists paint a picture, or write a poem or sing a song, it makes them happy. This is
called artistic excitement. We too feel excitement at seeing or listening to something beautiful.

Life is full of sensations of different kinds. In life, you find the good and the bad, the happy
and the sad, the beautiful and the ugly, and many other emotions and experiences. So how does
the artist work with all these differences? The artist takes different things and puts them
together. (See the picture on page 4 in your book.) Notice how the artist has created unity from
things which are very different from each other. You can also call it order. When you see all
these things put together in one picture, it creates a pattern. Unity, order and pattern are
important to any work of art. Painters do this in paintings, poets do this in poetry, musicians in
their music, etc. When we look at a picture, or hear a piece of music, or read a story, poem or
novel, it creates emotions in us. We connect to these feelings and that is when we realize that
we are part of a greater whole. We are part of something very big – the Universe. We are not
alone here; neither are our feelings or experiences.

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A student of literature should be interested in painting, music, sculpture, architecture,
film, theatre, dance. All arts try to create meaning. In doing so, they show us beauty. They
use different materials, like music uses sounds, literature uses words, painters use colours,
dancers use movements. But the goal or purpose is the same – to create beauty.

Let us now look at literature. There are two ways of using words – artistic and non-artistic.
What do we mean by this? You know that a word can have many different meanings. For
example, take the word ‘mother’. We know what it means; the dictionary defines it as a female
parent of an animal. This is what is called the lexical meaning of a word, or denotation. But
the word ‘mother’ is so much more than the dictionary meaning. It means love, comfort,
warmth, security. The word is also used to refer to one’s country – ‘motherland’. These other
meanings of ‘mother’ are called connotations. So, connotations are the associations of a word.

Take another example. The word ‘rose’ means a flower. But it has so many other meanings. A
rose is a symbol of beauty, love, friendship and youth. Literary artists use words in these special
ways and this is what makes literature special. In literature, a word can carry more than
one meaning. When you read a poem or novel or a play, those words move you. You feel the
emotion strongly. This is what we call the artistic use of words. To understand non-artistic is
very simple. What you are reading now is non-artistic. Your book or a newspaper is a non-
artistic way of writing.

Words and meanings

Science: Sensations: Denotation:

Scientists: Unity: Connotation:

Curious: Order: Associations:

Truth: Pattern:

Value: Emotions:

Artist: Artistic:

Beauty: Universe:

Arts: Literature:

Excitement: Lexical:

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MAIN POINTS OF CHAPTER 1

• Both the sciences and arts are important.

• Science tells us the Truth.
• Arts show us Beauty.
• Artists feel artistic excitement when they create something beautiful.
• Unity, order and pattern make a work of art beautiful.
• Literature uses words in artistic ways.
• Words have denotations and connotations.
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Question 1: Choose the correct answer.

1. The chapter ‘What is Literature?’ discusses:

(a) That sciences are important, not arts
(b) That arts are important, not sciences
(c) That both sciences and arts are important

2. The value that the scientist is concerned with is:

(a) Beauty (b) Truth (c) Both a and b

3. The value that the artist is concerned with is:

(a) Beauty (b) Truth (c) Both a and b

Question 2: Fill in the blanks with the right word/s.

1. When a poet writes a poem, or a painter paints a picture, the feeling of happiness that
they have can be described as ______________________.
2. When an artist takes different things and puts them together as in a painting or piece of
music, they have created ___________________.
3. Different arts use different materials to express themselves but the purpose of all art is
the same – to show or create _________________.
4. There are two ways words can be used by writers: _____________ and ____________.
5. Denotation is the ________________ meaning of the word.
6. Connotations are the _________________ of a word.

Question 3: State if the following sentences are True or False. Correct the false sentences.

1. Scientists like to ask questions. ________

2. Scientists are interested in Beauty. ________
3. There is no value in what a scientist does. ________
4. What an artist does has no value. ________
5. Some philosophers believe that Truth and Beauty are the same. _______

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 6. An artist has the ability to bring different things together in a picture to create unity,
order and pattern. ________
7. According to the writer, a student of literature should not be interested in the other arts.
________
8. Denotation is the dictionary meaning of a word. ________
9. ‘A rose is a flower.’ This sentence gives us the connotation of the word ‘rose’. ______
10. ‘A rose is a symbol of beauty, youth and love.’ This sentence gives us the denotation of
the word ‘rose’. _______

Question 4. Answer all the questions.

1. What is the value in sciences?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

2. Why do scientists ask questions?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

3. What is the value in arts?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

4. What is meant by artistic excitement?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

5. How does an artist make a picture, poem, or a piece of music reflect Beauty?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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6. What are the two ways of using words?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

7. What is meant by denotation? Explain with an example.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

8. What is meant by connotation? Explain with an example.

___________________________________________________________________________
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Chapter 2. What is English Literature?

English literature is literature written in English. It is not just the literature of England or Britain
but it is a big body of work made up of writers who use the English language as a medium of
communication. English literature is an art that uses the English language to produce beautiful
pieces of literature. A writer can be Chinese, Indian or African but if they are writing in English,
then they are part of English literature.

You see both history and geography get reflected in English literature. What do we mean by
this? By history, we mean the actions of the people and what they did. Their actions had certain
effects which would definitely change their life and the lives of those living in England. By
geography, we mean the way a country looks – its waters, scenery, animals and birds, climate,
villages and towns, and such things. All this is reflected in the literature of the English people.

England is a small island; it is surrounded by stormy seas. The weather can be very cold. It has
four seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter. There are festivals and food connected
with each of these seasons. Reading English literature gives you a taste of all these things.

When you talk of literature, you have to look at language. Remember that all languages keep
developing. They change and sometimes the change is so big that people living in the present
cannot understand their own language the way it was spoken in the past. The same is the case
with English language. English has been spoken for fifteen hundred years but the English that
was spoken in 1000 AD cannot be understood by the English people living in the present times.
In fact, it is like a foreign language to them. What we need to understand is that languages go
through certain changes or ‘historical phases’. This is the reason why English has been divided
into 3 phases – Old English, Middle English, and Modern English.

Old English is like a foreign language. It has to be learnt with grammar books and dictionaries.
If you want to read the literature written in that time, then you have to learn Old English first.
Between Old English and Modern English, there is what is called Middle English. To explain
it simply, Middle English is the time when English began to sound like the English we speak
today. Some Middle English writing can be read and understood, but not all. It is also
sometimes as ‘foreign’ as Old English. The reason for this is the way the first speakers of
English settled in different parts of England. They developed their own special way of speaking
the language. For example, the people living in Kent spoke differently from those living in

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Lancashire or those living in Northumberland. It is the same language but with some
differences. We call these dialects.

So out of all these dialects, there is one dialect that gets more importance than the others. This
is the one that is spoken in the capital city, in the royal court of the king or queen, and in the
schools, colleges and universities. Standard English (also called the King’s or Queen’s
English) is the dialect that gets importance in England. Your book is written in Standard
English and that is why we can understand it.

In the Middle English phase, all dialects got the same importance and they all had their own
literature. But by about 1400 AD, literature in English becomes the history of literature written
in one dialect. And this is what we will study.

Words and meanings

Communication: Autumn:

History: Winter:

Geography: Phases:

Spring: Foreign:

Summer: Dialects:

MAIN POINTS OF CHAPTER 2

• Literature written in English is regarded as English literature.

• Literature written by the people of England shows the culture of their country.
• English language has gone through 3 phases – Old, Middle, and Modern
• English language has many dialects.
• Standard English is the dialect that gets the most importance in England.

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Question 1: State whether the following are True or False. Correct the false sentences.

1. English literature refers to writing written in English. _______

2. England is a large country. _______

3. Languages don’t develop or change; they stay the same. _______

4. The English that was spoken more than 1000 years ago can be easily understood by
the people of England today. _______

5. English was spoken differently by people living in different parts of England. ______

6. The different ways in which a language is spoken is referred to as the dialects of a

language. ________

Question 2: Complete the sentences with the correct word/s.

1. The literature of any country reflects the history and ______________ of that country.

2. The changes that a language goes through can be called ___________________.

3. There are three phases in the development of the English language: ______________,
______________, and _________________.

4. The dialect that gets importance in England is called ____________________.

5. Standard English is also referred to as ______________ or ___________ English.

Question 3. Answer the following questions in brief.

1. Mention the three historical phases in the development of the English language.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

2. How were Old English and Middle English different from each other?

___________________________________________________________________________
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3. What is meant by the word ‘dialect’? Which dialect of English gets more importance now
in England?

___________________________________________________________________________
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Chapter 3. Literary Terms in General Use

(1) Allegory: A story or narrative that carries a second meaning. For example, the novel Animal
Farm seems to be a story about animals, but actually it is a story about the rise of the Russian
dictator Stalin.

(2) Ambiguity: A technique by which an author suggests different layers of meaning. This is
a way of making a work of literature interesting.

(3) Anachronism: It is an inaccurate historical event. For example, when Shakespeare uses
the idea of a chiming clock in the play Julius Ceasar. The play is set in Roman times and
mechanical clocks had not been invented then.

(4) Autobiography: A personal account of a person’s life

(5) Biography: An account of someone’s life

(6) Burlesque: It is a type of writing style that makes fun of a serious subject in a way that
makes the reader laugh.

(7) Cliché: A phrase or an idea that has been used so often that it has lost its original appeal.
For example, the idea that a woman’s place is in the home is a cliché now.

(8) Genre: The word ‘genre’ has been borrowed from French. It refers to the category to which
a work of art belongs. For example, poetry, drama, novel are all genres of literature.

(9) Imagery: Imagery is descriptive language. It refers to more than one image used in a poem,
novel or drama. They are word pictures and they appeal to all the five senses (eyes, ears, nose,
taste and touch). For example:
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night

(10) Irony: Irony is a word or phrase that says one thing and means another. Irony can be
verbal or dramatic. Verbal irony occurs when a character says something that is the exact
opposite of what he/she means. Dramatic irony occurs when a character on stage says
something which the audience know is not true.

(11) Objectivity: It is an impersonal style of writing where the author presents a balanced view
rather than their own personal feelings and thoughts.

(12) Paradox: A paradox seems to be a contradictory idea but on close examination is found
to be true.

(13) Parody: Parody mocks a book or any work of art. For example, Henry Fielding’s novel
Shamela is a parody of the novel Pamela by Samuel Richardson.

(14) Personification: It refers to giving human qualities to abstract ideas and non-humans.

(15) Realism: Realism is an attempt to show life as it is. This is a technique that was used in
18th and 19th century novels.

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(16) Satire: It makes fun of human folly and vice. It is light and amusing but it can also be
very hard-hitting.

(17) Subjectivity: It is a style of writing that focuses on the author’s personal response. The
“I” is important in a subjective response.

(18) Symbol: A symbol is something that stands for something else. Symbols convey many
different meanings and messages. An example of a symbol is the white whale in the novel
Moby Dick.

(19) Theme: It is the central idea or ideas examined by the writer in a novel, play or any piece
of writing.

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Quiz on Literary Terms in General Use.

Question 1. Match the term with its meaning.

(1) Anachronism ___ a style of writing that makes fun of a serious subject
(2) Objectivity ___ it refers to giving human qualities to animals or things
(3) Cliché ___ a category to which a work of art belongs
(4) Genre ___ it makes fun of human folly and vice
(5) Burlesque ___ a style of writing that shows life as it is
(6) Personification ___ an overused phrase or idea that has lost its originality
(7) Satire ___ an impersonal style of writing which presents a balanced view
(8) Realism ___ an inaccurate historical event

Question 2. Fill in the blanks with the correct word.

1. A character who is predictable and does not surprise the reader is called a _________
character.
2. There are two types of irony: __________ and __________.
3. A story or narrative which carries a second meaning is called an __________.
4. A __________ compares two things using words “like” and “as”.
5. __________ is a series of word pictures that appeal to the five senses.
6. Writers use _____________ to suggest many different layers of meaning.
7. Henry Fielding’s novel Shamela is a ____________ of the novel Pamela by Samuel
Richardson.

Question 3. Mark these sentences as simile or metaphor.

1. John is as strong as a lion. __________

2. The snow is a white blanket. _________
3. Anna is beautiful like a rose. _________
4. I am busy as a bee today. ________
5. He ran as fast as a cheetah. ________
6. The house was a zoo. __________

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Chapter 4. Poetry

Parts of a poem

The Eagle

By Alfred Tennyson

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Questions:

1. What is the title of the poem? __________________________________

2. Who is the poet? ____________________________________________

3. How many stanzas does it have? ________________________________

4. Write the rhyme scheme of the poem. ___________________________

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POETIC TERMS

1. Simile/Metaphor: Both simile and metaphor are comparisons. They compare two things.
A simile uses ‘like’ and ‘as’ to make the comparison while a metaphor doesn’t. For example,
the sentence “she is as beautiful as a rose” is an example of a simile. But the sentence “she is
a rose” is an example of a metaphor.

2. Alliteration: A close repetition of consonant sounds. For example: From the field of his
fame fresh and gory

3. Assonance: A close repetition of vowel sounds.

4. Ballad: A ballad is a narrative poem which has to be sung. The story is often simple, and is
about heroic or tragic events. A good example of a ballad is ‘The Nut Brown Maid’.

5. Conceit: A conceit is a surprising comparison between two dissimilar things. For example,
in the poem ‘The Flea’, the poet John Donne compares the lover and the beloved to a flea
because it has sucked the blood of both.

6. Couplet: A couplet is a pair of rhyming lines of the same length. For example:

Tyger, Tyger burning bright.

In the forest of the night;

7. Diction: The special words/vocabulary that a writer uses to make their writing interesting.

8. Elegy: An elegy is a kind of poem that mourns the death of a person.

9. Epic: It is a long narrative poem with a hero at the centre of it and the poem narrates his
adventures. The poet Homer’s Ilaid is an example of an epic poem.

10. Lyric: It is a song performed to the music of a lyre, but now it means any poem that can
be put to music.

11. Rhyme: It is the use of words with similar sounds, usually at the end of the lines of
poetry.

12. Stanza: A group of lines forming a unit in a poem.

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The SONNET

A sonnet is a 14-line poem.

The word ‘sonnet’ comes from the Italian word ‘sonetto’, meaning ‘a little sound or song’.

Love, beauty and romance are usually the themes found in sonnets.

William Shakespeare wrote many sonnets in the English language.

The Shakespearean sonnet has three quatrains (4 lines that rhyme alternately) and a couplet
(2 rhyming lines).

The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg.

Complete the sentences:

1. A sonnet has _________ lines.

2. The word ‘sonnet’ comes from the Italian word ____________.
3. ‘Sonetto’ means _____________________.
4. The English poet who wrote many sonnets is ________________________.
5. A group of 4 lines with alternate rhyme is called a ______________ and two rhyming
lines are called a ______________.

Label the following parts of a Shakespearean sonnet.

Sonnet XVIII (18)

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thee: you

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Thou: you; temperate: moderate
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, Darling buds of May: flowers
And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Lease: time
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, Eye of heaven: sun
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; Dimm’d: having no light
And every fair from fair sometime declines, Fair: beautiful or beauty
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade Thy: your; Eternal: forever
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

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Summary of Sonnet XVIII

In this sonnet, the lover is giving reasons why he cannot compare the beauty of his beloved to
a summer’s day.

The first quatrain begins with the poet praising the beauty of the beloved. He asks the question
if he should compare her beauty to a summer’s day. In the second line itself he says that she is
much more beautiful than a summer’s day. In line 3, he says that the winds in summer can be
rough or harsh and can destroy the beautiful flowers of May. Moreover, summer doesn’t last
for a long time; its time is short.

In the second quatrain the poet says that the “eye of heaven” (meaning the sun) can be very
hot, or sometimes the light of the sun can become very dim. He also says that anything or
anyone that is beautiful will surely lose their beauty due to chance or nature. It is natural for
beauty to decline with time.

In the third quatrain the poet says that the beauty of the beloved will never be lost. He calls her
beauty “eternal summer”. Even Death will not be able to destroy her because she will live in
his lines of poetry.

The sonnet ends with a couplet where the poet says that as long as human beings can breathe
and have eyes to see, his sonnet will continue to live and will give life to the beloved. In other
words, the poet wants to make his beloved immortal through his sonnet.

Questions:

1. What does the poet want to compare the beloved to?

___________________________________________________________________________

2. Does he compare her to a summer’s day?

___________________________________________________________________________

3. What 4 reasons does he give for not comparing her to a summer’s day?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

4. How will the poet make his beloved immortal?

___________________________________________________________________________

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I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
by William Wordsworth

Words and meanings:

I wandered lonely as a cloud Stanza 1
That floats on high o'er vales and hills, Wandered: to walk around
Lonely: alone
When all at once I saw a crowd,
Vales: valleys
A host, of golden daffodils; Host: crowd
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Daffodils: a yellow flower
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Breeze: wind

Continuous as the stars that shine Stanza 2

Milky way: sky
And twinkle on the milky way,
Bay: a pool of water
They stretched in never-ending line Glance: look
Along the margin of a bay: Sprightly: cheerful and happy
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Stanza 3
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: Sparkling: shining
A poet could not but be gay, Glee: joy and happiness
In such a jocund company: Gay: happy
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought Jocund: cheerful and happy
What wealth the show to me had brought: Gazed: to look
Wealth: riches
For oft, when on my couch I lie Stanza 4
In vacant or in pensive mood, Lie: to rest or relax
They flash upon that inward eye Vacant: free
Which is the bliss of solitude; Pensive: sad and thoughtful
And then my heart with pleasure fills, Solitude: being alone
Pleasure: happiness
And dances with the daffodils.

Answer the following questions on the above poem.

Stanza 1

1. Who does the poet compare himself to in the first stanza?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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2. What did he see all of a sudden?

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3. What colour were the daffodils?

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4. Where were they growing?

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Stanza 2

5. What does the poet compare the daffodils to?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

6. How many daffodils did the poet see in one glance?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Stanza 3

7. Who else was dancing with the daffodils?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

8. Whose dance was better?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

9. Did the poet understand then what riches the daffodils had given him?

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Stanza 4

10. What does the poet say in the last stanza?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

11. Write the rhyme scheme of all the 4 stanzas.

___________________________________________________________________________

Summary of the poem

The poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud” is a poem about the beauty of nature. It was written
by the poet William Wordsworth in the year 1802. The poem is about his feelings of happiness
when he sees thousands and thousands of the beautiful golden daffodils growing under the trees
and by the side of a lake.

In the first stanza, the poet says that one day he was wandering all alone. He compares himself
to a lonely cloud that floats over valleys and hills. All of a sudden, he came upon a crowd of
golden daffodils. These beautiful flowers were growing by the side of the lake and under the
trees. There was a wind blowing and the flowers were dancing in that wind.

In the second stanza, the poet compares the daffodils to the stars in the sky. He says that there
were as many daffodils as there are stars. He says that he saw ten thousand of them in one look.
In the third stanza, the poet says that the waves in the lake were also dancing with the
daffodils but the dance of the daffodils was more beautiful to see. He says that any poet would
be very happy to be in the company of these beautiful dancing flowers. He says that at that
time he didn’t think how important this scene would be for him in the years to come.

In the fourth stanza, the poet says that whenever he is sad or in a thoughtful mood, the
daffodils suddenly flash into his mind. He remembers that beautiful scene and suddenly all his
sadness disappears and his heart fills with happiness and dances with the daffodils.

This poem teaches us that in the company of nature, no one can feel lonely or depressed. Nature
is the greatest gift or blessing to mankind. It has the power to heal us and make us lively again.

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Chapter 5. DRAMA

Definitions

1. Drama: Drama is a type of literature that is written to be acted in front of an audience.

2. Playwright: A playwright is a person who writes a play.

3. Audience: The people who come to watch a play or a film.

4. Set: The background against which a play is acted. Another name for the set is location.

5. Soliloquy: A long speech in which a character is alone on the stage and is expressing his/her
thoughts out loud. Another word for soliloquy is monologue.

6. Plot: A play’s plot is its story. Plot is a series of events that happen and how these events are
related to each other. Some plays have a sub-plot. It gives variety and change of scene from
the main plot.

7. Comedy: Comedy is a play with a happy ending. Comedy comes from the Greek word
‘komos’, which means a ‘revel’ or a kind of country party in honour of the Greek god Dionysus.
He was the god of vegetation and also the god of wine.

8. Tragedy: Tragedy is a play which has an unhappy ending. A tragedy ends in death. The word
‘tragedy’ comes from the Greek word for a goat – ‘tragos’.

9. Tragi-comedy: A play that is a mix of tragedy and comedy, where the characters do not die
but come very close to death.

10. Director/Producer: The director of a play is responsible for the artistic content and to guide
the actors. The producer finances (gives money) the play or film.

11. Melodrama: Melodrama is a negative term for a play or film that is highly emotional and
full of excitement. It has very little characterization.

12. Miracle Plays/Mystery Plays: These plays were based on stories and scenes from the Bible.
They were performed from a wagon and it was easy for the drama company to move from one
place to another.

13. Morality Plays: Morality plays were stories that taught a moral lesson to the audience. For
example, the play Everyman is a morality play.

14. Characterization: A playwright characterizes by means of actions and words. An important

way of characterizing in a play is through a soliloquy or a monologue. The character is alone
on the stage and speaks aloud to the audience. This gives the audience an idea of what the
character is thinking and feeling. Another way to characterize is through imagery. For
example, if a person’s speech is full of words relating to death, disease or illness, we know
what his state of mind is like.
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QUIZ ON DRAMA

Question 1. State whether the following are True or False.

1. Miracle/mystery plays were based on the stories of the Bible. ____

2. To describe a play as “melodrama” is positive. ____
3. The director of a play/film is responsible for financing it while the producer is responsible
for the artistic content. _____
4. The word “tragedy” comes from the Roman word “tragos”. _____
5. Another word for the set of a play is location. _____
6. There can be more than one plot in a play. _____

Question 2. Fill in the blanks with the correct word.

1. The word “comedy” comes from the Greek word ____________.

2. A long speech in which a character is expressing their thoughts aloud is called a ________.
3. An example of a morality play is ____________.
4. A soliloquy is also known as _______________.
5. A play that is a mix of comedy and tragedy is called ___________.
6. The two ways in which a playwright characterizes are: __________ and ___________.

Question 3. Identify the following items in these two sample playscripts: Character (1),
stage direction (2), setting (3), dialogue (4).

ACT IV

The Wimpole Street laboratory. Midnight. Nobody in the room. The clock on the mantelpiece
strikes twelve. The fire is not alight: it is a summer night.

Presently Higgins and Pickering are heard on the stairs.

HIGGINS: [calling down to Pickering] I say, Pick: lock up, will you. I shan’t be going out
again.

PICKERING: Right. Can Mrs. Pearce go to bed? We don’t want anything more, do we?

HIGGINS: Lord, no!

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 ACT I
TIME: The present.
SCENE: A well-furnished reception-room in MRS. POPOV'S home. MRS. POPOV is
discovered in deep mourning, sitting upon a sofa, gazing steadfastly at a
photograph. LUKA is also present.

MRS. POPOV. [Excitedly.] Good. Show him in. The impudent——!

[LUKA goes out, centre.
MRS. POPOV. What a bore people are! What can they want with me? Why do they
disturb my peace? [She sighs.] Yes, it is clear I must enter a convent. [Meditatively.]
Yes, a convent.
[SMIRNOV enters, followed by LUKA.
SMIRNOV. [To LUKA.] Fool, you make too much noise! You're an ass!
[Discovering MRS. POPOV—politely.] Madam, I have the honor to introduce myself:
Lieutenant in the Artillery, retired, country gentleman, Grigori Stepanovitch
Smirnov! I'm compelled to bother you about an exceedingly important matter.
MRS. POPOV. [Without offering her hand.] What is it you wish?

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Chapter 6. NOVEL

Some facts about the English novel:

1. A novel is a long work of prose fiction (a story).

2. Its special features are: story, plot, narrator, characters, action, and dialogue.
3. The English novel started in the 18th century.
4. Daniel Defoe is regarded as England’s first novelist.
5. Some other important early novelists were: Jonathan Swift, Samuel Richardson, and Henry
Fielding.

Some reasons for the novel to be popular in the 18th Century:

1. A novel is read on a one-to-one basis.

2. Printing technology was available.
3. There were people ready to buy a novel and read.
4. People were becoming literate.
5. Theatre and drama had become unpopular.

Literary terms connected to Fiction/Novel

1. Characterization: Novelists of the 18th century characterized by describing the external

features (how the character looks, what he says or does). Towards the end of the 19th century,
novelists focused on what was going on in the head (psychology) of the character.

2. Flat and round characters: A flat character is predictable and will behave or talk in the
same manner. They are used for comic effect sometimes. Round characters are complex; they
are used for more serious effect in a play or novel. Charles Dickens’ novels show perfect
examples of such characters.

3. Flashback: A technique the author uses to take readers back in time

4. Gothic novel: Popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These novels were sensational,
supernatural thrillers set in castles and monasteries. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
is an example of a Gothic novel.

5. Novella: It is a work of prose fiction between a short story and a full novel.

6. Picaresque: In Spanish, the word “picaro” means a rogue or villain. A picaresque novel has
a rogue as its main character. He is low-born. He goes through a series of adventures. Details
of low life are common in this type of novel. Henry Fielding’s novel Tom Jones is an example
of a picaresque novel.

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7. Narrator: A narrator is the person who tells the story in a novel. There are two types of
narrator:

(a) First Person narrator: A simple technique of narration is the use of the First-Person narrator
(I). But the problem with this technique is that the readers get a limited viewpoint – the worm’s
eye-view.

(b) Omniscient (all seeing) narrator: This is when the novel’s story is told in the third person
(he/she). This narrator can see everything, knows everything about the characters in the novel.
The omniscient narrator is not limited to one viewpoint – the reader gets a bird’s eye view of
the story.

Examples of 2 novels and their narrators

(a) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The narrator is Nellie Dean, who is the practical and down-to-earth servant of the Earnshaw
family. She is the one telling the story to Lockwood, a young city man who has come to
Yorkshire for a holiday and has rented the house from Heathcliff.

(b) Bleak House by Charles Dickens

In this novel, the novelist uses a special narrative technique of having two narrators. One
is Esther Summerson, who is a young girl and is part of the story. The other is the omniscient
narrator.

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For Internal Assessment (20 Marks)

QUIZ 1

Question 1. Mark the statements as True or False. Correct the sentences that
are false.

1. The novel Animal Farm is an example of allegory. ______

2. The first-person narrator in a novel is also called the ‘I’. ____
3. The novel Wuthering Heights was written by Charles Dickens. _____
4. The word ‘genre’ has been borrowed from German language. ______
5. In the novel Bleak House, the author Charles Dickens makes use of two
narrators. ______
6. Picaresque is a type of play. ______
7. In a novel or play, round characters are used for comic effect and flat characters
are used for more serious purposes. _____
8. Realism is a technique used by 18th and 19th century novelists to show life as it
really is. _____
9. The poet Homer’s Ilaid is an example of an epic poem. ______
10. A personal account of a person’s life is called a biography. _____
11. The sentence: “He is a lion” is an example of a simile. _____
12. The omniscient narrator is also called the third-person narrator. _____
13. One reason why the novel became so popular in the 18th century was because
printing technology was available. ______
14. The novel Animal Farm is actually the story of the rise of the Russian dictator
Stalin. _______
15. The following line of poetry is an example of alliteration: /From forth the
fatal loins of these two foes. ______

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Question 2. Fill in the blanks with the correct answer.

1. A pair of rhyming lines of the same length is called a __________

2. A phrase or an idea that has been used so often that it has lost its original appeal
is called a _________.

3. A surprising comparison between two dissimilar things is called a _________.

4. The name of the narrator in the novel Wuthering Heights is __________.

5. __________ refers to a close repetition of vowel sounds.

6. A comparison that uses the words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’ is called __________.

7. Verbal irony occurs when a character says something that is the exact opposite
of what he/she means. On the other hand, __________________ occurs when a
character on stage says something that the audience know is not true.

8. In the novel Bleak House, the two narrators are Esther Summerson and the
________________ narrator.

9. Word pictures that appeal to all the five senses are called ___________.

10. England’s first novelist was ________________.

11. A narrative poem which has to be sung is called a __________.

12. The word ‘sonnet’ comes from the Italian word _________.

13. The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is: __________

14. An impersonal style of writing is called ______________ , while a writing

style that focuses on the author’s personal response is called _______________.

15. Giving human qualities to abstract ideas and non-humans is called ________.

16. A group of four alternate rhyming lines (abab) is called a ____________.

29
17. The central idea examined by the writer in a novel or poem is called _______.

18. ___________ is a work of prose fiction between a short story and a full novel.

19. A ______________ is a statement that seems contradictory but on close

examination is found to be true.
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30
ASSIGNMENT 1

Question 1. Read the sentence and circle the correct answer.

1. The house was a zoo. (simile / metaphor)

2. I am busy as a bee today. (simile / metaphor)
3. “Hear the mellow wedding bells / Golden bells!” (assonance / alliteration)
4. “Welling water’s winsome word” (assonance / alliteration)

Question 2. Match the following in A with the items in B.

(a) Ambiguity ____ an inaccurate historical event

(b) Diction ____ the category to which a work of art belongs
(c) Biography ____ makes fun of human folly and vice and it is hard-hitting
(d) Elegy ____ a story with a second meaning
(e) Lyric ____ a long work of prose fiction
(f) Flashback ____ a poem that mourns the death of a person
(g) Burlesque ____ special words that a writer uses to make a work of art interesting
(h) Genre ____ a song performed to the music of a lyre
(i) Allegory ____ an example is the novel Shamela
(j) Satire ____ a technique used to suggest different layers of meaning
(k) Novel ____ an example is the novel The Castle of Otranto
(l) Parody ____ an example is the novel Tom Jones
(m) Anachronism ____ a style that makes fun of a serious subject
(n) Gothic novel ____ an account of someone’s life
(o) Picaresque ____ words with similar sounds at the end of lines of poetry
(p) Rhyme ____ a technique the writer uses to take the readers back in time

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Question 3. Answer the questions that follow the poem.

Cross
Langston Hughes

My old man’s a white old man

And my old mother’s black.
If ever I cursed my white old man
I take my curses back.

If ever I cursed my black old mother

And wished she were in hell,
I’m sorry for that evil wish
And now I wish her well.

My old man died in a fine big house.

My ma died in a shack.
I wonder where I’m gonna die,
Being neither white nor black?

Questions:

1. What is the title of the poem? __________________________________

2. Who is the poet? ____________________________________________
3. How many stanzas does it have? ________________________________
4. Write the rhyme scheme of the first stanza. ______________________

Question 4. Label the following parts of a Shakespearean sonnet.

Sonnet II

When forty winters shall besiege thy brow,

And dig deep trenches in thy beauty’s field,
Thy youth’s proud livery, so gazed on now,
Will be a tatter’d weed, of small worth held:
Then being ask’d where all thy beauty lies,
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days,
To say, within thine own deep-sunken eyes,
Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise.
How much more praise deserved thy beauty’s use,
If thou couldst answer ‘This fair child of mine
Shall sum my count and make my old excuse,’
Proving his beauty by succession thine!
This were to be new made when thou art old,
And see thy blood warm when thou feel’st it cold.

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