LITERATURE above and beyond the plane of

extraordinary life and experiences.

What is literature?
- Literature comes from Latin “Litera”
SPIRITUAL VALUE – Literature elevates
which literally means
the spirit and the soul and thus has the
“acquaintance with letters”
power to motivate and inspire, drawn from
In definition
the suggested morals or lessons of the
- It is a body of work, either written,
different literature genres.
oral or visual containing imaginative
language that realistically portrays
PEMANENCE – Literature endures across
thought, emotions, and experiences
time and draws out the time factor
of the human conditions.
STYLE – Literature present peculiar ways
Literature according to authors
on how man sees life as evidenced by the
EZRA POUND
formation of his ideas, forms, structures,
- Great literature is simply language
and expression which are marked by their
changed with meaning to the
memorable substances.
possible degree
HENRY JAMES
LITERATURE CRITICISM
- It takes a great deal of history to
- It is the study, analysis, and
produce a little literature
evaluation of imaginative literature.
LEWIS
- The study of literature is an
- Literature adds to reality, it does not
essential component in this growth
simply describe it. It enriches the
of reflection
necessary competences that daily
life requires and provide and in this
3 purpose of criticism
respect, it irrigates the dessert that
 To help us resolve a difficulty in the
our lives have already become.
reading
 To help us choose the better of two
LITERATURE STANDARD
conflicting readings.
UNIVERSALITY – Literature appeals to
 To enables us to form judgments
everyone, regardless of culture, race,
about literature
gender, and time.
5 Basics approaches
ARTISTRY – Literature has an aesthetic
appeal and thus possess a sense of beauty. 1. Formalism/ New Criticism/ Aristotelian
2. Historical and biographical approaches
INTELLECTUAL VALUE – Literature 3. The archetypal approach
4. Marxist approach
stimulates critical thing that enriches mental
process of obstruction and reasoning, 5. Feminist criticism
making man realize the fundamental truth of
life and its native. 1. Formalism/New criticism/Aristotle
- Focusing on the elements such as a
SUGGESTIVENESS – Literature unravels the exposition rising action, conflict,
complication, climax, falling
and conjures means emotional power to
define symbolisms, implied meaning images - This also includes characteristics,
settings, theme, point of view and
and messages giving and evoking visions
 literature devices employed by the
author.
- There is no need to bring in outside
information about the history, politics
Advantages:
- This approach can be performed
without must research and it
emphasizes the value of literature
apart from it context.
- Virtually all critical approaches must
begin here
Disadvantages:
- The text is seen in isolation
- Formalism ignores the context of the
work
- It cannot accurate for illusions
- It tends
Reader response criticism
- Began as a rejection of formalism in
the 1970
Main ideas
- Multiple meanings
- Authors and readers
2. Historical and biographical
approaches
- Literature is seen both a reflection
and product of the times and
circumstances in which it was written
- It operates on the premise that the
history of a nation has telling effects
on its literature and that the piece
can better understood and
appreciated of one knows the times
surrounding.
- Historical/ Biographical critics see
works as the reflection of an author’s
life and times (or of the
characteristics life and times)
Advantages
- This approach works well for some
works like Edgar Allan Poe’s works.
- It also is necessary to take a
historical approach in order to pave
allusions in their proper classical,
political or biblical background.
Disadvantages
- New critics to the historical/
biography critics belief that the
meaning or value of a work may be
determined by the authors intentions
as the “intentional fallacy”
- They believe that this approach
tends to reduce
Potentially positive aspects of reader
response criticism
- Literature points toward actual
human situations and feelings
- Everyone’s reading can be
considered
- Multiple interpretations are allowed
- The work can be change in meaning
and application over time/context.
Potentially Negative aspects of reader
response criticism
- Everyone’s reading can be
considered
- Multiple interpretations
3. The archetypal approach
4. The Feminist criticism/approach
5. Marxist approach
- Karl Marx (18)
6. Psychological approach
- Literature is viewed as the
expression of “personality,” of
“neurons”.
- It includes the psychology of the
authors, of the characteristics and
even the psychology of creation.
- It has resulted in an almost
exhausting and exhaustive
 “psychological analysis” of
characteristics of symbol and
images, of recurrent themes and
others.

7. Romantic Approach
- There was more importance given to
individual responsibility than the
adherences to customs and
traditions.
- The romantics represented the
common man’s life in literature and
brought out the beauty of rustic

8. Deconstruction theory/Approach
- Deconstruction involves the close
reading of texts in order to
demonstrate that any given text has
irreconcilably contradictory
meanings, rather than

9. Structuralism theory/ approach

Literature
Types

Prose – is a discourse which uses

sentences and paragraphs to express
ideas, feelings and actions.

Poetry – refers to writings in verse, with

rhythm