Literature Reviewer

What is Literature?
● Came from Latin word “litera” which means a letter of the alphabet.
● Writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of
permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential feathers,
as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.
● It shows the beauty of a culture, place, person, idea, things, and sometimes
the rich imagination of an author. It showcases the talent that no one often
sees.
● Literature brings a person to a different dimension that he cannot go.

Periods of Philippine Literature

Pre-Spanish Period

● Literature was based on “ORAL” tradition since no form of writing exist during
this period.
● Pre-colonial literature explains how life and the world were created in the form of
legend and myths.
Pre Historic Literature

1. Lullabies - These are locally known as “Hele” these are sung to put babies
to sleep.
2. Folk Songs - These are one of the oldest forms of Philippine Literature that
emerged in the pre-Spanish period. Many of these have 12 syllables.
3. Riddle - It uses symbolism to describe a specific object, which the listener
can guess by using his imagination. One should never take words literally.
4. Sayings - These are figurative words said by our ancestors which teach
moral lessons.
5. Epic - long narrative poems in which a series of heroic achievements or
events, usually of a hero.
6. Myth - Stories that are passed down about how or why something came to
be.

➔ The oral works are able to translate in Written Work through the use of
SYLLABARY called “BAYBAYIN”
Spanish Period

● More productive part of the period

● The mission of the Spanish Friars is to spread the CHRISTIANITY
● DOCTRINA CHRISTIANA - first book printed in the Philippines that contains
prayers and doctrines.

Spanish Literature

➢ Religious Literature
1. Cenakulo - Dramatic performance to commemorate the passion and
death of Christ
2. Panunuluyan - This is presented before 12:00 on Christian Eve
- Presentation of search of Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph
for an inn to deliver baby Jesus
➢ Non Religious Literature
➢ Propaganda Literature

American Period

● The contribution of the Americans to our country is the system of education.

● The English language was introduced
● They started to teach the young students underneath the tree
● The first teachers we have is the Thomassians (american soldiers)

American Literature

P - poem
E - essay
N - novel

Japanese Period

● This served as the “GOLDEN PERIOD” for the short stories and Tagalog drama.
● The use of English was prohibited and the vernacular or the national language
was dominated.
● Nationalism, patriotism, and life struggles prevailed as themes and motifs of
texts produced during such period.
● Haiku - Japan’s foremost poetic form
- 5/7/5 poetry
 ● Ildefonso Santos - introduced the poetic form known TANAGA

Contemporary Period

● During such period, the first republic was established.

● It was the time which the forms of short writing emerged – the commercial
and literary forms.
● Commercial magazines feature numerous short stories of neophyte
(rookie) writers.
● Also in this era, we started to have a Film stream, television, and radio as
contemporary literature.

What are the Literary Genres and Classifications?

➔ Genre
- A category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by
a particular style, form, or content.
➔ Classification
- The process of classifying something according to shared qualities or
characteristics.

Four Major Literary Genres

● Poetry
- Imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound,
and rhythmic language.
- Often considered as the oldest form of literature.

➔ Classifications of Poetry
a. Narrative - tells a story
b. Lyric - expresses a poet’s feelings. Lyric poems may be sung or
accompanied by music, but may not.
c. Descriptive - an impersonal word painting. Describe the world that
surrounds the speaker.

➔ Types of Imagery
● Auditory - describes what we hear (music, silence, noise)
 ● Tactile - describes what we touch or feel (texture,
movement, temperature)
● Visual - describes what we see (colors, patterns, shapes,
sizes)
● Olfactory - describes what we smell (nice fragrances, bad
odors)
● Gustatory - describes what we taste (sour, sweet, acidic,
bitter, salty)

➔ Types of Narrative Poems

● Epic - oldest kind. Long poems that tell about crucial interactions;
usually battles or other power struggles between human groups,
divinities or between humans and gods. Most famous are Homer’s
The Iliad and Odyssey.
● Ballad - focus on the adventures of relatively minor people.
Example is Robin Hood.
● Dramatic Poetry - set in the form of plays; example is William
Shakespeare.

➔ Types of Lyric Poetry

● Elegy - it is a lyric poem that expresses feelings of grief and
melancholy and whose theme is death.
● Ode - Long poem organized in a variety of stanzas, meters, and
forms. Admiring someone.
● Psalms - it is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary and
containing philosophy life.
● Awit/Song - these have measures of syllables (dodecasyllabic)
and slowly sung to the accompaniment of a guitar
● Corridos - these have measures of eight syllables (octosyllabic)
and recited to a marital beat

● Non Fiction
- Nonfiction or non-fiction is any document or content that purpose in good
faith to represent the truth and accuracy regarding information, events, or
people.

➔ Types of Nonfiction
● Biographies - tell the story of someone’s life from the perspective
of another writer.
● Autobiographies - tells the story of the author’s life and reflects
the writer’s thoughts and feelings about events.
 ● Letters - are written forms of communication from one person to
another.
● Journal & Diaries - records of daily events and writer;s thoughts
and feelings about them. It can be private or public.
● Essays & Articles - brief written works about a specific topic.
Purpose might be to explain, persuade, or inform.
● Informational Texts - written documents such as textbooks,
applications, instructions, and articles.

● Fiction
- A deliberately fabricated account of something. It can also be a literary
work based on imagination rather than on fact, like a novel or short story.

➔ Types of Fiction
● Short Stories - a story with a fully developed theme but
significantly shorter and less elaborate than a novel.
● Novels - it is divided by chapters and they usually have more than
one plot or storyline and many well-developed characters
● Novella - 20,000 - 49,999 words
● Fables - a story in which animals speak and act like people and
which is usually meant to teach a lesson.
● Fairy Tale - stories that involve fantasy elements and characters
like fairies and witches
● Legends - Traditional story or group of stories told about a
particular person or place
● Myth - the main characters are usually Gods or supernatural
heroes
● Horror - it is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust.

● Drama
- A drama is a composition in verse of prose presenting a story in
pantomime or dialogue. It contains conflict of characters, particularly the
ones who perform in front of an audience on the stage. The person who
writes drama for stage directions is known as “dramatist” or
“playwright”

- Types of Drama
● Tragedy - a type of drama in which the characters experience
reversals of fortune, usually for the worse. Catastrophe and
suffering await many of the characters, especially the hero.
● Comedy - a type of drama in which the characters experience
reversals of fortune, usually for the better. Things work out
happily in the end.