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LITERATURE
Literature is one of the arts that expresses human
feelings. It shows ideas or emotions through
symbolic presentation in the form of short story,
poetry, drama or play, and essay among others.
 CLASSIFICATIONS OF LITERATURE
Literature can be categorized into escape and interpretative literature.

1. Escape literature is for entertainment purposes, that is, to help us while

away time in an agreeable manner. Escape literature enables us to
temporarily forget our troubles. The object of escape literature is pleasure.

2. Interpretative literature is written to broaden and sharpen our

awareness in life. It takes us, through imagination, deeper into
the real world and enables us to understand our troubles. It has
for its object- pleasure plus understanding.
 USES OF
LITERATURE
 1. To impart moral values.
Here, the purpose of literature is to present moral
values for the reader to understand and
appreciate; the moral values may be directly or v
indirectly stated.
The literary work given below may either be for
entertainment or may be intended as a moral
lesson. It seeks to make the reader understand
and celebrate individuality and collectivity.
 The Monkey's Point of View
Three monkeys sat on a coconut tree
Discussing things as they said to be
Said one to the others, now listen, you two,
There's a certain rumor that can't be true
That man descended from our noble race
The very idea! It's desire disgrace!
No monkey ever deserted his wife,
Starved his children and ruined their lives.
And you've never known a mother monk
To leave her baby with others to bunk
Or pass them on from one to another
"Till they hardly know who is their mother
And another thing, you will never see
 A monk build a fence round a coconut tree
And let the coconut go to the waste
Forbidding all the monk to the taste.
Starvation would force you to steal from me.
Besides, what monk would smoke a pipe
and burn the trees, pollute his hair and kill himself?
Here's another thing a monk won't do
Go out at night and get a stew.
Or use his gun or club or knife
To take some other monkey's life
Yes! Man descended, the ornery cuss,
But brother, he didn't descend from us!!!
 2. As Propaganda
This kind of literature is found not only in
history books and advertising and
v
marketing books but also in some books
describing one's personal success and
achievements in life.
 3. To provide therapeutic help.
Literature can be regarded as a
sophisticated and modern elaboration
v
of the idea of catharsis- an emotional
relief experienced by the reader that
helps him recover from a previous
pent-up emotion. The following is an
example of a therapeutic poem.
 DON’T QUIT
When things go wrong. As they sometimes will
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh
When care is pressing you down a bit…
Rest if you must but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns

As every one of us sometimes learns
And many a person turns about
When they might have won had they stuck it out
Don't give up though the pace seems slow.
You may succeed with another blow.
 Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup
And he learned too late when the night came down
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out…

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit...
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit
 I AM SOMEBODY
"I may be young: I may be old,"
But I am somebody,
For I am God's child
"I may be educated; I may be unlettered,
But I am somebody,
For I am God's child.
"I may be black, I may be white.”
But I am somebody,
For I am God's child.
"I may be rich; I may be poor,"
But I am somebody,
For I am God's child
 "I may be fat; I may be thin,
But I am somebody
For I am God's child
"I may be married; I may be divorced,"
But I am somebody.
For I am God's child.
"I may be successful; I may be a failure.
But I am somebody,
For I am God's child.
"I may be a sinner, I may be a saint,"
But I am somebody,
For Jesus is my savior,
I am God's child!
GENERAL ELEMENTS
OF LITERATURE
According to Sanchez et al. (2002), not all written works can be
considered literature. To understand a good literary work, we should
know first the important elements of literature. It is undeniable that the
medium of literature is language, and language is composed of words
that are combined into sentences to express ideas, emotions, or desires.
Writers, therefore, should be careful in their choice of words and
expressions of their emotions and ideas. By carefully organizing the
words in a literary work, the writer aims to create a high sense of value
for his writings.
An aspiring writer should bear these objectives in mind:
1. To strive in raising the level of the reader's humanity and
2. To make his readers think and achieve an educated
perspective.

The important elements of literature are:

1. Emotional appeal
2. Intellectual appeal
3. Humanistic value
 Emotional appeal is attained when the reader is
emotionally moved or touched by any literary work like:

HOW DO I LOVE THEE

By Elizabeth B. Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
Dr. Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are good
illustrations of literature of intellectual appeal. Both were
instrumental in exposing the ills of the society of its period. It
reminds the reader of what he can do to better his condition.
Specifically in one of Rizal's philosophical ideas, he said:

"Don't you realize that it is a useless life which is not consecrated

to a great idea? It is a stone wasted in the fields without becoming
part of any edifice.”

(Simon to Basilio)
 Humanistic value can be attained when a literary work
makes the reader an improved person with a better outlook
in life and with a clear understanding of his/her inner self.
To illustrate, here is a stanza from Amado V. Hernandez's
poem entitled "Foreigner,” which was translated by Cirilio
F. Bautista into English. below:
Finds faults with things that are native-
customs and living, food and dress- were it not
for his brown skin you'd think he was foreign
and born somewhere else.
Guy de Maupassant's " The Necklace" is a very good example
of a literary work which has a humanistic value. It shows that
woman's vanity changes the normality of life, but at the same
time, the change is to the advantage of the individual for it
leads to self-understanding ad a clearer outlook in life.

What would have happened if she had

never lost those jewels?
Who knows? Who knows? How strange life
is, how fickle! How little is needed to ruin
or to save!