Prof.

MAL Tamayo

IN TR O D U C TIO N TO
LITER ATU R E

IN TRO D U CTIO N
The study or appreciation of literature is

very interesting and helpful to learners

for many reasons.
Literature in English involves the reading
and analysis of written materials of
different kinds including fiction and nonfiction written works in English.
All learners of Literature in English should
be ready to analyze whatever they read
critically by the end of the course.

D EFIN ITIO N O F LITERATU RE

Literature can be defined as pieces

of writing that are valued as works of

art, especially novels, plays and
poems. (Oxford Advanced Learners
English Dictionary).
the body of written works produced
in a particular language, country, or
age, or the body of writings on a
particular subject (scientific, art,
etc.) (Merriam-Websters Dictionary

D EFIN ITIO N O F LITERATU RE

(CO N TD )
as any body of written works that is

written and produced in any country,

language or age for a specific
purpose such as information,
education or entertainment to the
reader, which can be fictional or nonfictional in nature.

IM PO RTAN CE O F LITERATU RE
Reading and studying Literature in very important for

various reasons as outlined below:

Literature improves your command of language
It teaches you about the life, cultures and experiences of people in
other parts of the world.
It gives you information about other parts of the world which you
may never be able to visit in your lifetime.
It entertains you and provides useful occupation in your free time.
It makes you a wiser and more experienced person by forcing you
to judge, sympathize with, or criticize the characters you read
about.
It helps you compare your own experiences with the experiences
of other people.
It gives information which may be useful in other subjects, for
example, in Geography, Science, History, Social Studies, and so
on.

(Shimmer Chinodya, 1992:36)

KIN D S O F LITERATU RE
Generally, Literature is divided into two (2) kinds,

namely, Fictional and Non-Fictional Literature.

Fictional Literature is imaginary composed writing or
work of art that is meant to provide information,
education and entertainment to the reader. In other
words, fictional literature is based on the writers
imagination rather than reality.
Non fictional Literature is factual writing or written
work that is gives facts that can be proved as it
provides real places, events, characters, times or
reality rather than imaginary things.

KIN D S O F LITERATU RE
Examples
(CO
N TDof)Fictional Literature include plays,

poems, short stories, novels, oral literature,

and songs
Examples of Non-Fictional Literature include
autobiographies, biographies, essays, diaries
and journals, magazines, newspapers, subject
text books such as in Geography, History and
Civic Education.
In our study of Literature in English, however,
we shall concentrate on Fictional Literature as
exemplified above. Generally, its main
concern is with Drama (Plays), Fiction (stories),
and Poetry (Poems).

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N
(TH E STO RY)
A short story is a short fictional prose

narrative built on a plot that includes the basic

situation, complications, climax, and resolution.
Novel is a long fictional story that uses all the
elements of storytelling, namely, plot,
character, setting, theme, and point of view.
Oral or traditional literature has some form
of stories often told by word of mouth from
generation to generation such as folk tales,
legends, and myths which have now been
written down as stories for us to read.

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N
(CO N TD )
The Story, whether it is a short story, novel or

fork tale, has the following general elements

that are used to analyze any written story:
Author(s)
Setting
plot
Themes
Characters
Style
Language

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N
(AU TH O R)
Author: This is the writer of any written work of

art or fiction. It is very important to not only know

the name of the author, but you should also
understand and appreciate his or her background.
This will help you the reader to understand what,
how and why the author writes any story or novel.
For example, authors have different writing styles
in their works, and they are motivated variously in
their writing the story. Once you appreciate these
things about the author, it most likely that you
shall understand and enjoy the story you are
reading and analyzing.

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N
(SETTIN G )
Setting:
This is the place and time in which the story

unfolds or takes place.

Setting is important in understanding the
background and impact of the story or incidents in
the story.
So, in interpreting or reviewing a setting of a
story, you may have to ask and answer such
questions as: How does the setting or atmosphere
influence the work? Where do the events of story
take place? When do they occur? What was the
mood when the incident took place?

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N (PLO T)

Plot:
This is a series or chain of related

events that tells us what happens in

a story. When a plot is well mapped
out, it hooks us, that is, it catches
our curiosity (interest) about what
will happen next. A good plot draws
us along after the narrator, just as a
fish is hooked and played and reeled
in by an expert fisherman.
It is conflict or struggle that gives

ELEM EN TS O F PLO T (CO N TD )

CONFLICT
A conflict can be external, as when a

person struggles with another

person, or with an angry warthog or
with a hurricane. On the other hand,
a conflict can be internal, that is, it
can take place inside a persons
mind or heart.

ELEM EN TS O F PLO T (CO N TD )

CONFLICT
Therefore, in interpreting or

reviewing a plot for the story, you

may have to ask and answer such
questions as: What is the central
conflict of the story? Why does the
conflict occur? What larger meaning
or picture is suggested by the way
the conflict is resolved?

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N
(TH EM ES)
Theme: This refers to the

controlling, main idea or central

insight in the novel or short story.
Theme answers the question What
does it mean? a storys theme is
often hard to state, but it is what the
author means or what the reader
perceives to mean by the whole
story. A theme is usually stated in a
sentence or statement.

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N
(TH EM ES)
These are usually challenging

questions because they require you

to have a good overview of the text
with regard to a wide spectrum of
issues raised in the novel or short
story. Such questions may be asked
and answered as: What central idea
or insight into life does the work
convey? How do other elements help
illustrate or reveal this idea or
insight?

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N
(CH ARACTERS)
Characters: These are persons or animals

involved in a story in order to show entertain

and show us some truth about human
experience and ourselves. A good character
should be alive to help us appreciate the
story well.
In a story, we can recognize a character by
his/her/its appearance, actions and thoughts,
reactions of others (what other characters say
or do in relation to the character), and direct
statement of the author (comments made by
the writer of the story as the narrator).

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N
(CO N TD )
Characterization refers to the kinds of

characters the novel or short story has

depending on the level of their development
and involvement in the story of the book.
For example, are the characters flat or
round, protagonists or antagonists, major or
minor, stars or backers?
you can ask and answer such questions as:
Why do characters act as they do? What are
their motives? Do the characters change?
How do they change?

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N (STYLE)

This refers to the way the novel or

short story is written in order to have

a desired effect on the reader or
audience.
It also refers to the techniques used
by the writer of a literary work such
as point of view, humor, fantasy,
flashbacks, tone, and so on.
Style of writing if understood and
appreciated well, can help you to

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N (STYLE)

The questions that may help you

interpret or review a work of

literature include: What stylistic
devices does the author use? What
effects do they have? How does the
tone, or authors attitude, affect the
work of art?

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N (STYLE)

Point of View: This refers to the

style the writer of a story uses to

narrate the story. In other words,
writers usually chose who should tell
the story or who should be the
mouth piece in the story. So, you can
tell the story from various angles by
using points of view. There are three
basic points of view often used in
narratives: omniscient, thirdperson limited, and first-person.

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N (STYLE)

The omniscient (unlimited) point

of view is the point of view of a godlike (all-knowing) being who has

created a fictional world and who can
tell us everything that is going on in
the minds of all the characters. The
omniscient narrator is outside the
story; he or she is not part of the
action at all.

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N (STYLE)

The third-person (limited) point of

view is where the writer has decided to

tell the story from the limited point of view
of a single person (participant) in the story.
This kind of story reads as if a camera is
zooming in on just one character. The
writer uses the third person singular (he or
she, or the actual name) of the character.
This is very close to the omniscient point
of view in that the writer still takes a
prominent role.

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N (STYLE)

And in the first-person (limited)

point of view, the narrator speaks

as I, as a character in the story. This
character can tell us only what he or
she sees and hears and thinks about
what is going on. In other words, the
narrator is a participant in the story.

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N
(LAN G U AG E)
Language is part of style but it stands out

to be the most important element of any

fiction writing.
Literary language is often used in fiction
writing to relish the story so that it is more
clear, educative, informative, and indeed
interesting or entertaining.
Some of these language devices include
figures of speech and symbolism such as
images, symbols, irony, metaphors, similes,
satire, and so on.

ELEM EN TS O F FICTIO N
(LAN G U AG E)
The questions that may help you

interpret or review a work of

literature include: What figures of
speech have been used? What
symbols or images does the work
include? What do they mean? What
do they suggest about the meaning
of the work as a whole?
You shall learn more about literary
language later when we deal with

Literary Com positions

The Bible
Koran

The Iliad and the Odessey

The Mahab-harata
Canterbury Tales
Uncle Toms Cabin
The Divine Comedy
El Cid Compeador
The Song of Roland
The Book of the Days
One Thousand and One Nights

Assignm ent:
Myths- Balitok and Kabigat;

Cha and Kedyem

Legends- The Origin and Man;
The Sky and its contents;
Flood;

Folktale- The Boy who became a Wild

Hog
Proverb- Bontok, ibaloy