LITERATURE: OVERVIEW

LESSON 1: What is Literature?

LESSON OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, students are expected to attain the following:
a. explain literature and two of its genres;
b. determine the importance of literature; and
c. reflect on the impact of literature in our lives.

What is literature?

First, the word “literature” can be used to refer to anything written. The Department of
Agriculture will, upon request, send an applicant “literature on canning tomatoes.” People who
ask for such material expect it to be clear and informative, but they do not expect it to be
interesting in itself. They do not read it for the experience of reading it; they read it only if they
are thinking about canning tomatoes. Take another example: Irene requested a copy of a
dessert recipe book to learn how to bake a lemon cake and other pastries. What Irene will get is
really what she asks, a dessert recipe book with instructions on how to bake a lemon cake and
nothing that is not related in making desserts. In other words, you get what you ask for.

There is, however, a sort of literature that people do read without expecting a practical payoff.
They read the sort of writing, some sort of literature that they expect to hold their interest and to
provide pleasure. They may vaguely feel that it will be good for them, but they don’t read it
because it will be good for them, any more than they dance because dancing provides healthful
exercise. Dancing may indeed be healthful, but that’s not why people dance. They dance
because dancing affords a special kind of pleasure. For similar reasons people watch athletic
contests and go to concerts or to the theater. We participate in activities such as these not
because we expect some sort of later reward but because we know that the experience of
participating is in itself rewarding. Perhaps the best explanation is that the experiences are
absorbing — which is to say they take us out of ourselves for a while — and that (especially in
the case of concerts, dance performances, and athletic contests) they allow us to appreciate
excellence, to admire achievement. Most of us can swim or toss a ball and maybe even hit a
ball, but when we go to a swimming meet or to a ball game we see a level of performance that
evokes our admiration.

Importance of Literature

Here’s an article from The Odyssey (https://www.theodysseyonline.com/7-reasons-why-

literature-is-so-important) that best explains the importance of literature:

1. Expanding horizons
First and foremost, literature opens our eyes and makes us see more than just what the front
door shows. It helps us realize the wide world outside, surrounding us. With this, we begin to
learn, ask questions, and build our intuitions and instincts. We expand our minds.
2. Building critical thinking skills
Many of us learn what critical thinking is in our language arts classes. When we read, we learn
to look between the lines. We are taught to find symbols, make connections, find themes, learn
about characters. Reading expands these skills, and we begin to look at a sentence with a
larger sense of detail and depth and realize the importance of hidden meanings so that we may
come to a conclusion.

3. A leap into the past

History and literature are entwined with each other. History is not just about power struggles,
wars, names, and dates. It is about people who are products of their time, with their own lives.
Today the world is nothing like it was in the 15th century; people have changed largely. Without
literature, we would not know about our past, our families, the people who came before and
walked on the same ground as us.

4. Appreciation for other cultures and beliefs

Reading about history, anthropology, or religious studies provides a method of learning about
cultures and beliefs other than our own. It allows you to understand and experience these other
systems of living and other worlds. We get a view of the inside looking out, a personal view and
insight into the minds and reasoning of someone else. We can learn, understand, and
appreciate it.

5. Better writing skills

When you open a book, when your eyes read the words and you take in its contents, do you ask
yourself: How did this person imagine and write this? Well, many of those authors, poets, or
playwrights used literature to expand their writing.

6. Addressing humanity
All literature, whether it be poems, essays, novels, or short stories, helps us address human
nature and conditions which affect all people. These may be the need for growth, doubts, and
fears of success and failure, the need for friends and family, the goodness of compassion and
empathy, trust, or the realization of imperfection. We learn that imperfection is not always bad
and that normal can be boring. We learn that life must be lived to the fullest. We need literature
in order to connect with our own humanity.

Different Genres of Literature

For this course, we’ll be focused on two famous genres of literature:

Fiction. This is a genre in literature that is typically based on imagination, written in prose, not
presented as fact, though it may be based on a true story or situation. Types of literature in the
fiction genre include but not limited to the following:

Short Story. Sometimes called Flash Fiction, it refers to works of fiction that are shorter
and less elaborate than a novel, typically read in one sitting. Examples of a short story
are Fogtown by Timothy Montes and Midsummer by Manuel Arguilla.
 Novel. It refers to works of fiction that have considerable length and complexity. Novels
are published as books. Examples of a novel are The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret
Atwood and Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Novella. It refers to works of fiction that are relatively longer than short stories but
shorter than novels. Examples of a novella are The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy.

Poetry. a type of literature that conveys a thought, describes a scene or tells a story in a
concentrated, lyrical arrangement of words. Types of literature in the poetry genre include but
not limited to the following:

Sonnet. A type of poem that is only one stanza and fourteen lines. Examples of sonnets
are Amoretti LXXV: One Day I Wrote Her Name by Edmund Spenser and Remember by
Christina Rossetti.

Ballad. A type of poem that tells stories most often based on a legend or a folk tale.
Examples of ballads are Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe and La Belle Dame Sans
Merci by John Keats.

Elegy. A type of poem that reflects upon death or loss. Examples of elegies are The
Lost Sister: An Elegy by Joyce Carol Oates and Elegy Written on a Country Church by
Thomas Gray.

Epic. A type of poem that is long and narrative and normally tells a story of a hero or an
adventure. Examples of epics are Beowulf and Biag ni Lam-ang.

Ode. A type of poem that addresses and often praises a certain person, thing, or event.
Examples of odes are Ode of Solitude by Alexander Pope and Ode to the West Wind by
Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Free Verse. A type of poem that has no regular meter nor rhyme scheme and usually
follows the natural rhythms of speech. Examples of free verses are Song of Myself by
Walt Whitman and This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams.

ASSESSMENT

Directions: Have fun answering the following questions:

1. What comes to your mind when you hear the word “literature?”

2. In your own words, why do you think literature is important?

3. Research on other types of poetry. Give at least two types and give a corresponding
famous work and its author.
LESSON 2: Elements of Fiction

LESSON OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to attain the following:
a. discriminate the different elements of fiction
b. identify details that correspond to the right element

Elements of Fiction
To be a fiction story, these following elements should always be present:

Plot. This refers to the order of events in a story. Even the plot has its own elements called
Freytag’s Pyramid coined by German playwright Gustav Freytag.

Figure 1:
Freytag’s Pyramid

Exposition is an introduction to the characters, time, and the problem. At the point
where exposition moves into rising action a problem, sometimes called an inciting
incident, occurs for the main character to handle or solve. This creates the beginning of
the story.

Rising Action includes the events that the main character encounters. Each event,
developed in separate scenes, makes the problem more complex.

Climax is the turning point in the story. Usually, it is a single event with the greatest
intensity and uncertainty. The main character must contend with the problem at this
point.

Falling Action includes the events that unfold after the climax. This usually creates an
emotional response from the reader.

Denouement provides closure to the story. It ties up loose ends in the story.
Characters. This refers to the people, animals, or aliens in the story. Basically, they are the
representations of beings. Percy Jackson in The Lightning Thief, Christian Grey in Fifty Shades
of Grey, and Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games are a few examples of characters.

Setting. This refers to when and where the story takes place. Details like time of the year, time
of the day, the weather, the historical period, geographical locations like the cities, provinces,
towns, countries, etc. are all under this element.

Theme. This refers to the underlying truth that is being conveyed in the story. Themes can be
universal, meaning they are understood by readers no matter what culture or country the
readers are in. Common themes include coming of age, circle of life, prejudice, greed, good vs.
evil, beating the odds, etc.

Point of View. This refers to how the story is told. It generally has two points of view:

First-person. This means that one of the characters in the story will narrate–give an
account–of the story. The narrator may be the protagonist, the main character. Writing in
first-person point of view brings the readers closer to the story. They can read it as if
they are the character because personal pronouns like I, me, my, we, us, and our are
used.

Third-person. This means that the narrator is not in the story. The third-person narrator
is not a character. Writing in third-person point of view removes readers from the story
because of the pronouns he, she, it, him, her, his, hers, they, them, and theirs.

Conflict. the struggle between two entities. In story writing the main character, also known as
the protagonist, encounters a conflict with the antagonist, which is an adversary.

ASSESSMENT
Directions: Match Column A with Column B by supplying the letter of the correct answer in
between the brackets before the item.

COLUMN A COLUMN B
[ ] 1. After the Rex Lapis’ death, the Adepti, A. Setting
sworn protectors of Liyue, defended with all
their might against the Fatui, an evil
organization.
[ ] 2. The power of love and friendship. B. Conflict
[ ] 3. In the evening of Monday, 1942. C. Characters
[ ] 4. Thanos versus the Avengers D. Plot
[ ] 5.Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and E. Point of view
Ron Weasley.
F. Setting

LESSON 3: Elements of Poetry

LESSON OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to attain the following:
a. discriminate the different elements of poetry; and
b. identify the rhyme scheme of a poem.

Elements of Poetry
Like fiction, poetry also has its own elements:

Rhythm. This is the music made by the statements of the poem, which includes the syllables in
the lines. The best method of understanding this is to read the poem aloud, and understand the
stressed and unstressed syllables.

Meter. This is the basic structural make-up of the poem. Do the syllables match with each
other? Every line in the poem must adhere to this structure. A poem is made up of blocks of
lines, which convey a single strand of thought. Within those blocks, a structure of syllables
which follow the rhythm has to be included. This is the meter or the metrical form of poetry.

Rhyme Scheme. As a continuation of rhyme, the rhyme scheme is also one of the basic
elements of poetry. In simple words, it is defined as the pattern of rhyme. Either the last words
of the first and second lines rhyme with each other, or the first and the third, second and the
fourth and so on.

Rhyme scheme is denoted using the first letters of the alphabet for similar-sounding words at
the end of the line. For example:

Drink to me only with thine eyes, A

And I will pledge with mine; B
Or leave a kiss but in the cup, C
And I’ll not look for wine. B
The thirst that from the soul doth rise A
Doth ask a drink divine; B
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup, C
I would not change for thine. B

Notice how there are several Bs in the stanza. This is because “mine,” “wine,” “divine,” and
“thine” all rhyme together, so they will be assigned a single letter. “Eyes” and “rise” are labeled
with A because they both have the same rhyme also. Same goes with “cup” and “sup” labeled
with C.

Theme. This is what the poem is all about. The theme of the poem is the central idea that the
poet wants to convey. It can be a story, or a thought, or a description of something or someone;
anything that the poem is about.
Symbolism. Often poems will convey ideas and thoughts using symbols. A symbol can stand
for many things at one time and leads the reader out of a systematic and structured method of
looking at things. Often a symbol used in the poem will be used to create such an effect.

Imagery. Imagery is also one of the important elements of a poem. This device is used by the
poet for readers to create an image in their imagination. Imagery appeals to all the five senses.
For e.g., when the poet describes, the flower is bright red, an image of a red flower is
immediately created in the readers’ mind.

ASSESSMENT
Directions: Write T if the statement is TRUE and write F if the statement is false before the
number.

[ ] 1. A detail that appeals to the senses falls under the element of Symbolism.
[ ] 2. If the ends of the respective two lines are “create” and “hate,” that means their rhyme
scheme will have different letters.
[ ] 3. When dealing with syllables, Meter is the element responsible.
[ ] 4. In some ways, poetry and music are similar.
[ ] 5. Death and sadness could be categorized as themes of a poem.

Directions: Identify the rhyme scheme of the stanza using the letters as shown in the lesson.

1. It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

2. In what distant deeps or skies.

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

3. The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.