Introduction To Literature

Literature
• Literature is defined as:
• ‘Written works,
• e.g. fiction, poetry, drama, and criticism

containing:
important or permanent artistic value
 Ezra Pound says:
• "Great literature is simply language charged with
meaning to the utmost possible degree."
Aspects of literature
• Literature has two major aspects,
• one is of simple enjoyment and aesthetic appeal to
the senses.
• other is of analysis and exact description of the
prevailing condition of society in general and man
in particular.
Literature genres
• Some of the major genres of English Literature are
as under:

1. Poetry
2. Drama
3. Novel
4. Prose
Poetry

• an imaginative awareness of experience,

• expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic
language
• evokes an emotional response.
• painting can be made visible to the mind’s eye,
• music can be conveyed by sound and proportion
without singing or instrumentation.
Prose

• It lacks of any metrical structure

and variety of rhythm and is like everyday
speech.
Drama
• Drama is a prose or verse composition,
especially one that tells a serious story.

• intended for representation by actors who

mimic the characters and perform the
dialogues and actions of the written narrative.
Novel

• A novel is a fictional prose narrative of

significant length,
• typically having a plot
• that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and
thoughts of the characters.
 Why do we study Literature?

1. Literature always reflects human ideas, beliefs, and societies.

2. Literature helps us to discover ordinary human ways of
understanding life.
3. While reading literature, we explore significant differences and
this allows us to
even experience perspectives of those separated from us by time
and social
barriers.
4. Getting to know the human psyche would help us discover pride
in our own
culture, gain respect for others, and be humble.
Why do we study Literature? cont.

5. We find different human responses and reactions in poems,

essays, diaries, narratives, and in the characters of narratives.

6.We learn about the good and evil forces;

7. Literature provides us with a worldview of things and gives

us a mature perspective of things.

8.Literature serves as an entertainment .

INTRODUCTION TO:

SHORT STORY
Short Story as a Genre:
• "Genre" Refers The Types Of Imaginative
Literature.
• The short story is the most recent genre to
appear in Western Literature.
What is a Short Story?

• A short story is fictional work of prose that

is shorter in length than a novel.
• a short story focuses on one incident,
• has a single plot, a single setting,
• a small number of characters,
• and covers a short period of time.
• Edgar Allan Poe:

“a short story should be read in one sitting, anywhere

from a half hour to two hours.”
• a short story can range from 1,000 to 20,000
words.
 Origin/History of short story

• Short story as a form dates back to the oral tradition of the tale
• Written tales emerge in poetic forms - Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
• Boccaccio's Decameron (1351-1353) the precursor of the short
story form, as is the French translation of The Thousand and One
Nights (1704).
• Short story really begins to emerge as a form in the 19th century
Components of Short Story
 Setting
 Plot
 Conflict
 Character
 Point of View
 Theme
 Setting:

• The time and location in which a story takes place is

called the setting.
• a) Place - geographical location.
b) Time - When is the story taking place
c) Weather conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy,
d) Social conditions - What is the daily life of the
characters like?
• e) Mood or atmosphere - What feeling is created at
the beginning of the story?
Plot

• The plot is how the author arranges events to develop

his basic idea;
• it is the sequence of events in a story or play.
• The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a
beginning, middle, and end.
• There are five essential parts of plot:
a) Introduction - The beginning of the story where the characters and the
setting is
revealed.
b) Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become complicated
and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and
climax).
c) Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the
story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be
resolved or not?
d) Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve themselves.
The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved
or not(events between climax and denouement).
e) Denouement - This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story
Conflict

• It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident

to another and makes the plot move.

• Within a short story there may be only one central

struggle, or there may be
one dominant struggle with many minor ones.
Types of conflict
• There are two types of conflict:
1) External - A struggle with a force outside one's
self.
2) Internal - A struggle within one's self; a person
must make some decision, overcome
pain, quiet his/her temper, resist an urge, etc.
dimensions of conflict

There are four dimensions of conflict:

1) Man vs. Man (physical) - The leading character struggles with his
physical strength against other men, forces of nature, or animals.
2) Man vs. Circumstances (classical) - The leading character struggles
against fate, or the circumstances of life facing him/her.
3) Man vs. Society (social) - The leading character struggles against
ideas, practices, or customs of other people.
4) Man vs. Himself/ Herself (psychological) - The leading character
struggles with himself/herself; with his/her own soul, ideas of right or
wrong, physical limitations, choices, etc.
Character:

• There are two meanings for the word character:

1) The person in a work of fiction.

2) The characteristics of a person.

 Character:

• 1). Persons in a work of fiction

- Antagonist and Protagonist:
Short stories use few characters.

PROTAGONIST is the One character who is clearly central to the

story with all major events having some importance to this
character - he/she is the.

ANTAGONIST is The oppose of the main character.

 Character:
• 2).The Characteristics of a Person:
Characterization is the information the author gives the reader
about the characters.

a) his/her physical appearance

b) what he/she says, thinks, feels and dreams
c) what he/she does or does not do
d) what others say about him/her and how others react to him/her
 Character:

• Characters are convincing if they are: consistent,

motivated, and life-like (resemble real people).
Characters can be of different types i.e.
•
1. Individual - round, many sided and complex
personalities.
Character:

• 2. Developing -dynamic, many sided personalities that change,

for better or worse, by the end of the story.

• 3. Static -Stereotype, have one or two characteristics that

never change and are emphasized e.g. brilliant detective,
drunk, scrooge, cruel stepmother, etc.
 Point of View:

• Point of view is defined as the angle from which the

story is told. i.e.
• 1. Innocent Eye: The story is told through the eyes of
a child (his/her judgment being different from that of
an adult).
2. Stream of Consciousness: The story is told so that
the reader feels as if he is inside the head of one
character and knows all their thoughts and reactions.
Point of View:

3. First Person:

• The story is told by the protagonist

• or one of the characters who interacts closely with the

protagonist or other characters (using pronouns I, me, we, etc).

• The reader sees the story through this person's eyes as he/she
experiences it and only knows what he/she knows or feels.
Point of View:

4. Omniscient: The author can narrate the story using

the omniscient point of view.
• He can move from character to character, event to
event, having free access to the thoughts,
• feelings and motivations of his characters and he
introduces information where and when he chooses.
• There are two main types of omniscient point of view:
 Point of View:

a) Omniscient Limited:

• The author tells the story in third person (using pronouns they,
she, he, it, etc.).
• We know only what the character knows and what the author
allows him/her to tell us.
• We can see the thoughts and feelings of characters if the author
chooses to reveal them to us.
Point of View:
b) Omniscient Objective:
• The author tells the story in the third person.
• It appears as though a camera is following the characters,
going anywhere, and recording only what is
seen and heard.
• There is no comment on the characters or their thoughts.
• No interpretations are offered. The reader is placed in the
position of spectator without the author there to explain.
The reader has to interpret events on his own.
 Theme:

• The theme in a piece of fiction is its controlling idea

or its central insight.
• It is the author's underlying meaning or main idea
that he is trying to convey.
• The theme may be the author's thoughts about a topic
or view of human nature.
 Theme:

• The title of the short story usually points to what the

writer is saying and he may use various figures of
speech to emphasize his theme, such as:
• symbol, allusion, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or
irony.
• Some simple examples of common themes from
literature, TV, and film are:
Theme:

- Things are not always as they appear to be

- Love is blind
- Believe in yourself
- People are afraid of change
- Don't judge a book by its cover
 Quick Checklist of Narrative Elements:

• The major elements of a narrative are as follows:

• Setting is the "where" and 'when" of the story or novel.
Characters are the "who."

• Conflict is the "what." (What is the problem?)

• Plot is the "how." (How is the conflict developed and resolved (also known as
the resolution)?)

• Theme is the "why." (The author's message and one of the reasons why the
author wrote the story or novel.)
How to Read a Short Story: Some strategies to
consider…

• Ease into the story.

• Think about the title and author Look at the back of the book for
any biographical information about the author.
•
Look at any illustrations and consider their connection to the title.
Read the first page and pause.
•
Consider what you know so far about the characters, setting,
conflict, and point of view.
 Get involved in the story

• Be an active reader by asking questions about what is

happening.
• Make predictions about what might happen.
Put yourself in the characters’ shoes.
• Form opinion about what is going on.
• Picture the events and setting in your mind.
• Write down your favorite quotations as you read.
• Make connections with what you already know.
 Write about the story

• Make jot notes to focus your thinking while you read.

• If possible, annotate a copy of the story to: highlight,
underline, circle, connect with arrows, add questions,
definitions, or make comments/notes in the margins.
• Underline any unfamiliar vocabulary.
• Star important passages that connect thematically.
• Perhaps draw wed diagrams to keep track of the characters.
Sketch the setting.
Introduction to poetry
 What is Poetry?

• Poetry is a literary art in which language is used for

its aesthetic qualities.
• Poetry suggests alternative meanings in words and
arouses emotional and sensuous responses.
• The use of assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia,
rhythm, ambiguity, symbolism, irony, and other
stylistic elements is common in poetry.
• Thus, a poem can be interpreted in a
variety of ways using these stylistic elements.
Definitions of Poetry
• Wordsworth defines Poetry as:
“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”.
• Matthew Arnold’s view about Poetry:
"Poetry is at bottom a criticism of life”.
• Sir Philip Sidney says,
"Poetry (is) a speaking picture, with this end; to teach and delight”.
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge defines Poetry as:
"…. Poetry (is) the best words in their best order".
• John Keats’s definition about poetry is:
"If poetry comes not as naturally as the leaves to a tree it had better not
come at all
• Aristotle says
"Poetry is something more philosophical and more worthy of serious
attention than history".
History of the English Poetry

• The earliest Anglo-Saxon poetry was composed in the

7th Century.
• The Anglo-Norman conquest of England started in
1111, and French became the
language of high culture, courts, parliament and
aristocracy.
• Chaucer was the main literary figure of the 14th
Century
Elements of Poetry
– Prosody – Form
– Rhythm – Lines and Stanzas
– Meter – Visual Presentation
– Metrical Patterns – Diction
– Rhyme, Alliteration,
– Assonance
– Rhyming schemes
– Ottava Rima
– Terza Rima
Prosody
• The study of the meter, rhythm, and intonation
is called the Prosody of a poem.
Rhythm

• Rhythm is a combination of sounds and silences.

• These sounds and silences are kept together to create pattern of
sounds and these patterns are repeated to create rhythm.
• Rhythm creating methods vary across languages and poetic traditions.
• Some languages are Syllable-timed and some are Stress-timed.
• English, Russian and German are stressed – timed languages.
• In modern English, rhythm based on meter is often founded on the
pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Meter

• The basic rhythmic structure of a verse or line

is termed as meter.
• Meter is based on the arrangement of poetic feet
into lines.
• Each foot includes one stressed and two
unstressed syllables in English.
• In English stressed syllables are pronounced
with greater volume, greater length, and higher
pitch and are the bases for poetic meter.
Meter

• In Greek Terminology, the number of metrical feet in a line is

described as follows:

dimeter – two feet

trimeter – three feet
tetrameter – four feet
pentameter – five feet
hexameter – six feet
heptameter – seven feet
octameter – eight feet
Metrical Patterns

• The type and the way we use meter for composing a

verse is termed as metrical pattern.
• Some patterns are regular and some are irregular.
• For example iambic tetrameter is regular in Russian
language and irregular in English language.
• Some of the metrical patterns are:
Metrical Patterns
• Iambic pentameter
• Dactylic hexameter
• Iambic tetrameter
• Trochaic octameter
Introduction to Drama
Literature
• Literature is defined as:
• ‘Written works,
• e.g. fiction, poetry, drama, and criticism

containing:
important or permanent artistic value
Importance of literature
• literature brings us back to the realities of human situations, problems,
feelings and relationships.

• it arranges action in unusual ways to speculate not only on what is, but
on what ought to be, or what might be.

• Literature broadened and deepened of human affairs:

in the individual, the social, the racial or the international sphere;

we shall understand the possibilities of human life,
we shall perhaps be able to make right rather than wrong choices.
Genres of Literature
• Novel
• Poem
• Short story
• And

•Drama
 Drama
• is a story told in front of an audience
• Staged art
• As a literary form it is designed for the theatre because characters are
assigned roles and they act out their roles as the action is enacted on
stage.

• Drama is an adaptation, recreation and reflection of reality on

stage.
Aristotle definition of Drama
• Aristotle’s defines drama simply as an imitation of an action.
 IMITATION
• Imitation to some extent is a reflection of an action in real life.

• The actor creates an illusion of reality to make his action

credible.

• according to Aristotle, imitation doesn’t entail of mere

copying. The artist adjusts or adds to it.
• Impersonation
• impersonate or pretend to be somebody in order to deceive people
or to entertain them.

• Re-Presentation
• In drama, the artist may have been inspired by a particular action
and decides to re-produce it or re-represent it on stage .
• Re-enactment
• in re-enactment, there is a clear indication that a particular
action is being re-enacted.
 Three different levels of Drama
1.Performance
Drama is used for plays that are acted on stage or screen to tell a story
by imitating its characters.

2. Composition
Drama is used to describe a dramatic composition which employs
language to present a story or series of events intended to be performed

3. Branch of Literature.
Drama is a term used for that branch of literature that covers dramatic
composition is presented in dialogue from the beginning to the end.
ORIGIN OF DRAMA
 ORIGIN OF DRAMA

• The word drama comes from the Greek verb “dran” which means
‘to act’ or to perform.
• Wordless actions like ritual dances and mimes performed by
dancers.
• Some trace the origin to Greece
• but others insist that drama evolved from Egypt
• Thepsis, is believed to have been the first person to introduce the
individual actor in the 6th century B.C.
 The Nature of Drama

• drama is presented in acts and scenes,

movements or parts.
• Each dramatist is free to adopt his/her own style.
• people also watch and enjoy the plays as an
audience in a theatre when the plays are
presented on stage.
Functions of Drama

• Drama is therefore used to entertain, inform and

educate people.
• It has a unique characteristic of presenting events in a
vivid, picturesque and realistic manner.
• The rich and the poor, the young and the old, the
literate and the illiterate enjoy and assimilate the
message of drama once it is presented
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA
Imitation

• imitation is used to describe a realistic portrayal of

life, a reproduction of natural objects and actions.
• Drama tries to present life as realistically as possible
on stage.
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA: PLOT

• plan or line of events of a story especially of a novel or a story

• plot in drama develops through what the characters do or say,
what is done to them, and or what is said about them or to
them.
• Plot is the organization of a series of action or events usually
moving through conflicts to a climax and resolution.
• It is arranged in this form – exposition, discovery, point of
attack, complication, crisis, climax, denouement or resolution.
Plot…
• Plot on the other hand, is the way the story is arranged and it
thrives on causality and logical unity.
• Dramatic plot is also expected to produce a result or an effect
on the audience.
• As the plot progresses, it arouses the reader’s curiosity and
expectations concerning future events.(suspense)
• Plot includes reported, as well as represented, action.
Structure of the Plot

• plot should have a beginning, middle, and an end.

• beginning contains the exposition the identity of characters and
the present situation.
• point of attack which is the moment at which the main story
starts as a potential conflict is identified.
• The middle is made up of series of complications.
• A complication is a new element which changes the direction of
the action.
• The series of complications culminate in crises and climax.
• The end is the last part of the play. Here issues are unraveled,
untied and resolved.
 Types of Plot

• There are two types of plot :main plot and subject (sub) plot.
• The main plot deals with the major events .
• sub plot deals with other incidents which can be complete and
interesting.
• a skillful playwright uses the sub plot to advance our appreciation
and understanding of the main plot.
• Aristotle divides plot into two – complex and simple plots.
• simple plot is the action is simple and continuous and without
reversal of the situation.
• In a complex plot, on the other hand, the change is accompanied
by a reversal of the situation
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA: ACTION
• The series of events that constitute the plot in any literary
work is referred to as action including what the characters
say, do, think and in some cases, fail to do.
• Motivation is the drive behind every action a character takes
in a play.
• The three types of action in drama are reported, physical and
mental.

1. reported action, is reported by a character or a group of

characters.
• They are part of the plot. But they are not part of what we call
the scenario----
2. The physical action is based on the current incidents in the play,
including the movements, gestures, facial expressions…
3. The mental action includes the action in which the audience is
left to imagine what happened.
 Physical Action

• refers to the movements made by a character in the play.

• It is visible and may or may not involve dialogue.
• Movement/Gesture
• This includes the steps taken by the character while he is
speaking or in the process of undertaking other tasks.
• actual movements like walking, running, pacing, kneeling,
lying down, standing or sitting.
• AYA: [Entering to find him in this state] My son, is this weeping
• you’re weeping?
• What is the matter?
• ANANSE: [Wringing out the handkerchief,] Mother!
• AYA: My stalwart son.
• ANANSE: Mother. [He returns the handkerchief and acting like a
• man in conflict.
• Yells out:] Destroyers! Evil-doers! They won’t rest until
• they have ruined me.
• Enemies whose outward appearance makes you think they
• are not enemies.
• AYA: [Wide-eyed with confusion] Enemies? It’s that woman
• Christy, isn’t it? The minute I met that woman here I felt
• instinctively that trouble marches alongside people of her
• kind.
• ANANSE: [Bursting into fears afresh] Handkerchief! (Act 3, p52)
 Mime and Pantomime
• Mime is the art or technique of expressing or conveying action,
character, or emotion without words but using only gestures and
movements.
• pantomime, the use of gesture to indicate certain action or
indication by sign language
• Pantomime is a term for silent acting;
• the form of dramatic activity in silent motion, gesture, facial
expression, in which costume are relied upon to express emotional
state or action.
Reported Action and Mental Action
• Reported action is reported and not presented because it will
be very difficult to bring a cavalry on stage.
• In the Classical Period, for instance, violence was not
presented on stage.
• Mental action is an action that takes place in the character’s
mind.
• In most cases, mental action is manifested in facial
expressions.
ELEMENTS OF DRAMA: DIALOGUE
 What is dialogue?
• Dialogue is a discussion between two or more people.
• Dialogue in drama is expected to embody these literary
and stylistic values:
1. It advances the action in a definite way.
2. It is consistent with the character of the speakers.
3. It gives the impression of naturalness without being actual
4. It presents interplay of ideas and personalities among the
people conversing;
DRAMATIC TECHNIQUE: CHARACTERISATION
Characterization
• Characterization is the playwright’s imaginative creation of
characters that can effectively dramatize his story.
• In most cases, the characters grow from innocence to
maturity or from ignorance to knowledge.
• The important elements in characterization are consistency
and motivation.
• Motivation in characterization means that there must be a
good reason for any action that is taken by every character in
the play.
Character Analysis: Types of Characters

• Protagonist/Hero :is the main character and at the centre of

the story
• the opponent is called an antagonist.
• and whatever happens to him or whatever he does has much
significance to the outcome of the story.
• Dynamic/ Round Character: A character that changes
according to the course of events in the story.
• Static/Flat/Stock Character: the character is complex and
does not change in any basic way in the course of the story.
Discovering a Character
• a character in a play is identified through what he does, what
he says, what other people say about him and
• You are expected to give in details, his physical attributes and
his moral, psychological and social disposition.
OTHER DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES
Foreshadowing
• actions, words, events, incidents or other things in a play that
predict a future occurrence in the play.
• It contributes to the mood and general atmosphere of the
play
Planting
• It is the use of certain reinforcements to give more
information about some characters, the environment or
situations.

• In planting, representatives of certain issues/places/things are

used to create an impression or point to an idea that will be
exposed as the events of the play unfolds.
Deus ex Machina
• It refers to an unexpected power , event or someone that
saves a situation that seemed hopeless.
• enables the playwright to unravel some secrets, or resolve
certain issues that seem to be beyond human capabilities.
• in most cases, rescues the protagonist from an impossible
situation or enlightens him on how to resolve an issue at the
last minute.
Play-within-the Play
• a play-within-the –play is a play that is created in another play.
• Usually it is a complete play with a beginning, middle and an
end.
• It has its own theme which in many cases is related to the
theme of the main play.
Setting
• It is the time and place when and where the action of the play
takes place.
• Types of Setting
• Geographical/Physical/Occupational:
• This is the actual geographical location of the story and
whatever surrounds the place where the story is located.
• It also includes the manner of daily living of the people.
• Physical setting also includes the manner of daily living of the
people.
Temporal/Historical Setting:
• includes the date, the season, the general atmosphere in the
locale like:
• war, fuel scarcity, democratic or military rule.
• General Environmental Setting:
• The social, moral, emotional, mental and religious
backgrounds of the story.
DRAMATIC CONVENTIONS
• to present real life on stage so using an illusion of reality.
• certain devices to make this illusion as realistic as possible.
• in the Classical Age the convention was that the dialogue is
presented in verse.
• It is not compulsory for every work to conform to preexisting
conventions
• what matters is how effectively an individual writer makes
use of them.
DRAMATIC CONVENTIONS
• Prologue
• This is the introductory part of the play.
• Epilogue
• It is presented at the end of the play.
• Interlude
• short piece of entertainment that is presented between the
acts or major scenes in a play.
• Soliloquy
• Soliloquy is a speech made by a character when he is alone .
DRAMATIC CONVENTIONS
• Aside
a character speaks to himself or makes a comment in the
presence of another character.
• Dramatic Illusion
you pretend that what you are watching is real.
• The Fourth Wall
DRAMATIC GENRES
• the term genre is taken from the French language
and it means type, kind, or form.
Tragedy

• 'tragedy' and tragic as they are associated with

misfortune.
• used to describe personal misfortunes that do not
concern the rest of the society.
• For example,
• the breakdown of a marriage or death of a dear one
in an accident or even natural causes could be
described as tragic.
 Comedy
• describe something that is funny in our everyday lives. These
include a joke, or a fantastic story.

• that is full of nonsense, or an absurd appearance that makes us

giggle, a smile or laugh.
• In most comedies, the principal characters begin in a state of
opposition either to one another or to their world or both.
• By the end of the play, their opposition is replaced by harmony.
comedy
• Aristotle in his “Poetics” insisted that in tragedy men are
shown “better than they are”, while in comedy “worse than
they are .
• Moliere believed that his audience could learn from the
dramatization of ridiculous and universal types.
• Comedy therefore teaches through laughter.
• Philip Sidney, in “Arts Poetica”, in the most ridiculous and
scornful manner so that the spectator is anxious to avoid such
errors himself.
• Ben Jonson also believes that laughter does not really help to
achieve the aims of comedy but maysubvert those aims.
comedy
• through its style, characterization, diction and other elements
of style.
• The purpose of comedy is to delight, to teach and to entertain
the audience through the presentation of characters,
situations and ideas in a ridiculous manner.
• Satire is an important instrument in comedy because nothing
reforms majority of men like the portrayal of their faults.
• The aim is to correct social ills, social injustice or to ridicule a
particular human fault or social imbalance.
Melodrama
• The word melodrama is coined from melo (music) and dran
(drama).
• therefore, a play that utilizes music extensively.
• what really makes it melodrama is its portrayal of the
protagonist and the antagonist.
• The protagonist suffers a lot but triumphs in the end while the
antagonist suffers.
• a play that has serious action caused by a villain and a
destruction of the villain which brings about a happy
resolution in the play
Tragi-comedy
• Tragi-comedy is a play that mixes both
comic and tragic elements in equal
proportion of each.
Drame
• deals with man in common place and contemporary
circumstance.
Farce
• comedy of situation, is a humorous play on
a trivial theme usually one that is familiar
to the audience.
• it does not tell a full story or present a
logical plot.