RAMOS, Maurine Nicolai N.

2M5
2 TYPES OF LITERATURE

1. Prose

- It is made up of sentences and paragraphs, without any metrical (or rhyming)

structure.
- It has no formal and metrical structure. It applies a natural flow of speech and
ordinary grammatical structure.
Kinds of Prose:
Fiction:
a. Novel- This is a long narrative divided into chapters. The events are taken from
true-to-life storiesand span a long period of time. There are many characters
involved.
Example: WITHOUT SEEING THE DAWN by Steven Javallena.
b. Short Story- This is a narrative involving one or more characters, one plot and
one single impression. Example: THE LAUGHTER OF MY FATHER by Carlos Bulosan.
c. Plays- This is presented on a stage, is divided into acts and each act has many
scenes. Example: THIRTEEN PLAYS by Wilfredo M. Guerrero.
d. Legends-These are fictitious narrative, usually about origins. Example: THE
BIKOL LEGEND by Pio Duran.
e. Fables- These are also fictitious and they deal with animals and inanimate thins
who speak and act like people and their purpose is to enlighten the minds of
children to events that can mold their ways and attitudes.
Example: THE MONKEY AND THE TURTLE.
Non-fiction:
a. Essay- This expresses the viewpoint or opinion of the writer about a particular
problem or event. The best example of this is the Editorial page of a newspaper.
b. Biography- This deals with the life of a person which may be about himself, his
autobiography or that of others.
Example: CAYETANO ARELLANO by Socorro O. Albert
c. Autobiography- it gives the history of a persons life, written or told by that
person. It is oftenwritten in Narrative form of their persons life.
2. POETRY
-literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and
ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm
- writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in
language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through
meaning, sound, and rhythm

TYPES OF POETRY:
A. NARRATIVE POETRY a poem that tells a story.
1. Epic a long narrative poem of the largest proportions. Epic is a tale mainly
about a hero concerning the beginning, continuance, and the end of events of
great significance on tribal or national significance.
Examples: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Iliad, Odyssey
2. Metrical Tale a narrative poem consisting usually a single series connective
events that are simple, and generally do not form a plot. Examples of these are
simple idylls or home tales, love tales, tales of the supernatural or tales written
for a strong moral purpose in verse form.
Examples: Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Sir Walter Scott's
"The Lady of the Lake."
3. Ballad the simplest type of narrative poetry. It is s short narrative poem telling
a single incident in simple meter and stanzas. It is meant to be sung.
Examples: The Wasteland by Elliot, Thomas Sterns, Sang from the Hart Sire by
Dickinson, Emily
B. LYRIC POETRY a poem that is very personal in nature. It expresses the
authors own thoughts, feelings, moods and reflections in musical language. It
derived its name from the musical instrument, the lyre.
1. Ode a lyric poem of some length, serious in subject and dignified in style. It is
most majestic of the lyric poems. It is written in a spirit of praise of some persons or
things.
Examples: Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early
Childhood by William Wordsworth, Ode to the Confederate Dead by Allen
Tate.
2. Elegy a poem written on the death of a friend of the poet. The ostensible
purpose is to praise the friend. But in the end of the poem, however, we can expect
that poet will have come to terms with his grief.
3. Song a lyric poem in a regular metrical pattern set to music. These have twelve
syllables and slowly sung to the accompaniment of a guitar or banduria.
4. Sonnet a lyric poem containing four iambic pentameter lines, and a complicated
rhyme
Examples: La Vita Nuova by Dante Alighieri, Visions by Francesco Petrarch