Literature (from Latin litterae (plural); letter) is the art of written work and can, in some circumstances, refer

exclusively to published sources. The word literature literally means "things made from letters" and the pars pro toto term "letters" is sometimes used to signify "literature," as in the figures of speech "arts and letters" and "man of letters." Literature is commonly classified as having two major formsfiction & non-fictionand two major techniquespoetry and prose. Literature may consist of texts based on factual information (journalistic or non-fiction), as well as on original imagination, such as polemical works as well as autobiography, and reflective essays as well as belles-lettres. Literature can be classified according to historical periods, genres, and political influences. The concept of genre, which earlier was limited, has broadened over the centuries. A genre consists of artistic works which fall within a certain central theme, and examples of genre

include romance, mystery, crime, fantasy, erotica, and adventure, among others. it is a tool for instruction, for information and for research. to trace and appreciate our literary heritage handed down to us by our forefathers.

An autobiography is the story of a person's life written or told by that person.

Bill Peet: An Autobiography

A biography is the story of a person's life written or told by another person.

Eleanor, by Barbara Cooney

A fable is a story that teaches a moral or a lesson. It often has animal characters.

The Tortoise and the Hare

Fantasy novels are often set in worlds much different from our own and usually include magic, sorcery and mythical creature.

The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

A folktale is a story that has been passed down, usually orally, within a culture. It may be based on superstition and feature supernatural characters. Folktales include fairy tales, tall tales, trickster tales and other stories passed down over generations.

Hansel and Gretel

A legend is a story that has been handed down over generations and is believed to be based on history, though it typically mixes fact and fiction. The hero of a legend is usually a human.

King Arthur and the Roundtable

A myth is a traditional story that a particular culture or group once accepted as sacred and true. It may center on a god or supernatural being and explain how something came to be, such as lightning or music or the world itself.

The Greek story of the Titan Prometheus bringing fire to humankind

Science fiction stories examine how science and technology affect the world. The books often involve fantasy inventions that may be reality in the future.

The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula Le Guin Literary element A literary element is an element found in the whole works of literature. Literary elements are not "used" by all authors; instead, they exist inherently in forms of literature and are derived by the readers of a work in question.[1] This distinguishes them from literary techniques, which are less universal and are used intentionally rather than being emergent characteristics of a literary work. For example, characterization, conflict, setting, and point of view would be considered literary elements, whereas irony or foreshadowing are considered literary techniques. Literary elements are most frequently used to help discussion on a work or better understand a work of literature. For instance, the New York State Comprehensive English Regents Exam requires that students utilize and discuss literary elements relating to specific works in each of the two essays, much like many other state-level high school exams nationwide. Literary elements

antagonist archetype characterization climax conflict dialogue diction denouement (resolution) dramatic structure falling action language mood moral motif narrative mode (point of view) narrative structure peripety

plot protagonist rising action setting speaker syntax theme tone

The Top 20 Figures 1. Alliteration The repetition of an initial consonant sound. 2. Anaphora The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses. (Contrast with epiphora and epistrophe.) 3. Antithesis The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. 4. Apostrophe Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character. 5. Assonance Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words. 6. Chiasmus A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed. 7. Euphemism The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.

8. Hyperbole An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. 9. Irony The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea. 10.Litotes A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. 11.Metaphor An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common. 12.Metonymy A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it. 13.Onomatopoeia The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. 14.Oxymoron A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side. 15.Paradox A statement that appears to contradict itself. 16.Personification A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.

17.Pun A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words. 18.Simile A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common. 19.Synecdoche A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole (for example, ABCs for alphabet) or the whole for a part ("England won the World Cup in 1966"). 20.Understatement A figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation 1. 2. 3. 4. seem less important or serious than it is. Tims took tons of tools to make toys for tots. Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth Five years have passed; Five summers, with the length of Five long winters! and again I hear these waters... Many are called, but few are chosen. "Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness." "Hear the mellow wedding bells"

5.

6. He knowingly led and we followed blindly 7. Passed away instead of died 8. He is as skinny as a toothpick. 9. An ambulance driver goes to a nightime bike accident scene and runs over the accident victim because the victim has crawled to the center of the road with their bike. 10. "The grave's a fine a private place, But none, I think, do there embrace." 11. Bubbly personality - A bubbly personality doesn't mean a person is bubbling over with anything, just that the person is cheerful. 12. Hand - for help

13. "Chug, chug, chug. Puff, puff, puff. Ding-dong, ding-dong. The little train rumbled over the tracks."("Watty Piper" [Arnold Munk], The Little Engine That Could) 14. "I am busy doing nothing." - Oxymorons 15. In George Orwell's Animal Farm, the words "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" are part of the cardinal rules. 16. The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky. 17. I've been to the dentist many times so I know the drill. 18. "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get." 19. The word "lead" is commonly used to refer to bullets. 20. "I understand he has given uniform satisfaction, sir." - P.G Woodehouse character Jeeves on Shakespere. See more at: http://fos.iloveindia.com/understatment-examples.html#sthash.clTnx54F.dpuf