Literature the entire body of writings on a given subject a slice of lif e that h a s b e e n g i v e n d i r e c t i o n a n d m e a n i n g an artistic interpretation of the world according

to the percipients point of view i n t r o d u c e s u s t o n e w w o r l d s o f e x p e r i e n c e ( r e a l o r i m a g i n e d ) mans loves, grief, thoughts, dreams, and aspirations coached in beautiful language The purpose of literature is to provide enjoyment and vicarious experiences that can deepen and enrich our lives.

Types of Literature I. Prose closer to t he speec h of ordinar y people

A. Fiction not based on facts. It is make-believe and imaginary. 1.Novel long narrative divided into chapters and involves many characters 2. Short Story narrative of limited length involving one or more characters and one plot 3. Fable a story that teaches a moral or a lesson. The characters are often animals or inanimate things which speak and act like people. 4. Novelette prose narratives that are intermediate between the short story and the novel. 5. Mythology story dealing with the gods, demigods, and legendary heroes of a particular people 6. Anecdote a short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident 7. Fairy Tale simple narrative typically of folk origin dealing with supernatural beings or obviously improbable events, scenes, and personages and often having a whimsical, satirical, or moralistic character 8. Satires stories in which human vices and follies are held up to ridicule 9. Legend usually about origins 10. Folktale 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. 11. Drama the theatrical dialogue performed on stage, which consists of 5 acts and scenes within an act a) Tragedy a story of the major character who faces bad luck. Tragedy, elements of horrors and struggle usually concludes with the death of a person.

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b) Comedy is where the lead character overcomes the conflicts and the overall look is full of laughter and the issues are handled very lightly c)Farce exaggerated comedy where situations are too r i d i c u l o u s t o b e t r u e a n d t h e characters seem to be caricatures the motives undignified and absurd d) Melodrama is a blend of two nouns - melody and drama. It is a musical play most popular by 1840 and is usually sad but has a happy ending like comedy. e)Tragicomedy the play that begins with serious mode but has a happy ending f)Historical Play taken from the lives of outstanding figures in history B. Non- Fiction can be a true story about a person, place, or thing. It is based solely on facts. Anon-fiction book can also be a reference book such as a dictionary, atlas, etc. 1. Essay the authors detailed point of view or opinion about any particular topic or problem 2. Biography is the story of a person's life written or told by another person3.Autobiography is the story of a person's life written or told by that person4.Letters direct or personal written messages addressed to a person or group, for private or public communication 5. Diaries are the incidents recorded by the author without any means of publishing them. It is the rough work of one's daily routine, happenings, memorable days or events in his life 6. News is a report of daily or weekly events related to politics, sports, leisure, fashion, movies and business7.Oration formal treatment of a subject intended to be spoken in public. It appeals to the intellect, to the will or to the emotions of the audience. and

II. Poetry literary work in metrical form; verse

A. Narrative Poetry tells a story in rich imaginative and rhythmical language 1.Epic about heroic exploits often under supernatural control 2.Metrical Tale equivalent of the short story in poetry and deals with any emotion or phase of life and told in a simple, straightforward, and realistic manner 3.Ballad the shortest and simplest narrative poem which tells of a single incident, usually about love, and intended to be sung 4.Metrical Romance long, rambling love story in verse

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B. Lyric Poetry originally meant to be sung, occurred in varied rhythms and often expressed personal emotions and experience 1.Sonnet short poem of 14 iambic pentameter lines grouped into Shakespearean and Italian sonnets 2.Ode poem of noble feeling towards some person or thing worthy of praise and adulation 3.Psalms song praising God 4.Elegy the type of poem lamenting the death of a person and which expresses feelings of grief and melancholy 5.Simple Lyric any short poem where the verse is especially musical or where there is marked subjective or emotional tone 6.Song short lyric poem intended to be sung a)Secular Songs nonreligious b)Sacred songs religious C. Poetic Play / Dramatic Poetry a play, composed in poetic form 1. Tragedy 2. Comedy 3. Farce 4. Melodrama 5. Tragicomedy 6. Historical Play 7. Social Poems may be comic or tragic and aim to bring about changes in social conditions

Literature's Three main divisions

When most people speak of literature they may be talking about short stories, novels, poems, verse, odes, plays, tragedies, even limericks. This wide variety of terms describing types of literature, at first, appears overwhelming. However figuring all of this out is simplified when you take into account that the menagerie of types begins with three major paradigms: prose, poetry, and drama.

Prose
Prose is derived from a Latin root word, prosa, that means "straightforward" (other 3|Page

scholars argue that the root for "prose" is proversa oratio, which means " straightforward discourse." Prose is generally defined as direct, common language presented in a straightforward manner. A victim of identity by negation, prose is frequently defined as "that which is not poetry." Prose demonstrates purposeful grammatic design in that it is constructed strategically by the author to create specific meaning. Prose also contains plot and the attendant narrative structures of plot. In most cultures, prose narrative tends to appear after a culture has developed verse. Prose genres are many and varied, ranging from science fiction to romance. The major generic divisions of prose are: novel - A lengthy fictional prose narrative. novella - A fictional prose narrative ranging from 50 to 100 pages, most common in science fiction and detective fiction. short story - a brief fictional prose narrative. anecdote - A very brief account of some interesting, usually humorous, event.

Poetry
Poetry, from the Greek poetes which means "doer" or "creator," is a catch-all term that is applied to any form of rhythmical or metrical composition. While poetry is considered

to be a subset of verse (and also considered to be superior to verse) both are rhythmical/metrical. What distinguishes poetry from verse is its "imaginative quality, intricate structure, serious or lofty subject matter, or noble purpose." Most culture's first serious literary works are poetry (In Western tradition, we need look only as far as Homer and Hesiod). The purposes of poetry are said to include: 1. A didactic purpose, meaning that it aims to instruct the reader. 2. Unique insight that is not available in other genres. 3. To provide pleasure to the reader. 4. To uplift the reader to some higher insight or meaning.

Drama
Drama, is simply a work that is written to be performed on stage by actors. From the Greek dran, meaning "to do," drama is thought to have developed from ancient religious ceremonies. For instance, Greek comedy is traced to ancient fertility rites. Tragedy (which comes from the Greek word for "goat song") can be traced back to sacrificial rituals. 4|Page

Poetry Descriptions and Definitions

Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words. -Poe Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular. Aristotle Poetry is what gets lost in translation. Robert Frost Always be a poet, even in prose. Charles Baudelaire, My Heart Laid Bare, Intimate journal,1864 Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. Plato, Ion Poetry is to philosophy what the Sabbath is to the rest of the week. Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare Poetry is packsack of invisible keepsakes. Carl Sandburg Poetry is the key to the hieroglyphics of nature. Augustus William Hare Poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response. Poetry has been known to employ meter and rhyme, but this is by no means necessary. Poetry is an ancient form that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention over time. The very nature of poetry as an authentic and individual mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define.

The smell of ink is intoxicating to me- others may have wine, but I have poetry. Terri Guillemets Poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement. Christoper Fry If Galileo had said in verse that the world moved, the inquisition might have let him alone. Thomas Hardy Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance. Carl Sandburg Science is for these who learn; poetry, for those who know. Joseph Roux Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burns. Thomas Gray Poetry is when an emotion has founds its thought and the thought has found words. Robert Frost A poets autobiography is his poetry. Anything else is just a footnote. Yevgeny Yentushenko

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Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. T.S Elliot Poetry is everywhere, it just needs editing. James Tale Poetry is ordinary language raised to the unlimited power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words. Paul Engle

Poetry is perfect verbs hunting for elusive nouns. J. Patrick Lewis The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim. It is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes. W Somerset Maugham

To be is a condition, not a profession. Robert Frost Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth. Samuel Johnson

Elements of Poetry
There are several elements which make up a good poem. Although it is not mandatory for a poet to use all these elements or devices, they form an important aspect of poetry. So, what are the elements of a poem? In brief, they are described below.

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. Listen for the sounds and the music made when we hear the lines spoken aloud. How do the words resonate with each other? How do the words flow when they are linked with one another? Does sound right? Do the words fit with each other? These are the things you consider while studying the rhythm of the poem. 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. Stanza: Stanza in poetry is defined as a smaller unit or group of lines or a paragraph in a poem. A particular stanza has a specific meter, rhyme scheme, etc. Based on the number of lines, stanzas are named as couplet (2 lines), Tercet (3 lines), Quatrain (4 lines), Cinquain (5 lines), Sestet (6 lines), Septet (7 lines), Octave (8 lines). 6|Page

Rhyme: A poem may or may not have a rhyme. When you write poetry that has rhyme, it means that the last words or sounds of the lines match with each other in some form. Rhyme is basically similar sounding words like 'cat' and 'hat', 'close' and 'shows', 'house' and 'mouse', etc. Free verse poetry, though, does not follow this system.

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. It is denoted by alphabets like aabb (1st line rhyming with 2nd, 3rd with 4th); abab (1st with 3rd, 2nd with 4th); abba (1st with 4th, 2nd with 3rd), etc. Alliteration: This is also used in several poems for sound effect. Several words in the sentence may begin with the same alphabet or syllable sound. For example, in the sentence "Many minute miniature moments," the sound of the alphabet 'M' (phonetic sound /m/) is repeated in all the four words continuously. When you say those words aloud, the sound effect generated is called Alliteration.

Simile: A simile is a method of comparison using the words 'like' or 'as'. When, in a poem, something is said to be 'like' another, it means that the poet is using Simile to convey his feelings by comparing it to something. For example, in the statement 'Her laughter was like a babbling brook', the poet is comparing the laughter of the girl to the sound made by a babbling brook. Note that 'babbling brook' is also an example of Alliteration.

Metaphor: A metaphor is a method of comparison where the words 'like' and 'as' are not used. To modify the earlier example, if the statement had been 'Her laughter, a babbling brook', then it would be the use of Metaphor.

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 7|Page

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 reader's mind.

These are the basic elements of poetry. They are an essential part of the structure of a good poem. Of course, it does not mean, that all poems must have all these elements. It depends entirely upon the poet, who has all these tools at his disposal to use in order to convey his ideas effectively.

The History of English Poetry

The history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to the present day. Over this period, English poets have written some of the most enduring poems in Western culture, and the language and its poetry have spread around the globe. Consequently, the term English poetry is unavoidably ambiguous. It can mean poetry written in England, or poetry written in the English language. The earliest surviving poetry from the area currently known as african was likely transmitted orally and then written down in versions that do not now survive; thus, dating the earliest poetry remains difficult and often controversial. The earliest surviving manuscripts date from the 10th century. Poetry written in Latin, Brythonic (a predecessor language of Welsh) and Old Irish survives which may date as early as the 6th century. The earliest surviving poetry written in Anglo-Saxon, the most direct predecessor of modern English, may have been composed as early as the 7th century. With the growth of trade and the British Empire, the English language had been widely used outside England. In the 21st century, only a small percentage of the world's native English speakers live in England, and there is also a vast population of non-native speakers of English who are capable of writing poetry in the language. A number of major national poetries, including the American, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and Indian poetry have emerged and developed. Since 1921, Irish poetry has also been increasingly viewed as a separate area of study. 8|Page

References: Bascara, L. (2003). Kahayon, A. and Zulueta, C. (2000).

http://www.scribd.com/doc/63803570/Types-of-Literature-2 http://classiclit.about.com/od/literaryterms/g/aa_whatisliter.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literat ure http://www.buzzle.com/articles/elements-of-literature.html http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0906950.html http://www.northave.org/MGManual/Literature/Lit1.htm http://www.ziplink.net/~judyplan/q3types.htm

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