Literatur

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 DEFINITION OF
LITERATURE
 
Latin term litera which means letter.
any printed material written within a
book, a magazine or a pamphlet.
a faithful reproduction of man’s
manifold experiences blended into one
harmonious expression.
Because literature deals with ideas,
thoughts and emotions of man,
literature can be said to be the story of
man
Man’s loves, griefs, thoughts, dreams
and aspirations coached in beautiful
language is literature.
 Brother Azurin, said that
“Literature expresses the feelings of
people to society, to the
government, to his surroundings,
to his fellowmen and to his Divine
Creator.” The expression of one’s
feelings, according to him, may be
through love, sorrow, happiness,
hatred, anger, pity, contempt, or
revenge.
 
Literature is anything that is printed, as
long as it is related to the ideas and
feelings of people, whether it is true, or
just a product of one’s imagination
~Webster
True literature is a piece of written work
which is undying. It expresses the
feelings and emotions of people in
response to his everyday efforts to live, to
be happy n his environment and, after
struggles, to reach his Creator.” ~
PANITIKING PILIPINO written by Atienza,
Ramos, Salazar and Nazal
 Literature are written works collectively,
especially those of enduring importance,
exhibiting creative imagination and artistic skill
(Funk and Wagnalls).
 It is both oral and written work characterized
by expressive or imaginative writing, nobility of
thoughts, universality and timeliness.
 Literature appeals to man’s higher nature
and its needs–emotional, spiritual,
intellectual and creative. Like all other forms
of art, literature entertains and gives pleasure;
it fires the imagination and arouses noble
emotions and it enriches man by enabling him
to reflect on life by filling him new ideas.
 STANDARDS OF
GOOD LITERATURE
1. Artistry
2. Intellectual value
3. Suggestiveness
4. Spiritual value
5. Permanence
6. Universality
 UNIVERSALITY
Great literature is timeless
and timely.
Forever relevant, it appeals to
one and all, anytime,
anywhere, because it deals
with elemental feelings,
fundamental truths and
universal conditions.
 ARTISTRY

This is the quality that

appeals to our sense of
beauty .
 PERMANENCE

A great work of literature

endures.
It can be read again and again as
each reading gives fresh delight
and new insights and opens a
new world of meaning and
experience.
Its appeal is lasting.
 INTELLECTUAL VALUE

A literary works stimulates

thought.
It enriches our mental life by
making us realize
fundamental truths about life
and human nature.
 STYLE

This is the peculiar way in

which writers sees life, forms
his ideas and expresses them.
 SPIRITUAL VALUE

Literature elevates the spirit

by bringing out moral values
which makes a better
persons.
The capacity to inspire is part
of the spiritual value of
literature.
 SUGGESTIVENESS

This is associated with the

emotional power of literature.
Great literature moves us deeply
and stirs our feeling and
imagination, giving and evoking
visions above and beyond the
plane of ordinary life and
experience.
IMPORTANCE OF
LITERATURE
 To better appreciate our literary
heritage. We cannot appreciate
something that we do not understand.
Through a study of our literature, we
can trace the rich heritage of ideas
handed down to us from our forefathers.
Then we can understand ourselves
better and take pride in being a Filipino.

 
 Literature provides pleasure to listeners
and readers. It is a relaxing escape from daily
problems, and it fills leisure moments. Making
time for recreational reading and using high-
quality literature help to develop enthusiastic
readers and improve achievement (Block &
Mangieri, 2002). According to Rosenblatt
(1995, p. 175), "The power of literature to offer
entertainment and recreation is . . . still its
prime reason for survival." Developing a love of
literature as a recreational activity is possibly
the most important outcome of a literature
program.

 
Literature builds experience. Children
expand their horizons through vicarious
experiences. They visit new places, gain
new experiences, and meet new people.
They learn about the past as well as the
present and learn about a variety of
cultures, including their own. They
discover the common goals and similar
emotions found in people of all times
and places.
 Literature provides a language model
for those who hear and read it. Good
literature exposes children to correct
sentence patterns, standard story
structures, and varied word usage.
Children for whom English is a second
language can improve their English with
the interesting context, and all children
benefit from new vocabulary that is
woven into the stories.
 Literature develops thinking skills.
Discussions of literature bring out
reasoning related to sequence; cause
and effect; character motivation;
predictions; visualization of actions,
characters, and settings; critical analysis
of the story; and creative responses.
 Literature helps children deal
with their problems. By finding out
about the problems of others
through books, children receive
insights into dealing with their own
problems, a process called
bibliotherapy.
Literature supports all areas of the language
arts curriculum. The chapter-opening
classroom vignette shows how literature brings
together all of the language arts. Listening to
stories provides opportunities for honing
listening skills, and discussion allows children
to express their thoughts, feelings, and
reactions. When students read literature, they
are practicing their comprehension strategies in
meaningful situations. Young writers may use
various genres of literature as models for their
own writing, and literature can be the basis for
creative dramatics. Children can find stories to
read and puzzles to solve on the Internet, and
the computer can serve as a word processor for
creating stories of their own.
 Picture books develop visual literacy.
The carefully crafted, creative
illustrations in picture books develop
children's awareness of line, color,
space, shape, and design. Some
illustrations complement or reinforce the
story, whereas others enhance or extend
the text. Pictures convey meaning and
open new opportunities for
interpretation (Giorgis et al., 1999).
Multicultural literature helps readers
value people from different races,
ethnic groups, and cultures. Excellent,
well-illustrated books are available for
many cultural groups. Children from
such populations gain self-esteem by
seeing themselves represented in books,
and mainstream children begin to
appreciate others from culturally diverse
backgrounds.
 Literature helps establish career
concepts. For children who have limited
knowledge of occupations, literature
expands their ideas for potential careers
(Harkins, 2001).
Literature integrates the curriculum.
Trade books (books of the trade, or
library books) supplement and enrich
any part of the curriculum. Instead of
relying solely on textbooks, look for
recent, brightly illustrated books on
specific topics related to your theme or
subject area. Remember that textbooks
are assigned, but trade books are often
chosen.
 Literature improves reading ability
and attitudes. A study of thirty second-,
third-, fourth-, and sixth-grade
classrooms by Block, Reed, and deTuncq
(2003) indicated that students benefited
more from twenty minutes of daily trade
book or short story reading instruction.
The researchers claim that reading from
trade books resulted in increased
reading ability, improved attitudes
toward reading, and increased reading
rate.
 LITERARY
APPROACHES
 FORMALISTIC OR
LITERARY APPROACH

The study of the selection

is more or less
based on the so-called
“literary
elements”.
MORAL OR HUMANISTIC APPROACH
• Literature is viewed to discuss
man and its nature.
• It presents man as essentially
rational; that is, endowed with
intellect and free will; or that the
piece does not misinterpret the true
nature of man.
• The approach is close to the
“morality” of literature, to questions
of ethical goodness or badness.
 HISTORICAL APPROACH

Literature is seen both as a

reflection and product of the
times and circumstances in
which it was written.
 SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH
LITERATURE

Viewed as the expression of man

within a given social situation
which is reduced to discussions
on economy which will
underscore the conflict between
the two classes- the rich and the
poor.
 CULTURAL APPROACH

Literature is seen as one of the

manifestations and vehicles of a
nation’s or race’s culture and
tradition. It includes the entire
compels of what goes under
“culture”
 PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH
Literature is viewed as the
expression of “personality,” of “inner
drives” or “neurosis”. It includes the
psychology of the author, of the
characters, and even the psychology
of creation. It has resulted in an
almost exhausting and exhaustive
“psychological analysis” of
characters, of symbols and images,
of recurrent themes, and others.
IMPRESSIONISTIC APPROACH

Literature is viewed to elucidate

“reacting response” which is
considered as something very
personal, relative and fruitful.
Unconditioned by explanations
and often taking the impact of
the piece as a whole, it seeks to
see how the piece has
communicated.
 VALUE OF
LITERATURE
• Literature nourishes our emotional
lives.
• Literature broadens our perspectives
on the world.
• The study of literature engages you in
the kinds of problem solving important
win a variety of fields, from philosophy
to science and technology.
• One of the purposes of a college
introduction to literature is to
cultivate the analytic skills necessary
for reading well.
WHY DO WE NEED
TO STUDY
PHILIPPINE
LITERATURE?
• To trace our rich heritage of
ideas and handed down to us
from our forefathers
• For appreciation of our
heritage.
• To understand that we have
noble traditions which can
serve as the means to
assimilate other
cultures.
TWO MAIN DIVISIONS
OF LITERATURE
POETRY
It presents a “heightened awareness of
reality,” but it is poetry that features
“language charged to the nth degree.” By
that Paul Engle meant that poetry
maximizes the power of language and
transmits an intensified artistic
experience–chiefly through suggestion,
figurative language, imagery,
condensation, and sound.
POETRY
To Robert Frost, poetry is the “only
permissible way of saying one thing and
meaning another.” Whatever the poem
wants to say, it expresses in a manner
that appears to be “the only right way of
saying it in the context of the realities it
has started with” (Cirilo Bautista).
POETRY
In poetry the words are so well-arranged such
that one delights in repeating the lines–there
appears to be no other way of saying them. Just
by the sound alone, one derives pleasure from a
poem. Apart from the idea one derives from
poetry, one then also goes through an
experience wrought by the language, music, and
imagery that interlock in a poem, such that one
recites the lines over and over to savor the poetic
experience. The content (what the poem
says)and form (how the poem expresses its main
idea) of the poem have become one.
PROSE
Prose drama-a drama in prose form. It
consists entirely of dialogues in prose, and
is meant to be acted on stage.
Essay-a short literary composition which
is expository in nature. The author shares
some of his thoughts, feelings, experiences
or observations on some aspects of life
that has interested him.
PROSE
Prose fiction:
Novel-a long fictitious narrative with a
complicated plot. It may have a main plot and
one or more subplots that develop with the main
plot. Characters and actions representative of
the real life of past or present times are
portrayed in a plot. It is made up of chapters.
Short story-a fictitious narrative compressed
into one unit of time, place, and action. It deals
with a single character interest, a single emotion
or series of emotions called forth by a single
situation. It is distinguished from the novel by
its compression.
ELEMENTS OF FICTION
CHARACTERS-are the representation of a
human being; persons involved in a conflict.
Round character-is a dynamic character who
recognized changes in the circumstances; is
fully developed character, with many traits
shown in the story.
Flat character-also known as the stock or the
stereotype character who does not grow and
develop; a flat character is not fully developed
and do not undergo changes.
protagonist-the main character
antagonist-a foil to the character
SETTING-the locale and period in which
the events occur. A story must take
place in space, time, and therefore must
have setting. But the importance of
setting varies greatly from story to story.
The setting gives immediacy to the story,
can lend atmosphere to a story and can
enter directly to the meaning of a story.
CONFLICT-the struggle of complication
involving the characters; the opposition of
persons or forces upon which the action
depends in drama and fiction.
Internal Conflict-occurs when the protagonist
struggles within himself or herself; the
protagonist is pulled by two courses of action
or by differing emotions.
Interpersonal conflict-pits the protagonist
against someone else.
External conflict-person against society
POINT OF VIEW- the writer’s feeling and attitude
toward his/her subject; determines who tells the
story; it identifies the narrator of the story.
First person- the narrator uses the pronoun “I.”
S/he could be a participant or a character in his
own work; the narrator maybe the protagonist, an
observer, a minor character, or the writer
himself/herself.
Third person- the writer is mereky an observer
and uses pronoun in the third person.
Omniscient-the narrator sees all; s/he can see
into the minds of characters and evne report
everyone’s innermost thoughts.
TONE/MOOD- the attitude or
mixture of attitude taken by the
writer toward his work.
SYMBOLISM- stand for
something other than
themselves, they bring to mind
not their won concrete qualities,
but the idea or obstruction that
is associated with them.
THEME- the author’s comment
regarding the subject
PLOT-a causally related
sequence of events; what
happens as a result of the main
conflict is presented in a
structured format; is the
sequence of events which
involves the character in
conflict.