Transcript
Genres of Literature
A Report in English 45 (Teaching of Literature)
By: Carlo Vinci L. ArcipeB.S.Ed.- English
What is Literature? Literature, in its broadest sense, consists of
any written productions. It refers to those deemed to have artistic or
intellectual value, or which deploy language in ways that differ from ordinary usage.
In Western Europe prior to the eighteenth century, literature as a term indicated all books and writing. (Leitch et al., The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, 28)
What is Literature? The value judgment definition of literature
considers it to cover exclusively those writings that possess high quality or distinction, forming part of the so-called Belles-lettres ('fine writing') tradition. (Eagleton, Literary theory: an introduction, 9)
This sort of definition is that used in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–11) where it classifies literature as:
"the best expression of the best thought reduced to writing."
What is Literature?
Problematic in this view is that there is no objective definition of what constitutes "literature“.
Anything can be literature, and anything which is universally regarded as literature has the potential to be excluded, since value judgments can change over time.
What is Genre? is any category of literature, music, or other
forms of art or entertainment, whether written or spoken, audio or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria.
Genres form by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented and the use of old ones is discontinued.
Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions.
What is Genre? Genre began as an absolute
classification system for ancient Greek literature. Poetry, prose, and performance each had a specific and calculated style that related to the theme of the story.
Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic
and rhythmic qualities of language.e.g.Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate:Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Lyric Poetry Is a comparatively short, non-narrative poem in which a
single speaker presents a state of mind or an emotional state.
It has 4 kinds: Elegy - a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for
the dead. Ode - a poem in which a person expresses a strong feeling
of love or respect for someone or something. Sonnet - a fourteen-line poem written in iambic
pentameter, which employ one of several rhyme schemes and adhere to a tightly structured thematic organization.
Dramatic Monolouge - a poem in the form of a speech or narrative by an imagined person, in which the speaker inadvertently reveals aspects of their character while describing a particular situation or series of events.
ElegyO Captain! My Captain!
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor
will;The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed
and done;From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object
won;Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
OdeOde on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood by William Wordsworth.There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,The earth, and every common sight To me did seem Apparelled in celestial light,The glory and the freshness of a dream.It is not now as it hath been of yore;-- Turn wheresoe'er I may, By night or day,The things which I have seen I now can see no more.
SonnetShall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:But thy eternal summer shall not fade,Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Sonnet Number 18 by William Shakespeare
Melodic DramaAnd indeed there will be timeTo wonder, 'Do I dare?' and, 'Do I dare?'Time to turn back and descend the stair,With a bald spot in the middle of my hair--(They will say: 'How his hair is growing thin!')My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin--(They will say: 'But how his arms and legs are thin!')Do I dareDisturb the universe?In a minute there is timeFor decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.'
T.S. Eliot's The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock,
Narrative Poetry a form of poetry that tells a story, often making use of
the voices of a narrator and characters as well; the entire story is usually written in metered verse.
It has 3 kinds: Epics - A long narrative poem written in elevated style,
in which heroes of great historical or legendary importance perform valorous deeds. (e.g. Beowulf)
Mock-epic - are typically satires or parodies that mock common Classical stereotypes of heroes and heroic literature. (e.g Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock)
Ballad - a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. Traditional ballads are typically of unknown authorship, having been passed on orally from one generation to the next as part of the folk culture. (The Second Coming William Butler Yeats (1865-1939))
Descriptive and Didactic Poetry Both lyric and narrative poetry can
contain lengthy and detailed descriptions (descriptive poetry) or scenes in direct speech (dramatic poetry).
The purpose of a didactic poem is primarily to teach something.
Descriptive PoetrySmoke
Light-winged Smoke, Icarian bird, Melting thy pinions in thy upward flight,
Lark without song, and messenger of dawn, Circling above the hamlets as thy nest;
Or else, departing dream, and shadowy form Of midnight vision, gathering up thy skirts;
By night star-veiling, and by day Darkening the light and blotting out the sun; Go thou my incense upward from this hearth, And ask the gods to pardon this clear flame.
Didactic Poetry 'Tis hard to say, if greater Want of Skill
Appear in Writing or in Judging ill,But, of the two, less dang'rous is th' Offence,To tire our Patience, than mis-lead our Sense:
Some few in that, but Numbers err in this,Ten Censure wrong for one who Writes amiss;
A Fool might once himself alone expose,Now One in Verse makes many more in Prose.
An excerpt from An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope
Prose written or spoken language in its ordinary form,
without metrical structure.e.g. “The woods look lovely against the setting darkness and as I gaze into the mysterious depths of the forest, I feel like lingering here longer. However, I have pending appointments to keep and much distance to cover before I settle in for the night or else I will be late for all of them.”
Fiction Literature in the form of prose, especially
short stories and novels, that describes imaginary events and people.
There are 2 kinds of Fiction literature: Realistic Fiction - is a genre consisting of
stories that could have actually occurred to people or animals in a believable setting.
Fantastic Fiction -a type of fiction that ideologically and aesthetically subordinates reality to imagination by depicting a world of marvels that is contrasted to everyday reality and to accepted views of what is credible.
Non – Fiction Prose writing that is based on facts, real events, and real
people, such as biography or history. There are 4 kinds of Non – fiction literature:
Biographies - is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death, but also portrays a subject's experience of these life events.
Autobiographies - is a written account of the life of a person written by that person.
Essays - is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument — but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of an article, a pamphlet, and a short story.
Articles - a piece of writing included with others in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication.
Humour - situations, speech, or writings that are thought to be humorous
Drama a piece of writing that tells a story and is performed on
a stage.e.gMiranda Priestly: Do you know why I hired you? I always hire the same girl- stylish, slender, of course... worships the magazine. But so often, they turn out to be- I don't know- disappointing and, um... stupid. So you, with that impressive résumé and the big speech about your so-called work ethic- I, um- I thought you would be different. I said to myself, go ahead. Take a chance. Hire the smart, fat girl. I had hope. My God. I live on it. Anyway, you ended up disappointing me more than, um- more than any of the other silly girls.- Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada, 2006)
Comedy Comedies are lighter in tone
than ordinary writers, and provide a happy conclusion. The intention of dramatists in comedies is to make their audience laugh. Hence, they use quaint circumstances, unusual characters and witty remarks.
TragedyTragic dramas use darker
themes such as disaster, pain and death. Protagonists often have a tragic flaw—a characteristic that leads them to their downfall.
Farce Generally, a farce is a
nonsensical genre of drama, which often overacts or engages slapstick humor.
It’s basically, what you call a “Parody”
MelodramaMelodrama is an
exaggerated drama, which is sensational and appeals directly to the senses of audience. Just like the farce, the characters are of single dimension and simple, or may be stereotyped.
Fantasy It is a complete fictional work where
characters virtually display supernatural skills. It is more appealing to children as fairies, angels, superheroes, etc., are embedded in the plot. Use of magic, pseudo science, horror, and spooky themes through various kinds of technical devices create a perfect world of fantasy. The modern version of drama incorporates a great deal of special effects.
Musical In musical drama, the dramatists
not only tell their story through acting and dialogue, nevertheless through dance as well as music. Often the story may be comedic, though it may also involve serious subjects.
1-3. Enumerate the 3 Genres of Literature.2-5. Enumerate the 2 types of Prose.6-10. List down at least 5 kinds of Drama.
1. Autobiographies is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death, but also portrays a subject's experience of these life events.2. Poetry is a written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.
3. Elegy is a poem of light theme, typically a lament for the dead.4. Literature, in its broadest sense, consists of any written productions.5. Genre is any category of literature, music, or other forms of art or entertainment, whether written or spoken, audio or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria
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