World Literature

• Literature acquaintance with letter
• Literature is a performance of words - Robert Frost
• Literature presents human experience - Arsenia Tan
• Literature is an art of self-expression
• Importance of studying literature:

  • Develop critical appreciation and discrimination of life
  • Acquire mental maturity
  • Escape daily routine and be entertained
  • Develop a taste for the true, the good, and the beautiful
• Literature molds man as a total human being, sympathetic, aware, and sensitive
• Literature educates and entertains, informing us of events in our environment and amusing us with fictitious characters and colorful events
• Types of literature:

  • Prose Fiction: presented in prose form, an imaginative art, educates or entertains readers
  • Poetry: rhythmical composition for pleasure, includes lyric poetry and narrative poetry
  • Drama: a story acted out, includes tragedy, tragicomedy, melodrama, comedy, satirical comedy, comedy of manners, romantic comedy, black comedy, farce
  • Nonfiction Prose: independent part of a publication, includes autobiography, biography, character sketch, diary or journal, editorial, essay
• Literary types:

  • Fiction: literature made up from the writer's imagination, includes drama, short story, novel, myth, folktale, and poetry
  • Non-Fiction: literature based on personal experiences, true and factual, includes autobiography, biography, essay, literary criticism, journal, newspaper, diary, magazine
• Poetry:

  • Lyric Poetry: short, non-narrative poem presenting a state of mind or emotional state
  • Narrative Poetry: presents a series of events, often including action and dialogue
  • Dramatic Poetry: emotional piece of literature with a story recited or sung
• Prose Fiction:

  • Myth: story of origins
  • Legend: unverified story handed down
  • Parable: simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson
  • Fable: characters are animals that speak and act like humans
  • Fairy Tale: includes witches, queens, giants, elves, princes, dragons
  • Short Story: marked by shortness and density, organized into a plot
  • Novel: considerable length with a plot unfolded by characters' actions, speech, and thought
  • Novella: longer than a short story but shorter than a novel
• Drama:

  • Tragedy: serious subject matter about human suffering presented in a dignified manner
  • Comedy: professional entertainment consisting of jokes and satirical sketches
  • Nonfiction Prose: independent part of a publication, includes autobiography, biography, character sketch, diary or journal, editorial, essay