literature & drama

• Literature


  Art that is expressive of human feelings
• Literature


  • Shows well-expressed ideas/feelings through symbolic representation (short stories, poetry, drama, play)
• Uses of literature

  • Moral values
  • Propaganda
  • Therapeutic value
• Major classifications of literature

  • Escape
  • Interpretative
• Escape literature


  Purely for entertainment, takes us away from real world; temporarily forget our troubles
• Interpretative literature


  Takes us through imagination
• Plot


  Organized pattern/sequence of events that make up a story; series of incidents related to one another
• Freytag's pyramid

  1. Exposition

  2. Inciting action

  3. Rising action

  4. Climax

  5. Falling action

  6. Resolution
• Progressive linear plot


  • Most common type, chronological structure which first establishes the setting and conflict, then follows the rising action through to a climax, and concludes with falling action, and a resolution
• Episodic plot


  • Consists of many different stories with the same characters, characters and overarching themes develop throughout the episodes
• Parallel plot/subplot


  • Two or more major plots exist in the same story and move in a linear fashion at roughly the same time period, both plots are essential to the development of the story, plots will intersect at some point
• Flashback/Flashforward


  • Transition to an earlier event or scene that departs from the linear structure of a story, these moments disrupt the chronological events of a story to add meaning or depth to a character
• Character


  People represented in a movie, play, or story
• Point of view (POV)


  Refers to who narrates a story and how much that narrator knows
• Setting


  The location and time frame in which the action of a narrative takes place
• Theme


  Main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that is conveyed by an author and interpreted by a reader
• Irony & Symbolism


  Occurs when a moment of dialogue or plot contradicts the expectations of a character or audience; the use of words or images to symbolize specific concepts, people, objects, or events
• Style


  Refers to the writer's choice of diction, sentence structure, literary techniques, and use of rhythm
• Prose

  • Does not pay attention to rhyme and rhythm
  • The writer usually has no word limit
  • Ideas are written in sentences; sentences are grouped into paragraphs
  • Language is more natural and grammatical
  • Can be understood by reading once
• Poetry


  • Pays attention to rhyme and rhythm
  • Poets use a limited number of words
  • Ideas are written in lines; lines are grouped into stanzas
  • Language is figurative and rhythmical
  • More than one reading may be needed to understand the meaning
• Haiku

  Consists of just three lines (tercet); the first and third lines have five syllables, whereas the second has seven. Haikus don't have to rhyme and are usually written to evoke a particular mood or instance.
• Acrostic


  Type of poetry that spells out a name, word, phrase or message with the first letter of each line of the poem. It can rhyme or not, and typically the word spelt out, lays down the theme of the poem.
• Diamante


  Unrhymed 7 line poem about opposites
• Diamante poem structure

  1. 1st line - topic 1

  2. 2nd line - adjective, adjective (about topic 1)

  3. 3rd line - 3 -ing words (about topic 1)

  4. 4th line - 4 nouns or a short phrase (about both topics)

  5. 5th line - 3 -ing words (about topic 2)

  6. 6th line - adjective, adjective (about topic 2)
• • POETRY
  • Poetry is a branch of Humanities that imaginatively and figuratively expresses man's thoughts and feelings, usually in verse form. 
• Elements of Poetry:

  Language 

  • Poetic language (also called poetic devices) are the tools of of sound or meaning that a poet can use to make the poem more surprising, vivid, complex, or interesting. Examples of these tools include alliteration, onomatopoeia, imagery, metaphors and similes, and allusion. 
• Elements of Poetry

  Tone 

  • The poet's attitude toward the poem's speaker, reader, and subject matter, as interpreted by the reader. Often described as a “mood” that pervades the experience of reading the poem, it is created by the poem's vocabulary, metrical regularity or irregularity, syntax, use of figurative language, and rhyme.
• Elements of Poetry

  Imagery 

  • Imagery is a literary device used in poetry, novels, and other writing that uses vivid description that appeals to a readers' senses to create an image or idea in their head. Through language, imagery does not only paint a picture, but aims to portray the sensational and emotional experience within text.
• Elements of Poetry

  Sounds 

  • Sound devices are special tools the poet can use to create certain effects in the poem to convey and reinforce meaning through sound. The four most common sound devices are repetition, rhyme, alliteration, and assonance.
• Elements of Poetry

  Rhythm and Meter 

  • In poetry, pre-measured patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables are called meters. Meters are the pattern of feet within a sentence. Feet are individual units of rhythm made up of patterns of syllables. A sentence is made up of one or more feet.
• Elements of Poetry

  Thought or meaning 

  • The poem's topic, subject matter, and theme - essentially, these elements express what the poem is about. A poem might have the topic of love, for instance, and express that topic by a subject matter that describes the relationship of a couple using the theme that love is both challenging and rewarding.
• • ESSAY
  • Essay is a literary composition on a particular subject. It is usually short and it expresses the author's personal thoughts, feelings, experiences, or observation on a phase of life that has interested him/her.
• Elements of Essay:

  1. The issue introduced

  2. The writer's viewpoint and thought

  3. The relevance of the issue to the life of the reader
• Elements of a novel:

  1. Setting

  2. Plot

  3. Theme

  4. Characters
• • NOVEL
  • Novel is a  long work of prose fiction dealing with characters  or situations that represent real life and setting and action is in the form of a plot.
• • DRAMA 
  • Drama is a presentation made up of words, sounds, and actions of characters. Some dramas are in the form of poetry - but all dramas must be performed or acted out by character on stage, on film, radio, television, or outdoors.
• Aspects of Drama:

  1. Drama as a script

  2. Drama as a play
• Cross 

  • Movement from one place to another on stage
• Counter cross

  • Tiny cross line in the opposite direction of another actor’s cross
• Sight line

  • Refer to what audience sees on-stage; indicate the limits of the audience vision from extreme seats, including side seats and front and back rows