HANDOUT 3

• Guidelines in Approaching a Literary Text:

  • Read the piece.
  • Re-read with “literature goggles”.
  • Re-read with a literary approach in mind.
  • Annotate your observations, tentative analysis, or questions in the printed copy of the text.
  • Write a thesis statement, or identify the theme.
  • Back up with evidence from the text.
  • Comment on how the piece reflects or not reflects reality.
  • Evaluate the piece’s significance to the reader, the society, and the
• “Literature Goggles”

  • Form
  • Theme
  • Repetition
  • Devices
• Form

  • Prose - is a literary form that uses everyday language in sentences and paragraphs to convey information, express ideas, or present opinions, closely mirroring natural speech patterns.
  • Poetry - is a literary work expressed in verse, measure, rhythm, sound, and imaginative language and creates an emotional response to an experience, feeling or fact. It has different types: sonnet, elegy, ode, etc
• Theme

  • the central idea or point it conveys, often related to concepts like love, betrayal, or coming of age.
  • It reflects the story's core message, limited by the perspective of the central character—what they think, feel, do, and observe.
  • it should be in a complete, original statement.
• Principles in Stating the Theme of the Story

  • It reports for all major details of the story.
  • It may be avowed in more than one way.
  • It is stated in complete statements.
  • It asserts a sweeping statement about life.
  • It avoids statements that condense the theme to some familiar adage, aphorism, dictum, maxim, saying, or value.
• Repetition

  1. Repetition of Words

  • My dreams are dreams of thee, fair maid. -Rural Maid

  2. Repetition of Sentences or Phrases

  • I dream that one day our voices will be heard
  • I dream that one day our hope becomes worth.- Paraiso
• Flashback

  • is the writer’s use of interruption of the chronological sequence of a story to go back to related incidents which occurred prior to the beginning of the story.
• Foreshadowing

  • the writer’s use of hints or clues to indicate events that will occur later in the story. The use of this technique both creates suspense and prepares the reader for what is to come.
• Juxtaposition

  • is the placement of two or more things side by side to highlight their differences.
  • For example, a man walking a well-groomed dog on a pink leash alongside a rough Rottweiler on a spiked collar creates a striking contrast.
  • This literary technique draws attention to the distinct differences between the two elements.
• Symbol

  • an image that becomes so suggestive that it takes on much more meaning than its descriptive value.
  • It urges the reader to look beyond the literal significance of the poem’s statement of action: the connotations of the words, repetition, placement, or other indications of emphasis.
  • It is considered as the richest and at the same time the most difficult of all the poetical figures.
• Imagery

  • the use of sensory details or descriptions that appeal tone or more of the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell; senses of the mind
• Visual Imagery

  • This the most frequent type of imagery used to recreate a certain image.
  • e.g. The crimson liquid spilled from the neck of the white dove, staining and matting its pure, white feathers.
• Auditory Imagery

  • This is the mental representation of any sound and it is vital in imagining and feeling a situation.
  • e.g. "....Which has its sounds, familiar, like the roar Of trees and crack of branches, common things, But nothing so like beating on a box"(From 'An Old Man's Winter Night' by Robert Frost)
• Kinesthetic Imagery

  • It is a broader term used to describe the sense of movement or tension.
  • e.g. "The clay oozed between Jeremy's fingers as he let out a squeal of pure glee."
  • e.g. "Tossing their heads in sprightly dance" (from 'Daffodils' by W. Wordsworth)
• Olfactory Imagery

  • It is related to smell and this imagery helps summon and deliver the smells to the reader.
  • e.g."I was awakened by the strong smell of a freshly brewed coffee."
• Tactile imagery

  • It appeals to the sense of touch by presenting attributes like hardness, softness or hot and cold sensations
  • e.g. 'The bed linens might just as well be ice and the clothes snow.' From Robert Frost's "The Witch of Coos
• Gustatory imagery

  • It illustrates and recreates the tastes of food or many other things.
  • e.g. "I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast. Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold" (From the poem "This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams)
• Figures of Speech

  • are specific devices or a kind of figurative language that uses words, phrases, and sentences in a non-literal definition but, rather, gives meanings in abstractions.
• Allusion

  • a figure of speech that makes a reference to or a representation of people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication.
• Anaphora

  • a rhetorical device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the beginning of neighboring clauses, thereby lending them emphasis
• Antithesis

  • is a rhetorical device that juxtaposes contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses.
  • place opposing concepts near each other, creating a sense of balance and offering deeper insight into the subject.
• Apostrophe

  • a figure of speech in which some absent or non-existent person or thing is addressed as if present and capable of understanding or replying.
• Hyperbole

  • Involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis.
• Irony

  • refers to a situation, statement, or circumstance where things are not as they seem, often being the exact opposite of what is expected.
  • It occurs in three forms, one of which is situational irony, where there is a gap between what is expected to happen and what actually occurs.
• Dramatic Irony

  • where a character is unaware of pivotal information already revealed to the audience (the discrepancy here lies in the two levels of awareness between the character and the audience)
• Verbal Irony

  • where one states one thing while meaning another. The difference between verbal irony and sarcasm is exquisitely subtle and often contested. Verbal irony is often sarcastic.
• Litotes

  • is a figure of speech where an affirmative statement is made by negating the opposite, often through double negatives.
  • This form of ironic understatement emphasizes a point by expressing it through negation. For example, instead of saying something is attractive, you might say it is "not unattractive."
• Methapor

  • an implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.
• Metonymy

  • a figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated.; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it.
• Oxymoron

  • a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect.
  • Awfully pretty
  • Bittersweet
• Paradox

  • from the Greek word “paradoxon” that means contrary to expectations, existing belief or perceived opinion. .
  • It is a phrase or statement that seems to be impossible or contradictory but is nevertheless true, literally or figuratively.
• Personification

  • a figure of speech in which an inanimate object, an animal or idea is endowed with human qualities or abilities.
• Simile

  • a stated comparison (usually formed with “like”, “than,” or “as”) between two fundamentally dissimilar or unlike things that have certain qualities in common
• Synecdoche

  • a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole, the whole for a part, the specific for the general, the general for the specific, or the material for the thing made from it.
• Synesthesia

  • refers to a technique adopted by writers to present ideas, characters or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one senses like hearing, seeing, smell, etc. at a given time.
  • It is an attempt to fuse different senses by describing one in terms of another.
• Understatement

  • a figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.
• Literary annotation

  • is the act of marking up a text to bring attention to words, phrases, and structure that may have some importance to the overall mood or theme of a poem or any literary text.
  • It is basically a more organized way for a reader to interact with a text. Because you are slowly reading and scrutinizing each line to be able to determine what to annotate, you are compelled to critically analyze the text
• Subject

  • What is the piece about? Why? Sum up the poem’s context/content.
  • Who wrote it? Is there anything in the poem that suggests the writer’s purpose of writing the text?
  • When/where was it written?
  • Who/what influenced the poet?
  • Who is the persona (speaker/ narrator)?
  • Is it written in the first (I), second (you) or third (he/she) person?
  • Where is it set?
  • Who or what features in the poem?
• Theme

  • What are the recurring ideas/topics? Identify the main issues. (love, nature, identity, sexuality, wealth, vanity, etc.) It should be expressed in a complete sentence.
• Tone and Mood

  • What is the writer’s attitude toward his subject, his imagined audience, or himself? (tone)
  • How does the text make the reader feel? (mood)