Intro lit
Literature:
An Introduction
What Is Literature and Why Do We Study It?
• Literature [Roberts and Jacobs]
– a composition that tells a story, dramatizes a situation, expresses emotions, analyzes and advocates ideas
– helps us grow personally and intellectually
– language in use; hence inseparable from it
– product of a particular culture; even more culture-bound than language
– makes us human
Literary Genres
Four genres of literature:
Prose fiction
• Epic myths, legends, fables, novels, short stories
Poetry
• Open form and closed form
• Relies on imagery, figurative language, sound
Drama
• Made up of dialogue and set direction
• Designed to be performed
Nonfiction prose
• News reports, feature articles, essays, editorials, textbooks, historical and biographical works
FICTION
-any imaginative recreation and reconstruction of life which includes short stories and novels
-myth and legend -- origins and extraordinary events like wars, conquests, births, death, as well as the phenomena of nature
Elements of Fiction
1. Setting
• a work’s natural, manufactured, political, cultural and temporal environment, including everything that characters know and own (place, time, objects)
• Its purpose is to establish realism or verisimilitude, to organize a story, and to create atmosphere or mood.
• It may reinforce development of characters and theme.
2. Characters the representations of a human being
Classification of fictional characters:
– Round (dynamic) = lifelike, fully-developed and recognizes changes in and adjusts to the circumstances
– Flat = no growth, static
– Stock = representative of a group or class (stereotypical)
– Protagonist = the hero or heroine, main person in the story, person on the quest, etc.
– Antagonist = the person causing the conflict, in opposition to the protagonist, the obstacle, etc.
Five ways of revealing literary characters:
An Introduction
What Is Literature and Why Do We Study It?
• Literature [Roberts and Jacobs]
– a composition that tells a story, dramatizes a situation, expresses emotions, analyzes and advocates ideas
– helps us grow personally and intellectually
– language in use; hence inseparable from it
– product of a particular culture; even more culture-bound than language
– makes us human
Literary Genres
Four genres of literature:
Prose fiction
• Epic myths, legends, fables, novels, short stories
Poetry
• Open form and closed form
• Relies on imagery, figurative language, sound
Drama
• Made up of dialogue and set direction
• Designed to be performed
Nonfiction prose
• News reports, feature articles, essays, editorials, textbooks, historical and biographical works
FICTION
-any imaginative recreation and reconstruction of life which includes short stories and novels
-myth and legend -- origins and extraordinary events like wars, conquests, births, death, as well as the phenomena of nature
Elements of Fiction
1. Setting
• a work’s natural, manufactured, political, cultural and temporal environment, including everything that characters know and own (place, time, objects)
• Its purpose is to establish realism or verisimilitude, to organize a story, and to create atmosphere or mood.
• It may reinforce development of characters and theme.
2. Characters the representations of a human being
Classification of fictional characters:
– Round (dynamic) = lifelike, fully-developed and recognizes changes in and adjusts to the circumstances
– Flat = no growth, static
– Stock = representative of a group or class (stereotypical)
– Protagonist = the hero or heroine, main person in the story, person on the quest, etc.
– Antagonist = the person causing the conflict, in opposition to the protagonist, the obstacle, etc.
Five ways of revealing literary characters: