1.)What is Literature?

Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly speaking, "literature" is
used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term
is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry,
drama, fiction, and nonfiction.
Importance of Literature?
Literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. But, literature is more
important than just a historical or cultural artifact. Literature introduces us to new worlds of
experience. We learn about books and literature; we enjoy the comedies and the tragedies of
poems, stories, and plays; and we may even grow and evolve through our literary journey with
books.
Reading literature is a pleasurable, entertaining activity that offers readers the potential to
escape from the troubles of daily life. Above all else, literature survives because of its capacity
to entertain readers. Literature also has the power to provoke thought in readers, making it a
leisure activity that is also intellectually productive. Literature also has the power to impart a
wide variety of experiences to readers. A story can expose readers to different places, time
periods, viewpoints and cultures. Readers can gain experiences through literature they would
never have access to in ordinary life. Literature's ability to capture the imagination and depict the
lives of others also increases readers' ability to empathize with others. A study published in the
journal Science found that readers of literary fiction demonstrated an increased ability to infer
other people's thoughts and emotions. Finally, literature helps develop critical-thinking skills.
Readings and discussions of literature force readers to make reasoned judgments about
character motivations, cause and effect, critical analysis of plot and more.
2.) 2 types of Literature
Two Divisions of Literature

POETRY
Written in stanza or verse form
Language Expressed in figurative language
Appeal to the emotion

PROSE
Written in paragraph form
Expressed in ordinary form
To the intellect

Aim Stir the imagination and set an idea how

To convince

life should be.

I. Prose
A. Fiction - something invented, imagined, or feigned to be true
Prose Drama a drama in prose form. It consists entirely dialogues in prose, and is meant to be
act on stage.
Essay a short literary composition which is expository in nature. The author shares his
thoughts feelings, experiences, or observations on some aspects of life that has interested him.
Prose Fiction something invented, imagined, or feigned to be true
Novel a long fiction narrative with a complicated plot. It may have one main plot and one or
more sub plots that develop with the main plot. It is made up of chapters.
Short Story a fictitious narrative compressed into one unit of time, place and action. It deals
with single character interest, a single emotion or series of emotions called forth by a single. It is
distinguished from the novel by its compression.
B. Non-Fiction - The branch of literature comprising works of narrative prose dealing with or
offering opinions or conjectures upon facts and reality, including biography, history, and the
essay
Biography a story of a certain persons life written by another who knows the subject well.
Autobiography a written account of mans life written by himself.
Letter a written message which displays aspects of an authors physiological make-up not
immediately apparent in his more public writings. It is a prose form which by the force of its style
and the importance of its statements becomes an object of interest in its own right.
Diary a daily written record of account of the writers own experiences, thoughts, activities or
observations.

Journal a magazine or periodical especially of serious or learned nature. It is the reflection,

opinion of a read material.
II. Poetry
A. Narrative - a poem that tells a story.
1. Epic a long narrative poem of the largest proportions. Epic is a tale mainly about a hero
concerning the beginning, continuance, and the end of events of great significance on tribal or
national significance.
2. Fable a story that teaches a lesson, often using animal characters that behave like people
3. Fantasy a story about characters that may not be realistic and about events that could not
really happen
4. Folk tale an old story that reveals the customs of a culture
5. Legend a story that is based on fact but often includes exaggerations about the hero e.g.
the East African legend of Fumo Liyongo in the coast of Kenya
6. Myth an ancient story often meant to explain the mysteries of life or nature
7. Parable - stories of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
B. Lyric - a poem that is very personal in nature. It expresses the authors own thoughts,
feelings, moods and reflections in musical language.
1. Ode a lyric poem of some length, serious in subject and dignified in style. It is most majestic
of the lyric poems. It is written in a spirit of praise of some persons or things.
2. Elegy a poem written on the death of a friend of the poet. The ostensible purpose is to
praise the friend. But in the end of the poem, however, we can expect that poet will have come
to terms with his grief.
3. Song a lyric poem in a regular metrical pattern set to music. These have twelve syllables
and slowly sung to the accompaniment of a guitar or banduria.
4. Sonnet a lyric poem containing four iambic pentameter lines, and a complicated rhyme.
C. Dramatic

1. Comedy - Some dramatic verse is comedy. It may be comedy in the humorous sense that
readers think of today, or it may be comedy in the classical sense, in that it ends happily in spite
of the sometimes very serious trouble that unfolds throughout the story.
2. Tragedy - A tragedy is any story that ends unhappily