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THREE GENRES OF

WRITTEN ENGLISH
LITERATURE
Introduction to English
Literature

Literature
May be described as the record in
words of what people have thought
and felt from ancient past to the
present day.
More exactly, literature is good
writing that helps us understand that
human beings in all times and places
have much in common.

Two Divisions of Literature


Written Literature
Oral Tradition:
This includes folktales, folksongs,
ballads, traditional theaters, riddles,
charms, etc. which were passed by
word of mouth from one generation
to the next.
Today recorders help to preserve oral
literature.

Written Literature
Written literature is divided into two
broad classes:
FICTION and NONFICTION.

FICTION
Something that the writer invents or
imagines.
It aims to stir our feelings and
imaginations by describing moods of
joy or sadness, by telling us exciting
stories, and by introducing us to
characters whose emotions we may
all understand and share.
Fiction can be: PROSE, DRAMA,
POETRY.

Divisions of each genre


Prose: novel, short story, sketches, novelette,
romance, detective stories, epic, etc.
Drama (a story meant to be acted out on
stage): tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy; absurd play,
farce, etc.
Poetry: free verse, blank verse, sonnet, etc.
Poetry differs from prose in having a regular rhythm,
sometimes using rhyme, and employing a more careful
and beautiful selection of words. Poetry meant deeply
felt, deeply moving language, written or spoken in a
special form.

NONFICTION
The kind of writing we turn to when we want to
learn the facts of science and history.
This kind of writing may enter the realm of
literature when the ideas are beautifully
expressed in language that gives added
pleasure.
Examples: Great works of religion and
philosophy, biographies, autobiographies,
diaries, essays (an informal essay a short
piece of prose discusses a subject from a
personal point of view)

PROSE ANALYSIS
INTRINSIC ELEMENTS:
plot, narrator & point of view,
character & characterization, theme,
setting, etc.
EXTRINSIC ELEMENTS:
the biography of the author, the
social/political/psychological/religious
backgrounds of the story, readers
response, and the like.

DRAMA ANALYSIS
INTRINSIC ELEMENTS:
plot, narrator & point of view, character
& characterization, theme, setting,
conflicts, etc.
EXTRINSIC ELEMENTS:
the biography of the author, the
social/political/psychological/religious
backgrounds of the story, readers
response, and the like.

POETRY ANALYSIS
INTRINSIC ELEMENTS:
narrator/the supposed speaker of the poem,
theme, rhyme, rhyme scheme,
rhythm/meter, figurative languages/figures
of speech, etc.
EXTRINSIC ELEMENTS:
the biography of the author, the
social/political/psychological/religious
backgrounds of the story, readers response,
and the like.

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