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LITERATURE: AN INTRODUCTION

Before Albert Einstein formed the Theory of Relativity, he first learned how to count; before Mozart played his first composition, he first learned the different notes and before Hemingway even published his “The Old Man and the Sea,” he first learned the ABC’s. Okay, I’m not saying that this article is all about the English Alphabet. I’m pretty sure all of you have mastered that in preschool. What I’m trying to say is that we should all learn the basics before taking the second step in fiction writing.

 

WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIVES OF WRITING?

- to communicate and to impart knowledge.

- to evoke a feeling to the reader.

- to make the readers explore the world, see extraordinary things and have a remarkable experience without going anywhere.

- But most of all, to tell the story brewing inside you, the writer.

 

LITERATURE:

Literature comes from the latin word “Litera” which generally means an acquaintance with letters, the root definition of literature. It is an art that reflects the works of imagination, aesthetics, and creative writing which are distinguished for the beauty of style or expression as in fiction, poetry, essay, or drama, in distinction from scientific treatises and works which contain positive knowledge. ¹

 

Simply put, literature is “the art of written works.” ²

Classification of Literature:³

1. Structure

          A. Fiction

          B. Nonfiction

2. Form

A. Prose – is a literary medium that corresponds closely to everyday speech patterns and is used to provide detailed descriptions of ideas, objects, or situations e.g. essays, short stories, novels, etc.

B. Poetry – is a literary work expressed in verse, measure, rhythm, sound, and imaginative language and creates and emotional response to an experience, feeling or fact e.g. poems, odes and the like.

3. Genre

1. Fiction – is a narrative prose that shows an imaginative recreation and reconstruction of life and presents human life in two levels: the world of objective reality made up of human actions and experiences, and the world of subjective reality dealing with human apprehension and comprehension categorized either as a novel or short story.

2. Poetry – is a patterned form of verbal or written expression of ideas in concentrated, imaginative, and rhythmical terms that often contain the elements of sense, sound and structure.

3. Essay- is a prose composition in moderate length that presents a tentative exploration or evaluation of asubject and thus explains a viewpoint or anything that can be said on a particular subject.

4. Drama – is a composition in prose form that presents a story told entirely in dialogue and action, and written with the intention of its eventual performance before an audience.

 

Confused? Let me clear it up: the above mentioned genres are called the “Literary Genres” while the ones you are thinking of right now–sci-fi, fantasy, thrillers, young adult, etc.– fall under the “Fictional Genres” which we will discuss later on.

Footnotes:
[1][3] Sialongo, Erlinda B. et. al. Literatures of the World. Manila: Rex Bookstore Inc., 2007.
[2] Wikipedia. February 19,2009. February 20, 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literature>