Literary Arts and Works

Literary Analysis

How to Properly Understand What You're Reading

Poll

Have you ever read for fun and not as a requirement?

• Yes, always

• Yes, sometimes

• Maybe, I'm not sure

• Not really

Literary Analysis

This is the evaluation or study of a work of literature, from books to essays, poems to stories.

Before we analyze literature...

Let us try to understand first - why should we read literary works?

Click on the external link for a short explanation of what literature is and its importance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neRyi3i3K20

So.. Literary Analysis.

What do we need to remember when reading and understanding a literary work?

Pre-reading

• Make sure you get enough light (avoid reading in the dark!)

• Be mentally ready

• Have paper and pen (or a device) ready to take notes

• Remove distractions in your surroundings (loud noise, etc)

Multiple Choice

Which one should you NOT DO before reading?

• read in a dark place

• remove distractions such as loud music

• prepare yourself mentally

• have something to write notes in

While Reading

• Note down unfamiliar words

• Read carefully

• Highlight or note down important details

• Enjoy!

Analyzing What You Read

• Write down as you think.

• Note the theme, conflict, characters, and setting of what you read.

• Try to think about the purpose of what you read - why do you think it was written? Is there a message it wants to say?

• Review and edit your analysis.

When Editing...

• Check if your sentences make sense

• Remember your rules on capitalization, and don't forget punctuations

• Remove unnecessary comments

• Keep long, flowery words to a minimum

• Read the whole thing again

More importantly...

Ask yourself whether or not you liked what you've read.

Multiple Select

Should I have fun while reading?

• Definitely!

• Absolutely not

• I have mixed feelings about this.

Multiple Choice

Which one should you keep to a minimum?

• Opinions

• Punctuations

• Long, flowery words

• rereading the literary work

Open Ended

Review: Why is reading literature important?

The Literary Elements

1. Analyze and interpret the theme and techniques used in a particular text

2. Create samples of different literary elements based on one's experience

Vocabulary List

• Characters- are persons, animals, and other things that make the story alive.

• Setting- basically refers to the time and place of the narrative.

• Plot- refers to the strings of event present in the narrative.

• Point of view- is the narrator's way of telling the story

• Theme- is the subject of the story.

Vocabulary List

• Poetry- is an art form that figurative languages such as simile and metaphor.

• Drama- is an art form that is usually done on stage.

• Fiction- is an art form that is usually uses the ordinary language.

• Dialogue- is the exchange of ideas of the characters in a fiction.

​Characters

​any person, animal, or figure represented in a literary work. 

​

​Characters can have many traits that change and grow over time just like people in real life.

​

Traits:

Impatient, proud, selfish, mature, creative, loving, funny, clever, etc.​

​Characters can be:

• ​The Protagonist

  • ​​the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text.

• ​The Antagonist

  • ​A character in a story who opposes, or goes against the protagonist.

​Theme

​The lesson, moral, or message of a story.

​

​The lesson a main character learns, that we can all learn from in our lives.

​

​Example: Never be afraid to start over

​Setting

​Where and when a story take place

​

​Where and when the story takes place can impact the whole story!

​

​Winter vs. Summer

​Future vs. Past

​Earth vs. Mars

​2020 vs. 2018

​Day vs. Night

​Plot

​The series of events in a story.

​

​Exposition

​Conflict & Rising Action

​Climax

​Falling action

​Resoloution

​Exposition

​The exposition is the beginning of the story (setting and characters introduced).

​

​In the first few chapters

​Conflict & Rising Action

Conflict & Rising action is what happens in a story leading up to the most exciting part of a story. Often includes problems that the characters have to face and solve

Climax

Climax the most exciting part, or major turning point of the plot 

​Falling Action

Falling action is every action in the story after the climax and before the very end.​

​Resoloution

​Resolution: the way in which the problem in the story is solved. How things end up in the story.

Open Ended

What do you think of the emerging contemporary literature? Are the earlier genres/period better in terms of element and structure?

​Dimensions of Philippine Literature

• Filipino writers began to develop new themes, styles, and techniques.

• The rise of English writers began after exposure to American language and culture, although there were still many Filipino writers observed using the vernaculars.

• ​The common literary themes in novels and short stories were war experiences.

• ​Oral tradition became less popular as people became more interested in short stories.

​Post-War Philippine Literature in a Nutshell

​

• The rise of fluent writers in English during the post-war period up to the present shows how flexible, imaginative, and talented Filipinos are.

• Rizal’s influence is eminent among the social realist writers.

• Spanish influences can still be observed in terms of cultures and languages used in literature by some prominent writers such as Nick Joaquin.

• Our experiences during colonial period which stretches up to the present truly reflected in the most notable Filipino works in the field of literature.

​​CHARACTERISTICS OF 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE:

• Written by contemporary authors within the last decade

• Deals with current issues and themes

• Reflects technological culture

• Literature of emerging genres

• Often breaks traditional writing

Multiple Select

We can describe the 21st Century Literature as follows: __________.

(Select all that apply.)

• Deviates from traditional writing

• Reflects technological culture

• Deals with current issues and themes

• Written by Jose Rizal

​21st Century Literary Genres

• ​Blog - known as web log or a website containing short articles called posts that are changed regularly.

• ​Chick Lit - This genre fiction addresses issues of modern womanhood, often humorously and light-heartedly

• ​Creative Nonfiction- known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction, it is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other nonfiction, such as technical writing or journalism, which is also rooted in accurate fact, but is not primarily written in service to its craft.

• Flash Fiction- characterized with a style of fictional literature or fiction of extreme brevity (three hundred words)

• ​Hyperpoetry- form of digital poetry that uses links using hypertext mark-up. It is a very visual form, and is related to hypertext fiction and visual arts.

• ​Mobile Phone Text Tula- tanaga, a type of Filipino poem, consisting of four lines with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line

• ​Speculative Fiction- This is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, weird fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and postapocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts.

Multiple Choice

This literary genre is characterized with a style of fictional literature or fiction of extreme brevity (three hundred words).

• Creative Non Fiction

• Flash Fiction

• Web log

• Speculative Fiction

13 Classic Literary Works

Introduction to Poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a type of literature, or artistic writing, that attempts to stir a reader's imagination or emotions. The poet does this by carefully choosing and arranging language for its meaning, sound, and rhythm. Some poems, such as nursery rhymes, are simple and humorous.

Poll

Do you like to read poetry?

Poetry Organization

Poetry doesn't follow the same rules as traditional literature. It's not written in sentences and paragraphs.

Instead, poetry is written in lines and stanzas.

Stanza

• A stanza is like a small paragraph in a poem.

• Stanzas are usually separated by some blank space.

• This poem has 8 lines, and 2 stanzas.

Multiple Choice

How many stanzas are in this poem?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Multiple Choice

What are two rhyming words from this poem?

• tugs, giggles

• grins, wins

• war, hugs

Multiple Choice

What do authors use to create rhythm in a poem?

• Onomatopoeia and similes

• punctuation and spacing

• syllables and rhyme scheme

Poetry

is a type of literature based on the interplay of words and rhythm. It often employs rhyme and meter (a set of rules governing the number and arrangement of

syllables in each line). In poetry, words are strung together to form sounds, images, and ideas that might be too complex or abstract to describe directly.

Poetry

Compared to prose, where there is no such restriction, and the content of the piece flows according to story, a poem may or may not have

a story, but definitely has a structured method of writing.

Elements of Poetry

RHYTHM is the music made by the statements of the poem, which includes the syllables in the lines. The best method of understanding this is to read the poem

aloud, and understand the stressed and unstressed syllables.

Elements of Poetry

METER is the basic structural make-up of the poem. Do the syllables match with each other? Every line in the poem must adhere to this structure. A poem is

made up of blocks of lines, which convey a single strand of thought. Within those blocks, a structure of syllables which follow the rhythm has to be included. This

is the meter or the metrical form of poetry.

Elements of Poetry

STANZA in poetry is defined as a smaller unit or group of lines or a paragraph in a poem. A particular stanza has a specific meter, rhyme scheme, etc. Based on

the number of lines, stanzas are named as couplet (2 lines), Tercet (3 lines), Quatrain (4 lines), Cinquain (5 lines), Sestet (6 lines), Septet (7 lines), Octave (8 lines).

Elements of Poetry

RHYME A poem may or may not have a rhyme. When you write poetry that has rhyme, it means that the last words or sounds of the lines match with each other

in some form. Rhyme is basically similar sounding words like 'cat' and 'hat', 'close' and 'shows', 'house' and 'mouse', etc. Free verse poetry, though, does not

follow this system.

Elements of Poetry

RHYME SCHEME As a continuation of rhyme, it is defined as the pattern of rhyme. Either the last words of the first- and second-lines rhyme with each other, or the first and the third, second and the fourth and so on. It is denoted by alphabets like aabb (1st line rhyming with 2nd, 3rd with 4th); abab (1st with 3rd, 2nd with 4th); abba (1st with 4th, 2nd with 3rd), etc.

Elements of Poetry

THEME is what the poem is all about. The theme of the poem is the central idea that the poet wants to convey. It can be a story, or a thought, or a description of

something or someone; anything that the poem is about.

Elements of Poetry

SYMBOLISM Often poems will convey ideas and thoughts using symbols. A symbol can stand for many things at one time and leads the reader out of a

systematic and structured method of looking at things. Often a symbol used in the poem will be used to create such an effect.

Elements of Poetry

IMAGERY is also one of the important elements of a poem. This device is used by the poet for readers to create an image in their imagination. Imagery appeals

to all the five senses. For e.g., when the poet describes, 'the flower is bright red', an image of a red flower is immediately created in the reader's mind.