Introduction To Literature

Introduction To Literature
Literature
• Literature is defined as:
• ‘Written works,
• e.g. fiction, poetry, drama, and criticism
containing:
important or permanent artistic value
Ezra Pound says:
• "Great literature is simply language charged with
meaning to the utmost possible degree."
Aspects of literature
• Literature has two major aspects,
• one is of simple enjoyment and aesthetic appeal to
the senses.
• other is of analysis and exact description of the
prevailing condition of society in general and man
in particular.
Literature genres
• Some of the major genres of English Literature are
as under:
1. Poetry
2. Drama
3. Novel
4. Prose
Poetry
• an imaginative awareness of experience,

• expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic
language
• evokes an emotional response.
• painting can be made visible to the mind’s eye,
• music can be conveyed by sound and proportion
without singing or instrumentation.
Prose
• It lacks of any metrical structure

and variety of rhythm and is like everyday
speech.
Drama
• Drama is a prose or verse composition,
especially one that tells a serious story.
• intended for representation by actors who

mimic the characters and perform the
dialogues and actions of the written narrative.
Novel
• A novel is a fictional prose narrative of

significant length,
• typically having a plot
• that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and
thoughts of the characters.
Why do we study Literature?
1. Literature always reflects human ideas, beliefs, and societies.

2. Literature helps us to discover ordinary human ways of
understanding life.
3. While reading literature, we explore significant differences and
this allows us to
even experience perspectives of those separated from us by time
and social
barriers.
4. Getting to know the human psyche would help us discover pride
in our own
culture, gain respect for others, and be humble.
Why do we study Literature? cont.
5. We find different human responses and reactions in poems,

essays, diaries, narratives, and in the characters of narratives.
6.We learn about the good and evil forces;
7. Literature provides us with a worldview of things and gives

us a mature perspective of things.
8.Literature serves as an entertainment .

INTRODUCTION TO:
SHORT STORY
Short Story as a Genre:
• "Genre" Refers The Types Of Imaginative
Literature.
• The short story is the most recent genre to
appear in Western Literature.
What is a Short Story?
• A short story is fictional work of prose that

is shorter in length than a novel.
• a short story focuses on one incident,
• has a single plot, a single setting,
• a small number of characters,
• and covers a short period of time.
• Edgar Allan Poe:
“a short story should be read in one sitting, anywhere

from a half hour to two hours.”
• a short story can range from 1,000 to 20,000
words.
Origin/History of short story
• Short story as a form dates back to the oral tradition of the tale
• Written tales emerge in poetic forms - Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
• Boccaccio's Decameron (1351-1353) the precursor of the short
story form, as is the French translation of The Thousand and One
Nights (1704).
• Short story really begins to emerge as a form in the 19th century
Components of Short Story
 Setting
 Plot
 Conflict
 Character
 Point of View
 Theme
Setting:
• The time and location in which a story takes place is

called the setting.
• a) Place - geographical location.
b) Time - When is the story taking place
c) Weather conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy,
d) Social conditions - What is the daily life of the
characters like?
• e) Mood or atmosphere - What feeling is created at
the beginning of the story?
Plot
• The plot is how the author arranges events to develop

his basic idea;
• it is the sequence of events in a story or play.
• The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a
beginning, middle, and end.
• There are five essential parts of plot:
a) Introduction - The beginning of the story where the characters and the
setting is
revealed.
b) Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become complicated
and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and
climax).
c) Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the
story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be
resolved or not?
d) Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve themselves.
The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved
or not(events between climax and denouement).
e) Denouement - This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story
Conflict
• It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident

to another and makes the plot move.
• Within a short story there may be only one central

struggle, or there may be
one dominant struggle with many minor ones.
Types of conflict
• There are two types of conflict:
1) External - A struggle with a force outside one's
self.
2) Internal - A struggle within one's self; a person
must make some decision, overcome
pain, quiet his/her temper, resist an urge, etc.
dimensions of conflict
There are four dimensions of conflict:

1) Man vs. Man (physical) - The leading character struggles with his
physical strength against other men, forces of nature, or animals.
2) Man vs. Circumstances (classical) - The leading character struggles
against fate, or the circumstances of life facing him/her.
3) Man vs. Society (social) - The leading character struggles against
ideas, practices, or customs of other people.
4) Man vs. Himself/ Herself (psychological) - The leading character
struggles with himself/herself; with his/her own soul, ideas of right or
wrong, physical limitations, choices, etc.

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Introduction To Literature

• an imaginative awareness of experience,

• It lacks of any metrical structure

• intended for representation by actors who

• A novel is a fictional prose narrative of

1. Literature always reflects human ideas, beliefs, and societies.

5. We find different human responses and reactions in poems,

6.We learn about the good and evil forces;

7. Literature provides us with a worldview of things and gives

8.Literature serves as an entertainment .

• A short story is fictional work of prose that

“a short story should be read in one sitting, anywhere

• The time and location in which a story takes place is

• The plot is how the author arranges events to develop

• It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident

• Within a short story there may be only one central

There are four dimensions of conflict:

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