Survey of Philippine Literature ( Preliminary Exam Reviewer)

Literature is literally “acquaintance with letters.” It has Latin derivation “litera”

which means individual character (letter)

Literature is a branch of aesthetics, a branch of Philosophy that deals with question

“What is art?”

Literature could be applied broadly to mean any symbolic record encompassing

everything from images and sculptures to letters

literature is “life” itself for it has in its scope man’s feelings and emotions

Literature defined:
•It is the art of combining spoken or written language and their meaning into forms
which have artistic and emotional appeal.
•It deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of man.
•It is a faithful reproduction of life.
•It illuminates life.
•It is our life’s story including its struggles, ideas, failures, sacrifices and happiness.

Why do we study literature? 

•For information
•For amusement
•For higher and keener pleasure
•For cultural upliftment
•For the discovery of broader dimensions in life

Qualities of a Good Literature

Artistry
Should be well written/ beautifully crafted phrases and sentences/ often
memorized

Universal Appeal
Similar to endurance/ different age, groups, nationalities, culture and beliefs

Permanence
Classic literature that are still enjoyed today/ if a piece of work is not enjoyed
20 years after its publication, it will simply be forgotten.

Intellectual Value
it will help us understand our lives and realize truths about humanity and life in
general

Suggestiveness
Underlying suggestions usually carry an enormous amount of emotional
power
Style
The writer of literature will usually have a unique view of the world

Spiritual Value
underlying moral message

Divisions of Literature

PROSE POETRY

FORM Written in paragraph Written in stanza or verse form.

form

LANGUAGE Expressed in ordinary Expressed in metrical, rhythmical and

language figurative language

APPEAL To the intellect To the emotion

AIM To convince, inform, Stir the imagination and set an ideal of

instruct, imitate and how life should be
reflect

Prose
Prose is a form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It applies a
natural flow of speech / consist of paragraphs

Common Types of Prose

1. Nonfictional Prose - Based on facts/ Biographies and essays

2. Fictional Prose - Partly Imagined or theoretical, example - novels
3. Heroic Prose - literary work may be written down or recited, example -
legends and tales
4. Prose Poetry - written in prose instead of verse.

Prose in Literature

1. Prose in Novels
This is usually written in the form of a narrative, and may be entirely a figment
of the author’s imagination.
2. Prose in Speeches
Prose used in speeches often expresses thoughts and ideas of the speaker.
3. Prose in Plays
Prose written in plays aims to be dramatic and eventful

TYPES OF PROSE
1.Prose Drama – a drama or story re-created by actors on stage in front of an
audience.
2.Essay – non-fiction expository writing ranging from informal, personal topics
to closely critical treatment of important subjects.
3.Prose fiction- includes narratives created by an author as distinguished
from true incidents.
a.Novel- a long fictitious narrative with complicated plot.
b.Short story- a fictitious narrative compressed into one unit of time, place
and action.
4. Biography and Autobiography
5.Letter
6.Diary

Elements of Fiction

Types:
a. Round character
Is a dynamic character who recognizes changes in the circumstances.
Is a fully developed character, with many traits-bad and good-shown in the
story

b. Flat character The stereo-typed character

- Protagonist
- Antagonist

Setting - Time and place

Conflict - Character circumtances
Plot - Arrangement of incidents
Theme - Central idea/ love, death, fate, madness, society etc.

Pyramidal structure of a plot

a. Exposition (beginning) introduces the time, place, setting and main
characters.

b. Complication (rising action) unfolds the problems and struggles of the

characters

c. Climax – (results of the crisis) part where the problem or crisis is the
highest point of interest.

d. Denouement- shows the conflict is solved

e. Resolution –(end) contains the last statement about the story

Plot devices:
a.Flashback - past events are inserted into the current story.
b.Foreshadowing - hints or suggests future events in a story
c.Suspense - Creates attention to the people.
d.Surprise ending - Sudden plot twist or unexpected shift
e. In Media Res - starting a story in the middle of the action

Point of View
–The writer’s feeling and attitude toward his subject

NAME CHARACTERISTICS PRONOUN

First person Speaker part of the story, can I, me, mine, we, us, our(s)
observe characters, but
reveals feelings and reactions
only of self.

Third person Story told only as one He, him, his, she, her (s), they,
character can observe them, their(s)

Limited Third Person Narrator not part of the story; He, him, his, her(s), they,
cannot read any character’s them, their(s)
mind

Omniscient Narrator/author know all and He, him, his, she, her(s), they,
sees all them, their (s)

Poetry is a kind of language that says it more intensely than ordinary

language.

Elements of Poetry
1. Sense – is revealed through the meaning of words, images and
symbols.
A. Diction - denotative and conotative
B. Images and sense impression - sight, sound , smell, touch, motion, and
emotion
C. Figures of speech - simile, metaphor, personification etc.

2. Structure – refers to (1) arrangement of words

a.Word order – natural and unnatural arrangement of words.
b.Ellipsis – omitting some words for economy and effect
c.Punctuation – abundance or lack of punctuation marks
d.Shape – contextual and visual designs: jumps, omission of spaces,
capitalization, lower case.

Narrative Poetry

Epic - About war

Metrical Tale - Idylls or home tales/strong moral purpose
Metrical Romance - Story of Adventure, love, and chivalry
Ballad - intented to be sung/meter and stanza
Popullar ballad - simple incidents/ influenced by modern civilization
Modern - imitation of the folk ballad
Metrical Allegory - things and actions are symbolic

Lyric Poetry
Ode - written in a spirit of praise of some persons or thinghs
Elegy - Poem of death
Song - Has twelve syllables/ uses guitar or banduria
Corridos - Has eight syllables
Sonnet - fourteen lines, ten syllables

Figures of speech

Simile - uses words like or as

Metaphor - direct comparison/ without as or like

Personification - animals and plants that has human traits

Apostrophe - Adress to dead or inanimate

Metonymy - word that relates to a person or a thing

Synecdoche - uses a part to represent the whole

Hyperbole - exaggeration

Irony - says the opposite of what is meant

Allusion - Refers to any biblical, mythological scientific event

Antithesis - Contrast of words

Paradox - uses a phrase or statement but make some kind of emotional
sense

Litotes - used to affirm by negating its oppossite

Oxymoron - put together inone statement two contradictory terms

Onomatopoeia - imitate sounds in surroundings

Genres of Literature

Narrative - Based on fact

Essays - Has theme and subject

Biography - written account on another person’s life

Autobiography - told by himself

Speech - Power of speaking

Drama - Dramatic art represented

Poetry - verse and rhythmic writing

Fantasy - Fiction

Humor - contained with all genres/ perceiving what is amusing

Fable - Supernatural or extraordinary people

Fairy Tales - Stories about fairies, meant for children

Science fiction - impact of science

Short story - does not support subplots

Realistic fiction - Can actually happen, or true to real life

Folklore - handed down by word of mouth

Historical fiction - historical setting

Horror - overwhelming

Tall tale - swaggering heroes who do the impossible with nonchalance

Legend - based on facts but includes imaginative material

Mystery - Solution of crime

Mythology - Action of the Gods

Fiction in verse - presented in blank verse form

Literary elements - characteristics of a whole text

Literary Techniques - Constructions or choices of author to convey

meaning in a particular way

Matatalinhagang Salita

Gunamgunam (Pangalan) - Pagiisip / Isip

Eg; Marahil ay ginugunamgunam niya ako sapagkat madalas siyang

kumakatok sa aking isipan.

Dagitab (Pangalan) - elektrisidad o kuryente / Isang mabilis o

pansamantalang liwanag

Eg; Tila ba ay may umusbong na dagitab sa aking mga mata nang

makita ko siya

Sapantaha (Pangalan) - Palagay o Kuro

Eg; Ang sapantaha ng aking mga kaklase sakanya ay mali.