the elements of literature and the combining arts

THE ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE AND THE COMBINING ARTS

It is undeniable that the medium of literature is language, and language is composed of words that are combined into sentences to express ideas, emotions or desires. Writers therefore, should be careful in their choice of words and expressions of their emotions and ideas in order to carefully organize sentences that would manifest a high sense of value.

Objectives that a writer should bear in mind:

1. To strive in raising the level of the reader’s humanity ; and

2. To accomplish the purpose of making one better person, giving him a high sense of value.

IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE1. EMOTIONAL APPEAL It is attained when the reader is emotionally moved or

touched by any literary work.ex.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.I love thee to the depth and breadth and

heightMy soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

Elizabeth B. BrowningHow Do I Love Thee?

2. INTELLECTUAL APPEAL Rizal’s two revolutionary novels, Noli Me

Tangere and El Filibusterismo, are literature of intellectual appeal. Both add knowledge or information and remind the reader of what he has forgotten.

3. HUMANISTIC VALUE It can be attained when a literary work makes

the reader an improved person with a better outlook in life and with a clear understanding of his/her inner self.

Guy de Maupassant’s The Necklace is a very good example of a literary work which has a humanistic value. It shows that a woman’s vanity changes the normality of life, but at the same time, the change is to the advantage of the individual for it leads to self-understanding and a clearer outlook in life.What would have happened if she

had never lost those jewels?Who knows? Who knows? How

strange life is, fickle! How little is needed to ruin or to save!

Excerpted from “The Necklace”

The three-mentioned important elements of literature are embodied in the Holy Bible, as the Gospel of St. John 3:16 states;

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

CLASSIFICATION of LITERATURE

1. ESCAPE LITERATURE It is written for entertainment purposes that

help us pass the time in an agreeable manner. It takes us away from the real world and enables us to temporarily forget our troubles. Its main objective is only to give pleasure.

This is a literary works about fictions and adventures.

2. INTERPRETATIVE LITERATURE It is written to broaden and sharpen our

awareness in life. It takes us, through imagination, deeper into the real world and enables us to understand our troubles. Just like the escape literature, its objective is to give pleasure but with understanding.

This is a literature that tackles about the human experiences such as life, death, love, sorrow and hatred.

USES of LITERATURE

1. MORALIZING LITERATURE The purpose of literature is to present

moral values for the reader to understand and appreciate; the moral may be directly or indirectly stated.

The Monkey’s Point of ViewThree monkeys sat on a coconut treeDiscussing things as they said to be

Said one to the others, now listen, you two,

There’s a certain rumor that can’t be true

That man descended from our noble race

The very ideal! It’s dire disgrace!No monkey ever descended his wife,Starved his children and ruined their

livesAnd you’ve never known a mother

monkTo leave her baby with others to bunkOr pass them on from one to another

‘Till they hardly know who is their mother

And another thing, you will never seeA monk build a fence round a coconut

treeAnd let the coconut go to wasteForbidding al the monk to taste.

Starvation would force you to steal from me.

Besides, what monk would smoke a pipe

And burn the trees, pollutes his air and kill himself?

Here’s another thing a monk won’t doGo out at night and get a stew or use

his gun or club or knifeTo take some other monkey’s life

Yes! Man descended, the ornery cuss,But brother, he didn't descended from

us!!! Anonymous

2. PROPAGANDA LITERATURE This kind of literature is not found not only in

history and advertising and marketing books but also in some books describing one’s personal success and achievements in life.

3. PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTINUUM OF THE INDIVIDUAL-THERAPEUTIC VALUE.

It could be looked on as a sophisticated modern elaboration of the idea of catharsis – an emotional relief experienced by the reader thereby helping him recover from a previous pent-up emotion.

Don’t Give Up... PrayWhen everything else goes rough and toughAnd when problems seem endless and hopeless,When you feel like quitting because you thinkNo one’s pitiful as you are... My friend,Don’t give up, pause for a moment and pray,With faith in Jesus our savior, and soon you’llRealize that things are not as bad as they seem.Just think...

You have a roof to cover your head,While so many are hopeless,You have shoes on your feet,While so many are footless,

You have clothes to warm you up,While so many chill to death,You meals to fill up your tummyWhile so many are starving,You have a family with so much love to give,While so many are orphaned and thirstyYou have so much to live forWhile so many still wonder why theyStill have to live

Merafe Herranz

P O E T R Y

Poetry is as universal as language and almost as ancient. The most primitive peoples have used it, and the most civilized have cultivated it. Among the types of literature, poetry writing is the most challenging because of:• the choice of proper words or grammar• the denotative and symbolical meaning of

the chosen grammar• the limitation imposed by the structure and

rhythm of sounds – which makes a poem beautiful and appreciated by the reader

ELEMENTS of POETRY1. DENOTATION/CONNOTATION Denotation is the actual meaning of a word

from the dictionary. Connotation is the related or allied meanings

that are associated with its denotative meaning.Unless a young one triesUnless an old one tries

There’ll always be a wall“Thoughts”

Czarina Roldan

The word wall in that stanza means hindrance or obstruction that will lead to communication gap between the old and young.

2. IMAGERY It is defined as the representation of

sense experience through language. Image are formed as we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch; or we may say that an “image” is the mental duplication of a sense impression. The most common imagery is visual, as we are made to see what the author is talking about.

ChangeBy G. Burce Bunao

Things change:No longer do I,

Recovering from the shock Of a huge branch falling

At my feetNo longer do ICower in fear

No longer run to my altarIn the woods,

The fire of prayer in my mouth.

The poet imagines his previous fear of falling, his recovery from the shock, and realization that the fall is a part of a child’s growth and development.

3. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE Simile and metaphor are the most commonly

used and most important figurative language. Both are used as a means of comparing things that are essentially unlike. Simile uses words or phrases such as like, as, than, similar to, resemble or seem. In a metaphor, the comparison is implied, that is, the figurative term is substituted for or identified with a literal term.

Our man-child is wild –As tempest, as northwind,

As jungle, as rapids,As tiger, as broncho

As all these are wild! “Our children”

Lucia Zambarte Parcero

We can notice that the author compares the child of a man to the wildest in nature and the wildest of animals.

I gave myself to him.And took himself for a pay.

The solemn contract of a life.Was ratified this way.

“I Gave Myself to Him”Emily Dickinson

The stanza above is a metaphor because marriage contract is compared to a sales contract. The woman is both the seller and the merchandise, the man the purchaser and the payment.

4. RHYTHM AND METER Rhythm is a part of our lives and intake as

there is rhythm in the way we walk, the way we swim and other similar activities. Meter is the accents that are so arranged as to occur at apparently equal intervals of time. Metrical language is called verse.

At present, there are poets who arenot so particular on rhyme and meter, and they call such a style as “free verse”.

Out of the night that covers me.

Black as the pit from pole to pole.

I thank whatever gods may be.For my unconquerable soul.

“Invictus”William Ernest Henley

Alone by the Surf

There is no world soundOnly stillness of star.

Silence of sandA single shell

By the sliding sea. --

Anonymous

5. MEANING AND IDEA The meaning of the poem is the experience it

expresses. We can distinguish between the “total meaning” of a poem and its “prose meaning”. The total meaning is the idea in poem which is only a part of the total experience it communicates. The value and of the total experience, not by telling truth or the nobility of the idea itself. Prose meaning does not necessarily have to be an idea itself. It may be a story, a description, a statement of emotion, a presentation of woman character or a combination of these.

Short Story

ELEMENTS of SHORT STORY1. PLOT – is the sequence of incidents or events of

which story is composed. It might consist merely of a sequence of related actions. Plot in a short story means arrangement of action. The action refers to an imagined event or happening or to a series of such events.

2. CHARACTER – it is the people portrayed in the story. Reading for character is more difficult than reading for a plot, for character is much more complex, varied, and ambiguous. Most short stories are focused on or evolves in just one character.

3. THEME – is the controlling idea or the central insight in a literary work. It is the unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story. In stating the theme sentence, we must pick the central insight, the one that explains the greatest number of elements in the story and relates them to each other. The theme gives a story its unity.

5. SYMBOL and IRONY – A literary symbol is something that means more than what it is. It is an object, a person, a situation, an action or some other item that has a literal meaning in she story but suggests or represents other meaning as well.

Irony is a term with a range of meanings, all of them involving some sort of discrepancy or incongruity. It is a contrast in which one term of the contrast in some way mocks the other term.

KINDS of IRONY ( According to Perrine)a. Verbal Irony – a figurative language in which the

opposite is said from what is intended. The discrepancy is between is between what is said and what is meant.

b. Dramatic Irony – contrast between what a character says and what the reader knows to be true.

c. Irony of Situation– the discrepancy between appearance and reality, between expectation and fulfilment, or between what is said and what would seem appropriate.

5. LANGUAGE AND STYLE – refers to the idiom used and how it is used. Style, on the other hand, is a term which may refer to the precise use of language, both literary and figuratively; it may refer to the total working out of the short story, taking all the elements into consideration.

Carmen Arcilla stated that symbolism has truly found its place in the Filipino short story in English. An example is her study of the short story of Wilfredo Nolledo’s “The Last Caucus”.

E S S A Y

An essay is a literary composition on a particular subject. It is usually short and it expresses the author’s personal thoughts, feelings, experiences, or observations on a phase of life that has interested him. Biography, history, travel, art, nature, personal life, and criticism are among the innumerable subjects in the field of choice of an essayist. Essayists are usually who have plenty of time for reflection.

TYPES OF ESSAY

1. INFOMAL ESSAY – the essay is light, humorous, and entertaining.

2. FORMAL ESSAY – the essay is heavy, informative, and intellectually stimulating.

ELEMENTS OF THE ESSAY

1. THE ISSUE INTRODUCED. this reflects the actual purpose of the writer.

2. THE WRITER’S VIEWPOINT AND THOUGHT. the final stand of the author, whether he is for or against the issue he has discussed.

3. THE RELEVANCE OF THE ISSUE TO THE LIFE OF THE READER. This refers to the reader’s perception, responsiveness,

N O V E L S

The novel is particularly applicable to a long work of prose dealing with characters, situations, and scenes that represent those of real life and setting and action in the form of a plot. The purpose of fiction, whether long or short story, is recount a narrative which gives us moral lessons and brings us pleasure.

ELEMENTS OF NOVEL

1. SETTING – this covers the time, the place, and the background. It involves not only geography but also the entire climate of beliefs, habits, and values of a particular region and historical period. Sometimes, it emphasizes a certain locality like Chinatown in Sta. Cruz, Manila in Edgardo Reyes’ Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag. It is essential that the setting is in keeping with the story that is told.

2. PLOT – the skeleton or framework which gives shape and proportion to the novel. It can also be describe as the story itself, the actual events or happenings in the novel, the most important substance which concerns human activity and the changes which occur from he beginning to the end of the story. The conflict is an important element of the plot. It may be caused by the physical environment like hostile nature, social environment like social conventions, customs or traditions that exist in a cultural community, other characters, or it may be a physical, emotional, and the mental handicap within the main character himself.

to understand plot better, we should determine the ideals, motives, ambitions or aspirations of the main characters. As in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the hero’s only motive in life is to regain the love of Daisy Buchanan, who is his only ream in life. The same can be observed in Edgardo M. Reyes’ Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag, which narrated the story of Julio, whose main objective in going to Manila was to look for his sweetheart, Ligaya.

3. THEME – is compared to the subject of a painting. It is the universal truth found in the novel, the main idea or topic. In Boris Pasternack’s Dr. Zhivago, the theme is one’s inhumanity to fellow human beings. A theme does mean moral value, for the latter is the message that teaches the reader.

4. CHARACTERS – moving spirit of the novel. They do not only act but also manifest the moral, emotional and intellectual qualities endowed to them by the author. The characters may be animated like Ikabod Bubwitor Boomer, or extra-terrestrial beings like Unlce Martin in the TV series, “My Favorite Martian”.

Characters involved two qualities: morality and personality. Character in the first sense, morality, has the older status as a technical concept in literary criticism. This will tell us the good guys from the bad guys.

Character in the second sense, personality, is a more modern concept. Character, as personality, includes speech, hairstyle, hobby, attitude toward work, and all of the complex attitudes and feelings that define the individual. Character as personality is important in literature because, as most authors have discovered, people are interesting.

THE ELEMENTS OF DRAMA

PLOT

CHARACTER

THOUGHT

LANGUAGE

THEME

CLIMAX/DENOUMENT

MUSIC AND SPECTACLE

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP

SCENERY AND\ LIGHTING

PLOT the events that make up a story, particularly as

they relate to one another in a pattern, in a sequence, through cause and effect, how the

reader views the story, or simply by coincidence.

EXPOSITION

is the portion of a story that introduces important background information to the audience; for

example, information about the setting, events occurring before the main plot, characters' back

stories, etc

YOUR TEXT HERE

CHARACTER -> are people (sometimes animals)portrayed by the actors in the

play. It is the characters who move the action.

THOUGHTS

Include ideas and emotions implied by the overall meaning of the play

a character’s reasoning process, his motivation, and the choices that result

from these motives

a means of expressing the character and the thoughts dramatically

LANGUAGE (DIALOGUE)

PROSE VERSE

Naturalistic dialogue

Rhetorical dialogue

actual way people talk

high flown, florid,

oratical

Make use of the conventions of

poetry for the purpose of

drama

THEMEtheme refers to the meaning of the play.

it is the main idea or lesson to be learned from the play

CLIMAX/DENOUEMENTFruition of accumulated

suspense

Stirs the most intense feelings or emotions

Most elaborately presented

scene in the play

the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in

which the strands of the plot are drawn together

and matters are explained or resolved.

MUSIC AND SPECTACLE

comprises the melody in the use of sounds and

rhythm in dialogs as well as melodious compositions,

which form a part of many plays.

intensify the emotions whatever these emotions

are

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP

is the fabrication of clothing for the overall appearance of a character or performer.

refers to makeup that is used to assist in creating the appearance of

the characters that actors portray during a theater production.

SCENERY AND LIGHTING

Proper lighting gives great deal to the realism of the play.

Furniture-painted backdrops, or large props should be real

IMPORTANCE OF READING LITERARY WORKS

Literary works of art like poetry, stories, novels, and plays are worth reading for they not only

entertain but help us to acquire knowledge and information.