INTRODUCTION TO

LITERATURE

Lite 101T

RULES
1- Do not wear your Abaya or sunglasses in class.
2- Turn your phone off or Silence it.
3- You are not allowed to use your phone within the classroom.
4- DO NOT be late to class. If you are late 10 minutes, you will be marked absent
for the 1st hour.
5- Use your PNU e-mail.
6- If you were absent make sure to bring an excuse to the next class.
7- A student will be denied the Final Exam if her absence reaches 12 hours in total.

METHODS OF EVALUATION
Classwork (60 MARKS) divided:
1- 3 quizzes (5 marks each). (Final total is 10 Marks on average)
2- One midterm (20 marks)
3- Presentation (20 marks)
4- participation and attendance (10 marks)
Final Exam (40 Marks)

WHAT IS LITERATURE?
There is no exact definition for literature. It can be used to refer to anything
written (Barret, 21)

LITERATURE (ACCORDING
TO OXFORD DICTIONARY)
1- Written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit.
a great work of literature
2- Books and writings published on a particular subject.
the literature on environmental epidemiology
3- Leaflets and other printed matter used to advertise products or give advice.
advertising and promotional literature

LITERATURE (ACCORDING
TO OXFORD LEARNERS
DICTIONARY)
Pieces of writing that are valued as works of art, especially novels, plays and poems
(in contrast to technical books and newspapers, magazines, etc.)

LITERATURE ( ACCORDING
TO OXFORD LITERARY
TERMS)
A body of written works related to a subject matter, by language or place of origin,
or by prevailing cultural standard of merit. In this last sense, literature is taken to
include oral, dramatic, and broadcast compositions that may have not been published
in a written form but which have been preserved.

WHY IS LITERATURE
IMPORTANT
Literature is important in everyday life because it connects individuals with larger
truths and ideas in a society. Literature creates a way for people to record their
thoughts and experiences in a way that is accessible to others, through fictionalized
accounts of the experience. (Reference)
Literature teaches us how to live. Literature makes readers visit places, experience
events, meet people, listen to them, feel their joys and sufferings. It takes years to
acquire so much wisdom that a single book of literary merit instills in a reader.
Literature mirrors the society and its mannerisms. (Naina)

WHY IS LITERATURE
IMPORTANT
Literature helps readers develop many skills, including reading, interpretation,
discussion and writing. Through sustained study of a poem or novel, readers can
increase vocabulary and become more verbally refined. Discussing literature
improves readers' ability to debate and defend their thoughts out loud. Writing about
literature can also help improve written communication and organizational skills.
(Reference)

WHY IS LITERATURE
IMPORTANT
Literature can also help readers build up a much wider range of knowledge,
creating interest in new subjects and experiences. Literature provides vicarious
experiences that directly influence readers' lives. They learn about new places, new
cultures, new ideas and new ways of looking at the world. They can visit both the
past and the future through the imaginative power of stories. A perceptive reader of a
poem or novel may discover an interest in Eastern philosophy or a new way of
thinking about the environment.
Literature also allows readers to perceive and empathize with the experiences of
others. Readers can gain a greater understanding of different races, cultures, social
classes or genders through reading stories about them. This increased range of
experience can actually help readers better empathize with other individuals in life.
(Reference)

THE DIFFERENT LITERARY

GENRES
1- Poetry
2- Drama
3- Fiction

POETRY
1- The art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting
pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.
2- Literary work in metrical form; verse.
3- Language sung chanted, spoken or written according to some pattern of recurrence
that emphasizes the relationship between words on the basis of sound as well as
sense: this pattern is almost always a rhythm or a metre.
4- It is a form of literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of
experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged
for its meaning, sound, and rhythm.

EXAMPLES ON POETRY
Fire and Ice By Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what Ive tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

DRAMA
It is a unique form of literature it is written to be preformed in front of an
audience by actors who take on the roles of the characters who the story through
dialogue and action (Kirszner, 564)
It is also a story told through dialogue and is meant to be acted.

EXAMPLES ON DRAMA
[The kitchen in the now abandoned farmhouse of JOHN WRIGHT, a gloomy
kitchen, and left without having been put in orderunwashed pans under the sink, a
loaf of bread outside the bread-box, a dish-towel on the tableother signs of
incomplete work. At the rear the outer door opens and the SHERIFF comes in
followed by the COUNTY ATTORNEY and HALE. The SHERIFF and HALE are
men in middle life, the COUNTY ATTORNEY is a young man; all are much bundled
up and go at once to the stove. They are followed by the two womenthe
SHERIFF's wife first; she is a slight wiry woman, a thin nervous face. MRS HALE
is larger and would ordinarily be called more comfortable looking, but she is
disturbed now and looks fearfully about as she enters. The women have come in
slowly, and stand close together near the door.]

TRIFLES BY SUSAN
GLASPELL
COUNTY ATTORNEY: (rubbing his hands) This feels good. Come up to the fire, ladies.
MRS PETERS: (after taking a step forward) I'm notcold.
SHERIFF: (unbuttoning his overcoat and stepping away from the stove as if to mark the beginning of
official business) Now, Mr Hale, before we move things about, you explain to Mr Henderson just what you
saw when you came here yesterday morning.
COUNTY ATTORNEY: By the way, has anything been moved? Are things just as you left them yesterday?
SHERIFF: (looking about) It's just the same. When it dropped below zero last night I thought I'd better
send Frank out this morning to make a fire for usno use getting pneumonia with a big case on, but I told
him not to touch anything except the stoveand you know Frank.

FICTION
A narrative that tells a story by presenting events in some logical or orderly way.
Works of narrative fiction originates in the imagination of the author, not history or
facts. (kirszner, 34)
Fiction can be a Novel or a Short story

EXAMPLES ON FICTION
(SHORT STORY)
The Open Window by Saki
"My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel," said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen; "in the meantime you
must try and put up with me."
Framton Nuttel endeavoured to say the correct something which should duly flatter the niece of the moment without
unduly discounting the aunt that was to come. Privately he doubted more than ever whether these formal visits on a
succession of total strangers would do much towards helping the nerve cure which he was supposed to be undergoing.
"I know how it will be," his sister had said when he was preparing to migrate to this rural retreat; "you will bury
yourself down there and not speak to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever from moping. I shall just
give you letters of introduction to all the people I know there. Some of them, as far as I can remember, were quite nice."

EXAMPLES ON FICTION
(NOVEL)

HOW TO READ AND

UNDERSTAND LITERATURE
The best way to learn how to read analytically is to annotate a text.

WHAT IS ANNOTATING?
A simple definition is: To make remarks and taking notes.
To be able to annotate, close reading is the key to doing so.
-Underline
-Highlight
-Marking a passage with vertical lines.
-Circling some words and phrases.

EXAMPLES ON ANNOTATING

EXAMPLES ON ANNOTATING
https://youtu.be/jrly3EtnT8I?t=197

READING AND RESPONDING

TO LITERATURE
We participate in activitiesnot because we expect some sort of later reward but
because we can we know that the experience of participating in itself is rewarding
(Barret, 21).
In reading literature, a reader must understand that the text does not give him/her
everything they need. Reading literature is a process of thinking about what you
have read, asking questions and challenging presented ideas.