21st Century Literature Lesson 2

Literary Theory

Literature

Any piece of writing that is valued as a work of art. It must have form, structure, and meaning.

Oral Tradition

Literature that passes by word of mouth from one generation to the next. It refers to stories that have become the cultural heritage of the community

Command of Language

Literature is importance because it improves your \______________________.

life, cultures, and experiences

Literature teaches you about the \___________________________ of people in other parts of the world.

information about other parts of the world

Literature gives you \___________________________ which you may never be able to visit in your lifetime.

Literary Theory

A way to study and appreciate literature through different perspectives or views.

Theory of Imitation/Mimetic Theory/Theory of Mimesis

This theory states that literature is a copy of a copy of reality.

Aristotle

He is the proponent of the Mimetic Theory.

Theory of Effect/Pragmatic Theory/Affective Theory/Reader's Response Theory

This theory states that literature has a psychological effect on the reader or spectator. Literature's main job is to arouse emotion in the reader.

Catharsis

The purging feeling of pity and fear which is believed to be what the audience undergoes in the course of a tragedy.

Horace

"Poets either teach or delight", at their best "combining the two."

Interrelation

To instruct literature must delight or to delight, it must also instruct.

Expressive Theory/Writers' Presence

This theory states that an artist is not essentially an imitator but one who expresses his feelings.

D.H. Lawrence

He once said: "One sheds one's sickness in books, repeats and presents again one's emotions to be master of them."

Edgar Allan Poe

Father of American Short Stories. He cannot write when he is not intoxicated.

Theory of Formalism

This theory focuses on the different literary elements.

Elements of a short story

plot, character, conflict, theme, setting

Elements of a poem

verse, stanza, person, theme, addresses, figures of speech