MEANING OF LITERATURE
Literature is the work of art that uses language to reflect social realities.
This definition says that literature is an art as it has some sort of creativity within it and it reflects social realities meaning that it talks about different issues or things in the society.Here we should understand that literature does not develop from vacuum, this is because it deals with everyday life of the people as it talks of what people do in their societies, what they think or say at present time and historically. Therefore literature can talk about different things or issues found in the society such as love affairs, poor leadership and others.
Or
Literature is the mirror of the society in which it’s produced.
This definition compares literature with the mirror. A mirror produces an image of person or object placed in front of it. Therefore it’s argued that literature exposes the society as it shows good and bad things as the mirror does when the object is placed in front of it.
Some people challenge this definition, they argue that if literature is compared to mirror then is made to be passive while the fact is that it’s not as passive as mirror. A mirror does nothing to the images it shows. Unlike mirror, literature proposes solutions to the problems found in the human society, and these solutions are given out through the lessons presented in the work of arts.
or
Literature is the artistic use of language to present and reflect social realities. In literature language is used artistically or creatively to add beauty or aesthetics of work of art and this is done through the use of the figures of speech.
Or literature is the work of art which is expressed in words or language used artistically to reveal the social realities in the society
Therefore, the language used in literature is different from the language that we use in our daily activities or communication (ordinary language)
Or Literature is the term which implies creative language and imitated social realities which can be transmitted in form of writing or speech and reflects human experience.
Or Literature is the writing which is valued as a work of art, particularly prose (fiction and drama) and poetry.
Or Literature is the work of art expressed in words, using language creatively to express human realities. It is distinct from other works such as painting.
Also, literature can be defined as an imaginative work of art that uses language to reflect social realities. In literature, the language is used artistically to add beauty in the work of art as well imparting understanding of what is presented in the work of art and to stimulate feelings and emotions.
Literature can also be defined as creative language and imitated social realities which can be transmitted in the form of writing or speech and reflects the human experiences.
Therefore from the meaning or definition of literature, we get the following features of literature:-
Ø Literature needs society.
Ø Literature uses language artistically. This done by using figures of speech like symbolism, simile, metaphor, irony, personification and many others. The figures of speech are used in literature so as to add beauty or aesthetics in the work of art.
Ø Literature is one of the forms of art.
Ø Literature reveals the social realities. This is because it presents things happening in the human society.
Ø Literature uses characters that carry the messages or themes of the work of art.
Ø Literature changes over time due to the changes in the human society.
Ø Literature reflects culture of the human society.
THE CONCEPT OF ART
ART is a work that requires special skills and knowledge in order to be prepared.
Or is a work that is prepared with beauty within it so as to be attractive to the people to listen, watch 0r read.
Note: you have to understand that the beauty found in the work of art is called aesthetic.
FORMS OR TYPES OF ART
a) Performing art
Performing art refers to arts that use movements of bodies and voices to convey patristic expressions. Performing arts include dances, acting and music.
b) Fine arts
Refers to arts that are created for aesthetics or intellectual purposive. Fine arts are usual arts for example furniture making, painting, and sculpturing.
ELEMENTS OF ARTS/BRANCHES OF ARTS
Include the following:-
Carving, painting, poultry, basketry, moulding, weaving, music, drawing and pottery.
THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN LITERATURE AND OTHER FORMS OF ART
i. Both involve the human creativity.
ii. Both reflect a particular culture of a certain society or community.
iii. Both are the forms of art.
iv. Both are commercial activities or source of the employment.
v. Both are man made because are all created by human being.
vi. Both change over time.
THE DEFFERENCES BETWEEN LITERATURE AND OTHER FORMS OF ART
i. Literature uses language while other forms of art use pictures, symbols and objects to reach the human society.
ii. Literature uses characters to reveal the reality while other forms are prepared and revealed.
iii. Literature has form and content while other forms of literature have techniques or art only.
iv. Literature has actions, dialogue and performance while other works of art are like advertisements hence no action or performance.
WHY IS LITERATURE SAID TO BE AN ART?
In general sense the word art refers to the work that involves some creativity or techniques in making or presenting it. The following things are aspects of art in literature
Ø Language use
Ø Character and characterization
Ø Choice of incidents or events in work of art
Ø The use of skillful narrative techniques.
Explanations
Language use
Language used in literature is creative; this is done through careful choice of words and the use of figures of speech. This kind of language makes literature amusing and entertaining.
Character and characterization
Characters contribute in making literature an art. As these characters may be human being or not. Those which are not human being are so skillfully created or made that they look like real human being and living people that we are familiar with. The creativity that is used in crating characters is the one that make literature to be an art.
Choice of the incidents
These are the events presented in work of art. These events are skillfully presented to the extent that they look like events that we witness in the world that we live, but sometimes real events happened in the world are presented in the work of art, however are presented very carefully and hence making literature to be an art.
The use of skillful narrative techniques
Narration is common in novels and short stories. The creativity in narration is made by point of view, which the means through which the story is told or narrated. The point of view is made in the creative way and in the way that readers trust the story teller in the novel or short story, hence making literature a work of art.
IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE IN LITERATURE
Language is the medium of literature, either in oral form or written form. Literature is created by language and there would be no literature if there was no language. When language is used in artistic way is called literature. Therefore language cannot be separated from literature.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGAUGE AND LITERATURE
Language and literature cannot be separated as language is the medium of literature. There would no literature without language. Literature uses language in imaginative or creative ways to express the human feelings or experiences.
i. Literature uses language as its medium that is spoken or written language. Through reading literature someone improves his knowledge of the language, for example he can increase vocabularies, learn new grammatical structure, and learn how to punctuate the words clearly in a certain language. The writers of literature use and bring into the dialogue new grammatical structures, new idioms, new meaning of the words, new words and new figures of speech. Therefore language cannot be separated from literature and no literature without language.
ii. Literature is one of the ways in which language functions. One of the functions of the human language is to express the human feelings and emotions. In literature there is expression of the human feelings and emotions through language used by the use of the figures of speech and this makes literature to be related to language.
iii. In literature, language is used to express the human culture. Language is the medium through which literature is produced and also it helps to express culture by itself and when it is used as medium of literature as literature expresses culture through different issues presented in it such as issues of polygamism and bride price.
iv. Literature develops the human language. When you read a literary work you develop language skills such as reading and listening skills. Also, literature has or consists some expressions related to linguistics such as idioms, euphemism and connotations.
v. Language describes characters in literature. Through language the reader of the literary work can understand well the characters used in the literary work by knowing their behavior, actions and many other aspects.
vi. Language helps people or readers to know different issues or things presented in the literary work. Therefore language helps in revealing the content of the literary work.
vii. Language helps to know various techniques used in the literary works such as plot, style and many others.
TYPES OF LITEARURE
There are two types of literature; these two types of literature are according to the mode of presentation, either by words of the mouth or in written form.
a) Oral literature
Oral literature is the type of literature that is presented through words of the mouth. So this is the type of literature through oral expressions. This kind of literature was practiced to the large extent before the invention of writings.
Note that with the development of science and technology oral literature is recorded in cassettes tapes DVDS, VCDS etc.
FEATURES OF THE ORAL LITERATURE
Here you have to note that, the features of literature fall in the following hints
· Age
· Cost
· Storage
· Transmission
· Presentation
· Ownership
· Flexibility
· Place
Therefore the following are the features of oral literature:-
1. It is not expensive as there is no printing and distribution cost.
2. It involves face to face meeting between the artist and the audience.
3. It is presented by the words of the mouth.
4. It is flexible as it accepts changes easily.
5. Oral literature has actions, performance and dialogues.
6. Oral literature is the property of the whole society.
7. It is the oldest form of literature meaning that it started when people started to live together collectively in the society and before the writings were discovered.
8. It needs special place such as stage for the performance to take place before the audience.
TYPES/GENRES OF ORAL LITERATURE
PROVERBS AND POPULAR SAYINGS/SAYINGS
Sayings
Saying is a short, commonly known expression containing advice or wisdom to the people. Sayings include proverbs and idioms.
Proverb is a short and well known saying that states the general truth or gives advice.
Examples
a) All that glitters is not gold – it means that not all things which look good are good.
b) The old horse in the stable still yearns to run- it means that those people who are old still they have things they would like to accomplish.
c) A spark can start a fire- it means that a small problem can snowball into a huge problem that can cause major damage.
d) Hurry, hurry has no blessing
e) Slow but sure.
f) No gains without pains.
g) Little by little fills the purse.
Idiom is a phrase or sentence whose meaning is different or contrary from individual words used. An idiom must be learnt.
Or is a group of words established by the use as having the not deducible (related) from those individual words.
Examples of idioms
a) “Wear the trousers” which means to make all important decisions in the family or relationship.
b) “Cut a dash” which means to make striking impression by your clothes and appearance. Eg. Wearing his uniform, my father cut a dash on the wedding ceremony.
ORAL POETRY
Oral poetry includes, recitation, chants, songs and lullabies
Recitation is the act of saying a piece of a poem or poetry before the audience.
Chants are a prayer song sung for religious purpose.
Songs these are the part of oral poetry that involve singing. A poem can be sung or recited before the audience and this is contrary from song which must be sung.
Therefore, a song is a set of words put in music form.
Lullabies are songs sung to soothe the children or babies.
Note. Oral poetry is very useful entertaining tool, as people work together in some societies they sing and recite and sometimes is just used to entertain them.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ORAL POETRY
i. Oral poetry is delivered through words of the mouth contrary from the written poetry.
ii. It depends on musical features like tone and pitch for meaning delivery.
iii. In oral poetry there is flexibility in the length of the text. Example a song may be shortened or lengthened depending on the existing situation.
iv. Oral poetry involves other members than performers and this is because, it is characterized by chorus. In chorus the people respond the leader or performer of the oral poetry.
v. Repetition is common in oral poetry. It is done for emphatic purpose and for musical purpose.
vi. In oral poetry there is the use of imagery and local idioms.
ORAL NARRATIVES
Oral narratives are the stories of different types and have got different social or cultural significance. Narration of oral narrative is done by performers or narrators who are very artistic in the way they communicate before the audience.
i. Folktale
Folktale is a story narrated through words of the mouth from one generation to another. Most of the folktales eventually move from oral tradition to written form.
ii. Legends
Legend is a story handed down from past events, sometimes events presented in legends may be true or not. Therefore a legend is of more historical truth and less supernatural.
Features of legends which distinguish them from myths
1. Legends are understood as fact. This is because they are taken to be things which actually happened. While myth are treated as beliefs.
2. Legends are understood as not stories connected to religion while myths are purely religious.
iii. Myth
Myth is a traditional story of the early history of people or natural or social phenomena or event and sometimes involves supernatural beings or events.
Or is a story that deals with an idea or belief about the early history of a race or giving explanation about a certain natural event such as season.
iv. Fable
Fable is a story that is based on fact, often with animals as characters and conveys moral lesson. Note that in fables sometimes human beings and inanimate objects are used as characters particularly as central characters instead of animals. Fable has supernatural or unusual events or incidents.
v. Anecdote
Anecdote is a short, interesting and amusing story about a real person or event. It may be about life of a real person who is existing or who once existed in the World.
vi. Epic
Epic is a long poem in an elevated style presenting people of high class or position. Therefore narrates the deeds of heroic or legendary figures of the past history of the nation.
vii. Ballad
Ballad is a song or poem that tells a story. Therefore ballad is a form of verse to be sung or recited featured by the presentation of a dramatic or exciting episode in a simple narrative.
viii. Riddle
Riddle is a puzzling question, statement or description especially one aiming at testing the cleverness of someone by answering it. Sp a riddle is a difficult question to understand and has a surprising answer that you ask somebody as a game.
WRITTEN LITERATURE
Written literature is the literature that is presented or expressed in written form. It began with the invention of writings. Written literature has three genres; those are novels, plays and poetry.
THE FORMS OF WRITTEN LITERATURE
PLAY/DRAMA
The term play as one of the genres of written literature can be defined in different ways including the following
Play is a piece of writing performed by actors in a thetre or on television or radio.
Or is a literary composition of any length, ordinary written to be performed in the stage by actors who impersonate the characters, speak in the dialogue and enact the appropriate actions. A play is always in form of dialogue.
TERMS USED IN PLAY OR DRAMA
Mime
These are dramatic actions without words. A performer has to dramatize accordingly, out of articulations.
Props
These are the hand tools or instruments used to accompany the performance on the stage.
It is among the dramatic resource that functions to indicate realism in the story. Example sticks whistle.
Scene
Scene is a smallest unit in a play. It is section of action in unchanged locality. Normally a scene has one major event. Most plays have a number of scenes which combines to form an act.
Act
Act is the major division of the play made up of scenes. There are some cases a play may have only acts without scenes and when contain scenes without acts. An act may have more than one scene, and the end of the scene in the play is marked by curtain.
Curtain
Curtain is the heavy material that screens the stage from the audience. When the actors leave the stage they are behind the curtain. The rising and lowering of the curtains mark the beginning or the end of the scene or act.
Stage direction
Stage direction gives the actors or actress and the directors the instruction on how to perform the play, stage directions must tell the actors where to more or how to speak in a certain event also might describe the setting and the sounds.
Stage direction is the precise movement and positioning of the actors or actorless on the stage to facilitate the performance of the play or film. Stage direction provides information or understanding about the characters or actors, mood, entrance and exist of the actors from the stage.
TYPES OF PLAYS
i. Tragedy
Tragedy is the play that shows serious actions and always a hero or main character ends in danger such as death, isolation etc.
· Normally the tragedy kind of play has heroes or heroines who face unexpected fate and therefore they are controlled by forces that are determined by supernatural power.
· Characters involved in tragedy are noble in nature, such as characters from the royal families, that is princes, princesses, kings, queens and the like.
· In tragedy, the hero faces danger with determination, courage and brave. So they don’t run away from danger.
· In tragedy the hero or heroine takes a wrong decision by doing wrong things so that he may get a tragic fall.
Examples of tragedy plays are An Enemy of the People by and Black Hermit by Ngugi wa Thiong’o.
ii. Comedy
Comedy is a play that aims at making people laugh. This kind of play is humorous and funny. Normally this kind of play ends happily.
Examples of these kinds of plays are Mfalme Juha and Aliyeonja Pepo.
iii. Tragic Comedy
Tragic comedy is a play that combines the elements of both tragedy and comedy but a hero does not end in danger.
iv. Historical play
Historical play is a play that expresses a history of a certain society. In this kind of play readers will be finding some elements of comedy and tragedy. Example of historical play is The Trial of Dedan Kimath and Kinjekitile by Ebrahim N Hussein.
v. Melo drama
Melo drama is a drama or play for entertaining and making people happy or comfortable.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLAY AND DRAMA
i. Drama uses physical or actual setting while play does not use the physical setting but is shaped by words.
ii. Drama uses actual actions as it is acted on the stage while play uses words to shape the actions presented.
iii. Drama started before play as the plays started after the invention of the writings.
iv. The story in drama is usually grasped easily than in plays.
v. Drama is in spoken form while play is in written form or language.
vi. Drama uses real characters while play may use the imaginative characters shaped by words or language used.
CHARACTERISTICS OR FEATURES THAT DITINGUISH PLAYS FROM OTHER LITERARY GENRES LIKE NOVEL AND POETRY
1. Plays are always in form of dialogue, monologue, songs as well as the use of mimes. Mime is the act of communicating without producing out sound. This makes plays different from novels and plays because novels are always in form of narration where one person or character narrates the story and poems are in form verses and stanzas.
2. Plays prefer frequently the use of first person point of view contrary from novels which prefer the use of third person point of view.
3. Plays have strong influences compared to the other literary genres like novel and poetry. The reasons for having strong influence is that a play can be performed on the stage, hence people can be attracted by actions done by the actors , appropriateness of the sound produced by those actors and the nature of the events performed on the stage.
4. In plays, there is the use of stage direction. Stage direction is the precise movement and positioning of the actors or actorless on the stage to facilitate the performance of the play or film. Stage direction provides information or understanding about the characters or actors, mood, entrance and exist of the actors from the stage.
5. Plays use shorter period of time than other literary genres particularly novel. A person can use one or two or three hours to watch performance of a play on the stage but cannot read a novel for one or two hours.
6. Plays are purposefully and primarily written to be performed on the stage contrary from the play which is written to be read and poem which is written to be sung or read aloud.
7. Plays are not in hidden way rather they are in a very open way because they expose important events and issues as events are presented openly by the actors on the stage contrary from novels and poems.
8. Plays are written in scenes and acts while novels are written in chapters and poems are written in verses and stanzas.
NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
Novel is an extended friction prose narrative of a considerable length in which characters and actions represent real life. Novels are in form of narration whereby one person narrates the story.
OR novel is a literary genre written or prepared in order to be narrated and therefore the narrator of the novel can be the novelist himself or one of the characters of the novel.
THE FIVE BASIC ELEMENTS OF NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
1. PLOT
2. CHARACTER
3. SETTING
4. THEME
5. POINT OF VIEW
THE DIFFRENCES BETWEEN SHORT STORIES AND NOVELS
|
Novels |
Short stories |
|
1. They are long and they cannot be read in one setting. 2. Novels has many characters and actions 3. The novels have more complicated plot with a lot of incidences or actions. 4. The novels cover many incidences or events. 5. Extravagant in the use of words that is uses a lot of words contrary from the play. 6. Setting, plot and actions can take time to be revealed out |
1. They are short and can be read in one setting.
2. Short stories have few characters and actions 3. They have simple plot, one climax and one resolution.
4. Focuses on one or single event.
5. They are efficient and economic in words.
6. Setting, plot and actions can be revealed easily.
|
Examples of novels
· A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe
· Weep not, Child by Ngugu wa Thiong’o
· Passed Like a Shadow by Bernard Mapalala
SHORT STORY OR NOVELLA
A short story is a prose narrative which is shorter than a novel, restricted in characterization, situation and the number of events. Usually a short story deals with one major event and the characters used are not developed fully.
or
NOVELLA
Novella is a literary genre of written fiction which is shorter than full length novel but longer than a short story. They are usually about sixty to one hundred and twenty pages or 7500 t0 40,000 words.
SHORT STORY
This is a short intensive frictional prose narrative that deals with one central theme or single incident.
Or a short story is a piece of narrative with words ranging from 1200 to 1500.
Characteristics of short stories
· Short stories have simple plots. The organization of events in simple story is simpler than that of the novel.
· Like novels, they are in prose form that is they are narrative.
· The number of characters is small in comparison to that of the novels.
· Short stories have fewer incidents in comparison to the novels.
· In short stories the characters are reveled different from novels where the characters are developed the series of events presented.
Examples of short stories are
a) Girls at war by Chinua Achebe
b) Tales of Amodou Koumba by Birago Diop.
CHARACTERISTICS OF NOVELS THAT DISTINGUISH THEM FROM OTHER LITERARY GENRES SUCH AS PLAYS AND POETRY
1. Usually, novels are in form of narration, whereby one person or character narrates a story contrary from a play which is in form of dialogue and poems which are in form of verses and stanzas.
2. Novels prefer frequently the use of third person point of view contrary from plays which prefer the use of first person point of view.
3. Novels are read to be read contrary from plays which are written to be performed on the stage and poems which are written to be sung or read aloud.
4. Novels use long period of time than plays and poems, this is because a person can read a novel for one week but using only one day or one or two or three hours to read a play or to watch performance on the stage and can use very few minutes to read a poem.
5. Novels are written in chapters contrary from plays which are written in scenes and acts and poems which are written in form of verses and stanzas.
6. Novels are characterized by the presence of a lot of incidents compared to plays and that is why they are longer than plays and poems.
7. Novels are meant to be reed silently while plays are meant to be performed on the stage and poems are meant to be read aloud or to be sung.
POETRY
MEANING OF POETRY
Poetry can be defined in different ways including the following:-
Poetry is a literary genre that uses more condensed and figurative language to express human feelings, ideas, emotions as well as describing human experiences.
Or
Poetry is a composition that evokes emotion and imagination by use of vivid and intense language, usually arranged in pattern of words or lines with regularly repeated accent or stress.(Coles Editorial Board)
This definition looks poetry as a literary genre in verse or line formed by using more creative and artistic language than any other literary work.
Or
Poetry is a composition that is characterized by special use of language and rhythm, rhyme, metaphor, symbol, onomatopoeia and repetition.(Jacobus,1996)
This definition implies that poetry is a literary genre that uses language in very special way by using a lot of figures of speech which add aesthetics or beauty in the work of art.
Or
Poetry is the way of expressing the feelings, emotions, ideas and other things or issues that we experience or ideas with special reference to emotional significance using language characterized by imagery and rhythmical sounds. Poetry deals with human problems. It portrays realized tension concerning a certain society.
Or
Poetry is is the rhythmical composition of words expressing an altitude, designed to surprise and delight, to arouse an emotional response (Kennedy,1978: v) this definition centres on the musical nature of poetry and emotional arousing property poetry has.
Therefore, in short and in summary we can say that, Poetry is a literary genre that is in line and metrical form which is sharper in figurative language use and very economical in the number of words used compared to the other genres like plays and novels.
Poetry differs from other literary genres because it is often in form of verses and stanzas and it uses more condensed and figurative language.
Condensed language is the language that is more economy that is the language in which only few words are used to express many and complete ideas something that is used in poetry but not in novel and plays.
Figurative language is the language that uses or employs more figures of speech, such as simile, metaphor, personification, irony, hyperbole and others.
The following are the texts or books which are examples of poetry
1. Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol by Okot P’Bitek
2. The Wonderful Surgeon and the other poems By Charles Mloka
3. Songs of Malaya and Prisoner by Okot P’Bitek
4. Diwani ya Mloka by Charles Mloka
5. Malenga Wapya by Institute of Kiswahili and Foreign languages- Zanzibar.
6. Kichomi by E. Kezilahabi.
Characteristics or features of poetry
· Poetry is imaginative.
· Poetry is rhythmical- is arranged in pattern of verses which form stanzas.
· Poetry reflect experiences or ideas of people.
· Poetry is rich in figures of speech.
· Poetry arouses emotions.
Characteristics of a poet or poetess
· He or she must have great knowledge of human nature.
· He or she must know the problems of his or her society.
· He or she must present strong feelings.
· He or she must educate his or her society.
· He or she must have ideas concerning poetry.
TERMS OR CONCEPTS USED IN POETRY
i. Poem
A poem is a piece of creative work of art often in form of verses and stanzas describing human feelings, ideas, emotions and experiences.
Or is a metrical composition characterized by strong imagination, emotion, significant meaning and appropriate language. When it is written is in form of line or verses which combine to form stanzas which are block paragraph like units
Or is a piece of writing in verses form especially expressing deep feelings in beautiful language.
ii. Poetic diction
Refers to the choice and arrangement of words in a poem. Poets are very careful in their words choice during the poem composition and its because of this words in the poetry are very effective in the message presentation.
iii. Persona
The person who speaks in the poem, technically is called persona. There fore we can say that persona is the character of the poem.
Sometimes, readers of the poem are confused by the use of the personal pronoun “I”, where they think that poet refers to himself or herself. However, this is not the case. Instead the poet puts himself or herself on the shoes of another person. That means the poet speaks for someone else.
For example, the poet may be healthy and yet may write and speak as if he were sick.
iv. Tone
This is the altitude of the poet. In other words, tone refers to the poet’s state of mind in relation to what is being talked about in the poem. The tone may be angry, happy, lovely or friendly, sad, furious, fearful or ironic.
Sometimes the poem many have more than one mood, where the poet may reveal different mood or tone in different stanzas of the same or one poem. For example the poem may have happy mood at the beginning and later changing to angry mood.
v. poet
A poet is a male person who composes poem(s). It can be in written or oral form
vi. Poetess
A poetess is a female person who composes poem(s)
vii. Verse
A verse is a single line in a poem. Therefore, this is the unit in the poem which consists of a line in the poem. Normally a stanza is made up of a number of verses that combine to form a block like paragraph.
viii. Stanza
A stanza is a collection and arrangement of verses comprising complete idea(s) in the poem.
ix. Poetic license
Poetic license is a freedom of a poet or poetess to break the rules of grammar of language in poetry for a certain reason or purpose. For example in the poem SUNRISE by Jwani Mwaikusa in verse number four there is poetic license when the persona says
“Forward they go” instead of “they go forward” here the poet started with the word forward instead of they for the aim of probably insisting and encouraging the son of the land to continue with the struggle without being discouraged or giving up.
TYPES OF POEMS
We have different types of poems, and these types of poems are according to two criteria which are
a) According to form only
b) According to both form and content.
TYPES OF POEMS ACCORDING TO FORM ONLY
According to form only there are two types of poems which are
i. Closed form or traditional poems or rhythmic poems
These are the poems that strictly follow or observe old or conventional or traditional rules of writing poems such as rhyme pattern, equal number of syllables in each stanza, equal number of verses in each stanza and equal length of verse in the poem.
ii. Open form or modern poems or free verse poems
These are the poems that do not strictly follow or observe old or conventional or traditional rules of writing poems such as rhyme pattern, equal number of verses in each stanza and equal length of verse in the poem.
TYPES OF POEMS ACCORDING TO BOTH FORM AND CONTENT
According to both form and content there are several types of poems including the following:-
a) Narrative poetry
The word narrative comes from the word narrate which means to tell a story.
Therefore, narrative poems are the poems which tell stories.
· These kinds of poems are always long than other types of poems such as SONG OF LAWINO by Okot P’Bitek
· They are simple and easy to recognize the subject matter of the poet for example in the poem SONG OF LAWINO the intention is to present the coming of western culture and its effect in Africa by using Ocol and Lawino.
b) Reflective poems
These are the poems that debate on a certain issue or idea and come to conclusion.
· They reflect or debate or take an issue and discuss it in details.
· At the end of the poem the conclusion or way of solving the problems is provided.
c) Lyric poems
These are the poems that express personal emotions and feelings of the writer or persona. It concentrates on poet’s internal word(s) that is they express individual feelings about something.
Or
This is one of the most common types of poem. These are kind of poem which are usually short and express very strong feelings or mood about the universal issues such as hate of something or issues and death. These poems comprise the strong feelings of the speaking voice in the poem about a certain issue in the poem.
This kind of poetry deal with poet’s internal world, and the poems about love are said to fall under this category of lyric poetry.
Example of lyric poem is EAT MORE by Joe Corie.
d) Descriptive poetry
These are the poems that concentrate on description of people, objects, experiences and places. In these poems places or people are described critically by basing on facts and experiences.
e) Sonnet
These are the poems with fourteen verses that follow the pattern of rhyme.
Sonnet is divided into two parts
OCTET is the first part of sonnet type of poem which consists of first eight verses of the poem.
SESTET is the second part of the sonnet type of poem that is made up of last six verses.
Example of sonnet type of poem is If We Must Die by Claude McKay)
f) Ballad poetry
This is the kind of poem that is simple constructed that tell a story, many of the ballads are of love travel and adventures. Ballad are direct, fast moving and contain a lot of details or issues.
Example of Ballad is Ballad of Land Lord
In ballad kind of poem, there are two or more people speaking in exchange or in turn, so it is dramatic kind of poem as it is presented like drama.
g) Ode
Ode is the kind of poem that addresses a person or thing or celebrates an event.
Example a poem composed one one’s birthday party.
h) Epic is the kind of poem that presents heroic characters.
Or
Is the long poem that deals with the actions of great of great men and women or history of a nation or a society.
Example the poem composed praising the deeds of the soldiers who went to the war and brought home a victory, this one will be epic.
.
i) Elegy is a lyric poem that expresses sadness about someone who has died. When someone dies, people mourn, therefore poem composed for mourning or praising someone who has died is the one that is called elegy
j) Didactic poetry
This is the type of poem which is designed to give instructions to the readers. This kind of poem tells the readers what to do.
These kinds of poems are mainly about political and social matter, example of this kind of poem is “Your Pain” by Armando Guebuza as it instructs the readers to take part in the struggle.
POETIC DEVICES
Poetic devices are the tools or devices that a poet or a poetess can use to create rhythm, enhance poem’s meaning or intensify the mood or feeling in poems.
The poetic devices are divided into three major categories, which are:- sound, structural and sense or poetic devices.
a) Sound devices
These are the devices which are used to create rhythm in the poems, so they deal with sounds in poetry. The sound devices are like onomatopea, rhythm, rhyme, assonance, consonance, refrain, cacophony, euphony and alliteration.
i. Alliteration is the repetition of similar consonant sound at the beginning of the word or stressed syllable within a word or syllable in a verse. Sometimes alliteration may be at the middle of the word and its called medial alliteration and it may be at the end of the word and it is called final alliteration.
Example
a) farmers family felt free
b) The wicked witch of the West went to her own way.
ii. Assonance
Assonance is the repletion of the similar vowel sound in the words that end with different consonant sound such as
Lake and fake
Side and write
As long song
iii. Onomatopoeic
Onomatopoeic is the word that is formed due to the imitation of sound of an object. Or is the use of words which their sounds suggest their meaning.
Example tick tock is the word from the sound produced from the watch.
iv. Rhyme is an exact correspondence in sound or word ending, usually at the end of the lines of the poem, which forms a part of a stanza pattern.
Double rhyme is the correspondence of two final syllables.
v. Tautology is the use of superfluous, repetitious words. Tautology differs from the kind of repetition that we use for clarity, emphasis or effect, in tautology there is repetition of idea without adding force of clarity
vi. Rhyme
Rhyme is the repetition of similar sound in the poem.
Or
Rhyme refers to similarity or identity in sound at the end of consecutive lines or at the similar interval in a stanza or poem. The similarity of the sound is normally centred in vowels
Example
“Dear John I say
On this nice day
I’ve seen the way
Indeed is a salvation day”
From the above example, the stanza has rhyme as each line ends with _”ay” sound to give /ei/ sound
See the other example bellow
“Be hold dear friend
Salvation is coming
The Earth has come to end
Jesus is coming”
The above stanza has similarity in sound, which means has rhyme, however the rhyme is
“ab ab” but in the first stanza the rhyme is “aa aa”
What is the role of rhyme in poetry?
The following are some roles of rhyme in poetry
i) It is used when the poet want to avoid the boredom. This is because the use of the similar sound attracts reader’s attention, hence avoiding boredom.
ii) It also decorates the poem as it adds music.
vii. Rhythm
Rhythm is the regular beats in the poem that is the falling and rising of sound in the poem basing on stressed and unstressed syllable.
Or rhythm is a pattern of stress in the poem. Rhythm can be regular or irregular.
It is regular when stress occurs at the regular interval.
And it is irregular when stress does not occur at regular interval
NOTE:
When stress is regular we get METER, which refers to the rhythm formed by regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllable. The stressed and unstressed syllable together form FOOT, here also you have to understand that the major words are one which are stressed and the minor ones are the ones which are not stressed(unstressed). The mark for stressed syllable is (-) and for unstressed syllable is (v)
viii. Refrain
Refrain is a word or line that is repeated at the end of each stanza. It adds music and emphasizes a point in the poem.
Alliteration is the use of the same sound(s) at the beginning of consecutive words in a line.
For example
“Feel free friend Fredy”
In that above example, the same sound /f/ begins in every word in the line and that is what is called alliteration.
b) Structural devices
These are the devices which deal with the structure of the poems, such as verse or line, stanza and punctuation marks used in the poems.
c) Poetic devices or sense devices
These are the devices which enhance the meaning in poems. They help to understand the poems well. Including the following;- allusion, analogy, metaphor, simile, symbolism, hyperbole, irony, imagery, oxymoron, paradox, personification and pun.
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ORAL LITERATURE AND WRITTEN LITERATURE
|
Oral literature |
Written literature |
|
1. It is presented through the mouth such as songs, narratives, poems, riddles and proverbs 2. It takes short time to compose and produce contrary from the written 3. Often the audience participates when the artist gives out his or her story. 4. It’s the property of the whole society. 5. Normally it takes place in the special areas such as stage and other special areas or places. 6. Its older than written literature as it started when people started to live together. 7. Oral literature has many genres such as folk tale, legends, myth, fable, anecdote, epics, riddles, ballads, riddles, sayings and proverbs. 8. In oral literature the artist faces the audience. 9. It is not expensive. This is because there is no printing and production costs. 10. No tools needed to produce it. |
1. Written literature is in written form. Such as plays, novels and poetry which are in written form. 2. It takes long time for the artist to compose and produce 3. The audience does not participate as they read the produced work. 4. It’s the property of the writer. 5. After it has been produced a person can read it in any place or location.
6. It’s not older than oral literature as it started after discovery of writing.
7. It has few genres in comparison to the oral literature and there are only three genres which are plays, novels and poetry. 8. The artist is always away from the audience. 9. It’s expensive and it needs printing and production costs in general contrary from oral literature 10. It needs tools to produce such as papers and machines such as printer computer. |
ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE IN THE ANALYSIS PROCESS OF THE LITERARY WORKS
ANALYSIS OF THE LITERARY WORKS
This is the whole process and work of identifying the two elements of literature which are form and content.
THE ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE
Any work of art (literature) has two elements namely form and content. Form and content are inseparable elements of a literary work.
FORM
Form refers to the superstructure of the work of art. That’s how work of art is arranged or presented.
Form consists of the parts
a) Plot
b) Techniques or style
c) Setting
d) Language use or diction
e) Characters and characterization
PLOT OR STRUCTURE
Plot is the arrangement of events in the literary work.
Or is the interplay and sequence of events in the work of art. Plot in the work of art is reflected through conflict, physical, moral and personal life as well as conflict among the characters in the work of art. Plot may be straight forward or flashback.
Flashback plot is the plot whereby events are not arranged chronologically. It is simply an interruption of the chronological sequence events in the literary work. In this kind of plot the past events may be presented in or during the current event in order to provide the background information for the current narration or event.
Straightforward plot is the plot whereby events are arranged chronologically. Example you can find that the main character is presented from childhood to the adulthood. In this kind of plot, the narration or events relates to what is happening or taking place from the beginning to the end of the work of art.
STYLE OR TECHNIQUE
Style in general sense is the way or method of doing or performing something particularly in arts or sciences.
In literature, style refers to the way the work of art or literary work is made or presented. It includes the following.
a) Narrative style or technique
This is an account to tell a story, the whole story or just a part of the story.
b) Point of view
This is an angle from which the story is told or narrated. So is the position from which the events are observed or witnessed. Hence point of view refers to someone who is telling or narrating the story. Eg. first person point of view.
There are three basic points of view in literature:-
A. The first person point of view.
B. The second person point of view.
C. The third person point of view.
First person point of view
In this person point of view the pronoun I or We is used and the one who tells the story is one of the characters in the story, can be the main character or any other character in the story.
Therefore in the first person point of view the narrative or story is told by the character, this can be the major or minor character in the story in his or her words and limited to his scope of knowledge, degree of involvement and the powers of observations and expressions.
Second person point of view (limited)
In this point of view the author or writer refers to all characters in the third person describing only what can be seen or heard or thought by a single character.
So this is the style of narrative where one of the characters is referred to as “you” and this kind of point of view is rarely used in novels.
Third personal point of view (omniscient) the author refers to each character in the third person, describing what several characters see, hear or think as well as the events which take place in the absence of the other characters.
c) Flashback style (refer to types of plot)
d) Straight forward technique style (refer to the types of plot)
SETTING
Setting is the place and time at which a story is represented as happening.
Or is the environment in which the story take place, it includes time and place.
Example the setting of the novel Passed Like a Shadow is Uganda after independence.
LANGUAGE USE OR DICTION
Language use is the choice and arrangement of words in a literary work. So language is very important to literature because it’s the medium for it, hence no language no literature.
In literature language is used artfully or artistically contrary from the ordinary use of language that we use in our daily life.
In determining the language used in the work of art we can ask ourself the following questions
a) Is the language simple or complex?
Language used in the work of art can be simple or complex according to the level of the reader or audience.
How simplicity and complexity of language affect the message of the literary work?
When language used is simple the message presented id the work of art will be understood easily but when the language used in the work of art is complex the intended message cannot be understood easily.
b) Is the language mixed?
Sometimes language used in the work of art may be mixed, and mixed language is when more than one language is used in the work of art. Eg. The use of English and Kiswahili language in one work of art or story.
c) Is the language formal or informal?
Sometimes the language used in the work of art may be formal or informal depending on the selection of the writer on which language has to be used in the work of art.
d) Is the language used in the work of art grammatical or ungrammatical?
The language used in the literary work may be grammatical or not grammatical.
FIGURES OF SPEECH
Figures of speech are skillful or artistic use of words or language in the literary work for adding aesthetics or beauty of the work of art.
In the figures of speech there is the use of metaphoric and figurative language.
The following are some of the figures of speech or sense devices that are used in literary works
1. Imagery
Imagery is the use of figurative language to produce pictures or images in the mind of readers or hearers. Therefore imagery is the mental picture which someone creates as he or she continues reading the work of art.
It involves the use of sense organs as it comes through the process of perception and interpretation whereby someone feels else as he or she is seeing, touching, smelling or hearing something.
2. Symbolism
Symbolism refers to the use of a sign or something that stands or suggests something else or suggests a certain idea. In broad sense, symbolism is something that signifies something else, and then in this sense all words are symbols.
Examples of symbolism
Blood may stand or suggest for sacrifice
Own may stand for witchcraft in some societies.
3. Simile
Simile is the figure of speech that compares two different things by using conjunction. Like, like, as…..as, as if etc
Anna is like a lion
Her sister was like an angel.
4. Metaphor
Metaphor is the figure of speech that compares two different things without using conjunctions.
Examples
Mwinga is an angel.
Antony is a chameleon.
5. Personification is the figures of speech that attributes or gives human qualities to the non human being in the work of art.
In personification there is the use of imaginative creatures or things as human beings by giving them human personalities, intelligence and emotions.
Examples
The mountain walked majestically.
Eyes were speaking harshly.
6. Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the overstatement or exaggeration of something in the work of art. It may be for producing comic effects in the literary work.
Examples
I invited billions of people in my party.
Asha gave millions of thanks.
7. Euphemism
Euphemism is the act of avoiding the use of offensive and embarrassing words in the literary work.
Examples
In the family way instead of pregnant.
Senior citizens instead of old people.
Pass away instead of die.
8. Tone
Tone is the author’s/writer’s/poet’s attitude towards the subject matter or main idea presented in the work of art. Tone may be positive or negative. Tone is conveyed through author’s use of language including words choice, phrasing and sentence structure.
So, tone is an attitude a write of the work of art takes towards the subject matter, which intends to shape the readers’ emotional response. Hence tone reflects the feelings of an author.
9. Mood
Mood refers to how we are made to feel as readers or is the emotion evoked by the author to his her reader(s). attitude may be positive or negative depending on what is presented in the work of art through the language used in the work of art.
10. Irony
Irony is the figure of speech in which the intended meaning is expressed in the words which carry the opposite meaning.
Example Aisha is the cleverest student in the class. She scored 5% marks in English language test.
11. Ellipsis or omission
Ellipsis is the omission or deletion of some letters or words in the literary work for various reasons such as for avoiding repetition. It is a figure of speech characterized by the omission of one or more letters or words that can be easily supplied by the reader.
12. Rhetorical questions
Rhetorical question is the question that is asked while the answer is known to the one who is asking that question.
13. Satire
Satire is the literary device which blends (mixes) critical altitude (criticism) with humour for the purpose of improving human institution or humanity or for the purpose of criticizing.
14. Contrast is a literary device by which one element is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity.
15. Ambiguity is the expression of an idea in the language that gives more than one meaning and leaves uncertainty as to the intended significance of the statement.
16. Persona is a person or thing that is speaking in a poem. The speaker of narrator of the poem can be man or woman, an oppressed person, colonialist or a freedom fighter etc.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE USED IN LITERATURE
a) Language used in literature is artistic. This is because it includes songs, poems and figures of speech.
b) Language used in literature is symbolic in nature. Symbols are the words which stand for another thing or different meaning example flower to mean love.
c) The language use in literature particularly that used in poetry is poetic in nature. This is because it uses verse, stanza rhymes and rhythm.
d) The language used in literature is imagery in nature. Imagery is the mental pictures that someone creates as he or she reads the work of art. So language used in literature has got many images as you read or listen.
e) used in literature is figurative, this is because it used a lot of figures of speech.
CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION
CHARACTERIZATION
Characterization is the method that the author or writer uses to create and reveal the characters’ personalities.
Therefore, characterization is the process of describing the internal and external personalities of a character in the literary work.
Or is the process of creating imaginary individuals as characters in the work of arts.
Meaning of personality
Is the combination of qualities or characteristics that form an individual’s distinctive character.
Therefore, characterization is the process of creating characters in the literary work.
Internal personality
Is the behavior or habit of the character such as lazy, poor, prostitute, womanizer, defenders of African culture, source of conflict, betrayers, hypocrite or power mongered.
External personality
Refers to the physical appearances of the character. Example strong, short hair, round eyes and others.
Character is an individual or inanimate objects assigned a certain role(s) in the literary work. Characters may be people, animals, robots or whatever the author chooses.
Or character is the representation of a person in the work of art, an this is because even if the characters are animals or other objects, they actually represent human being.
HOW TO DETERMINE CHARACTERS IN THE WORK OF ART?
Characters in the literary work may be determined or determined may be by basing of the following
a) The basis of the occupation.
Here the intention is the job of the character, and when we know the job or occupation of the character, it helps us to know his or her duties. For example we can understand if that person is lazy or not.
b) Describing characters in the basis of age. The character may be young or adult.
c) Also, we describe character by basing on the sex of that character, whereby the character may be male or female.
d) We also, describe the characters by basing on what they say.
e) On top of that, we describe the characters bay basing on their social status and education background.
TYPES OF CHARACTERS
i. Expository character
The word expository is from the word expose which means to make something visible by uncovering it.
Therefore, expository character is the type of character who or which is described or discussed by the author or write or by the other character(s).
ii. Dramatic character
Dramatic simply means quickly, suddenly and striking.
Therefore, dramatic character is the kind of character in action. from his or her behavior, speech and recorded thoughts, we make deductions about his or her personality, altitude and relationship with other characters.
iii. Flat character
This is the kind of character that we relatively not learn anything from him or her and is not immediately relevant to the present adventure or event.
iv. Round character
Round character is the character in the work of art whose personality, motives, altitudes and other characteristics are fully delineated (fully developed) in the work of art.
So round character, could be so thoroughly individualized as to lose all representativeness and hence useful as the subject of a work of art.
v. Developing character
Developing character is the character that changes in personality or grows to the new awareness of life. Is the one who changes in behavior, way of acting and thoughts in the work of art.
vi. Static character
Static character is the type of character who remains essentially unchanged throughout the story. Is the one who does not change in terms of behavior, way of acting and way of thinking.
vii. Protagonist
Protagonist is the main or leading character in the literary work. So is the principle speaker with whom readers’ emotions are highly and chiefly involved. Is the character who plays an important role in the work of art.
viii. Antagonist
Antagonist is the character who opposes the main or leading character in the work of art. Is the one who is against the main character in actions and way of thinking.
CONTENT
Content refers to various issues or ideas presented or conveyed in the literary work. So it’s what is conveyed or presented in the work of art.
Content of the literary work include the following
Themes, message, philosophy of the writer, climax and prologue.
Message
Message is something or idea (s) that we learn from the work of art. From various issues presented in the work there are different things or issue that we learn, those issues that we learn is what we call message.
Example you can learn from work of art that
Unity is very important for the development of any society.
We must sacrifice our life in order to eliminate oppression in the societies.
Theme(s)
Theme is a central or dominating idea in the literary work. It’s presented through characters and their actions, various images used in the work of art as well as various symbols and other literary devices used in the literary work.
Therefore, theme is the basic or general idea expressed in the work of art.
In one literary work there can be more than one, whereby that work of art will be having main theme (that is the central idea) and other theme apart from the main theme)
The following are the common themes in the African literature, betrayal, African tradition, position of women in the society, corruption, poor leadership. Other themes are death, oppression and humiliation, colonialism and its impacts, protest, love affairs etc.
Conflict
Conflict is a misunderstanding or an encounter between two opposing sides or forces or groups or people in the work of art.
Types of conflict
Conflict may be
a. Political conflict such s between the ruling part and opposition party
b. Economic conflict this can be between the rich people and poor people.
c. Social conflict such as family conflict or conflict among the social groups.
d. Personal conflict internal conflict, when one person is having conflicting ideas in his or her mind about a certain thing or issue.
e. Philosophical conflict, conflict between idea(s) against idea(s), that is, conflicting ideas and cultural beliefs and values.
Climax
Climax is a point of the greatest emotional intensity or interest in a plot of a narrative or work of art. So is the highest stage of conflict or interest in the story or work of art.
Philosophy of the writer
Philosophy of the writer refers to the author’s altitude and determination in his or her work of art. The philosophy of the writer may be revolutionalist philosophy or non revolutionalist one.
Prologue
Prologue is a sort of introduction in the story or work of art which usually sets the tone for that story or work of art and it acts as a bit of backgrounder of the story.
Example
1. The origin of this story is ……………..
2. It all begin one day when ………….
THE CONCEPT OF FICTION AND NON FICTION
FICTION
Fiction is a prose narrative writing drawn from the imagination or fancy of the author or writer rather than historical facts. Therefore, fiction is the product of creativity by the writer of the work of art.
NON FICTION
Non fiction is a prose writing that deals with real people, things, events and places. Therefore it contains factual information.
Non fiction includes:
v Biography
v Autobiography
v Essay
v Newspaper
v Stories
v Magazine articles
v Scientific reports
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
This is the writer’s account of his life.
BIOGRAPHY
This is the writer’s account of another person’s life.
THE DIFFRENCES BETWEEN FICTION AND NON FICTION
|
Fiction |
Non fiction |
|
1. It is concerned with the imaginary world. 2. Usually it is written in an informal style. 3. The writer is free to shape characters and events entirely to his own imagination. 4. It doesnot give the message straight. 5. It dosenot have some parables facts such as places or setting, people, diagrams and maps. |
1. It is concerned with the World as it is. 2. Usually it is written in formal style. 3. The writer presents a picture of the society that reader will recognize as relevant to their own time. 4. It gives the message straight. 5. It has some parables facts such as places or setting, people, diagrams and maps |
FUNCTIONS OF LITERATURE IN THE SOCIETY
Literature has different roles or functions in the society, this is because literature is not developed from vacuum rather is developed from the society.
The following are among the most important function or roles of literature in the society.
a) Literature educates people by bringing them a sense of awareness and self actualization. So literature gives knowledge to people about existing social realities, it makes people think, reason and remember through various issues presented in the work of art.
It educates people on how to live according to the nature and demand of the society.
b) Literature expresses peoples’ culture.
Literature expresses culture by presenting different cultural issues. Literature provides or presents to people good and useful cultural elements such as good norms, values and practices that people should follow and preserve them.
Literature also, presents bad cultural issues or aspects or practices which people should not follow them but instead they should abandon them. So literature tell people about their culture and culture of others (other societies)
c) Literature entertains people.
Literature entertains people by reading and listening works of art to get pleasure and enjoyment. The kind of pleasure we get from in literature is contrary from that we get from eating foods and drinking drinks which appeal to the senses only, but the pleasure we get in literature appeals in mind. It is called aesthetics pleasure, which stimulates the sense of appreciation of the literary works.
d) Literature is used to influence people in the society.
People may be influenced to do things in a certain way or style as portrayed in a certain work of art.
People may be influenced to use a certain way which is portrayed in a particular work of art to solve a certain problem which is their society, such as it may instill revolutionary ideas as the way of taking away the problem of the poor government in the society.
e) Literature develops language.
Literature uses language as its medium, in such situation, literature develops language skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening), so people reading literary works, especially students improve their vocabulary and grammar as literary writer create new words or vocabulary, idioms, new phrases, figures of speech which contribute the development of language in the society.
f) Literature liberates people both physically and mentally.
This is because literature may awaken people and make them aware of social realities such as the existence of poor government, poverty, exploitation, ignorance etc. in such way literature directs people to understand the sources of various problems, so people may decide to liberate themselves through struggle as it may be presented in some literary works, the struggle may be peaceful or armed.
g) Literature criticises people or society.
Literary writers criticise people in the society. They do so by pointing out “burning issues” or weaknesses which exist in the society. They point out good issues and argue people to preserve them and they point out bad issues and argue or ask the society to discard them. A good critic (literary writer) gives out his or her views on what the society should do.
h) Literature is the source of employment in the society.
People can employ themselves by writing literary works, whereby literary works can be sold to earn income for the producers. This has made literature to be an industry as other industries that produce goods and services. Therefore literature has employed a number of people in different societies in writing, films and TV actors.
THE FUNCTION OF LITERATURE IN AFRICA
A. It reveals the problems facing Africans as whole.
B. It reveals the African culture to the outside World that is other continents.
C. It unites Africans against colonialism and neo colonialism.
D. It is used to criticize bad African cultural elements such as Female Genital Mutilation and the inheritance of widows.
E. It reminds the Africans about the evils of the colonialism and the neo colonialism.
F. It warns the Africans who are against some African cultural practice which are good and acceptable in human society.
G. It mobilizes the African against the African threats which are diseases, poverty and ignorance.
THEORIES OF LITERATURE QUESTIONS FROM DIFFERENT NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS PAST PAPERS
NECTA 2011
1.
a. Briefly comment on what the following literary concepts are.
i. Short stories
ii. Figurative language
iii. Characterization
iv. Setting
b. What is oral literature? State any five characteristics of oral literature.
2. Using your own life experience, show how literature and language cannot be separated.
3. Writing in local languages is the only way to make sure that it reaches every individual in the society. Use eight (8) points to argue for or against this statement.
NECTA 2012
1. Compare and contrast between the following pairs of literary terminologies.
a) Ballad and epic
b) Irony and satire
c) Conflict and denouement
d) Round character and flat character
e) Form and content
2. What do you understand by the term “technique” in a work of art? Explain on seven techniques which can be used in a literary piece of art.
3. Does oral literature still exist in the Tanzanian society today? Discuss basing your arguments on the nature and transmission of oral literature.
NECTA 2013
1. How does the language of literature differ from ordinary writing and speech?
a. Define the following terms as used in works of art:
i. Rehearsal
ii. Imagery
iii. Tone
iv. Point of view
v. Plot
vi. Symbolism
vii. Fable
viii. Persona
ix. Character
x. Stanza
b. Give five reasons as to why literature should be taught as a subject to all secondary school students.
2.
a. What are the differences in each of the following terms?
i. Litotes and understatement
ii. Straight forward narration and flashback
iii. Metaphorical and literal language
iv. Onomatopoeia and metonymy
v. Metaphor and simile
b. With examples, give a brief explanation of the genres of literature.
NECTA 2014
1. “The subject of literature differs from other subjects taught in school.” What are the differences between literature and other subjects in the secondary school curriculum?
2. Briefly compare and contrast the following pairs of literary terms:
a. Symbolism and imagery
b. Fable and folktale
c. Antagonist and protagonist
d. Play and drama
e. Alliteration and assonance
3. Support the view that “the society makes literature and literature holds the society”
NECTA 2015
1.
a. Define the following literary terms:
i. Satire
ii. Allusion
iii. Alliteration
iv. Conflict
v. Simile
b. Show how literature is a reflection of life by giving five points.
2.
a. Briefly explain how the difference between a novel and a poem lies in their form by giving three points for each.
b. Why is it important to put plays in action?
c. With examples briefly explain the following literary devices:
i. Hyperbole
ii. Irony
iii. Litotes
iv. Metaphor
v. Contrast
3.
a. Briefly explain the following :
i. Oral literature
ii. Written literature
b. Mention three basic genres of literature.
c. It is argued that, the definition of the term literature is not complete unless it involves three elements, namely art, language and society. Briefly support this view showing how these elements are part of literature.
NECTA 2016
1. Analyse eight elements which makes drama look different from other works of literature.
2. Giving eight points, explain the importance of studying literature.
3. Analyse four key elements of form and four of content in a piece of literary writing.
NECTA 2017
1. Briefly explain each of the following literary terms.
a. Fiction
b. Film
c. Stage direction
d. Episode
e. Figures of speech
f. Setting
g. Tragic comedy
h. Verse
i. Scene
j. Play within play
2.
a. What are the major difficulties that students face when appreciating a poem?
b. Distinguish between the following literary terms
i. Poem and poet
ii. Verse and stanza
iii. Rhyme and rhythm
iv. Narrative and deductive poem
v. Theme and message
3. Account for the features of play/drama which make it different from other genres of literature.
REFERENCES
v Abrahams,M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms: New York; Holt, Rinerhart and Winston, Inc. (1971)
v Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (7th Edition). (2005).
v Msabila, D.T,. N. Nyangwine & G. Mhilu. (2003). Ordinary Level Literature: Theory and & Practice for Form 3 &4. Dar Es Salaam. Afroplus Industries.
v Herberg, M.J., Readers Encyclopedia of American Literature; New York: Thomas Y. Crowellcoy.
v Cook & Rubadiri: Poems From East Africa (2002)
1 Comments
Really, it is so much good constructed, well done bro 🙏🙏🙏
ReplyDelete