WRITTEN LITERATURE NOTES

 

 

3.0   What is written literature?

 

This is a type of literature that presents the message in written form. This began with the invention of writings and it is practicable to those who know how to read and write.

3.1   Genres of written literature

Written literature includes various broad genres or types as mentioned below;

1.        PROSE

2.        PLAY/DRAMA

3.            POETRY

PROSE

Prose refers genre or type of literature which is written in the form of sentences and paragraphs. Prose is any piece of written or spoken language that imitates the ordinary speech of people in their daily conversation. This genre occur in two forms or it is categorized into two types namely; fiction and non – fiction.

 

GENRES OF FICTION AND NON – FICTION

1.        FICTION

Fiction is prose writing that tells about imaginary character and events. Short stories, novellas and novels are work of fiction. Or; it is a kind of literature that deals with non factual materials or events. Characters, setting and events are the product of imaginations from the author. It can be inspired by the actual events or completely made up. Some writers base their fiction on actual events and people, to which they add invented characters, dialogue, setting, and plots.

GENRES OF FICTION/ PROSE FICTION

A prose is any kind of writing that is not poetry or that is not presented in verse form or stanza. It is a specifically imaginative work that includes short stories, novella and novels

 

SHORT STORY

This is a story usually about imaginative characters and events that is short enough to be read from the beginning to the end without stopping. It is also a brief work of fiction that can generally be read in one sitting. It usually focuses on one or two main characters that face a single problem or conflict.

 

FEATURES/CHARACTERISTICS OF SHORT STORIES

1.             Short stories are very short and can be read in one sitting.

2.            Short story has got the small number of characters (has few characters); characters are not developed like in novels because short story has simple plot and one event.

3.            Short story focuses only in one incident or event to make its point; in most cases short story may have single setting.

4.            It covers short period of time; when composing or reading a short story the writer or reader may use short time to complete writing or reading it. It doesn’t take a lot of time to come to the point.

5.            In short story setting, characters and actions are introduced quickly.

6.            Short story has simple plot, one climax and one resolution.

7.            It has only one main conflict because it focuses in one event.

8.            In term of length it is very economic in use of words and there is no exact number of words; there is no exact number of words that a short story has but at least it should have words that are fewer than the novel and novella. For instance, the words ranging from;

a.            1000 to 20000 words.

b.            1000 to 4000 words.

c.            2500 to 7500 words.

 

ELEMENTS OF SHORT STORY

There are four basic elements of a short story. These are; Setting, plot, characters and theme. Short stories differ from the novel in its treatment of these four elements.

 

 The main difference is partly dictated by length. In short stories characters are usually not fully developed and usually centre on one idea. Other minor elements include conflict, point of view, symbolism, flashbacks, fictitious quality etc.

      Example of short stories; “Encounters From Africa.”

 

NOVELLA

This is a fiction work that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. It is longer than a short story but the characters are not fully developed as in novels.

Example;

v    “A Walk in the Night” by Alex La Guma

v    “Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

v    “First Love by Samweli Beckett.

“Animal Farm by George Orwell

 

FEATURES/CHARACTERISTICS OF NOVELLA

 

1.             It is longer than short story but shorter than full – length novel.

2.            It has complex plot more than short story but less complex plot than novel

3.            It has a lot of characters compared to short story but few characters compared to full – length novel

4.            It does not focus on one event as a short story does.

5.            In term of its length it has 60 to 120 or 7,500 to 40,000 words

6.            It has fewer conflicts than novel yet more complicated than short story.

7.            Unlike novels novellas are not divided into chapter.

8.            Most novellas are concerned with the personal and emotional development than the big social issues in the society.

NOVEL 

 

This is a work of fiction that is longer and more complex than a short story. Or it is a fictional prose usually consisting of more than fifty thousand words. (Probst et al, 2000).  Also Abrams (1999:190) defines novel as an extended narrative. Therefore, Novel is a long fictional narrative which describes intimate human experiences. It describes the actions of fictional characters and fictional event. A person who writes or composes novels is called novelist.

Examples of novels;

v    “Houseboy” by Ferdinand Oyono

v    “Concubine” by Amadi Elechi

v    “The Old Man and the Medal” By Ferdinand Oyono

 

FEATURES/CHARACTERISTICS OF NOVELS

1.             Novels are long: They are very long; you can’t read novels in one sitting. They have got words ranging from 60,000 to 200,000. For example the longest novel in the world is the novel written by Russian Novelist called Leo Tolstoy titled “War and Peace”. This novel has 3000 pages.

2.            It has complex plot: The arrangement of event in novels are more complex compared to short stories and novellas. Events described in a novel are arranged in series which indicate the exposition (beginning), narrative hook (introduction of central conflict), rising action (suspense), climax (turning point) and resolution or denouement. Thus, the plot in novel is not economical and selective because it is not subjected to time limit as it is in play.

3.            It is in form of prose: Novels are written in sentences to form paragraphs hence the whole story.

4.            It is realistic: In novel actions or events and characters must be believable. We should be able to relate, to identify ourselves with the characters and events in the novel.

5.            It contains a lot of characters: Novels have a large numbers of characters who take part of action in the story. For example, there are more than twenty five characters (25) in the novel titled HOUSEBOY written by Ferdinand Oyono.

6.            Its characters are fully developed: Characters in novel are full developed through plot over long period of time. When reading a novel we can determine different types of characters according to the way events and incidents are arranged in the novel. The descriptions of characters are provided because the read does not see the characters.

7.            It uses narrative style: Novels takes the form of story narration. Sometimes novels include dialogue as their stylistic features. Normally the dialogues are enclosed in quotation marks.

8.            It is divided into chapters: Novels are normally divided into chapter which is quite different from play which is divided into acts and scene.

9.            It focuses on many issue or events: Novel is characterized by having large number of characters with different personality which leads into multiple issues to be narrated in the same story or novel so as to cater individual behaviour and action of each character.

 

TYPES OF NOVEL

1.             REALISTIC NOVEL:  This is the novel that imitates the real life of the human beings. This is because human beings are complex creature the realistic novel tries to portray or present the complex nature and action of people in the society. When we read a realistic novel we can be to see the strong similarities between the things in the novel and things in the real world. Example of this type of novel is “Houseboy” by Ferdinand Oyono.

2.            HISTORICAL NOVEL: This is a novel that tells a story of particular historical events in terms of what happened during this period, the issues that were involve during this period and the people that played or leading roles.

3.            EPISTOLARY NOVEL: This is a novel which is written in form of a letter. The word “epistolary” comes from the Latin word “epistola” which means letter. Example of this type of novel is “So Long Letter” by Mariam Ba.

4.            PICARESQUE NOVEL: This is the kind of novel which tells the story about adventure of the incidents in the life they become.

5.            AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL: This is the novel which the “I” narrator tells the story of his or her own life. It may base on the entire life of the narrator or parts of the life of the narrator.

6.            BILDUNGSROMAN NOVEL: This is the story that is concerned with the development of the main characters in term of their mind, spirit and traits from the time they are children up to time that they are adults. The term “Bildungsroman” means growth.

7.            DETECTIVE NOVEL (WHO DONE IT NOVEL): This is the novel which deals with trying to find out the people who are responsible for committing crimes and it has some element of mystery on it. It tries to answer questions such as “who committed crimes” and “Who did this”. Born in mind that the term detective is a professional person who investigate crimes.

8.            POLITICAL NOVEL: This is the kind of novel whose central focus is political issues. This deals with political issues, character and political process.

9.            PSYCHOLOGICAL NOVEL: This is a novel that explores the emotions, feeling and mind set of the characters. The central focus of this novel is on the internal states of characters and it looks at the inner state of the character rather than their outer state.

Table 3: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SHORT STORIES AND NOVELS

S/N	NOVELS	SHORT STORIES
1	Divided into chapters	Not divided into chapters
2	It is very long with approximate of 60,000 – 200,000 words	It is very short with approximate of 3000 word and you can read it in one sitting.
3	It has got complex plot	It has got simple plot
4	It focuses to a lot of themes and messages.	It focuses to single them and few messages.
5	It deals with a lot of event	It deals with single event.
6	It involves a lot of conflicts	It involves to only a central conflict.
7	It is not economic in the use of words or extravagant in the use of words.	It is very economic in the use of words.
8	Setting, characters and action can take time to be revealed.	Setting, characters and actions are introduced quickly.

 

PLAY/DRAMA

Play or dram is a literary genre that tells a story through actions and dialogue and is written to be performed on stage by actors. Drama has the same elements as those in novels and short stories such as setting, plot characters, theme, climax, conflict, symbolism, etc.  The two concepts can be expressed as follows to express the slight differences;

 

Play: Refers to the dramatic work especially in written script composed to be performed on the stage.

 

Drama: This refers to the fictional representation thorough dialogue and performance. Drama involves the imitation of action. A person who composes play/dram is called a playwright or dramatist.

 

Example;

v    “The Lion and the Jewel.” By Wole Soyinga.

v    “The Trials of Brother Jero.” By Wole Soyinga.

v    The Dilemma of the Ghost.” By  Ama Ata Aidoo

v    “The government inspector.” By Gogol, N

 

An element that is unique to drama is DRAMATIC TECHNIQUE. This includes:

1.               Dialogue. These are the words that the characters speak in a play. It is a conversation between characters. It is the dialogue that reveals the character’s qualities, personality traits, and reactions to other characters.

2.              Soliloquy/monologue. This is a speech made by a character when he/she is alone on stage. Or it is a speech in which a character alone on stage, expresses her thoughts and feelings aloud for the benefit of the audience, often in a revealing way.

3.              Aside. This is a direct address of the audience by a character. The other characters do not hear what is being said.

4.              Stage direction. These are the instructions/notes included in a play/drama which describe how the work is to be performed or staged. They indicate areas of the stage in which actors sit, stand, move, speak, exit, enter, and so on, lighting, music, sound effect, costumes, emotional state, etc. These are typed in italics and enclosed in the parentheses or brackets.

 

FEATURES/CHARACTERISTICS OF DRAMA (PLY)

1.             It uses stage direction. This provides information about the characters, mood, the usual notations of entrance and exits, place, etc.

2.            Drama is characterized by action carried out on the stage by the actors.

3.            It involves dialogue or conversation between characters or actors. The dialogues are open means they are not enclosed in quotation marks like in novel.

4.            Drama or play is divided into acts and scenes.

5.            In drama or play each speech is labelled by the name of the character speaking.

6.            It involves visual elements such as costumes, props and the stage to be visible.

7.            The plot is generally more economic and selective because it is subjected to time and limit.

8.            The descriptions of characters are not provided because the audience sees and hears the characters by themselves.

 

TYPES OF DRAMA

a.            TRAGEDY

It is a serious drama/play with a sad ending especially one in which the main character dies. The events in a tragic plot are set in motion by a decision that is often an error in judgment. Succeeding events are linked in a cause-and-effect relationship and lead inevitably to a disastrous conclusion, usually death.

Example; 

v    “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles.  

v    “Julius Caesar” by W. Shakespeare,

A person who writes tragedies for the theatre or an actor in a tragedy is called a tragedian. E.g.   Sophocles, Shakespeare, etc

b.            COMEDY

It is a dramatic work that is intended to be funny, humorous and usually ends happily with a peaceful resolution of the main conflict. To achieve a comic effect sometimes the playwrights use mistaken identity. Sometimes certain characters are mistaken about their surroundings.  They say or do things that would be appropriate in a different social situation but are inappropriate in their surroundings. The resulting confusion results to a silly series of events. The confusion of characters causes a ridiculous conflict. The climax arrives when the characters learn the truth. Example;

v    “The trials of Brother Jero” by Wole Soyinka

v    “The Lion and the Jewel” by W. Soyinka

An entertainer who makes people laugh by telling jokes and funny stories is called a comedian/comedienne.

c.            TRAGIC COMEDY

It is a dramatic work that combines the elements of tragedy and comedy but here the hero/heroine does not end in danger or death. A comic relief is a technique used to achieve this effect. This is a humorous scene that is inserted into a serious work of drama to provide relief from the seriousness felt by the audience.

d.            MELODRAMA

This is a play that touches emotions so as to motivate the characters due to its happy ending. A play that is full of exciting events and in which the characters and emotions seem too exaggerated to be true/real. It is accompanied with a melody or music –hence melody drama (melodrama)

e.            HISTORICAL DRAMA

This is a type of drama that expresses the history of a particular society but usually contains some elements of tragedy and comedy.

 Example;

v    “Dedan Kimathi”  by Ngugi

v    “Kinjeketile” by E. Hussein

f.         THE DUMB – SHOW

This is a drama without words. It has no dialogue. The story of the drama is communicated to audience through gesture (mime), posture, exaggerated social appearance and other bodily movements. This is the oldest type of dram.

      

Table 4: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PLAYS AND NOVELS

S/N	PLAYS	NOVELS
1	Plays are written to be acted on stage.	Novels are written to be read.
2	It uses stage direction whereby explanation of places, objects and actions are given in brief bracketed section.	It does not use stage direction as setting, characters, behaviour, objects, etc. are inferred from narrative.
3	The contents of drama are arranged mainly in dialogue form.	Includes dialogues in quotation mark and narratives.
4	Each speech is labeled by the name of speaker or actor. The name of the speaker appears at the beginning of the speaker.	The speaker’s name either appears at the end of the speech or is inferred from the context.
5	It is arranged in acts and scenes	It is arranged in chapters
6	Dialogues are not enclosed in quotation marks	Dialogues are enclosed in quotation marks.
7	The plot is generally more economic and selective because it is subjected to time limit.	The plot is not economical and selective because it is not subjected to time limit.
8	Characters or actors are real human being	Characters are imaginative human being.
9	The composer of play or dram is playwright or dramatist	The writer or composer of novel is called novelist.

 

COMMON AND IMPORTANT TERMS (ELEMENTS) USED IN DRAMA

Fig 8: Common and Important Terms (Elements) Used in Drama.

 

1.             Act. This is a major unit/part of action in a drama or play.A chunk of the play’s action. Ibrahim Hussein’s play titled Kinjekitile has four acts that are noted with a large Roman numeral while Wole Soyinka’s play has five scenes noted with large Roman numeral.

2.            Scene. This is a smaller section or a subdivision of one act. It is a division of action within an act. Ibrahim Hussein’s play thirteen scenes that are noted with large Roman numeral. So a scene is a section presenting events that occur in one place at one time.

3.            Costume. The clothes worn by actors in a play or film/movie or worn by somebody to make them look like somebody or something else. E.g. a student, a housemaid, a judge, a pastor, padre, a gangster, a whore etc.

Fig 9: Costumes

4.            Prop. A small object used by actors, during the performance of a play or in a film/movie

Things that the actors are holding and which are around them are known as props.

Fig 10: Props

5.             Audience. Is a group of people sitting in a room, auditorium or in the theatre listening to and watching a performance.

6.            Theatre. This is a special building or an outdoor area where plays/movies/films and other entertainments are performed.

7.            Dramatic Form: This refers to the organization of the writing in a script, whereby the speakers are listed, their speech is written, and stage directions tell the actors how to deliver their lines. The beginning of each scene or act also has information detailing what the stage should look like.

8.            Dramatis Personae: The list of characters in a play so the audience knows who is who before the action begins. Provided at the beginning of the play’s script.

9.            Script: The words printed on paper spoken by the actors

10.         Pathetic Fallacy: This is an artistic device whereby Nature reflects a character’s feelings and/or the mood of the events in the literature, which means pathetic fallacy, is a setting reinforcement. Because it is just a reflection, pathetic fallacy also falls short of full personification. Pathetic fallacy carries over the moods and passions of a human being to inanimate objects or, more particularly, mirrors human emotion in nature, animals, or objects. For example: "Nature must be gladsome when I was so happy"; or “nature weeps” for a given character’s sorrow (as a reference to rain).

11.          Stage Direction: A direction by the playwright to the actors in the script. It indicates how the actor should speak and/or move during a particular line or scene. It also provides descriptions of what the stage should look like in terms of furniture, weather, lighting, music, etc.

12.         Monologue: A single fictional speaker—usually a performance actor—gives an extended speech, either as if alone on stage (like a soliloquy) or as if speaking to a fictional audience. The personality of the character and significant events in his/her life are revealed by the speech. If the speaker delivers the monologue to a fictional audience, the reader also gets information about that audience, because the monologue’s comments and questions allow the reader to infer information in that area. Also known as monodrama.

13.         Dialogue: When two or more speakers speak to one another; the spoken exchanges that comprise a play.

14.         Interior monologue: The depiction of the thoughts and feelings that flow, with no apparent logic, through the mind of a character. Although the term is essentially interchangeable with stream of consciousness (see the story terms handout), it has been argued that an interior monologue is an even more direct depiction of the Character’s consciousness.

15.         Pathos: The quality in a work of literature that evokes feelings of pity, tenderness, and sympathy from the reader. A pathetic object, such as Lady Macbeth, by the end of the play in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, usually suffers helplessly, but a tragic hero’s death is too great a fall to be described as pathetic (which is why it is tragic).

16.         Dramatic Irony: When a character says something, but the audience knows more than the character does about other characters or events, so the statement comes across with a double meaning that the audience “gets” and the character doesn’t. It is dramatic irony when Juliet first sees Romeo and says if she can’t marry him, she will die, because the audience knows that by the end of the play she does marry him, and she dies anyway. The character’s expectations and the audience’s knowledge differ in dramatic irony.

17.         Farce: This word refers to any play which evokes laughter by such devices of low comedy as physical buffoonery, rough wit, ridiculous situations, or slapstick behaviours. Farce is not concerned with character subtlety or plot probability; farce is simply out to get a laugh any way it can.

18.         Aside: When a character says something privately to another character while other characters are also on stage. The line(s) are meant for one character’s ears alone. Sometimes asides are addressed to the audience.

19.         Comic Relief: A humorous scene, incident, or remark within an essentially serious or even tragic drama. Following scenes of intense emotion, comic relief evokes laughter as a release from the tension of the serious action. Theme, action or setting, etc. Romeo and Juliet opens with a prologue, which is in the form of a sonnet. See your poetry terms handout for the definition of sonnet.

20.        Pun: This is a play on words in which a word or phrase can be taken to mean more than one thing.

21.         Soliloquy: When a character speaks his/her true thoughts and feelings while alone on stage. Soliloquies reveal the character’s “real” thoughts on a subject.

22.        Catastrophe: The concluding action of a drama, especially a classical tragedy such as those written by the ancient Greeks or by Shakespeare. The catastrophe follows the climax and contains a resolution of the plot. The catastrophe of a play is like the denouement of a short story. In the case of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the catastrophe is Puck’s speech at the end.

23.        Tragic Hero: A tragic hero is a person of high estate who has the potential for greatness. The person is pre-eminently virtuous and just, but his/her misfortune is brought about, in part, by an error in judgement. The tragic hero has a flaw in his/her character, which contributes to his/her destruction. In traditional Greek tragedies, often the tragic flaw is hubris, an excessive pride that causes the hero to ignore a divine warning or to break a moral law. The downfall of the tragic hero frequently involves the element of fate. Overall, the tragic hero has the potential for greatness; however, s/he does not achieve this greatness because of the combined forces of the tragic flaw and fate. Once the tragic hero has committed him/herself to a course of action, there is no turning back. A chain of events occurs because of this commitment, leading to his/her final destruction. Despite shortcomings, the tragic hero “falls” with dignity. The audience empathizes with the tragic hero because of the contrast between the potential greatness of the hero and the reality of what actually occurs to him/her. It has been suggested that because the tragic hero's suffering is greater than his offence, the audience feels pity.

24.        Tragic Flaw: The protagonist of a tragedy has a serious fault, the tragic flaw that leads to his/her downfall and death.

25.        Catharsis: The terror and pity felt by the audience of a tragedy produce catharsis, a cleansing or purifying of emotion. The audience should feel empty and limp after watching, reading, or otherwise participating in a tragedy; that feeling of emptiness is catharsis.

26.        Convention: These are techniques and methods used by the playwright/dramatist and director to create the desired stylistic effect.

27.        Scenery/set: This refers to theatrical equipment, such as curtains, flats, backdrops, platform, used in a dramatic production to communicate a given environment in which a given play is being performed.

28.        Makeup: These are costumes such as wigs and body paint used to transform an actor into a character.

 

Fig 11: Traditional body paints.

 

Fig 12: Modern body paints.

Fig 13: Wigs

29.        Music: it is an expression of harmony. Includes sounds arranged in a way that are pleasant or exciting to listen.

 

FUNCTION OF MUSIC IN DRAMA

a.           To attract the audience to pay attention.

b.           To entertain the beginning and end of action.

c.           To accompany the actions.

d.           To increase the mood of actors and actresses.

e.           To identify the culture.

f.           To represent the action of actors

 

30.        Play within a play: These are particular frames and action of characters or actors by placing them within another play. They link between lives generated by fellow characters within other characters with effect in the audience. For example When Sidi introduces a play of the stranger and forces Lakunle to play a part of a strange it is a play within a play of “The Lion and the Jewel.”

 

31.         Film: It is a specialized type of drama utilizing techniques of dialogue, monologue and action. This is mostly used for motion picture, cinema also movie. The stage for film makers is virtually infinitive and the absence of restrictions permits the inclusion of any details such a car chases, scenes in living room, court rooms, boxing rings, hotel rooms, football stadiums and many others.

32.        Episode: This refers to the division of play performance. The division contains set of events which reveal what characters are doing and their relation. Each of the episodes features the actors who present both action and speech.

 

33.        Stage: This is the performing area or place where performance takes place. It is also called theatre.

Fig14: Actors are on the stage.

34.        Pantomime/mime: This is the use of facial expression and body movements by the actors to convey the message without speaking. They include gestures or hand shaking, mouth behaviour such as yawning, biting lips, wide open and body orientation as well as postures.

35.        Prologue: This is an introduction of the story that normally sets the tone for the story and acts as bit of a background into a story. Note that a prologue is typically a narrative “Spoken” by one of the characters and not from the part of the author. For example, “The origin of this story is …………………………”

36.        Epilogue: This is a short address spoken by an actor at the end of the play that comments on the meaning of the events in the book or looks ahead to expected events; an afterword in any literary work.

37.        Opera: This is the play set for music. The word are sung and sometimes presented in a dialogue that resembles conversation but sounds like singing.

38.        Cast of characters: This is the list of the characters found at the beginning of the book which describe who are in the play. It normally shows the relationship between characters.

 

POETRY

Poetry is an imaginative work of literature that normally presents experiences or ideas with special reference to emotions using language characterized by imaginary, rhyming pattern, rhythmical sounds, and figures of speech.

 

GENESIS OR ETYMOLOGY (ORIGIN) OF POETRY

At the level of etymology or origin of the word; Poetry comes from the Greek word “POIESIS” which means an act of forming, composing, creating and molding.  Therefore, etymologically the word Poetry can be defined as “An art of forming, composing, creating or molding poems.”

 

FROM REFERENCE BOOKS

In the World Book Encyclopedia of 1981, Vol.15; the term Poetry is defined as the means of imaginative literature involving language heightened by verse, imagery, figures of speech or similar devices to effect imagination and emotion.

In the Cyclopedia America of 1992, Vol.15; Poetry is defined as imaginative discourse which present experience or idea with special references to emotional significance using language which is characterized by imagery and rhythmical sounds.

In the Cyclopedia Britannica; the term Poetry is defined as the writing that gives concentrated imaginative utterances to experiences in words so chosen and arranged in such a way that create, item, emotional response through union of theme language.

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF POETRY

1.            Poetry is imaginative in nature: This means that it creates a mental picture of the society. Things or ideas are built up in mind as mental picture then represented to the physical world through paper or singing.

2.          Poetry is rhythmical: This refers to the pattern of speech sound like repetition of words or phrase or sounds such as assonance, alliteration, consonance, metaphor, simile, stressed and unstressed pattern of syllables.

3.          Poetry arouses strong emotions and felling to the reader. This means that poet use powerful words that appeal to human senses. Henceforth, the words arouse strong emotions and feeling to the reader of the poem.

4.          Poetry use economical language: This means that every word in a poem used with special reference to literary technical so as to carry the intended messages and theme. This means that every word used in a poem has meaning.

5.          Poetry is represented in the form of separate verses: A verse is a single line that function as a complete sentence, clause or phrase in prose.

6.          Poetry is rich in the use of sense devices or figures of speech. They at as tools through which message and theme are communicate to the reader or member of the community.

7.          A single idea in poetry is represented in a form of stanza: A stanza is a group of related verses in a poem. Stanza functions as single paragraph like in other prose.

8.          Poetry is rich in the use of musical devices like repetition, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme and refrains.

9.          Poetry exercises a lot of freedom in the use of language called poetic license to violet grammatical and punctuation rules of language: poet can use a language in any way he or she likes in order to present the intended message.

TYPES OF POETRY

Poetry is classified according to form and content as follows;

TYPES OF POETRY ACCORDING TO FORM

Basically poetry is divided into two main forms as following

1.             Traditional/Rhythmical/The closed form poetry

2.            Modern/Free verse/Open form poetry

1. TRADITIONAL/RHYTHMICAL/THE CLOSSED FORM POETRY

This kind of poetry follow conventional rules of writing poems such as regular rhyme pattern, equal number of syllables in each verse, equal length of verses and number of verses in each stanza are strictly observed. In addition; it strictly follows the old rules of writing poems such as rhyme, rhythm, number of syllables in each verse, length of verses, etc.

 

CHARACTERISTICS/FEATURES OF TRADITIONAL POETRY

1.             Its verses are equal in length. This means that there is no variation of length of verses. A good example is the poem of “Nozizwe” written by Mazizi Kunene and the poem titled “Drought” by Denys Lefebvre.

2.            They have regular rhyme pattern. A good example is the poem titled “If We Must Die” by Claude Mckay which has regular rhyme scheme or pattern of  “abab” and the poem titled “Eat More by Joe Corrie which has the rhyme pattern of  “abab”

3.            They have regular rhythm. A good example of is a poem of “Eat More” by Joe Corrie.

4.            They are metrical composed. This means they have rhythmic regularity or patterns in the lines of poetry. The patterns are in stressed and unstressed syllables.

5.            They are written so as to be sung. A good example is the poem of “If We Must die” by Claude Mckay.

6.            They have equal number of verses in each stanza. A good example is the poem of “YOUR PAIN” by Armando Guebuza

 

2.    MODERN/FREE VERSE/THE OPEN FORM POETRY

This kind of poetry does not follow the convention rules of writing poems. There are variations of number of syllables in each verse, the length of verses vary in each stanza, the number of verses vary in each stanza, and it has irregular rhyming pattern etc. they are most popular type of poems since you have the freedom to write about anything and you can write it however you feel.        

 

FEATURES/CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN POETRY

1.             They don’t follow formal rules of writing poems.

2.            They don’t have regular rhyme patterns or they have irregular rhyme pattern. Sometime rhyme is completely absent.

3.            They do not have a particular rhythm. This means that they do not have regular rhythm.

4.            They have verses which vary in length.

5.            They have stanza which vary in the number of stanzas

6.            Sometimes they are in form of conversation.

7.            They are accompanied with music instruments in order to be sung.

 

OTHER FORMS OF POETRY

Other forms of Poetry include Limerick and Haiku

1.             Haiku: This is a traditional form of Japanese poetry that describes a single moment, feeling, or thing. A haiku normally has three lines. Traditionally, the first line has a total of five syllables, the second line has seven syllables and the third line has five syllables.

2.        Limerick: This refers to poetic form which contains five lines which has got a sing song rhyme. It is a humorous, rhyming, five – line poem with specific meter and rhyme scheme. Most limericks have three strong stresses in lines 1, 2, and 5 and two strong stresses in lines 3 and 4. Most follow the rhyme scheme of “aabba”. Look at the following poem;

“There was a young fellow named hall

Who fell in the spring in the fall;

       ‘Twould have been a sad thing

       If he’d died in the spring,

But he didn’t – he died in the fall.”

 

TYPES OF POETRY ACCORDING TO CONTENT

1.        NARRATIVE POETRY: These are poems which tell a story. They tend to be longer than other types of poems also are simple and easy to recognize the intention of the poet example ONCE UPON A TIME by Gabriel Okara from Nigeria.

2.        REFLECTIVE POETRY: These are poem which shows deep feeling on the issues or ideas and come to a conclusion.

3.            DESCRIPTIVE POETRY: These are poems which concentrate on the description of people, object, place, and events. For example “A FREEDOM SONG” by Mjorie O.Macgoye.

4.        LYRICAL POETRY: This is the most common type of poetry. Lyrical poetry is usually short and expresses very strong and powerful feelings about universal issues like love, death, flood, corruption, etc. Example “EATS MORE” by Joe Corrie.

5.        SONNET POETRY: This is the poem of fourteen (14) verses that follow a strictly pattern of rhyme. It is divided into two parts as follows ( a)OCTAVE: Made up of the first eight (8) verses and (b) SESTET: Made up of the six (6) remained verses, example “IF WE MUST DIE” by Claud McKay

6.        BALLED POETRY: A constructed or composed poem which tells a story about love, travel and adventure. Ballads are direct and contain a lot details. Example “BALLED OF THE LAND LORD”

7.        DIDACTIC POEMS: Are poems designed to give instruction to readers. Poems of this kind tell readers what to do. So, the poems are intended to move readers so that they may act in some ways. Example “Your Pain” by Armando Guebuza

8.        EPIC POEMS: Are poems which deal with actions of great men and women or history of a nation or are long stories told in poetry which relates the great deeds of a larger – than – life or superhuman hero who embodies the values of a particular society. Most epics include elements of myth, legend, folk tale, and history. Their tone is serious and their language is impressive. Example, one of the the longest epic poems in the world is “The Odyssey” written by Homer. The poem has 2040 stanzas with more than 10200 verses.

9.        ODE: Are poems that either address a person / thing or celebrate an event or an ode poem is a lyric of some length, serious in subject and dignifies in style. Originally an Ode was a choral song to be sung and danced at a public occasion such as the celebration or victory in the Olympic Games. The stanzas are arranged in groups of three. Example a poem composed at one’s wedding may fall in this category.

10.      ELEGY: Are lyric poems that express sadness about someone who has died. When someone dies, people mourn. Poems composed for mourning or praising someone who has died are called elegy.

 

COMMON TERMS ASSOCIATED WITH POETRY

1.             POEM: This is the piece of writing characterized by strong imagination, significant meaning and appropriate language.

2.            POET: This is a male person who writes or composes poems.

3.            POETESS: This is a female person who writes or composes poems.

4.            VERSE: This is a line in a stanza. Several verses make a stanza.

5.            STANZA: This is the group of verses forming part of a poem.

6.            PERSONA: This is the voice or the person who speaks in a poem.

7.        POETIC PERSONA: This refers to the point of view that the poet or poetess adopts. It can be; (a) First person- where the poet or poetess directly speaks to the reader using the first pronoun ‘I’ or ‘WE’ (b) Second person – the poet or poetess addresses another person to directly involve the reader using second person pronoun ‘YOU’ (c) Third person – the poet or poetess is distanced from the person to indirectly give a message and opinion. The poet or poetess uses the third person pronoun “he, she, it, and they’

8.            Addressee: This refers to the one to whom the poem is addressed to. This refers to the audience that can be a person or general public or community.

9.            TONE: This refers to the persona’s state of mind (attitude) in relation to what is being talked about. There are times when the persona sounds angry, happy, and lovely or friend. Tone is also defined as author’s attitude toward his / her subject material.

TONE WORDS

a.            Acerbic, adoring, affectionate, ambiguous, ambivalent, annoyed, antagonistic, anxious, apathetic, appreciative, apprehensive.

b.            belligerent, bemused, benevolent, bewildered, biting, bitter, blunt, bossy, brusque

c.            Calm, candid, casual, choleric, cold, colloquial, comic, compassionate, complex, complicated, complimentary, conceited, condescending, confident, confused, contemptuous, conversational, and cynical.

d.            demanding, depressed, derisive, derogatory, desolate, despairing, desperate, detached, diabolic, direct, disappointed, disrespectful, doubtful

e.            Earnest, ecstatic, effusive, elevated, eloquent, embarrassed, emotional, empathetic, encouraging, enraged, euphoric, evasive, excited, exhilarated.

f.            Facetious, factual, familiar, fervent, flippant, forceful, frantic

g.            Gloomy, greedy, gushy, harsh, haughty, hilarious, holier-than-thou.

h.            Hostile, humorous, impartial, impatient

i.             Indifferent, indignant, inflammatory, informal, informative, insecure, insistent, insolent, introspective, ironic, irreverent

j.              Jovial, joyful, cheerful, jolly, good-humored, fun – loving, happy, cheery and buoyant.

k.             Laid-back, learned, lethargic, lively, lofty, ludicrous

l.              Meditative, melancholy, mischievous, mocking, modest, mournful, mysterious

m.            Nervous, nostalgic objective, ominous, optimistic, outraged, outspoken.

n.            Paranoid, passionate, patronizing, pedantic, pensive, pessimistic, placid, playful, poignant, powerful, pretentious, proud.

o.            Questioning, quizzical, curious, puzzled, surprised, inquiring and perplexed.

p.            Reassuring, relaxed, resigned, respectful, reticent, reverent, ridiculous, romantic

q.            Sarcastic, sardonic, scholarly, selfish, sentimental, serious, severe, sinister, skeptical, solemn, somber, stately, straightforward, strident, subdued, suspenseful, suspicious, sympathetic

r.            Tender, tense, threatening, timorous, tragic, tranquil

s.            Unambiguous, uncaring, uncertain, unconcerned, understated, uneasy, unfriendly, unsympathetic, urgent

t.            Venerating, violent

u.            Whimsical, wistful, worried, worshipful, wry

v.            Zealous, enthusiastic, keen, passionate, fervent, ardent, fanatical, obsessive, and eager.

10.         RHYME: This is the similarity of sounds at the end of consecutive lines or at the same interval in a stanza. Example life/wife, grand/band.

11.          RHYTHM: This refers to the pattern of stresses and pauses that link words in a unit. Rhythm is affected by the presence of stressed and unstressed syllable.

12.         RHYME SCHEME: is the specific order of rhymes shown by using letters of alphabets example ab/ab, ef/ef, aa/bb etc.

13.         POETIC LICENSE: This is the permission granted to poets to manipulate language to suit the poetic needs example ‘’Came they to us’’ instead of “They came to us.”

14.          REFRAIN: This is a word or stanza or line that is repeated at the end of each stanza in a poem. Example in the poems “I love you my Gentle One” and “A freedom Song”, refrain has been employed.

15.          Syllables that end with different consonant sounds. Example ‘’I like the dike Mike hide”

16.         DICTION: This refers to the choice and arrangement of words in a given literary work.

 

NON – FICTION

This is a kind of literature that deals with factual materials or events. The people written about in non-fictions are real. Literary non fictions are written to be read just the same way as fictions.

      

TYPES OF NON FICTION

1.             Autobiography. This is an account of someone’s life and experiences written by him or herself. The person may choose to tell about an important event from his/her life or tell the whole life story up to the time when it is written. Forms of autobiography are; personal narratives, journals, memoirs, diaries, letters etc. Autobiographies are almost always written in the first person I. Example; “Gifted Hands” by Ben Carson and “The Narrative of Frederick Douglas: An American Slave. Written by himself.

2.            Biography. This is a story of someone’s life and experiences written by another person. In biographies the author may choose to interview the biographical subject and also gather information from other sources. The subjects of Biographies are often famous people. E.g. Lincoln: A Photo biography. A biographer is one who writes, composes or produces a biography.

3.            Essay. This is a short piece of writing in which the writer shares his/her point of view about a certain subject. Or is a short work of non-fiction that usually deals with a single subject. Essays can be classified as formal and informal, personal or impersonal. A formal essay is highly organised, thoroughly researched, and serious in tone. An informal essay is lighter in tone and usually reflects the writer’s feelings and personality.

4.            Informational articles. These are articles that present factual materials about a specific subject. They appear in newspapers, magazines, and in reference books like Encyclopaedias, almanacs, and atlases.

 

FORMS OF NON-FICTION

Nonfiction is broken down into four kinds of writing.

a.     Exposition. This is a writing that explains something or gives information about a topic.

b.     Persuasion or argumentation. This is a writing that attempts to convince you of something by showing you that the statement is true or false.

c.     Description. This is a writing that helps you to form a clear mental picture of something. Writers use specific details such as shapes, tastes, sounds and textures to help you form the picture.

d.     Narration. A writing that tells a story of an event or series of events.

 

ORGANISATION OF NON-FICTION

There are three parts to most nonfiction writing.

                 i.            Introduction. It tells you the main ideas of what the piece is about. It may also give background material or state a problem.

                ii.            The body. It develops the main idea through the details that support the main idea.

              iii.            Conclusion. It shows that the work is ended. The conclusion may restate or summarize the author’s main ideas, it may answer the question raised in the work or it may urge the reader to future actions.

 

Table 5: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FICTION AND NON – FICTION

S/N	FICTION	NON - FICTION
1	It is concerned with an imaginary world.	It is concerned with the world as it is.
2	In is written in informal style	Usually is written in formal style
3	The author is free to shape character or events entirely to his own imagination.	The author is not free to shape characters or events entirely to his own imagination
4	Fiction can be about a future. The author tells us a story in an indirect way how society should change	Writers present a picture of society that reader will recognize as relevant to their own time, such writer is rooted in its present and the author speaks as a product of his own time and background. Nevertheless, he can suggest how society should be in the future or predict trends and changes.
5	It does not give its message straight	It gives its message straight.
6	It may lack some parable facts such as geographical places, dates, people involved, figures, diagrams, maps and other scientific data.	It has some parable facts such as geographical places, dates, people involved, figures, diagrams, maps and other scientific data.
7	It plays the role of entertainment	It plays the informational role rather than entertainment.
8	It is artistic or technical; when composing a fictional work writer may use various techniques to present the intended message	It is less technical
9	It violates the grammar and punctuation rules of language.	It follows the grammatical and punctuation rules of language.

3.2   Importance of studying written literature

1.             Written literature transmits cultural values of particular society

2.            Written literature educates people on different aspect of life such as the banning issues like Covid 19, Ebora and HIV/AIDs.

3.            Written literature warns the member of the society on different bad cultural practices.

4.            Written literature introduces us to the new world of experience by discussing the experiences of characters who presents the real people in the society. This expands our literary horizons making us get new knowledge about the ‘worlds’ of others.

5.            Written literature helps us to increase our knowledge of language. Through reading written literary works we gain new vocabularies which expand and develop our language.

6.            Written literature develops our ability to deal with problems. Through discussing different problems and showing the means they used to solve them helps us to use the same means whenever we encounter the same problem.

7.            Written literature acts as a source of income and employment. It creates professional who engage in writing books and sell them. Thus creates income and employment to people in the society.

8.            Written literature empathizes people to the plight (difficulties) of human being in the community.

9.            Written literature entertains people. Some people read literary works for pleasure.

 

3.3   The strengths of written literature

           The following are the strengths of written literature;

1.              Written literature exists for long time: This is when it is stored in writings makes it to exist for a very long time than oral literature.

2.             Written literature is accessible everywhere: in term of of its accessibility written literature is accessible in different places such as in schools, bookshops, libraries, as well as stationeries.

3.             Written literature is mobile: This is when a written literary work is portable as an individual can walk with a book and read it at a time he or she wants to read.

4.             Written literature develops reading and writing skills of language: This kind of literature makes the reader to exercise reading and writing which leads into development of reading and writing skills.

5.             Written literature promotes academic. This means that it involves those who had gone to school. In this way written literature encourages people to go to school searching for knowledge.

 

The weaknesses of the written literature

1.             It takes long time to prepare and to read it.

2.            It is very selective as it considers the educational levels of the audience.

3.            It is very expensive this it requires money to prepare and to access it.

4.            It does not involve immediate feedback due to the lack of room for both writer and readers to meet.

5.            Written literature is not flexible: There is no room for the reader to ask question or to answer questions from the writer. It is also difficult to change it to suit the situation since it impossible to edit it.

 

 

3.4   The weaknesses of the written literature

6.            It takes long time to prepare and to read it.

7.            It is very selective as it considers the educational levels of the audience.

8.            It is very expensive this it requires money to prepare and to access it.

9.            It does not involve immediate feedback due to the lack of room for both writer and readers to meet.

10.         Written literature is not flexible: There is no room for the reader to ask question or to answer questions from the writer. It is also difficult to change it to suit the situation since it impossible to edit it.