TYPES OF LITERATURE

TYPES OF LITERATURE

Literature can be categorised into two major type which are:-

1)   Oral Literature

2)   Written Literature

1: ORAL LITERATURE

Oral literature refers to the type of literature delivered by means of mouth. It is presented orally or in spoken form.

ELEMENT OF ORAL LITERATURE

Oral literature is made by different element such as:-

             i.        Proverbs          

            ii.        Chants             

          iii.        folk tells          

          iv.        Idioms

            v.        Recitation        

          vi.        Lullabies          

         vii.        Riddle              

        viii.        Fable

          ix.        Songs              

            x.        Myth               

          xi.        Legends`         

         xii.        Anecdotes        

Where: 

             i.        Proverbs; is well known phrase or sentences that gives advices or say something that is generally true. Proverbs are also termed as philosophical statement.

Eg; hurry hurry has no blessing. Little by little fills the purse

            ii.        Songs; refers to the set of word put in music form. Song are sung in special incidence like wedding ceremony, harvest ceremony etc. 

          iii.        Recitation; refers to the act of peace of poetry that present to an audiences. (ngonjera)

          iv.        Chants; these are prayer songs, sung for religious purposes.

            v.        Lullabies; are songs to sooth the children or babies.

          vi.        Myth; are stories talk about how different things originated.

Example; Why Animals lives the way they do. How death comes on the earth.

         vii.        Falk tells;  is a very tradition story from a particular place that was originally pass on to people on particular form.

        viii.        Riddles; refers to the puccles that is set in order to make somebody discover the hidden meanings. (tendawili) Example; we are three in our family = cooking stones

          ix.        Legends; a story ancient time tells about people and events that may or may not true. It very related to myth.

            x.        Idioms; a group of word whose is different from the meaning of individual words.  Example; don’t late the cat out of the bag, Meaning-to tell secret by mistake.

          xi.        Fable; is a short story that does not based on fact (truth) offer uses animals as character to convey a moral message. Example; here and hyena.

         xii.        Anecdote;       is a short interesting and amazing story about particular incident in a life. There elements of truth.

2:  WRITTEN LITERATURE

Written literature is a literary work that delivered through written form.

This type of literature includes written form like;-

a)    Novel

b)   Short stories

c)    Play or drama

d)   Poetry

A.NOVELS

Novel is an extended factious prose narrative of considerable length in which characters are in plot form.

Features or Characteristics of Novels.

             i.        Presented in a narrative form that is incidence are told in the way people are telling story.

            ii.        Novel is written in chapters.

          iii.        A novel has many incidents compared to the short story.

          iv.        Novels are related longer that can’t be read in single setting (environment).

B.SHORT STORY

Short story is a piece of narrative prose with words ranging from five hundred to twelve thousand to fifteen thousand. It is related to novels.

FEATURES OF SHORT STORY.

             i.        Like novels, a short story is presented in narrative work.

            ii.        Short story can be read in single setting.

          iii.        Short stories the number of characters is smaller than in novel

          iv.        Incidents are fewer than in those of novels.

C.DRAMA/PLAYS

DRAMA/PLAY is a work that is written for purpose of being performed on the stage. When written on script is referred to as Play.

FEATURES OF DRAMA OR PLAY

             i.        A drama involves the use of dialogue which is conversation between the characters.

            ii.          There is stage direction when written on the script.

Stage direction-refers to the words incorporated in the play with the intention of making reader imagine the actual performance on the stage.

          iii.        It is arranged on scene and acts.

Scene is defined as the smallest unity the play it normally has one major event.

Act is the major division of the play made of scene.

          iv.        It is also involve use of curtains that is heavy materials that screen the stage from the audience.

TYPES OF DRAMA OR PLAY

A drama is categorised into four major parts, such as:-

a.    Comedy

b.    Tragedy

c.    Tragic-comedy

d.    Melo-drama

i.             COMEDY is the type of drama mainly meant to cause laughter. It is normally for entertainment.

ii.            TRAGEDY is the type of drama that involves a Hero or Heroine who experiences suffering and finally dies or gets punished.

Features of tragedy drama;

a.    In tragedy Hero or Heroine faces dangers.

b.    It presented in the manner the reader or viewer pits the protagonist.

c.    In traditional drama, tragedy characters involved were of noble families. Eg; King and Queen. But now days involve even ordinally people.

iii.           TRAGIC_COMEDY is the type of drama that involves both features of tragedy and comedy. It has aspect that appeal to laughter and those which appeal to sadness.

iv.           MELO-DRAMA is the type of drama for entertainment which accompanied by music. The musical accompaniment serves fortify the emotion tone of various things.

D.POETRY

Poetry is composition that arouses emotion and imagination by using figurative language to react a specific emotion through its meaning.

Poetry it involves the use of:-

i.             Rhyme

ii.            Metaphor

iii.           Onomatopoeia

iv.           Repetition

v.            Imagery

vi.           Symbols

vii.         Meta

TERMS USED IN THE POETRY

i.             Poem is a piece of writing characterised by strong imagination significant meaning and appropriate language.

ii.            Poet is a person who writes or composes poem.

iii.           Verse is a line in a stanza. Several verses makes a stanza.

iv.           Stanza is a group of verses forming part of a poem.

v.            Persona is a person who speaks in the poem.

vi.           Tone refers to the personas state of mind or attitude in the relation to what is being talked about. Tone may be hungry, happy, sad lovely etc.

(Mode of the persona)

vii.         Rhyme is the similarity of sound at the end consecutive line. Eg; life/wife or grand/band

viii.        Rhythm refers to the patens stress and pause that link words in a unity. Rhythm is affected by presence of stress and unstressed syllable.

ix.           Rhyme scheme is a specific order of rhymes by using letters of alphabets.

Example; ab/ab, ef/ef, aa/bb etc

x.            Poetic licence is the permission granted to poets to manipulate language to suit the poetic needs.

Eg; “came they to us” instead of “they came to us”

xi.           Refrain is a word or stanza or line that is repeated at the end of each stanza in a poem.

xii.         Alliteration is the repetition of initial identical consonant at the close interval in a poetic line.

Example; delicate, diplomatic, duties.

xiii.        Consonance refers to the repetition of consonants at the end of the words in a poetic line. Eg; we don’t need any kid. Food is not wood.

xiv.        Assonance refers to the repetition of similar vowel sound in stressed. Example; I like the dike mike hide

xv.         Anaphora is repetition of syllables at closely line.

xvi.        Onomatopoeia is the use of word that suggest meaning through sound contained. Example; tick-tock ~suggest sound of clock.

xvii.       Ellipsis refers to the intentional omission of same word done by the poet. Example; cryi’n

xviii.     Diction refers to the choice and arrangement of words in given literary works. (language to be seem simple or complex)

TYPES POEMS

         Poem are broad classified into two type such as:-

a.    Tradition poems

b.    Morden poems

A. TRADITIONAL POEMS

Traditional poems are those which strictly follow ancient poetic principle. These poems are actually the once that makes sure that rules such as balance in the number of words per stanza, rhyming, and rhythm are strictly followed.

B. MORDEN POEMS

Morden Poem are the poems which follow only some poetic principle and ignore others. Most of Morden poem are free verse poems. (they do not rhymes)

         OTHERS TYPES OF POEM

There are further classification of poem.

i.     Narrative poems are long poems used to explain a story about certain society. Example; songs of Lawino and Okol

ii.    Lyric poems are poem which concentrate on the expression of emotion of feelings. Example; eat more (small and stressed)

iii.   Didactic poems are poems designed to give instruction to leaders. Poem of this kind tells leader what to do. Eg; You are pain – Arumando Guebuza

iv.  Ode poems are poems that either address a person or things celebrates an events. Example; poems composed at ones wedding may follow this category.

v.    Ballad poems are dialogue like poems, there are two or more people speaking to each in tune. Example; ballad of the landlord (conversation tonant and landlord)

Features of ballad poems

a.    Fast moving – a single line stands as a stanza.

b.    Conversation between tenant and landlord.

vi.   Sonnet poems are poems that contain fourteen verses in two stanzas.

Features of sonnet poems.

a.    First stanza is normally made by eight lines. (octet)

b.    Second stanza is made by six lines. (sestet)

Example; Poem: I must die.

FEATURES OF POETRY

I.             It is arranged in line and stanza, while other genres are arranged in the chapters. Example; novel and plays

II.           Poetry is very economical in word language use. It uses few words but convey a lot of information. Example; eat more.

III.         Poetry occurs occasionally compared to other prose which are daily used.

IV.         Poetry is more rhythmical exact it makes much use of musical devices such as rhythm, rhyme, and various type of repetition. Example; refrain, consonances, alliteration and anaphora.

V.           It uses words connotatively (hidden) more than denotatively (open), while other forms denotation is more used than connotation.

VI.         Poetry uses persona, while other genres uses characters. Example; in novels and plays

VII.       Poetry is very rich in figures of speech such as simile, metaphor, personification compare to other works.