ADVANCED ENGLISH
6/10/2009
v
Course Outline
·
An overview of Literature
·
Introduction to prose
·
Types of fiction
·
Features of the novel
·
Techniques of literary appreciation
·
Practical literal appreciation
·
Revision
§
Give at least two meanings of the following
translation:
o
Advance
o
Advanced
1. Advance – imperative sentence
2. Advanced – noun phrase.
3. Advance – Verb
4. Advanced – Adjective
F Advanced
English
From the concept, “advanced”
designate that this is a higher level of English. It also presupposes that
there are lower or less advanced English. Advanced English is specializing on a
part of literature in English. There are three genres (forms) in literature
namely:
·
Prose
·
drama
·
Poetry
 |
 |
§ What is a
prose?
A prose is a writing or speech in its normal
continuous form, without the rhythmic or visual line structure of poetry. It
can also be defined as an ordinary style of expression, that is, writing or
speech that is ordinary or matter-of-fact, without embellishment – language
that is not poetry.
§ What is a
drama?
A drama is a serious play written
for performance on stage, television, or radio and considered as a literary
genre.
§ What is
poetry?
Poetry
is a form of literature, spoken or written, that emphasizes
rhythm, other intricate patterns of sound and imagery, and the many possible
ways that words can suggest meaning. The word itself derives from a Greek word,
poesis, meaning “making” or “creating.” Whereas ordinary speech and
writing, called prose, are organized in sentences and paragraphs, poetry
in its simplest definition is organized in units called lines as well as in
sentences, and often in stanzas, which are the paragraphs of poetry. The way a
line of poetry is structured can be considered a kind of garment that shapes
and clothes the thought within it. The oldest and most longstanding genres for
classifying poetry are epic, a long narrative poem centred around a national hero
and lyric, a short poem expressing intense emotion.
 |
 |
v Before we go
into the genre of literature, let us answer the question, “What is literature?”
F An overview
of Literature: What is Literature?
Literature is an imaginative
works of art that expresses human experience. It can also be expression of deep
human thought. Literature can also be defined as an art that can either be a
reality or similitude of human experience.
According to Microsoft Encarta
Dictionary, literature can be defines as:
|
v 13/10/2009
Literature is an important aspect
of human existence. Tyrants and despots acknowledge the power of literature
hence the saying: “The pen is mightier than the sword” here, pen stands for
intelligence while the sword represents might.
F Introduction
to Prose Fiction.
There are three main genres of
literature namely:
·
Drama
·
Prose
·
Poetry.
Our preoccupation in this class
is prose. Prose fiction is a work of art in which the story is told but not
acted. It is different from poetry in which the ideas of the writer are
presented in verse-form, although a novel or prose fiction could be poetic.
This means that the prose fiction may have some elements of the other genres.
It is essentially a story that is told. The prose fiction has different forms
and these forms derive from the size and the nature of the fiction. Some forms
of the prose fictions are examined briefly below.
 |
 |
·
Short story – Short
work of prose fiction: a work of prose fiction that is shorter than a novel.
·
Novelette – Sentimental
novel: a light romantic novel, especially one that is considered trite or
sentimental
·
Novella – Short
novel: a fictional prose work that is longer than a short story but shorter
than a novel.
·
Novel – Long
story: a fictional prose work with a relatively long and often complex plot,
usually divided into chapters, in which the story traditionally develops
through the thoughts and actions of its characters.
 |
 |
v
Short story
A short story is a compressed
form of the longer story. It could be just one page and it could be up to
twenty pages. In it, actions and events are summarised and the plot is very
tight.
v Novelette
Novelette is longer than a short
story. The number of pages could be around 20 to 60.
v Novella.
This is an extended form of the novelette
v The Novel
The novel is more comprehensive
and there is no limit to the number of pages but it should not be less than 100
pages. The novel is more extended than the rest.
F
Types of Novels
·
Bildungsroman
·
Stream Consciousness novel
·
Picaresque novel
·
Epistolary novel
F Bildungsroman
This is a kind of novel that
presents horrible events and mysterious happening.
F Streams of
Consciousness novel
Streams of consciousness is a
kind of novel that presents the thoughts of the character
F Picaresque
novel
This is a novel that focuses on
the life of a rogue (a rascal)
F Epistolary
novel.
This is a novel that is written
in the form of epistle; example: Mariama Ba’s “So long a letter”
20/10/09
F Features of
the Novel
·
Setting.
Setting means the locale of the
narrative; that is, the place where the narrative is situated. The setting of a
novel could be temporal or spatial. When we talk about spatial setting, our
focus is the situation of the narrative in space. The space could be physical
or spiritual. As for the temporal setting, focus is on the time and timing of
the occurrence in the narrative. It could be several years back. It could also
be many years before the writer was born. This means that what is presented in
the narrative is not necessarily what the writer has witnessed.
Notice that there are different
types of narratives:
·
Fictional Narrative.
This is a narrative in which the
occurrence and the content generally are not actual happenings although they
are probable.
·
Factual Narratives.
These are narratives whose
content are facts; that is, the happenings there actually occurred.
·
Factional Narrative
This is a narrative that has
elements of both fictional and factual narratives. This means that the actions
happened to specific personages but the writer presents the narratives as if it
is a fiction.
·
Plot.
Plot means the story-line. This
means the essential content of the story told in the narrative. There are two
main ways of presenting this essential content. It could be presented in a
lineal way, such that one action leads to the other and there is no
interruption in the way the story flows. Also the story may be presented in
such a way that there are interruptions and the story may not follow a lineal
sequence. It may be moving forward and backwards. It could also open with the
end, then goes to the middle before stating the beginning. The firs pattern is
referred to as horizontal plot structure while the second pattern is vertical
plot structure.
·
Characterisation.
This is the way the writer
presents the characters in the narrative. A good writer will ensure that
his/her depiction of the characters matches the story he/she is telling.
Characterisation involves a lot of things. It includes, among others, the kind
of voice, the kind of language, the kind of occupation and the kind of
association the character is given.
·
Point of View.
This has to do with the approach
the writer adopts in presenting the story. There are three main points of
views.
v First person
narrative point of view.
This is a point of view in which
the writer tells the story as a participant. First person singular and plural
pronouns are used in this point of view such as I, me, we, and us
v Third person
narrative point of view.
This is a point of view in which
the story-teller presents the story as an eye-witness. It is characterised by
the use of third person singular and plural pronouns such as he, she, it, and
they. In this point of view, the writer distances him/herself from the story.
He/she serves only as an observer.
v Omniscient
narrative point of view.
This is a narrator that is
all-seeing. It could be first person or third person. This narrator sees the
inside and outside of the characters and he presents same.
·
27/10/09
v Theme
Theme means the
idea discoursed in the novel. No work of art exists in a vacuum. Each writer
has certain ideas to present to the audience. These ideas are carefully woven
into the story-line. Some of them may be presented as a major theme while
others are presented as minor themes.
v Subject-Matter.
Subject-matter and themes are
interrelated but they are not exactly the same. Subject-matter is the core
issue which the writer has in mind whereas themes are the various ideas that
realise that central issue.
v Diction and
Language.
Diction has to do with the choice
of words by a writer. Some writers chose simple words while other chose complex
words. The choice of words determines the accessibility of the work of art.
There are so many factors which influence a writer’s choice of words. Among
them are:
·
The linguistic competence of the writer
·
The story to be told
·
The ideology of the writer.
Language captures every other
aspects of language use by the writer such as:
·
Choice of words
·
Types of sentences
·
Order of sentence
·
Figurative expression etc.
Language and diction are meant to
compliment they story being told. In appreciating a work of art, it is
expedient to juxtapose the story, the language and diction before concluding on
whether there is some obscurantism in a work of art or not. For instance, a
writer my deliberately display tight-diction to show the complexity in his
country. A writer may also use filthy language to show that there is
filthiness.
Comments
Post a Comment