1. Introduction to Literature 32260 Dr. Nabil Alawi

2. Literary Genres Fiction Poetry Drama Biography and Autobiography
Ancient: Fables, Tales
Modern: Novels & Short Stories
Poetry
Drama
Biography and Autobiography
The Essay

3. A Fable The Oak and the Reeds
A VERY LARGE OAK was uprooted by the wind and thrown across a stream. It fell among some Reeds, which it thus addressed: "I wonder how you, who are so light and weak, are not entirely crushed by these strong winds." They replied, "You fight and contend with the wind, and consequently you are destroyed; while we on the contrary bend before the least breath of air, and therefore remain unbroken, and escape." Stoop to conquer.

4. Ancient: Fables, Tales Fiction Not Realistic No details
Quick and simple plots
Nonhuman characters
They aim at a quick and simple moral (lesson)

5. Modern Fiction (Men in The Sun)
It was not too uncomfortable riding on the back of the huge lorry. Although the sun was pouring its inferno down on them without any respite, the breeze that they felt because of the lorry’s speed lessened the intensity of the heat. Abu Qais had climbed up on top with Marwan, and they sat side by side on the edge of the tank. They had drawn lots, and it was Assad’s turn to sit beside the driver

6. Modern Fiction Novels & Short Stories
Verisimilitude: Realistic (life-like) presentation of events
Real (human characters)
Minute details
Not reality but an illusion of reality
Modern fiction is the genre of the Middle Class. The Industrial Revolution created the Middle Class and the novel became the new form of literature which represented the difficulties encountering Middle Class people.

7. History, Biography/Autobiography & Fiction
History: an objective presentation of reality
Biography/Autobiography: a subjective presentation of reality.
Fiction: An illusion of reality.

8. Assignments for Research and Discussion
Find a fable to read to your classmates
Find a long quotation from a short story or a novel that you know
Find a quotation from an autobiography or a biography
Try to remember the content of today’s lecture so that you engage in a discussion next time
Make a list of the elements of fiction that you know

9. Elements of Fiction Plot Characters Narrator’s Point of view Symbolism
Atmosphere
Language
Style
Irony
Time and Place
Themes

10. Plot
Plot:
A plot in fiction is the arrangement of events in a story. It has an exposition, a conflict (complication of events and a conclusion), and a resolution.
Plots differ with reference to the above arrangements. For example: there are stories which do not have a climax or a resolution. The arrangement of the parts of the plot is the writer’s choice

11. Characters There are Flat and Round characters.
A Round character: a major character (usually the protagonist) who experiences change.
A Flat character: a minor character

12. Narrator
Narrator’s point of view: First Person Third Person: A Narrator can also be: Omniscient Partially omniscient Objective Dramatic

13. The Stream of Consciousness Technique
One modern and sophisticated technique of narration is the Stream of Consciousness Technique.
In the S of C techniques the writer introduces to us a narrator who oscillates between past, present and future in a haphazard manner; without attention to the chronological sequence of events
Some critics describe the S of C techniques as “human mind at work”; human mind is not rhythmic in its perception of things

14. Aesthetic Distance
We need to be aware of the difference between the author and the writer: they are not the same.
The aesthetic distance is the distance that the writer maintains between himself and the narrator.
Students usually confuse the narrator with the writer. In fiction the author does not appear in the story or the novel. It is the narrator who tells the story.

15. Narrator/Author What if the narrator is the same as the Author?
The work then becomes an autobiography and not fiction.

16. Symbolism
There are conventional symbols: symbols that are used by many writers and that are known to almost all people. The Dove: a symbol of Peace
There are private symbols that are used by one writer in one work of literature
Symbols are naturally known to allow for different interpretations.

17. Atmosphere
The atmosphere of the story is generally created by the author and it contributes to the meaning of the story. An atmosphere can be described as dark, sunny, gloomy, rainy, silent, boisterous ---etc.
A protagonist who initiates a journey at night may be seen as a fearless adventurer or a gloomy ignorant mishap

18. Language
The language of a story or a novel may be one of the concerns of the critic. The language of a story may be described as slang, standard, difficult, poetic, prosaic ---etc.
The language of a story may not be described as difficult if we, as foreign readers, find very many new words. This reality may be attributed to our language proficiency and not the difficulty of the language of the story

19. Style Style is the way the writer presents his/her story
The style of a story can be described as lucid, boring, tense, complicated, sophisticated ---etc.
A writer may choose at certain episodes to use long sentences; short sentences at other episodes.

20. Time and Place
Writers usually locate their stories within a specific time and place
Awareness of the time and place of a story illuminates our perception
A story located in London during the post World War era may inform our reading of that story.

21. Irony
The simple definition of irony entails saying something and meaning just the opposite of what is said.
The whole story or parts of it can be ironic.
If one says “I love having four exams in one day), s/he certainly means the opposite of what s/he says.

22. Themes
The theme of the story is the message that the writer aims at conveying to us.
The message that the writer intends to convey to us may not be the same message that we find. This reality is referred to as the intentional fallacy.
A writer may intend to present to us the negative consequences of prejudice and we as readers may find the same work a terrible source of prejudice.