ORAL LITERATURE

ORAL LITERATURE: This is the type of literature which is expressed through oral expression. Folk tales, Legends, myths and Fables are examples of Oral literature.

Oral Literature is said to be the first form of literature because it began existing when human being started living together as a community with a common language for enhancing their communication.

Thus, with language people composed songs which were influential in their working hours.

As the time went on Oral Literature became a tool for refreshing and entertaining people during and after work, educating as well as shaping the society when the need arises.

Thus, Oral Literature has some connectedness with the human development in shaping and improving his environment.

That is to say, Oral Literature is a type of literature which is represented before the audience through a word of mouth.

OR; Is a type of literature which is represented before the audience in spoken form.

As it has been said that Oral Literature is transmitted through a word of mouth, therefore one cannot deny that Oral Literature began even before the invention of writings.

Currently, Oral Literature exists but it is most vivid in illiterate societies.

NB: By Oral Literature being in illiterate societies it does not mean that it is of no use rather Oral Literature is still beneficial in imparting some quick messages.

FEATURES OF ORAL LITERATURE.

a) It is passed through a word of mouth

b) It involves performance like dancing, clapping hands and singing

c) It involves both the performer and audience as both the narrator and listeners come together during the presentation.

d) It takes place in actual setting for instance during evening the folktales can be handed at home after work.

e) It is owned by the whole society as all society members the literate and illiterate individuals have chance to access it.

f) It adopts changes depending on time and place.

g) It is rich in characters because both human being and non-human characters are used in portraying the social realities.

h) It differs from one society or generation to another as it preserved on peoples memory.

i) It is rich in types.

j) It usually takes a moral lesson.

CATEGORIES OF ORAL LITERATURE.

Oral Literature is categories into different forms as it bases on the modes of presentation, performance, setting, the themes portrayed, language used as well as form.

To mention some few categories are as explained below:-

i) Folktale– This is a type of Oral Literature whereby parents narrates stories to their children and they are passed over generations.

ii) Myth– This is a type of Oral Literature which explains on the early history of a group of people, a natural event or a certain fact. For example every society has its myth on the creation of man.

iii) Legend– This is the type of Oral Literature in which the old stories about famous events or people are told. These stories are not always true. For example the story of Fumo Lyongo

iv) Anecdote– This is a type of Oral Literature which tells a short amusing story on what someone has done. For instance Mugabe’s freeing of Whites in Zimbabwe, Kinjekitile’s use of water in his war with Germans.

v) Fable– This is a type of Oral literature which takes a short story that tells on a general truth. Also, fables can partly base on fact only. Here the fable on the tortoise and the hare is a good example.

vi) Saying– This is a well known and wise statement but it usual carry the meaning which is different from the simple meanings given by the words it contains.

vii) Riddle– This is a puzzling question which is often asked to test the cleverness of the one expecting to solve it. Riddles have two parts the part of a statement or question asked by the narrator and the part of an answer which has to be replied by the listener.

viii) Proverb– This is a short and well known sentence which is given for imparting a moral lesson or advice. For example One finger cannot kill a louse, Unity is strength, Blood is heavy than water.

ix) Fairy tale– These are traditional stories passed to children. Usually these stories involve some imagery creatures and magic.

x) Idiom– This is a phrase which is made of words which convey a meaning which is different from the meaning that one can get from a word when it is in its own. For instance Kick the bucket, Pass away, bite the bullet.

ADVANTAGES OF ORAL LITERATURE.

i) It identify the society.

ii) It broadens people’s thinking

iii) It preserves and transmits people’s culture

iv) It educate people

v) It criticize people

vi) It influence people

vii) It develops language

viii) It creates employment to people

ix) It unites people

x) It encourages people

xi) It entertains people

IMPACTS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN ORAL LITERATURE.

1. It has changed the medium. The medium of oral literature was only words of mouth, but science and technology has brought some media such as books, journals and magazines, therefore it has transformed oral literature into writings.

2. The cost has increased. Because oral literature is now written or recorded on CDs or DVDs, tapes or televisions. It requires money for recording or writing therefore it has become costful.

3. It is no longer flexible. Once oral literature is recorded no changes can be made. Once it stored in tapes and CDs changes and some alterations to fit the audience    becomes impossible.

4. Science and technology separate the audience from the narrator or storyteller. This is because the audience can buy his or her tape and watch or listen to it without a narrator or story teller. Before science and technology there was face to face interaction between the narrator and the audience.

5. The setting is not specific. Before science and technology there was a specific setting where the story teller met with the audience But science and technology has altered this situation, this is because the audience can read a book or watch a video anywhere. It can be in the room, in the class, on the bed, on the ground or even in the bus.

6. There is a delay of feedback. Because of the narrator and the audience are distant. The audience is not able to give out his or her feedback on time. Before science and technology, feedback took place during the performance or soon after the performance.

7. It has changed the storage. After science and technology, storage is now done in devices such CDs, tape recorders, video shootings and not in the human memory as it was before the invention of science and technology.

8. It has deprived the youths from the traditional oral narration, by parents and grandparents to modern western literature by watching western movies in the cinemas that’s why the youths have been totally destroyed by watching western literature most of which is immoral an unfit to African reality.

THEORIES OF LITERATURE

With theories an individual can study on other peoples beliefs, culture and their way of seeing and perceiving the world.

Also, through theories one can study and explain facts, events, opinions or people’s explanation.

Therefore in literature, the literary theories are lenses, principles or approaches through which a literate reads and comes to the point of knowing on what a certain literary work is all about.

These are methods which help the reader of a certain literary work to read and understand the text by observing it from different angles.

Thus, literary theories are works as guiding tools as one want to start analyzing literary texts.

There are many literary theories but some of the modern literary theories are:-

a) Marxist Criticism

This theory is influenced by the political and economic writings of Karl Marx. Marxist Literary Criticism is concerned with how a work is made of classes, how those classes relate, how does the powerful class exercise its power and the way power structures of society like religion, army, mass media, political parties, courts and prisons influence the reading of a text, as well as how that text is commenting on the author’s or reader’s own culture or society.

b) Historical Criticism

This theory states that literature is important because it helps us understand a particular literary era.

-That is to say the understanding of history is important in understanding any given text.

-A critic employing the Historical Critical Lens would be concerned with the era’s shaping of the story and also what the story says about that era.

c) Feminist Criticism

This theory is developing from the Feminist movements of the Twentieth Century.

-Feminist Criticism is concerned with the politics of women’s authorship and the representation of women’s condition within literature, as well as how genders interact with one another in a story.

-The Feminist Critic is concerned with what the story has to say about power dynamics between the genders.

-Feminist critics often approach a text as an artifact that tells the reader something about gender relations within their society.

d) Psychoanalytic Criticism

This theory is inspired by the work of Sigmund Freud.

-The psychoanalytic critics believe that the author is central to the work, because one can derive information about the author from details in the text.

e) Biographical Criticism

This theory states that the author is central to the work because one can derive meaning about the work from the author’s background.

–Other theories are formalism, structuralism, deconstruction, post-structuralism, new criticism, colonialism, post-colonialism etc.

Qn. Read the story given below then answer the questions that come after it.

One evening Malimwengu called his daughter and began saying, Thank you my daughter. I your father have seen your heart. Naomi, come close to me. Yes! My daughter i appreciate you the way you have helped me ins all these medication. It is my hope that you are going to bury me respectful.

My time has come to join my ancestors, I will be with you no more. Be careful with you brother. He is big eyed on my wealth. Naomi, my child you know well the piece of land allocated at Madege, you know well of my shops scattered in this village and you are not ignorant of my three houses including the recent car which I have bought; let them be on your hands.

Father how possible is this thing? It is against our tradition. My brother will be angry. Father, uncle Hadi your younger brother will kill me of this. No! No! No! No one will disturb you. Father you know well that in our society women does not own wealthy, even when their husbands dies their wealthy are distributed among the dead man family members as well as passing the left wife to another man. How will this be possible?

I know it is not easy for you to understand this. When I was a child I saw women restricted from owning land, eating some kinds of food even meet. Some were silent when their husbands misused the family wealth. Accept my daughter. Use them in caring grandchildren. One thing i insist, be strong! Be strong my daughter, be strong! Then, he took his last breath.

QUESTIONS.

i) Suggest a theory which suits in analyzing this story.

ii) Give three reasons to explain on why you think the theory chosen is best.

ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE

ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE refers to the constituent parts of a work of literature in whatever form it takes: poetry, novels/short stories, or Play. or

Refers to a specific component or technique employed by an author in a work of literature in order to improve the overall arrangement, meaning and effect of the text. These aspects include plot, character, setting, topic, symbolism, imagery, figurative language.

Any literary work consists of two elements which are;

1. Form.

2.Content.

FORM

Form in fiction refers to how a literary work is presented. It is sometimes defined as the structure of a literary work. Form is how author’s ideas are presented in the work of art. i.e how he sends his message. Form includes the following parts.

1. Genre.

2. Title.

3. Setting.

6. Characterization.

7. Language use.

8. Point of view.

9. Imagery.

1. GENRE.

Genre is a type of literature. There are three main genres of literature which are;

a) Prose. (novels)

b) Play/drama.

c) Poetry.

2. TITLE

Refers the names given to literary works. Every literary work either a prose, play or poetry is given a name that reflects what is being said. Always title is the synopsis/summary of what is presented in a literary work. It carries the subject matter of the work of art.

Types of Title

There are about two types of title namely;

Direct title.

(a) Direct title

This is the type of title which is direct to the content of the literary work. It has a direct relationship to the content of the literary work.

Eg. “Three suitors one husband” by Guillaume Oyono mbia.

(a) Indirect/symbolic title

Is the type of title which has no relationship with the content of the literary work. Indirect title is normally used to disguise the message so that it can reach the masses without being prevented by authorities.

Eg. “I will marry when I want” by Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

Importance of using an Indirect/Symbolic Title.

i). It gives the work of art an artistic quality.

ii). It is used to disguise/cover up the message so that it could not be easily prevented from reaching the audience without being banned by the concerned authorities.

3. SETTING.

Refers to place and time where events of the work of art take place. Eg “In Tanzania after independence” whereas “Tanzania” is a place and “after independence” is time.

Types of setting.

There are about three types of setting.

i. Geographical setting.

ii. Temporal setting.

ii. Sociological setting.

i. Geographical setting.

This is the place setting.

Eg. In Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya.

ii. Temporal setting.

This is the time setting. Eg. After independence.

iii. Sociological setting.

This is a situational or environmental setting. Eg. Exploitative environment.

Categories of Geographical setting

Geographical setting also can be categorized into ;

i. Real setting.

ii. Imaginary setting.

i. Real setting.

Is the setting of the literary work to a real place known to people. Real setting makes a literary work more realistic.

Eg. “Kinjeketile” is set in southern Tanzania.

ii. Imaginary setting.

Is the setting of a literary work to an imaginary place. Imaginary setting is used by authors to disguise the message if it directly touch the authorities concerned.

Eg. “His Excellence the Head of state” by Danny Safo.

4. PLOT.

Plot refers to the series of events in a literary work. It is also defined as the sequence of events in a literary work. Or is the arrangement of events/episodes in the literary work.

Types of Plot.

There are two types of plot namely;

i. Chronological Plot.

ii. Non-chronological plot.

i. Chronological plot.

This is a straight forward plot in which events move from the beginning to the end. This type of plot is of great advantage as it helps the readers to understand the literary work more easily.

ii. Non-chronological plot.

Is a plot in which events are not sequentially arranged. Events may start at end, middle and then finish with the beginning. Non chronological Plot makes it difficult for a reader to understand the literary work.

In Plot also there is the use of Flashbacks and foreshadowings that you will meet them later.

Parts of the plot.

Plot has the following parts.

i. Exposition.

ii. Rising action.

iii. Conflict/crisis.

iv. Climax.

v. Falling action.

i. Exposition.

This is the first part of the plot which introduces the setting, characters and the basic situations. Exposition acts as the foundation of the story in the literary work.

ii. Rising action.

This is the part of the plot following the exposition. Rising action is the part where suspense grows among the characters as the complications of the conflict starts.

iii. Conflict/crisis.

Refers to misunderstanding between two parts in literary work. It is also defined as the struggle between two opposing forces of a story. There are;

a) Group to group conflict.

b) Group to person conflict.

c) person to person conflict.

iv. Climax.

This is the highest point in which the conflict reaches the its peak. It is the part which creates interest or suspense to the readers or audience. It is the moment of greatest danger or decision making for the Protagonist. In other words, climax is the most exciting moment in the story.

v. Falling action.

This is a part of plot which shows what happens to the characters after the Climax. Normally one side among the two conflicting parts loses power and hence tension decreases.

vi. Resolution/Denouement.

This is the final part of the story. Resolution is the end of the story as conflicts are resolved and some mysteries are unraveled. This is the part of a plot in which the central conflict is resolved and the consequences for the Protagonist are already dissolved.

5. STYLE.

Refers to the way of representing a literary work that makes a writer different from others. Some writers use Flashbacks, foreshadowing and ungrammatical language use

a. Flashback.

Is a situation in a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to repeat an event that was to occur earlier. It may be presented as character’s memory or story told by the character.

Importance of Flashbacks.

i. To add some important information to the plot without which, many aspects of the plot could never be well understood.

ii. To challenge the reader’s mind.

b. Foreshadowing.

Refers to giving hints of future events in the literary work. i.e providing ideas that suggest events that have to occur in the future.

Importance of Foreshadowing

i. To create suspence to the reader.

ii. To prepare audience for eventual outcome of events.

6. CHARACTERIZATION.

Is the creation of imaginary participants in a literary work. A character can be a person or an animal.

NB: A character is a person or thing that is given role to play in a literary work. Some scholars define characters as imaginary people that literary writers create and use them to carry the message they wish to convey. In a nut shell, haracter is the person or an animal who takes part in the action of a literary work.

Types of characters.

a. Major/central characters.

These are characters who play an important role in a story. These are the drivers of the

Story in which the plot and resolution of conflicts resolve around them.

b. Minor characters.

These are characters who do not play an important role in a story. These are the characters who take small part but they help the major characters to develop events.

c. Flat character.

Is a character who is presented only in an outline without much individualized details. Or The character whose personalities are not complex.

d. Round character.

Is a complex and fully realized individual. OR is a character who has complex personality.

e. Dynamic/Developing characters.

These are characters who change over time in a story, usually major or central characters.

f. Static characters.

Is a character who don’t change over time, their traits and personalities do not change. A static character is the kind of character who remains the same throughout the work of literature and in most cases, there isn’t much to learn about such a character.

g. Protagonist.

Is a character with positive traits and the audience love him/her. This is a character playing a central role in a story.

h. Antagonist.

Is a character who opposes the Protagonist. Antagonist is also a major character but he/she is constantly in opposition to the Protagonist. He is normally in conflict with the Protagonist and that’s why the story move on.

i. Realistic characters.

These are characters who feature true human traits. They are imaginary characters but they resemble true human beings in their behaviors. Using realistic characters make the work of art reflect reality.

 

j. Nonrealistic characters.

These are characters who do not feature true human traits.

k. Stock/Stereotype character.

Is a character borrowed from other stories recognized by readers.

l. Foil.

Is a character usually the antagonist who shows contrast against the Protagonist.

m. Expository character.

Is a character that is described or discussed either by the author or by another character.

n. Dramatic character.

Is a character in action. From his/her speech and recorded thoughts, we make deductions about his/her personality, attitudes and relationship with other characters.

o. Symbolic character.

A Symbolic character is the one whose presence in the work of literature stands for or represents an idea (political, social, economic etc such as corruption, dictatorship, greed) in a society.

METHODS OF DETERMINING/ANALYSING THE CHARACTERS.

characters are determined according to;

• Their personalities
• Their duties and responsibilities .
• What they think/their philosophy.
• Their abilities and weaknesses.
• Their relationship with other characters.
• What other characters say about them.
• Their language status i.e standard or nonstandard.

7. LANGUAGE USE/STYLE/DICTION.

This refers to how language has been used or employed in a work of art.

For instance; The use of simple language, complex language, Formal and informal language, grammatical and ungrammatical language, scientific language, Religious language, Abusive/filthy language etc.

Language style/use involves the use of ;

i. Figurative language.

ii. Code-switching.

iii. Code-mixing.

i. Figurative language.

Is the language which uses the so called figures of speech.

Eg. Similes, metaphors, hyperboles etc.

ii. Code switching.

Is a change by a speaker from one language or language variety to another during the same act of communication.

Eg. Nitakutembelea kesho though I won’t say the exact time.

Types of Code-switching.

There are two types of code-switching which are;

a. Sequential code-switching.

b. Repeated code-switching.

a. Sequential code-switching.

Is a type of code switching in which the speaker switches to another language and continue the message.

Eg. Nitakutembelea kesho though I won’t say the exact time.

b. Repeated code-switching.

Is the type of code-switching in which the speaker switches to another language to repeat the same message he has spoken in the first language.

Eg. Nitakutembelea kesho, I will visit you tomorrow.

iii. Code-mixing.

Is the mixing of elements of two or more languages or language varieties in the same act of communication.

Eg. Changanya na Sodium chloride halafu shake.

Contrasts between Code-switching and Code-mixing.

Code-switching is intersentential, i.e the speaker completes the whole sentence in one language before switching to another language While Code-mixing is intrasentential in which the mixture id done within a sentence.

Code-mixing goes further to individual lexical or grammatical items While Code- switching ends at a sentence level.

Eg. Nitaku-inform kesho.

8. POINT OF VIEW

Point of view is an angle from which a literary work is narrated. OR Point of view refers to how a work of art is narrated.

Types of Point of View.

There are three types points of view which are;

a. First person point of view.

b. Second person point of view.

c. Third person point of view.

a. First person point of view.

Is the type of point of view in which the narrator is one of the characters in a literary work. The pronoun “I” is employed in narrating the story. This narrator tells us his or her experiences.

Eg. Odili in “Man of the people” by Chinua Achebe.

b. Second person point of view.

Is a type of point of view in which the pronoun “you” is employed in narrating the story. It is rarely used.

c. Third person point of view.

Is the type of point of view in which the narrator is outside the story. This is a very common point of view.

Eg. “Weep not child” by Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

Omniscient.

Is the method of narration in which the narrator appears to know everything about the characters.

Omniscient narrator.

Is a narrator who appears to know everything about the characters.

9. IMAGERY.

Is the use of figurative language to create mental pictures to the readers. Is the representation through language of sense experience.

Image.

Is the mental picture that authors create using figurative language. An image is the picture seen in the mind eye.

Types of Imagery.

There are about six types of Imagery.

1. Visual imagery.

2. Auditory imagery.

3. Olfactory imagery.

4. Gustatory imagery.

5. Tactile imagery.

6. Kinesthetic imagery.

1. Visual imagery.

Is the imagery representing seen objects.

2. Auditory imagery.

Is the imagery representing sound.

3. Olfactory imagery.

Is the imagery representing smell.

4. Gustatory imagery.

Is the imagery representing taste.

5. Tactile imagery.

Is the imagery representing touch.

6. Kinesthetic imagery.

Is the imagery representing movement or tension.

Eg. Muscles and joints.

2. CONTENT

Content refers to what is being said in a literary work. i.e what the author wants to say in his/her literary work. Content includes the following elements.

1. Themes.

2. Topical Issues.

3. Messages/Teachings.

4. Philosophy/Ideology of the author.

5. Conflict.

6. Relevance.

1. Themes.

Theme is a central idea or purpose in a literary work. It is usually stated in a statement form.

Eg. Povetry, betrayal, Oppression, Irresponsibility etc.

2. Topical Issues.

These are words which lead to the themes.

3. Messages/Teachings.

Refers to lessons learned from the literary work. Each theme contains a lesson that a reader or audience learns.

4. Philosophy/Ideology of the author.

This is what the author believes. Philosophy of the author can be well known after reading more than two books of the same author. For example, Ngugi wa Thiong’o believes that African governments perpetuate colonial regime, What has changed is only the colour of the rulers.

5. Conflict.

Refers to misunderstanding within, between or among two opposite parts. It can be a personal conflict, person to person, person to society or society to society.

6. Relevance.

Refers to the relationship between what is revealed in a literary work and what is happening in the society. Most of African literary works are relevant to African societies.

WRITTEN LITERATURE

WRITTEN LITERATURE is the type of literature which represents the human social realities in written form.

In most of African societies written literature came after the invention of writings.

Before that Oral literature was dominant because the societies were illiterate.

That is to say, written literature came as a product of western education whereby elites began writing and printing some written media as a way of communicating their messages to their audience.

Therefore, the presence of written literature expands the mode of presenting social realties to people because people become aware on what goes on in their societies through both the spoken and written form.

GENRES OF WRITTEN LITERATURE.

A genre is a term used in literature when referring to the style which involves a set of characteristics.

In literature genres is used to mean the categories of written literature which have some set of differing characteristics.

Therefore, the term genre is French in origin, which denotes types or classes of literature.

Written literature has three genres

A. Play,

B. Novel

C. Poetry.

A. PLAY/DRAMA.

A Play is a piece of writing which is designed in the way that it can be acted on stage before the audience.

OR- It is a piece of writing which is intended to be acted in a theatre.

Features of Play.

-They are short

-They have some illustrations on top the cover

-They have few Characters

-They take spectacles

-They encompass music

-They have stage direction

-They take few events

-They are told in dialogue

-They divide events into acts and scenes

ELEMENTS OF DRAMA

-Any successful drama has six elements namely Thought/Theme /Idea, Action or Plot; Characters, Language or diction, Music or melody and Spectacle.

1. Thought/Theme/Ideas.

This is what the play means. A theme can be clearly stated in the title.

Sometimes it can be stated through dialogue by a character who acts as the playwright’s voice.

On the other hand a theme may be identified after some study or thought.

Thus, themes are abstract or underlying meaning, issues and feelings that grow out of the dramatic action.

2. Action/Plot.

This deals with events of a play.

It looks at the way events happen in a play.

The plot used in plays must have some sort of unity and clarity by setting up a pattern from which each action initiates the next act.

Usually, the plot of a play shows the way characters are involved in conflict that grows from bottom to a top with a certain pattern of movement.

In most cases the action and movement of any play begin from an initial entanglement named exposition, through rising action, then climax, falling action at last to resolution.

3. Characters.

These are people presented in the play in order to peruse the plot.

Every character who is involved in a play can have his or her own distinct personality, age, appearance, beliefs, socio-economic background and language.

Therefore, through the way characters are involved in a play is where a reader can refuse or accept them basing on the way and what represent.

4. Language.

This deals with word choices made by the playwright and the enunciation of the actors of the language.

The Language and dialogue used by the characters helps in moving the plot and action of the play along.

Every playwright can create his or her own specific style in relation to the language one chooses when establishing characters and dialogue.

Therefore, this element focuses on the way words are chosen and arranged by in order to suit the subject matter portrayed.

 5. Music.

Music can encompass the rhythm of dialogue and speeches in a play.

It can also mean the aspects of the melody and music compositions as with musical theatre.

Each theatrical presentation delivers music, rhythm and melody in its own distinctive manner.

Music is not a part of every play.  But, music can be included to mean all sounds in a production.

Music can expand to all sound effects, the actor’s voices, songs and instrumental music played as underscore in a play.

Music creates patterns and establishes tempo in theatre.

In the aspects of the music the songs are used to push the plot forward and move the story to a higher level of intensity.

Composers and lyricist work together with playwrights to strengthen the themes and ideas of the play.

Character’s wants and desires can be strengthened for the audience through lyrics and music.

 6. Spectacle.

The spectacle in the theatre can involve all of the aspects of scenery, costumes and special effects in a production.

These are visual elements of the play created for theatrical event.

That is to say, these are qualities determined by the playwright in order to create the world and the atmosphere of the play before the audience’s eye.

COMMON TERMS USED IN PLAY/DRAMA.

(1)    Rehearsal.

Refers to a practice of a perfomance either a music, dance or a play before a real performance. A rehearsal can be done even without the audience or the actors and actresses may act as the audience. Rehearsal helps the performers to have confidence and to experience the stage before a real perfomance.

(2)    Props.

Refers to material elements which are used on a stage by actors or actresses such as caps and sticks.

Eg. Jero’s cap in “The trials of brother Jero” by Wole Soyinka.

(3)    Costumes.

Is a term used to refer to what is dressed on a stage by actors and actresses. It includes clothes such as dress, shirt, coat, jacket trousers etc. Costumes may make an actor or actress to appear like a suggested character in the directions. Even an eighteen (18) years actor or actress can appear an elder i.e grandfather or grandmother through costumes.

(4)    Pantomime/mime.

Refers the use of body movements and facial expressions by actors to convey a message without speaking. This may include the use of gestures or shaking hands.

(5) Stage/Theatre.

Is a performing area or a place where performance takes place. A stage can be a hall or an open area. Even the ground or stadium. It depends on the arrangement of the director.

important thing about the stage is that the performer is seen by the audience.

(6)    Act.

Is the main division of a play. An act generally focuses on one major aspect of the plot or theme. Between acts there is a change of scenery and the setting may shift to another locale.

(7)    Actor.

Is a man whose profession is acting on the stage, in drama, movies or television.

(8)    Actress.

Is a woman whose profession is acting on the stage, in drama, movies or television.

(9)    Deus x Machina.

Is one among the play actors who acts like a god whose by his judgement and commands resolves the dilemma of the human character. It is an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, often unrealistic.

(10)    Scene.

Is a subdivision of an act of a play in which the time is continuous and the setting is fixed. Shortly a scene is one of the parts into which a play or a film may be divided.

(11)    Film.

Is a story or event recorded by a camera as a series of moving images and shown in a cinema or on television.

(12)    Dramatic Irony.

Is a failure of a character to see or understand what is obvious to the audience.

Eg. In “Oedipus” by Sophocles, when Oedipus fails to realize what the audience knows- that he married his own mother.

(13)    Foreshadowing.

These are hints of what is to come in the action of a play or a story. It is the use of words that suggest the future events in the work of art.

(14)    Enter stage direction.

Refers to a manuscript indicating the entrance onto the stage of a character or characters.

(15)    Epilogue.

Is a short address spoken by an actor at the end of a play that comments on the meaning of events in a play or looks ahead to expected events. i.e an afterword in any literary work.

(16)    Prologue.

Is a sort of introduction to a story that usually sets the tone for the story and acts as a bit of a background into the story. Prologues are typically a narrative spoken by one of the characters and not from the part of the author Eg. “The origin of the story is……”, “It all began one day when.    ”

(17)    Monologue.

Is an oral or written composition in which only one person speaks; or is any speech or narrative presented by one person (18)Dialogue.

Is the conversation between two or more people. It can be either verbal or written.

(19)    soliloquy.

Is the act of talking to oneself, whether silently or aloud. In other words, A soliloquy is a speech in which a character who is alone, speaks to his or her thoughts silently or aloud.

Advantages of soliloquy.

(i)    It gives the motives of the character.

(ii)    We can get the feeling of the character about the prevailing situation.

(20)    Opera (plural of Opus).

Opera are plays set to music. The words are sung and sometimes presented in a dialogue that resembles conversation but sounds like singing.

(21)    Puns.

Puns are very popular literary devices where by a word is used in a manner that suggests two or more possible meanings.

(22)    Play within a play.

This refers to the history of a play within a play narrated by an actor or a character. This literary device is known to have been first used by Thomas Kyd in “The Spanish Tragedy” in 1587.

Eg. “The dance of the lost traveller” in “The lion and the Jewel” by Wole Soyinka.

TYPES OF DRAMA.

Drama consists of different types as explained below:-

a) Tragedy drama– This is the type of drama which takes some serious events. In most cases the main character or hero of this drama ends in suffering, danger or death making the play have sad ending.

b) Comedy drama– This is the type of drama which consists of some amusing, funny and humorous events which always makes the audience laugh.

c) Tragicomedy drama– This is the type of drama which consists of both sad and amusing events. In this drama the main character or hero comes across different hardships but does not end in death.

d) Historical drama– This is the type of drama which portrays on the history of a certain society. This drama also takes some elements of both the tragedy and comedy drama however the main character or hero does not end in danger.

e) Melodrama– This is the type of drama in which characters involved show some stronger emotions than a usual human being can do. In most cases this drama is aimed for entertainment.

B. PROSE/NOVELS

The prose is an extended writing that is continuous written in paragraphs. This genre is subdivided into;

(a)    Novels

(b)    Novella.

(c)    Short stories.

(c) Novelette.

(a)    NOVELS.

A novel is a kind of literary work which is written in prose from. An example of a novel is “HOUSEBOY” by Ferdinand Oyono or “THE CONCUBINE” by Elechi Amadi.

NOVEL AND SHORT STORY

A Novel is a prose fiction with a considerable length taking some fictional or imaginary characters and events. In most cases novels are very long, when they become short are called Novella.

Features of a Novel

-They are long

-They take some illustrations on top of the covering paper

-They are sequential stories.

-They are divided into chapters

-They are told in monologue

-They take many characters

-They take many events

Novella.

Is a short prose fiction shorter than a novel but longer than a short story.

Short Story.

Is a narrative writing which is brief and simple than a novel. A short story is sometimes defined as a story with only one fully developed theme but significantly shorter and less elaborative than a novel. It contains words ranging from 500 to 15,000.

E.g. “Mabala the Farmer” by Richard S. Mabala.

C. POETRY.

Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning in portraying the human social realities.

On the other hand, Poetry is the type of literature which uses beautiful, creative and imaginary language in portraying human daily social realities.

Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential interpretation to words or to evoke emotive response.

In poetry the devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects.

Also, in poetry the use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations.

(a) POEM.

Is a metrical composition characterized by strong imagination, significant meaning and appropriate language. Or Poem is a piece of writing in verses form especially expressing deep feelings in an artistic language.

NB. Poems are meant to be sung or read aloud.

(b)    A POET (man)/ POETESS(woman)

Is a person who composes poems.

(c)    VERSE.

Is a single line in a poem.

(d)    STANZA.

Is a group of arranged verses in a poem making up a complete idea.

TYPES OF STANZA.

(i)    Couplet.

Is a stanza with two lines.

(ii)    Triplet(Tercet).

Is a stanza with three lines.

(iii)    Quatrain.

Is a stanza with four lines.

(iv)    Quintet.

Is a stanza with five lines.

(v)    Sestet(Sextet).

Is a stanza with six lines.

(vi)    Seplet.

Is a stanza with seven lines.

(vii)    Octave.

Is a stanza with eight lines.

TYPES OF POEMS.

Poems are classified according to ;

(a)    Form.

(b)    Kind.

(a)    FORM.

According to form, poems are classified into;

(i)    Bound form/Bound verse/Traditional poems.

(ii)    Open form/Free verse/Modern poems.

(i)    BOUND FORM/BOUND VERSE/TRADITIONAL POEMS.

This refers to poems that strictly follow the poetic conventions or principles especially of meter and rhyme.

Eg. “If We Must Die” by Claude Mc kay.

(ii)    OPEN FORM/FREE VERSE/MODERN POEMS.

This refers to poems that do not strictly follow the poetic conventions or principles of meter and rhyme.

Eg. “Building the Nation” by Henry Barlow.

(b)    KIND.

Classification of poems according to kind normally base on the content of the poem and form to a little bit. According to kind, poems are classified into;

(i)    Lyric poems.

(ii)    Narrative poems.

(iii)    Dramatic poems.

(iv)    Didactic poems.

(v)    Descriptive poems.

vi) Limerick

FEATURES OF GOOD POETRY.

i) It is rich in figures of speech.

ii) It evokes emotions.

iii) It is made of verses and stanza.

iv) It is made in rhymes and rhythms.

v) It meant to be sung.

vi) It gives moral lessons.

TYPES OF POETRY.

Poems can be categorizes basing on their forms and content. Basing on forms, one can divide them into traditional or closed poetry and modern or open poetry.

With traditional poetry refers to those poems which adhere strictly to the traditional rules of composing poems like rhyming schemes, rhythmic patterns, equal number of syllables, verses and stanza.

Coming to modern poetry refers to poems which ignores the structural patterns of composing poems. These poems are also called the free verse poems.

Under content the division of poetry bases on what the particular poem addresses to the audience. Some of such categories are:-

a) Narrative poetry– This is a genre of poetry that tells a story.

b) Descriptive poetry– This is the type of poetry which tells on what someone or something is like.

c) Lyric poetry– These ore poems which expresses personal deep thoughts and feelings.

d) Elegy poetry– An elegy is a mournful, melancholy or plaintive poem, especially a lament for the dead or a funeral song.

-These are sad and sorrowful poems which are sung mainly for remembering someone who has dead.

e) Sonnet poetry– This is the type of poetry which is made of fourteen lines with a particular pattern of rhyme.

f) Ode poetry– These are poems which express the writer’s thoughts and feelings about a person or a certain subject.

-It is a long lyric poem that is serious in subject and treatment, elevated in style, and elaborative in its stanza structure.

g) Ballad poetry– This is the type of poetry in which the poems tells a story with deep feelings.

h) Epic poetry– These are long poems which deal with a historical subject.

-It is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in a formal and elevated style, and centered on a heroic or quasi-divine figure on whose actions depends the fate of a tribe, a nation, or the human race.

i) Dramatic poetry– This is a kind of drama which is written in verse to be spoken or sung.

IMPORTANT TERMS USED IN THE STUDY OF POETRY.

-In the study of poetry one may meet with different terms as discussed bellow:-

i) Poetry– This is the art of composing or collecting poems.

ii) Poem– This is a piece of writing in verse and stanza form which express deep feelings in a beautiful language.

iii) A verse– This is a single line in a poem. This line forms a stanza or a part of stanza.

iv) Stanza– This is the combination or collection of verses. Stanza can also form a poem or be a part of a poem.

v) Poet– This is a man who compose poems.

vi) Poetess– This is a woman who compose poems.

vii) Persona– This is a person who speak in the poem. Sometimes persona is called dramatist.

viii) Rhyme– These are similar sounds which appears at the terminal points either across or at the end of each line of the poem.

ix) Rhythm– These are regular movements of beats occurring in the poem as the result of the rising and falling of sounds.

x) Refrain– This is the repeated line which appears at the end of each stanza in the poem.

xi) Tone– This refers to the quality of voice which is used in the poem depending on the message to be conveyed before the audience.

xii) Mood– This refers to the state of mind of a reader which comes after reading a poem.

xiii) Title– This refers to the name of the poem. Some poems take ironical names from which the reader can identify the meaning of such poems.

xiv) Theme– This refers to the central idea which is conveyed in the poem.

xv) Message– This refers to the lesson that one build after reading a poem.

xvi) Poetic license– This refers to the freedom that poets and poetess has in violating some facts and grammatical rules when composing poems.

xvii) Imagery– This is the figure of speech which creates mental pictures through words. Poems are rich in this figure of speech as it appeals through senses like touch, seeing, smell, taste, sound as well as kinesthetic.

xviii) Symbolism– This is a figure of speech which use objects in presenting ideas.

xix) Poetic diction– This refers to the way words are chosen and arranged esthetically in poems to portray human reality.

HOW TO INTERPRET A POEM.

-In order to analyze any poem well one should adhere to the following procedures:-

a) Look and observe at the poem careful- This helps in identifying the number of verses and stanza that forms it. Also, through this one can understand whether the poem is traditional or modern.

b) Read the whole poem careful.

c) Re-read the poem carefully while identifying the difficulty words used in it.

d) Find the meaning of difficulty words used in the poem.

e) Re-read the poem carefully relating the meaning of difficulty words to the context of the poem.

f) Ask yourself on what the poem is all about?

g) Identify the themes portrayed in the poem.

h) Comment on the mood of the speaker.

i) Identify the messages found in the poem.

j) Comment on the poetic diction employed in the poem.

k) Relate the poem read to you personal and national life experience.

1. Limerick poems.

2. Diamond poems.

LYRIC POEMS

These are song like poems expressing one’s personal feelings.

Eg. “Song of a common lover” by Flaven Ranaivo.

TYPES OF LYRIC POEMS.

Lyric poems are divided into ;

• Ode.
• Song.
• Sonnet.
• Elegy.
• Light verse.

Ode.

Is a serious expression of a single theme. It is sometimes referred to as a poem that addresses a person or a thing or celebrates an event. For instance a poem composed at one’s wedding may fall in this category.

Eg. “I LOVE YOU MY GENTLE ONE” by Ralph

Bitamazire.

Song.

Is a poem set to music.

Eg. “Song” by Jonathan Kariara.

Sonnet.

Is a lyric poem that contain fourteen (14) lines.

Eg. “If We Must Die” by Claude Mc kay.

Elegy.

Is a lyric poem that expresses sadness about someone who died.

Eg. “An Elegy” by Laban Erapu.

Light Verse.

Light verse refers to poems that use an ordinary speaking voice and a relaxed manner to treat their subjects gaily, or playfully, or wittly or with good-natured satire. It is sometimes defined as the witty or amusing verse on a popular subject.

Eg. “The War Song of Dinas Vawr” by Thomas Love Peacock.

(I)    Narrative Poems.

A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. Eg. “The shebeen Queen” by M. Pascal Gwala.

Types Of Narrative Poems.

Narrative poems are divided into;

(a)    Epic.

(b)    Ballad.

Qn. By using your experience gained in the study of literature, explain on features which make poetry differ from other genres of literature.

Epic.

Is a long dignified poem telling a story of heroic deeds. In other words, an Epic poem refers to a long poem that deals with actions of great men and women or history of nations. Eg. An Epic about Roman Empire.

Ballad.

Is a song that tells a story.

Eg. “Ballad of the Landlord” by Langston Hughes.

(iii) Dramatic Poems.

These are poems in which a person is talking to another person or to other persons.

Eg. “Mother to son” by Langston Hughes.

Types Of Dramatic Poems.

Dramatic poems are divided into ;

(a)    Dramatic monologue.

(b)    Dramatic dialogue.

(a)    Dramatic Monologue.

Is a type of poem in which only one person is speaking addressing another person or other persons.

Eg. “If we must die” by Claude Mckay.

(b) Dramatic Dialogue.

Is a type of poem in which two or more people are speaking to each other.

Eg. “Dialogue” by Jared Angira.

(iv) Didactic Poems.

These are poems designed to give instructions to readers. Didactic poems are mainly for political or social messages.

Eg. “Your Pain” by Armando Guebuza.

(v) Descriptive Poems.

These are poems giving picture in words. In other words, a descriptive poem is stated as a poem that uses detailed words to create an image of a person, animal or inanimate object. Eg. “Perfect woman” by William Wordsworth.

(vi) Limerick Poems.

A limerick poem is a funny or humorous poem consisting of five lines. The first ,second and fifth lines are longer than the third and fourth lines. It has the rhyming pattern of “aabba”. The longer “a” lines rhyme with each other and the shorter “b” lines rhyme with each other.

E.g. The Nickelodeon TV show “Spongebob squarepants”, featured a limerick poem that went

“There was an old man from peru-a Who dreamt he was eating his shoe.-a He awoke in a fright-b

In the mid of the night-b

And found it was perfectly true.-a”

(vii)    Diamond Poems.

Diamond poems are poems in a diamond shape about two opposite things. They contain topic A and topic B and they are written in a diamond shape. Diamond poems are special kinds of poems. They are to be read on the page by the reader, rather than just listened to. Look at this example.

Birth Happy, active

Laughing, hoping, living Child, innocence, adult, problems

Thinking, crying, suffering Old,    ill

Death

In the poem above topic A is about birth and topic B is about death.

(viii)    Haiku.

Is a Japanese form of Poetry consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables.

Eg.1

An old silent pond

A frog jumps into the pond, Splash? Silence again.

E.g.2

Light of the moon

Moves west, flowers’ shadows Creep eastward.

E.g.3

Night; and once again,

the while I wait for you, cold wind turns into rain.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD POET/POETESS.

1. He/she must have enough knowledge about human nature.

2. He/she must know the problems of his or her society.

3. He/she must present strong feelings.

4. He/she must educate his/her society.

5. He/she must have much ideas concerning poetry.

CHARACTERISTICS/FEATURES OF POETRY.

(1)    Poetry is economical in words. It is condensed into few words. Messages are not portrayed through narrations but imagery and symbolism. This makes poetry to use few words.

(2)    Poetry is rhythmical. It is characterized by the rise and fall of sounds in its verses.

(3)    Poetry is emotional. Poetry expresses feelings and emotions of the speaker. This can make a reader to have a feeling of sadness, sympathy or happiness.

(4)    Poetry is rich in figures of speech. Figures of speech are plenty in Poetry and they are devices and ways of conveying messages.

(5)    Poetry is in form of verses or lines to form stanzas. This means it does not use sentences or paragraphs as in a novel or prose.

(6)    Poetry is spontaneous. This means it is the feeling of an individual speaking without preparing whether to express happiness or anger.

(7)    Poetry is difficult to understand. This is because it uses complex vocabularies and symbolic language in which the meanings of words are not direct.

(8)    Poetry violates the rules of grammar. Poetry does not follow the rules of grammar and this violation of grammatical rules is called poetic lisense in which the poet violates grammar of language to convey intention.

THE LANGUAGE OF POETRY.

Poetry uses a language that is a bit different from the language used in other genres. The language used in poetry has the following features.

1. It is condensed or reduced in nature.

2. It applies poetic licence

3. It is full of imagery. It paints/colours the imagery.

4.    It is more emotional compared to ordinary language.

5.    It has a rhyming pattern.

6.    It is full of ellipsis.

7.    It is rich in figures of speech.

8.    It uses a bit complex vocabulary.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN POETRY AND OTHER GENRES OF LITERATURE.

(1)    Poetry is written in verses/lines which are arranged to form stanzas, on the other hand prose is written in sentences and paragraphs.

(2)    Poetry is economical in language uses as it use few words to convey much information. i.e what is written in say one stanza of a poem can be expressed in many pages of the novel. Prose is actually non-economical as it is elaborative. i.e a lot of elaboration are needed for clarity.

(3)    Poetry is more rhythmical. It is characterized by the rise and fall of sound within a poetic line.

(4)    Poetry uses figures of speech more plentifully than other genres of literature.

(5)    Poetry is richer in imagery than other genres.

(6)    Aesthesis is the most important aspect in poetry while in other genres information is the more important aspect.

(7)    Poetry is more connotative while other genres are more denotative.

(8)    Poetry violates grammatical rules of language than other genres of literature.

Poetry has a persona, A persona is a person who speaks in a poem while in prose, the speaker is referred to as a narrator.

ADVANTAGES OF WRITTEN LITERATURE OVER ORAL LITERATURE.

(1)    Written literature exists for a long time because it is stored in writings which may exist for a very long time and even centuries.

(2)    Written literature is a source of employment; a person creates his or her own story. When he/she writes it becomes his/her

property, therefore it gives him/her individual income.

(3)    Written literature is accessible. It is found in libraries, schools, bookshops and stationeries. It is therefore easy to access.

(4)    Written literature is mobile. This means a reader can walk with a book and read it at any time he/she wants. At any place and any time. This is not practical in oral literature.

(5)    Written literature is academic. This is because it must involve people who have gone to school and it encourages people to go to school to know how to read. An illiterate or non-educated person cannot be involved in written literature.

(6)    Written literature develops language skills. It develops reading skills when one is reading and writing skills when one is writing.

RELATIONSHIP PRESENT BETWEEN ORAL AND WRITTEN LITERATURE.

a) Both portray on human social realities

b) Both use language as its medium of communication

c) Both consists of two elements that is form and content

d) They perform similar functions like educating, developing language and uniting people.

DIFFERENCE PRESENT BETWEEN ORAL AND WRITTEN LITERATURE.

Qn. “Oral and written literature are inseparable” Show the truth of this statement by giving two examples per each reason.

ADVANTAGES OF STUDYING LITERATURE.

i) It identify the society.

ii) It broadens people’s thinking

iii) It preserves and transmits people’s culture

iv) It educate people

v) It criticize people

vi) It influence people

vii) It develop language

viii) It entertain people

ix) It unite people

x) It encourage people

xi) It create employment to people

AFRICAN LITERATURE AND THE QUESTION OF LANGUAGE

African scholars have been in a debate on “which language should be used in African literature? should we use foreign languages or African languages in African Literature?”.

In fact, up to date there is no agreement over the question of language to be used in African Literature. This is because there are some scholars who propose the use of African Languages in African Literature like Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and there are those who prefer the use of foreign languages like Chinua Achebe.

IMPORTANCE OF USING LOCAL LANGUAGES IN AFRICAN LITERATURE?

In Africa, local language is the language used by African natives, indigenous languages are such as Swahili, kikuyu, Yoruba language and others.

There is advantage of using local languages rather than foreign languages such as English. the following are the advantages.

(i)    It is the way of expressing African culture. Since language is the sign of culture, then local language helps to express culture of a given society because it may involve cultural expressions or cultural words such as idioms, proverbs and so on.

(ii)    It is the way of promoting our languages. since literary works are not

language became familiar in the world because of art of writing.

(iii)    It is the way of developing our languages. The art of writing helps a particular language to develop because writers invent various expressions such as figures of speech and other literary devices. Therefore, vocabularies become very familiar.

(iv)    It is comprehensive or easy to understand. The local people will easily understand the works because they are very familiar with their language. For example, in Tanzania, literary works written in Swahili language has a great number of readers as compared to those written in English.

(v)    It encourages local people to engage in writing. The use of local language encourages local people to write various works of art because people are very familiar with the language.

LIMITATIONS OF USING AFRICAN LANGUAGES IN AFRICAN LITERATURE.

(i)    Lack of literacy in the African languages. Many African languages are not in written form. With this situation, it becomes difficult to write African literature in African languages as most of them are not in written form.

(ii)    The problem of publication. Most publishing houses are reluctant to publish works written in local languages because they have no experts in these languages who can do the necessary proofreading and editing the works to make sure that they are error-free.

(iii)    Complex linguistic situation in Africa (multilingualism). It is estimated that there are 2035 African languages now. This situation is possibly responsible for the lack of the government policies that could encourage the use of African languages in African literature.

(iv)    Absence of government language policies. There is no government policies that could encourage the use of African

v) Lack of promotion of African languages in employment and education system. There is no African country where a credit pass in an African language is a criterion in the civil service. With this situation, African languages will not be maximally utilized in literature.

(vi)    The cost of developing African languages. To develop a language is capital intensive. It is therefore to develop all languages of Africa. Literature in them is therefore difficult.

LITERATURE AND THE SOCIETY.

Literature acts as a mirror of social realities.

i.e. It draws materials from the society and not from the vacuum. Social reality refers to common or relevant issues taking place in our societies. It is therefore true to say that literature reflects social reality. This is because it reveals some issues happening in our societies as follows.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LITERATURE AND THE SOCIETY.

(i)    Literature reflects misunderstandings or conflicts in our societies. In our societies conflicts become inevitable since they are part and parcel of life; this makes literary artists to reveal this reality in their works in order to make people take actions.

(ii)    Literature reveals or reflects social classes existing in our societies. In any society classes are inevitable because people differ in terms of economy. Therefore, most of literary works reveal this issue which is very relevant. For example, in the poem “Building the Nation” by Henry Barlow, a persona, who is the driver belongs to a lower class while the Permanent Secretary belongs to the upper class.

(iii)    Literature reveals how people liberate themselves from oppression or injustices. In various literary works we see the way people are struggling for their rights by encouraging other people to unite and protest against injustices like in the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude Mc kay. Such kind of oppression and injustices exist in our societies.

(iv)    Literature reflects the issue of disloyalty or betrayal among people in our societies. In any society, there are people who show the lack of loyalty to others. This is revealed in various literary works.

(v)    Literature reveals some cultural aspects in our societies. For instance, African writers have tried to reveal some aspects which are outdated so as to educate our societal people, such outdated cultural aspects include early marriage, forced marriage, tribalism, witchcraft beliefs and female circumcision. All these exist in the society and literature points them out.

(vi)    Literature reflects unevenly distribution of wealth in our societies. This is sometimes caused by nepotism of some political leaders who tend to favor the development in places where they come from. These are always revealed by some artists in their works of art.

(vii)    Literature reveals irresponsibility of some leaders in our society. There are some leaders who are irresponsible in the society instead they engage in the misuse of the public fund, all these are revealed in literary works as it in “Building the Nation” by Henry Barlow.

(viii)    Literature reveals and expresses racial segregation and exploitation committed by some members in a society. Such kind of injustices are revealed in various literary works like in the poem “Ballad of The Landlord” by Langston Hughes.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Literature is the work of art which uses language creatively to portray social realities. Language is a system of communication used by human beings to convey messages.

Not only that but also during its presentation to the audience literature use language in conveying the intended message, this makes people grasp the message and adopt changes in their life.

That is to say, literature cannot be separated from man’s life as human being need fascination, enjoyment and education for comfortable and better life.

Therefore, one can define literature as a work of art which use language creatively to represent people’s daily social realities.

OR. Is a product of man’s creation through language in representing his social realities.

Literature cannot be separated from language in many ways as follows.

FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE IN LITERATURE.

1. Language is used to communicate messages in literature. Every message conveyed in literature involves the use of language spoken by a character or expressed by a figure of speech.

2. Language creates beauty. A work of art becomes aesthetic due to the use of language creatively. The use of imagery and symbolism makes a literary work to be beautiful. Also, in Poetry the use of poetic devices creates beauty.

3. Language is used to determine characters. One among the ways of determining characters is what they say, their use of language. If a character speaks a non- standard or ungrammatical language, He or she is considered to be uneducated.

4. Language determines uniqueness of writers. Writers differ from each other due to the use of language. For example, Wole Soyinka uses more complex language which is difficult to comprehend as compared to Chinua Achebe and other writers.

5. Language distinguishes literary genres. Language becomes a major factor to differentiate Poetry from prose or poetry from other genres.

6. Language expresses culture. Writers use certain language techniques to express culture of a particular society in literature. This is done by the use of phrases, idioms, proverbs and figures of speech that help to identify the culture of a certain society.

7. Language is the medium through which literature is carried. Literature cannot be presented without language. Hence language acts as the vessel in which literature is carried

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

1. Language is one among the elements of literature. One among forms of literature is language, which is referred to as diction or language use.

4. Language beautifies literature through the use of figurative language. In literature figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, ironies, suspense and others are used to make literature beautiful and aesthetic.

5. Literature acts as a content or material to be communicated through language. It involves social, political and cultural issues to be communicated through language.

6. Language determines characters in literature. One among the ways of determining characters is what they say, their use of language. If a character speaks a non- standard or ungrammatical language he/she is considered to be uneducated

DIFFERENCES BTN LITERARY LANGUAGE AND ORDINARY LANGUAGE

There is a deviation of literary language from the ordinary language in a number of ways including the following.

WHY DO LITERARY ARTISTS USE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN THEIR WORKS?

1. For explanatory purposes. This is done through personifications, exaggerations, metaphors, similes etc.

2. To give emphasis over the message being communicated. e.g. the use of hyperboles repetitions being communicated. e.g. the use of hyperboles repetitions, refrains, anaphora etc.

3. For challenging the minds of the readers. This is done through satire, irony, paradox and oxymoron.

4. For aesthetic beauty of the work. To make a literary work beautiful, figures of speech must be used, figures of speech make the reader see the life in a new light, that’s why literature plays an entertainment role.

5. To arouse readers feelings and imagination. E.g. Imagery and symbolism as in poetry.

6. For communicating the messages. This is also done through symbolism and imagery.

LITERARY DEVICES (LANGUAGE DEVICES) IN LITERATURE

These are artistic language structures used by writers to give a deeper meaning and to flavour their literary works.

Literary devices includes,

(a)    Figures of speech.

(b)    Musical devices/Sound techniques.

A. FIGURES OF SPEECH.

Is any way of stating something other than in an ordinary way. Figures of speech includes

works appear colourful and attractive to read. Figures of speech include the following.

(1)    Simile.

Is the comparison between two distinct things using words “like”, “as as” or “resemble”

E.g. She is beautiful like flowers. As black as a charcoal.

(2)    Metaphor.

Is a direct comparison between two distinct things without using the words “like”, “as.    as” or resemble.

E.g. Life is a dream. Juma is a lion

Metaphor is having two parts which are Tenor and vehicle

(a)    Tenor

is the subject of the metaphor to which attributes are ascribed.

E.g. Juma is a lion

(b)    Vehicle

is the object of the metaphor whose attributes are borrowed.

Eg. Juma is a lion

(3)    Extended metaphor.

This is the metaphor that is extended throughout a majority of the literary work or throughout the entire literary work.

(4)    Dead Metaphor

is the metaphor that has been used so frequently and hence has became a common expression. In other words, dead metaphor Is the metaphor that has lost its metaphoric status due to frequent use.

Eg. Time is money.

The heart of the mater.

(5)    Personification.

Is the giving of human attributes or qualities to animals or inanimate objects.

Eg. The cow cried bitterly.

The moon smiled at me during the night.

(6)    Symbolism.

Is the use of something to represent something else.

Eg. “Angel” to represent “purity” . “Lion” to represent “courage”.

(7)    Hyperbole/Overstatement/Exaggeration.

Is an evident exaggeration of the meaning for the sake of emphasis.

Eg. I will fill all the rivers with my tears.

Thanks a million.

(8)    Understatement.

Is a figure of speech which expresses a fact too weakly or less emphatically than the way it is. Eg.I didn’t beat him much, only 100 strikes.

I have only a small farm, only 500 acres.

(9)    Metonymy.

Is the substitution of a word with another word that is close related to it.

Eg. My tongue is not difficult to learn: tongue = language.

You must address the chair first:    chair = Leader of the session.

(10)    Eponymy.

This is when a name of a person is used as a synonym of something.

Eg. Hitler for Nazism.

Musolin for dictatorship.

(11)    Synecdoche.

Is a figure of speech in which part of something is used to designate the whole or the whole to designate the part.

Eg. I have many months to feed: Mouths = people.

Tanzania won a gold medal in marathon:Tanzania = Only a person who participated.

(12)    Paradox.

Is a statement that seems to be contradictory but actually presents the truth.

Eg. They have been burning us with a cold fire(

i.e ruining us without our notice ). Look at those walking corpses.

(13)    Sarcasm.

Is a bitter cutting speech intended to wound someone’s feelings. It is intended by a speaker to give pain to the person addressed.

Eg. Student: I don’t understand :Teacher: Well I wouldn’t expect you too.

(14)    Satire.

Is a ridicule of human folly with the purpose of bringing about a reform or at least of keeping other people from falling into similar

It is used to criticize human folly especially by making it appear ridiculous or laughable.

(15)    Irony.

Is the use of words in such a way that the intended meaning is completely opposite to their literal meaning.

Eg. The bread is soft as a stone.

Types of Ironies.

There are three main types of ironies which are the following.

(a)    Verbal Irony.

(b)    Dramatic Irony.

(c)    Situational Irony.

(a)    Verbal Irony.

Is the type of Irony in which words are used to suggest the opposite of their usual meaning.

Eg. You are cleverest student in the class, You scored 5% in Maths.

(b)    Dramatic Irony.

Is a failure of a character to see or understand what is obvious to the audience. Dramatic irony refers to a contradiction in a play between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be true.

Situational irony is the moment when the narrator and the audience share the knowledge or experience that a character is ignorant of.

Eg. In “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles where Oedipus fails to realize what the audience knows-that he married his own mother.

(c)    Situational Irony.

This is an event that occur directly contrary to the expectations of characters, the readers or the audience. Situational irony is when things turn out to be contrary to the expectations of the characters, readers or audience.

Eg. In “Man of the people” by Chinua Achebe, One could not expect that Chief Nanga would take Elsie (who was Odili’s girlfriend) and sleep with her under Odili’s witness and worse still not being apologetic to what he has done.

(16)    Allusion.

Is a passing reference, without explicit identification to a literary, historical person, place, event, or to another literary work or passage. Or Is a reference in a literary work to a person, place or book without explicit identification.

Eg. Reference from holy books.

(17)    Euphemism.

Is a figure of speech which avoids the use of taboo or unpleasant words.

Eg. Private parts is a Euphemism for vagina/penis.

(18)    Apostrophe.

Is a direct address to the dead, an absent or a personified idea.

Eg. Ooh!, death where are you.

(19)    Analogy.

Is a comparison between two objects that are essentially different but have at least one common quality.

Eg. Advertising cigarettes is like manslaughter.

(20)    Tautology.

Is a phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in different words.

Tautology is a needless repetition of an idea, especially in words other than those of the immediate context without imparting additional force or clearness.

(21)    Oxymoron.

Is a phrase bringing together two contradictory terms.

Eg. An Open secret.    A wise fool.    A Pleasing pain    A loving hate.

(22)    Antithesis.

Is a literary technique in which the opposite or contrasting statements are balanced for emphasis.

Eg. Man proposes, God disposes:Speech is silvern, but silence is golden.

We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.

(23)    Apotheosis.

Refers to a deliberate failure to complete a sentence.

Eg. Be gentle my………

Ah………

(24)    Suspense.

Is a lack of certainty on the part of a concerned reader/audience about what is going

to happen to character with whom the reader has established a bond of sympathy.

(25)    Plot twist.

Is a change in the expected direction of the literary work intended to keep the interest of the audience.

(26)    Litotes.

Is a figure of speech that uses an understated statement of an affirmative by using a negative description.

Eg. “I’m not feeling bad” for “I’m feeling good”

(27)    Rhetorical question.

Is a statement in form of a question used for emotional emphasis.

Eg. Didn’t I tell you? – I told you.

Who knows? – No one knows.

(28)    Poetic lisense.

Is the privilege which artists are given to break the grammatical rules of language.

Eg. “These steps is broken down” instead of “These steps are broken down” (from “Ballad of the landlord” by Langston Hughes).

(29)    Ellipsis.

Is the act of leaving out some words which a writer or an artist thinks are less important. The ellipted words may be filled by the reader in mind as he reads the work. In Poetry ellipsis is mainly used to save space. Ellipsis is mainly done in grammatical or minor word classes.

Eg. “Way last week” instead of “On the way last week” (From “Ballad of the landlord”)

(30)    Contrast.

Refers to closely arranged things with strictly different characteristics. It is sometimes defined as a literary device by which one element is thrown into oppositional to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity.

Eg. He was dark, sinister and cruel; she was radiant, pleasant and kind.

(31)    Allegory.

Is a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning. Often, it is a symbolic narrative that has not only a literal meaning, but a larger one understood only after reading the entire story or poem.

Some critics consider Allegory to be an extended metaphor in which objects, persons and actions in narrative either prose or verse are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The surface story is often the representation of the event, situation or period of the hidden meaning.

Eg. “An animal farm” by George Orwell is an allegory of Russian revolution in which dictatorship, murder and betrayal were the order of the day.

(b) Musical devices/Sound techniques.

Is the choice and arrangement of words due to their sounds.

(1)    Repetition.

Is a repetition of the same words to create rhythm and for emphasis.

Types of repetition.

Repetition includes the following types.

(a)    Alliteration/Head rhyme.

(b)    Anaphora.

(c)    Parrallelism

(d)    Assonance.

(e)    consonance.

(f)    Rhyme.

(g)    Refrain.

(a)    Alliteration/Head rhyme.

Is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in a sequence of nearby words. Or the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of nearby words.

Eg. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick? i.e sound /p/

Delicate diplomatic duties you know i.e sound /d/ (From “Building the nation” by Henry Barlow)

(b)    Anaphora.

This is the repetition of the word at the beginning of consecutive lines, verses or sentences.

Eg. The first three lines of the poem “Africa” by David Mandessi Diop.

(c)    Parrallelism

Is the repetition of line which have similar structure and have a similar phrase. Contrary

anaphora, parallelism is a phrase that consists of more than one word.

Eg. The structure “I’ll    ” in the last stanza of

the poem “The troubled warrior” by Alexander Muigai.

(c) Assonance.

Is the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words.

Eg. Bride of quietness though foster child silence i.e sound /ai/

(d) Consonance.

Is the repetition of final consonant sounds in a sequence of nearby words.

Eg. Take your pick
and pack
your pack i.e sound /k/

(e) Rhyme.

Is the repetition of the same sound at the end of lines of a poem.

Eg    bear……………………say    cry

Hear…………………..pay    high

Types of Rhyme.

There are two types of rhyme which are;

i) . Internal rhyme.

i) Internal rhyme.

This is when rhyming words are within the line of a poem.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary.

From “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

ii) End rhyme.

This is when rhyming words are at the end of lines of a poem. English Poetry usually use only end rhyme.

Rhyme schemes.

Rhyme schemes include the following;

a) Regular rhyme scheme.

b) Irregular rhyme scheme.

a) Regular rhyme scheme.

This is when rhyming words in a poem follow a specific pattern.

b) Irregular rhyme scheme.

This is when rhyming words do not follow a specific pattern. i.e no specific rhyme pattern.

(f) Refrain.

Is a line, part of line or group of lines which is repeated at the end of each stanza.

Eg. “Atieno yo” is a refrain in “A freedom Song” by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye.

(g) Onomatopoeia/Echoism.

These are words which imitate the sounds of their objects.

Eg. tick-tock.

(h) Rhythm.

Is a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllbles or words in a poem. It is the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables.

(i) Euphony.

Is a term applied to language which strikes the ear as smooth, pleasant and musical. Eg. And lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon.

(j) Cacophony/Dissonance.

Is a language which is perceived as harsh, rough and unmusical.

Eg. Rats

They fought the dogs and killed the rats!

INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE

Meaning of literature.

The term literature has different meaning but here the term is used in the sense of showing the way a person can make representation of what is taking place in the society artistically.

Thus, as Literature depicts on what people does in their daily lives, then it have some connectedness with human life.

Origin of literature.

LITERATURE IS SAID TO BE THE WORK OF ART BECAUSE;

(i) Skillful and creative use of language. Literature uses language creatively, a language that deviates from ordinary language. It uses figures of speech that have an extra meaning than what they ordinarily imply.

(ii) Skillful creation of the setting. In literature, the author creates the setting (place and time) that is relevant to the events that are taking place there. That is to say that,

what is happening largely depends on its setting. The village setting will have themes that are in line with rural life like polygamy, FGM, superstition, wife beating and the like. On the other hand, the urban setting is expected to address issues like prostitution, unemployment, HIV etc. the setting can be real or imaginary.

(iii) Artistic choice and presentation of the plot (incidents). Incidents in literature are presented in an artistic way that makes the audience think that they are actually happening. The use of straight forward narration, flashbacks, flashforward and foreshadowing add artistic effects to a literary work.

(iv) Skillful use of narrative techniques (styles). Literature uses different techniques in presenting the message to the society. It uses techniques like point of view, suspense, dialogues and monologues which make literature a literary of work.

(v) Skillful creation of the characters. Literature employs imaginary characters that represent real people in the society. In literature, even inanimate beings may be personified in a way that they represent human qualities. This adds artistic to the literary work. In some cases, the author may assign names to the characters that are congruent with their behaviour.

(vi) Literature has aesthesis (emotional appeal). Like other works of art, literature appeals to the emotion of the readers or listeners them a sense of enjoyment and pleasure. Literature can affect someone’s mood from sadness to happiness and vice versa. (Mwita 2020)

FFERENCES BETWEEN LITERATURE AND OTHER WORKS OF ART

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LITERATURE AND OTHER SUBJECTS

Qn.1: How far is literature and language inseparable?