Part Six VI › Division II II › Section 621 621

Literature

Subject Outline

AThe art of literature
- 1The nature and scope of literature: the distinction between literature and other forms of writing
- 2Literary composition
- 3The contents of literature: its subject matter
- 4Literature and its audience
- 5The integration of literature with other arts
- 6Literary genres: diverse systems of classifying literary works
- 7Writings on literature: theoretical treatises, scholarly research and writing, critical writing
BTechniques of literature
- 1Rhetoric: the art of discourse
  - aElements of rhetoric: figures of speech; e.g., metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, allegory, parallelism
  - bThe relation of rhetoric to grammar and syntax, to literary diction and style, and to prosody
- 2Prosody: the manipulation of the elements of language that contribute to acoustic and rhythmic effects in literature
  - aElements of prosody
    - iRhythmic elements; e.g., accent, beat, cadence, the foot, the stanza, metre
    - iiAcoustic elements; e.g., rhyme, assonance, alliteration
  - bProsodic style: the uses of prosody in verse, prose, drama, and oratory
CKinds of literary composition
- 1Poetry: distinctions between verse and prose
- 2Narrative imaginative literature
  - aEpic; e.g., the "literary" epic, the beast epic, the mock epic, the romantic epic
  - bSaga: the king's sagas, legendary sagas, the sagas of Icelanders, and related forms
  - cRomance: the romance of love, chivalry, and adventure; e.g., Arthurian romance, the pastoral romance, the Gothic romance, the historical romance
  - dThe novel and the tale
  - eThe short story and its antecedents
  - fFable, parable, allegory, and related forms
  - gBallad, lay, idyll
- 3Dramatic or theatrical literature
  - aTragedy
  - bComedy
  - cTragicomedy
  - dFarce and related forms
  - eMelodrama
  - fReligious drama and ritual
  - gRadio, motion-picture, and television scripts
- 4Lyric literature
  - aMusic-based lyrics; e.g., ballad, hymn, madrigal
  - bLanguage-based lyrics; e.g., sonnet, ode, elegy, pastoral
- 5Satiric literature: satire, parody, lampoon
- 6Nonfictional prose literature
  - aThe essay
  - bHistory as literature
  - cCriticism as literature
  - dDoctrinal and religious literature
  - ePhilosophical literature
  - fPolitical literature
  - gPolemical literature
  - hScientific literature
  - iReportage: journalism
  - jAphorism, epigram, adage, maxim, and related short forms
  - kThe dialogue: philosophical and literary dialogues
  - lTravel literature
  - mEpistolary literature: the letter as literature
  - nThe oration, the speech, and related forms
  - oBiographical and autobiographical literature; e.g., character sketch, critical biography, popular biography, interpretive biography, letter, diary, journal, memoir
- 7Children's literature
- 8Primitive, folk, and popular literature [see also 613]
DThe history of literature
- 1Literature of Western peoples