Introduction 1

INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURĘ COURSE OUTLINE

I.    Definition of Literaturę: literariness; the verbal naturę of literaturę; connotation and denotation.

Literaturę as Art: the theory of imitation, the affective theory, the expressive theory. Good versus bad literaturę.

II.    Plato: biography; the theory of forms; The Republic; Plato’s views on art; the Myth of the Cave; Socrates.

III.    Aristotle: biography; Poetics; mimesis; Aristotle’s defence of poetry; definition of tragedy.

Plato’s and Aristotle’s contribution to literary studies.

IVA/. Introduction to poetry: definition, poetry versus prose; generał classification of poetry - narrative poetry (origins; types: epic, saga and romance, ballad) and lyric poetry (origins, forms: pastorał, sonnet, aubade, limerick etc.).

The language of poetry: diction; imagery; figurative language (metaphor, simile, metonymy, personification); rhetorical devices (hyperbole, ambiguity, ellipsis).

The form of poetry: sound values (rhyme, alliteration and assonance, onomatopoeia), versification (rhythm and metre, verse patterns, stanza forms).

The content of poetry: allegory, symbol, allusion, myths and archetypes.

VI. Introduction to drama: the naturę of drama; drama as literaturę.

The elements of drama: dramatic conventions, the play story, characters, plot. Traditional types of plays: tragedy and comedy.

VII/VIII. Introduction to fiction: definition; fiction versus non-fiction.

The main elements of fiction: narrative, narrator, levels of narration, point of view, narrative techniques, plot, characters.

The novel: definition; stages of the development of the novel; types of novels.

The short story.