Why Literature? (The Branches)

September 13, 2018


It is the second part of “Why Literature”, this article will talk about the branches of Literature. I am not going to write all in detail. Because it will spend a lot of pages, and I am not diligent enough to do that lmao. 

Well, hi peeps! Welcome.

There are some types of literary works such as poetry, drama, and prose. Each of branches are helpful as a media for relaxing, expressing their feelings, and getting a new inspiration. Beside it helps the readers in increasing their vocabularies, and learning about moral message in a literary work.
From the three types of literary works that mentioned, let’s talk about them one by one started from prose first.

1. Prose
Prose is a form of language which applies ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure. Then, prose itself divided into two kinds of prose, it based on time, the old prose and the modern prose.
a.    Old prose is a form of literary works that untouched from western culture. At the beginning, this works are spoken formed. But now, we can find this kind of literary works in form of writing. The old prose consists of tale, history, fairy-tale (myth, legend, fable, comic, tale, history).
b.    Modern prose is a kind of literature that impact by the western culture. It appears when people think that the old prose is not compatible anymore in this era. The modern prose consists of roman, biography, essay, short story, and novel.
The differences between old and new prose is as follows:
Old Prose
1.      Static, slow changes
2.      Palaces-centrally, a royal
3.      Fantastic, the forms are saga, fairy tale
4.      Influenced by Hindu and Arabic literature
5.      There is no author (Anonymous)
New Prose
1.      Dynamic, the changes are fast
2.      People-centrally, the compositions of the story are from the people around
3.      Realistic, the forms are romance, novels, short stories, plays, stories, etc.
4.      Influenced Western literature

5.      The name of the author is always included

2. Poetry
Poetry is a literary form that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet and imaginatively and is composed by concentrating the power of language by concentrating the physical structure and inner structure. The emphasis on aesthetic aspects of a language and the deliberate use of repetition, meters and rhymes are the things that differentiate poetry from prose.
Poetry divided into two forms too, old and modern.
A.  Old Poetry
Old poetry is a poem that is still bound by rules. Old poetry rules such as the number of words contained in a row, the number of lines contained in 1 verse, poetry or rhyme, many syllables in each row, and rhythm. (Mantra. Pantun, Karmina, Gurindam, Talibun)
Old poetry has some characteristics such as usually in the form of folk poetry and unknown authors' names, still bound by various rules such as the number of rows in each stanza, the poem and the number of syllables in each row, spoken by word of mouth and can also be called oral literature, contains about kingdoms, fantastic, and palaces-centric.

B.   Modern Poetry
It is a kind of poem that is not bound by rules anymore, in contrast to old poetry. New poetry has a more free form than old poetry in terms of rows, syllables, or rhymes. (Balada, Himne, Ode, Epigram, Romansa, Elegi, Satire, Distikon, etc).
Modern poetry has some characteristics such as the name of the author is known, developments orally and in writing, not bound by various rules such as rhyme, number of lines and syllables, using dynamic or changing media, usually contains about life, usually use more rhymes and poetry, has a neater and more symmetrical shape, have a regular final rhyme, in each row the form is syntactic unity.

And, Poetry has a structure which make the poetry stronger and greater.
1. Rhyme and rhythm. The sound equation found in poetry, whether at the beginning, middle, or at the end of the poem line.
2. The imagination. A word or arrangement of words that is able to express sensory experiences, such as feeling, vision, and hearing.
3. Diction. The selection of several words by the poet in his poetry work.
4. Concrete words. Words that can be captured using senses that can allow the appearance of images.
5. Language style. The use of language that can turn on effects and cause certain connotations.
6. Typography. A form of poetry such as on pages that are not filled with words, right-left edges, row settings, to lines in each poem that do not always start with capital letters and end with periods. These things determine the meaning of poetry.

            3. Drama (Play)
Referring to the Dictionary drama/play is defined as a poetic composition or prose that is expected to describe life and character through acting or dialogue. Then, it also can defines as a story, especially one that involves conflict or emotion, which is specifically arranged for theater performances.
Whereas the definition according to the expert, Joseph T. Shipley in Satoto (2012) defined the term drama as all performances that use expression in its performance. Other experts who expressed their opinions, Tjahyono (1998) in his writing defines the term drama as one of the forms of art that seeks to express the subject of human life through motion or action and conversation or dialogue

Drama Structure
A drama will have a story line that is often called a play. The play in drama has a clear structure that is related to one another so as to form a unified entity. Here are some things that are included in the structure of the drama:
1. Round
The rounds in the drama script are every part or session of scenes in the drama. The round is a summary of all events that occur in a place in a certain time sequence.
2. Scene
Scenes are structures that include the way an actor or actress carries the character he plays in a drama. Scenes are also part of a round in which the boundary of a scene is determined by changes in events or transitions coming from a character in a drama.
3. Dialogue
Dialogue is part of the drama script in the form of a series of conversations between one character and another. Writing dialogues in the drama script uses punctuation marks ("_").
4. Prologue
Prologue is a part that is the introduction of the manuscript. The Prologue can contain one or more information and opinions from the playwright about the story to be performed. Usually delivered by a narrator.
5. Epilogue
Epilogue is the closing part of a drama. Just like the prologue, this section will usually also be conveyed by the narrator which contains a brief glimpse of the story behind and conclusions from the contents of the drama that has been staged.

Furthermore, we can classify types of drama based on the presentation of it like tragedy, comedy, opera, tragekomedy (combination of tragedy and comedy), melodrama, tablo, etc.

Well, I think enough the topic of branches of Literature. I hope this article can help you (anyone) who wants to know the basics of the three branches of knowledge in literature. The rest, you can read books or having discussions with your friends, or join certain communities. Btw, I am not an expert to write it perfectly, so, just feel free to correct my text if there are mistakes inside.***

Furthermore, I will share about things that are in the body of literature. Then? What are the elements contained in it? How important are they? And is it cool to discuss that?

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1 comments

No regret, please. Thanks!