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What is LITERATURE?

Literature (from Latin litterae (plural); [Letter (alphabet)|letter]]) is the art of written works,

and is not bound to published sources (although, under unpublished sources can be exempt).Literally translated, the word literature means "acquaintance with letters" (as in the "arts and

letters"). The two major classification of literature are poetry and prose.

"Literature" s sometimes differentiated from popular and ephemeral classes of writing. Terms

such as "literary fiction" and "literary merit" are used to distinguish individual works as art-literature rather than vernacular writing, and some critics exclude works from being "literary",

for example, on grounds of weak or faulty style, use of slang, poor  characterization and shallow

or contrived construction. Others exclude all genres such as romance, crime and mystery, sciencefiction, horror and fantasy. Pop lyrics, which are not technically a written medium at all, have

also been drawn into this controversy.

POETRY 

Poetry (from the [Greek] 'poiesis'/ποίησις [poieo/ποιέω], a making: a forming,

creating, or the art of poetry, or a poem) is a form of literary art in which language 

is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its

apparent meaning. Poetry may be written independently, as discrete poems, or may

occur in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns, lyrics, or prose

poetry.

PROSE

Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical

structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure (as in traditional

poetry). While there are critical debates on the construction of prose, its simplicity

and loosely defined structure has led to its adoption for the majority of spoken

dialogue, factual discourse as well as topical and fictional writing. It is commonly

used, for example, in literature, newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias,

broadcasting, film, history, philosophy, law and many other forms of 

communication.

EPIC

An epic (from the Ancient Greek adjective ἐπικός (epikos'pi), from ἔπος (epos)

"word, story, poem"[1]) is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious

subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or

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nation.[2] Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have

argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form.

DRAMA

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance.[1] The term

comes from a Greek word meaning "action" (Classical Greek: δρᾶμα, drama), which

is derived from "to do" (Classical Greek: δράω, drao). The enactment of drama in

theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes

collaborative modes of production and a collective form of reception. The structure

of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of literature, is directly influenced by this

collaborative production and collective reception.

COMEDY 

Comedy (from the Greek: κωμ ῳ δία, kōmōidía), as a popular meaning,

is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially intelevision, film, and stand-up comedy.

TRAGIC

Tragedy (Ancient Greek: τραγ ῳ δία, tragōidia, "he-goat-song"[1]) is a

form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure.[2] 

While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical 

response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a

unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western

civilisation.

LYRIC

Lyrics (in singular form lyric) are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of 

lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit.

Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication

emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of expression. The lyricist of 

traditional musical forms such as Opera is known as a librettist.

NOVEL

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots

both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of 

the novella.

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SHORT STORY 

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative 

format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as

novellas (in the 20th and 21st century sense) and novels. Short story definitions

based on length differ somewhat even among professional writers, somewhat inpart because of the fragmentation of the medium into genres

ESSAY 

An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point

of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism,

political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and

reflections of the author. The definition of an essay is vague, overlapping with those

of an article and a short story. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but

works in verse have been dubbed essay