Oral literature

QN 4

Oral literature refers to any form of verbal art which is transmitted orally or delivered by word of mouth. Oral literature is a more recent and less widely used term which emphasizes the oral character and nature of literary works. It includes myth, legend, riddle. The following are the forms of oral literature as follows:

        i.            Proverbs: Short well-known saying that state a general truth or give advice. They are sentence or phrases and memorably expressing some recognized truth or shrewd observation about practical life, originally preserved by oral tradition, through it may be transmitted in written literature as well. Example early to bed and early to rise makes a man wealth (Granger, 1984).

      ii.            Narrative: is a report of connected events, real or imaginary presented in a sequenceof written or spoken words or still or moving images or both. Narratives may also be nested within other narratives such as narratives told by an unreliable narrator typically found in non fiction genre.

    iii.            Oral poetry: Is a poetry that is composed and transmitted without the aid of writing. The complex relationships between written and spoken literature in some societies can make this definition hard to maintain. Example nursery rytymes, ballads (Granger, 1984).

    iv.            Song and dance: Means along and often familiar statement or explanation that is usually not true or partient. For instance representative gave us a song and dance about legal issues and municipal liability.

QN 3

Literature is a work of art which is transmitted in spoken or written form. His work is a product of a certain society. It is imagined but reflects social realities. Also this work has two parts of form and content. In form it contain such parts a language, plot, setting, characterizing and style. Content contains themes, message, philosophy, issues and historical background of a certain society. The following are the types of literature such as

a)      Oral literature

b)      Written literature.

A.    Oral literature

This is the type of literature which is presented through orally, it include ritual texts, curative chants. Also oral literature has divided into four forms namely as proverbs, song and dance, narrative and oral poetry. Example of proverbs includes early to bed and early to rise makes a man wealth, health and wise. Its no use locking the stable door after the horse has bolted. Laugh and world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone. Example of narrative, when your friend tells a story about seeing a deer on the way to school, he or she is using characteristics of narrative (Granger, 1984).

B.     Written literature

Is the type of literature which is expressed through the written form. It began with the    invention of writing. Written literature has various forms namely as play, for example “I will marry when I want” by Chinua Achebe, novel, for instance of a novel “A man of the people” by Chinua Achebe, poetry for example summon poem from Tanzania( Tanzania publishing house Dar es salaam), “Eat more” by joe corrie, non fiction, example of non fiction include expository, argumentative, functional and opinion piece, essays on art or literature, biographies, memoirs, journalism and historical, scientific technical or economic writing. Non fictional based on true events and people (Mercuse, 1990).

QN 2

Providing examples, discuss the importance of literature.

Literature is one of the great creative and universal means of communicating the emotional, spiritual or intellectual concerns of mankind. It is characterized by imagination, meaningfulness of expression with good forms and technique. The following are the importance of literature:

                              i.            We learn about and come to understand people who are different from us: conversely, we might discover character or poems that we really identify with. It can be really exciting and validating to discover that your exact thoughts and feelings have also been experienced by someone else. Because literature encourages us to be sensitive to the whole spectrum of human experience. Example through studying literature enables us to expand our skills and vocabularies (Mercuse, , 1990).

                            ii.             It connects individuals with large truth and ideas in a society: Because literature is important in everyday life and creates away for people to record their thoughts and experiences in a way that is accessible to other, example, through fictionalized accounts of experience

                          iii.            Literature adds to reality: It does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides, and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become (Mercuse, , 1990).

                          iv.            Literature improves reading skills: The study of literature is important because it is most basic to improve skills of reading. From this involved reading of quality a student then develops their writing skills as the two go hand in hand (the best writers are vid readers, typically) (Mercuse, , 1990).

                            v.            Literature is a reflection of humanity and way of us to understand each other: Literature is important because of its purpose and in a society which is coming increasing detached from human interaction, novels create a conversation.

                          vi.            Literature act as a form of expression for each individual author: Some books mirror society and allow us to to better understand the world we live in. Example of this as his novel “The great Gatsboy” was a reflection of his experience and opinions of America.

                        vii.            To express people’s culture: Culture is the total sum of people’s ways of life which include customs, beliefs, norms and many others. Literature is then used to promote good or useful aspects of culture that is the good norms, so that people may follow them. Literature is also used to make people abandon bad practices. Also it is used to tell the people about the culture of other in order to develop positive attitudes towards them (Wilson, 1993).

QN 1

Literature is originated from the latin word “littera” meaning letters and reffering to an acquaintance with the written words. Is the written work of specific culture, sub-culture, religion, philosophy or the study of such written work which may appear in poetry or in prose. Literature, in the west originated in the southern.

Mesopotamia region of sumer (C.3200) in the city of Uruk and flourished in Egypt, later in Greece (the written word having been imported there from the phoenl’cians) and from there, to originated independently in China from dinination practices and also independently in Mesoamerica and elsewhere. The first author of literature in the world, known by name was the Prietess of ur, Enheduann (2285-2250 BCE) who wrote hymns in praise of the Sumerian goddess Inanna. Much of the early literature from Mesopotamia concerns the activities of the gods but in time, humans came to be featured as the main characters in such poems as Enmerkar and the lord of aratta and Lugalband and mount Hurrum (C.2600-2000 BCE) (Zipes, 2006).

THE TRUTH OF LITERATURE

Homer’s soaring Odes to the grandour of the Grecian fleet sailing for troy or odysews’s journey across the wine-dark sea were as real to listeners as his descriptions of sorceress circe, the Cyclops polyphemus or the sirens. Those tales which today are regarded as true and sacred as any of the writings contained in the Judeo-christian Bible or the muslim Koran are to believers. Designations such as fiction and non fiction are fairly recent labels applied to written works. The ancient mind understood that, quite often, truth may be apprehended through affable about afox and some unattainable grapes. The modern concerns with the truth of a story would not have concerned anyone listening to one of Aesop’s tales; what mattered was what the story was trying to convey.

REFERENCES

Zipes, J. (2006). Children of literature. Oxford and New York:Oxford university press

Wilson, K. (1993). Guide to standard American English. New York: Columbia University Press.

Mercuse, , M, J, A.(1990). Guide For English Studies. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Granger, E. (1984). Index to Poetry. New York: Columbia University Press.