Prelim World Lit 2020

Literature - A Latin word “litera” which means writing formed with letters.
- Generally as any body of written work that is written and produced in any country, language
or age for a specific purpose such as information, education or entertainment to the reader,
which can be fictional or non-fictional in nature.

Fiction - generally is a narrative form, in any medium, consisting of people, events, or places that

Non-Fiction - writing that is about real events and facts, rather than stories that have been invented.

Two Major Types of Literature

Prose - which means straightforward. It consists written works within the common flow of conversation
presented in a straightforward manner.

Types of Prose

Novel - This is a long narrative divided into chapters. The events may be taken from true-to-
life stories and spans for a long period of time. There are many characters involved.

Short Story - This is a narrative involving one or more characters, one plot and one single
impression.

Plays (Theater Play) - This is presented on a stage, is divided into acts and each act has many
scenes.

Legends - These are fictitious narratives, usually about origins. It provides historical
information regarding the culture and views of particular group of people or country.

Folk tales - A traditional narrative, usually anonymous, and handed down orally.

Fables - These are also fictitious and they deal with animals and inanimate things who speak
and act like people. Their purpose is to enlighten the minds of children to events that can
mold their ways and attitudes.

Myths - A traditional sacred story, typically revolving around the activities of gods and
heroes, which aim to explain a natural phenomenon or cultural practice.

Poetry - It is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic
language choices as to evoke emotional response.

World Literature - is considered in global context. It suggests to the sum of total world’s national
literature and also the circulation of work into the wider world beyond country’s origin.
A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed
BY JONATHAN SWIFT

Corinna, pride of Drury-Lane The bolsters that supply her hips.

For whom no shepherd sighs in vain; With gentlest touch, she next explores

Never did Covent Garden boast Her shankers, issues, running sores,

So bright a battered, strolling toast; Effects of many a sad disaster;

No drunken rake to pick her up, And then to each applies a plaister.

No cellar where on tick to sup; But must, before she goes to bed,

Returning at the midnight hour; Rub off the dawbs of white and red;

Four stories climbing to her bow’r; And smooth the furrows in her front

Then, seated on a three-legged chair, With greasy paper stuck upon’t.

Takes off her artificial hair: She takes a bolus ere she sleeps;

Now, picking out a crystal eye, And then between two blankets creeps.

She wipes it clean, and lays it by. With pains of love tormented lies;

Her eye-brows from a mouse’s hide, Or if she chance to close her eyes,

Stuck on with art on either side, Of Bridewell and the Compter dreams,

Pulls off with care, and first displays ’em, And feels the lash, and faintly screams;

Then in a play-book smoothly lays ’em. Or, by a faithless bully drawn,

Now dexterously her plumpers draws, At some hedge-tavern lies in pawn;

That serve to fill her hollow jaws. Or to Jamaica seems transported,

Untwists a wire; and from her gums Alone, and by no planter courted;

A set of teeth completely comes. Or, near Fleet-Ditch’s oozy brinks,

Pulls out the rags contrived to prop Surrounded with a hundred stinks,

Her flabby dugs and down they drop. Belated, seems on watch to lie,

Proceeding on, the lovely goddess And snap some cully passing by;

Unlaces next her steel-ribbed bodice; Or, struck with fear, her fancy runs

Which by the operator’s skill, On watchmen, constables and duns,

Press down the lumps, the hollows fill, From whom she meets with frequent rubs;

Up goes her hand, and off she slips But, never from religious clubs;
Whose favor she is sure to find,          The nymph, tho’ in this mangled plight,

Because she pays ’em all in kind. Must ev’ry morn her limbs unite.

         Corinna wakes. A dreadful sight! But how shall I describe her arts

Behold the ruins of the night! To recollect the scattered parts?

A wicked rat her plaster stole, Or shew the anguish, toil, and pain,

Half eat, and dragged it to his hole. Of gath’ring up herself again?

The crystal eye, alas, was missed; The bashful muse will never bear

And puss had on her plumpers pissed. In such a scene to interfere.

A pigeon picked her issue-peas; Corinna in the morning dizened,

And Shock her tresses filled with fleas. Who sees, will spew; who smells, be poison’d.

Creation Myths

The Book of Genesis (Hebrew)

Enuma Elish (Babylonian)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjyhjXXNXPE

The Story of Bathala (Tagalog)

In the beginning of time there were three powerful gods who lived in the universe.
Bathala was the caretaker of the earth, Ulilang Kaluluwa (lit. Orphaned Spirit), a huge serpent
who lived in the clouds, and Galang Kaluluwa (lit. Wandering spirit), the winged god who
loves to travel. These three gods did not know each other.

Bathala often dreamt of creating mortals but the empty earth stops him from doing so.
Ulilang Kaluluwa who was equally lonely as Bathala, liked to visit places and the earth was his
favorite. One day the two gods met. Ulilang Kaluluwa, seeing another god rivalling him, was
not pleased. He challenged Bathala to a fight to decide who would be the ruler of the
universe. After three days and three nights, Ulilang Kaluluwa was slain by Bathala. Instead of
giving him a proper burial, Bathala burned the snake's remains. A few years later the third
god, Galang Kaluluwa, wandered into Bathala's home. He welcomed the winged god with
much kindness and even invited him to live in his kingdom. They became true friends and
were very happy for many years.

Galang Kaluluwa became very ill. Before he died he instructed Bathala to bury him on
the spot where Ulilang Kaluluwa’s body was burned. Bathala did exactly as he was told. Out
of the grave of the two dead gods grew a tall tree with a big round nut, which is the coconut
 tree. Bathala took the nut and husked it. He noticed that the inner skin was hard. The nut
itself reminded him of Galang Kaluluwa’s head. It had two eyes, a flat nose, and a round
mouth. Its leaves looked so much like the wings of his dear winged friend. But the trunk was
hard and ugly, like the body of his enemy, the snake Ulilang Kaluluwa.

Bathala realized that he was ready to create the creatures he wanted with him
on earth. He created the vegetation, animals, and the first man and woman. Bathala built a
house for them out of the trunk and leaves of the coconut trees. For food, they drank the
coconut juice and ate its delicious white meat. Its leaves, they discovered, were great for
making mats, hats, and brooms. Its fiber could be used for rope and many other things.

Hesiod’s Theogony (Greek Mythology)

Gaea [jee-uh], the Earth, came out of darkness so long ago that nobody knows when or how.

Earth was young and lonesome, for nothing lived on her yet. Above her rose Uranus, the Sky,

dark and blue, set all over with sparkling stars. He was magnificent to behold, and young Earth

looked up at him and fell in love with his stars. Soon Earth and Uranus gave birth to the Giants, the

Titans and Earth became Mother Earth. All her children loved their warm and bountiful mother and

feared their mighty father, Uranus, lord of the universe.

The Titans were the first children of Mother Earth. They were the first gods and were taller than the

mountains she created to serve them as thrones. Both of their parents, the Earth and the Sky, were

proud of them. There were six Titans, six glorious gods, and they had six sisters, the Titanesses, whom

they took for their wives.

When Gaea again gave birth, Uranus was not proud of their new children. These new children were

also huge, but each had only one glowing eye set in the middle of his forehead. They were the three

Cyclopes and they were named Lightning, Thunder, and Thunderbolt. They were not handsome

gods, but tremendously strong smiths (like blacksmiths). Sparks from their heavy hammers on iron

flashed across the sky and lit up the heavens so brightly that even their father’s stars faded.

After a while, Mother Earth bore three more sons. Uranus looked at them with disgust. Each of them

had fifty heads and a hundred strong arms. He hated to see such ugly creatures walk about on

lovely Earth, so he seized them and all of their brothers, the Cyclopes, and flung them into Tartarus,

the deepest, darkest pit under the earth. Mother Earth loved her children and could not forgive her

husband for his cruelty to them and for sending them away. Out of hardest flint she fashioned a
 sickle and told her Titan sons to take the weapon and end their father’s cruelty. All of the Titans

refused except one, Cronus, the youngest and strongest. Cronus confronted his father with the sickle

and Uranus could not withstand the weapon wielded by his strong son. Uranus then gave up all his

powers and fled.

Cronus was now the lord of the universe. He sat on the highest mountain and ruled over heaven and

earth with a firm hand. When Cronus began to rule he did not set his monstrous brothers free, and

this made Mother Earth very angry with him. Because of her anger Mother Earth plotted the downfall

of Cronus, just as she had plotted the downfall of Uranus. She had to wait, for a god to be born who

was strong enough to oppose her son Cronus. And she knew that one of Cronus’ sons would be

stronger than himself, just as he was stronger than his father. Cronus knew it too, so every time his

Titaness-wife Rhea [ree-uh] gave birth, he took the newborn god and swallowed it. With all of his

offspring securely inside his stomach, he had nothing to fear.

But Rhea became upset about not having her children with her. Her five sisters, who had married the

five other Titans, were surrounded with Titan children. And Rhea was all alone with no children.

When Rhea expected her sixth child, she asked Mother Earth to help her save the child from his

father. And that was just what Mother Earth had been waiting for! As soon as Rhea had given birth

to her child she hid him, this child would be named Zeus. Next, she wrapped a stone in baby clothes

and gave it to her husband to swallow instead of giving him Zeus. Cronus was fooled and swallowed

the stone, and the little god Zeus was taken away to a secret cave on the island of Crete to grow

older and stronger so he could eventually defeat his father.

Zeus grew up to be a powerful god and was determined to overthrow his father. When Zeus went

back to Mount Olympus he got into immediate conflict with Cronus and Cronus did not even know

that this newcomer was his own son. In order to slay his father Zeus needed his brothers and sisters

help! So Metis [mee-tis], Zeus's first wife, went to Cronus and cleverly tricked him into eating a magic

herb. Cronus thought the herb would make him unconquerable, but in reality it made him so sick

that he threw up the stone and his five other children. The children were the gods Hades and

Poseidon and goddesses Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. All the of these mighty gods joined forces with

Zeus and defeated Cronus!

Zeus was now the supreme god overall and divided control of the universe among his siblings. Zeus
made himself God of the Sky and all its phenomena, including the clouds as well as the thunderbolts.

To his brother Poseidon, he gave the rule of the Sea, and his brother Hades was made god of the

Underworld. Zeus’s sister Demeter became a goddess of Fertility, Hera (before she married Zeus and

became a jealous wife) was the goddess of Marriage and Childbirth. And Hestia became goddess

of the Hearth (home).