1
Literature – the art of the word
Textbook: pp. 3–8
GoalUnderstand what literature is, its tool and its three kinds.
New words
literature · adabiyotartistic word · badiiy so‘zpoetry · she’riyatprose · nasrdrama (plays) · dramaturgiya
Explanation
Literature is the art of the word, and its main tool is the artistic word. People think, dream and pass their thoughts on through words. Thinking in images, comparing one thing with another, is the root of literature. In ancient times people put their dreams into tales (ertak), legends (afsona) and stories handed down (rivoyat). Literature has three kinds: poetry (she’riyat), prose (nasr: stories, tales and similar works) and drama (dramaturgiya: plays performed on stage). The textbook also mentions folk epics such as “Alpomish” and the Greek “Odyssey”.
Worked examples
Example: saying “the cloud is a flock of white sheep” compares a cloud with something else – that is thinking in images.
Example: a tale is neither a poem nor a play; it belongs to prose, because it is told in ordinary sentences.
Class activity
“Find the kind”: split the class into three groups; each writes three works it knows and sorts them into poetry, prose or drama.
Practice
1
What is the main tool of literature?
The artistic word.
2
What three kinds is literature divided into?
Poetry, prose and drama.
3
Sort into kinds: a stage play, a rhymed poem, a short story.
The play is drama, the poem is poetry, the story is prose.
4
Why did tales and legends appear among people?
People expressed in stories the dreams they could not reach in real life.