Literary Appreciation

CONTENT
• THE RUDIMENTS OF LITERARY APPRECIATION
• APPROACHES TO LITERARY APPRECIATION
• CONCRETE ISSUES IN LITERARY APPRECIATION

THE RUDIMENTS OF LITERARY APPRECIATION
From the introduction to literature, it can be clearly deduced that literature is an imitation of life. One important medium adopted by most writers to make literature a true imitation of life is in the use of characters/casts/dramatic personae. In identifying characters in a literary piece, the reader must take into cognisance what a character says, what other characters in and around him say about him, how he thinks and reflects on issues confronting him, his characteristic nature based on that of the reader’s values and beliefs, his attitude to the society represented in the work of art to show whether he is a stereotype individual or not, how successful is the author in showing him as an appropriate character, his physiological makeup, what drives and motivates him and finally the ironies and contrast associated with his action and inaction which invariably affect the growth and changes seen in him as the literary piece progresses to its climax.
Furthermore, the socio-political context of work of arts must also be identified so as to have a good understanding of the work. This will determine the salient issues behind the work, For example, in the play, Women of Owu, the socio-political context of the play is the war in the city of Owu between the people of Owu and the people of Ife and Ijebu, which was as a result of selling the Ijebus into slavery by the Owus.

Finally, the historical background of the work of the author should be taken into consideration for a better appreciation. For instance, in Oswald Mtshali’s, ‘Boy on a Swing’, the poets makes a very successful attempt to clearly condemn the apartheid policy of the minority government in south Africa which characterise the lives of the blacks with constant sudden raid. The poet, himself, is a victim of the policy, which had dehumanizing effect of obnoxious policies on the majority blacks. Therefore, many writers allow their socio-political background to form the basis for their writings. Literary appreciation is a literary concept, which is universally accepted as a means of understanding all the nuances that are very prevalent in literary works; be it drama, prose or poetry. It must not be confused with literary criticism. For somebody to be able to do this successfully, he must put the following basic principles in proper perspective. These include: the context of the text, the structure of the text, the device used by the writer and their effectiveness, the setting of the text and the central ideas or themes which the text symbolizes.

APPROACHES TO LITERARY APPRECIATION
THE CONTEXT OF THE TEXT: One of the basic problems confronting readers of a text is the inability to fully appreciate the context referring to the actual meaning and background conveyed by the writer, which can be literal or metaphorical. Here, the point of view of the writer must be taken into cognizance, in order to have literal and metaphorical knowledge of the work. The content of any work of art centres on its plot and theme or central issues raised in the storyline.

THE STRUTURE OF THE TEXT: Structure refers to the organization of text. It is also known as the format of any work of art, that is, the way it is presented by the writer, his use of diction and its effectiveness, as well as, techniques used. All these constitute the structure.

THE POETIC DEVICES EMPLOYED IN THE TEXT: Sometimes, we do not get the correct meaning of a word in a text until we have decided whether it is used literally, that is, according to its basic original meaning, or metaphorically, which means applying one form of meaning to another. Hence, most writers make use of both literal and metaphorical words when writing. Due to this, it is very important for readers to have a good knowledge of diction and figurative devices adopted by the writer, as a way of appreciating the text.

THE THEMES OF THE TEXT: The theme means the central message conveyed in any piece of writing. A proper understanding of the theme in a text is very important, and it is a necessary tool for good and detailed appreciation of the text itself. The theme of a text must not be mistaken for the subject matter, which may only be implied after a proper reading of the text.

EVALUATION
1 Discuss the approaches to literary appreciation.
2 How important is the rudiments of literary appreciation.

CONCRETE ISSUES IN LITERARY APPRECIATION
The concrete issues in literary appreciation are nothing but the indispensable ingredients meant for objective and apt understanding of any particular work of art. These are:
(i) The plot- the storyline, which must be very detailed.
(ii) The theme- the central issues raised in any work of art.
(iii) The style- style of any writing is the technical devices and the way the language is structured. A style is the manner the writing is done which can be classical, down to earth, simple or difficult.
(iv) The mood- feeling of the writer when writing. This must be fully appreciated by the reader in other to understand the plot and characterization.
(v) The diction- the effective use of language to carry the theme, plot and mood of the writer.
(vi) Literary devices used- which must be appropriate so as not to confuse the reader. It must give the reader the opportunity to understanding the work of art.
GENERAL EVALUATION/REVISION QUESTIONS
1 List and explain the concrete issues in literary appreciation.
2 Explain the significance of the concrete issue in literary appreciation.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
(1) ‘To drag your father from his farm is as difficult as dragging a child from his mother’s breast’, illustrates (a) metaphor (b) personification (c) simile (d) amplification
(2) When a poem has no regular rhyme scheme, it is called (a) a prose (b) a dramatic verse
(c) a lyrical verse (d) a blank verse
(3) A poem without a regular rhyme is referred to as (a) a blank verse (b) free verse
(c) solomonic verse (d) traditional verse
(4) ‘How can he compare our church outing with theirs? After all millions of people attended ours while very few people were seen at theirs,’ illustrate what device (a) paradox
(b) oxymoron (c) hyperbole (d) comparison
(5) When one work of art attempts to imitate the style of another work in a mocking manner, we describe the newer work as (a) parody (b) innuendo (c) pun (d) farce.

THEORY
1 Discuss the importance of literary appreciation to you as a student of literature
2 How relevant is the historical and socio-political background in appreciating a particular work of art.

READING ASSIGNMENT
Essential Literature-in-English for SSS by Ibitola A. O., pgs 41-44.