Literary Appreciation:

The dictionary definition of "appreciate" is "to evaluate the quality or value of a certain
thing." Literary appreciation as define it involves not only evaluation but also personal,
impressionistic, or emotional apprehension of the work we read. This emotional/personal
aspect of reading is very important for us; it usually decides whether we want to go on
studying a work and how we are going to do it. However, personal appreciation can lead to
subjective and vague judgment, which is the kind of literary appreciation we want to avoid
The meaning of literary appreciation is to analyze, criticize and understand literature.
Literary appreciation can be applied to numerous forms of literature such as novels and
poetry, essays or articles. Being able to discuss the meaning behind the words and possibly
write an essay on it is considered to be literary appreciation.

Stages of Literary Appreciation

It is fundamental that as teachers, we understand the various stages of literary
appreciation to make literature meaningful to our students and help them better connect to
the text. Thus, not only do we have to understand the stages of literary appreciation but also
apply various strategies suitable to the students' level.
Carlsen (1974) and Nielsen Donelson (2001) established stages of development that
must occur if a child is to become an adult who reads enthusiastically with aesthetic
appreciation.
Level 1:Understanding that Pleasure and Profit come from Literature (Ages 0-5yrs)
It should be noted that development of literary appreciation begins long before children learn
to read. At this stage, literary appreciation is a social one. The appreciation develops with
exposing the child to books and movies or having them relate stories. As parents and
teachers, we play a vital role at this stage, supporting children and engaging them in reading
activities.

Level Two: Learning to Read (Decode) (Ages 6-8)

Students may then add-on to their stage of literary appreciation, by becoming addicted
to a particular book or character. This addiction allows for the development of speed and
skill. Nielsen et al (2001) regard this as Level Two: where students are learning to read or
decoding information(Ages 6-8yrs).
Children are developing literacy (a process that is never-ending for anyone who is
intellectually active.)One must not lose sight of those children who are struggling with
literacy and subsequently lose sight of the search for pleasure and enjoyment
Those children who learn to read easily are undemanding and in a stage of
unconscious enjoyment becoming addicted to one particular book or character (allowing
for the development of speed and skill)

Level Three: Losing Oneself in a Story (Ages 9-11 yrs)

During this stage, reading becomes a form of escape to readers. Children frequently read
series books, fantasies and animal stories (Carlsen et al 1974). For example, a child may
indulge in reading books such as The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton and Archie Comics.
Carlsen (1994) further claims that it is vital that this stage occurs for everything else in
literature to be meaningful. As teachers we need to surround our students with these
materials to stimulate their interest and set a foundation for this stage to occur.
Level Four: Finding oneself in a story (Ages 12-14)
During adolescence, our young people are self-searching and making decisions about
who they are. In most cases, they tend to identify with characters in books and movies.
Therefore, they place preference on texts and films with "real" stories that they can relate to
in order for them to receive pleasure. They become discriminatory and are no longer
satisfied with stereotype characters. They are no longer living vicariously in character's
experience but rather, adolescents are searching to find themselves in the roles of these
characters. Reading for these young adults is aimed at discovering their own identity. Our
role as the teacher is to select material which is suitable enough to evoke students' interest,
which are relevant to their lives and provides a sense of hope for our youth.
Level Five: Venturing Beyond Self (15-18 yrs)
At this stage of literary appreciation, the adolescents geocentricism is no longer his
sole priority. His focus is on developing skills intellectually, emotionally and physically. Thus,
reading is not a central focus but rather places emphasis on the society.
Level Six and Seven: Reading Widely and Aesthetic Appreciation (Ages 18-death)
Reading at this stage is for pleasure. Individuals read and share their experiences with
their peers during book talks and book clubs for example. Individuals read a variety of
genres at this stage and enjoy literary appreciation, having acquired all previous stages.
Thus, as teachers and parents, we need to support our children at which ever they are
but ensuring that they keep adding to the previous stage which they already possess. In our
classes, we have students at various stages of literary appreciation; therefore, as teachers,
we must not only be familiar but also understand these stages to match each reader's stage
with materials which entertain them. These materials must also challenge readers so they
may add-on to their stage (Bushman and Haas, 2001)
Poetry for Children
Children's poetry is poetry written for, or appropriate for children. This may include folk
poetry (for example, Mother Goose rhymes); poetry written intentionally for young people
(e.g. Shel Silverstein); poetry written originally for adults, but appropriate for young people
(Ogden Nash); and poems taken from prose works (Lewis Carroll, Rudyard Kipling).
Examples:
A Baby Sermon by George MacDonald
A Child's Evening Prayer by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

A Guinea Pig ~Anonymous

Verses for Children
Verse is formally a single metrical line in a poetic composition. However, verse has come to
represent any division or grouping of words in a poetic composition, with groupings
traditionally having been referred to as stanzas.
Example:
Whirl up, sea
Whirl your pointed pines,
Splash your great pines,
On our rocks,
Hurl your green over us,
Cover us with your pools of fir.
H.D.
FABLES
Fable is a literary genre. A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features
animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are
anthropomorphized (given human qualities such as verbal communication), and that
illustrates or leads to an interpretation of a moral lesson (a "moral"), which may at the end
be added explicitly in a pithy maxim.
A fable differs from a parable in that the latter excludes animals, plants, inanimate objects,
and forces of nature as actors that assume speech and other powers of humankind.
Example:
Aesop
The Wolf & the Crane
The Lion & the Mouse

Legends
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners
to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale
verisimilitude. Legend, for its active and passive participants includes no happenings that are
outside the realm of "possibility", as that is defined by a highly flexible set of parameters,
which may include miracles that are perceived as actually having happened within the
specific tradition of indoctrination where the legend arises, and within which tradition it may
be transformed over time, in order to keep it fresh and vital, and realistic. Many legends
operate within the realm of uncertainty, never being entirely believed by the participants,
but also never being resolutely doubted.
Legend, typically, is a short (mono-) episodic, traditional, highly ecotypified historicized
narrative performed in a conversational mode, reflecting on a psychological level a symbolic

representation of folk belief and collective experiences and serving as a reaffirmation of

commonly held values of the group to whose tradition it belongs."
EXAMPLES:
The Legend of Apo Lakay-Lakay
The Chocolates Hills of Bohol Island
Legend of Alitaptap and the Fireflies

FAIRYTALES
A type of short story that typically features European folkloric fantasy characters, such
as dwarves, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, mermaids, trolls, or witches, and usually
magic or enchantments. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as
legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described) and explicitly
moral tales, including beast fables.
Examples:
Grimms Fairytales
Cinderella
Snow White

Teaching Literary
Appreciation Skills

(Verses and Poetry for

children, Fables, Legends,

Fairytale)

By: Ma. Fatima P. Ofracio BEED 3-A

References:

http://www.slideshare.net/lizajavier3/understanding-the-stages-of-literaryappreciation
http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=2802&context=reading_horizon