Department of Education

SCHOOLS DIVISION OF CITY OF MEYCAUAYAN

Pag-asa St., Malhacan, City of Meycauayan, Bulacan

Senior High School

Activity Sheet 12
in
ENGLISH
21st Century Literature from the
Philippines and the World-
Quarter 1:
Identify the way one may evaluate a
literary text, specifically by examining its
linguistic context
(EN12Lit-la-21.1)
 IDENTIFY THE WAY ONE MAY EVALUATE A
LITERARY TEXT, SPECIFICALLY BY
EXAMINING ITS LINGUISTIC CONTEXT
LET US KNOW

According to David Richter, “Practically everything we do that is specifically

human is expressed in language.” This is why literary texts can
? Essential Question
be read through the context of the language used to write the
text as well as the way language is used in the text. This literary What is the importance
reading adheres to Roland Barthes’s famous maxim, “The author of understanding the
is dead.” Reading through a linguistic context focuses on the way language is used in a
language used in the literary work and how it is used to convey literary text?
meaning.

LET US REVIEW

Watch or recall a movie or book that talk about a certain Philippine historical event. Answer
the following questions:
1. What is the historical situation taking place?
2. What do you think is the prevailing social order shown?
3. What is the main idea or theme of the story?
4. How do the people during those times act? How do they differ from our generation?
5. How does the event affect the author and his perspectives about the situation?

LET US STUDY

Here are some reasons to read literature through the linguistic context:
1. Reading the text on its own, regardless of the author’s biography and sociocultural
context, may help you understand the literary text through analyzing the words,
sentences, patterns, imagery, etc. of the text.
2. Analyzing the literary text’s grammar, syntax, or phonemic pattern may help you find the
meaning of the text within its form and help you interpret it by simply analyzing the
content of the literary work.
The following are some strategies you may use to read a text
through the linguistic context: Vocabulary
1. Analyze the diction or choice of words in the text.
Linguistic- of or
2. Examine the texts’ syntax or use of sentences, clauses, phrases,
relating to
line cuts, etc.
language or the
3. Observe the use of figurative language.
study of language
4. Analyze the mood and tone of the text.
5. Observe the text’s overall structure. Syntax- the
6. Analyze the content of the text. study of how
linguistic
Here are guide questions that may help you when you read elements form
literature through the linguistic context: phrases, clauses,
1. What were the striking words in the text? What words were or sentences
unfamiliar to you? Which words attracted your attention?
What words were dramatic?
2. What nouns are the most prominent? Are these concrete or abstract nouns? What about
verbs? Does the author use common words or lofty diction? Are the words short or long?
Is there any word that has two or more meanings?
3. Are the sentences in the usual order of subject-predicate? What are the dependent
clauses? What are the independent clauses? If you restructure a sentence or a phrase,
would it make a difference? Is the voice active or passive? Is there a rhythm in the
sentence structure in relation to the length of the sentences or lines?

4. What literary devices are used? Are there images? Do those images stand for anything
aside from their literal meaning?
5. What is the tone? Is the speaker happy about the subject? Is the tone negative or
positive?
6. What is the structure of the text? Is it a narrative? Is it linear or nonlinear? What is the
point of view of the text? Is it a poem? What type of poem is it?
7. Does the language help in delivering and understanding its content? Is there a theme?
What is it saying about its subject matter? How do the literary elements contribute to the
effectiveness of the text?
8. What is the text saying about the world in general?

Take note of the following before reading a text through the linguistic context:
1. Even if literature uses language, it does not mean that the structure of literature and the
language are the same. Some writers may not follow grammatical rules, and this kind
of deviation may be used in your analysis. You may ask, “Why is the text not following
standard grammar?” and other similar questions.

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2. The characteristics of the language in which the text was written may help in analyzing
the text. You may also ask, “Why is the text written in this language?”, “Is this
considered a weak language or a strong language?” and other similar questions.
3. You may consult literary approaches that focus on language. Structuralism,
poststructuralism, and formalism have linguistic aspects. These approaches may lead
you in your view of reading through the linguistic context.

Perspective Explanation

Structuralism Structuralism relays the texts being examined to a larger

structure. The structure may be a particular genre, a range of
intertextual connections, a model of a universal narrative
structure, or a system of recurrent patterns or motifs.
Formalism (or New Formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory
Criticism) that focuses on the structure of a particular text. It examines a
text without taking into account any outside influence.

Poststructuralism Poststructuralism is the reaction to structuralism. In the

linguistic context, there may be underlying structures that may
have different interpretations based on how the words or phrases
were used in the text.

LET US PRACTICE

Activity # 1

What is your favorite song? What words from that song seem to be
immortalized by time? What do these words mean to you?

LET US REMEMBER

Linguistic Context- This context requires the reader to analyze the language,
form, and structure of the text.
What is the importance of language to literature?
It is the vehicles to express one’s thoughts, feelings and imagination. Without
language, can literature be possible? Even oral form of literature uses oral language.
Literature also aims at preserving itself for future and this preservation is done through
written form of language.
LET US APPRECIATE

Activity # 2

Analyze the poem through its literary context by

Below is a poem that Dr.
Jose Rizal has written:
Josephine,
Who to these shores
came,
Searching for a home, a
nest,
Like the wandering
swallows,
If your fate guides you
To Shanghai, China, or
Japan,
Forget not that on these
shores
A heart beats for you.
answering the following questions:
1. What are the striking words used in the poem?
2. How many meaningful statements are used in
the poem?
3. How were the lines cut? Did the line cuts help in
conveying the message of the poem?
4. Are there rhymes? Is there a certain rhythm?
How does the presence or absence of rhyme and
rhythm help convey the message of the text?
5. What imagery was used in the poem?
6. What is the mood of the poem?
7. Did the use of language help in conveying the
poem’s message? How?

LET US PRACTICE MORE

Activity # 3
Compare and contrast the expressions of love shown during the time of Dr.
Jose Rizal and the present time. How does distance and setting affect the
language conveyed in one’s literary work?

EVALUATION

Quiz # 1
A. Direction: Read and understand carefully each question. Then, encircle the letter of the
correct answer.
1. Why is it important to use appropriate language?
A. When writing, it is very important to use language that fits your audience and
Matches purpose.
B. In appropriate language uses can damage your credibility, undermine your
argument, or alienate your audience.
C. Avoid using biased language including language with a racial, ethnic, group, or
gender bias or language that is stereotypical.
D. All of the above

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2. How do we benefit from literature?
A. exposes us to the different vocabulary, sentence structure, imagery, and narrative
than textbooks do.
B. Give us a boost of creativity and can encourage us to pursue new lines of
reasoning and a deeper thought process.
C. Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. We seek to bring these
words to life.
D. All of the above
3. What are the strategies you may use to read a text through the linguistic context?
A. Analyze the diction or choice of words in the text.
B. Observe the use of figurative language.
C. Reading the text on its own, regardless of the author’s biography and
sociocultural context.
D. A and B
E. A, B, and C
4. What are the reasons to read literature through the linguistic context?
A. Reading the text on its own, regardless of the author’s biography and
sociocultural context, may help you understand the literary text through
analyzing the words, sentences, patterns, imagery, etc. of the text.
B. Analyzing the literary text’s grammar, syntax, or phonemic pattern may help you
find the meaning of the text within its form and help you interpret it by simply
analyzing the content of the literary work.
C. The characteristics of the language in which the text was written may help in
analyzing the text.
D. A and B
E. All of the above
5. What are the characteristics of effective language use?
A. familiar, obscure
B. concrete and specific, not vague and abstract
C. concise, not verbose
D. constructive, not destructive