hilippine literature during the American rule was influenced by two factors, first of which

is, education. With the Americans providing free education, many were given the chance to
study and English was used as the language of instruction. Unlike the Spanish, the
foreigners were willing to teach their language to the Filipinos. Free education served as
the stepping stone for others to improve their social status.

Early literary works in English showed styles of which is American. It can also be seen that
writers who just started learning English cannot fully showcase their talent because of the
lack of mastery of the language.

The downfall of the Spanish colonialism freed the printing industry from religious
censorship. With the printing industry in the hands of patriotic investors, the printing
press was used to block the American culture from entering the Philippine lifestyle.
Newspapers in our different dialects flourished all over the archipelago. With some
newspapers having a space for literary pieces, writers were given the chance to show and
prove the true talent of the Filipinos. Some of these newspapers were Muling Pagsilang
(1903, Tagalog), Ang Kaluwasan (1902, Cebuano), Makinaugalingon (1913, Ilonggo), and
Nueva Era (1908, Ilokano). The best known magazines that capitalized on short stories and
poems were Liwayway (1922, Tagalog), Bisaya (1930, Cebuano), Hiligaynon (1934,
Ilonggo), and Bannawag (1934, Ilokano).

Writers during the American Period drew ideas from the Propaganda Movement and the
Revolutionary Movement to encourage the Filipinos to continue to fight against the U.S.
Colonialism. The demand for independence was supported by a campaign to make the
Americans aware of the Filipino culture. Some writers who use the Spanish language began
to shift to the American language for the fact that a larger population can now comprehend
the said language. It is a fact that Filipinos during the Spanish period were not given the
chance to learn the language, resulting in a very small population of people capable of
understanding the literary works.

The literary genres that flourished during the American Period were poetry, sarswela,
short story, and the novel. Poetry was written in the three languages - Filipino, Spanish,
English, and in the different dialects. Some of the known poets during the American period
were Maximo Kalaw, Carlos P. Romulo, Maria Agoncillo, Paz Marquez Benitez, Salvador
P. Lopez, Jose Garcia Villa, Carlos Bulosan, and many others. There were three collection
of poems printed namely Filipino Poetry edited by Rodolfo Dato, The English German
Anthology of Poets edited by Pablo Laslo, and a pre-war collection by Carlos Bulosan. The
balagtasan, named after Francisco F. Balagtas, is a debate in verse, a poetical joust done
almost spontaneously between protagonists who debate over the pros and the cons of a
certain issue. The first ever balagtasan was held in March 1924 at the Insituto de Mujeres,
with Corazon de Jesus and Florentino Collantes as rivals. Jose Corazon de Jesus, known
also as Huseng Batute, became the first ever king of the Balagtasan.

Short stories in English of early Filipino fictionists are marked with American style. This
all changed with the founding of the U. P. Writers Club in 1926 whose aim was to enhance
and propagate the "language of Shakespeare." With the publication of Paz Marquez
Benitez' "Dead Stars," it was made the landmark of the maturity of the Filipino writer in
English. Many writers followed Benitez like Icasiano Calalang, Arturo Rotor, A. E.
Litiatco, Paz Latorena, and Manuel Arguilla started publishing stories manifesting skills in
the use of the foreign language and a keen Filipino sensibility.

The combination of the foreign language and the culture of a Filipino enabled fictionists to
produce great literary works. The public can now relate to the story because the public also
experiences what the story has to say and they can now understand the language being
used by the writer. Works like "His Native Soil" by Juan C. Laya, "How My Brother Leon
Brought Home a Wife" by Manuel Arguilla, and many others depicted the Filipino life in
English. The other novelists of this period are Jose Garcia Villa, Francisco Arellana,
Fernando Maria Guerrero, Amador Daguio, and Sinai Hamada.