21st Century Literature from

the Philippines and the World

Quarter 2 – Module 1:
Writing a Close Analysis and Critical
Interpretation of Literary Texts
Learning Area – 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 2 – Module 1: Writing a Close Analysis and Critical interpretation of Literary Texts
First Edition, 2020

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 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written for the learners. After going
through this module, the learner is expected to:
1. Identify representative texts and authors from Asia, North America,
Europe, Latin America, and Africa.
2. Write a close analysis and critical interpretation of literary texts,
applying a reading approach, and doing an adaptation of these.
(EN12Lit-IIa-22)

What I Know

Directions: Recall what you have learned about the literature of the world.
Read each statement carefully. Choose only the letter that corresponds to your
answer. Write your answers on a sheet of paper.

1. In what country was the Shih Ching or “The Book of the Songs”
originated?
a. China c. Korea
b. Japan d. Singapore

2. The sacred book of the Moslems and is widely regarded as the finest
work in classical Arabic literature
a. Psalms c. Scrolls
b. Quran d. Torah

3. Mahabharata and Ramayana are the two greatest epics of what

country?
a. India c. Iraq
b. Iran d. Israel

4. A three-liner verse that was popularized in Japan

a. cinquain c. limerick
b. haiku d. tanaga

5. An English poet who is best known for The Canterbury Tales

a. Bede the Venerable c. Geoffrey Chaucer
b. Caedmon d. John Milton

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 Lesson Representative Texts and Authors

1 from Asia, North America, Europe,

Latin America, and Africa

What is World Literature?

World literature is the totality of all national literatures. The formation of

literature in different countries happened not at the same time. Each nation`s
literature has its own artistic and national features, but still, the literature of
one country develops together with other national literatures. They enrich each
other by borrowing certain literary elements. As a concept, world literature
emerged only in the 19th century when the literary connections of different
countries had spread and strengthened. The term “world literature” was
introduced by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He used the word “Weltliteratur” in
1827. Goethe studied the characteristic features and interrelationships of
different national literatures, the tendencies of their development and their
achievements. He studied the works of famous writers which presented different
literary phenomena of different historic periods.

World literature is the cultural heritage of all humanity. It is essential to

study world literature as it helps us understand the life of different people from
all over the world, forms our world-outlook and acquaints us with the
masterpieces of literature.

What’s In

Directions: In three (3) sentences, explain what the statement “World

literature is the cultural heritage of all the humanity’ means to you. Write down
your responses on a sheet of paper.

1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________

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 What’s More

Directions: It’s time for a ‘Brainergizer’! Before you get to know some
famous authors from the different parts of the world, let’s first test your
knowledge through this True or False trivia game. Write T if the statement is
true and F if it is false. You can write your answers in your paper.

1. The language of the Rom, or Gypsy people comes from India.

2. English is related to German.
3. The poet W. B. Yeats was from England.
4. Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o always writes in English.
5. The Sound and the Fury is a sonnet by William Shakespeare.
6. No South African has won a Nobel Prize in literature.
7. The words chortle and galumph were both invented by Lewis Carroll.
8. The Brothers Grimm, authors of fairy tales such as “Hansel and Gretel,” were
from Germany.
9. Jeppe Aakjær was a noted Danish explorer.
10. Agatha Christie wrote only novels.

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What is It

SOME NOTABLE WRITERS IN THE WORLD

ASIA

Tan Twan Eng

Tan Twan Eng was born in Penang and lived in various

places in Malaysia as a child. He studied law at the
University of London and later worked as lawyer in one of
Kuala Lumpur’s most reputable law firms; in 2016, he was
an International Writer-in-Residence at Nanyang
Technological University in Singapore. Tan's first novel, The
Gift of Rain (2007), has been translated into Italian,
Spanish, Greek, Romanian, Czech and Serbian. The
Garden of Evening Mists (2011), his second novel, won the
Man Asian Literary Prize and Walter Scott Prize.

Musharraf Ali Farooqi

Musharraf Ali Farooqi is a critically acclaimed Pakistani

author, novelist and translator.
His novel "Between Clay and Dust" was shortlisted for The
Man Asian Literary Prize 2012 and longlisted for the 2013
DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Farooqi's second
novel "The Story of a Widow" was shortlisted for the DSC
Prize for South Asian Literature 2011, and longlisted for the
2010 IMPAC-Dublin Literary Award.
His most recent children's fiction is the novel "Tik-Tik, The
Master of Time" Pakistan's first English language novel for
children. His other works for children includes the picture
book "The Cobbler's Holiday or Why Ants Don't Wear
Shoes" and the collection "The Amazing Moustaches of
Mocchhander the Iron Man and Other Stories."

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Jeet Thayil

Jeet Thayil (born 1959 in Kerala) is an Indian poet, novelist,

librettist and musician. He is best known as a poet and is the
author of four collections: These Errors Are Correct
(Tranquebar, 2008), English (2004, Penguin India,
Rattapallax Press, New York, 2004), Apocalypso (Ark, 1997)
and Gemini (Viking Penguin, 1992). His first novel,
Narcopolis, (Faber & Faber, 2012), was shortlisted for the
2012 Man Booker Prize and the Hindu Literary Prize 2013

Kim Thúy

Kim Thúy arrived in Canada in 1979, at the age of ten. She

has worked as a seamstress, interpreter, lawyer and
restaurant owner. She currently lives in Montreal where she
devotes herself to writing.
Her debut novel Ru won the Governor General's Award for
French language fiction at the 2010 Governor General's
Awards. An English edition, translated by Sheila
Fischman, was published in 2012 and was a shortlisted
nominee for the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Nayomi Munaweera

Nayomi Munaweera’s debut novel, “Island of a Thousand

Mirror” won the Commonwealth Regional Prize for Asia
and was short-listed for the Northern California Book
Award. The New York Times Book review called the
novel, incandescent.
Nayomi’s second novel, “What Lies Between Us” was
released in February 2016 and had received accolades as
one of 2016s most anticipated books.

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 NORTH AMERICA

Jonathan Safran Foer

Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of two bestselling,

award-winning novels, “Everything Is Illuminated and
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”, and a bestselling
work of nonfiction, “Eating Animals”. He lives in Brooklyn,
New York.

Sara Gruen

Sara Gruen is the #1 New York Times and USA Today

bestselling author of five novels: “At The Water’s Edge”,
“Ape House”, “Water for Elephants”, “Riding Lessons”, and
“Flying Changes”. Her works have been translated into
forty-three languages, and have sold more than ten million
copies worldwide. ‘Water for Elephants’ was adapted into a
major motion picture starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert
Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz in 2011.

Margaret Wood

Canadian author Margaret Atwood has numerous critically

acclaimed novels to her credit. Some of her best-selling
titles are "Oryx and Crake" (2003), "The Handmaid's Tale"
(1986), and "The Blind Assassin" (2000). She is best known
for her feminist and dystopian political themes, and her
prolific output of work spans multiple genres, including
poetry, short stories, and essays.

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Valeria Luiselli

Award winning, translated into numerous languages,

Luiselli’s playful, mesmeric novels, have pushed the
boundaries of distortion between the real and the
imagined. Works such as “Faces In The Crowd” (2012) and
“The Story Of My Teeth” (2015) have seen her cast as one
of the bright lights of contemporary Mexican fiction, and
her collection of
non-fiction essays, “Sidewalks” (2013), demonstrates the
versatility and deft touch of an interesting new literary
talent.

Carmen Boullosa

Poet, playwright, and novelist, Carmen Boullosa’s

thoughtful and eclectic works such as “Leaving Tabasco”
(2001), and “Texas: The Great Theft” (2014), have cemented
the reputation of a writer considered to be reaching the
height of her powers. Weaving through a wide range of
topics, and eras, Boullosa’s imaginative power and craft
have allowed her to jump from one project to another,
without being typecast or pigeon holed.

EUROPE

Ian McEwan

British writer Ian McEwan started winning literary awards

with his first book, a collection of short stories, "First Love,
Last Rites" (1976) and never stopped. "Atonement" (2001), a
family drama focused on repentance, won several awards
and was made into a movie directed by Joe Wright (2007).
"Saturday" (2005) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
His work often focuses on closely observed personal lives in
a politically fraught world.

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David Mitchell

English novelist, is known for his frequent use of intricate

and complex experimental structure in his work. In his first
novel, "Ghostwritten" (1999), he uses nine narrators to tell
the story, and 2004's "Cloud Atlas" is a novel comprising
six interconnected stories. Mitchell won the John Llewellyn
Rhys Prize for "Ghostwritten," was shortlisted for the Booker
Prize for "number9dream" (2001), and was on the Booker
longlist for "The Bone Clocks" (2014).

Zadie Smith

Literary critic James Wood coined the term "hysterical

realism" in 2000 to describe Zadie Smith's hugely
successful debut novel, "White Teeth," which Smith
agreed was a "painfully accurate term for the sort of
overblown, manic prose to be found in novels like my own
'White Teeth.'" The British novelist and essayist's third
novel, "On Beauty," was shortlisted for the Booker Prize
and won the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction. Her 2012
novel "NW" was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize and the
Women's Prize for
Fiction. Her works often deal with race and the
immigrant's postcolonial experience.

Delphine de Vigan

Delphine de Vigan is an award-winning French novelist. She

has published several novels for adults. Her breakthrough
work was the book “No et moi” (No and Me) that was
awarded the Prix des Libraires (The Booksellers' Prize) in
France in 2008.
In 2011, she published a novel “Rien ne s'oppose a la nuit”
(Nothing holds back the night) that deals with a family
coping with their mother's bipolar disorder.

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Michel Houellebecq

Michel Houellebecq (born Michel Thomas), on the French

island of Réunion, is a controversial and award-winning
French novelist. To admirers he is a writer in the tradition
of literary provocation; to detractors he is a peddler, who
writes vulgar sleazy literature to shock. His works though,
particularly Atomised, have received high praise from the
French literary intelligentsia, with generally positive
international critical response. Having written poetry and a
biography of the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, he brought out
his first novel “Extension du domaine de la lute” in 1994.
“Les particules élémentaires” followed in 1998 and
“Plateforme”, in 2001.

LATIN AMERICA
Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende Llona is a Chilean-American novelist.

Allende, who writes in the "magic realism" tradition, is
considered one of the first successful women novelists in
Latin America. She has written novels based in part on her
own experiences, often focusing on the experiences of
women, weaving myth and realism together. Her best-
known works include the novels “The House of the Spirits
and City of the Beasts”.

Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel García Márquez (1927 to 2014) was a Colombian

writer, associated with the Magical Realism genre of
narrative fiction and credited with reinvigorating Latin
American writing. He won the Nobel prize for literature in
1982, for a body of work that included novels such as "100
Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera."

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Mario Vargas Llosa

Mario Vargas Llosa is Peru's foremost author and the

winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1994 he was
awarded the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's
most distinguished literary honor, and in 1995 he won the
Jerusalem Prize. His many distinguished works include
“The Storyteller”, “The Feast of the Goat”, “Aunt Julia and
the Scriptwriter”, “He lives in London.
He is National Book Critics Circle Awards winner.

Patricio Pron

Patricio Pron, born in 1975, is the author of seven novels

and six story collections, and he also works as a translator
and critic. His fiction has appeared in Granta, Zoetrope: All-
Story, and The Paris Review, and he has received numerous
prizes, including the Alfaguara Prize, the Juan Rulfo Prize,
the Premio Literario Jaén de Novela award, and the 2008
José Manuel Lara Foundation Award for one of the five best
works published in Spain that year.

Rodrigo Hasbún

Rodrigo Hasbún is a Bolivian novelist living and working in

Houston, Texas. In 2007, he was selected by the Hay
Festival as one of the best Latin American writers under the
age of thirty-nine for Bogotá39, and in 2010 he was named
one of Grantas Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists. He
is the author of three novels, a volume of personal essays,
and three collections of short stories, two of which have been
made into films.

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 AFRICA

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie grew up in Nigeria.

Her work has been translated into over thirty languages and
has appeared in various publications, including The New O.
Henry Prize Stories, the Financial Times, and Zoetrope. She
is the author of the novels “Purple Hibiscus”, which won the
Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Hurston/Wright
Legacy Award; “Half of a Yellow Sun”, which won the Orange
Prize and was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
and a New York Times Notable Book; and “Americanah”,
which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was
named one of The New York Times Top Ten Best Books of
2013.

Aminatta Forna

Born in Glasgow but raised in Sierra Leone, Aminatta Forna

first drew attention for her memoir “The Devil That Danced
on Water” (2003), an extraordinarily brave account of her
family’s experiences living in war-torn Sierra Leone, and in
particular her father’s tragic fate as a political dissident.
Forna has gone on to write several novels, each of them
critically acclaimed: her work “The Memory of Love” (2010)
juxtaposes personal stories of love and loss within the wider
context of the devastation of the Sierre Leone civil war,and
was nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction.

Nadine Gordimer

One of the apartheid era’s most prolific writers, Nadine

Gordimer’s works powerfully explore social, moral, and
racial issues in a South Africa under apartheid rule.
Despite winning a Nobel Prize in Literature for her
prodigious skills in portraying a society interwoven with
racial tensions,
Gordimer’s most famous and controversial works were
banned from South Africa for daring to speak out against
the oppressive governmental structures of the time

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 Alain Mabanckou

Alain Mabanckou was born in 1966 in Congo-Brazzaville

(French Congo). He currently resides in Los Angeles, where
he teaches literature at UCLA, having previously spent four
years at the University of Michigan. Mabanckou will be a
Fellow in the Humanities Council at Princeton University in
2007-2008. One of Francophone Africa's most prolific
contemporary writers, he is the author of six volumes of
poetry and six novels. He received the Sub-Saharan Africa
Literary Prize in 1999 for his first novel, “Blue-White-Red”,.
His most recent book is “African Psycho”

Ben Okri

Poet and novelist Ben Okri was born in 1959 in Minna,

Northern Nigeria, to an Igbo mother and Urhobo father. He
grew up in London before returning to Nigeria with his
family in 1968. Much of his early fiction explores the
political violence that he witnessed at first hand during the
civil war in Nigeria.
In 1991 Okri was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction for
his novel “The Famished Road” (1991). Set in a Nigerian
village, this is the first in a trilogy of novels which tell the
story of Azaro, a spirit child. Azaro's narrative is continued
in “Songs of Enchantment” (1993) and “Infinite Riches”
(1998).

(Source: https://www.google.com/)

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 What’s More

Directions: The novel Water for Elephants written by Canadian-American

author Sara Gruen. The book was published in 2006 and had a film adaptation
released in theaters in 2011. Think of a novel written by a Filipino writer which
was also adapted for the movies. Compare and contrast the novel and movie
version using the grid below.

Similarities Differences
Elements Film Film
Prose Prose
Adaptation Adaptation

A. Characterization

B. Setting

C. Plot

D. Angle of
Narration
(Point of View)

What I Have Learned

Directions: Go back to the ‘Brainergizer’ activity in What’s More and take

note of the answers you have provided for each statement. Write a short
explanation in 2-3 sentences to justify your answers based on what you have
learned in our lesson.
1. ______________________________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________________________________________
5. ______________________________________________________________________________
6. ______________________________________________________________________________
7. ______________________________________________________________________________
8. ______________________________________________________________________________
9. ______________________________________________________________________________
10. ____________________________________________________________________________

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 What I Can Do

Directions: Read the short biography of a Filipino contemporary

writer Lakambini Sitoy. From among the writers from other countries
mentioned above, to whom can you compare her? What are the differences
and similarities between the two writers can you cite? Use a separate sheet
for your answer.

Lakambini Sitoy

Described as a “brilliant new talent” by the New York Review of Books,

Lakambini Sitoy’s first novel, Sweet Haven, had been longlisted for the Man
Asian Literary Prize in 2008 and subsequently translated into French in 2011.

Sitoy also had two collections of short stories published: the first, Mens Rea
and Other Stories (1999) received the National Book Award in 1999 while her
second, Jungle Planet (2006), had been shortlisted. She’s also had the
impressive feat of receiving prizes from the Palanca Awards as well as the
Philippines Free Press Award.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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 Assessment

Directions: Match the descriptions in Column A with the

corresponding author in Column B. Write the letter with the correct answers
in your paper.

Column A Column B
1. One of the apartheid era’s most prolific a. Chimamando Ngozi
writers whose works include “Burger’s Adichie
Daughter”
2. One of the best young Spanish-language b. Isabel Allende
novelists by Granta in 2010 whose latest
novel is “My Father’s Ghost is Climbing in the
Rain”
3. An award winning author whose novels have c. Musharrraf Ali Farooqi
pushed the boundaries of distortion between
the real and the imagined. His works include
“Faces in the Crowd” (2012) and the “Story of
My Teeth” (2015).
4. A critically acclaimed Pakistani author whose d. Aminata Forna
novel “Between Clay and Dust” was
shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize
2012 and longlisted for the 2013 DSC Prize
for South Asian Literature
5. The author of the memoir “The Devil that e. Nadine Gordimer
Danced on Water” (2003), an extraordinarily
brave account of family’s experiences living in
war-torn Sierra Leone.
6. The author of the novel “Purple Hibiscus”, f. Mario Vargas Llosa
which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize
and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award
7. Best known for feminist and dystopian g. Valerie Luiselli
political themes, whose best-selling work s
include “Oryx and Crake” (2003) and “The
Blind Assassin” (2000)
8. Won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982 and h. Alain Mabanckou
whose works included novels such as “100
Years of Solitude” and “Love in the Time of
Cholera”
9. Best known for works such as the novels “The i. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
House of the Spirits” and “City of Beasts”
10. Peru’s foremost author and the winner of the j. Patricio Pron
2010 Nobel Prize in Literature whose many
distinguished works included “The
Storyteller” and “The Feast of the Goat”
k. Margaret Wood

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 Additional Activities

Directions: You are a freelance blogger in an online literary magazine.

You need to write a feature article on world literature with emphasis on
representative texts and authors from Asia, North America, Europe, Latin
America, and Africa Make sure that your feature provides the following
information:
1. What is World Literature?
2. Background or short overview of your chosen representative authors,
their literary works.
3. End the article by highlighting what are the author’s contribution to
contemporary literature where you can include his/her causes or
advocacies based on the common themes found in his/her work.

RUBRIC FOR WRITING COMPOSITION

Performance
Very Good 10-8
Areas
Article has specific central
idea that is clearly stated
Content in the opening paragraph,
appropriate, concrete
details.
Article is logically
organized and well-
Organization structured
Cited research information,
introduced personal ideas
Research to enhance
article cohesiveness
Writing is smooth,
Style coherent and consistent
Needs
Good
Improvement
7-5
4-1
Central idea is Unable to find specific
vague; non- supporting details
supportive to the
topic; lacks focus
Writing somewhat Central point and flow of
digresses from the article is lost; lacks
central idea organization and
continuity
Some research of the Did little or no gathering
topic was done but was of information on the
inconclusive to support topic, did not cite
topic; cited information
information was
vague
Sentences are varied and Lacks creativity and focus.
inconsistent with central Unrelated word choice to
idea central idea

Written work has no Written work is Written article has several

errors in word selection
and use sentence
Mechanics structure, spelling,
punctuation, and
capitalization
relatively free of errors errors in word selection
in word selection and and use.
use, sentence structure,
spelling, punctuation
and capitalization (some
have errors)

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 17
What I can Do What I Have Learned
Answers may vary. Answers may vary. Assessment
1. E
2. K
3. G
4. C
5. D
6. A
7. L
8. J
9. B
10. F
Additional Activities
Answers may vary.
What’s In What’s More
What I Know Answers may vary. Answers may vary.
A. What’s New
1. Asia 1. True
2. South America 2. True
3. North America 3. False
4. Europe 4. False
5. Asia 5. False
6. Africa 6. False
7. Asia 7. True
8. Asia 8. True
9. South America 9. False
10. Zimbabwe 10. False
B.
1. A
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. C
Answer Key
References
A. Books

Aguila, Agusto Antonio, Galan, Ralph Semino and Wigley John Jack. 2017.
Wording the World: The Art of Creative Writing. 839 EDSA, South Triangle,
Quezon City: C&E Publishing, Inc.

Baronda, Andrew John C. 2016. 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and
the World. Manila, Philippines. JFS Publishing Services.

Basilan, L.C. 2016. 21st Century Literature in the Philippines and the World.
Intramuros, Manila: Unlimited Books Library Services & Publishing Inc.

Cabanilla, Josefina Q. 1981. English for Secondary Schools. 927 Quezon Avenue,
Quezon City. Phoenix Publishing House, Inc.

Serrano, Josephine, and Ames,Trinidad. 1988. A Survey of Filipino Literature in

English. University of Michigan: Phoenix Publishing House

Tismo, Boots S. 1995. Spectrum and Introduction to Literature. English

Department – Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan. Book Ceter Xavier
University.

Uychoco, M.A. 2016. 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World.
Manila, Philippines: Rex Book Store.

B. Websites:

21st Century Literary Genres, Traditions and Forms from Different Cultures. Quizlet,
quizlet.com/199172691/21st-century-literary-genres-traditions-and-forms-
from-different-cultures-flash-cards/. Accessed 7 November 2020.

21st Century Literature Genre. Slideshare,

https://www.slideshare.net/lhengacusan/21st-century-literary-genre.
Accessed 7 November 2020.

https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/A_Survey_of_Filipino_Literature_in_En
gli.html?id=SSYkAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y. Accessed 6 November, 2020

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