PACIFIC SOUTHBAY COLLEGE, INC

Purok Carmenville, Calumpang, General Santos City

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE CRIMINOLOGY
Module 1
2nd Term, 2nd Semester, SY 2020-2021

Descriptive Title : SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

Course Credit : 3 units
Class Schedule : Monday-Friday (Online and Modular)
Room : Google Classrrom
Instructor : RICHARD M. FLORENTINO, RL
Contact Details : richard.florentino11@gmail.com / 0931 151 1547

LESSON: INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE

OBJECTIVES:

1. Understand the nature and meaning of literature;

2. Identify the different elements and form of literature;
3. Understand the use of literary devices and figures of speech.

I. NATURE AND MEANING OF LITERATURE

1. Literature is our connection with our own human experience of life. It is the
creative representation and reproduction of what we have lived in and for
2. It describes, records and shares our experiences, hopes and desires to other
people. It is us speaking when we are out of words.
3. An essay could be you analyzing the different issues in the society; the novel
could be your subconscious retelling the memories you have suppressed; the
poem could be your emotions flowing out of your body.
4. The literature comes from the Latin word “litteratura” which means “writing
forms with letters.” However, literature is not only enclosed in that meaning.
5. Literature is everything and anything that reproduces life experiences. It
collects, organizes and sum up entirety of humanity, occasionally adding
more color to it.

II. ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE

1. FORM talks about the genera structure of the literary piece. Form is the first
aspect of literature that attempts to connect with the reader. From the title of
literary work, to the way the words or sentences creates a visual impact, every
part of it is literature. Therefore, it is through form that the literature first
communicates its message.
2. Any literature should have a unifying THEME that holds all of its other
elements in place. It is the subject of which literature revolves around.
Literature is purposive. It draws in crowds of readers who have the same
reasons and goals. It unites people who share common life experiences.
Literature is created to share stories, ignite a passion, and thrust readers
forward to feel more of life.
3. Effective stories, be it a fantasy story or a persuasive essay, are always being
led by effective CHARACTERIZATIONS. Characters in literature could be
products of the writer’s imagination or they could be the very compelling
SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINE LITERATURE 1
 point-of-view that the writer thinks in. Great characterization is achieved
when one drops his/her stereotypical views of the world, and grabs the more
relatable and vulnerable personas that stands out.
4. STYLE, refers to the specific techniques and designs that a literary writer
employs to prolong his/her grip of the reader’s interest. The play on words
and the skill in storytelling of the writer comprise his/her style. It is through
the individual efforts of writers to improve and develop their style that
literature continues to live, even in this reality of the modern age.

III. TYPES OF LITERATURE

1. Literature is mainly of 2 types. FICTION LITERATURE talks about

imaginary characters, settings and stories. NONFICTION LITERATURE,
on the other hand, talks about the reality of things, places and people,
building up on facts.
2. CREATIVE NONFICTION LITERATURE tries to combine these two
main types into one ingenious literary masterpiece. This type follows the
structure of nonfiction literature, while employing the use of fiction
literature’s style and characteristics. Also regarded as the modern essay, it is
built upon facts, but is crafted creatively. It has become popular in the form of
memoirs and literary journalism articles.
3. Among the common forms of literature across types are the following:
a. Drama is a created literature to be performed and witnessed by an
audience. This literature is intended for theater and is performed by
actors donning costumes and props against a constructed backdrop
for setting. A drama is divided into “acts” and “scenes”, forming a text
filled with dialogues and stage directions for the actors’ movements.
b. Novel is an extended story, usually fictional. Novels could present
various themes organized in “chapters”, and, sometimes, “volumes.”
c. Short story is a story narrated in brevity, in comparison with a
novel. Short stories, oftentimes, are more creatively crafted than
novels, but lack specific and minute details.
d. Poetry is a form of literature that uses more expressive words, like
figures of speech, and creative structures in conveying its message.
Most poems are intended to be read aloud, however, unlike the
drama, poems are usually intended to a specific person, or is meant to
be heard and generalized. Poetry is the expression of the writer’s
emotions.
e. Essay is a literary intended to be read, if not, addressed to a specific
audience. Essays are most built upon facts and general knowledge. It
is one literary form that focuses on analyzing and critiquing issues.
Essays are deemed as the most relatable and tangible among the other
literary forms.
f. Epic is on literary form that is slowly becoming extinct, if not, rare. In
structure, an epic combine both styles of a drama and a narrative
story. It also has an element of song in it, as most epics were sung in
the old times. More than a factual story, epics showcase personal
interpretations of their writers, therefore adding hints of fantasy and
mythology in the literature.

IV. CONTEMPORARY FORMS OF LITERATURE

1. HYPERPOETRY or sometimes called “Cyberpoetry, presents poems that

include verses or lines linked through hyperlink mark-ups. This type of poetry

SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINE LITERATURE 2

 is very visual, as it oftentimes uses graphics to further convey the meaning.
The links in this type of poem suggest that the reading of the poem is highly
dependent on the readers, as they are the one clicking the links in the mark-
up.
2. BLOG, from the words “web blog”, is a site created to contain and manage
user-made articles or posts that are updated regularly. This is a good medium
for writers to share their opinions and experiences to a bigger audience, and,
at the same, is a good channel to read other ideas as well.
3. TEXT TULA, is a poem produced and shared through the use of mobile
phone’s messaging application. Usually, these poems are either in the form of
a “tanaga” a Filipino poem consisting of four lines with seven syllables each
with a rhyme scheme AABB. The developed Text Tula freely uses the other
dual rhyme schemes of freestyle rhyme scheme forms.
4. CHICK LIT, is a genre of fiction that was made popular in the late 1990s. It
generally talks about women and their different struggles, specially staged in
modern times. Themes in this writing genre are treated humorously and
lightly.
5. SPECULATIVE FICTION, is a fiction genre that dwells on issues of
alternative imagined scenarios. It uses the appeal of conspiracy themes
fantasy science fiction and dystopian societies to create imaginative stories.
6. FLASH FICTION, is a fiction genre that presents one-sitting-long-of-
reading texts. The longest text in the genre of flash fiction is only said to be
1000 words.

V. LITERARY DEVICES

1. Literary devices are common structures applied in any literary work that
writers use to convey their message to the readers. It allows the readers to
interpret, understand, and analyze the examined work when the devices are
effectively utilized.
2. In poetry there is a recurrence of accented and unaccented syllables
on a regular or nearly regularly pattern. This gives a sense of beat and
pattern to poetry.
3. Rhythm – the recurrence of accented and unaccented syllables in pattern
(words or in the line/s in the poem).
a. Rhythm can be classified into five types:

FOOT TYPE PATTERN EXAMPLE

Lamb Unstressed/ stressed Compare
Trochee Stressed/ unstressed Numbers
Spondee Stressed/ stressed Sunshine
Dactyl Stressed/ unstressed/ unstressed
Marvelous

Anapest Unstressed/ unstressed/ stressed Metaphor

4. Alliteration – the repetition of a consonant sound

5. Assonance – the repetition of lines of verse of the same vowel sound
6. Rhyme – the occurrence of the same sounds in words at the end of lines.

SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINE LITERATURE 3

 VI. FIGURES OF SPEECH

1. Figures of speech is the use of more expressive language applying varities of

words to provide creative and dramatic approach to the meaning being
presented.
2. Simile – comparison that uses the expressions “like” and “as… as”
3. Metaphor – directly compares two unlike objects.
4. Personification – giving human qualities to inanimate or non-living
objects.
5. Onomatopoeia – the use of sound words.
6. Synecdoche – the use of a part of an object to represent the whole.
7. Metonymy – the use of a term connected with an object to represent it.
8. Antonomasia – the use of a famous person’s name to represent someone.
9. Allusion – the use of indirect reference to people, place, thing, or idea
regarding cultural, mystical or political concept.
10. Apostrophe – call to a person, a thing, or a personified idea which is not
really present.
11. Hyperbole – express exaggeration.

OTHER INFORMATION

 Submit all assignments or project to:

richard.florentino11@gmail.com

 You may contact your professor to his FB Account:

richard.florentino11 / Richard Manalo Florentino

 Contact Nos: 0930 379 6026

Prepared by:

RICHARD M. FLORENTINO, RL
Instructor

SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINE LITERATURE 4