Course Title: Hum 1

Course Description: 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and

the World

2nd Quarter Modular Learning Guide # 1

Expected Time Completion: 5 hours

Topic : Genres of Literature

A. LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Explain the texts in terms of literary elements, genres, and traditions

2. Identify the figures of speech and other literary techniques and devices
in the text
3. Compose example of poetry

B. LEARNING CONTENTS

Introductory video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVsRc5VDKKw

A. According to Form
1. Prose – is a form of language that exhibits a natural flow of speech
and grammatical structure, rather than a rhythmic structure as in
traditional poetry. Prose comes from the Latin “prosa” which means
“straightforward”
Example of Prose: Narrative Prose
Mr. Bennet was among the earliest of those who waited on Mr.
Bingley. He had always intended to visit him, though to the last
always assuring his wife that he should not go; and till the
evening after the visit was paid she did not know of it. It was
then disclosed in the following manner. Observing his second
daughter employed in trimming a hat, he suddenly addressed
her with:
― I hope Mr. Bingley will like it, Lizzy‖.

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 Example of Prose: Speech Prose
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a
state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the
heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom
and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin
but by the content of their character.
2. Poetry- ( the term derives from a variant of the Greek term, poiesis,
“making”) is a form of literature that uses aesthetics and rhythmic
qualities of language – such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism,
and meter – to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of the
prosaic ostensible meaning.
Now I Know
Jose Paulo Tolentino
Seven months felt like seven years
and now I face my greatest fears
Why before I could never wait
But now I know the heavyweight.

In a strange world, a mad city,

It is tough to be an adult
You take responsibility
to bear frustration and insult

There are days I would like to die

Life is not pretty as it seems
Leave this and what do I redeem?
many I have learned is just a lie

They say I should create a goal

Love and life is what you make it
But somehow it just could not fit
All I have is a hollow soul
From here I don’t know where to go
Being an adult, now I know.

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 3. Drama – is a composition in verse or prose presenting a story in
pantomime or dialogue, containing conflict of characters,
particularly the ones who perform in front of the audience on the
stage.
The person who writes drama for stage directions is known as a
dramatist or playwright.

B. According to Content
1. Fiction – literature in the form of prose, especially short stories and
novels, that describes imaginary events and people.
2. Non-fiction – the branch of literature comprising works of narrative
prose dealing with or offering opinions or conjectures upon facts and
reality, including biography, history, and the essay ( opposed to
fiction and distinguished from poetry and drama).

C. According to Presentation
 Print ( literary journal, book…..)
 Oral (delivered)
 Digital
Overview:
Poetry has perhaps always laid in some men’s hearts. Perhaps, as
seen from some of the evidence we have discovered in our times,
even primitive man held close to him the origins of poetry. He had,
for example, the pristine sky above him filled at night with such
marvelous stars, such supernumerary lanterns and sparkling bits of
sky, all suspended by who knew what, right in the middle of the
overwhelming darkness and space of the night – yes, right in the
middle of that stunning vacuum and depth which seemed to go out
deeper and deeper and forever. These sensational ideas and
thoughts perhaps ran through the inexpert mind of the primordial
being hundreds of thousands of years ago, when a man was not
even man yet, and when a man was just on the evolutionary
machinery and path of becoming what he has been since about
ten or twenty thousand years ago.
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The Elements of Poetry
Poetry, as man’s inherited possession, is the expression of strong
feeling and thought which leads to a communion between the
individual and his surroundings, but most usually between a person
and nature, the world, or the universe. Poetry is the means of
universalizing and perpetuating a thought, an idea, a feeling,
sensation, or internal experience.
1. Form
Whenever we look at a poem, the first thing we will probably
notice is its form. In other words, poems have a given form. Once
the poem will look very different from another, and still another
poem will look very distinct from the second one, and so on. Each
poet uses the “form” which will most effectively express what he
wants to convey to other human beings.
Forms:
a. Haiku. This is a traditional form of poetry that originated in
Japan. In form, it is a very simplistic sort of poetry, but the
truth is that it is an art trying to create haiku poetry with the
beauty and effectiveness it requires. Haiku poetry consists of
only three lines in all. Incredible! But the “trick” here is trying
to create as much beauty in such few words as possible.
A poetic-art form that requires internal expression of sensed
feelings, impressions, images, colors, visions, and ultimately,
authentic and legitimate internal, spiritual and spontaneous
experiences which have blended and communed with the
elements of nature, and the universal components of the
cosmos.
Examples:
Dampness and clear dew
Pine smell, grass smell fill the air,
Sun star bright above.
No mo yama mo Mountains and plains,
yuki ni torareta all are taken by the snow,
nani mo nashi nothing remains.
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b. Limerick. A limerick is a type of poem intended to be
humorous. It consists of five lines only. It is usually a nonsense
verse that often concerns something ridiculous. But even so,
it follows a regular and distinctive pattern. Of the five lines,
the first, second, and fifth lines have the same length. Each
one of these contains nine syllables,…And they rhyme. There
once was a pretty young girl who had pretty teeth like a
pearl, but her fortune did change when her mom dis-ar-
ranged, the nice girl, and her teeth and a curl. This limerick
form probably originated in the old town of limerick in
Ireland, and thus borrowed the same from it. But limericks are
just for fun and laughter.
Example:
A puppy whose hair was so flowing,
There was no means of knowing
Which end was his head,
Once stopped me and said,
―Please, sir, am I coming or going?‖
c. Ballad. One of the oldest types of poetry is a special kind of
narrative poem known as the ballad. The ballad tells a story
and happens to be quite lengthy. As a rule, a ballad is
concerned with a sharp conflict and with deep human
emotion. Once in a great while, though, a ballad here and
there will deal with the funnier side of life. But, as a rule,
ballads dealt with love, honor, courage, and death.
Characteristics of a ballad include the following:
1. They usually involve the common people
2. They usually deal with physical courage and tragic love.
3. They contain little characterization or description
4. The action in ballads usually moves forward through
dialogue.
5. Much of the story is implied or suggested, forcing the
listener to fill in the details.
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 6. They tell the story in ballad stanzas.
Example:
Ballad Rhythm: Lines 1/3=4BEATS; Lines 2/4= BEATS.
Come LISten to ME,
you GaLIants so FREE,
All YOU that love MIRTH for to HEAR,
And I will you TELL of a BOLD out LAW,
That LIVED in NOTtinghamSHIRE.

As ROBin Hood IN the FORest STOOD,

All Under the GREEN wood TREE,
There WAS he WARE of a BRAVE young MAN,
As FINE as FINE can BE.

[Note: The capitalized syllables are stressed.]

[These stressed syllables create the BEATS.]

d. Free Verse/Prose
The poet uses a free form to make the poem fit the contents
and to express the mood or feeling of his intentions or
purpose. The length of the lines is irregular, the indentation of
the lines may also vary from one to the next, it does use
rhythm, but it seldom uses end rhyme or regular stanzas.
The word “prose” comes from the Latin expression prosa
oratio, which means straightforward or direct speech. Due to
the definition of prose referring to straightforward
communication, “prosaic” has come to mean dull and
common place discourse. When used as a literary term,
however, prose does not carry this connotation.
Example:
Casual dialogue: “Hi, how are you?” “I’m fine, how are
you?” “Fine, thanks”.
Oration: I have a dream that my four little children will one
day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of their character. –
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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 Dictionary definition: Prose (n)- the ordinary form
of spoken or written language, without metrical
structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse.
Philosophical texts: Whoever fights monsters should
See to it that in the process he does not become a
Monster. And if you gaze long enough into an
abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. –
Fiedrich Nietzsche
Journalism: State and local officials were heavily
Criticized for their response to January 2014
storm that created a traffic nightmare and left
some motorists stranded for 18 hours or more.
Significance of Prose in Literature
Much of the world’s literature is written in a
Prose style. However, this was not always the case.
Ancient Greek dramas, religious texts, and old
Epic poetry was all usually written in verse. Verse is
Much more highly stylized than prose. In literature,
prose became popular as a way to express more
realistic dialogues and present narration in a more
straightforward style. With very few exceptions, all
novels and short stories are written in prose.
Example:
I shall never be fool enough to turn knight- errant.
For I see quite well that it’s not the fashion now to do as they did in
the olden days when they say those famous knights roamed the
world.
( Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes)
2. Lines
After looking at a poem and seeing that it has some sort of form,
we often notice that also consists of lines. These are vehicles of the
author's thoughts and ideas. These are the building blocks with
which to create a poem. The words of each line proceed as usual
from left to right, but they curiously end where the poet wants
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 them to stop. Therefore, you may have some lines that are of
equal length and others that are not
3. Stanzas
The lines in a poem are most often divided into sections looking
like some sort of paragraphing. A stanza is a grouping of the lines,
sort of like a paragraph.
4. Rhyme
Rhyme is the sonic imitation usually of end syllables of words. There
are basically two kinds of rhyme used in poetry. The first is the most
typical and best known by young people, end rhyme, in which
the words at the end of a given line rhyme. The second kind of
rhyme is called internal rhyme. This kind of rhyming is different from
the end rhyme in that the rhyming takes place somewhere within
the line and not at the end. But most of us find it more natural to
use rhyming at the end and not in the middle of our poem’s lines.
Still, the most widely read and enjoyed poetry artfully combines
these and other patterns and techniques for the creation of the
poems.
― It won’t be LONG before my SONG ends the day,
And the FLOWERS near the TOWERS reach the sky.
5. Pattern
Rhyme contributes to creating a pattern when read
appropriately. It creates a special effect which results in being
pleasant and motivating. Humans in general are susceptible to
patterns. The human mind itself has an inherent ( internal)
patterning force and capacity which allows the individual to
perceive and create the patterns inherent in poems. And it is a
rhyme which is one of the contributors to the pattern created in
reading or writing a poem.
SQUEEZE…TEASE;
RUN…..FUN;
DEMONSTRATE….WHAT SHE ATE.

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6. Rhythm
This brings us to the topic of rhythm, perhaps the pivot point of all
the elements because it is the rhythm that creates a pleasant
gliding effect when we read a poem. It helps us as readers to
travel along the lines of the poem with a certainly enjoyable
tempo created by the components of rhythm.
Never in my lonely life,
Could you make it—be my wife.

If only then she had seen,

That crime and anger were to have been.
7. Euphony
Euphony is simply the combination of agreeable and melodious
sounds that make a poem pleasant to listen to. It is the nice-
sounding tone of a poem when read. This is the reason why a
poem is never as effective as when read aloud – simply because
of poetry in general deals a lot with the euphonic sounds
contained within it. Euphony is perhaps one ultimate aim of
poetry. It is poetry that allows mankind to express such beauty
from within. Poetry itself is beautifully created.
8. Poetic Devices
Poetry, like every other art, has its techniques and devices.
Becoming a poet liked by others is not always an easy thing to do,
and it so happens that the cause of this is the way the author of a
poem uses the available devices to his advantage or purposes.
Devices:
A. Alliteration
The purpose repetition of a consonant sound in two or
more consecutive words, usually at the beginning of such
words.
B. Repetition
1. Of words, ideas, or images
2. Anaphora:

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 The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning
of successive lines or stanzas.
Tomorrow when the sun comes out,
Tomorrow when the birds sing out,
Tomorrow it will come to be,
Tomorrow, when you’ll come to me.
3. Anadiplosis
The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of one
line and at the beginning of the next; at the end of
the last line in a stanza or verse, and the beginning
of the next stanza.
She will never come to this my land,
To this my land where I belong.
C. Onomatopoeia
The use of words that imitate the sounds they stand for.
D. Inversion
The syntactic reversal of the normal order of the words
and phrases in a sentence.
1. Anastrophe
To the sea she went,
Without smiling they parted,
2. Hysteron-proteron

Then came the thunder.

Out she went.
Fear she felt.
E. Figures of Speech:
1. Simile
2. Metaphor
3. Personification
4. Hyperbole
5. Understatement

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 F. Imagery
The use of language, sensory language, a language that
stimulates the reader’s imagination. The use of the sensory
language which serves to transmit or invoke the same or
similar images in the reader’s mind.
G. Variety
The use of variety in length of lines, rhythm, rhyme,
distribution of lines and words, and anything else which
adds to the effectiveness of the poem. Variety may be
used to create humor, depression, or many other moods
or sensations. The effective poet learns to use variety
whenever and wherever it serves his purposes of
expression and externalization of internal experiences.

Types of Poetry

1. Narrative
Poems that are intended to tell a story. A narrative poem also has the
same basic elements. It has a setting, one or more characters in it,
usually a conflict, a plot which builds up to a climax, and even a
conclusion, oftentimes. The story which the narrative poem tells can
also be about almost anything.

2. Lyric/Descriptive
A very personal kind of poetry. It is usually brief, melodic, and very
expressive. It is descriptive and conveys impressions, feelings, emotions,
sensations, and very personal and intimate views concerning an
experience. It may touch such themes as nature, beauty, love, and
friendship, the joy of life, death, and patriotism.

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 3. Humorous
It is probable that you, as a student of literature, have never really
stopped to think how versatile poetry is. But it is because poetry is so
flexible, so plastic, that there are so many varieties of poetry in the
world or nation. The plasticity of poetry makes it possible therefore for
authors to bend and shape this kind of written expression to suit their
needs or purposes.

C. LEARNING ACTIVITY

Research for the meaning of the Figures of Speech and give two (2)
examples each. 15 points.

D. RESOURCES

1. Contents from the reference book.

2. Introductory video ( please watch).

E. ASSESSMENT

Compose one 3- stanza poetry. Use one (1) of the figure of speech
as your device. The title of your poem is Distance Learning.

References:

Book
Basilan, Ma. Letecia C. Letra. 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World.
Manila. Mindshapers Co., Inc.

Video Clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVsRc5VDKKw

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