21st Century Literature from the Philippines

and the World (LITPHW080)

SECTION: Grade 11 STEM SJ09 DATE: April 13, 2021

NAME: Francesca Marie Alexandrea P. Cuba

Reflection Paper

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “literature”? Most, would agree that it
is any work that is composed of letters and well-structured sentences. However, literature is more
than those letters and sentences. It is more than just a literary work that an author published.
Literature is “life” itself, it is our experiences and what we have learned from our existence here
on earth and through the guest speaker, the award-winning Peter Solis Nery, I was given the
chance to be able to learn how and what he thinks of literature.

Through Peter Solis Nery, I was able to grasp his own understanding of literature and
how we could effectively enhance our writing skills. The first lesson I learned from him, is the
importance of deliberating what you will be writing first before you can actually start jotting it
down. Literature is not something that you can have a bite and go, it takes time to produce or
publish quality literary works. Second, I have learned the significance of writing works that are
beneficial to the readers or even for yourself, your works should be able to inspire, motivate, and
assist the readers to become better people. Lastly, reading God’s word and understanding it
deeply are one of the few but crucial ways to ameliorate your writing skills. Combined with the
guidance of God and His wisdom, we will be able to develop excellent works that glorify Him as
well as sharing the goodness of God to the readers.

In my own perspective, the lines that mostly stood out to me and kept me interested are
the tips and tricks that Peter Solis Nery shared when dealing with criticism. He shared how
thankful he is for the constructive criticism that he receives from his works but also emphasized
the value of reassessing his works to make sure that all is perfect. “Why would you criticize a
work that is award-winning in the first place? What is wrong with you?” He stated and in all
honesty, I firmly agree with what he said. In line with what he stated and the current situation of
today, wherein everyone is mostly on social media, it is perfectly okay to constructively criticize
works or other people but make sure that you do it in the proper and pleasant way.

Bringing me to my last point, is what I can do as a Filipino youth in relation to

understanding Literature. As a Filipino youth, to be able to speak and write what my mind and
heart is conveying to me is extremely urgent, peculiarly with what our country and the world is
experiencing right now, I think that sharing my thoughts on how and what our beloved
government can do to improve its service and leadership to the citizens of the Philippines.
Furthermore, through harnessing our talents and skills, specifically writing, we can contribute to
the development of our beloved country.

Peter Solis Nery is definitely a big help to us, aspiring writers. He, not only guided us but
was selfless enough to share his knowledge and wisdom about Literature. I am incredibly
grateful to be given the opportunity to witness and hear his wise words for us, as well as develop
a deeper understanding to what Literature truly means and how it can be of a great help to our
personal growth and for the future readers of our accomplished works.