STUDENT’S GUIDE

The contents of this course cover the various cultures and literatures on Mindanao which
emphasize the following components: dialects or mother tongue; values; material and non-
material cultures; and unique tribal societal practices which highlight collaboration and promotion
of peace and unity among people in a particular locality, province or region. Activities for learning
in this course include survey in varied literary pieces in Mindanao which students are made to
acquire information through interactive lectures, data gathering and presentation, drama and
production, and portfolio of literary pieces.

This Learning Packet includes lessons, activities and worksheets that are related to the
subject. All activities and worksheets must be answered by the students and deliberately
monitored by the parents. In this Learning Packet, there are different areas that aim to enhance
the understanding and learning of the students.
Please keep these in mind: (1) Assignments are given every after topic of the day; (2)
Learners are not allowed to cheat in any form; (3) The learners are required to submit their
worksheets on time; (4) The learner is responsible to answer his or her activity and; (5) The parents
may guide or assist students if some parts of the learning packets are not clearly understood and
if difficulties arise. However, the parents are not allowed to answer the learning packet.

As a DOSCST student, we believe that you can achieve the learning goals and expected
learning outcomes throughout the learning packet during the pandemic season despite the
changes in the mode of learning. We hope that the “new normal” way of learning still brings out
the best in you. Lastly, we also hope that this learning packet gives you an enjoyable and wonderful
learning experience as you venture into the Literatures of Mindanao. Thank you very much! Be
safe and healthy always!
 Table of Contents

CONTENT NUMBER OF PAGE NUMBER

WEEKS
MODULE 1 1 week 2-8
LESSON 1-
LITERATURE:
AN OVERVIEW
LESSON 2: POETRY 1 week 9-18
MODULE 3 2 weeks 19-38
LESSON 1: PROSE
MODULE 4 1 week 39-48
LESSON 1: EARLY
SETTLERS IN
MINDANAO
 Module No. and Title Module 1:Literature: An Overview

Lesson No. and Title Lesson 1:Definition and Classification of Literature

Learning Outcomes At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
 Define literature; and
 Identify the classifications of literature.

Time Frame 1 week

Welcome to the first lesson of Module 1, entitled “Definition and Classification of

Literature”. In this lesson, you will be able to determine the definition, classification, and
importance of the subject. You will have series of activities that lets you enhance your prior
knowledge. And to support your claims, lessons are made simpler for understanding and
check your answers.

#1 We want to know your goals in completing this module. In the space provided
below, write down your LITERARY GOALS for yourself and your expectations of this
module.

LITERARY GOALS

1
 JUMBLED WORDS
#2 Arrange the following jumbled letters to form words related to literature.
1. I R T N I W G S = 6. N F T N I O I N O C =
2. I C I O F T N = 7. U T O R A H =
3. O K S O B = 8. S A Y E S S =
4. R A T C E V E I = 9. R A M D A =
5. O T E R P Y = 10. L R O A =

#3 Using the words that you formed from the activity earlier, share what you already
know about LITERATURE.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
_______________________

EXPLAIN
What do you think C.S. Lewis meant with his famous quotation below?

"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary
competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts
that our lives have already become."

Explain your thoughts in at least 5 sentences.

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________

2
Literature

 Literature is derived from the Latin “littera” which means “letter”, which refers primarily to
written texts. Therefore, literature is simply anything that is written.
 Literature consists writings which recognize the meanings of nature and life, in words of
charm and power, touched with the character of the author, in artistic forms of permanent
interest
 Literature is the written, printed or oral productions of the human mind collectively, which
deals with themes of permanent and universal interest, characterized by creativeness and
grace of expression, as poetry, fictions, essays, etc., distinguished from works of scientific,
technical or journalistic nature (Webster Comprehensive Dictionary, International Edition).

Types of Literature

 Oral literature is the literature of the ancient periods when they did not yet have much
concern about an enduring preservation of the expressions of their wits and emotions or
their experiences because what seemed to matter then to them was merely the pleasure
of being able to tell stories or being able to express themselves either in the simplest way
they can or in their kind of aesthetic sense. It is preserved and handed down from one
generation to another by word of mouth. Oral literature started unwritten, but eventually
captured for writing.

 Written literature is one that produced from the use of the pen by literary writer. Written
Literature is more permanent than oral literature because it remains as is.

Reasons Why People Write:

• For self-expression. It goes by the saying, “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
Literature can be a great avenue for a person to express what they feel or think.
• To spread knowledge and information. Writing is a great way for us not only to share
information, but to learn from the information shared by other people.
• To pass on ideas and values. Preserving ideas and values can be difficult and writing can
mend to that problem. Passing on principles can be made easy by writings.
• To convey truth, accuracy, and evaluation. This allows others to analyze, evaluate, form
valid judgments, and make wise decisions.

3
The Qualities of Great Literature:

• Permanence - Great literature has a lasting influence and can stand though ages and may
still open a new world of meaning and experiences through different generations
• Universality - Great literature appeals to anyone, wherever, whenever and may be
constantly relevant. It deals with elemental feelings, fundamental truths, and universal
conditions.
• Artistry – Great literature draws to our aesthetic sense or sense of beauty.
• Intellectual Value – Great literature stimulates the way we think. It makes us realize
fundamental truths about life and human nature; thus, enriching our mental ability.
• Spiritual Value – Great literature motivates, inspires, and brings out moral values which can
make us better persons. It also relates to God’s plan and purpose for humanity.
• Style – Great literature is evident with the distinctive way in which the writer sees life, forms
his/her ideas, and expresses them distinctly. The uniqueness of the writer shows in his or
her style.
• Suggestiveness – Great literature draws to our emotions, stirs our imagination, feeling,
moves us deeply and evokes visions over and beyond the level of ordinary life and
experience.
In your own view, why is it important to study literature? As a college student, what is the
importance of literature in your life? Share your insights below.

4
 INTRODUCTION

FIRST BODY PARAGRAPH

SECOND BODY

THIRD BODY

CONCLUSION

5
 ESSAY RUBRIC

Traits 4 3 2 1
There is one There is one There is one The topic and
clear, well- clear, well- topic. Main ideas main ideas are
focused topic. focused topic. are somewhat not clear.
Main ideas are Main ideas are clear.
Focus and clear and are clear but are not
Detail well well supported
supported by by detailed
detailed and information.
accurate
information
The The introduction The introduction There is no
introduction is states the main states the main clear
inviting, states topic and topic. A introduction,
the main topic, provides an conclusion is structure or
and provides overview of the included. conclusion.
an overview of paper. A
the paper. conclusion is
Organization
Information is included.
relevant and
presented in a
logical order.
The
conclusion is
strong
The author’s The author’s The author’s The author’s
purpose of purpose of purpose of purpose of
writing is very writing is writing is writing is
clear, and somewhat clear, somewhat clear, unclear.
there is strong and there is and there is
evidence of some evidence evidence of
attention to of attention to attention to
Voice audience. The audience. The audience. The
author’s author’s author’s
extensive knowledge knowledge
knowledge and/or and/or
and/or experience with experience with
experience the topic is/are the topic is/are
with the topic evident. limited.
is/are evident.
The author The author uses The author uses The writer uses
uses vivid vivid words and words that a limited
words and phrases. The communicate vocabulary
Word Choice phrases. The choice and clearly, but the Jargon or
choice and placement of writing lacks clichés may be
placement of words is variety. present and
words seems inaccurate at

6
 accurate, times and/or detract from the
natural, and seems meaning.
not forced. overdone.
All sentences Most sentences Most sentences Sentences
are well are well are well sound awkward,
constructed constructed and constructed, but are distractingly
and have have varied they have similar repetitive, or are
varied structure and structure and/or difficult to
structure and length. The length. The understand.
Sentence
length. The author makes a author makes The author
Structure,
author makes few errors in several errors in makes
Grammar,
no errors in grammar, grammar, numerous
Mechanics,
grammar, mechanics, mechanics, errors in
and Spelling
mechanics, and/or spelling, and/or spelling grammar,
and/or but they do not that interfere mechanics,
spelling. interfere with with and/or spelling
understanding. understanding. that interfere
with
understanding

Reviewer’s
Comments

-C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S-
You have finished the lesson in this module!
7
Module No. and Title Module 1:Literature: An Overview

Lesson No. and Title Lesson 2: Poetry

Learning Outcomes At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
 Define poetry;
 Identify the different types of poetry; and
 Create certain outputs in poetry according to instruction.

Time Frame 1 week

For this lesson in module 1, you will be dealing with poetry and its different forms.
When to write, how to write, and why do we write things in poetry or in poetic form. Rediscover
your wordplays, metaphors, and create a creative yet coherent output at the end of the lesson.

#1 FIGURES OF SPEECH – REVIEW

Revisit your high school lesson, enumerate at least 10 types of FOS and provide 1 example
per FOS.

8
#2 Share what you already know about POETRY.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

#3 THE POET IN ME

Create a short poem (free verse) with the theme illustrated below

__________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

9
EXPLAIN

What do you think Carl Sandburg meant with his famous quotation below?

‘’Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air. Poetry is a
search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable. Poetry is a
phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away.’’

Explain your thoughts in at least 5 sentences.

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________

POETRY

Poetry is a type of literature that combines the sound and meaning of language to create and
express ideas and feelings. The language of poetry which uses imagery and figurative
language closely related terms is very rich, suggestive, and powerful. It is expressed in
regimented manner by the force of stanza, meter, rhyme, and other regulating devices.

Figurative language:

1. Alliteration: The repetition of an initial consonant sound.

Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.
2. Anaphora: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive
clauses or verses.
Example: Unfortunately, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time on the wrong day.
3. Antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.
Example: As Abraham Lincoln said, "Folks who have no vices have very few virtues."
4. Apostrophe: Directly addressing a non-existent person or an inanimate object as though
it were a living being.
Example: "Oh, you stupid car, you never work when I need you to," Bert sighed.
5. Assonance: Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighbouring
words.
Example: How now, brown cow?

10
6. Chiasmus: A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against
the first but with the parts reversed.
Example: The famous chef said people should live to eat, not eat to live.
7. Euphemism: The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively
explicit.
Example: "We're teaching our toddler how to go potty," Bob said.
8. Hyperbole: An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of
emphasis or heightened effect.
Example: I have a ton of things to do when I get home.
9. Irony: The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. Also, a statement
or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the
idea.
Example: "Oh, I love spending big bucks," said my dad, a notorious penny pincher.
10. Litotes: A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is
expressed by negating its opposite.
Example: A million dollars is no small chunk of change.
11. Metaphor: An implied comparison between two dissimilar things that have something
in common.
Example: "All the world's a stage."
12. Metonymy: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is substituted for another with
which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly
by referring to things around it.
Example: "That stuffed suit with the briefcase is a poor excuse for a salesman," the
manager said angrily.
13. Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects
or actions they refer to.
Example: The clap of thunder went bang and scared my poor dog.
14. Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side
by side.
Example: "He popped the jumbo shrimp in his mouth."
15. Paradox: A statement that appears to contradict itself.
Example: "This is the beginning of the end," said Eeyore, always the pessimist.
16. Personification: A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is
endowed with human qualities or abilities.
Example: That kitchen knife will take a bite out of your hand if you don't handle it safely.
17. Pun: A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes
on the similar sense or sound of different words.
Example: Jessie looked up from her breakfast and said, "A boiled egg every morning is
hard to beat."
18. Simile: A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two
fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.
Example: Roberto was white as a sheet after he walked out of the horror movie.
19. Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole.
Example: Tina is learning her ABC's in preschool.
20. Understatement: A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a
situation seem less important or serious than it is.
Example: "You could say Babe Ruth was a decent ballplayer," the reporter said with a
wink.

11
Three Types of Poetry

1. Narrative poetry tells stories and has two forms:

a. Epics are lengthy poems that embody the adventures of epic heroes and divine
forces. They are the oldest remaining form of poetry.
Examples: Biag ni Lam-ang, Epic of Gilgamesh, Beowulf
b. Ballads are narrative poems meant to be sung. They are briefer than the epics
and they usually tell stories about a person. Because ballads started from the
common people, they use repetitive and simple language as well as
supernatural touches.
Example: Ballad to King Arthur

2. Dramatic poetry reveal stories, but one or more characters act out the poem.
There are plays that are written as dramatic poetry. This allows the writer to
reveal characters directly through dialogue/ monologue. William Shakespeare,
an English playwright, is the most famous dramatic poet. In the dramatic
monologue, the story is dramatically told by only one character.
Examples: The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe, Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare

3. Lyric poetry, the most familiar of the three, is a brief poem that articulates the
poet’s thoughts and feeling. The word lyric comes from the Greek word “rhein”
which means lyre, a harp-like musical instrument used by poets in ancient
Greece. Lyric poetry comes in many forms:
a. Haiku, one of the shortest lyric poems, is a Japanese verse of 17 syllables
arranged in three lines, the first line has 5, the second 7, and the third 5.
Example: Haiku poems of Matsuo Basho

Two cups of coffee

Wake me up enough to ask
“Did I have coffee?”

b. Ode is a serious elaborate lyric poem full of high praises and noble feelings
usually about things.
Example: Ode to Evening by William Collins (1721-1759)
Ode to Tomatoes by Pablo Neruda
c. Elegy is a poem of meditation on life and death. Many elegies mourn the death of a
famous person or a close friend.
Examples: An Elegy Written on a Country Church Yard by Thomas Gray
In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred Lord Tennyson
d. Sonnet is a 14-line lyric poem with a certain pattern of rhyme and rhythm.
Example
SONNET 18
By William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;

12
 Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

e. Song is a lyric poem intended to be sung.

Example: Sound of Silence by Bob Dylan and Paul Simon

SOUND OF SILENCE

Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walk alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools" said I,"You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the signs said, 'The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls

13
 And tenement halls
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence

#1. LYRIC POETRY: HAIKU

Use your current environment to draw inspiration in creating 3 haikus.

1. ________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

2. ________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

3. ________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

#2. LYRIC POETRY: SONNET

Create a Shakespearean sonnet (you can browse other resources for idea and inspiration)
cheating or copying from the internet is highly discouraged. You are free to decide on your
theme. Express yourself.

________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

14
 ______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

______________________________
______________________________

In your own view, why is it important to study poetry? Share your insights below.

INTRODUCTION

FIRST BODY PARAGRAPH

SECOND BODY

THIRD BODY

CONCLUSION

15
 ESSAY RUBRIC

Traits 4 3 2 1
There is one There is one There is one The topic and
clear, well- clear, well- topic. Main ideas main ideas are
focused topic. focused topic. are somewhat not clear.
Main ideas are Main ideas are clear.
Focus and clear and are clear but are not
Detail well well supported
supported by by detailed
detailed and information.
accurate
information
The The introduction The introduction There is no
introduction is states the main states the main clear
inviting, states topic and topic. A introduction,
the main topic, provides an conclusion is structure or
and provides overview of the included. conclusion.
an overview of paper. A
the paper. conclusion is
Organization
Information is included.
relevant and
presented in a
logical order.
The
conclusion is
strong
The author’s The author’s The author’s The author’s
purpose of purpose of purpose of purpose of
writing is very writing is writing is writing is
clear, and somewhat clear, somewhat clear, unclear.
there is strong and there is and there is
evidence of some evidence evidence of
attention to of attention to attention to
Voice audience. The audience. The audience. The
author’s author’s author’s
extensive knowledge knowledge
knowledge and/or and/or
and/or experience with experience with
experience the topic is/are the topic is/are
with the topic evident. limited.
is/are evident.
The author The author uses The author uses The writer uses
uses vivid vivid words and words that a limited
words and phrases. The communicate vocabulary
Word Choice
phrases. The choice and clearly, but the Jargon or
choice and placement of writing lacks clichés may be
placement of words is variety. present and

16
 words seems inaccurate at detract from the
accurate, times and/or meaning.
natural, and seems
not forced. overdone.
All sentences Most sentences Most sentences Sentences
are well are well are well sound awkward,
constructed constructed and constructed, but are distractingly
and have have varied they have similar repetitive, or are
varied structure and structure and/or difficult to
structure and length. The length. The understand.
Sentence
length. The author makes a author makes The author
Structure,
author makes few errors in several errors in makes
Grammar,
no errors in grammar, grammar, numerous
Mechanics,
grammar, mechanics, mechanics, errors in
and Spelling
mechanics, and/or spelling, and/or spelling grammar,
and/or but they do not that interfere mechanics,
spelling. interfere with with and/or spelling
understanding. understanding. that interfere
with
understanding

Reviewer’s
Comments

-C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S-
You have finished the lesson in this module!

17
 Module No. and Module 2: Prose
Title
Lesson No. and Lesson 1: Elements of Poetry
Title
Learning Outcomes At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
 define what prose is;
 enumerate the elements of fiction;
 give importance to symbolisms found in the
piece;
 reconnect with their culture through cultural
stories; and
 analyze a short story.

Time Frame 2 weeks

Module 2 will bring you into the world of prose, the most experimented form of
literature. Prose, unlike poetry, is a form of literature that has no metric structure. The flow is
smooth as if it is spoken. Prose covers a wide array of written literature – both fiction and
nonfiction. It also has less submission to structure, thus 21 st century writers could come up
with fresh type of prose, such as prose poems, science fiction, magical realism, stream of
consciousness with juxtaposition, and so much more. Lesson 1 will be dealing with fiction,
particularly, short story.

I. Recall the story of Cinderella. Summarize the story in 5 major events arranged in
chronological order.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

18
II. It’s year 2025, five years after the spread of Coronavirus which affected the whole
world. With your imagination, think of how the world survived this pandemic and the
technological advancements people made to adjust in the new normal. Arrange the
events in chronological order.

III. Think of what the following objects symbolized and use them in sentence.
Example

Red rose – Love

I kept that red rose you gave me on the night of July to remind me of
the feeling of flying and falling.

1.

White candle-

19
2.

Pencil-

3.

Water-

4.

Snake-

5.

Grim reaper-

20
 If prose is the most experimented type of literature, why does fiction still need to follow
elements?

People love telling stories. Ask an elderly in a community and he or she might share
one too many events that happened in the past. These stories have lessons imbibed with
them. In a particular culture, such as Mindanao, we pride ourselves with not just the natural
resources, but also stories like legends, epics, myth origins, and many more.

These folktales still remain, especially with lumad as they symbolize the latter’s
identity. However, with the age of modernization, these stories also evolved to cater to the
needs of the growing readers. Still, the elements remain: conflict, characters, plot, tone and
mood, setting, point of view, and theme.

Generally, fiction is categorized into two major divisions – novel and short story. Novel
is a long story with subplots. Short story is, as the name implies, short in length with one
conflict and ends with single effect. Some pieces are neither short to be called a short story or
long to be called a novel. This gave rise to novelette – the third subtype.

To illustrate the different elements of fiction, refer to this prose by Jamaica Kincaid,
entitled Girl:

Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color
clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry; don’t walk bare-head in the
hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak your little cloths right after you
take them off; when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn’t
have gum in it, because that way it won’t hold up well after a wash; soak salt fish
overnight before you cook it; is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?; always eat

21
 your food in such a way that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach; on Sundays try to
walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming; don’t sing benna in
Sunday school; you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys, not even to give directions; don’t
eat fruits on the street—flies will follow you; but I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and
never in Sunday school; this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a buttonhole
for the button you have just sewed on; this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem
coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent
on becoming; this is how you iron your father’s khaki shirt so that it doesn’t have a crease;
this is how you iron your father’s khaki pants so that they don’t have a crease; this is how
you grow okra—far from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants; when you are
growing dasheen, make sure it gets plenty of water or else it makes your throat itch when
you are eating it; this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house;
this is how you sweep a yard; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much;
this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all; this is how you smile to someone
you like completely; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how you set a table for
dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set
a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast; this is how to behave in the
presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize
immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming; be sure to wash every day,
even if it is with your own spit; don’t squat down to play marbles—you are not a boy, you
know; don’t pick people’s flowers—you might catch something; don’t throw stones at
blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all; this is how to make a bread pudding;
this is how to make doukona; this is how to make pepper pot; this is how to make a good
medicine for a cold; this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it
even becomes a child; this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you
don’t like, and that way something bad won’t fall on you; this is how to bully a man; this
is how a man bullies you; this is how to love a man, and if this doesn’t work there are
other ways, and if they don’t work don’t feel too bad about giving up; this is how to spit
up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so that it doesn’t fall on you;
this is how to make ends meet; always squeeze bread to make sure it’s fresh; but what
if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that after all you are really
going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?

Conflict

This is the clash or the problem in the story. This moves the story forward and
motivates the characters to do what they did. For this to occur, there has to be opposing
elements. A story needs to have a good conflict to pique the interest of the readers or else, it
would just be a plain piece, sending everyone to question the characters and the plot.

One problem for readers is to identify the conflict since some short stories proposed
two or more conflicts. This might be opposed to how short story is defined above, but having
a single conflict does not necessarily mean having really just one conflict. It means that though
there may be subconflicts, there has to be one that should be resolved. Sometimes, resolving
one conflict could actually resolve all.

There are four types of conflict – man vs. man, man vs. society, man vs. nature, and
man vs. himself. Man vs. man is a character’s conflict with another character. Man vs. society
is a character’s conflict with the society such as group of people or the system in general. Man
vs. nature happens when the character gets tested with natural forces like storms, typhoons,
and more. Man vs. himself is when the character is trying to contradict himself and finds that
the problem is inside him or her.

22
 In the piece above, the conflict is man vs. society. The speaker or the one talking is
telling the listener how to act accordingly to fit in the society. The guidelines the speaker
presented were everything the listener needed to know once the latter grows up.

Character

This refers to any make-believe persons or animals in the stories. Sometimes, even
nonliving objects could be given life especially in magic realism.

When we talk of character, it does not necessarily need a protagonist and antagonist
since we have discussed in the conflict that nature and society could also show clash with the
main character. We could describe the role of the characters by identifying if he or she is a
principal character or supporting character.

The principal characters are the center of the story. In an adventure story, the hero
automatically becomes the principal character. It does not necessarily mean that the principal
character is only one, just like in the short story above. The two characters are the major
characters.

Those who are presented in the story but do not have that much of a spotlight are
considered the supporting characters. Their roles might be minor but they could contribute a
lot to the major characters so they should not be easily neglected.

In the story Girl, based on the reminders given by the speaker, the characters might
be two females, specifically a mother and a daughter. The mother reminds the daughter how
to act based on the societal roles, thus the title.

Plot

Plot is the flow of the story. It is the sequence of actions and events. It also charts the
development of the conflict. It follows the basic pattern of beginning, middle, and end. The
beginning presents what happened before the action starts, such as presentation of the
background of the main characters. When the complication occurs, it is now in the middle part.
This is where the story develops. The conflict is then brought to a resolution, thus the end part.
The plot has four types – traditional model, hanging-end model, flat model, and montage
model.

The figure above is the traditional pyramid model. The exposition is the situation of the
characters before the problem aroused. Then it leads into the rising action which introduces
the conflict. The climax is a series of actions or events that show how the conflict is affecting
everyone in the story. Falling action shows the outcome of the conflict when the character or

23
other forces tried to solve it. Denouement or conclusion rounds off the action of the characters.
For folktales, usual conclusion is when the hero marries the princess.

The figure above shows a hanging-end model plot. It ends in the climax, which means
that the readers were given some thrill on the story. However, the readers are also left with
too many questions and the character with unresolved conflict.

Other variants for this model only involves exposition and rising action. The character
did not act upon the climax for some reasons, but something internal took place. It could be a
self-discover or self-realization. Then it continues to the denouement. Sometimes, the reader
is the one who formulates the insights.

In pop culture, like in movies, Pirates of the Caribbean with its 5 installments, has its
end-credits. This is shown after the credits is rolled out. A small clip is shown which is
connected to the current conflict, but leaves watchers questions on what happened.

A______B_________________C_________E

The model above is a flat model plot. A is the exposition, B is the rising action, C is the
climax, and E is the denouement. As what you could observe, falling action is left out since no
actions really is taking place.

Some authors pattern this model in real life where nothing out of the ordinary really
happens, which makes the story flat. It piles up on details and nothing more. The story Girl
follows this model since nothing is really happening. Though it may be flat, it was still effective
since it did not focus on a longer timeline. It is not also lengthy.

24
 C

A B D

The model is called montage model. In this type of model, the reader would encounter
flashback, a literary device used when the character looks at past events. However, this should
be used successfully as some flashbacks enhances the story. If the reader is not observant
enough, he or she could not recognize the timeline of the plot.

Setting

This is the place and time of the occurrence of the story. The story must fit in the
timeline to have consistency with the other elements. If a story is set during pre-Spanish
period, the characters should dress and act like they are living there.

The setting also allows the reader to limit himself or herself in a particular period of
time. Aside from that, it draws the reader to the locale. Take a look at the example below:

The rains had made deep slough of clay road and Tinang followed the prints left by the
men and the carabaos that had gone before her to keep from sinking in mud up to her
knees. She was deep in the road before she became conscious of her shoes. In horror,
she saw that they were coated with thick black clay. Gingerly, she pulled off one shoe
after the other with the hand still clutching the letter.

The excerpt above was from A Love in the Cornhusk by Aida Rivera-Ford. In that
excerpt, the when and where were set. It happened just after the rain because the character
is still struggling to walk through the muddy road. It also happened in a rural area because the
road was not yet developed and the presence of carabao. With this kind of knowledge, the
readers would be able to set their mind on where Tinang is walking.

In the Girl, although the where is left out, we could sense the when. Aside from the
characters being a mother and a daughter, they could be African-American because of the
importance the mother gives on Sundays being church day. Aside from that, the language of
the mother. With this knowledge, we could say that this probably happen during the slavery of
the Black Americans.

Point of View

This refers to who is telling the story. Point of view or POV is not to be confused with
the author. When analyzing a piece by itself, it would be better to leave out the author and his
or her personal life. The author and the narrator should not be mixed up.

Sa amin sa barkada, dalawa kaming mag-gu-goodbye-my-school-giidbye. Kick out ako

dahil sa kagaguhan daw. Si Minyong nama’y sa kabobohan daw.

(from Utos ng Hari by Jun Cruz Reyes)

25
 The excerpt above is an example of first person point of view. The narrator is talking
about the events that unfolded in the story. It should be noted that whatever the narrator said
does not necessarily reflect what the author meant.

As expected, the shrimp insisted that the sparrow spend his time with her in the water.
At first, the sparrow obliged but, on the fifth day, the sparrow found himself slowly
drowning.

(from The Sparrow and the Shrimp by Abdullah Timan Madale)

The excerpt is using omniscient point of view. The narrator described what the two
characters are doing and has a vision of what is happening around them. The narrator is
someone with “higher consciousness” and this narrator can move anywhere.

The lady moves for the first time since you entered her bedroom; she extends her hand
again, you sense breathing by your side, and between the lady and you another hand
extends and touches the fingers of the old one. You look to the side and a girl is there,
a girl who you fail to see full length because she is so close and her appearance so
unexpected, without any sound – not even the sounds that are not heard but are real
because you feel them immediately, because in spite of everything they are stronger
than the silence that accompanied them.

(from Aura by Carlos Fuentes)

The excerpt above is an example of a limited omniscient point of view. The narrator is
only limited in giving commentaries about what is happening around the main character. It
went through the thought process of the character and put it into words.

With the short story Girl, that is an example of an objective point of view. The narrator
refused to give comments on what is happening around her but only states what she wanted
to say without much of descriptions. Imagine a video camera that only follows the action of the
actors, with no self-though narration. That is a representation of what this type of POV is.

Tone and Mood

Tone and mood are not only seen in poetry but also in fiction. Tone is the author’s
attitude towards the story. It is set through setting, choice of words, and the other elements
mentioned above. Mood is the atmosphere that the author created. It is the feeling that the
readers get after reading the story.

These two may be different but they go together. Mood is completely reliant with the
tone. Tone and mood do not necessarily have to be the same, but they have to be parallel.
For example, if the tone is suspicious, the mood has to be suspenseful. This will test if the
readers understood how the author crafted the story. At the same time, this will assess the
author if he or she successfully established the correct tone.

Do not limit your tone and mood with words such as happy, sad, angry, and more. A
human is capable of too many emotions so be sure to be specific. To help you, here are
sample words you may use.

26
 Tone Mood
Amused Light Fanciful Melancholy
Angry Resigned Frightening Mysterious
Cheerful Optimistic
Frustrating Romantic
Horror Pessimistic
Gloomy Sentimental
Clear Playful
Formal Pompous Happy Sorrowful
Gloomy Serious Joyful Suspenseful
Humorous Suspicious
Informal Witty
Ironic

Theme

After all the elements were put together, the readers could now generate the theme of
the story. The theme is the core idea of the story. For folktales, the theme may be in the form
of lesson. Main point is that theme states the human significance of the story.

Theme is different from motif. Motif is simply a word or phrase that describes what the
story is about. For example, in the story Girl, the motif is role of female in the society. However,
the theme could be “Society may have dictated how a woman should act accordingly, but she
should also learn how to question the society.”

The readers are not expected to have general or unified theme. One reader might see
the story in a different flow. The important thing is the elements found all lead to theme he or
she generated.

27
 After knowing the following elements, let us test your understanding. Identify the
elements of fiction in the myth below.

The Story of Ukinurot

Francisco R. Demeterio, SJ
The people lived in the heavens and there were yet no human beings on earth.
However, on earth was glistening water and fresh green plants and trees.
Ukinurot, a hunter in heaven, was fed up with the never-changing diet of meat,
the brown and bare landscape and the warm clothing made of birds’ feathers

While hunting one day, a large bird swam into his ken. He aimed his bow and
arrow at it and shot. The arrow passed clean through the bird’s body and landed
on the ground, a distance away, and was deeply embedded in the ground. As he
pulled it, a good amount of soil came up with the arrow, leaving a large hole in
the ground. Ukinurot peered through the hole and saw below him shining water
and green earth. He summoned his companions, men and women, and all were
pleased with what they saw.

Then they decided to go down. They plucked the bird’s feathers and twined a
rope with them. Then one by one they climbed down. A rather fat woman could
not go through the opening.

Ukinurot was the last to descend. As soon as he touched earth, the rope snapped.
So they could no longer return. The fat woman who remained in heaven, lights
up the stars every night to remind the people below whence they originally came.
The hole through below which they descended now shines as the moon.

Misamis Oriental myth

1. Describe Ukinurot’s character in not more than 3 sentences.

28
2. Describe the setting.

3. What is the conflict of the story? How did it affect the character’s action?

4. What type of plot does the myth have? Identify the parts.

5. What is the POV? Do you think the POV chosen is appropriate? Why?

29
 6. What is the tone and mood?

7. Generate the theme of the story.

In addition to the elements of fiction, symbols are also part of the basic concepts you
need to know in a piece. A symbol is anything that stands for something else. A dove, for
example, is universally known as a representation of peace. In the case of Maranaos,
sarimanok is a symbol of good fortune.

In literature, a symbol could be an object, a word, an action, a person, or an entire

scene. A symbol does not need to have a universal meaning. The representation could be
established in the context of the story.

But back there in your astana, you were already being tutored for maidenhood. I was
older than you by one Ramadan. I often wondered why you grew so fast while I
remained a lunatic dwarf.

(from Blue Blood of the Big Astana by Ibrahim Jubaira)

In this short story, astana is one of the major symbols. Astana, in Persian, meant capital
city. However, in Jubaira’s story it symbolized the different status of the narrator and the one
he is referring to. It is the big house of the princess and the sultan. However, it is also where
they were able to set aside societal roles and become normal children.

Another symbol found in this story is the song Dayang-Dayang, which is usually played
during weddings among Moros. It was supposed to be joyful, but in the story, the joyful song
represented the unfortunate wedding of the princess to whom the sultan arranged to. It also
represented the sorrow of the main character seeing the princess being wed to someone else.

30
 Symbols are tricky. Sometimes, readers get to overthink what they represent. The key
is not to look for symbols while reading the story. Instead, get into the story and notice the
recurring word, object, etc. Chances are that those recurring words contribute to the whole
meaning of the story.

In the story Girl, at the last part, the mother told her daughter to always check if the
bread is fresh by squeezing them. The daughter asked what she would do if the baker won’t
let her go near the bread. Then the mother replied with a question you mean to say that after
all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?

Here, the bread became the turning point of the story. The piece may have started off
as sexist since the mother gave out all these orders to the daughter. Meaning, the role has
been assigned to her. Hence, after working hard how to be a woman, the mother left a
challenge to the daughter to not just accept any questions about what she does. Instead, the
daughter has to question those who question her actions despite her efforts.

Below is the story entitled Magnificence. Read it carefully and answer the questions
that follows it. Be sure to answer in sentence form and make your answers complete.

Magnificence
Estrella D. Alfon

There was nothing to fear, for the man was
always so gentle, so kind. At night when the
little girl and her brother were bathed in the
light of the big shaded bulb that hung over
the big study table in the downstairs hall, the
man would knock gently on the door, and
come in. He would stand for a while just
beyond the pool of light, his feet in the circle
of illumination, the rest of him in shadow.
The little girl and her brother would look up
at him where they sat at the big table, their
eyes bright in the bright light, and watch him
come fully into the light, but his voice soft,
his manner slow. He would smell very
faintly of sweat and pomade, but the children
didn’t mind although they did notice, for
they waited for him every evening as they sat
at their lessons like this. He’d throw his
visored cap on the table, and it would fall
down with a soft plop, then he’d nod his
head to say one was right, or shake it to say
one was wrong.
remarked to their mother that he had never
seen two children looking so smart. The
praise had made their mother look over them
as they stood around listening to the goings-
on at the meeting of the neighborhood
association, of which their mother was
president. Two children, one a girl of seven,
and a boy of eight. They were both very tall
for their age, and their legs were the long
gangly legs of fine spirited colts. Their
mother saw them with eyes that held pride,
and then to partly gloss over the maternal
gloating she exhibited, she said to the man, in
answer to his praise, But their homework.
They’re so lazy with them. And the man said,
I have nothing to do in the evenings, let me
help them. Mother nodded her head and
said, if you want to bother yourself. And the
thing rested there, and the man came in the
evenings therefore, and he helped solve
fractions for the boy, and write correct
phrases in language for the little girl.

It was not always that he came. They could In those days, the rage was for pencils. School
remember perhaps two weeks when he children always have rages going at one time

31
or another. Sometimes for paper butterflies
that are held on sticks, and whirl in the wind.
The Japanese bazaars promoted a rage for
those. Sometimes it is for little lead toys
found in the
folded waffles that Japanese confection-
makers had such light hands with. At this
particular time, it was for pencils. Pencils big
but light in circumference not smaller than a
man’s thumb. They were unwieldy in a
child’s hands, but in all schools then, where
Japanese bazaars lustered there were all
colors of these pencils selling for very low,
but unattainable to a child budgeted at a
baon of a centavo a day. They were all of five
centavos each, and one pencil was not at all
what one had ambitions for. In rages, one
kept a collection. Four or five pencils, of
different colors, to tie with strings near the
eraser end, to dangle from one’s book-basket,
to
arouse the envy of the other children who
probably possessed less.
Add to the man’s gentleness and his kindness
in knowing a child’s desires, his promise that
he would give each of them not one pencil
but two. And for the little girl who he said
was very bright and deserved more, he
would get the biggest pencil he could find.
One evening he did bring them. The evenings
of waiting had made them look forward to
this final giving, and when they got the
pencils they whooped with joy. The little boy
had tow pencils, one green, one blue. And the
little girl had three pencils, two of the same
circumference as the little boy’s but colored
red and yellow. And the third pencil, a jumbo
size pencil really, was white, and had been
sharpened, and the little girl jumped up and
down, and shouted with glee. Until their
mother called from down the stairs. What are
you shouting about? And they told her,
shouting gladly, Vicente, for that was his
name. Vicente had brought the pencils he
had promised them.
Thank him, their mother called. The little boy
smiled and said, Thank you. And the little
girl smiled, and said, Thank you, too. But the
man said, Are you not going to kiss me for
those pencils? They both came forward, the
little girl and the little boy, and they both
made to kiss him but Vicente slapped the boy
smartly on his lean hips, and said, Boys do
not kiss boys. And the little boy laughed and
scampered away, and then ran back and
kissed him anyway.
The little girl went up to the man shyly, put
her arms about his neck as he crouched to
receive her embrace, and kissed him on the
cheeks.
The man’s arms tightened suddenly about
the little girl until the little girl squirmed out
of his arms, and laughed a little breathlessly,
disturbed but innocent, looking at the man
with a smiling little question of puzzlement.
The next evening, he came around again. All
through that day, they had been very proud
in school showing off their brand new
pencils. All the little girls and boys had been
envying them. And their mother had finally
to tell them to stop talking about the pencils,
pencils, for now that they had, the boy two,
and the girl three, they were asking their
mother to buy more, so they could each have
five, and three at least in the jumbo size that
the little girl’s third pencil was. Their mother
said, Oh stop it, what will you do with so
many pencils, you can only write with one at
a time.
And the little girl muttered under her breath,
I’ll ask Vicente for some more. Their mother
replied, He’s only a bus conductor, don’t ask
him for too many things. It’s a pity. And this
observation their mother said to their father,
who was eating his evening meal between
paragraphs of the book on masonry rites that
he was reading. It is a pity, said their mother,
People like those, they make friends with
people like us, and they feel it is nice to give
us gifts, or the children toys and things.
You’d think they wouldn’t be able to afford
it.
The father grunted, and said, the man
probably needed a new job, and was
softening his way through to him by going at
the children like that. And the mother said,
No, I don’t think so, he’s a rather queer
young man, I think he doesn’t have many
friends, but I have watched him with
the children, and he seems to dote on them.
The father grunted again, and did not pay
any further attention.
32
Vicente was earlier than usual that evening.
The children immediately put their lessons
down, telling him of the envy of their
schoolmates, and would he buy them more
please?
Vicente said to the little boy, Go and ask if
you can let me have a glass of water. And the
little boy ran away to comply, saying behind
him, But buy us some more pencils, huh, buy
us more pencils, and then went up to stairs to
their mother.
Vicente held the little girl by the arm, and
said gently, Of course I will buy you more
pencils, as many as you want.
And the little girl giggled and said, Oh, then
I will tell my friends, and they will envy me,
for they don’t have as many or as pretty.
Vicente took the girl up lightly in his arms,
holding her under the armpits, and held her
to sit down on his lap and he said, still gently,
What are your lessons for tomorrow? And
the little girl turned to the paper on the table
where she had been writing with the jumbo
pencil, and she told him that that was her
lesson but it was easy.
Then go ahead and write, and I will watch
you.
Don’t hold me on your lap, said the little girl,
I am very heavy, you
will get very tired.
The man shook his head, and said nothing,
but held her on his lap just the same. The little
girl kept squirming, for somehow she felt
uncomfortable to be held thus, her mother
and father always treated her like a big girl,
she was always told never to act like a baby.
She looked around at Vicente, interrupting
her careful writing to twist around. His face
was all in sweat, and his eyes looked very
strange, and he indicated to her that she must
turn around, attend to the homework she
was writing.
But the little girl felt very queer, she didn’t
know why, all of a sudden she was
immensely frightened, and she jumped up
away from Vicente’s lap. She stood looking
at him, feeling that queer frightened feeling,
not knowing what to do.
By and by, in a very short while her mother
came down the stairs, holding in her hand a
glass of sarsaparilla, Vicente.
But Vicente had jumped up too soon as the
little girl had jumped from his lap. He
snatched at the papers that lay on the table
and held them to his stomach, turning away
from the mother’s coming. The mother
looked at him, stopped in her tracks, and
advanced into the light. She had been in the
shadow. Her voice had been like a bell of
safety to the little girl. But now she advanced
into glare of the light that held like a tableau
the figures of Vicente holding the little girl’s
papers to him, and the little girl looking up at
him frightened, in her eyes dark
pools of wonder and fear and question.
The little girl looked at her mother, and saw
the beloved face transfigured by some sort of
glow. The mother kept coming into the light,
and when Vicente made as if to move away
into the shadow, she said, very low, but very
heavily, Do not move.
She put the glass of soft drink down on the
table, where in the light one could watch the
little bubbles go up and down in the dark
liquid. The mother said to the boy, Oscar,
finish your lessons. And turning to the little
girl, she said, Come here. The little girl went
to her, and the mother knelt down, for she
was a tall woman and she said, Turn around.
Obediently the little girl turned around, and
her mother passed her hands over the little
girl’s back.
Go upstairs, she said.
The mother’s voice was of such a heavy
quality and of such awful timbre that the girl
could only nod her head, and without
looking at Vicente again, she raced up the
stairs. The mother went to the cowering man,
and marched him with a glance out of the
circle of light that held the little boy. Once in
the shadow, she extended her hand, and
without any opposition took away the papers
that Vicente was holding to himself. She
stood there saying nothing as the man
fumbled with his hands and with his fingers,
and she waited until he had finished. She was
going to open her mouth but she glanced at
the boy and closed it, and with a look and an
33
inclination of the head, she bade Vicente go little girl that almost made her sob. Hush, the
up the stairs. mother said. Take a bath quickly.

The man said nothing, for she said nothing
either. Up the stairs went the man, and the
mother followed behind. When they had
reached the upper landing, the woman called
down to her son, Son, come up and go to
your room. The little boy did as he was told,
asking no questions, for indeed he was
feeling sleepy already.
As soon as the boy was gone, the mother
turned on Vicente. There was a pause.
Finally, the woman raised her hand and
slapped him full hard in the face. Her
retreated down one tread of the stairs with
the force of the blow, but the mother
followed him. With her other hand she
slapped him on the other side of the face
again. And so down the stairs they went, the
man backwards, his face continually open to
the force of the woman’s slapping.
Alternately she lifted her right hand and
made him retreat before her until they
reached the bottom landing.
Her mother presided over the bath the little
girl took, scrubbed her, and soaped her, and
then wiped her gently all over and changed
her into new clothes that smelt of the clean
fresh smell of clothes that had hung in the
light of the sun. The clothes that she had
taken off the little girl, she bundled into a
tight wrenched bunch, which she threw into
the kitchen range.
Take also the pencils, said the mother to the
watching newly bathed, newly changed
child. Take them and throw them into the
fire. But when the girl turned to comply, the
mother said, No, tomorrow will do. And
taking the little girl by the hand, she led her
to her little girl’s bed, made her lie down and
tucked the covers gently about her as the girl
dropped off into quick slumber.
~

He made no resistance, offered no defense.

Before the silence and the grimness of her
attack he cowered, retreating, until out of his
mouth issued something like a whimper.

The mother thus shut his mouth, and with

those hard forceful slaps she escorted him
right to the other door. As soon as the cool air
of the free night touched him, he recovered
enough to turn away and run, into the
shadows that ate him up. The woman looked
after him, and closed the door. She turned off
the blazing light over the study table, and
went slowly up the stairs and out into the
dark night.

When her mother reached her, the woman,

held her hand out to the child. Always also,
with the terrible indelibility that one
associated with terror, the girl was to
remember the touch of that hand on her
shoulder, heavy, kneading at her flesh, the
woman herself stricken almost dumb, but her
eyes eloquent with that angered fire. She
knelt. She felt the little girl’s dress and took it
off with haste that was almost frantic, tearing
at the buttons and imparting a terror to the

34
Questions:
1. Describe the characters of the young boy and young girl.

2. When the mother told the father about Vicente’s actions towards the kids, how did the father
react? From his reaction, what kind of father is he?

3. What kind of mother do the children have?

35
4. The pencil was mentioned many times. What does this object represent in the story?

5. Magnificence mean impressive. When translated in Filipino, this word means kadakilaan.
Why does the story have that title?

6. How did you react to the story? What would you do if this happens to someone you know?

36
7. Every year, cases of women and children violence are piling up. It is even happening now
amidst this pandemic. What should the society do with this matter?

Congratulations for finishing this module!

How about a TV break?

37
 Module No. and Title Module 3: Prose

Lesson No. and Title Lesson 1: Early Settlers in Mindanao

Learning Outcomes At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

 identify the culture of the early settlers of Mindanao;

 trace the roots from present generation to the past;
and
 appreciate the culture of the south through creation
stories.

Time Frame 1 week

Labelled as the “promise land”, Mindanao is an island with rich natural resources. These
natural resources contributed in the country in many ways, such as economic, tourist attractions,
and culture and arts. Tribes were forced to settle here after they were pushed away in the plains.
In total, there are 31 lumads in Mindanao. From this number, there are 13 Muslim groups or Moros.
T’boli is probably the group with most number.

Contrary to popular belief, Mindanao is not a place where the citizens are all Muslims, even
before. During the Spanish period, this island in the south was feared by the colonizers not because
of religious differences, but because most people here are pirates who raid artilleries, trading
galleons, and other basic necessities. This was their way of showing protest against the Westerns.

At the present, Mindanawons learned to live harmoniously regardless of ethnicity. They

learned to accept that not all lumads are pirates and not all Moros are terrorists. However, stories
of the past have been slowly forgotten. The elders in the community might have not passed them
down successfully or the younger generations are just not interested on them.

Be reminded that it is the Mindanawons’ responsibility to keep the culture alive as before
since it is the right way to give back to the ancestors who have done their best to preserve their
way of life. This culture could not be found anywhere, but here. Be grounded with your identity as
it helped you form who you are right now.

38
 Trace your roots from you until the last generation your family could remember. Take note
of your ancestors’ ethnic groups. Draw your diagram on the space below. You may use a separate
sheet if necessary. Based on your tracing, how many ethnic groups do you see? What are they?

What creation stories do you know of? Summarize what you have remembered and write
it on the space below.

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 How the World Was Made
Mindanao Creation Story

This is the ancient Filipino account of the creation.

Thousands of years ago there was no land nor sun nor moon nor stars, and the world was only
a great sea of water, above which stretched the sky. The water was the kingdom of the god
Maguayan, and the sky was ruled by the great god Captan.

Maguayan had a daughter called Lidagat, the sea, and Captan had a son known as Lihangin,
the wind. The gods agreed to the marriage of their children, so the sea became the bride of the
wind.

Three sons and a daughter were born to them. The sons were called Licalibutan, Liadlao, and
Libulan; and the daughter received the name of Lisuga.

Licalibutan had a body of rock and was strong and brave; Liadlao was formed of gold and was
always happy; Libulan was made of copper and was weak and timid; and the beautiful Lisuga
had a body of pure silver and was sweet and gentle. Their parents were very fond of them,
and nothing was wanting to make them happy.

After a time Lihangin died and left the control of the winds to his eldest son Licalibutan. The
faithful wife Lidagat soon followed her husband, and the children, now grown up, were left
without father or mother. However, their grandfathers, Captan and Maguayan, took care of
them and guarded them from all evil.

After a time, Licalibutan, proud of his power over the winds, resolved to gain more power,
and asked his brothers to join him in an attack on Captan in the sky above. At first they refused;
but when Licalibutan became angry with them, the amiable Liadlao, not wishing to offend his
brother, agreed to help. Then together they induced the timid Libulan to join in the plan.

When all was ready the three brothers rushed at the sky, but they could not beat down the
gates of steel that guarded the entrance. Then Licalibutan let loose the strongest winds and
blew the bars in every direction. The brothers rushed into the opening, but were met by the
angry god Captan. So terrible did he look that they turned and ran in terror; but Captan,
furious at the destruction of his gates, sent three bolts of lightning after them.

The first struck the copper Libulan and melted him into a ball. The second struck the golden
Liadlao, and he too was melted. The third bolt struck Licalibutan, and his rocky body broke
into many pieces and fell into the sea. So huge was he that parts of his body stuck out above
the water and became what is known as land.

In the meantime, the gentle Lisuga had missed her brothers and started to look for them. She
went toward the sky, but as she approached the broken gates, Captan, blind with anger, struck
her too with lightning, and her silver body broke into thousands of pieces.

Captan then came down from the sky and tore the sea apart, calling on Maguayan to come to
him and accusing him of ordering the attack on the sky. Soon Maguayan appeared and
answered that he knew nothing of the plot as he had been asleep far down in the sea. (cont’d.)

40
(…)

After a time, he succeeded in calming the angry Captan. Together they wept at the loss of
their grandchildren, especially the gentle and beautiful Lisuga; but with all their power they
could not restore the dead to life. However, they gave to each body a beautiful light that will
shine forever.

And so it was that golden Liadlao became the sun, and copper Libulan the moon, while the
thousands of pieces of silver Lisuga shine as the stars of heaven. To wicked Licalibutan the
gods gave no light, but resolved to make his body support a new race of people. So Captan
gave Maguayan a seed, and he planted it on the land, which, as you will remember, was part
of Licalibutan's huge body.

Soon a bamboo tree grew up, and from the hollow of one of its branches a man and a woman
came out. The man's name was Sicalac, and the woman was called Sicabay. They were the
parents of the human race. Their first child was a son whom they called Libo; afterwards
they had a daughter who was known as Saman. Pandaguan was a younger son and he had a
son called Arion.

Pandaguan was very clever and invented a trap to catch fish. The very first thing he caught
was a huge shark. When he brought it to land, it looked so great and fierce that he thought it
was surely a god, and he at once ordered his people to worship it. Soon all gathered around
and began to sing and pray to the shark. Suddenly the sky and sea opened, and the gods
came out and ordered Pandaguan to throw the shark back into the sea and to worship none
but them.

All were afraid except Pandaguan. He grew very bold and answered that the shark was as
big as the gods, and that since he had been able to overpower it he would also be able to
conquer the gods. Then Captan, hearing this, struck Pandaguan with a small thunderbolt, for
he did not wish to kill him but merely to teach him a lesson. Then he and Maguayan decided
to punish these people by scattering them over the earth, so they carried some to one land
and some to another. Many children were afterwards born, and thus the earth became
inhabited in all parts.

Pandaguan did not die. After lying on the ground for thirty days he regained his strength,
but his body was blackened from the lightning, and all his descendants ever since that day
have been black.

His first son, Arion, was taken north, but as he had been born before his father's punishment
he did not lose his color, and all his people therefore are white.

Libo and Saman were carried south, where the hot sun scorched their bodies and caused all
their descendants to be of a brown color.

A son of Saman and a daughter of Sicalac were carried east, where the land at first was so
lacking in food that they were compelled to eat clay. On this account their children and their
children's children have always been yellow in color.

And so the world came to be made and peopled. The sun and moon shine in the sky, and the
beautiful stars light up the night. All over the land, on the body of the envious Licalibutan,
the children of' Sicalac and Sicabay have grown great in numbers. May they live forever in
peace and brotherly love!

41
 The Story of the Creation
B’laan creation story
Recorded by Mabel Cook Cole

In the very beginning there lived a being so large that he cannot be compared with any known
thing. His name was Melu, and when he sat on the clouds, which were his home, he occupied all
the space above. His teeth were pure gold, and because he was very cleanly and continually
rubbed himself with his hands, his skin became pure white. The dead skin which he rubbed off
his body was placed on one side in a pile, and by and by this pile became so large that he was
annoyed and set himself to consider what he could do with it.

Finally, Melu decided to make the earth; so he worked very hard in putting the dead skin into
shape, and when it was finished he was so pleased with it that he determined to make two beings
like himself, though smaller, to live on it.

Making the remnants of the material left after making the earth he fashioned two men, but just
as they were all finished except their noses, Tau Tana from below the earth appeared and wanted
to help him.

Melu did not wish any assistance, and a great argument ensued Tau Tana finally won his point
and made the noses which he placed on the people upside down. When all was finished, Melu
and Tau Tana whipped the forms until they moved. Then Melu
went to his home above the clouds, and Tau Tana returned to his place below the earth.

All went well until one day a great rain came, and the people on the earth nearly drowned from
the water which ran off their heads into their noses. Melu, from his place on the clouds, saw their
danger, and he came quickly to earth and saved their lives by turning their noses the other side
up.

The people were very grateful to him, and promised to do anything he should ask of them. Before
he left for the sky, they told him that they were very unhappy living on the great earth all alone,
so he told them to save all the hair from their heads and the dry skin from their bodies and the
next time he came he would make them some companions. And in this way there came to be a
great many people on the earth.

(…) The Creation

Igorot
Then he took it away from them and gave it to the people of a place called Mayinit. These did as
he directed,
In the and because
beginning of this
there were he toldon
no people them that they should always be owners of the salt, and
the earth.
that the other peoples must buy of them.
Lumawig, the Great Spirit, came down from the sky and cut many reeds. He divided these into
pairs which he placed in different parts of the world, and then he said to them, "You must speak."
Then Lumawig went to the people of Bontoc and told them to get clay and make pots. They got
the clay, but they
Immediately did not
the reeds understand
became people,the
andmolding, and the
in each place wasjars were
a man nota well
and womanshaped.
who Because of
could talk,
their failure,
but the Lumawig
language told
of each themdiffered
couple that they would
from thatalways have to buy their jars, and he removed
of the others.
the pottery to Samoki. When he told the people there what to do, they did just as he said, and
Then Lumawig commanded each man and woman to marry, which they did. By and by there
their jars were well shaped and beautiful. Then the Great Spirit saw that they were fit owners of
were many children, all speaking the same language as their parents. These, in turn, married and
the pottery, and he told them that they should always make many jars to sell.
had many children. In this way there came to be many people on the earth.
In
NowthisLumawig
way Lumawig taught
saw that the
there people
were and things
several brought to them
which theall the things
people on thewhich
earththey nowtohave.
needed use,
so he set to work to supply them. He created salt, and told the inhabitants of one place to boil it
down and sell it to their neighbors. But these people could not understand the directions of the
Great Spirit, and the next time he visited them, they had not touched the salt. (cont’d.)

42
 In the Beginning
Bilaan
In the beginning there were four beings (Melu, Fiuweigh, Diwata, and Saweigh), and they lived
on an island no larger than a hat. On this island there were no trees or grass or any other living
thing besides these four people and one bird (Buswit). One day they sent this bird out across the
waters to see what he could find, and when he returned he brought some earth, a piece of
rattan, and some fruit.

Melu, the greatest of the four, took the soil and shaped it and beat it with a paddle in the same
manner in which a woman shapes pots of clay, and when he finished he had made the earth.
Then he planted the seeds from the fruit, and they grew until there was much rattan and many
trees bearing fruit.

The four beings watched the growth for a long time and were well pleased with the work, but
finally Melu said, "Of what use is this earth and all the rattan and fruit if there are no people?"

And the others replied, "Let us make some people out of wax."

So they took some wax and worked long, fashioning it into forms, but when they brought them
to the fire the wax melted, and they saw that men could not be made in that way.

Next they decided to try to use dirt in making people, and Melu and one of his companions
began working on that. All went well till they were ready to make the noses. The companion,
who was working on that part, put them on upside down. Melu told him that the people would
drown if he left them that way, but he refused to change them.

When his back was turned, however, Melu seized the noses, one by one, and turned them as
they now are. But he was in such a hurry that he pressed his finger at the root, and it left a mark
in the soft clay which you can still see on the faces of people.

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 The Children of the Limokon
Mandaya

In the very early days before there were any people on the earth, the limokon (a kind of dove )
were very powerful and could talk like men though they looked like birds. One limokon laid
two eggs, one at the mouth of the Mayo River and one farther up its course. After some time
these eggs hatched, and the one at the mouth of the river became a man, while the other became
a woman.

The man lived alone on the bank of the river for a long time, but he was very lonely and wished
many times for a companion. One day when he was crossing the river something was swept
against his legs with such force that it nearly caused him to drown. On examining it, he found
that it was a hair, and he determined to go up the river and find whence it came. He traveled up
the stream, looking on both banks, until finally he found the woman, and he was very happy to
think that at last he could have a companion.

They were married and had many children, who are the Mandaya still living along the Mayo
River.

Origin
Bagobo

In the beginning there lived one man and one woman, Toglai and Toglibon. Their first children
were a boy and a girl. When they were old enough, the boy and the girl went far away across the
waters seeking a good place to live in. Nothing more was heard of them until their children, the
Spaniards and Americans, came back. After the first boy and girl left, other children were born to
the couple; but they all remained at Cibolan on Mount Apo with their parents, until Toglai and
Toglibon died and became spirits. Soon after that there came a great drought which lasted for
three years. All the waters dried up, so that there were no rivers, and no plants could live.

"Surely," said the people, "Manama is punishing us, and we must go elsewhere to find food and
a place to dwell in."

So they started out. Two went in the direction of the sunset, carrying with them stones from
Cibolan River. After a long journey they reached a place where were broad fields of cogon grass
and an abundance of water, and there they made their home. Their children still live in that place
and are called Magindanau, because of the stones which the couple carried when they left
Cibolan.

Two children of Toglai and Toglibon went to the south, seeking a home, and they carried with
them women's baskets (baraan). When they found a good spot, they settled down. Their
descendants, still dwelling at that place, are called Baraan or Bilaan, because of the women's
baskets.

So two by two the children of the first couple left the land of their birth. In the place where each
settled a new people developed, and thus it came about that all the tribes in the world received
their names from things that the people carried out of Cibolan, or from the places where they
settled.

All the children left Mount Apo save two (a boy and a girl), whom hunger and thirst had made
too weak to travel. One day when they were about to die the boy crawled out to the field to see if
there was one living thing, and to his surprise he found a stalk of sugarcane growing lustily. He
eagerly cut it, and enough water came out to refresh him and his sister until the rains came.
Because of this, their children are called Bagobo.

44
 Answer the questions below in 3-5 sentences only.

1. In the story How the World was Made, different characters were introduced which symbolize
how the Mindanawons live their life and value what they have. How is the story affecting in
the aspect of spirituality of the modern citizens of Mindanao?

2. In the line “Pandaguan did not die. After lying on the ground for thirty days he regained his
strength, but his body was blackened from the lightning, and all his descendants ever since
that day have been black. His first son, Arion, was taken north, but as he had been born
before his father's punishment he did not lose his color, and all his people therefore are
white. Libo and Saman were carried south, where the hot sun scorched their bodies and
caused all their descendants to be of a brown color. A son of Saman and a daughter of
Sicalac were carried east, where the land at first was so lacking in food that they were
compelled to eat clay. On this account their children and their children's children have
always been yellow in color.”, how did it portray the differences of culture of the Whites, the
Blacks, the Yellows, and the other races?

45
3. In The Children of the Limokon, why do the Mandayans consider the limokon as their
ancestor?

4. For the Bagobos in the story Origin, what is/are considered the most important thing/s to
have?

5. What similarities do the stories have?

46
 6. After reading all of them, what can you say about Mindanao’s culture as reflected in the
stories?

Mainstream media has done efforts in telling the stories of Mindanao. Brillante Mendoza’s
film Mindanao and ABS-CBN’s A Soldier’s Heart are samples of their work. How about you, as a
Mindanawon, how would you encourage Mindanawons to appreciate what we have, especially with
our culture?

Phew! Prelims was tough.

Reward yourself with something delicious!

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