NAME: _________________________________________ SUBJECT:

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GRADE&SECTION: _____________ DATE: _______________
MODULE 3 IN THE 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE FROM THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD
MODULE 4&5 QUARTER 2
What I Need to Know
This lesson explores the significance of structure in understanding themes ennui and aimlessness in modern life.
Learning Competency:
Compare and contrast the various 21st century literary genres and their elements, structures, and traditions across the globe.
LESSON 3: ESSAY: PASSING THROUGH, GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS

What you are expected to learn

At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:
 Compare and contrast the various 21st century literary genres and their elements, structures, and traditions across the globe.
 Explain the concept of ennui as it relates to the structure of Tiempo-Torrevilla’s essay.
 Respond critically to the essay and consequently articulate this response through the use of social media.

What’s In
(Week 4)
ACTIVITY 1: A DAY IN A LIFE
For this lesson, we will not only be reading the essay of Tiempo-Torrevilla’s but we will be examining our habits and rituals as
well. We are called to take a critical look at things we invest our time and effort on. Let us first try to be familiar our own habits and
quirks.
Take a selfie in a room that you usually inhabit during weekends. The picture should include the things you busy yourself with
during weekends. Example, if you enjoy surfing the Internet or watching DVDs, your selfie should include a stack of your favorite
DVDs, a television set, and your computer. If you spend more time outside, take a photo of your favorite hangout and the things you
surround yourself with.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

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ACTIVITY TIME SPENT ON THE WHY DO I LIKE DOING IT

ACTIVITY

What is it
MARKERS
 Ennui is a lethargic disposition or feeling of aimlessness, dissatisfaction, or listlessness emerging from a lack of zest or
excitement.
 Nihilism is an attitude that finds meaninglessness in things, societal structures, rituals/habits, and moral codes.
 Structure is an ordered way of developing one’s ideas.
 Catharsis is the act or process of releasing a strong emotion.

LOCATE
Watch a Roadrunner cartoon on YouTube or you may use this link to locate the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aDvTJCr42k),
then read the essay below.

THE ROADRUNNER
Rowena Tiempo-Torrevilla
Negros Oriental/USA
I have problems with the narrative of the “Roadrunner” Looney Tunes. The cartoon holds no carthasis. Nothing is gained. Nothing is
learned, no redemptive wisdom prevails. Its problem originates the point of view, which is that luckless coyote. The Coyote expends inordinate
amounts of ingenuity to capture the Roadrunner—and all his elaborate devices boomerang on him—to no avail.
We aren’t talking about moral issues here, or ethical themes, or the notion that violence doesn’t pay (because there is obvious glee in the
elaborate ways in which the expositions, high-impact falls, collisions, temporary dismemberments, and other gruesome through momentary outcome
are set up). The philosophy here is obviously nihilistic (in the sense that the Coyote is out to annihilate the Roadrunner). One might almost call this
Moby Dick of cartoondom, in that the Coyote’s reason for being is simply to track down his personal whale-in-the-dessert.
The nihilism pervades the entire ethos of the cartoon: not only do the Coyote’s strenuous efforts (and the entire narrative story) come to nothing., but
the Roadrunner himself is curiously detached, almost a bystander to the action, and expands no efforts and reveals nothing of innate character—other
than a kind of absent-minded taunting in his “meep-beep” honk—in his avoidance of death. It would seem, superficially, the Roadrunner is the
putative “hero” of the piece, by virtue of being the prey, but the cartoon almost inverts the roles by casting the narrative almost entirely from the

1|21ST CENTURY LITERATURE

Coyote’s viewpoint. It is fact the Coyote who has a name: Wile E. Coyote; the eponymous Roadrunner, though his fortuitous, brainless evasions, is
merely a tantalizing, mocking figure, inspiring the Coyote to heightening feats of ingenious and doomed construction.
The Roadrunner avoids being caught, not through any virtue of his own, not through intelligence, or luck, or cleverness; merely through
speed, a speed that hasn’t been acquired through hard work for diligent application, but imply from Nature’s dumb luck; the process of natural
selection favoring the prey, in the case, over predator.
It is not a consequence of the Roadrunner’s choices or actions that puts him in the way of the “tragic conflict:” he only happens to be
passing through. He is merely fulfilling his destiny, running swiftly and effortlessly through the cartoon. But one might also say the Coyote is
fulfilling his own luckless destiny as predator, pursuing his Grail, expending astonishing resources provided by inevitable “Acme” conglomerate of
companies (which provides explosives devices, blasting caps, and ropes for nooses, high-grade steel sheeting, and elevators in the middle of the
dessert). And in the end, all is nothingness. The Coyote remains unfulfilled and the Roadrunner continues to run down the endless desert highways,
merely passing by.

What’s more
ACTIVITY 2: NAVIGATE
Respond critically to the following questions and worksheets to process the selection:
1. In the chart below, tabulate on the left column the prominent elements in a typical Roadrunner cartoon storyline and on the right
column, the author’s commentary on these elements:

ROADRUNNER STORYLINE WHY I LIKE DOING IT

DEVICE/CHARACTERIZATION

2. What seems to be the author’s attitude towards the Roadrunner cartoons? Does she like them? What evidences from the text (language
use, word choice) Illustrate her attitude?
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3. What does the author mean when she says that the roadrunner cartoons are the “Moby Dick of Cartoondom?” Look up the story of
Moby Dick. What do the cartoon and Moby Dick have in common?
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4. Tiempo-Torrevillas says that while the Roadrunner cartoons seem to have the features of tragedy, they fall flat in trying to be one.
How so?
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5. In what sense are the Roadrunner cartoons an exhibition of nihilism?

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6. Identify the topic sentences for each paragraph. Using only the topic sentence, trace how Tiempo-Torrevillas develops her insight on
the Roadrunner cartoons through this movement of ideas. Do you think it is effective? Why or why not?
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What I have learned?

ACTIVITY 3: CUTTING EDGE
In this lesson, we explored the ways in which modern life creates a disconnection between ritual and productivity. By structuring her
essay in a clear movement from the personal to the philosophical, Rowena Tiempo-Torrevillas shows us how a random meandering of
thoughts can lead to insight.
Let us now look at the different activities that people today do regularly. Think of ways in which time invested in such activities can be
used productively.

ACTIVITY HOW CAN IT BE PRODUCTIVE

Posting on Facebook

Tweeting

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Taking selfies

Mailing

Playing video games

What can I do
(Week 5)
ACTIVITY 4: CONSTELLATE
After you have tabulated your own ideas in the previous activity, you task is to come up with a one-minute skit advocating for
more productive use of time and effort. Your skit should be able to highlight the features of your chosen platform and how one
can use these effectively.
Rubrics
a. Content: : 50%
b. Original Thinking : 30%
c. Grammar : 20%

Assessment
ACTIVITY 5: PROCESS
Do you agree with the insights of Rowena Tiempo-Torrevillas? Can you think of another cartoon which you can use to support
her argument or offer as a counter example? Write a 200-word essay for your support or counter argument.

What I can show?

ACTIVITY 6: SET OUT
Complete the following sentences as honestly as you can.
1. In this lesson, I learned that form and content________________________________________________________________
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2. I learned that modern life is _________________________________________________________________________________
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3. To live in this time period means ____________________________________________________________________________
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Prepared by:

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Ms. Rochelle May S. Gayacan, LPT
SUBJECT TEACHER

3|21ST CENTURY LITERATURE