LITERARY PIECES THAT APPEAR IN THE LET (ENGLISH MAJORS)

A. MYTHOLOGY (and ancient)

 Jason- (Greek myth) sailed the long ship with the Argonauts in search for the
Golden Fleece
 What does the presence of the three gods: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos in
Greek Mythology symbolize? Ans: mortals’ fate depends on the gods
 Prometheus- the mythological titan punished by the gods for stealing fire
 To punish himself for murdering his father to have sexual relationships with his
mother, Oedipus gouged his eyes.
 Sophocles wrote Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus and Colonus, but NOT Agamemnon.
 The Trojan War can be seen today as women empowerment.
 Patroclus made Achilles grieve.
 Apollo is the “most Greek among the gods”. (Lord of Silver Bow, Archer-god)
 Chimera is the huge fire-breathing monster that has the head of a lion, the body
of a dragon, and the hind legs of a goat.
 Zeus Polieus is the name of Zeus as God of State.
 Titanomachy is a victorious 10-year series of battles of the Olympian gods
against the Titans in Thessaly.
 In mythology, Zeus, the ruler of Olympus, had 2 brothers: the ruler of the sea
and the rule of the underworld. These are Poseidon and Hades.
 Tartarus, Elysium, Asphodel, and Erebus are all regions in the underworld.
 The body of myths highly dominated by tales of courageous combatants, great
feats, and activities related to tribal life such as hunting and feasting is Norse
Mythology.
 The two groups at war in The Illiad are the Trojans and Acheans.
 Euripede’s purpose in producing Medea is to criticize Greek behavior.
 Sisyphus is the king of Corinth who is condemned in the underworld by forever
rolling a huge stone up a hill.
 The three monstrous sisters with snakes for hair, hands of brass and bodies
covered with impenetrable scales and turns to stone those who look at them are
the Gorgons. (Medusa is the most famous)
 The subjects in Mythic history portrayed in “Musee de Beaux Arts” are Daedalus
and Icarus.
 The myths of the Greeks reflect a view of the universe that acknowledges the
mystery and beauty of humanity.
 Odin is known as the Raven God in Norse mythology.
 Aenid, an epic poem in 12 books recounting the story of Aeneas, was the
crowning achievement of Virgil.
 In Greek mythology, Pan is the gold of the wild. He is worshiped in the Arcadia
region of Greece. (other choices: Bocotia, Thessaly, Sparta)
 Philosophic and religious belief in reincarnation is based on the mythological
character Orpheus.
 Hector died at the end of Iliad. Achilles’ death was never mentioned in the epic.
 Thanatos is the god of death in Greek mythology.
 Paris chose Aphrodite as the fairest of all and receiver of Eris’ apple of discord.
 Minotaur is the half-human, half-bull creature which was confined in the
labyrinth where it received an annual tribute of seven youths and seven maidens
from Athens.
 Moloch, Astarte and Baalat are ancient Phoenician deities. (Jupiter is not- roman
Zeus)
 In Egyptian mythology, the goddess Isis married Osiris.
 Budda is not an Egyptian god (choices: Ra, Anubis, Amun)
 Valhalla is the destination of dead ancient Norse heroes.
 Hephaestus, the Greek god of blacksmith and fire, represent lameness of
humans.
 Ares was an unpopular god because he was vain and cruel.
 There are 12 titans in Greek mythology.
 Odysseus decided to interrogate his father after seeing him in the orchard.

B. AFRO-ASIAN LIT
 In the poem, “Vulture”, by Chinua Achebe, the line that represents a miserable
or bleak scene is broken bones and a dead tree
 Li Qingzhao is the great Chinese poetess. (NOT known for dominance of
hyperbole)
 Egyptian literature is identified as Mediterranean literature
 The first line of the poem, “Mind is Without Fear” by Rabindranath Tagore,
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high…” means only the
fearless mind can hold its head upright.
 Matsuo Basho popularized Haiku in Japan. He creates visual and auditory
sensations with a few strokes of his writing brush.
 Gilgamesh is the Mesopotamian great hero and son of goddess Ninsun whose
stories are told in Sumerian and Babylonian poems.
 “Awake! For Morning in the Bowl of Night” is a poem written by Omar Khayyam.
 Mao Tse-Tsung is a Chinese leader whose essays and poems depicted the
totalitarian rule in China and advocated a revolutionary movement.
 Prometheus- the mythological titan punished by the gods for stealing fire
 Rig Veda is the oldest Indian Sanskrit Literature.
 “The Answer” by Bei Dao reflects slavery as a pressing concern.
 Panchatantra is a collection of fables which was used to educate Indian princes
into becoming wise kings.
 Two novel-like stories, The Predestined Prince and Sinuhe were written around
1200 BC in Egypt.
 Leopold Sedar Senghor is the leading figure of the Negritude Movement.
 The Harlem-Renaissance is the flowering of African-American Literature.
 The Negritude movement is a movement of French-speaking African and
Caribbean writers and it began to fade in the 1950s after fulfilling their goal.
 Telephone Conversation is a literary piece written by Wole Soyinka about
racism.
 Muchukunda saw the emptiness of his life and turned his back on it, becoming a
wanderer and sadhu. He refused to return to the world.
 The Poor Christ of Bombay by Mongo Berti is an example of literary satire.
 A Japanese Folktale entitled, “The Story of the Aged Mother” speaks about all
EXCEPT the fate of the common people under the despot is grim. (other
choices: the daimyo’s unreasonable order is seemingly a boast of his power, a
citizen’s disobedience towards a cruel mandate ends tragically, an exhibit of the
saying: with a crown of snow, there comes wisdom)

C. ENG-AM LIT
 Thomas Jefferson refered to the Native Americans as “merciless Indian
savages”.
 Benjamin Franklin added “humility” in his 13 virtues because he is reminded of
his friend Quaker about how overbearing and insolent he is.
 The “Declaration of Independence” is best described as accusatory and
subjective.
 In Maya Angelou’s “On the Pulse of Morning”, it is suggested that each day gives
people new chances.
 Shakespeare’s technique of showing equivocation in his play, Macbeth, is irony.
 According to Lincoln in “Gettysburg Address”, the premise of the war being
fought is the government of the people, by the people, for the people.
 In “I Hear America Singing” by Whitman, the workers singing varied carols to
express happiness in work and uniqueness of contribution.
 Moby Dick is a white whale using Pequod.
 George Eliot is the pen name of Mary Ann Evans.
 The love portrayed in Charlotte Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” is destructive.
 The Captain alluded in Whitman’s poem is Abrahan Lincoln.
 Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 talks about love as never wanes even in old age.
 “She never told me love…” is written by William Shakespeare.
 “Drink me only with thine eyes” (Song to Celia) is a poem written by Ben
Jonson.
 Vanity Fair is a novel satirizing society in the early 19th Century Britain and is
written by William Makepeace Thackeray.
 In teaching the works of EA Poe, atmosphere is given prime consideration.
 In teaching the works of O’ Henry, you should highlight the use of surprise
endings.
 “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it
was the age of foolishness...” are the opening lines of the novel, Tale of Two
Cities by Charles Dickens.
 Animal Farm (by George Orwell) was rejected
 Magical Realism is a term borrowed from art criticism and applied to a kind of
fiction that mixes realism with flights of fantasy and myth. It is associated with
the Latin-American writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
 “To be or not to be, that is the question”, this line is taken from Shakespeare’s
Hamlet.
 Paradise Lost, written by John Milton, is based on the popular story of the
sinning of Adam and Eve.
 Milton’s Paradise Lost was published in 1667 in Moden English.
 In “The Fall of the House Usher” (short story by EA Poe), the name of the
woman who is entombed alive is Lady Madeline.
 William Wordsworth is the Father of Romantic Poetry.
 Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play.
 The forest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream symbolizes a place of wildness,
lawlessness and chaos.
 According to American forlklore, Paul Bunyan dug out the Grand Canyon.
 Beowulf depicts the dualism, “monster-slayer”.
 Beowulf is the oldest epic in England.
 Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol”, a novel about a man who hates
Christmas.
 Canterbury Tales was written in the 14th Century.


D. FILIPINO LIT
 The phrase associated with Magsaysay is for democracy will die.
 Carlos Bulosan’s celebrated autobiography is entitled America is in the Heart.
 Jose Garcia Villa is the first National Artist of the Philippines for literature.
 The Golden Age of Filipino Language in the PH is Japanese regime.
 The fence in the story written by Jose Garcia Villa refers to walls representing
hindrances that separate families.
 The Filipino writer whose short stories depict Filipino-Spanish culture is Nick
Joaquin.
 The Father of Tagalog short stories is Deogracias Rosario.
 The main theme of Bonsai by Edith Tiempo is enjoy the little things.
 The first Filipino novel written in English is A Child of Sorrow.
 The Ifugao hero in the epic Hudhud is Aliguyon.
 Maria Makiling is a famous Filipino legend.
 Malakas at Maganda is a famous Filipino creation myth.
 Ophelia Dimalanta is the Goddess of Philippine poetry.
 The first recorded drama in the Philippines was a comediaby Fr. Vicente Puche
and was performed in Cebu.
 In Nick Joaquin’s short story, May Day Eve, the technique he used in developing
the plot was flashback.
 Manuel Arguilla is the Bret Harte of the Philippines.
 Carlos Bulosan’ celebrated autobiography is “America is in the Heart”.
 Manuel Arguilla is known for using local color in his stories.
 The author points out how Filipinos accept or treat a new family member in
How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife by Manuel Arguilla.
 Without Seeing the Dawn is the first novel by a Filipino after WWII.
 The first Tagalog novel is Barlaan at Josaphat.
 Genoveva Edroza Matute is the 1st Palance Awardee for short story.
 In Paz Latorena’s short story, “The Small Key”, what Soledad’s second wife found
in the small chest is old clothes and other things of his first wife.
 In teaching Without Seeing the Dawn by Steven Javellana to 4 th year HS
students, the period in Philippine history that you will discuss as background
knowledge to the novel is Japanese occupation.
E. EUROPEAN
 Guy de Maupassant is the writer of short stories and novels who is, by general
agreement, the greatest French short-story writer.
 In teaching the short stories of Guy de Maupassant, characters should be given
prime consideration.
 Bertolt Brecht is the playwright who used alienation effect to educate the
audience and not rely upon their emotion.
 “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own ways.”
This like is take from Ana Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
 James Joyce wrote Ulysses and used “stream of consciousness”.
 In Tolstoy’s “God Sees the Truth but Waits”, Aksenov was imprisoned for 26
years.
 Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is characterized by absolute faith in a single
truth.
 Boccaccio’s Decameron is BEST described as a complete negation of Christian
Doctrine.
 Jacques Derrida is the most prominent figure in deconstruction.
 The titles of Leo Tolstoy’s short story about a man falsely judged and accused of
murder is “God Sees the Truth but Waits”.
 Divine Comedy is the work of Dante Alighieri that narrates his journey through
Hell (The Inferno), purgatory and paradise.
 Leo Tolstoy is known as the world’s greatest novelist for writing War and Peace
and Anna Karenina.
 The character in Dante’s Divine Comedy is Dante himself.
 Life after death was depicted in Dante’s Divine Comedy.