21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

MODULE 1

What is Literature?
 Is our connection with our own human experience of life.
 Describes, records and shares our experiences, hopes and desires to other people.
 Comes from the Latin word “litteratura” which means “writing formed with letter ” but it is not
enclosed in that meaning, it is anything and everything that reproduces life experiences. It
collects, organizes and sums up the entirety of humanity, occasionally adding more color to it.

Timeline of Philippine Literary History

PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD (BC-1565)
 It happened before Spaniards claimed the Philippines in 1565.
 The pre-colonial Philippine archipelago was home to numerous kingdoms and sultanates.
 Works of literature were oral in nature—literature that has been passed on by word of mouth.
 Subjects of literary works were about life, its blessings, and its consequences; contained ideas from
birth to the grave.
 Its oral characteristic has the possibility for many alterations.
 Many Filipinos still admired pre-colonial literature despite of its many alterations.
 The living sources of pre-colonial literature were the local native town folk.
 The living sources of pre-colonial literature were the local native town folk.
 Baybayin was the oldest writing system.

Characteristics, Forms and Examples

A. ORAL LITERATURE
Forms:
1. Riddles
 Known as Bugtong in Filipino
 Known as Tigmo in Cebuano
 A battle of wits among participants
 Involves reference to one or two images that symbolize the characteristics of an unknown objects that
is to be guessed.
 Made up of one or more measured lines with rhymes and may consist of 4 to 12 syllables.
2. Proverbs/Maxims/Epigrams
 Known as Salawikain or Sawikain in Filipino
 Known as Panultihon in Cebuano
 Short poems that have customarily been used and served as laws or rules on good behavior by our
ancestors.
 Allegories or parables that impart lessons for the young
 Often expressing a single idea, that is usually satirical and had a witty ending.
 Maxims – rhyming couplets (5,6,8 syllables)
3. Tanaga
 A short poetic form that is the Filipino equivalent of Japanese Haiku
 Consists of four lines with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line (i.e.,
mono-rhyming heptasyllabic quatrain, or 7-7-7-7 syllabic verse, with an AABB rhyme scheme)
 The focus is to express insights and lessons in life and is more emotionally charged than the proverb,
thus, has affinities with folk lyric.
4. Chants
 Used in witchcraft or enchantments.
 Known as Bulong Filipino
 Used by our ancestors to ask for permission from spirits or supernatural beings so as not to have bad
things happen to them
5. Sayings
 Known as Kasabihan in Filipino
 Used in teasing or to comment on a person’s actuations.
B. FOLK SONGS
 A form of folk lyric that is usually chanted—contain ideas on aspirations, hopes, everyday life and
expressions of love for loved ones and is bounded by learning of good morals.
 Straightforward and not figurative in nature; often repetitive and sonorous, didactic and naïve
Forms
1. Lullabies
 Locally known as Hele or Uyayi
 Sung to put babies to sleep
 Content varies, but is usually sung by parents with ideas on how hard life is and how they hope that
their child will not experience the hardships of life.
2. Drinking songs
 Locally known as Tagay
 Sung during drinking sessions.
3. Serenade
 Locally known as Harana in Cebuano and in Filipino
 These are Courtship Songs used by young men to capture the heart of the girl they love
4. Songs of death
 Locally known as Tagulaylay
 These are lamentations that contain the role of good deeds that the dead usually done to immortalize
his/her good image
5. Religious songs
 These are songs or chants that are usually given during exorcisms and thanksgiving during good
harvest
 Exorcism was usually done by Babaylans, or Philippine shamans (i.e. almost always women or
feminized men) were shamans of the various ethnic groups of the pre-colonial Philippines, specialized
in communicating, appeasing, or harnessing the spirits of the dead and the spirits of nature.
 There were also various subtypes of Babaylan specializing in the arts of healing and herbalism,
divination, and sorcery.

SPANISH COLONIZATION (1566-1871)

 Baybayin, the first Filipino alphabet, was replaced by the Roman alphabet.
 Introduced Spanish as the medium of communication.
 Spanish became the language of Philippine literature.
 The teaching of the Christian Doctrine became the basis of religious practices.
 Religious themes dominated the culture of the Christianize majority; but, the native oral literature,
whether secular or mythic-religious, continued (Spanish Colonial, 2017)
 Spaniards brought European legends and traditions and were assimilated in our songs, corridos, and
moro-moros.
 Works of ancient literature were collected and translated to Tagalog and other dialects.

Characteristics, Forms and Examples

Characteristics
1. Non-secular (Religious literature)
Subjects revolved around the life and death of Jesus Christ.
2. Secular (Non-religious literature)
Subjects revolved around tales of valiance and adventure.

FORMS OF non-SECULAR (RELIGIOUS) LITERATURE

1. Pasyon
 The Pasyón is a Philippine epic narrative of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In
stanzas of five lines of eight syllables each, the standard elements of epic poetry are interwoven with a
colorful, dramatic theme.
 The entirety of the text is chanted during the Lenten season and particularly Holy Week, and is a
popular Filipino Catholic devotion
2. Senakulo
 Senakulo, derived from the Spanish word cenáculo which means the “place where Jesus Christ
celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples.”, is a play or re-enactment depicting the life and passion
of Jesus Christ (Senakulo, 2019).
3. Komedya
 Komedya, a theatrical tradition by Filipinos, sometimes comes in a form of singing, describes conflicts
between Christians and Muslims, and was used by the Spanish to promote Christianity in the
Philippines (Suavillo, 2020).
 It is brought to the Philippines for entertainment, likewise, to spread the Christian faith.
Forms of Komedya
1. Religious Komedya, usually seen during church celebrations, portrays the life of Christ or any saint.
2. Secular Komedya is a form of entertainment usually performed at the local fiestas. A well-known example
of Secular Komedya is Santacruzan - a story that portrays the search for the Holy Cross by queen Elena of the
Roman Empire and her son, Emperor Constantine.
FORMS OF secular (NON-RELIGIOUS) LITERATURE
1. Awit
 The awit is a Filipino poem written in dodecasyllabic (i.e.12-syllable) verse called plosa, following the
pattern of rhyming stanzas established in Pasyon.
 Subjects of awit are tales of chivalry where a knight saves a princess.
 One influential work in the awit form is Florante at Laura, an 1838 narrative poem written by
Francisco Balagtas.
2. Korido
 Korido is the generic name for Philippine romances.
 It is a metrical romance in octosyllabic (i.e. 8 syllables) verse called hakira.
 Odulia de Guzman's "Ibong Adarna" is a well-known example of korido.
3. Prose narratives
 Prose Narratives are written to prescribe proper decorum.
 A good example of a prose narrative is the "Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si Urbana at
Feliza", written by Presbitero Modesto de Castro in 1864.

MODULE 2
21st Century Genres
 ILLUSTRATED NOVEL
 Story through text and illustrated images.
 50% of the narrative is presented without words.
 The reader must interpret the images to comprehend the story completely.
 Textual portions are presented in traditional form.
 Some illustrated novels may contain no text at all.
 Span all genres.
 DIGI-FICTION
 Triple Media Literature
 Combines three media: book, movie/video, and internet website.
 To get the full story, students must engage in navigation, reading, and viewing in all three
forms.
 GRAPHIC NOVEL
 Narrative in comic book formats
 Narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using a comic form.
 The term is employed in broadly manner, encompassing non-fiction works and thematically
linked short stories as well as fictional stories across several genres.
 MANGA
 Japanese word for comics
 It is used in the English-speaking world as a generic term for all comic books and graphic
novels originally published in Japan.
 Considered as an artistic and storytelling style.
 Ameri-manga- sometimes used to refer to comics created by American artists in manga style.
 Shonen- Boy’s Manga; Shojo- Girl’s Manga; Seinen- Men’s Manga; Josei- Women’s Manga;
Kodomo- Children’s Manga
 DOODLE FICTION
 Literary presentation where the author incorporates doodle writing, drawings and handwritten
graphics in place of the traditional font.
 Drawing enhances the story, often adding humorous elements.
 TEXT-TALK NOVELS
 Blogs, email, and IM format narratives
 Stories told almost entirely in dialogue simulating social network exchanges.
 CHICK LIT or CHICK LITERATURE
 Is genre fiction which addresses issues of modern womanhood, often humorously and
lightheartedly.
 Chick Lit typically features a female protagonist whose femininity is heavily thermalizing in the
plot.
 FLASH FICTION
 Is a style of fictional literature of extreme brevity.
 There is no widely accepted definition of the length and category. It could range from word to a
thousand.
 SIX-WORD FLASH FICTION
 Ernest Hemingway: For sale: baby socks, never worn.
  Margaret Atwood: Longed for him. Got him, Shit.
 CREATIVE NON-FICTION
 Also known as literary non-fiction or narrative non-fiction.
 A genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate
narratives.
 Contrasts with other non-fiction, such as technical writing or journalism, which is also rooted
in accurate fact, but is not primarily written in service to its craft.
 As a genre, creative non-fiction is still relatively young and is only beginning to be scrutinized
with the same critical analysis given to fiction and poetry.
 SCIENCE FICTION
 Is a genre of speculative fiction dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic science
and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, a parallel universe and extra-
terrestrial life.
 Often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations and has been
called a “literature of ideas”.
 BLOG
 A weblog, a website containing short articles called posts that are changed regularly.
 Some blogs are written by one person containing his or her own opinions, interests and
experiences, while others are written by different people.

 HYPER POETRY
 Digital poetry that uses links and hypertext mark-up.
 It can either involved set words, phrases, lines, etc. that are presented in variable order but sit
on the page much as traditional poetry does, or it can contain parts of the poem that move and
transform.
 It is usually found online, through CD-ROM and diskette versions exist. The earliest examples
date to no later than the mid-1980’s.

MODULE 3
Context and Text Meaning:
 Literary Contexts refer to the description of events, people and background information in literature
that gives the reader a clearer understanding of what is happening in the text.
 Literary Contexts guide the readers in analyzing literary piece in a more accurate way, leading them
to understand and better appreciate the work.
Some factors that affect the reading process:
 Lack of knowledge about the topic or author’s background
 Inability to understand the words used in the text
 Lack of time to spend for reading
 Negative attitude towards reading itself
Whatever the reason may be, the simple truth that reading is an essential part of our lives. It is a part
of our mental, emotional, social, and spiritual growth. Hence, it is something that we must embrace and
cultivate as an academic skill.

Types of Contexts:
I. BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXTS
1. Educational Background- talks about the educational attainment and academic achievements of
the author.
2. Professional Background- as you continue to read the life of the author you will discover more,
like how he or she started his or her career in writing. You will learn his or her milestones as a
writer.
3. Socioeconomic Background- as you read about the author’s life, you will also find out about his
or her family. You will know about his or her family background and other significant childhood
and adulthood experiences.
Here are biographical strategies that you may use:
• Research on what the author believes in and what he or she does not.
• Analyze how the author’s belief system is reflected in his or her work.
• Look at the author’s other works and analyze if there is a pattern with regards to the theme that is
indicative of his or her life and beliefs.
When you are reading literature through a biographical context:
• In what year was the text written and published?
• Is there anything significant that happened in the author’s life during this time? What were the
circumstances that happened to the author before the writing of the text?
 • Were there several drafts of the text? What can you say about the changes that the author made?
What aspects do you think the author struggled with during the revision? What is the effect of the
revisions to the published text?
• Are there characters and situations in the text that could be representative of or are similar to the
ones in the author’s life?
• How will knowing about the author amplify your appreciation of the work?

II. LINGUISTIC CONTEXTS

- Focus on the language used in the literary text and how it is used to convey meaning. Pay
careful attention to sentence structures, grammar patterns, and vocabulary used in the text.

The following are some strategies you may use to read a text through the linguistic context:
• Analyze the diction or choice of words in the text.
• Examine the texts’ syntax or use of sentences, clauses, phrases, line cuts, etc.
• Observe the use of figurative language.
• Analyze the mood and tone of the text.
• Observe the text’s overall structure.
• Analyze the content of the text.

Levels of Comprehension:
1. Literal Comprehension- simply means reading the lines; as your read a text, take note of specific
details that relate to who, what, when, where, why, and how questions. These details are literally
found or written in the text.
2. Inferential Comprehension- refers to reading between the lines. This means you must determine the
meaning of certain words and expressions within the text not by using the dictionary, but by using
context clues.
 Context clues are surrounding words and phrases in the text that are used to give meaning to
unfamiliar words and phrases such as idiomatic expressions and figures of speech. Having the ability
to read through context clues makes reading more fun and interesting.
Common Types of Context Clues:
a. Synonyms- is a word or phrase with the same meaning.
Example: The harlequin, like the circus clown, was a fool who loved to perform.
b. Antonyms- is a word or phrase with the opposite meaning.
Example: Jerry is very clumsy, but his sister is adroit.
c. Explanation- sometimes the meaning of a word or phrase is explained immediately following its use.
Example: Etymology, which is the study of the origin of words, finds many teachers taking the bull by
its horns when unraveling the mysteries of vocabulary studies.
d. Example- writers use words like “such as”, “for instance” and “for example” to indicate examples.
Example: The student was suffering from anxiety. For example, when he first saw the test, he began
to tremble.

3. Evaluative Comprehension
- It takes your imagination outside of the text.
- It enables you to generalize, form new conclusions, or make judgments about certain issues
presented explicitly or implicitly in the text.
- This level of comprehension develops your critical thinking. To reach this level, you must go
through the literal and inferential levels first.
- Evaluative comprehension requires the reader to move beyond the text to consider what they
think and believe in relation to the message in the text.
- It is at this point that readers/viewers are required to justify their opinions, argue for a
particular viewpoint, critically analyze the content and determine the position of the author.

Here are guide questions that may help you when you read literature through the linguistic context:

• What were the striking words in the text? What words were unfamiliar to you? Which words attracted
your attention? What words were dramatic?
• What literary devices are used? Are there images? Do those images stand for anything aside from their
literal meaning?
• What is the tone? Is the speaker happy about the subject? Is the tone negative or positive?
• What is the structure of the text? Is it a narrative? Is it linear or nonlinear? What is the point of view of
the text? Is it a poem? What type of poem is it?
 • Does the language help in delivering and understanding its content? Is there a theme? What is it
saying about its subject matter? How do the literary elements contribute to the effectiveness of the
text?
• What is the text saying about the world in general?

III. SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXTS

- In reading using the sociocultural context, you must focus on understanding the social,
economic, political and cultural forces affecting the literary work. It combines social and
cultural elements that are significant in understanding and appreciating a work of literature.
Consider the following questions in analyzing the sociocultural context embedded in the
literary piece.

Questions to ponder:
• How does the literary piece depict society?
• With what societal issues is it concerned?
• Does the work describe real events, or some that are strikingly like real events?
• What is the relationship between the characters or the speakers in the text and their society?
• Does the text explicitly address issues of gender, race, or class? How does the text resolve these
issues?
• Who has the power? Who does not? What is the reason for this setup?
• How does this story reflect the nation? What does this say about the country and its inhabitants?
• Who has the economic or social power? Is there oppression or class struggle? How do the characters
overcome this? Does money or finances play a large role in the narrative?
• What is the prevailing social order? Does the story or poem accept or challenge it?

Sensory Images or Imagery

The literary term used for language and description that appeal to our senses. Sensory imagery
explores the five human senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.
TYPES OF IMAGERY
 VISUAL IMAGERY
The sense of sight or also called Visual Imagery is what you can see and includes visual
descriptions. Physical attributes including color, size, shape, lightness and darkness, shadows, and
shade is all part of visual imagery.
 GUSTATORY IMAGERY
The sense of taste or Gustatory Imagery is what you can taste and includes flavors. This can
include the five basic tastes—sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami—as well as the textures and
sensations tied to the act of eating.
 TACTILE IMAGERY
The sense of touch or Tactile Imagery is what you can feel and includes textures and the many
sensations a human being experiences when touching something. Differences in temperature is also a
part of tactile imagery.
 AUDITORY IMAGERY
The sense of hearing or Auditory Imagery is the way things sound. Literary devices such as
onomatopoeia and alliteration can help create sounds in writing.
 OLFACTORY IMAGERY
The sense of smell or Olfactory Imagery is one of the most direct triggers of memory and
emotion but can be difficult to write about. Since taste and smell are so closely linked, you’ll
sometimes find the same words (such as “sweet”) used to describe both. Simile is common in olfactory
imagery, because it allows writers to compare a particular scent to common smells like dirt, grass,
manure, or roses.

MODULE 4
Creative Representation of a Literary Text:
Lesson 1: Multimedia Formats in Interpreting Literary Text
Multimedia formats that you can use to creatively interpret various genres of
literary texts:
1. Blog or a “weblog” is a website containing informational articles about a
person’s own opinions, interests and experiences. These are usually
changed regularly (DepEd 2013, 9).

2. Mind mapping is a graphical technique to visualize connections of

ideas and pieces of information. This tool structures information to
better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas.
You can use Microsoft Word or online mind mapping tools in creating a
mind map (Pasuello 2017).
 3. Mobile phone text tula is a traditional Filipino poem. A particular example
of this poem is a tanaga that consists of 4 lines with 7 syllables each with
the same rhyme at the end of each line. (DepEd 2013, 8).
4. Slideshow presentation is created with the use
of Microsoft PowerPoint. It contains series of
pictures or pages of information (slides) arranged in sequence and
often displayed on a large screen using a video projector (Computer Hope
2018).
5. Tag cloud is a visual, stylized arrangement of
words or tags within a textual content such as websites, articles, speeches and
databases (Techopedia 2020).
6. Video is an electronic device used to record, copy,
playback, broadcast, and display moving visual media
(Lexico 2020).

Lesson 2: Applying ICT Skills in Interpreting Literary Texts

 An anecdote is a short entertaining or interesting story about a real incident or person (Nagpal 2016).
 Anecdotes tell about a variety of stories and tales, since they can be about any topic under the sun. It
is a short story about a real person or event which usually intends to make the listeners laugh or
ponder over a topic (Your Dictionary 2020).
Purposes of Anecdotes:
1. To Bring Cheer
Stories pop up anywhere and these are just sometimes making people laugh to brighten their mood.
Here is an example of an anecdote meant to look back on happy memories:
 At the dinner, a Grade 11 learner shared his story on his first day at school when he got lost and
attended a wrong class.
2. To Reminisce
In most anecdotes, people are talking about their experiences in the past. They try to look back on
moments in their lives and share the joy of that time with others. Here is an example of an anecdote
with a hint of reminiscence:
 A mother tells her children a story about her life in the province when she was teenager.
3. To Caution
Sometimes, just giving rules for individuals is not effective. Sharing to them frightening stories of
dangers can be helpful for them to realize the possible consequences of their actions. Here is an
example of cautionary anecdote:
 Before beginning a lecture on not following traffic rules, a father tells his son an incident of collision
that caused many lives due to ignoring traffic signs.
4. To Persuade or Inspire
Sometimes, people share stories on how they surpassed their struggles in life. These, most of the time,
give encouragement to others who have been in similar situations. The message usually conveys
successes in life as a fruit of hard work. Here is an example of an inspirational anecdote:
 Before beginning a remedial class, the teacher tells the students how a boy who used to struggle in
reading managed to be a proficient reader.

MODULE 5
Elements of a Short Story:
1. Character– A character in a short story is a person, in some stories an animal, who takes part in the
action of the story or other literary work. The way an author develops the character in a story is very
important in making the story appeal to the readers. It is said that the heart of the story are the
characters. The two most important characters in a short story are the protagonist and the antagonist.
 The protagonist is considered as the main character or most important of all the characters. It
is the character who learns something or undergoes some changes throughout the course of
the story. Some stories depict the protagonist as the hero of the story, while in other stories the
protagonist is not considered a hero as he has done nothing heroic. In any case, the story
always revolves around the protagonist.
 The antagonist is the character that challenges the main character. It has no concern for the
well-being of the main character. The antagonist may be a person, the nature, the society, or
any intangible matter that contends with or creates a problem for the protagonist.
2. Setting– The place (locale) and time (period) when the story happens is called the setting. The setting
may be based on real place and real time or it may also be based on the author’s imagination. When
analyzing the setting of the story, consider where the action is taking place. Most authors use
descriptive words to describe the landscape, scenery, buildings, season, or weather to provide a strong
sense of setting which will help the reader visualize the story and connect to the story’s plot.
3. Plot– A plot is the actual story. It is what the story is all about. It is also the series of events and
characters’ actions that lead to the highest point of interest in a short story. The following are the
different parts of a story’s structure:
  Exposition –This is the beginning of the story. This is where the author introduces the
characters, identifies where the story is happening, and establishes the main conflict.
 Rising Action–This event occurs as you begin to move throughout the story. This is where
conflicts start to build.
 Climax– It is the most exciting part of a short story. This is the part in the story when
important decisions are made or important things are discovered.
 Falling Action– This point occurs after the climax as the problems in the story start to work
themselves out. The excitement becomes less and less as the conflict is resolved.
 Resolution– This is the solution to the problem in a story. The solution may not be what you
hoped for but as long as it fits the story in tone and theme, the conflict has been resolved.
4. Conflict– Every story needs to have a problem and this problem is called conflict. The main character,
also called the protagonist, needs to have someone or something to challenge him. Without conflict,
the story will not go anywhere and will not be very interesting to the readers. The main character may
be faced with one of the four different types of conflict. These four types of conflict are:
 man versus man;
 man versus nature;
 man versus himself; and
 man versus society.
5. Theme- This is the central idea in a short story and a general truth. This is considered as the author’s
message to the readers.
6. Point of View – This is the way the story is told or narrated. It is also known as the vantage point that
a writer uses to narrate the story. The following are the types of point of view in a short story:
a. First Person – the narrator participates in and tells the story using the pronoun ‘I’.
b. Limited Third Person – the narrator is not in the story and narrates using the pronouns ‘she’ or
‘he’. Also, the narrator is unable to see into the minds of the characters.
c. Omniscient Third Person – the narrator is not in the story and tells the story using the pronouns
‘she’ or ‘he’. In this point of view, the narrator can tell the thoughts of the characters as he can see
into their minds.