21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

I.Critical Approaches to Literature

 Literary Criticism - way of viewing or interpreting literature by using different lens
(perspectives)
 “Literary criticism” is the name given to works written by experts who critique—analyze—an
author’s work.
 It does NOT mean “to criticize” as in complain or disapprove.
 Literary criticism is often referred to as a “secondary source”.

1. Reader-Response Approach
great deal of meaning in a text lies with how the reader responds to it.
act of reading and how it affects our perception of meaning in a text
A text is an experience, not an object.

READER + READING SITUATION + TEXT = MEANING

2. Formalist Approach
emphasizes the form of a literary work
text is an independent entity.
analysis of the effects of literary elements and techniques on the text.

A primary goal for formalist critics is to determine how such elements work together with the
text’s content to shape its effects upon readers.

Sociological Approach
Focuses on the values of a society and how those views are reflected in a text.
Emphasizes the economic, political, and cultural issues within literary texts.
Core Belief: Literature is a reflection of its society.

3. Marxist Approach
emphasizes economic and social conditions.
It is based on the political theory of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Concerned with understanding the role of power, politics, and money in literary texts.

4. Feminist Approach
Feminist Criticism is concerned with the role, position, and influence of women in a literary
text.
Asserts that most “literature” throughout time has been written by men, for men.
Examines the way that the female consciousness is depicted by both male and female writers.

5. Biographical Approach
argues that we must take an author’s life and background into account when we study a text.
Facts about an author’s experience can help a reader decide how to interpret a text.
A reader can better appreciate a text by knowing a writer’s struggles or difficulties in creating
that text.
A reader can understand a writer’s preoccupation by studying the way they apply and modify
their own life experiences in their works.

6. Psychological/ Psychoanalytic Approach

Psychological Criticism views a text as a revelation of its author’s mind and personality. It is
based on the work of Sigmund Freud.
Also focuses on the hidden motivations of literary characters.

7. New Historicist Approach

Provides background information necessary to understand how literary texts were perceived
in their time.
Shows how literary texts reflect ideas and attitudes of the time in which they were written.
Studying the history reveals more about the text; studying the text reveals more about the
history.
II.FACTS ABOUT CHINA:
1. Ghost marriages one or both parties involved, are dead.
2. (wujiao) - afternoon naps
3. “Virgin Boy Egg” is a popular Chinese delicacy
4. (ding zui- substitute criminals) use of body doubles
5. Walmart stores in China - sell almost “all” kinds of dead animals
6. Births restriction
7. Children toilet etiquette - children wear special pants with big hole bottoms.
8. Yaodongs - cave dwellings
9. geese are used as police animals - Because of their aggressive nature and keen vision
10. The great wall was built with only four materials: Soil, stone, sand, brick,
11. Sticky rice - made the cement sticky to glue the bricks together
12. New South China Mall - world’s largest mall is in China

III.FACTS ABOUT JAPAN:

1. Nippon- the land of the rising sun.
2. Mr. Yuichiro Miura- oldest climber of Mount Everest.
3. Tale of Genji- first Japanese novel which was written by a Japanese noble woman, Murasaki
Shikibu.
4. Animated Japanese films and television series (anime) - 60% of the world’s animation
5. Geisha - means “person of the arts”.
6. Ikebana - Japanese flower arrangement art
7. Origami - Japanese art of folding papers.
8. Japanese Tea Ceremony- Three terms: Chanoyu, Sado and Ocha.

9. Japanese Styles
a. Yukata- for men
b. Kimono- women
c. Zori- traditional sandals

10. Religions:
a. Shinto - believes that all living and non-living things contain spirits (kami).
b. Buddhism- arrived in Japan because of cultural diffusion.
It divided into different sects, including Jodo, Shin, Nichiren, and Zen.
c. Confucianism- strong emphasis placed on the principles of filial piety and loyalty to parents.

11. Japanese Writing System:

a. Kanji- ideographs from Chinese characters.
b. Kana - pair of syllabaries, consisting of:
- Hiragana - native Japanese words.
- Katakana- foreign loanwords

12. Japanese Dramas:

a. Noh Play - national theatre of Japan, which was originally reserved for nobility.
b. Joruri Play- a puppet play or doll theatre
c. Kabuki - play for the masses. It is less intellectual and more realistic, even sensational.

13. Japanese Poetry:

a. Tanka- a five-lined poem. 57577
b. Haiku- a seventeen-syllable poem of three lines. 575
IV.READING APPROACHES

Reading Approach
 solving students reading problems
 demanded to read more to improve their knowledge and get new ideas
 Inferencing, guessing, and predicting are skills developed in reading
 know about the different of culture
 pronounce the words correctly
 improve English skills

SKIMMING
 main idea is quickly identified
 read shorter texts to extract accurate details
 three to four times faster than regular reading
 find dates, names, and places
 seeking specific information rather than reading for comprehension

SCANNING
 quickly reading a text to get the summary of it.
 search for keywords or ideas.
 find answers to questions.

EXTENSIVE READING
 large amount of reading.
 review of unfamiliar words, to learn unknown words.
 free reading of books and other written material
 Extensive Reading is sometimes called Free Voluntary Reading.

INTENSIVE READING
 intimate study of a text to get its literary or linguistic meaning.
 read the text with concentration and due care in detail.
 V.DIFFERENTIATING 21ST CENTURY LITERARY GENRES

Graphic fiction / graphic novel - comic book narrative that is equivalent in form and dimension to the prose
novel
FEATURES OF GRAPHIC NOVEL
1. Autographic forms – marks of author's handwriting
2. encourage interactivity in the minds.
3. Combines book and screen.
EXAMPLES:
1. "In the Shadow of No Tower: 9/11"
2. "The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers"
3. "Louis Riel"

Flash fiction - known as micro stories, postcard fiction, nanotales and short stories.
CHARACTERISTICS OF FLASH FICTION
1. Brevity - fewest words as possible.
2. Complete plot - development of beginning, middle and ending of the story.
3. Surprising ending - twist at the end of the story.

EXAMPLES:
• "Angels and Blueberries
• "Taylor Swift"
• “Unnecessary Things"

VI.LITERARY GENRE ON CREATIVE MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION

• Multimedia - interaction of different media types like animation, video, text and sound.
• multimedia components - blogs, vlogs, webinars and other interactive content.

There are various components of multimedia such as:

a. Videos
- primary component in multimedia, especially those that appear online and on television. Here is a
list of multimedia formats

Format File Description

MPEG .mpg .mpeg MPEG. Developed by the
Moving Pictures Expert
Group. The first popular video
format on the web. Not
supported anymore in HTML.
AVI .avi AVI (Audio Video Interleave).
Developed by Microsoft.
Commonly used in video
cameras and TV hardware.
Plays well on Windows
computers, but not in web
browsers.
 WMA .wma WMA (Windows Media
Audio).

flash swf Flash Video is a container file

(small web file} format used to deliver digital
video content over the Internet
using Adobe Flash Player
version 6 and newer.
MP3 .mp3 MP3 files are actually the
sound part of MPEG files.
MP3 is the most popular
format for music players.
Combines good compression
(small files) with high quality.
Supported by all browsers.
MP4 .mp4 MP4 is a video format, but can
also be used for audio.
Supported by all browsers.

b. Animation
- Animation is a form of art for most people, especially those that are in the business of
producing animated movies, allowing users to directly affect the outcome of animated
components and events. Flash is the most common platform for animation,

c. Text
- most common among the types of multimedia components in different applications.

d. Images
- needed to create videos and animation.

e. Audio
- Voiceovers comprise a tremendous number of the types of multimedia components. Audio
files include background music and special effects..

2. Characteristic of a Multimedia
• can be used in the presentations
• You can also download the multimedia presentation or play it live.
• Multimedia technology has improved the learning experience by combining various forms of
media together.

3. Benefits of Using Multimedia

• Digital storytelling allows students to improve their knowledge.
• Using multimedia improve a learner’s overall academic performance.
• Students manage their time and assess what needs to be included in their learning activities.

VII. ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY:

1. Character – a person, in some stories an animal, who takes part in the action of the story or other
literary work.

The two most important characters in a short story are the protagonist and the antagonist.
 protagonist is considered as the main character or most important of all the characters.
 antagonist is the character that challenges the main character.

2. Setting– The place (locale) and time (period) when the story. It may be based on real place and
real time or it may also be based on the author’s imagination.
 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.

 Exposition –This is the beginning of the story. This is where the author
 Rising Action– This is where conflicts start to build.
 Climax– It is the most exciting part of a short story.
 Falling Action– start to work themselves out.
 Resolution– This is the solution to the problem in a story.

4. Conflict–problem
 man versus man;
 man versus nature;
 man versus himself; and
 man versus society.

5. Theme- central idea, author’s message to the readers.

6. Point of View –the way the story is told or narrated:

 First Person – the narrator participates in and tells the story using the pronoun ‘I’.
 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.

 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.

VIII.INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY OR ICT

ICT skills - understanding and applying a range of computer programs, software and other
applications.
These include: word processing, spreadsheets, databases, power points and search engines.

ICT - Information and Communication Technology

- all technologies that, combined, allow people and organizations to interact in the digital
world.

The Story of the Pencil By: Paulo Coelho

The Grandchild was looking at

his grandma writing a letter.
Suddenly he
asked: “Are you writing a story
about us? Is it by chance a
story about me?”
The grandma stopped writing,
smiled and said to her grandchild,
“Indeed
I am writing about you, however
more important than the words is
the pencil I am
using. I hope you will be like this
pencil when you grow up.”
The child looked at the pencil
curiously, but could not see
anything special.
“But . . . it is exactly the same as
every other pencil I saw in my
life.”
“It is all in the way you
look at things. There are five
qualities in that pencil
that, if you will be able to
maintain, will make you a man in
peace with the whole
world.
‘First quality: you can make big
things, but never forget that there
is a hand
guiding your steps. This hand we
call it God, and he will always
have to address you
towards his will.’
The Grandchild was looking at
his grandma writing a letter.
Suddenly he
asked: “Are you writing a story
about us? Is it by chance a
story about me?”
The grandma stopped writing,
smiled and said to her grandchild,
“Indeed
I am writing about you, however
more important than the words is
the pencil I am
using. I hope you will be like this
pencil when you grow up.”
The child looked at the pencil
curiously, but could not see
anything special.
“But . . . it is exactly the same as
every other pencil I saw in my
life.”
“It is all in the way you
look at things. There are five
qualities in that pencil
that, if you will be able to
maintain, will make you a man in
peace with the whole
world.
‘First quality: you can make big
things, but never forget that there
is a hand
guiding your steps. This hand we
call it God, and he will always
have to address you
towards his will.’
The Grandchild was looking at
his grandma writing a letter.
Suddenly he
asked: “Are you writing a story
about us? Is it by chance a
story about me?”
The grandma stopped writing,
smiled and said to her grandchild,
“Indeed
I am writing about you, however
more important than the words is
the pencil I am
using. I hope you will be like this
pencil when you grow up.”
The child looked at the pencil
curiously, but could not see
anything special.
“But . . . it is exactly the same as
every other pencil I saw in my
life.”
“It is all in the way you
look at things. There are five
qualities in that pencil
that, if you will be able to
maintain, will make you a man in
peace with the whole
world.
‘First quality: you can make big
things, but never forget that there
is a hand
guiding your steps. This hand we
call it God, and he will always
have to address you
towards his will.’
The Grandchild was looking at his grandma writing a letter. Suddenly he asked: "Are you writing a story
about us? Is it by chance a story about me?"
 The grandma stopped writing, smiled and said to her grandchild, "Indeed I am writing about you, however
more important than the words is the pencil I am using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow
up."
The child looked at the pencil curiously, but could not see anything special.
"But... it is exactly the same as every other pencil I saw in my life."
"It is all in the way you look at things. There are five qualities in that pencil that, if you will be able to
maintain, will make you a man in peace with the whole world.
'First quality: you can make big things, but never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. This hand
we call it God, and he will always have to address you towards his will.'
Second quality: sometimes I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. This makes the pencil suffer a little,
but at the end it will be sharper. So, learn to bear a little pain because it will make you a better man.'
Third Quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to cancel mistakes. Understand that correcting
something we did is not necessarily a bad thing, but something fundamental to keep us on the right path.'
'Fourth quality: what is really important in the pencil is not the wood or the shape, but the lead that is
inside. So, be always careful of what happens inside of yourself.'
'At the end, the fifth quality is: always leave a sign. In any case, be aware that everything you do in your
life will leave trails; try to be conscious of every single
1. It is an approach wherein students are demanded to read more to c. Japan
improve knowledge. d. Brunei
a. skimming
b. scanning 10. The Philippines is on the Asian continent. If the Philippines is part
c. extensive reading of it, which specific region on Asia does the Philippinesbelong?
d. reading approach a. Southeast Asia
b. West Asia
2. It is an activity to read shorter texts to extract accurate detailed c. Central Asia
information. d. South Asia
a. reading approach
b. skimming
c. extensive reading 11.The use of ropes for hunting, pulling, fastening, attaching,
d. scanning carrying, lifting,
and climbing dates to prehistoric times. In Asia, the very first ropes
3. It is quickly reading a text to get the summary of it. ever
a. skimming made were twisted from hemp fibers. Hemp rope was used during the
age of
b. reading approach
sailing ships. Hemp was considered ______.
c. extensive reading
a. endangered and should not be used
d. scanning
b. one of the most durable natural ropes in the world
4. It is sometimes called a Free Voluntary Reading. c. sacred and respected
a. extensive reading d. tested and trusted
b. scanning 12. The rope tied a shrine space, or across its entrances, to mark its
c. skimming sacred
d. reading approach nature is called the shimenawa. Traditionally woven from hemp, but
nowadays more frequently rice or wheat straw, this rope and its shide
5. Alyssa wants to answer questions quickly, so she looked for key paper
words in the selection. She used ______. streamers is a common part of New Year decors. Which statement is
a. scanning false?
b. extensive reading a. Shimenawa serves as a garland.
c. reading approach b. Shimenawa marks a sacred place.
d. skimming c. Shimenawa is a rope.
d. Shimenawa is only made from hemp.
6. Abigail listed down words that she didn’t know the meaning and
searched for it in the dictionary. She is using ______. 13. Onigiri are Japanese rice balls. They're fun to make and are a
a. scanning staple of
b. extensive reading Japanese lunchboxes (bento). You can put almost anything in an
c. reading approach onigiri. Try
d. skimming substituting grilled salmon, pickled plums, beef, pork, turkey, or tuna
with
7.Daniel identified the main idea of the text she is reading. She used mayonnaise. Which statement is true?
______. a. Onigiri’s origin is not known.
a. scanning b. Onigiri is a Filipino staple food.
b. extensive reading c. Onigiri is a Japanese rice ball.
c. skimming d. Onigiri is a Korean kimbap.
d. reading approach
14. Africa is the second largest continent after Asia. Most of Africa lies within
8. Sir Allan emphasized that this approach is important for students to the tropical region. It contains an enormous wealth of mineral resources
read effectively. He is talking about ______.
like fossil fuels, metallic ores, and gems. Which statement does not talk
a. extensive reading
about Africa?
b. scanning
a. Africa’s weather is humid and hot.
c. reading approach
b. Africa is rich in natural resources.
d. skimming
c. Africa is an archipelago.
d. Africa is second to Asia in size.
9. Daniela wanted to see the Sakura Festival. Which country is she
going to visit?
a. Singapore 15. Equality is not always about treating everyone the same. It is
b. Thailand about treating
people in such a way that the outcome for each person can be the
same.
This statement could mean _______.
a. putting things in place to support people achieve similar outcomes.
b. lending things to people who are deprived of material things.
c. giving similar materials to all people who need it.
d. allowing someone to get what he wants.