CORE SUBJECT

21ST CENTURY LITERATURE FROM THE

PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD
_____SEMESTER, SY _______
QUARTER 1, MODULE 5
DISCUSSING CONTEXTS THAT
ENHANCE MEANING AND
ENRICH READER’S
UNDERSTANDNG
21ST Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Self-Learning Module (SLM)
___ Semester Quarter 1– Module 5: Discussing Contexts that Enhance Meaning and
Enrich Reader’s Understanding
First Edition, 2021

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 Lesson Discussing Contexts that Enhance
Meaning and Enrich Reader’s
Understanding

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the SHS 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
MODULE 5!

MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCY

• Discuss how different contexts enhance the text’s meaning and enrich the reader’s
understanding.

In your previous lesson, you have acquired the knowledge about the elements,
structures and traditions of both early literature and 21st century literature which are
prevalent in better understanding the texts meanings.

This module is designed to enhance and enrich your understanding of the context
embedded in a literary piece be it historical, biographical, or political and how they affect
the literary piece as a whole.

Motivation Questions:

Do you know the history of World War II?

Don’t you know that during World War II there were Romblomanon veterans / civilians who
fought with the Japanese soldiers and bravely helped fellow Romblomanons to escape from
death?

LESSON AND PRACTICES

Context originates from the notion of weaving together. It is defined as the

circumstances that form the setting of events, statements, or ideas and in the way of which it
can be fully understood and assessed. Reading a literary piece may contribute to the
production of the author and the reception of the reader as they appreciate and explore.
The writer's context is knowing about the writer's life, values, assumptions, gender,
 race, race, sexual orientation, and the political and economic issues related to the
author.
Reader's context is about the reader's previous reading experience, values,
assumptions, political and economic issues.
The text's context is about its publishing history. It is part of the larger text such as
newspaper, history, events, translated in it.
Social context and socio-cultural of a text feature the society in which the
characters live and in which the author's text was produced. (Miranda, 2020)

Undoubtedly, all the literary texts that you have read are written by various
authors who have different background, society, culture, language, etc. On the same way,
you, as a reader, differs from the writer of the text you are reading as well as the other
readers.

Some contexts commonly used in Literary Reading/Criticism are as follows (Kennedy &
Gioia 2012):

1. Biographical Context - Looking through the eyes of the author helps us understand the
text. By doing so, you may connect the characters and their morals to the author’s life and
analyze the patterns of behavior shown between and among the characters, the author and
you, yourself, as a reader. Biographical information provides the practical assistance of
highlighting subtle but important meanings.

▪ Uses the insight provided by knowledge of the author’s life;

▪ Reader, however must use biographical interpretations cautiously;
▪ Life story can overwhelm and eventually distort work. A savvy biographical critic
always remembers to base an interpretation on what is in the text itself;
▪ Biographical data should intensify meaning to the text, not drown it out with
irrelevant
material.

2. Historical Context – seeks to understand a literary work by investigating the social,

cultural, and intellectual context that produced it.
▪ Sees a literary work chiefly as a reflection of the author’s life and times or the life;
and times of the characters in the work;
▪ Re-creates, as nearly as possible, the exact meaning and impact it had on its
original audience; and
 ▪ Begins by exploring the possible ways the meaning of the text has changed over
time.

3. Formalist Context – The critic pays special attention to the formal features of the text –
the style, structure, imagery, tone, and genre. These critics believe that what gives a
literary text its special status as art is how all of its elements work together to create the
reader’s total experience.
▪ Close reading – a careful step-by-step analysis and explication of a text;
▪ Insists that form and content cannot be meaningfully separated; 2

▪ Focuses on the text itself to explain how it produces a complex effect on the reader;
and
▪ Assumes the autonomy of the work itself and the relatively unimportance of extra-
literary consideration such as author’s bio, political influences, etc.
ELEMENTS
Setting- The setting is the place where the story takes place. Setting includes the
following:
the geographical location, the time period, the socio-economic characteristics of the
location ( for example, wealthy suburbs, depressed society)
Characters– The persons in the story
Plot- The series of related events that make up a story or drama.
• Exposition– introduces the basic situation, the characters and the setting.
• Rising Action– Complications develop that intensifies the conflict.
• Climax- The tensest and most exciting part of the plot.
• Falling Action- The problem is given a solution.
• Denouement-The problem is totally resolved. All mysteries are unraveled.

Conflict- Dramatic struggle between two forces in a story. Without conflict, there is
no plot. Also called the problem.
Point of View– Also called as perspective. It answers the question, “Who is telling
the story?”
• 1st Person Point of View– The narrator is a character in the story. It uses the
personal pronoun “I”.
• 3rd Person Limited– The narrator is outside the story and limits his story
based from his observations.
• 3rd Person Omniscient– The person telling the story knows everything that’s
going on in the story. He knows the characters’ feelings and thoughts.
 Theme– It is the central idea of the story. It may be stated directly or implied by the
events and actions in the story.
Atmosphere- The prevailing emotional and mental climate of a piece of fiction.
Dialogue- The reproduction of a conversation between two of the characters.

LITERARY DEVICES
Imagery is creating a picture in the reader's mind by using words that appeal to the
senses. There are types of Imagery that are used in this module. (Menoy 2016))
Visual imagery produced by the use of words that appeal to the sense of sight.
Auditory imagery produced by the use of words that appeal to the sense of
hearing.
Kinesthetic imagery produced by the use of words that appeal to the actions and
movement.
Literary Techniques are methods the author or writer of a literary piece used to
convey what they want to impart to the reader, such as Flashback where the events have
taken place before the present time the narration is following.

4. Sociological Context – examines literature in the cultural, economic, and political

context. (Might include Cultural Criticism, which identifies both the overt and covert values
reflected in a cultural practice.)
▪ “it is the work not simply of a person, but of an author fixed in time and space,
answering a community …”;
▪ What cultural, economic or political values a particular text implicitly or explicitly
promotes; and
▪ Illuminates political and economic dimensions of literature other approaches
overlook.
(For other contexts such as Psychological, Moral/Intellectual, mythological, etc. you may
refer to Kennedy & Gioia’s work. The complete reference was listed under the References
section of this module.)

Vocabulary Development 3

Directions: Identify the meaning of the underlined words used in the following sentences.
Choose the letter of the correct answer from the box below.
 a. an employee of a company that transports commercial packages and
documents
b. anything handed down from, or as from, an ancestor
c. refrain from killing, injuring, or distressing
d. become unsteady and unreliable
e. not defeated, especially in a battle or other contest

1. Tatay Kedoy was a courier of the Filipino guerillas and American soldiers during
World War II.
2. His greatest legacy is his love for peace and harmony.
3. He was an undefeated municipal councilor for 27 ½ years.
4. His life was spared.
5. The kneeling man did not waver.

Read the biography of Tatay Kedo taken from the book ‘Hutik ng Tagipusuon (Whisper of
the Heart)’ by Hipolito M. Berano.

Si Tata Kedoy

(This is the story of Recardo N. Lim fondly known as Tata Kedoy in Romblon. He was an
undeafeted councilor for 27 and ½ years. His tale of heroism was narrated by his two
granddaughters, Jana Mariaclara Merano Lim and Pauline Marie Mayor Lim in an article
titled “My Lolo is a Hero”, printed in the RNHS school paper, “The Marble”.)

“Where are the American radio stations?” the Japanese officer shouted in Nipongo.

A Filipino, kneeling on the sand shook his head and answered, “I don’t know”. A big
Japanese soldier raised his sharp samurai and waited for the signal from his officer to blow
off the bowed head of the last Filipino in the row. He had just beheaded the other four.

The officer asked the same question again in-a tirade of Nipongo but the man still
answered he didn’t know. The question was repeated several times, yet, the kneeling man
did not waver; his answer was still the same.

At last the Japanese soldier lowered his samurai and put it back into its sheath. The
Filipino was saved from his death.

The man is our grandfather. Recaredo Nicolas Lim, popularly known to every
Romblomanon as “Tata Kedoy”. He was a courier of the Filipino guerillas and American
soldiers during World War II. He relayed important messages from the American soldiers to
the guerillas and vice versa. He would knock at every door warning Filipino families of the
coming of the Japanese. He knew of these attacks through secret messages via American
radios.
“Es ke bangkesong ata tikang kang,” the Japanese officer commanded. “Smi!” chorused
the Japanese soldiers as they started to march, leading the five Filipino prisoners to the shore
of San Agustin. The prisoners were sentenced to be beheaded for treason.
As they passed by the municipal building where the Japs held their office, the fifth
prisoner shouted, “Hirohito!”
“Who was Hirohito, Lolo?” we asked as we gathered around in the big living room of his
old house.
“He was the Japanese Emperor. He was the head of Japan, a very powerful man. His
word was a law.”
“Do you think they spared your life because you shouted his name?”
“Maybe. It could have softened their heart towards me, I don’t know. More probably they
were convinced I was telling them the truth”.

That you really didn’t know where those two Filipino soldiers were kept by the
Americans?”

“But you knew where they are transferred, Lolo?” we persisted.

Lolo Kedoy just smiled.

These were the best times of our childhood days. We, grandchildren, would gather in the
green pre-war house of Lolo Kedoy. Its walls with some bullet holes explained why the
family had fled to Bachawan during, Japanese invasion in Romblon. We would march
around the house, he in command using the Japanese words. All us grandchildren could
still memorize the Nipongo march: Hidarimoki… hidarya; Megimoki…megiya; Etni, Sansi,
goroko, che-che.

On the eve of the execution, Lola Gloring, (our grandmother) together with our two
uncles had to walk from Bachawan to San Agustin, approximately 30 kms. When they
reached the beach of San Agustin, Lolo Kedoy’s life was already spared. But it took 31 days
more before our Lolo was freed from captivity and that was November 3, 1943 to be exact.

Lolo Kedoy just turned 88 last Sept. 10, 1998. His life after the war was devoted to his
family and the government. He was the COCOFED Municipal Coordinator from 1977 to date
and an undefeated municipal councilor for 27 ½ years. Even after he retired in 1992, he still
continued to visit the municipal offices to listen to sessions until his tired body kept him
within the confines of the house.
 To us, our Lolo Kedoy is a hero. He may not have been awarded medals for courage
and valor but his deeds earned the respect and recognition of his townmates. He had
helped many

5
families escaped from the cruelty of the Japanese during the war. He had survived and
helped shape our lives and pass on to us rich experiences, wisdom and insight. From him
we learned the virtues of patience, dedication and respect for the rights of others. But his
greatest legacies are his love for peace and harmony and his sincere and intelligent
approach to life. His poem about war; still rings in our ears:

“In this game of life, of struggle and

fight, we can boast of our muscles and
mind.

But the mind we train, this thing we call brain,

Is the factor that wins the fight.”

(Tata Kedoy died on March 19, 2000.)

Source: Hutik ng Taguipusoon (Whisper of the Heart) Copyright of Hipolito Mallen Berano

Comprehension Questions:
1. Who is the main character in the story?
2. When did the story happen?
3. How was life during WWII as presented in the story?
4. What values were upheld by Lolo Kedoy as a veteran?
How did WWII developed Lolo Kedoy as a person?

PRACTICE EXERCISES

Practice Exercise 1
Directions: Supply the following with the biographical details about Lolo Kedoy as
characterized
by the writers in the story.
 Complete Name
Birthplace

Significant
Works/Contributions for
Romblomanon during
World War II

Work Experience after the

World War II

Year of death

Practice Exercise 2

Directions: Identify the following elements and support it with details based from the
story of Lolo Kedoy.

ELEMENTS SUPPORTING DETAILS

Word Choice

Imagery Used

Tone

Theme

Point of View

Instruction: Please write your learning from the discussion. Write your learning in your
notebook/answer sheet.

Upon reading the lesson above, I learned that

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________ and realized
that…_________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________.

WRITTEN WORKS

1. What is characterization?
a. is the literary crafting of personality through various means. It may consist
of external qualities ( physical attributes, taste for clothing),or internal
qualities ( motivations, actions, behavior).
b. is the movement of a particular literary discourse.
c. It is the description of one’s life
d. All of the above
2. How did the authors characterize Tata Kedoy?
a. through physical attributes
b. through actions and behavior
c. through example
d. all of the above
3. What do you think is the authors’ purpose in writing the life of Tata Kedoy?
a. to appreciate his tale of heroism
b. to inform the readers that their Tata Kedoy fought during World War II.
c. to inspire the readers about the life of Tata Kedoy.
d. to encourage the readers to read
4. “He may not have been awarded medals for courage and valor but his deeds earned the
respect and recognition of his townmates”. What attitude is presented in the authors’
mind by this line?
a. admiration and recognition 8

b. inspiration
c. love
d. all of the above
5. What were the values learned by the authors from Tata Kedoy?
a. Patience
b. Dedication
c. Respect for the right of others
d. All of the above
6. How did the narrator characterize Lolo Kedoy?

a. He was devoted to family and government.

b. courageous
c. dedicated to service
d. all of the above
7. What is the conflict in the story?

a. man vs. man c. man vs. forces of the society

b. man vs. himself d. man vs. the supernatural powers

8. What is the greatest legacy of Lolo Kedoy?

a. He had helped many families escaped from the cruelty of Japanese during the
war.
b. his love for peace and harmony and his sincere and intelligent approach to life
c. his devotion to his family and the government
d. all of these

9. Which context is prominent on the text about Tata Kedoy?

a. biographical c. sociological
b. historical d. formalist

10. Which of the following strengthen/s that Tata/Lolo Kedoy was a reliable source of WW2
experience with the Japanese?
I. It was his granddaughters’ article published in their school organ.
II. His wife and brothers testimonies
III. Social and political image of Lolo Kedoy was well-established.

a. I only c. II and III only

b. II only d. I, II and III
 PERFORMANCE TASK
Directions: Analyze the poem “Who Knew” by Viva Andrada O’Flynn, a Filipina poet who recently
won the Covid Theme poetry Competition using Historical and Biographical Approach. Your analysis
should contain 200-300 words. Follow the ABC(Abstract, Body Conclusion) Format.

who knew
by Viva Andrada O’flynn

who knew
we could be heroes
staying at home all day
binging on tv shows and movies
netflix, amazon prime, youtube, regular
programming,
live streaming cooking shows, exercise
videos, art workshops, musicals, jam
sessions,
poetry readings, networking meetings,
concerts, pub quizzes
we’re dressed in pjs, sofa is our throne
dreaming, planning, resting, healing ourselves
and nature
experimenting on our play and creativity
palette
mixed with words, art, recipes, fun and games
blowing bubbles, gardening, growing our
greens, DIYs
what can we learn today
a new language, hobby, craft, skill, level up
what can we support
even a 99-year-old war veteran can walk to
raise millions in donations
why can’t we
just giving fundraising to help those in need
text or bank transfer to give to charities and
those vulnerable
we work from home, mingle with our family
and friends online
we fight the virus from sreading, together
the world at home
while frontliners work around the clock to
keep life moving
staying at home all day
we could be heroes
who knew
Rubrics

CRITERIA Excellent Good Fair Needs Improvement

4 3 2 1
Introduction Introduction Introduction’s The The introduction’s
made use of a strategy introduction’s strategy actually
creative strategy produced some strategy made made the reader stop
to produce a desire on the the reader the reading the text.
strong desire on reader to read indifferent to
the reader to further. the text.
read further
Focus and All the details All details Some details Most details are not
Coherence connect well to connected well to are not well-connected to the
the topic and to the topic, but connected well topic or to each other.
each other. some are not to the topic or
well-connected to each other.
to each other
Details were Details were Details were Details were clearly
more than enough to barely enough lacking
Elaboration enough to elaborate the to elaborate the
elaborate the main idea main idea
main idea
The conclusion The conclusion The conclusion The conclusion was
provided a good was adequate to left the text actually inappropriate
Conclusion dosing that dose the text but somewhat to the ending of the
made the text not make it hanging text
notable notable
Convention Spelling, Spelling, One element of Two or more
grammar and grammar and convention is elements of
punctuations punctuations are not done well conventions are not
are all excellent all good done well

Source: elcomblus.com

You are now done with the lessons for Module 5. Congratulations and keep going!

It’s time to proceed to Module 6!

Berano, Hipolito M. 2013. Si Tata Kedoy. Whisper of the Heart. Quadtone Printing: Angeles
City. pp.53-55.
Kennedy & Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. “Handbook on
Critical Approaches to Literature. Orlando: FL. AP Literature and Composition
Workshop. FL. 2012.
Internet Sources:

https://meehlsmindset.weebly.com/uploads/6/1/2/6/61262543/critical_approaches.pdf
 Key to Practice Exercises

ANSWER KEY:
Vocabulary Development: Practice Exercise 1.
1. A 1. B
2. B 2. C
3. E 3. C
4. C 4. B
5. D 5. B

Practice Exercise 2

Complete
Practice Name1
Exercise . Recaredo Nicolas Lim

1. b
Birthplace Romblon
2. c
3. c
Significant He was a courier of the Filipino guerillas and American soldiers
4. b
Works/Contributions for during World War II.
5. b ` during World
Romblomanon He had helped many families escaped from the cruelty of the
War II Japanese during the war.
Work Experience after the He was the COCOFED Municipal Coordinator from 1977 and
World War II an undefeated municipal councilor for 27 ½ years.

Year of death March 19, 2000

Vocabulary Development
Practice Exercise 3
(Answers may vary.)

Written Work
1. a 6. d
2. b 7. a
3. a 8. b
4. a 9. a
5. d 10.d
Performance Task
(Answers may vary.)