1.

In just five sentences, give a summary of Jamaica Kincaid’s GIRL or Catherine Lim’s THE
TAXIMAN’S STORY or F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The great Gatsby. If you use the feminist, or
formalist, or psychoanalytic, or new historicism approach, to analyze the story, give at least
two questions commonly asked by the advocates of the literary theory of your choice and
answer these questions based on the story.
Girl by Jamaica Kincaid consists of a single sentence of advice a mother imparts to her daughter,
only twice interrupted by the girl to ask a question or defend herself. She intends the advice to
both help her daughter and scold her at the same time. She tells Girl about life, cooking,
cleaning, men, and keeping up her reputation with one admonishment after another. Even
though place is not mentioned, the rhythm of the words and the specifics of the girl's life make
it clear that the story takes place in the West Indies. The poem reflects how the way a child is
treated will shape their future and shows the way a mother’s attitude and language can affect
her daughter.
How is the story structured or organized?
This is a kind of story that has no beginning, middle or ending. It is composed of imperative
sentences usually to indicate order and commands. There is a prevalent use of semicolon to
separate the mother’s advice and commands. Even the title, GIRL, is suggestive already of the
fact that the protagonist does not have the full freedom.. It might be intentional that the story is
structured not chronologically to signify that lessons and advice are never ending. The use of
“This is how” suggests the ways that adults model behavior for children.
What are the prevalent themes?
Mothers have authority over their children.
People with power are often prescriptive.

The taximan had a conversation with his passenger known as ‘madam’. He talks about the
problem with young people based on areas incident with his daughter, Lay Choo. He feels young
people are not to trust; they are dishonest to their parents and run off to be with English
foreigners to earn money for themselves. The story ends and he needs to pick up other
customer.
How is the story structured or organized?
The story is structured in a manner that the taximan is having a monologue. He is unraveling his
thoughts in a way that his passenger is just listening to what he is telling. The story is also laden
with ironies that lead the readers into revealing the theme of the story.

What are the prevalent themes?

The world is made up of struggles like poverty, prostitution and degradation of values.
Life needs a listening ear that listens to an aching heart.

The Great Gatsby

It is a story of eccentric millionaire Jay Gatsby as told Nick Carraway. Jay Gatsby has always
wanted to be rich and his main motivation is to gain Daisy Buchanan who promised to wait for
him but marries Tom Buchanan few months later. His acquisition of million of dollars, purchase
of Mansion at West Egg and lavish parties are all merely means to win Daisy back .
When was the work written? When was it published? How was it received by the critics and
the public? Why?
The Great Gatsby written in 1924 and published in 1925 is hailed as one of the foremost pieces
of American fiction of its time. It is a novel of triumph and tragedy, noted for the remarkable
way its author captures a cross-section of American society. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald,
known for his imagistic and poetic prose, reflects the society of which he was a part. It is
perceived as a commentary on the shallow ideals of American society during 1920’s. The initial
success of the book was limited, although in the more than 75 years since it has come to be
regarded as a classic piece of American short fiction. The novel served as an image of the
turbulent post-war society known as the Jazz Age, while today it provides readers a portal
 through which to observe life in the 1920s. Critics would say that part of Fitzgerald's charm
in The Great Gatsby is his ability to encapsulate the mood of a generation during a politically and
socially crucial and chaotic period of American history.

What does the work’s reception reveal about the standards of taste and value during the time
it was published?
Great Gatsby may not be the bestselling novel Fitzgerald wrote but this is considered to be his
masterpiece. The story is set against the chaotic background of the Prohibition era and the Jazz
Age. The action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a
geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York. The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic
literary piece on 1920s which shows the disintegration of the America and of the American
dream in an era of prosperity and material excess. Throughout the novel, places and settings
epitomize the various aspects of the 1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts. East Egg
represents the old aristocracy while West Egg the newly rich. Valley of ashes symbolizes the
moral and social decay of America and New York City the uninhibited, amoral quest for money
and pleasure.

2. Of the literary theories or lenses, which one do you often use in analyzing fiction in your
literature classes? Why do you favor this? What are the usual questions associated with this
theory?
Formalism. It is an interpretive approach that emphasizes the literary form and the study of
literary devices within the text. I favor this theory because I find my students more interested in
understanding the text through the text itself, they find it also easy to understand the meaning
of the literary piece through examining its elements. At the same token, this approach looks into
the paradox, ambiguity and irony present within the text.
Questions associated with this theory
a. How is the work structured or organized? How does it begin? Where does it go next? How
does it end? What is the works plot? How is its plot related to its structure?
b. Who are the major and minor characters? What do they represent and how do they relate
to one another?
c. What is the setting in time and place? How is the setting related to what we know of the
characters and their actions? To what extent is the setting symbolic?
d. What kind of language does the author use to describe, narrate, explain or otherwise create
the world of literary work?
e. More specifically, what images, figures of speech or other symbols appear in the work?
What is their function? What meanings do they convey?
3. Give an example of a “luwa”. Explain its structure and the context of its delivery?
“Sa babaw sang langit
May apple gakabit
Sin-o makasinghit
Ay abaw kanamit.”
This loa has rhyme and is written in regular rhythm. It is made up of four lines with six syllables
each. The first tells the setting, the second line tells the situation, the third line tells the
condition and the last line tells the reward or the feeling of such reward. The context of this loa
depicts a reality. In life, if we persevere and dream, we can reach what we are dreaming for. The
means is hard, but the end is fulfilling.
4. Explain the structure of a “composo” and its usual theme. Relate it with the English ballad.
Among the usual themes of the composo are municipal ordinances, town life as opposed to life
in the hinterlands, the virtues of Catholicism, the brutalities of the Moro invasions and the
heroism of folk legendary heroes as well as the exploits of local leaders. But nowadays, brought
about by the changing times, some of the themes of composo are domestic tragedies,
massacres, pillage and atrocities and political pursuits. According to Alice Tan Gonzales, among
 the subjects taken in the composo were the youth’s insubordination, the changing attitudes of
young women, western fashion and idealization of rural women because of their embodiment
of valued tradition.
The tone of a komposo is often amicable and non-confrontational. The composo ends with a
‘dispensasyon’.

5. Mention at least two Ilonggo writers (using Hiligaynon of English) that have the most impact on
you. Explain an outstanding work of each of them.
Dr. Jesus Catigan Insilada- a Hiligaynon poet, a short story writer and a novelist. One of his
outstanding works is his short story entitled “Tinuom”, which won the 1 st prize as a short story in
the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards. This story is a product of culture-based writing since the
main character who is named “Boy Ati” is a member of indigenous tribe. The story has a twist in
the end since if you read the first part, you can say that the story will end up on love between
Boy Ati and Mama Susan. Only to find out, that the old widow has a kind heart to consider the
former as her trusted friend.
John Iremil “Erine” Teodoro- author of “Ang Baboy”. Teodoro is a Filipino writer, literary critic
and cultural scholar. He is considered to be a leading pioneer in Phil. Gay literature and the most
published author in Kiniray-a. Ang Baboy speaks about the extreme love of a person to another
man. In the poem, it is evident that there is controlled and a controller. The controller is the
persona and the controlled is the person being admired. The pig symbolizes a person who is
imploring love and confinement. The speaker is begging and giving conditions in case that he will
be loved by the person he likes.
6. Choose one literary selection from European literature which has the most bearing on you.
Discuss its literary merits.
The Confessions by St. Augustine is about the revelation of the main character’s great sins and
contribution, God’s great love for humanity. Confession wants us to see how a man’s life turned
into something that can inspire the future generations to come. The main character faced a lot
of challenges in his life, but through his faith in God, his life changed. This piece can serve as an
inspiration for an individual who wants to change or transform his/her life.
7. Of all the selections discussed in American literature, which two literary pieces have the most
residual effect on you? Discuss the literary strengths of the selections.
A Dream Within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe- I consider this literary piece to have a residual
effect on me because it tells the value of life while we are still on earth. Most of us are afraid of
losing the people whom we love. We cannot imagine what will be our life without them and for
us if it happens, it could be the most painful part of living. The poem is meritorious in its right
because it voices the reality of impermanence, that life is fleeting and we need to make use of
our time intelligently and meaningfully together with the people whom we love. “A Dream
within a Dream” takes the idea of a daydream. The poem is a sort of inspiration thy may
enlighten us as we continue to live. The piece was beautifully crafted and it states an important
thought that in life there are realities that cannot be changed and acceptance is only the key.
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane- This is about a man’s transformation from a
fearful, lost, doubting youth, to a courageous, confident, duty-bound soldier. In other words, it
is a story of the growth of a young man from innocence to maturity. I like the story because like
me I also experienced doubts for myself. The story is so relatable because people in general are
an unknown quantity where we sometimes discover our strengths when we are tested by time
and we face a challenging situation.
8. Of all the selections discussed in African-Asian Literature, which has the most residual effect on
you? Discuss the literary strengths of the selections.
The Story of Lay Devotee by Dharmasena. I love this story because it is simple, yet it reflects the
reality. I agree that life is a suffering and certainly the cause of suffering is desire. I admire the
man of Alavi because despite his situation, he never lost his chance of hearing the Buddha’s
preaching. He is poor in material sense, but was rich in spiritual sense. He was tested by time,
 but he never gave up to realize his ultimate dream, to see the Buddha and listen to his
preaching.
9. Provide an instance where the maxim of relevance is being flouted. How does implicature play a
role?
Maxim of Relevance or Maxim of Relation for Cooperative Principle states that in speaking, we
must be relevant. Flouting a maxim happens when a speaker does not observe it but has no
intention of deceiving or misleading the other person. For example:
Your co-teacher asks you to take over her class and you divert the topic by asking if there will be
a class tomorrow.
You are invited to a party and your friend who happens to have been invited also asks you if
you’re coming. Since you are not decided yet, you instead ask her, where you can stay for a
night in Baguio.
Implicature plays a crucial role in these situations because it can help the hearer understand
better what the speaker intends. Also, implicatures can be a great aid in avoiding conflicts in
sensitive issues and to sustain a conversation.
10. Choose two philosophers of language who have the most bearing on your personal or
professional life. Discuss in not less than 5 sentences their thought on language.

a. Noam Chomsky believes that a child is equipped with or prewired system of language.
Chomsky takes the cognitive approach to the study of grammar. He is the proponent of
Universal Grammar (UG) which states that children are born with an innate ability to
acquire, develop and understand language. His theory on language proposes that the ability
to learn grammar is hard-wired into the brain. Chomsky believes that all languages have a
common structural basis. It is a biological evolutionary trait common to all humans. Its
concern is with the internal structure of the human mind. He believed that speakers have
grammatical competence and have the tacit knowledge of grammar of their language. Any
child is capable of learning any language in the world and that they don’t need any
reinforcement. He formulated the Language Acquisition Device (LAD), an in-built system
that enables human speakers to learn a language.
b. H.P Grice-Cooperative Principles
According to Grice, our talk exchanges do not normally consist of a succession of
disconnected remarks, and would not be rational if they did. They are cooperative efforts;
and each participant recognizes in them, to some extent, a common purpose or set of
purposes. Cooperative Principle states that we should make our conversational contribution
such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by accepted purpose or direction of the
talk exchange in which you are engaged.
a. Maxim of quantity-make your contribution as informative as is required.
b. Maxim of quality- try to make your contribution one that is true. Do not say that for
which you lack adequate evidence
c. Relation- be relevant
d. Manner- be brief and orderly, avoid ambiguity
11. Write at least two examples of syntactically correct but semantically wrong sentences.
a. Colorful green ideas sleep furiously.
b. The sun angrily gazes at me.
c. The aircon is eating me.
d. Janna’s black dog is white.

12. If you are to decide between a quantitative and qualitative research design for language studies,
which one would you prefer and why?
I believe that neither of the two is better than the other but I prefer Qualitative research design.
I prefer this one because this is more flexible and exploratory than quantitative research.
 Qualitative research is inductive and makes use of analysis through words where rich and in-
depth and detailed data analysis is required. Moreover, qualitative research needs a smaller
number of participants or as a researcher; I can evaluate only a material using a particular
approach. That makes it less expensive than quantitative research. I find qualitative research
also interesting because of immersion.
13. A graduate student wishes to study how a certain community uses language to uphold cultural
practices. What specific research approach do you think is most suited for this study? Explain
substantially.
Linguistic ethnography. This research is a combination of linguistics with ethnography. This
approach looks closely at what people do in real time as they interact with one another. This
requires an attached observer who should be there in the ‘geographic location’ and focuses on
community-based literacy research. The researcher may utilize field notes, participant
observation, focused-group discussions, open interviews and narrative analysis in this kind of
research. It represents multiple and diverse perspectives and is done for a long period of time.
Context is central to the interpretation plus the understandings of participants as social agents.
Analysis of data focuses on the identification and interpretation of regular patterns of action and
talk that characterize a group of people in a social context.
14. Provide an example of a foregrounding technique in stylistics. Discuss its application in literary
or non-literary text.
Parallelism. It uses the same idea to appeal to the reader or make something memorable, but
with much grander intention. It is used to convey messages of morality and emphasize ideas.
Parallelism is common on speeches, quotes and proverbs around the world. It creates balance
and flow for literary texts Since readers are more likely to get interested in the rhythm and flow,
parallelism is a big help.
Example: Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn. -----
Benjamin Franklin
(There is grammatical parallelism through the repetition of similar grammatical construction of a
verb followed by the grammatical pronoun me.
For non-literary text, parallelism brings attention and provides anticipation to what lies ahead of
the text.
15. How can an author use register as a stylistic device in his work?
Register varies with use and is determined by such factors as social occasion, context, purpose
and audience. It is very important when recognizing style and the type of text it is used for. As
an author, one may vary his language from one situation to another many times in the same day
according to medium, domain or tenor. He should also suit the language according to the text
he is writing, it may a newspaper, a cookbook, a literary text, etc. In suing register as a stylistic
device, the writer shall make sure that this will help the reader to recognize the author’s intent
in conversational material in written English.
16. Discuss the difference between phonology and phonetics.
Phonology studies the combination of sounds into organized units of speech, the combination of
syllables and larger units. It describes the sound system of a particular language and distribution
of sounds which occur in that language. Moreover, it is the component of grammar made up of
the elements and principles that determine sound patterns in a language. Phonetics on the
other hand studies language at the level of sounds: how sounds are articulated by the human
speech mechanism and received by the auditory mechanism, how sounds can be distinguished
and characterized by the manner in which they are produced.
Phonetics- anatomy and human speech sound. The study of spoken language or speech sound.
Phonology- abstract aspect and patterns of language