Survey of Philippine Literature

TOPIC: Context and Text Meaning

OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson students will be able to:
• Discuss how different contexts enhance the text’s meaning and enrich the reader’s
understanding.
CONTENT
CONTEXT is the overall set-up of a story based on the contributing factors like setting (time and place),
situations or events
CONTEXT is defined as the circumstances that form the setting of events, statements, or ideas and the
way in which it can be fully understood and assessed
CONTEXT WRITER’S CONTEXT READER’S CONTEXT TEXT’S CONTEXT SOCIAL CONTEXT
WRITER’S CONTEXT It is the idea of the author as he/she writes the story based on his/her beliefs,
experiences in life, and personal background. (writer’s world)
READER’S CONTEXT It is the perception/ interpretation of the reader of the story based on his/her
personal experiences and knowledge. (reader’s world)
TEXT’S CONTEXT It is the overall idea of the text; if it just discusses a certain topic or it is a
representation of the author’s experiences in life. Simply put, this is what the text is all about.
SOCIAL CONTEXT It features the society in which the characters live and in which the author's text
was produced. Simply put, it is the world where the story is based.
Novel: Noli Me Tangere by Dr. Jose Rizal Writer’s Context: The idea of the author is to expose the
situation of the Filipinos during the Spanish colonization. His personal background and experiences
helped him to narrate the events since he used to live during that period.
Novel: Noli Me Tangere by Dr. Jose Rizal Reader’s Context: As I read the novel, I realized how many
symbolisms were used to hide the identity of the actual persons pertained to in every chapter. Based on
its structure, I could say that it is a novel because it is composed of many chapters. (I learned
symbolism and novels in our English subject).
Novel: Noli Me Tangere by Dr. Jose Rizal Text’s Context: It is a novel with lots of chapters highlighting
the author’s representation of Filipino life during the Spanish regime.
Novel: Noli Me Tangere by Dr. Jose Rizal Social context: The novel is a representation of the actual
society during the Spanish colonization. The characters are types of people in our society back then. The
places and situations were also representations of what really happened to some Filipinos at that time.
The context of poems, stories, and novels is shaped by the words used by the author. In POETRY, there
are a lot of symbols, figures of speech, and imagery used to create an aesthetic effect for the readers.
Symbolisms are words representing the actual things we are pertaining to. They could be used in
poetry and stories Examples: dove= peace, black cat= bad luck, four-leaf clover= luck
Imagery is used to create a picture in the reader's mind through words that appeal to the senses
Examples: cold summer breeze= sense of touch silhouettes during sunset= sense of sight mouth-watery
dishes= sense of taste
Types of Imagery (Menoy 2016) Visual imagery is produced by the use of words that appeal to the sense
of sight. Auditory Imagery is produced by the use of words that appeal to the sense of hearing.
Kinesthetic imagery is produced by the use of words that appeal to the actions and movement.
Figures of speech are flowery words used to compare and represent a person, place, thing, animal, and
events  Simile (indirect comparison) Ex. You are as beautiful as a goddess.  Metaphor (direct
comparison) Ex. You are a snake. (traitor)  Personification (using action words for nonliving things) Ex.
The wind is blowing.
 Onomatopoeia (use of sounds to express something) Ex. broom...broom…  Apostrophe (talking to
someone who cannot respond in reality) Ex. Are you there, God?  Oxymoron (using two contradicting
words to describe something) Ex. beautiful disaster

Prepared by:

Ms. Rose Angela M. Uligan

Teacher Applicant