SHS

11-1st Semester
CORE SUBJECT

21st Century Literature

from the Philippines
and the World

Quarter 1
(Week 6)

Module 3: Literary Contexts

 Day 1

Pre-test
Directions: Read the following items and write the letter of your chosen answer on your
answer sheet. (15 points)

1. This term refers to the circumstances forming a background of an event, idea, or

statement.
a. symbols b. character c. context d. imagery

2. What idea about life is implied by the last two lines of the passage below?
From morning suns and evening dews
At first, thy little being came;
If nothing once, you nothing lose
For when you die you are the same
The space between is about an hour
The frail duration of a flower.

a. Life is frail. b. Life is short. c. Life is just an hour. d. Life is like a flower.

3. What emotion is conveyed in the passage below?

Midnight, not a sound of a pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamp light the withered leaves
Collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan

a. confusion b. optimism c. loneliness d. eagerness

4. This literary context offers details of the author’s life.

a. Psychological b. Biographical c. Historical d. Cultural

5. A literary context that explains how the belief of the author influenced the novel.
a. Social b. Biographical c. Historical d. Religious

6. It refers to a literary context that poses this question: What personal circumstances, or
specific event, either at the time of composition or in the past, motivated the author to
write it?
a. Social b. Biographical c. Historical d. Religious

7. A literary context that focuses on the human person and physical qualities of places and
situations for occurrences in the text.
a. Psychological b. Philosophical c. Geographical d. Political

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 8. Read the passage below and answer the question that follows.

Africa, tell me, Africa

It this you?
This back that is bent
This back that breaks under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying yes to the whip of the midday sun
-Africa, David Diop
The persona exhibits the tone of being _____.
a. angry and bitter c. ironic and sarcastic
b. envious and spiteful d. cautious and fearful

9. Based on Sanburg’s “Chicago,” how does the speaker describe the city?
They tell me that you are wicked and I believe them,
For I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
Luring the farm boys.
a. mysterious b. peaceful c. independent d. immoral

10. What is the prevailing tone of the following lines from Shakespeare’s Hamlet?
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite the faculties! In form
and moving, how express and admirable!
a. empathy b. reverence c. sarcasm d. disappointment

11. What is the speaker’s realization based on the lines below?

The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
‘tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true.

a. The speaker learns the beauty of life.

b. The speaker realizes the folly and pain of youthful love.
c. The speaker learns the disadvantages of disobeying the elders.
d. The speaker realizes the value of considering other person’s advice.

12. Which statement regarding love is closest to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116?

Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks
But bears it out even to the edge of doom

a. Love never wanes even in old age.

b. Love grows even to the edge of doom.
c. Love dissipates when lovers live apart.
d. Love adapts to changing circumstances.

13. What type of fictional character is referred to as a villain?

a. protagonist b. antagonist c. static/flat d. round

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14. This element is considered as the speaker in the poem.
a. tone b. sound c. rhythm d. persona

15. The novel, “The Silence of the Lambs” by Thomas Harris highlights the cannibalistic serial
killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter. This novel is one of the best examples of _____ context.
a. Psychological b. Political c. Historical d. Religious

Lesson
Week 6
LITERARY CONTEXTS

What I Need to Know

After completing the module, you are expected to:
1. identify varied literary contexts;
2. explain the contexts presented in literary pieces; and
3. demonstrate appreciation of the different literary contexts.

What’s In
Know Me!

Directions: Create three WH - questions of your choice based on the information about the
author. Let a family member answer the questions and signify by affixing their signature.
Write the answer on your answer sheet. (15 points)

Simeon Dumdum Jr. (born March 7, 1948) is a former Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge
in Cebu City. He once studied for the priesthood in Galway, Ireland, but left the seminary to
take up law. After years of practicing law, he was appointed as Regional Trial Court judge.
He won prizes for his poetry, that are read and published in the Philippines and abroad. He
also wrote, “America”, which widely read across generation.

Question 1

Answer

Question 2

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 Answer

Question 3

Answer

Signature over printed name

Day 2

What’s New

The answers that you had in your previous activity indicate that you are able to understand
the presented text’s meaning. You are now ready to learn more about different kinds of
literary contexts.

What is literary context?

The term context means the surrounding circumstances, ideas and words woven
together to form the setting or background for an event, statement, or idea. It includes the
historical era in which the work is created; the experiences, culture, and beliefs of the author;
the language and forms popular at the time of the text's creation; and the experiences,
culture, and beliefs of the reader who approaches the text in his or her own era.

Literary context “relates to the particular form a passage takes (the literary genre) and to
the words, sentences, and paragraphs that surround the passage you are studying” (Duvall
& Hayes, 2012, p. 150).

Knowing more about the context of something helps the readers understand how it came
about and what it is referring, or alluding, to.

Why is it important to study literary context in studying a text?

The reason that context is important when studying literature is that it gives us an idea of
what was going on around the time that the text was produced.

Why is the literary context so important?

❖ Literary context is important because it helps to keep us on track and face what is really
in the text since most of the time we interpret it with our own preconceived notions.
❖ When we read a word/verse in its literary context, we must deal with the verse in light of
what the rest of its own context is saying.

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❖ The literary context is also important because it’s clarifying and avoid many meanings.
It’s very hard to see the meaning of a text if we don’t understand what the author says
before and after that given piece of text.

Kinds of Literary Contexts

A. Biographical Context: offers biographical details of the author’s life, which often helps
students to make sense of the story.
▪ What biographical facts has the author used in the text?
▪ What insights do readers acquire about the author’s life by reading the text?

B. A linguistic context is the discourse that surrounds a language unit and helps to
determine its interpretation.

C. Socio-cultural context refers to the idea that language, rather than existing in isolation, is
closely linked to the culture and society in which it is used. This means when language is
learnt, the socio-cultural context in which it is used needs to be taken into consideration as
well.
▪ What sort of society does the writer describe?
▪ What does the writer seem to like/dislike about this society?
▪ What changes do you think the writer would like to make in the society? Evidence?
▪ What sorts of pressures does the society put on its members? How do members
respond?

D. Historical Context describes the relevance to the story of the moods, attitudes and
conditions that existed during the time period in which the novel took place.
▪ What specific historical events where happening when the work was being composed?
▪ What historical events does this work deal with?
▪ In what ways did history influence the writer’s outlook?

E. Geographical Context (the human and physical characteristics of places and

environments) are the settings for events in the text.
▪ Is this author a regionalist writer?
▪ How does dialect influence the text?

F. Political Context defines the political scenario directly or indirectly influencing the
production of documents.

▪ What political events are significant to the text?

▪ What political events were occuring at the time the work was written?
▪ What political beliefs does the author seem to have?

G. Philosophical/Religious Context explains how religion—of the author specifically, or a

group generally—influenced the novel.
▪ Are any religions or philosophical mentioned specifically in the text?
▪ What religious/ethical/philosophical beliefs does the auther seem to favor?
▪ What behavior do the characters display that the author wants us to think is “right”?
▪ What behavior is “wrong”? How can one tell?

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H. Psychological Context
▪ What theories of human behavior does the writer seem to believe?
▪ What theories of human behavior does the writer seem to reject?
▪ How do people’s minds work in the text?
▪ In what ways does the structure & organization of the story indicate the writer’s beliefs
about the workings of the mind.

What I Can Do
Pair Me!

Directions: Match the literary contexts in Column A with their corresponding meanings or
descriptions in Column B. Write the letter of the answer on the answer sheet. (5 points)

Column A Column B
1. Socio-cultural a. This context is defined purely in terms of what follows
or what precedes a particular segment that is
undergoing a sound change.
2. Historical b. This literary context emphasizes in which an action,
utterance, or expression occurs.
3. Psychological c. It includes the critical works that give close attention to
the author’s life.
4. Biographical d. It includes the culture that the individual was educated
or lives in, and the people and institutions with whom
they interact.
5. Philosophical e. It is all the details of the time and place in which a
situation occurs.
f. A literary context that focuses on the characters'
thoughts, motivations and feelings are of greater
interest than the external action.

What I have Learned

Fill My Heart!

Directions: On your answer sheet, write at least two concepts/ideas you learned from the
discussion in the figures below. (6 points)

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 Day 3

What’s More

Build! Build! Build!

Directions: On your answer sheet, create a graphic organizer that exemplifies the basic
information and concepts of the following literary contexts: (20 points)

1. Biographical 2. Linguistic 3. Socio-cultural 4. Historical

Please refer to the images below for the common types of graphic organizers.

Biographical Linguistic

Socio-cultural Historical

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 Day 4

Post Test

Directions: Using your answer sheet, write the letter of your chosen answer. Label your
paper as Post Test - Module 3 in 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the
World.

For items 1-9: Read the poem carefully and then answer the questions that follow.

To the Flowers of Heidelberg

(Poem, Spanish Colonial Tradition)
By Jose Rizal (1861-1896), translated by Nick Joaquin
Region 4 A- CALABARZON

Go to my country, go, O foreign flowers,

sown by the traveler along the road,
and under that blue heaven
that watches over my loved ones,
recount the devotion
the pilgrim nurses for his native sod!

Go and say ─ say that when dawn

opened your chalices for the first time
beside the icy Neckar,
you saw him silent beside you,
thinking of her constant vernal clime.

Say that when dawn

which steals your aroma
was whispering playful love songs to your young
sweet petals, he, too, murmured
canticles of love in his native tongue;
that in the morning when the sun first traces
the topmost peak of Koenigssthul in gold
and with a mild warmth raises
to life again the valley, the glade, the forest,
he hails that sun, still in its dawning,
that in his country in full zenith blazes.

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 And tell of that day
when he collected you along the way
among the ruins of a feudal castle,
on the banks of the Neckar, or in a forest nook.
Recount the words he said
as, with great care,
between the pages of a worn-out book
he pressed the flexible petals that he took.

Carry, carry, O flowers,

my love to my loved ones,
peace to my country and its fecund loam,
faith to its men and virtue to its women,
health to the gracious beings
that dwell within the sacred paternal home.

When you reach that shore,

deposit the kiss I gave you
on the wings of the wind above
that with the wind it may rove
and I may kiss all that I worship, honor and love!

But O you will arrive there, flowers,

and you will keep perhaps your vivid hues;
but far from your native heroic earth
to which you owe your life and worth,
your fragrances you will lose!
For fragrance is a spirit that never can
forsake and never forgets the sky that saw its birth.

1. The speaker in the poem is _____.

a. the flower b. the poet c. a character in the poem d. nobody in particular

2. The poem is addressed to _____.

a. the Philippines
b. the poet’s loved ones
c. the flowers of Heidelberg
d. all of the above

3. What was the season when the poem was composed?

a. summer b. spring c. fall d. winter

4. Where is Heidelberg?
a. Belgium b. Netherlands c. Germany d. Austria

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5. The mood or tone conveyed by the persona in the last stanza of the poem is one of
_____.
a. deep-seated fury
b. delight or satisfaction
c. longing and melancholy
d. enthrallment or fascination

6. The speaker’s tone in this poem can be best described as _____.

a. admonitory b. indifferent c. nostalgic d. vitriolic

7. In this poem, the flowers are symbolic of _____.

a. exceptional creations of God
b. nature’s beauty and perfection
c. ambassadress that would bear the message
d. all of the above

8. The poem’s message is _____.

a. a study of the transient nature of flowers
b. a paean of praise by the poet to the flowers of Heidelberg
c. an evocation and a prayer of the traveler for the well-being of his country
d. all of the above

9. What literary context is applied in the poem?

a. Historical b. Philosophical c. Geographical d. Psychological

10. According to the poem below, what led to the creation of the volcano?
a. The arrow used by Pagtuga c. The poison of the arrow of Pagtuga
b. A war which led to Magayon’s death d. The legend of Daragang Magayon

MAYON
Kristian Sendon Cordero
Camarines Sur

Ayon sa alamat, lason ng pana ni Sa ilang retrato na ibenebenta ang mga

Pagtuga, ang lumikha sa bulkan─
libingan ito ng dalagang namatay sa
isang digmaan. Ngayon, ano ang
tutubo sa paanan ng Mayon gayong
nagiging malawak na itong sementeryo
ng abo, ng tao. Manganganak na kayâ ito?
Tinitigan ko ang nakangangang bulkan─
binabalot ng ulap at ng sariling usok ang
tuktok, gatas sa labi. Baka sakali,
magpakita, nang may silbi ang kamera.
bata sa Cagsawa lusaw na tae ang
nagliliyab na lava, dumadaloy pababa.
Matandang nag-nganganga ayon naman
sa isang makata.
Sa isang lumang postcard na nakita ko
sa Antigo Merkado─kapag sa malayo,
isa siyang magandang sikyung
nakatanod, handa sa pagkapkap,
naghinhintay ang iyong pagpasok.

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11. What literary context highlights the novel’s moods, attitudes, and conditions when it was
written?
a. Social b. Biographical c. Historical d. Religious

12. The movie “Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag” by the late Lino Brocka, captures the
hardships of poverty during the Marcos regime. This is an example of __________
context.
a. Psychological b. Political c. Historical d. Biographical

13. William Shakespeare is often called England's “National Poet” and the "Bard of Avon".
What literary context is referred to this information?
a. Psychological b. Political c. Historical d. Biographical

14. The Book of Wisdom shows that the suffering of the righteous will be rewarded with
immortality while the wicked will end miserably. What literary context is used?
a. Philosophical b. Political c. Historical d. Biographical

15. The novel, “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins is set in a frightening community
wherein inequality of the rich and the poor is evident. What literary context is used?
a. Philosophical b. Political c. Historical d. Biographical

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Acknowledgements:

SHS Core Subject

21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Development of the Self-Learning Module Team

Contextualizers/Compilers: Globe A. Caballero,TII, Bulacao Community High School

Editors: Roquesa B. Sabejon, PSDS, North District 7

Rex C. Ebarle, MTI, Cebu City National Science High School
Gina M. Panes, TIII, Cebu City National Science High School
Dennis Jay L. Tecson, TII, Alaska Night High School

Evaluator: Angelique B. Villafuerte, MTI, Mabolo National High School