Literary

Contexts
Philiprie S. Cacho
 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)
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.
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?
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.
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)