i n e L i t e r a tu re

P h i l i p p
i n En g l i sh
Literature
• Derived from the Latin term ‘litera’ which means letter

• Faithful reproduction of man’s manifold experiences blended

into one harmonious expression

• The body of all written works

Philippine Literature
• It is the body of works, both oral and written, that Filipinos,
whether native, naturalized, or foreign born have created about the
experience of people living in or relating to Philippine society.
 Divisions of literature
FICTION NON-FICTION
• A form of any narrative or • Form of any narrative account
informative work that deals with or other communicative work
informative/events that are based on facts.
imaginary • Ex: news, biography, history,
• ex: short story, novels, films etc.
 General types of literature
PROSE POETRY
• Consists of those written within • Refers to those expression in
the common flow of verse, with measure and
conversation in sentences and rhyme, line and stanza and has
paragraphs a more melodious tone.
 General Types of Literature
Divisions of PROSE POETRY
Literature
Form Mostly in Stanza or verse form
paragraph form
Language Expressed in Expressed in figurative
ordinary form form
Appeal To the intellect To the emotion
Aim/purpose To convince To stir the imagination
and set an idea of how
life should be.
 Analyzing Poetry

 Most significant assumptions of people when analyzing poetry is

that it has a hidden message.

 There are some types of poems where the message is clearly

there and there is no meaning at all
 Analyzing Poetry
First Approach: Theme
The theme is the central concept or idea of the poem
It is the message an author wants to communicate through the piece
Often the theme of a story is a broad message about life.

When looking for the theme, you need to ask yourself:

1.What is this poem talking about?
2.Does this poem involves issues and what are these issues?
3.What is the general message of this poem?
4.Are there life realizations that this poem is trying to convey?
5.What is the conclusion in this poem?
 Analyzing Poetry
Second Approach: Emotion
• Emotion in poetry is the mood or feeling created by the writers for the readers
and it is vital for a story’s lasting power
• Poets love to emanate emotions through their works. They are expressive in
nature and this can be seen in the way that they write

The common questions you ask yourself would be:

1. How does this poem make you feel?
2. Is there a certain emotion the author is trying to project?
3. What emotions is the speaker of the poem feeling?
 Analyzing Poetry
Third Approach: Structure and Form
 Lines-the way poems are written, may or not be sentences
 Stanzas-are series of lines grouped together and separated by an empty line from
other stanzas.
– Couplet- two lines
– Tercet- three lines
– Quatrain- four lines
– Cinquain- five lines
– Sestet- six lines
– Septet- seven lines
– Octave-eight lines
 Analyzing Poetry
Fourth Approach: Rhyme and meter
 Rhyme- similarity of sounds at the end of words
 End rhyme-occurs at the end of the lines
 Internal rhyme- occurs within the line of poetry

For example:
First, a poem must be magical, (a)
Then musical as a seagull. (a)
It must be a brightness moving (b)
And hold secret a bird’s flowering (b)
-First, A Poem Must Be Magical, Jose Garcia Villa

• Rhyme Scheme - is the pattern of end rhymes that may be designated by

assigning a different letter of the alphabet to each new rhyme
 Analyzing Poetry
Fourth Approach: Rhyme and meter
Meter- describes the rhythm (or pattern of beats) in a line of poetry
-it is a combination of the number of beats and the arrangement of stressed and non-
stressed syllables in each line
• Iambic meter- one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
Example: That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold
• Trochaic- one stressed syllable followed by unstressed syllable
Example: Tell me | not in | mournful | numbers
• Anapestic- two unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
Example: And the sound | of a voice | that is still
• Dactylic- stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllable
Example: This is the | forest pri | meval, the | murmuring | pine and the | hemlocks
 Analyzing Poetry
Fourth Approach: Rhyme and meter
• Each line of a poem contains a certain number of feet of iambs, trochees, dactyls or anapests
monometer- 1 foot
dimeter- 2 feet
trimeter- 3 feet
tetrameter- 4 feet
pentameter- 5 feet
(Iambic pentameter)
hexameter- 6 feet
(Iambic pentameter)
heptameter- 7 feet
(Trochaic
octameter- 8 feet

• That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold (Iambic pentameter)

• Tell me | not in | mournful | number (Trochaic tetrameter)
• And the sound | of a voice | that is still (Anapestic Trimeter)
• This is the | forest pri | meval, the | murmuring
| pine and the | hemlocks (dactylic hexameter)

(Anapestic
tetrameter)

(dactylic
 Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know. He gives his harness bells a shake
His house is in the village though; To ask if there is some mistake.
He will not see me stopping here The only other sound’s the sweep
To watch his woods fill up with snow. Of easy wind and downy flake.

My little horse must think it queer The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
To stop without a farmhouse near But I have promises to keep,
Between the woods and frozen lake And miles to go before I sleep,
The darkest evening of the year. And miles to go before I sleep

.
 Analyzing Poetry
Fifth Approach: Sound
Sound Devices
• Alliteration: the repetition of initial sounds on the same line or stanza
Example - Big bad Bob bounced bravely.

• Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds (anywhere in the middle or end of

a line or stanza)
Example - Tilting at windmills

• Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds (anywhere in the middle or

end of a line or stanza)
Example - And all the air a solemn stillness holds. (T. Gray)
- Mike likes his new bike
 Analyzing Poetry
Fifth Approach: Sound
Sound Devices

• Onomatopoeia: words that sound like that which they describe -

Example:
Boom! Crash! Pow! Quack! Moo!

• Repetition: the repetition of entire lines or phrases to emphasize key thematic ideas.
Example:
The president said “work, work, and only work are the key to success”

• Parallel Stucture: a form of repetition where the order of verbs and nouns is repeated;
it may involve exact words, but it more importantly repeats sentence structure
Example:
"I came, I saw, I conquered"
 Analyzing Poetry
Sixth Approach: Meaning
Connotation – this uses symbolism. A word or a phrase may have associations to it or
symbols that would stand as its meaning. E.g. heart = love

Denotation – this is taking the literal route of the word or phrase. Anything uttered will
mostly focus on the dictionary definition. E.g. heart = a muscular organ that pumps blood
through the circulatory system of a living creature.
 Analyzing Poetry
Sixth Approach: Meaning
1. I have known a man at home in
the tundra
2. I have a little shadow that goes in
and out with me
3. Look for the light, that dispels the
darkness of the night.
a. the place (such as a house or apartment)
where a person lives
b. is a source of illumination
c. goodness, life or hope.
d. the partial or total absence of light.
e. sadness
f. a dark shape that is formed when an
object blocks a source of light
g. evil or pain
h. Feeling of safety, comfort, and a sense of
belonging
 Analyzing Poetry
Sixth Approach: Meaning
Figurative Devices
Simile – a comparison of the subject to another and are usually introduced or
connected with like or as.
E.g. “My love is like a red, red rose” – Robert Burns

Metaphor – a comparison between the subject and another but without like or as.
E.g. “Life is a broken-winged bird” – Langston Hughes

Hyperbole– a figure of speech that uses extreme exaggeration to make a point or

show emphasis
e.g. - This game is taking forever

Personification – occurs when an inanimate object is given humanistic qualities.

E.g. “O wind, that sings so loud a song!”- Robert Louis Stevenson
QUESTIONS?