SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

21st Century Literatures

from the Philippines
and the World
Quarter 1 – Module 1
Understanding the Literary History and
Appreciating the 21st Century
Literatures of the Philippines

This instructional material was collaboratively developed and reviewed

by educators from public and private schools, colleges, and/or universities. We
encourage teachers and other education stakeholders to email their feedback,
comments, and recommendations to the Department of Education at
[email protected].

We value your feedback and recommendations.

Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

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 WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

This first learning module contains 21st Century Literatures from the regions in
various genres and forms in consideration of the various dimensions of Philippine
literary history from pre-colonial to contemporary; canonical authors and works of
Philippine National Artists in Literature; names of authors and their works, and the
backgrounds of the literature from the region where the high school is located.
In this module, the students understand and appreciate the elements and
contexts of 21st century Philippine literature from the regions through: a written close
analysis and critical interpretation of a literary text in terms of form and theme, with a
description of its context derived from research; and an adaptation of a text into other
creative forms using multimedia.
After studying this module, you will be able to:
1. define literature from various writers;
2. identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of
Philippine literary history from pre-colonial to the contemporary;
3. make graphical timeline on how literatures of literary periods
proliferated;
4. identify representative texts and authors from each region (e.g.
engage in oral history research with focus on key personalities from
the students’ region, province, town;
5. appreciate and internalize the meaning of the texts;
6. value the contributions of local writers to the development of regional
literary traditions;
7. compare and contrast the various 21st century literary genres and
the ones from the earlier genres/periods citing their elements,
structures and traditions; and
8. present a creative presentation through multimedia.

THINGS TO REMEMBER TO GET THROUGH

To learn and benefit from this module, follow the following steps:

1. Read the module title and the module introduction to get an idea of what the
module covers. Specifically, read the first two sections of this module carefully.
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 The first section tells you what this module is all about while the second section
tells you of what you are expected to learn.

2. Never move on to the next page unless you have done what you are expected
to do in the previous page. Before you start each lesson, read first the
INSTRUCTIONS.

3. Work on the activities. Take note of the skills that each activity is helping you to
develop.

4. Take the Post-Test after you are done with all the lessons and activities in the
module.

5. Meet with your teacher. Ask him/her about any difficulty or confusion you have
encountered in this module.

6. Finally, prepare and gather all your outputs and submit them to your teacher.

7. Please write all your answers of the tests, activities, exercises, and others in
your separate activity notebook.

REMEMBER THIS

The most basic skill that a good student in literatures has is a clear
understanding of the development and the canonical authors’ contributions to the
literatures of the Philippines.

GOOD LUCK AS YOU BEGIN THIS MODULE!

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 GRAPHIC, LINGUISTIC, AND
LESSON ETHNIC DIMENSIONS OF
1 PHILIPPINE LITERARY
HISTORY
Competency 1A: Identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of
Philippine literary history from pre-colonial to the contemporary, EN12Lit-Ia-21 (2
hours)

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

1. define literature from various writers; and
2. understand literature from pre-colonial to contemporary periods.
3. make a graphical timeline focusing on how the literatures for each literary
period proliferated.

WHAT I KNOW

Instructions: Recall what you learned about the literature of the past. Read and
answer the following statements. Write the letter of your answer in your activity
notebook.

1. The “putong” is a pre -colonial ornament which may signify that the wearer has
killed someone.
a. True b. False

2. The early Filipinos live in scattered barangay governed by a chieftain which they
call rajah or datu.
a. True b. False

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3. It is a body of work, either written, oral, or visual, containing imaginative
language that realistically portrays thought, emotions, and experiences of the human
condition.
a. Pre-colonial Literature b. Philippine Literature
c. Literature d. World Literature

4. The period of time before colonization of a region or territory.

a. Colonial b. Pre-Colonial
c. Pre-history d. Post-Colonial

5. Identify the two classifications of folk literature:

a. Local and Global b. Dynamic and Static
c. Flat and Round d. Floating and Oral

6. Literatures during pre-colonial period were handed down to us through

a. word of mouth b. paper and pen c. multimedia

7. Which of the following is true about Philippine pre-colonial texts?

a. Most of the pre-colonial dramas were held in the sambahan or places of worship.
b. They revolve around the illiteracy of early Filipinos.
c. Only the concept of death is used as a subject for narratives.
d. All of the above

8. It is a rhythmical type of literary composition that usually serves to excite the

readers.
a. Poetry b. Prose

9. Which of the following is a theme of pre-colonial texts?

a. Karma b. Reincarnation
c. Ideals d. War

10. It is the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure
a. Poetry b. Prose

11. It is a war song which evolved into a love song.

a. Uyayi b. Talindaw c. Hele d. Kumintang

12. It is a song of revelry

a. Epiko b. Uyayi c. Diyuna d. Sabi

13. These are sacred narrative explaining how the world and man came to be in their
present form.
a. Legends b. Myths c. Epics d. Fables

14. Philippine myths show that ancient Filipinos believed in one supreme god and in
a number of lesser gods and goddesses
a. True b. False

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15. These are myths that seek to explain natural phenomenon like rainbows, thunder
and lightning.
a. Early concept of the universe
b. The Sun, Moon and Stars
c. Establishment of Natural Order

V WHAT IS IT

What is literature? ENCLUNAR AND CAOILE

The word literature is derived from the Latin term litera which means letter. It
has been defined differently by various writers. These are the following:
1. Literature expresses the feelings of people to society, to the government,
to his surroundings, to his fellowmen, and to his Divine Creator. (Brother
Azurin)

2. Literature is anything that is printed as long as it is related to the ideas

and feelings of the people, whether it is true, or just a product of one’s
imagination. (Webster)

3. “True literature is a piece of written work which is undying. It expresses

the feelings and emotions of people in response to his everyday efforts to
live, to be happy in his environment and, after struggles, to reach his
Creator” (PANITIKANG FILIPINO)

Some loosely interpret literature as any printed matter written within a book, a
magazine or a pamphlet. Others define literature as a faithful reproduction of man’s
manifold experiences blended into one harmonious expression. Because literature
deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of man, literature can be said to be the story
of man. Man’s loves, griefs, thoughts, dreams and aspirations coached in beautiful
language is literature.

In Panitikang Pilipino written by Atienza, Ramos, Salazar and Nazal, it says

that “true literature is a piece of written work which is undying. It expresses the feelings
and emotions of people in response to his everyday efforts to live, to be happy in his
environment and, after struggles, to reach his Creator.”

Philippine Literature is a diverse and rich group of works that has evolved side-
by-side with the country’s history. Literature had started with fables and legends made
by the ancient Filipinos long before the arrival of Spanish influence. The main themes
of Philippine literature focus on the country’s pre-colonial cultural traditions and the
socio-political histories of its colonial and contemporary traditions.
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Literary History/Evolution of the Philippines
1. Pre-Colonial Period
 The evolution of Philippine literature depended on the influences of colonization
and the spirit of the age.
 The first Filipino alphabet called ALIBATA was replaced by the Roman
alphabet.
 Indigenous Philippine literature was based on traditions and customs of a
particular area of the country.
 Philippines is an archipelago country, consisting several islands, (7,107 islands
to be exact), and each of those islands has its specifications of cultures and
traditions, bearing different set of native literature.
 Ancient literatures were written on the perishable materials like dried leaves,
bamboo cylinder, and bark of the trees.
 Literatures were handed down to us through the word of mouth.

There were two literary forms during the pre-colonial period:

A. Written literatures
Examples:
a. Riddles or bugtong. These are effective ways to inculcate the
ability of logical thinking of a child.
b. Epigrams or salawikain. It reflects the hidden meaning
through the good lines. It provides good values.
c. Poems or tanaga – These are common forms of poetry which has a
quatrine with 7 syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each
line. It also expresses insights and lessons in life.

B. Oral literatures
Examples:
a. Chant. It is used in witchcraft and enchantment. While, ambahan is a
traditional poetry of Hanunoo Mangyans of Oriental Mindoro which
teaches lesson about life. It is recited by parents to educate their
children by the youth expressing their love, by the old to impart
experiences, or by the community in tribal ceremony.
(slideshare.net/mobile/jessacerbito…)
b. Balagtasan .This is a Filipino form of debate done in verse.
The term is derived from the surname of Francisco Balagtas
the author of Filipino epic Florante at Laura.

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2. The Spanish Colonial Period (1565-1897) JIMENEZ, CARPIO,BERALDE

Sixteenth Century was the start of the deprivation of the indigenous Philippine
literature. Spanish colonial government finally got in the scene. They were able to
manipulate literature by monopolizing it under the religious orders. Literature evolves
mainly on the themes of Spanish/ European culture and of course, the Roman Catholic
religion.

Literary Influences during Spanish colonization

a. Christian Doctrine or Doctrina Christiana was the first book ever printed in
the Philippines in 1593 by the Dominican press.
b. Libro de la Lengua Tagala by Fernando Bagongbanta .Tagalog translations
to the Spanish lines, still the superiority of the Spanish language.
c. Pasyon influenced by the Spanish contexts of Christianity, at least they
embodied several Filipino sentiments and values (the feeling of Filipino
mother towards a suffering son).

Filipino writers in Spanish became conscious for the search for freedom
a. Pasyon Dapat Ipag-alab ng Puso by Marcelo H. del Pilar expressed his
rebellious writing style was identified.
b. Pascual Poblete’s Patnubay sa Binyagan associated Filipinos’ struggle for
independence with Jesus’ life.
c. Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo made very powerful
contributions among the Filipinos the introduction of rejecting Spanish rule.
He also influenced the succeeding writers.
d. The narrative poems Awit and Corrido talked about world of royals, warriors
and lovers (the basic concept in Florante at Laura).
e. Komedya. Francisco Baltazar’s Florante at Laura embodied the concept of
colonization and oppression which gave voice to their revolutionary action
towards freedom.

3. The American Colonial Period (1898-1945)

 Philippine literature in Spanish was starting to lose its track on the first decade.
 The poems of Fernando Ma. Guerrero (Crisalidas), Balmori’s Se deshojo la Flor
novel, and many others discussed revolution and sentiments for patriotism and
reform proved that Philippine literature was used to claim freedom from the
colonizers.
 Even if Philippine literature was in English, the preservation of the content for
Filipino experiences was achieved.

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  Short story writers in English like Manuel Arguilla in his “A Son is Born,” was
one of the foundations of the Philippine literature, not in Tagalog or in Spanish,
but during this time, in English. Poetry in English was also founded.
 Sarzuela was overpowered by English drama.

4. The Contemporary Period (1946 to present)

This period started during the rebirth of freedom in (1946-to present). The
Americans returned in 1945. Filipinos rejoiced and guerrillas that fled to the mountain
joined the liberating American Army. On July 4, 1946, the Philippines regained its
freedom and the Filipino flag waved joyously alone. The chains were broken.

The State of Literature during this Period

The early post-liberation period was marked by a kind of “struggle of mind and
spirit” posed by the sudden emancipation from the enemy, and the wild desire to see
print.

a. Heart of The Islands (1947) – a collection of poems by Manuel Viray

b. Philippines Cross Section (1950) – a collection of prose and poetry by
Maximo Ramos and Florentino Valeros
c. Prose and Poems (1952) – by Nick Joaquin
d. Philippine Writing (1953) – by T.D. Agcaoili
e. Philippine Havest – by Amador Daguio
f. Horizons Least (1967) – a collection of works by the professors of UE,
mostly in English (short stories, essays, research papers, poem and
drama) by Artemio Patacsil and Silverio Baltazar. The themes of most
poems dealt with the usual love of nature, and of social and political
problems. Toribia Maño’s poems showed deep emotional intensity.
g. Who Spoke of Courage in His Sleep – by NVM Gonzales
h. Speak Not, Speak Also – by Conrado V. Pedroche
i. Other poets were Toribia Maño and Edith L. Tiempo, Jose Garcia Villa’s
Have Come, Am Here has won acclaim both here and abroad

The New Filipino Literature during this Period ALAM, PERATER,ESPIRITU,

Philippine literature in Tagalog was revived during this period. Most themes in
the writings dealt with Japanese brutalities, of the poverty of life under the Japanese
government and the brave guerilla exploits.

a. Period of Activism (1970-1972)

Many young people became activists to ask for changes in the government. In
the expression of this desire for change, keen were the writings of some youth who
were fired with nationalism in order to emphasize the importance of their petitions.

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 The Literary Revolution
The youth became completely rebellious during this period. This was proven
not only in the bloody demonstrations and in the sidewalk expressions but also in
literature. Campus newspapers showed rebellious emotions. The once aristocratic
writers developed awareness for society. They held pens and wrote on placards in red
paint the equivalent of the word MAKIBAKA (To dare!).

Writing During the Period of Activism

The irreverence for the poor reached its peak during this period of the mass
revolution. It was also during this period that Bomba films that discredit our ways as
Filipinos started to come out.

b. Period of the New Society (1972-1980)

The period of the New Society started on September 21, 1972. The Carlos
Palanca Awards continued to give annual awards. Almost all themes in most writings
dealt with the development or progress of the country –like the Green Revolution,
family planning, proper nutrition, environment, drug addiction and pollution. The New
Society tried to stop pornography or those writings giving bad influences on the morals
of the people. All school newspapers were temporarily stopped and so with school
organizations.

Filipino Poetry during the Period of the New Society

Themes of most poems dealt with patience, regard for native culture, customs
and the beauties of nature and surroundings.

The Play under the New Society

The government led in reviving old plays and dramas, like the Tagalog
Zarzuela, Cenaculo and the Embayoka of the Muslims which were presented in the
rebuilt Metropolitan Theater, the Folk Arts Theater and the Cultural Center of the
Philippines.

Radio and Television

Radio continued to be patronized during this period. The play series like Si
Matar, Dahlia, Ito Ang Palad Ko, and Mr. Lonely were the forms of recreation of those
without television

Filipino Films
A yearly Pista ng mga Pelikulang Pilipino (Yearly Filipino Film Festival) was
held during this time. During the festival which lasted usually for a month, only Filipino
films were shown in all theaters in Metro Manila.

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 1. Maynila…Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag written by Edgardo Reyes and filmed
under the direction of Lino Brocka. Bembol Roco was the lead role.
2. Minsa’y Isang Gamu-Gamo, Nora Aunor was the principal performer here.
3. Ganito Kami Noon…Paano Kayo Ngayon led by Christopher de Leon and
Gloria Diaz.
4. Insiang: by Hilda Koronel
5. Aguila: led by Fernando Poe Jr., Jay Ilagan and Christopher de Leon

Comics, Magazines and other Publications

In this period of the New Society, newspapers donned new forms. News on
economic progress, discipline, culture, tourism and the like were favored more than
the sensationalized reporting of killings, rape and robberies.

c. Period of the Third Republic (1981-1985)

After ten years of military rule and some changes in the life of the Filipino which
started under the New Society, Martial Rule was at last lifted on January 2, 1981.

1. Filipino Poetry • Poems during this period of the Third Republic were
romantic and revolutionary. Writers wrote openly of their criticism against
the government. The supplications of the people were coached in fiery,
colorful, violent, profane and insulting language.

2. Filipino Songs • Many Filipino songs dealt with themes that were really
true-to-life like those of grief, poverty, aspirations for freedom, love of God,
of country and of fellowmen.

Philippine Films during the Period

The yearly Festival of Filipino Films continued to be held during this period. The
people’s love for sex films also was unabated. Below is the table of the list of Philippine
Films during the Third Republic.

Film Director Cast Genre

Kontrobersyal Lino Brocka Philip Salvador, Gina Alajar, Charo Drama
(1981) Santos
Relasyon Ishmael Vilma Santos, Christopher de Leon Drama
(1982) Bernal
Dugong Buhay CarloJ. Ramon Revilla, Bong Revilla, Imelda Action
(1983) Caparas Ilanan
Ang Panday Ronwaldo Fernando Poe, Jr, Marianne dela Action/F
(1984) Reyes Riva, Max Alvarado antasy

Tinik sa Dibdib Leroy Nora Aunor, Dina Bonnevie, Phillip Drama

(1985) Salvador Salvador

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d. Rebirth of Freedom (1986-present) OSCOLIA
History took another twist. Once more, the Filipino people regained their
independence which they lost twenty years ago. In the span of four days from February
21-25, 1986, the so-called People Power (Lakas ng Bayan) prevailed. Together, the
people barricaded the streets petitioning the government for changes and reforms.

Newspapers and other Publications

Newspapers which were once branded crony newspapers became instant
opposition papers overnight. This was true of BULLETIN TODAY which became the
opposition paper.

Books
The Philippine revolution of 1986 and the fire of its spirit that will carry the
Filipinos through another epoch in Philippine history is still being documented just as
they have been in the countless millions who participated in body and spirit in its
realization.

WHAT’S IN

In your notebook, answer the following questions.

1.) Explain in three (3) sentences why literature is considered as the story of a
man?
2.) How did Philippine Literatures develop from ancient time to present?

Note to the teacher:

Have your own assessment on the above What’s In activity. You Also decide the
scoring of this activity.
Thank you.

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 WHAT’S MORE

ACTIVITY 1
Make a graphical timeline in your notebook focusing on how the
literatures for each literary period (from Pre-colonial to Contemporary)
proliferated. (Note: Limit 5 timelines only and you can have your own graphical
design)

Note to the teacher:

You can vary the instructions such as:
1. Vary the number of timelines – events, genres, and their structures.
2. You can have your own graphical design.
3. Opt to have another activity as long as it has something to do with the tracing of the
literary evolution of the Philippines.
Thank you.

Pre-
Colonial
Period

Spanish
Period

American
Period

Contemporary
Period

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 ASSESSMENT

Instructions: Match each statement in Column A with what it describes in

Column B. Write the letter of the answer in your notebook.
Column A Column B
1. It is the first alphabet which was replaced by a. Letter
Roman Alphabet. b. Alibata
2. It defines as anything that is printed as long c. Doctrina Christiana
related to ideas etc. d. Webster
3. It is the first book written by Fr. Juan de e. Balagtasan
Placencia. f. Riddles
4. A Filipino form of debate done in verse. g. New Society
5. It is a word derived from a Latin term litera h. word of mouth
6. Tagalog Zarzuela, Cenaculo and the i. Awit and Corrido
Embayoka of the Muslims were presented in j. Palanca Memorial Award
what period? k. Pasyon
7. Narrative poems talked about world of royals, l. Spanish Colonial Period
warriors and lovers. m. Literature
8. A literature influenced by the Spanish
contexts of Christianity, at least they embodied
several Filipino sentiments and values.
9. Literatures were handed down to us through
the ---.
10. An awarding organization continued to
recognize the efforts of the Filipino writers.

Now, Let’s Proceed to Lesson 2.

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 TEXTS AND AUTHORS FROM
LESSON 2
EACH REGION
Competency 1B: Identify representative texts and authors from each region (e.g.
engage in oral history research with focus on key personalities from the students’
region, province, and town, EN12Lit-Ib-22 (2 hours).

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

1. enumerate Filipino authors across the regions; and
2. appreciate their contributions on the development of Philippine literature.

WHAT I KNOW

Instruction: Write T if the statement is true and F if it is false. Write your answer
in your notebook.
1. Due to diverse environment, our ancestors developed separate cultures and beliefs.
2. Good number of performances can be found in video-sharing site like YouTube.
3. Rich biodiversity of the Philippines has made through archipelagic nature.
4. Our study of literature can help us understanding different cultures across the
country.
5. Ilocos Region belongs to Region 2.
6. CAR Region stands for Cordillera Administrative Region.
7. Jose Ayala is a writer who comes from Region 10.
8. CARAGA Region is the same as CAR Region.
9. Our topography allows us to enjoy endemic flora and fauna.
10. Western Visayas region is part of NCR region.

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 WHAT’S IN

In the previous lesson, you have already identified the geographic, linguistic,
and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary history from pre-colonial to the
contemporary. Now, you are ready to move forward and learn more.

WHAT’S NEW

During a 2014 conference in Cebu City, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano remarked
that the national government should stop giving the bulk of its national budget to Metro
Manila alone. He said “Let us remember that Metro Manila is not the Philippines, and
the Philippines is not Metro Manila. We should not always build in Manila. Other
provinces and regions should share in the resources such as Clark, Zamboanga,
Peninsula, Caraga and etc.” Providing equal resources to all regions of the country
has been a continuous problem in more than a century of our independence as nation.

The archipelagic nature of the Republic of the Philippines has made the country
enjoy a rich biodiversity. Our topography, which consists of mountainous terrains,
dense forests, plains, and coastal areas, allow us to enjoy endemic flora and fauna.
As a result of this diverse environment, our ancestors developed separate cultures
and languages.

Our country has a total of 182 living languages. With these languages our
ancestors communicated, built their communities, and created unique cultural
products. Separated by seas, cultures, and languages, the Filipinos of today must
consciously choose to maintain a united front in order for all of us to be truly equal and
free as a people in one nation. How can we do this? Perhaps our study of literature
can help point us toward the direction of understanding different cultures across the
country, and hopefully this would provide the opportunity for a true sense of pride to
grow within us for being part of this nation.

21st century technology can help propel this goal into something obtainable.
With the help of the Internet, many contemporary authors from the regions are
publishing their work online. Whether they are using their regional language, Filipino,
or English, these young authors are beginning to speak a national audience about
their reality. Some 21st century literature of the Philippines can be found in blogs,
online newspapers, online magazines, online journals, etc. Also, a good number of
performances of songs, skits, and amateur films showcasing regional works can be
found in video-sharing sites like YouTube.
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Motivation questions. From the article that you have read, answer the following
questions:

1. What are the 5 important points that Senator Alan Peter Cayetano emphasized?
2. How do you describe the geographical location of the Philippines?
3. How do these contribute to the development of our literature?

V
WHAT IS IT

Texts and Authors from each Region

This part shows you the various texts and authors from different regions in the
country.

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 The table below presents the current regional division of the Philippines.
Samples of 21st century Filipino authors associated with each region are listed. The
writer’s association with that region is established in two ways: it is the writer’s
birthplace or the writer settled in that region. Be reminded that the names of writers
here are merely a fraction of 21st century Filipino writers. Many of our new writers are
still waiting to have their works published.

NCR-National Capital Region-Metro Manila is made up of the following cities:

Manila, Caloocan, Las Pinas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina,
Muntinlupa, Navotas, Quezon City, Pasay, Pasig, Paranaque, San Juan, Taguig,
Valenzuela, and Pateros
 Writers associated with this region: Michael M. Coroza, Jessica Zafra,
Charlson Ong, Norman Wilwayco, Ana Maria Villanueva-Lykes, Janet B.
Villa, Naya Valdellon, Rosmon Tuazon, Lourd de Veyra

Region 1- Ilocos Region-Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan and

Dagupan City
 Writers associated with this region: Paul B. Zafaralla, Santiago B. Villafania,
Cles B. Rambaud, Jan Marc Austria, Ariel S. Tabag, Manuel Arguilla

Region 2-Cagayan Valley Region - Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Viscaya,

and Quirino
 Writers associated with this region: Jun Lisondra, Lovella G. Velasco

CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region) - Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-

Apayao, and Mountain Province
 Writers associated with this region: Ma. Luisa Aguillar-Carino, Dion Michael
Fernandez, Rachel Pitlogay, Chinee Sanchez Palatino, Charisse Acquisio

Region 3 - Central Luzon Region Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija,

Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales
 Writers associated with this region; Virgilio Almario, Rolando F. Santos, D.M.
Reyes, Danton Remote, Marl Anthony Cayanan

Region 4-A-CALABARZON - Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon

 Writers associated with this region: Joel M. Toledo, Frank G. Rivera,
Jimmuel C. Naval
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Region 4-B - MIMAROPA (Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro),
Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan
 Writer associated with this region: Jose Dalisay Jr.

Region 5-Bicol Region - Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Catanduanes,

Masbate, and Sorsogon
 Writers associated with this region: Merlinda Bobis, Ricardo Lee, Victor
Dennis Tino Nierva

Region 6- Western Visayas Region - Aklan Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and Iloilo
 Writers associated with this region: Felino GarciaJr., John Iramil, Isidro Cruz

NIR-Negros Island Region - Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental

 Writers associated with this region: Isabel D. Sibullen, Marianne Villanueva

Region 7- Central Visayas Region - Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor

 Writers associated with this region: Michael Obenieta, Jeneen R. Garcia

Region 8 - Eastern Visayas region - Samar, Leyte, and Biliran

 Writers: Voltaire Oyzon, Timothy R. Montes

Region 9 - Zamboanga Peninsula - Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur,

Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga City, and Isabela
 Writers: Mig Alvarez Enriquez, Servando D. Halili Jr. Antonio R. Enriquez

Region 10- Northern Mindanao Region- Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte,
Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental
 Writers: Ralph Semino Galan, Judith R. Dharmdas, Anthony Tan

Region 11- Davao Region or Southern Mindanao Region-Compostela Valley,

Daval del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, and Davao Occidental
 Writers: Candy Gourlay, Salud M. Carrido

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Region 12 - SOCCSKSARGEN or Central Mindanao Region- South Cotabato,
Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos
 Writers: Christine Godines-Ortega, Jaime An Lim

Region 13 - CARAGA Region- Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del
Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Dinagat Islands
 Writers: Joey Ayala, Tita Lacambra-Ayala

ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) - Asila (except Isabela City),

Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi
 Writers: Steven Prince Patrick C. Fernandez, Mehol K. Sadain

Source: Beyond Borders (Reading Literature in the 21st century) by MARIA GABRIELA P MARTIN et.al.

SOME NOTABLE WRITERS FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS

BABIERA,GERALDEZ,
AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHILIPPINE LITERATURES GUINGE,BOHOL

Michael M. Coroza writes poetry, fiction, critical essays and

is engaged in literary translation. The writer's works have
been published in national and international literary
magazines: Kritika Kultura, Philippine Studies, Unitas,
Tomas, Bulawan Journal of Arts and Culture, Daluyan,
Loyola Schools Review, and the Malay Indonesian Studies.
He is famous for promoting the traditional poetic genre of
the Philippines "Balagtasan". He participated in
international poetry readings "Kuala Lumpur-10" (2004) and
the Second literary festival "Korea-ASEAN" in Jakarta
(2011). Among his works are: ASEANO: An Anthology of
Poems from Southeast Asia (1995), Dili’t Dilim (1997),
Sounds of Asia (2011), Ang mga Lambing ni Lolo Ding
Source:
(2012), and Nawawala si Muningning (2015).
panitikan.ph
Source: panitikan.ph
Retrieved: May 20, 2020
Retrieved: May 20, 2020

19
 MANUEL E. ARGUILLA (1911-1944) was an Ilocano who
wrote in English. He was best known for his short story, "How My
Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife", which received first prize in
the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940. Most of his stories
depict life in Barrio Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union, where he
was born in 1911.

Source:
Source: http://pinoylit.hypermart.net
http://pinoylit.hyperm
Retrieved: May 20, 2020
art.net

Retrieved:
May 20, 2020

Anthony Tan was born on 26 August 1947, Siasi [Muddas],

Sulu. His degrees AB English, 1968, MA Creative Writing,
1975, and Ph.D. English Lit., 1982 were all obtained from
the Silliman University where he edited Sands and
Coral, 1976. For more than a decade, he was a member of
the English faculty at SU and regular member of the panel
of critics in the Silliman Writers Workshop. He taught briefly
at the DLSU and was Chair of the English Dept. at MSU-
Iligan Institute of Technology where he continues to teach.
A member of the Iligan Arts Council, he helps Jaime An Lim
Source: and Christine Godinez-Ortega run the Iligan Writers
https://www.xu.edu.p Workshop/Literature Teachers Conference. He also writes
h/xavier-news fiction and children’s stories. He has won a number of
awards, among them, the Focus Award for poetry, the
Retrieved:
Palanca 1st prize for Poems for Muddas in 1993; also, the
May 25, 2020
Palanca for essay. Among his works are The Badjao
Cemetery and Other Poems, 1985 and Poems for Muddas,
Anvil, 1996.

Source:
https://www.xu.edu.ph/images/Kinaadman_Research_Center/doc
Retrieved: May 25, 2020

20
 José Iñigo Homer Lacambra Ayala or also known
as Joey Ayala was born on June 1, 1956 in Bukidnon,
Philippines. He was known for his folk and contemporary
pop music artist in the Philippines, he is also known for his
songs that are more on the improvement of the
environment. He is a finalist of Philippine Popular Music
Source: songhits.ph Festival 2013.
Retrieved:
May 28, 2020 Source: songhits.ph
Retrieved: May 28, 2020

Merlie M. Alunan graduated from Silliman University with

an MA in Creative Writing in 1974. She teaches at the
Creative Writing Center, University of the Philippines
Visayas Tacloban College. She lives in Tacloban City. She
received various awards like Lillian Jerome Thornton Award
for Nonfiction, Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for
Literature, National Book Award, Sunthorn Phu Literary
Awards, and Ani ng Dangal. Among her works are
Heartstone, Sacred Tree, Amina among the angels,
Selected poems, Kabilin: 100 Years of Negros Oriental,
Source: philstar.com
Retrieved: Fern Garden: An Anthology of Women Writing in the South,
May 25, 2020 Songs of ourselves: writings by Filipino women in English,
and many other
Source: philstar.com Retrieved: May 25, 2020

Ivy Alvarez is a New Zealand-based Filipino

Australian poet, editor, and reviewer. Alvarez has had her
work featured in various publications in Australia, Canada,
England, the Philippines, New Zealand, Ireland, Russia,
Scotland, Wales, the US, South Africa, and online. Alvarez
was born in the Philippines and grew up in Tasmania,
Australia. While reading English at the University of
Tasmania, she published in various literary journals and
anthologies, and subsequently became the reviews editor
of Cordite Poetry Review, an Australian online poetry
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.
journal.
org/wiki/Ivy_Alvarez
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Alvarez
Retrieved: May 20, Retrieved: May 20, 2020
2020

21
 Suzette Severo Doctolero (born December 16, 1968
Calabanga, Camarines Sur) is a Filipino screenwriter for film and
television. She is best known for being the creator
of Encantadia in 2005 and the succeeding related television
series including the Encantadia 2016 reboot. She is mostly
credited as screenwriter, series creator and creative consultant
for GMA Network. Her other works include Amaya, Indio[ and My
Source: Husband's Lover. She also wrote the story for the film Let the
https://en.wikipedia.or Love Begin and became the creative consultant for the television
g/wiki/Suzette_Doctol series Alyas Robin Hood[ and Destined to be Yours.
ero
Retrieved: Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzette_Doctolero
June 1, 2020 Retrieved: June 1, 2020

Aida Rivera-Ford was born in Jolo, Sulu. She became the

editor of the first two issues of Sands and Coral, the literary
magazine of Silliman University. In 1949, she graduated
with an AB degree, major in English, Cum Laude. In 1954,
she obtained an MA in English Language and Literature at
the University of Michigan and won the prestigious Jules
and Avery Hopwood for fiction. In 1980, she founded the
first school of Fine Arts in Mindanao – the Learning Center
Source: panitikan.ph of the Arts, now known as the Ford Academy of the Arts.
Retrieved: May 24,
2020 Source: panitikan.ph
Retrieved: May 24, 2020

SAMPLE OF THEIR WORKS:

Sample 1
Midsummer
By: Manuel Arguilla
(American Colonial Literature)

He pulled down his hat until the wide brim touched his shoulders. He crouched
lower under the cover of his cart and peered ahead. The road seemed to writhe under
the lash of the noon-day heat; it swum from side to side, humped and bent itself like a
feeling serpent, and disappeared behind the spur of a low hill on which grew a scrawny
thicket of bamboo.

There was not a house in sight. Along the left side of the road ran the deep, dry
gorge of a stream, the banks sparsely covered by sun-burned cogon grass. In places,
the rocky, waterless bed showed aridly. Farther, beyond the shimmer of quivering heat
waves rose ancient hills not less blue than the cloud-palisaded sky. On the right
stretched a land waste of low rolling dunes. Scattered clumps of hardy ledda relieved
22
the otherwise barren monotony of the landscape. Far away he could discern a thin
indigo line that was the sea.

The grating of the cartwheels on the pebbles of the road and the almost
soundless shuffle of the weary bull but emphasized the stillness. Now and then came
the dry rustling of falling earth as lumps from the cracked sides of the gorge fell down
to the bottom.

He struck at the bull with the slack of the rope. The animal broke into a heavy
trot. The dust stirred slumbrously. The bull slowed down, threw up his head, and a
glistening thread of saliva spun out into the dry air. The dying rays of the sun were
reflected in points of light on the wet, heaving flanks.

The man in the cart did not notice the woman until she had rounded the spur of
land and stood unmoving beside the road, watching the cart and its occupant come
toward her. She was young, surprisingly sweet and fresh amidst her parched
surroundings. A gaily stripped kerchief covered her head, the ends tied at the nape of
her neck. She wore a homespun bodice of light red cloth with small white checks. Her
skirt was also homespun and showed a pattern of white checks with narrow stripes of
yellow and red. With both hands she held by the mouth a large, apparently empty,
water jug, the cool red of which blended well with her dress. She was barefoot.

She stood straight and still beside the road and regarded him with frank
curiosity. Suddenly she turned and disappeared into the dry gorge. Coming to where
she had stood a few moments before, he pulled up the bull and got out of the cart. He
saw where a narrow path had been cut into the bank and stood a while lost in thought,
absently wiping the perspiration from his face. Then he unhitched his bull and for a
few moments, with strong brown fingers, kneaded the hot neck of the beast. Driving
the animal before him, he followed the path. It led up the dry bed of the stream; the
sharp fragments of sun-heated rocks were like burning coals under his feet. There was
no sign of the young woman.

He came upon her beyond a bed in the gorge, where a big mango tree, which
had partly fallen from the side of the ravine, cast its cool shade over a well.

She had filled her jar and was rolling the kerchief around her hand into a flat
coil which she placed on her head. Without glancing at him, where he had stopped
some distance off, she sat down of her heels, gathering the fold of her skirt between
her wide-spread knees. She tilted the brimful jar to remove part of the water. One hand
on the rim, the other supporting the bottom, she began to raise it to her head. She
knelt on one knee resting, for a moment, the jar onto her head, getting to her feet at
the same time. But she staggered a little and water splashed down on her breast. The
single bodice instantly clung to her bosom molding the twin hillocks of her breasts
warmly brown through the wet cloth. One arm remained uplifted, holding the jar, while
the other shook the clinging cloth free of her drenched flesh. Then not once having
raised her eyes, she passed by the young man, who stood mutely gazing beside his
bull. The animal had found some grass along the path and was industriously grazing.

23
 He turned to watch the graceful figure beneath the jar until it vanished around
a bend in the path leading to the road. Then he led the bull to the well, and tethered it
to a root of the mango tree.

"The underpart of her arm is white and smooth," he said to his blurred image
on the water of the well, as he leaned over before lowering the bucket made of half a
petroleum can. "And her hair is thick and black." The bucket struck with a rattling
impact. It filled with one long gurgle. He threw his hat on the grass and pulled the
bucket up with both hands.

The twisted bamboo rope bit into his hardened palms, and he thought how...
the same rope must hurt her.

He placed the dripping bucket on a flat stone, and the bull drank. "Son of
lightning!" he said, thumping the side of the bull after it had drunk the third bucketful,
"you drink like the great Kuantitao!" A low, rich rumbling rolled through the cavernous
body of the beast. He tied it again to the root, and the animal idly rubbed its horns
against the wood. The sun had fallen from the perpendicular, and noticing that the bull
stood partly exposed to the sun, he pushed it farther into shade. He fanned himself
with his hat. He whistled to entice the wind from the sea, but not a breeze stirred.

After a while he put on his hat and hurriedly walked the short distance through
the gorge up to the road where his cart stood. From inside he took a jute sack which
he slung over one shoulder. With the other arm, he gathered part of the hay at the
bottom of the cart. He returned to the well, slips of straw falling behind him as he picked
his way from one tuft of grass to another, for the broken rocks of the path has grown
exceedingly hot.

He gave the hay to the bull, its rump was again in the sun, and he had to push
it back. "Fool, do you want to broil yourself alive?" he said good-humoredly, slapping
the thick haunches. It switched its long-haired tail and fell to eating. The dry, sweet-
smelling hay made harsh gritting sounds in the mouth of the hungry animal. Saliva
rolled out from the corners, clung to the stiff hairs that fringed the thick lower lip, fell
and gleamed and evaporated in the heated air.

He took out of the jute sack a polished coconut shell. The top had been sawed
off and holes bored at opposite sides, through which a string tied to the lower part of
the shell passed in a loop. The smaller piece could thus be slipped up and down as a
cover. The coconut shell contained cooked rice still a little warm. Buried on the top
was an egg now boiled hard. He next brought out a bamboo tube of salt, a cake of
brown sugar wrapped in banana leaf, and some dried shrimps. Then he spread the
sack in what remained of the shade, placed his simple meal thereon, and prepared to
eat his dinner. But first he drew a bucketful of water from the well, setting the bucket
on a rock. He seated himself on another rock and ate with his fingers. From time to
time he drank from the bucket.

He was half through with his meal when the girl came down the path once more.
She had changed the wetted bodice. He watched her with lowered head as she

24
approached, and felt a difficulty in continuing to eat, but went through the motions of
filling his mouth nevertheless. He strained his eyes looking at the girl from beneath his
eyebrows. How graceful she was! Her hips tapered smoothly down to round thighs
and supple legs, showing against her skirt and moving straight and free. Her
shoulders, small but firm, bore her shapely neck and head with shy pride.

When she was very near, he ate more hurriedly, so that he almost choked. He
did not look at her. She placed the jar between three stones. When she picked up the
rope of the bucket, he came to himself. He looked up--straight into her face. He saw
her eyes. They were brown and were regarding him gravely, without embarrassment;
he forgot his own timidity.

"Won't you join me, Ading?" he said simply. He remained seated.

Her lips parted in a half smile and a little dimple appeared high upon her right
cheek. She shook her head and said: "God reward you, Manong."

"Perhaps the poor food I have is not fit for you?"

"No, no. It isn't that. How can you think of it? I should be ashamed. It is that I
have must eaten myself. That is why I came to get water in the middle of the day--we
ran out of it. I see you have eggs and shrimps and sugar. Why, he had nothing but rice
and salt."

"Salt? Surely you joke."

"I would be ashamed..."

"But what is the matter with salt?"

"Salt...salt...Makes baby stout," he intoned. "My grandmother used to sing that

to me when I complained of our food."

They laughed and felt more at ease and regarded each other more openly. He
took a long time fingering his rice before raising it to his mouth, the while he gazed up
at her and smiled for no reason. She smiles back in turn and gave the rope which she
held an absent-minded tug. The bucket came down from its perch of rock in a miniature
flood. He leaped to his feet with a surprised yell, and the next instant the jute sack on
which he lay his meal was drenched. Only the rice inside the coconut shell and the
bamboo of tube of salt were saved from
the water.

She was distressed, but he only laughed.

"It is nothing," he said. "It was time I stopped eating. I have filled up to my neck."

"Forgive me, Manong," she insisted. "It was all my fault. Such a clumsy creature

25
 I am."

"It was not your fault," she assured him. "I am to blame for placing the bucket
of water where I did."

"I will draw you another bucketful," he said. "I am stronger than you."

"No, you must let me do it."

But when he caught hold of the bucket and stretched forth a brawny arm for the
coil of rope in her hands, she surrendered both to him quickly and drew back a step
as though shy of his touch. He lowered the bucket with his back to her, and she had
time to take in the tallness of him, the breadth of his shoulders, the sinewy strength of
his legs. Down below in the small of his back, two parallel ridges of rope-like muscle
stuck out against the wet shirt. As he hauled up the bucket, muscles rippled all over
his body. His hair, which was wavy, cut short behind but long in fronts fell in a cluster
over his forehead.

"Let me hold the bucket while you drink," she offered.

He flashed her a smile over his shoulders as he poured the water into her jar,
and again lowered the bucket.

"No, no, you must not do that." She hurried to his side and held one of his arms

"I couldn't let you, a stranger..."

"Why not?" He smiled down at her, and noticed a slight film of moisture clinging
to the down on her upper lip and experienced a sudden desire to wipe it away with his
forefinger. He continued to lower the bucket while she had to stand by.

"Hadn't you better move over to the shade?" he suggested, as the bucket struck
the water.

"What shall I do there?" she asked sharply, as though the idea of seeking
protection from the heat were contemptible to her.

"You will get roasted standing here in the sun," he said, and began to haul up
the bucket.

But she remained beside him, catching the rope as it fell from his hands, coiling
it carefully. The jar was filled, with plenty to drink as she tilted the half-filled can until
the water lapped the rim. He gulped a mouthful, gargled noisily, spewed it out, then
commenced to drink in earnest. He took long, deep droughts of the sweetish water,
for he was more thirsty than he had thought. A chuckling sound persisted in forming
inside his throat at every swallow. It made him self-conscious. He was breathless when
through, and red in the face.

26
 "I don't know why it makes that sound," he said, fingering his throat and
laughing shamefacedly.

"Father also makes that sound when he drinks, and mother always laughs at
him," she said. She untied the headkerchief over her hair and started to roll it.

Then sun had descended considerably and there was now hardly any shade
under the tree. The bull was gathering with its tongue stray slips of straw. He untied
the animal to lead it to the other side of the girl who spoke; "Manong, why don't you
come to our house and bring your animal with you? There is shade and you can sleep,
though our house is very poor."

She had already placed the jar on her head and stood, half-turned to him,
waiting for his answer.

"I would be troubling you, Ading."

"No. You come. I have told mother about you." She turned and went down the
path.

He sent the bull after her with smart slap on its side. Then he quickly gathered
the remains of his meal, put them inside the jute sack which had almost dried, and
himself followed. Then seeing that the bull had stopped to nibble the tufts of grass that
dotted the bottom of the gorge, he picked up the dragging rope and urged the animal
on into a trot. They caught up with the girl near the cart. She stopped to wait.

He did not volunteer a word. He walked a step behind, the bull lumbering in
front. More than ever he was conscious of her person. She carried the jar on her head
without holding it. Her hands swung to her even steps. He drew back his square
shoulders, lifted his chin, and sniffed the motionless air. There was a flourish in the
way he flicked the rump of the bull with the rope in his hand. He felt strong. He felt very
strong. He felt that he could follow the slender, lithe figure to the end of the world.

Sample 2

LOVE IN THE CORNHUSKS

By: Aida Rivera-Ford

Tinang stopped before the Señora’s gate and adjusted the baby’s cap. The
dogs that came to bark at the gate were strange dogs, big-mouthed animals with a
sense of superiority. They stuck their heads through the hogfence, lolling their tongues
and straining. Suddenly, from the gumamela row, a little black mongrel emerged and
slithered through the fence with ease. It came to her, head down and body quivering.
“Bantay! Ay, Bantay!” she exclaimed as the little dog laid its paws upon her shirt
to sniff the baby on her arm. The baby was afraid and cried. The big animals barked
with displeasure.

27
 Tito, the young master, had seen her and was calling to his mother. “Ma, it’s
Tinang. Ma, Ma, it’s Tinang.” He came running down to open the gate.
“Aba, you are so tall now, Tito.” He smiled his girl’s smile as he stood by,
warding the dogs off. Tinang passed quickly up the veranda stairs lined with ferns and
many-colored bougainvilla. On landing, she paused to wipe her shoes carefully. About
her, the Señora’s white and lavender butterfly orchids fluttered delicately in the
sunshine. She noticed though that the purple waling-waling that had once been her
task to shade from the hot sun with banana leaves and to water with mixture of
charcoal and eggs and water was not in bloom.
“Is no one covering the waling-waling now?” Tinang asked. “It will die.”
“Oh, the maid will come to cover the orchids later.”
The Señora called from inside. “Tinang, let me see your baby. Is it a boy?”
“Yes, Ma,” Tito shouted from downstairs. “And the ears are huge!”
“What do you expect,” replied his mother; “the father is a Bagobo. Even Tinang
looks like a Bagobo now.”
Tinang laughed and felt warmness for her former mistress and the boy Tito.
She sat self-consciously on the black narra sofa, for the first time a visitor. Her eyes
clouded. The sight of the Señora’s flaccidly plump figure, swathed in a loose waist-
less housedress that came down to her ankles, and the faint scent of agua de colonia
blended with kitchen spice, seemed to her the essence of the comfortable world, and
she sighed thinking of the long walk home through the mud, the baby’s legs straddled
to her waist, and Inggo, her husband, waiting for her, his body stinking of tuba and
sweat, squatting on the floor, clad only in his foul undergarments.
“Ano, Tinang, is it not a good thing to be married?” the Señora asked, pitying
Tinang because her dress gave way at the placket and pressed at her swollen breasts.
It was, as a matter of fact, a dress she had given Tinang a long time ago.
“It is hard, Señora, very hard. Better that I was working here again.”
“There!” the Señora said. “Didn’t I tell you what it would be like, huh? . . . that
you would be a slave to your husband and that you would work a baby eternally
strapped to you. Are you not pregnant again?”
Tinang squirmed at the Señora’s directness but admitted she was.
“Hala! You will have a dozen before long.” The Señora got up. “Come, I will give
you some dresses and an old blanket that you can cut into things for the baby.”
They went into a cluttered room which looked like a huge closet and as the
Señora sorted out some clothes, Tinang asked, “How is Señor?
“Ay, he is always losing his temper over the tractor drivers. It is not the way it
was when Amado was here. You remember what a good driver he was. The tractors

28
were always kept in working condition. But now . . . I wonder why he left all of a sudden.
He said he would be gone for only two days . . . .”
“I don’t know,” Tinang said. The baby began to cry. Tinang shushed him with
irritation.
“Oy, Tinang, come to the kitchen; your Bagobito is hungry.”
For the next hour, Tinang sat in the kitchen with an odd feeling; she watched
the girl who was now in possession of the kitchen work around with a handkerchief
clutched I one hand. She had lipstick on too, Tinang noted. the girl looked at her briefly
but did not smile. She set down a can of evaporated milk for the baby and served her
coffee and cake. The Señora drank coffee with her and lectured about keeping the
baby’s stomach bound and training it to stay by itself so she could work. Finally, Tinang
brought up, haltingly, with phrases like “if it will not offend you” and “if you are not too
busy” the purpose of her visit–which was to ask Señora to be a madrina in baptism.
The Señora readily assented and said she would provide the baptismal clothes and
the fee for the priest. It was time to go.
“When are you coming again, Tinang?” the Señora asked as Tinang got the
baby ready. “Don’t forget the bundle of clothes and . . . oh, Tinang, you better stop by
the drugstore. They asked me once whether you were still with us. You have a letter
there and I was going to open it to see if there was bad news but I thought you would
be coming.”
A letter! Tinang’s heart beat violently. Somebody is dead; I know somebody is
dead, she thought. She crossed herself and after thanking the Señora profusely, she
hurried down. The dogs came forward and Tito had to restrain them. “Bring me some
young corn next time, Tinang,” he called after her.
Tinang waited a while at the drugstore which was also the post office of the
barrio. Finally, the man turned to her: “Mrs., do you want medicine for your baby or for
yourself?”
“No, I came for my letter. I was told I have a letter.”
“And what is your name, Mrs.?” He drawled.
“Constantina Tirol.”
The man pulled a box and slowly went through the pile of envelopes most of
which were scribbled in pencil, “Tirol, Tirol, Tirol. . . .” He finally pulled out a letter and
handed it to her. She stared at the unfamiliar scrawl. It was not from her sister and she
could think of no one else who could write to her.
Santa Maria, she thought; maybe something has happened to my sister.
“Do you want me to read it for you?”

29
 “No, no.” She hurried from the drugstore, crushed that he should think her
illiterate. With the baby on one arm and the bundle of clothes on the other and the
letter clutched in her hand she found herself walking toward home.
The rains had made a deep slough of the clay road and Tinang followed the
prints left by the men and the carabaos that had gone before her to keep from sinking
mud up to her knees. She was deep in the road before she became conscious of her
shoes. In horror, she saw that they were coated with thick, black clay. Gingerly, she
pulled off one shoe after the other with the hand still clutching to the letter. When she
had tied the shoes together with the laces and had slung them on an arm, the baby,
the bundle, and the letter were all smeared with mud.
There must be a place to put the baby down, she thought, desperate now about
the letter. She walked on until she spotted a corner of a field where cornhusks were
scattered under a kamansi tree. She shoved together a pile of husks with her foot and
laid the baby down upon it. With a sigh, she drew the letter from the envelope. She
stared at the letter which was written in English.
My dearest Tinay,
Hello, how is life getting along? Are you still in good condition? As for
myself, the same as usual. But you’re far from my side. It is not easy to be far
from our lover.
Tinay, do you still love me? I hope your kind and generous heart will
never fade. Someday or somehow I’ll be there again to fulfill our promise.
Many weeks and months have elapsed. Still I remember our bygone
days. Especially when I was suffering with the heat of the tractor under the heat
of the sun. I was always in despair until I imagine your personal appearance
coming forward bearing the sweetest smile that enabled me to view the distant
horizon.
Tinay, I could not return because I found that my mother was very ill.
That is why I was not able to take you as a partner of life. Please respond to
my missive at once so that I know whether you still love me or not. I hope you
did not love anybody except myself.
I think I am going beyond the limit of your leisure hours, so I close with
best wishes to you, my friends Gonding, Sefarin, Bondio, etc.
Yours forever,
Amado

P.S. My mother died last month.

Address your letter:
Mr. Amado Galauran
Binalunan, Cotabato

30
 It was Tinang’s first love letter. A flush spread over her face and crept into her
body. She re ad the letter again. “It is not easy to be far from our lover. . . . I imagine
your personal appearance coming forward. . . . Someday, somehow I’ll be there to
fulfill our promise. . . .” Tinang was intoxicated. She pressed herself against the
kamansi tree.
My lover is true to me. He never meant to desert me. Amado, she thought.
Amado.
And she cried, remembering the young girl she was less than two years ago
when she would take food to Señor in the field and the laborers would eye her furtively.
She thought herself above them for she was always neat and clean in her hometown,
before she went away to work, she had gone to school and had reached sixth grade.
Her skin, too, was not as dark as those of the girls who worked in the fields weeding
around the clumps of abaca. Her lower lip jutted out disdainfully when the farm hands
spoke to her with many flattering words. She laughed when a Bagobo with two
hectares of land asked her to marry him. It was only Amado, the tractor driver, who
could look at her and make her lower her eyes. He was very dark and wore filthy and
torn clothes on the farm but on Saturdays when he came up to the house for his week’s
salary, his hair was slicked down and he would be dressed as well as Mr. Jacinto, the
school teacher. Once he told her he would study in the city night-schools and take up
mechanical engineering someday. He had not said much more to her but one
afternoon when she was bidden to take some bolts and tools to him in the field, a great
excitement came over her. The shadows moved fitfully in the bamboo groves she
passed and the cool November air edged into her nostrils sharply. He stood unmoving
beside the tractor with tools and parts scattered on the ground around him. His eyes
were a black glow as he watched her draw near. When she held out the bolts, he
seized her wrist and said: “Come,” pulling her to the screen of trees beyond. She
resisted but his arms were strong. He embraced her roughly and awkwardly, and she
trembled and gasped and clung to him. . . .
A little green snake slithered languidly into the tall grass a few yards from the
kamansi tree. Tinang started violently and remembered her child. It lay motionless on
the mat of husk. With a shriek she grabbed it wildly and hugged it close. The baby
awoke from its sleep and cries lustily. Ave Maria Santisima. Do not punish me, she
prayed, searching the baby’s skin for marks. Among the cornhusks, the letter fell
unnoticed.

Sample 3 (poetry)

Crossing the River

Anthony Tan

Came upon a river shrouded in mist.

31
 Too early for bird call, or wing beat,
Too early even for wind.
A giant conch shell on a beaded string
Hung on the branch of a leafless tree.
It belonged to the boatman of the river.
With little energy I blew it long and thin,
Remembering what I had been taught,
Cupping it between my delicate hands.
On the edge of that feeble call
An apparition darkened the thick mist.
Slowly the bow emerged in the hush of dawn.
Beckoned me to his boat. Didn't tell him
Where to and he didn't ask, as if
My destination were already foreknown.
He didn't paddle. He hesitated.
He waited as if he had forgotten something.
Looked me straight in the eye.
When I didn't respond immediately,
He opened one bony hand,
The white palm trembling with greed.
The other hand gripped the head of a long pole.
Then I remembered what I had been taught:
I dropped a silver coin into his open palm.
He gripped it, dropped it into a bulging purse
That was tightly sewn to his leather belt.
The drop of silver on silver
Was the only sound in the soundless mist.
Only then did a fugitive grin light up his face.
Only then did he strike
The murky water with the pole.
There was no one to say goodbye to.
No friends. No kinsmen. No lovers.
The gurgle in the wake took the place of words.
The boat moved toward the other bank, where
He had unloaded his boat of so many strangers.

Sample 4

Karaniwang Tao
Joey Ayala

32
 Ako po'y karaniwang tao lamang
Kayod-kabayo, 'yan ang alam
Karaniwang hanap-buhay
Karaniwan ang problema
Pagkain, damit at tirahan

'Di ko kabisado 'yang siyensya

Ako'y nalilito sa maraming salita
Alam ko lang na itong planeta'y
Walang kapalit at dapat ingatan
Kapag nasira, sino ang kawawa

Chorus
Karaniwang tao, saan ka tatakbo
Kapag nawasak iisang mundo
Karaniwang tao, anong magagawa
Upang bantayan ang kalikasan

Karaniwang bagay ay 'di pansin

Kapag naipon ay nagiging suliranin
Kaunting basura ngayo'y bundok
Kotseng sira ay umuusok
Sabong panlaba'y pumapatay sa ilog

May lason na galing sa industriya

Ibinubuga ng mga pabrika
Ngunit 'di lamang higante
Ang nagkakalat ng dumi
May kinalaman din ang tulad natin

[Repeat chorus twice]

Karaniwang tao [4x]

[Repeat chorus]

Karaniwang tao
[Repeat till fade]

WHAT’S MORE

Activity 1. In your notebook, enumerate atleast 3 contributions of literature of

each of the following writers:
33
 1. Michael M. Coroza
2. Ivy Alvarez
3. Suzette Severo Doctolero
4. Anthony Tan
5. Manuel Arguilla

Activity 2. Appreciating literary pieces.

A. Noting Details. In your notebook, write the letter of your answer.

FROM THE STORY “MIDSUMMER” BY MANUEL ARGUILLA

1. The two contrasting images in the story are__
a. aridity and freshness b. love and hate c. hope and despair
2. Manong came upon Ading beyond a bend in the gorge where a big __tree cast a
cool shade
a. bamboo b. atis c. mango
3. Ading brought with her a __ when she met Manong.
a. jug b. coconut shell c. pail
4. The story “Midsummer” effectively depicts the ___.
a. rural setting b. urban setting c. city life
5. The presence of Ading amidst the parch sorrounding added the sense of____.
a. beauty b. freshness c. hope
6. The man showed his machismo to the woman by ___.
a. inviting her to eat b. helping her to draw water c. looking at her intently

7. Ading showed that she also liked Manong when she __

a. invited him to come to their house to rest
b. went back to the gorge to fetch water again
c. gave him water to drink
8. The author of the story was__.
a. Aida Rivera-Ford b. Manel Arguilla c. Ivy Alvarez
9. "Son of lightning!" is referred to
a. pig b. bull c. horse
10. The narrator of the story is____.
a. writer himself b. Ading c. Manong

FROM THE STORY “LOVE IN THE CORNHUSK” by Aida Rivera-Ford

1. Tinang was married to a __
a. Manobo b. Bagobo c. Muslim
2. The post office of the barrio was the __.
a. school b. drugstore c. barangay hall
3. Amado left the seńora’s house because his __was sick.
a. mother b. sister c. father
34
4. The purpose of Tinang’s visit was to ask the seńora to be the madrina in her son’s__
a. wedding b. confirmation c. baptism
5. “Love in the Cornhusks” was written by__.
a. Aida Rivera-Ford b. Manuel Arguilla c. Joey Ayala
6. The story was entitled “Love in the Cornhusks” because___.
a. Tinang received her first love letter
b. Tinang remebered her lost love when she read the letter amidst the
cornhusks
c. Tinang and Amado fell in love in the cornhusks.

7. At what point in her life did Tinang make a serious mistake?

a. When she married a Bagobo without waiting for Amado’s return.
b. When she allowed herself to fall in love with Amado.
c. When she left the seńora’s house.
8. The main theme of the story is__.
a. Making impulsive decisions in life can cause misery.
b. The consequences of one’s action is irreparable.
c. In making life’s important decision, it is better to think twice.
9. What did Amado say in his letter that made Tinang intoxicated?
a. “It is not easy to be far from our lover. . .
b. I imagine your personal appearance coming forward. . .
c. Someday, somehow I’ll be there to fulfill our promise…
d. all of the above
10. What do these mean, “Ave Maria Santisima. Do not punish me”?
a. Tinang realized that she should not have thought intensely about
Amado.
b. Tinang should not put her baby on the cornhusk to sleep
c. both a and b
B. Essay. Answer generously the following questions:

1. How did the man and the young lady cross each other’s path?
2. Describe the young girl. What makes her attractive to the man?
3. How did the man show his machismo to the young lady?
4. Did the meeting of the couple end well? Prove your answer.
5. Do you know of other typical rural stories like this? If so, share to the class.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

Reflect on the learning that you have gained after taking up this lesson by completing
the given chart.

What were your misconceptions about What new or additional learning have you
literature prior to taking up this lesson? had after taking up this lesson in terms of
contributions of the writers to literatures?
35
I thought...... I learned that…

ASSESSMENT

Instructions: What word in the box that corresponds to each of the

following statements below. Write the letter of your choice in your notebook.

a. Lourd de Veyra h. Anthony Tan

b. Ralph Semino Galan i. Joey Ayala
c. Internet j. Aida Rivera Ford
d. blogs k. Ivy Alvarez
e. Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano l. Manuel Arguilla
f. magazines m. Merlie M. Alunan
g. Suzette Severo Doctolero

1. Through its existence, many contemporary authorsTan

h. Anthony are publishing their work
online. i. Joey Ayala
j. Aida
2. He is a writer associated in National Capital Rivera Ford
Region.
3. An example of 21st Century Literature of k. the
IvyPhilippines.
Alvarez
l. Manuel Arguilla
4. He remarked that government should stop giving the bulk of its national budget
m. Merlie M. Alunan
to Metro Manila alone.
n. Lourd de Veyra
5. A writer who comes from Northern Mindanao.
o. Ralph Semino Galan
6. She is a Filipino screenwriter for film and television.
p. Internet
7. He is a writer and Chair of the English Dept. at MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology
q. blogs
where
r. Sen.heAlan
continues to teach.
Peter Cayetano
8. He
s. is a singer and composer of “Karaniwang Tao” song.
magazines
9. The writer of
t. Suzette “Midsummer”
Severo Doctolero
10. The writer of “Love in the Cornhusks”

WHAT I CAN DO

36
 You are the editor of a literary section of a newspaper. You need to write a 500-
word feature article on a Filipino contemporary (21st century) author from outside your
region. Do a library or an online search on a noteworthy writer. Do not limit yourself to
those cited in the table of authors above,but be on the lookout for a lesser-known
author you believe to be promising. Make sure that your feature provides the following
information: background of the author, a short overview of the author’s literary works
(books, online or print publications, etc.), a short sampling of the author’s work/s
together with your commentary. End the article by highlighting what are the author’s
contributions to contemporary Philippine literatures.
(Note: have this activity written in your notebook)

RUBRIC FOR WRITING COMPOSITION

Performance Very Good Good Needs
Areas 10-8 7-5 Improvement
4-1
Content Article has specific Central idea is vague; Unable to find
central idea that is clearly non-supportive to the specific supporting
stated in the opening topic; lacks focus details
paragraph, appropriate,
concrete details.
Organization Article is logically Writing somewhat Central point and
organized and well- digresses from the flow of article is
structured central idea lost; lacks
organization and
continuity
Research Cited research Some research of the Did little or no
information, introduced topic was done but gathering of
personal ideas to was inconclusive to information on the
enhance article support topic; cited topic, did not cite
cohesiveness information was vague information
Style Writing is smooth, Sentences are varied Lacks creativity and
coherent and consistent and inconsistent with focus. Unrelated
central idea word choice to
central idea
Mechanics Written work has no Written work is Written article has
errors in word selection relatively free of errors several errors in
and use sentence in word selection and word selection and
structure, spelling, use, sentence use.
punctuation, and structure, spelling,
capitalization punctuation and
capitalization (some
have errors)

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
37
Other suggested activities for you to explore:

1. Go online and read Butch Dalisay’s essay “Building the National’’ (2010)
<http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/184020/ opinion/ building-the-
national<.

2. Write a short paragraph summarizing Dalisay’s argument.

3. Form a small group and discuss the following: Is Dalisay’s essay convincing?
Why or why not? How does Dalisay use evidence?

Congratulations! You are done. Now, let’s move on to lesson 3.

21ST CENTURY LITERARY GENRES
LESSON 3 ELEMENTS, STRUCTURES AND
TRADITIONS
Competency 2: Compare and contrast the various 21st century literary genres and
the ones from the earlier genres/periods citing their elements, structures and
traditions, EN12Lit-Id-25 (2 hours).

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

1. define what literary genre is;

2. identify the different literary genres of the 21 st century and the earlier
periods in Philippine history; and
38
 3. use a Venn diagram in comparing and contrasting the 21 st century
Philippine literary genres and those in the earlier time.

WHAT I KNOW

INSTRUCTIONS: Read and answer the following statements. Write the letter with
correct answer in your notebook.
1. These are forms of folk lyric that speak volumes of the typical rural lives and reflect
people’s aspirations and lifestyles.
a. proverbs b. riddles c. songs d. epics

2. These are called sawikain or salawikain.

a. riddles b. folk songs c. epics d. proverbs

3. These are long narrative accounts of heroic exploits.

a. epics b. legends c. chants d. fables

4. It is a hybrid genre that incorporates elements of fiction and poetry in retelling of a

personal experience.
a. drama b. creative nonfiction c. creative fiction d. novel
5. Defined as narrative literary works whose content is produced by the imagination
a. drama b. nonfiction c. fiction d. creative nonfiction

WHAT IS IT

What is the definition of literary genre? bERNADOS,ARAGON

Literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined

by literary technique, tone, content, or even (as in the case of fiction) length. The
distinctions between genres and categories are flexible and loosely defined, often with
subgroups.

The most general genres in literature are epic, tragedy, comedy, and creative
nonfiction. They can all be in the form of prose or poetry. Additionally, a genre such
as satire, allegory or pastoral might appear in any of the above, not only as a sub-
genre, but as a mixture of genres.

39
 Finally, they are defined by the general cultural movement of the historical
period in which they were composed. Genre should not be confused with age
categories, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or
children's. They also must not be confused with format, such as graphic novel or
picture book.-SHS Curriculum Guide, 21st Century Literature of the Philippines and the
World.

WHAT’S NEW

INSTRUCTIONS: After reading the definition above, in your notebook, list down three
examples of literary genres:

1. __________________________________

2. __________________________________

3. __________________________________

WHAT IS IT

What are the Literary Genres in the Philippines?

The multiplicity of Philippine literature progressed alongside its rich history. Its
themes are rooted in the context of the Philippine’s pre-colonial cultural traditions and
the socio-political histories of its colonial and contemporary ways. However, some
Filipinos encounter unfamiliarity with the literature of the past essentially due to what
has been taught upon us, that our country was ‘discovered’ and, hence, Philippine
‘history’ began in March 1521.
Through the comprehensive works of archaeologists, anthropologists, and
ethnologists, we have known more information about our pre-colonial times
established against loads of material about early Filipinos as recorded by chroniclers

40
of the past. Let us now look into the different Philippine literary genres that emerged
through time:

The Pre-colonial Period ANGELES, DAYOLA

The Pre-colonial Filipinos demonstrated rich-lived experiences orally

expressed in their folk speeches, songs, narratives, and indigenous rituals and
mimetic dances. These are passed down from generation to generation. The most
common of these are:
a. Riddles – These are mystifying statements or questions phrased and rhymed to
require ingenuity in determining its answer. These are presented as a game and
considered as forms of entertainment during the earlier times. Talinghaga or
metaphor is dominant in any riddles as it discloses subtle comparisons between
unlike things, thus, wit and observation are required in this mental exercise.

For the Visayans, these are called tigmo, for the Tagalogs, bugtong. For the
Ilongos, paktakon and for the Bicolanos, atototdon. Here are the examples:

Tigmo
Baboy sa lasang (A wild pig in the forest,)
Ang tunok puro lansang. (Is covered with spikes)
Answer: Nangka (Jackfruit)

Paktakon
Ano nga tuboran Masulog sa tag-init, (What spring flow in summer)
Ginabubsan kong tag-ulan?. (and run dry on rainy days?)
Answer: Balhas (Sweat)

b. Proverbs - These are called sawikain or salawikain in Tagalog or sarsarita in

Ilocano. Philippine proverbs are wise sayings that prescribe codes of behavior,
mirror societal norms, traditions, and beliefs and impart lessons in brief, rhyming
verse. Read the examples below:

Ilocano on Guilt Hiligaynon on Suffering

Ti agutak, (He who cackles) Kon indi ikaw mag-antos (If you don’t sacrifice)
Isut nagitlog. (laid the egg.) Indi ka gid magsantos.( You can’t be a saint.)

41
c. Songs – These are forms of folk lyric speak volumes of the typical rural lives and
reflect people’s aspirations and lifestyles. Here are some song categories of our
ancestors:
Folk Songs
Lullaby Serenade
(Awit ng
(Oyayi) (Harana)
Bayan)
i. Folk Songs (Awit ng Bayan) – These are songs with lines often
described as repetitive, didactic, and sonorous. The following are
examples of famous Filipino folk songs:

Magtanim ay di Biro Dandansoy

(Tagalog Folk Song) (Visayan Folk Song)
Magtanim ay di biro Dandansoy, bayaan ta ikaw
Maghapong nakayuko Pauli ako sa payag
Di man lang makaupo Ugaling kung ikaw hidlawon
Di man lang makatayo Ang payag imo lang
lantawon.
Braso ko’y namamanhid
Baywang ko’y nangangawit. Dandansoy, kung imo
Binti ko’y namimitig apason
Sa pagkababad sa tubig. Bisan tubig di magbalon
Ugaling kung ikaw uhawon
Sa umaga, paggising Sa dalan magbubon-bubon.
Ang lahat, iisipin
Kung saan may patanim Kumbento, diin ang cura?
May masarap na pagkain Munisipyo, diin justicia?
Yari si dansoy makiha.
Halina, halina, mga kaliyag, Makiha sa pag-higugma
Tayo’y magsipag-unat-unat.
Magpanibago tayo ng lakas Ang panyo mo kag panyo ko
Para sa araw ng bukas Dal-a diri kay tambihon ko
(Bisig ko’y namamanhid Ugaling kung magkasilo
Baywang ko’y nangangawit. Bana ta ikaw, asawa mo
Binti ko’y namimintig ako.
Sa pagkababad sa tubig.)

Kay-pagkasawing-palad
Ng inianak sa hirap,
Ang bisig kung di iunat,
Di kumita ng pilak.

ii. Lullaby (Oyayi) – These are soothing songs often sung to put babies
to sleep. The following is an Ilocano lullaby with its English translation:

42
 Maturug, duduayya Go to sleep, dear little one
Maturog kad tay bunga, Will my child please sleep,
Tay lalaki nga napigsa This strong boy
Ta inton dumakkel tay bunga, So when the child grows big
Isunto aya tay mammati He will obey
Tay amon a ibaga me. Everything that we say.

iii. Serenade (Harana) – These are courtship songs used by young men
to capture the heart of the girl they love.

d. Chants (Bulong) – These are used to give respect, excuse, or apology to unseen
or other elemental spirits our ancestors believed in to deliver them from danger or
harm. Moreover, these are utilized in enchantments and even in withcfraft. Read
the examples below:

Tabi-tabi po, Ingkong, makikiraan po lamang (Tagalog)

Bari-bari po, Apo, umisbo la ting tao. (Ilokano)
Ikaw ang nagnanakaw ng bigas ko
Lumuwa sana ang mata mo
Mamaga sana ang katawan mo
Patayin ka ng mga anito.

e. Epics – These are long narrative accounts of heroic exploits. Examples of these
are Darangen in Maranaw, Aliguyon at Hudhud in Ifugao, Ibalon in Bicol.
Below is a guman or epic of the Subanen people of Zamboanga, which is
chanted during Buklog or festivals.
Ag Tobig Nog Keboklagan (The Kingdom of Keboklagan)
The epic begins with Timoway’s quandary as to how to support his wife who is
about to giving birth. He decides to earn money by being a whetter of tools in the
neighboring villages. He leaves Sirangan with his assistant Kasangolan and fifteen
datus. However, their boat refuses to move until Timoway beheads one of his
companions.

In the village Batotobig, Datu Sakandatar decides to join Timoway, although his
wife, like Timoway’s, is pregnant. While they are cruising, Diwata Pegeraman- the
goddess of wind, lighting, and thunder-invites them to her abode to chew mamaq, betel
nut. Rejected by the datu, she creates a storm that breaks Timoway’s vessel and kills
Timoway and his companions. The broken and now empty vessel returns to Sirangan.
Learning about the incident, Timoway’s wife, Balo Libon, cries so intensely that
she gives birth to a boy. At this same instance, Sakadanbar’s wife in Batotoy also
gives birth to a boy. Balo Libon names her son Taake. He grows quickly, and after
seven months, Taake asks about his father. When he is told that his father’s death
was not caused by a mortal, he becomes happy. Learning that his father was a fisher,

43
Taake asks for his father’s hook and line. With the aid of his magic, he establishes
himself as an excellent fisher.
One day, Taake, now a young man, ask his mother for clothes to go deep-sea
fishing. The request surprises her, for Taake has never asked for clothes. Questioned,
he explains that he is embarrassed to be naked in the company of ladies. Balo Libon
then grooms her son.
At sea, Taake hooks a fish with golden scales, but it drags him farther and
farther away from the shore. The tug of war lasts for months, until an eel warns Taake
to go home and offers him help to get there. But Taake only kills the eel. A storm
develops, and Taake sinks. He sees a shore under the sea and sets foot on it. Finding
a horse with his hook and line in its mouth, he pursues it with karisan or sword, but the
animal escapes him. Taake has reached Keboklagan.
Taake sees a tower. He climbs a ladder with golden rungs to reach the top of
the tower. There, he finds a woman, nearly naked, sewing. Called the Lady of
Pintawan, she invites him to chew mamaq. As they chew, their eyes meet an exchange
message of love. Taake courts her for seven days. Finally, the Lady of Pintawan
accepts Taake’s offer of marriage. However, the romance is blocked by two men,
Towan Salip and Soratan Domatong, who abhor the idea of the Lady of Pintawan
marrying a Subanon. The two rally the folks of Keboklagan and urge them to kill Taake.
The Lady of Pintogan, a close friend of the Lady of Pintawan, learns about the plot
and flies on her monsala or scarf to the Lady of Pintawan’s place. She advises Taake
to take his wife to Sirangan. Taake however, insists on his innocence and refuses to
leave Keboklagan. He fights the people who attack him.
In Sirangan, the Datu Tomitib Manaon dreams of a lone Subanon fighting in
Keboklagan. When he awakes, he prepares to help Taake, whom he discovers has
been away from Sirangan for a long time. Accompanied by two other datus, he
proceeds to Keboklagan. Although they lose their way at first, they finally arrive at
Keboklagan, following Taake’s route. Taake approaches Tomitib for fighting without
first asking for the reason for the fight. Saulagya Maola, the datu of Keboklagan and
the Lady of Pintawa’s brother arrive. The Ladies of Keboklagan explain to him the
cause of the fight. He recalls his promise to his sister that anyone who can climb the
ladder with rungs of blades shall be his sister’s husband. Saulagya Maola tells the two
datus about the promise, but they insist on fighting. Saulagya, therefore, divides his
kingdom between those who decide to fight and those who decide to withdraw from
the battle.
Tomitib Manaon asks Saulagya Maola if he can marry the Lady of Pintogan.
But because of his incivility, she rejects Tomitib. Tomitib runs back to the crowd and
starts fighting. Datu Liyo-liyo, hearing about the fight, rides his horse and proceeds to
the battleground. Datu Liyo-liyo engages Tomitib in a hand-to-hand battle. Eventually,
the datu of Sirangan defeats the datu of Keboklagan.
44
 The datus then proceed to other kingdoms to fight further. First, they challenge
the chief of Dibaloy, Datu Bataqelo. Lilang Diwata, his sister, renames Taake
Malompyag, or “he fights in all places”. Taake and Tomitib would have exterminated
the whole kingdom had compassion not overtaken them after half of the population
had fallen to their sword. In Todong-todong, Taake and Tomitib are invited by its chief
to chew mamaq before they start fighting. After the chew, they annihilate the kingdom.
The datus then proceed to Walo Sabang, ruled by Egdodan Magsorat and Egdodan
Sabagan, who themselves do not fight. Their subjects, however, are sufficient, for they
get resurrected after having been killed. Taake tires after seven months of fighting and
falls asleep, leaving Tomitib to fight alone. In Taake’s dream, a girl instructs him to
disguise himself as Towan Salip Palasti and to go to the Tower of Walo Sabang to get
magical medicines by which to prevent the enemies from coming back to life. When
he awakes, he does as instructed, and he and Tomitib defeat the army of Walo
Sabang. At one point in the battle, Tomitib falls dead, but the women of Keboklagan
restore him to life.
The massive destruction disturbs the god Asog. He descends to the earth and
reprimands the Sirangan. He instructs them to go home and hold a buklog, in which
each of them will be given his partner. Asog fans his kerchief, bringing the dead to life.
The datus return to Sirangan, where Taake finds his mother dying of longing for him.
He kisses her and she revives. All the datus of the different kingdoms are invited to a
buklog, and Asog gives each of them a partner in life.
f. Myths – These are symbolic narratives, usually of unknown origin and at least
partly traditional, that ostensibly relate actual events and are especially associated
with religious belief. Ancient Filipino myths include The Story of Bathala, and Ang
Pag-aaway ng Dagat at Langit.

g. Legends – These are stories that explain the origin of things and phenomena in
the surrounding world. Some of the most famous legends are: The Legend of
Maria Makiling, The Legend of Mayon, and The Legend of Sampaguita.

h. Fables – These are brief stories for the children of the native Filipinos. These talk
about supernatural or extraordinary people and usually follow in the form of
narration that demonstrates a useful truth. These stories use animals as characters
to represent a particular attribute or characteristic. One of the most orally narrated
Filipino fables is Ang Kuneho at ang Pagong.

i. Folk tales (Kwentong Bayan) – These are stories that deal with the power of
nature-personified, their submission to a deity (Bathala), and how the deity is
responsible for the blessings and the curses in the form of calamities. These are
often passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth.

45
 After knowing the literary genres of the Pre-colonial Philippines, can you cite
local/ regional examples of riddles, proverbs, songs, epics, myths, and folktales?
Share it in class.
The Spanish Period CEPE,BERGADO
The Spanish colonizers ruled the country for over 300 years. They used the
cross to influence and impose their religion upon the natives. For more than three
centuries of colonization in the Philippines, not only was our history as a nation altered
but also our traditions, lifestyles, and belief systems. This has immensely influenced
our literature. A shift of interest from writing about nature to writing about the Christian
faith – of hymns, saints, miracles, and the teaching of the church, took place. Most of
the writings were religious, secular, and at the latter part, propaganda and
revolutionary.
Religious matters were in the form of prose as prayer books, novenas,
biographies of saints, and the likes. Senakulo, a Filipino dramatization of the life and
times of Jesus Christ presented during the Lent, was widely held. Pasyon, Philippine
epic narrative of the life of Jesus Christ, was written in stanzas with five lines of eight
syllables each and focused on his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Dalit (psalm), a
song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing a philosophy of life, also became
popular.
Secular or Non-religious literature also flourished. These are prominently
tales of valiance and adventure. They include the following:
a. Awit (Song)– These have measures of twelve syllables (dodecasyllabic)
and are slowly sung to the accompaniment of a guitar or banduria. Francisco
Baltazar’s Florante at Laura is the best example for this.
b. Kurido (Corrido) - These are metrical romances and tales that follow a
structure of a poem. These have measures of eight syllables (octosyllabic)
and recited to a martial beat. More often, these are tales of chivalry where
a knight saves a princess. Ibong Adarna is an example of this.
c. Karagatan - This is a poetic vehicle of a socio-religious nature celebrated
during the death of a person.
d. Duplo – This is a poetic joust in speaking and reasoning.
e. Prose Narratives – These are instructional materials that teach Filipinos
proper decorum. Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si Urbana at Feliza
(1864) is an example.
f. Sarswela – This is a type of drama that originated in Spain. It includes
singing and dancing on stage with lyrics alternatively spoken and sung in
operatic and popular styles.

The exposure of the Filipinos to Europe’s liberal idealism, the martyrdom of

GomBurZa, the Cavite Mutiny in 1872 and the Spanish Revolution in 1868 led to
Filipino consciousness (Martin, Guevarra, del Campo, 2016). This gave birth to two
crucial and historic movements during this time – the Propaganda movement and the
Revolutionary movement which awakened nationalism. The Propaganda movement
46
was reformatory in objective and its members were Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar,
and Graciano Lopez-Jaena. They have published news, editorial, and satires that
attacked Spanish rule.
The exposure of the evils of the Spanish rule in the Philippines was because of
Rizal’s novels: Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo and has paved the way to a
revolution against Spain. Del Pilar’s essays and editorials in Diariong Tagalog which
he founded with Lopez-Jaena’s articles in La Solidaridad (where he was an editor)
reflected nationalism that was dominant at this time. Lopez Jaena’s Fray Botod (1876)
exposed how some friars were greedy, immoral, and ambitious. Del Pilar’s Dasalan at
Tocsohan (Prayers and Jokes) was similar to that of a catechism but sarcastically
done against the Spanish priests.
Revolutionary literature also loomed with exposes that sparked revolution
and resistance among the Filipinos. Andres Bonifacio’s Katungkulang Gagawin ng
mga Anak ng Bayan (Obligations of our Countrymen) outlined the obligations of
Filipinos toward nationalism. Apolinario Mabini’s essay titled El Desarollo y Caida de
la Republica Filipina (The Rise and Fall of Philippine Republic) highlighted the
establishment of Philippine Republic and its subsequent downfall due to disunity
among the Filipinos. Emilio Jacinto’s collection of essays called Liwanag at Dilim (Light
and Darkness) was on work, faith, freedom, government, and patriotism.

The American Period SANCHEZ

The Philippines had a great leap in education and culture during the American
colonization. During their time in the country, public school system was introduced and
the usage of both English and Filipino was practiced.
The literature during the American period was imitative of the form of American
writing. Forms of poetry still followed the old structure but had contents that ranged
from free writing and societal concerns under the American regime. Some poems
focused on non-traditional themes such that of Jose Corazon de Jesus’ Mga Gintong
Dahon (1920). This is a collection poem that tackled themes on passion-slaying, grief-
induced, insanity and lover’s suicide. Drama also became popular as it was used to
degrade the Spanish rule and immortalized the heroism of Filipinos who fought under
the Katipunan. Remake novels also took up Dr. Jose Rizal’s portrayal of social
conditions under colonial repression.
Severino Reyes led the movement to supplant the komedya with a new type of
drama, the sarswela (adaptation of the Spanish zarzuela). Sarswelas such as Juan
Abad’s Tanikalang Guinto (1902), Juan Matapang Cruz’s Hindi Ako Patay (1903), and
Aurelio Tolentino’s Kahapon, Ngayon, at Bukas (1903) allegorically presented the
history of nationalist struggle.

47
The Japanese Period and the Republic
With the coming of the Japanese invaders, Philippine literature came to a halt.
The English language was banned and the Filipino language was mandated under
Japanese rule. For some, this seemed to be a problem but for others it was a blessing
in disguise. Filipino literature was given a break in this period as many wrote plays,
novels, poems, short stories with themes circling on life in the province, the arts,
nationalism, and the likes. Many plays were reproduced from English to Tagalog.
Writing during the Japanese reign were journalistic in nature. People felt
suppressed but the spirit of nationalism slowly seeped into their consciousness. Thus,
essays were composed to glorify Filipinos and to figuratively attack the Japanese.

21st Century Literature of the Philippines FERNANDEZ, ESCUADRA, PADILLA

All literary works written and published at the later part of the 21st century (from
2001 onwards) are often characterized as gender sensitive, technologically alluding,
culturally pluralistic, operates on the extreme reality or extreme fiction, and questions
conventions and supposedly absolute norms.

Just as technology advanced in the 21st century, Filipinos have also adapted,
invented, and written some literary innovations far different from before. Philippine
literature, nowadays, deals with current themes on technological culture and traces
artistic representation of shared experiences. These works are characterized as
gender sensitive, technologically alluding, culturally pluralistic, operates on the
extreme reality or extreme fiction, and questions conventions and supposedly absolute
norms. There are a lot of new forms from the basic genres of literature; thus, proving
how far the literature in the Philippines has gone and how far it will go on from here.
The following are the most notable literary genres in the 21 st century:
a. Drama- It is the genre of literature with stories composed of verse or prose which
is meant to be dramatically or theatrically performed. Its emotions and conflicts are
expressed through dialogue and movements or actions.

b. Creative nonfiction – It is also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction,

is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually
accurate narratives.

c. Blog – It is a web log containing short articles called posts that can be changed
regularly. Some blogs are written by one person (called blogger) containing his/her
hobbies or interests, opinions, and experiences, while others are written by many
different people.
48
d. Poetry – It is a verse and rhythmic writing with imagery that evokes an emotional
response from the reader. Mina Roy defines poetry as “prose bewitched”. If fiction
is concerned with plot action, poetry is “life distilled” through words and language.
Poetry works via suggestion, implication, and ambiguity rather than straightforward
communication. The art of poetry is rhythmical in composition, written or spoken.
Poetry is for entertaining and exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or
elevated thoughts.

i. Mobile phone Text tula - A particular example of this poem is a tanaga,

a type of Filipino poem, consisting of four lines with seven syllables each
with the same rhyme at the end of each line - that is to say a 7-7-7-7
syllabic verse, with an AABB rhyme scheme. The modern tanaga still
uses the 7777 syllable count, but rhymes range from dual rhyme forms:
AABB, ABAB, ABBA; to freestyle forms such as AAAB, BAAA, or ABCD.
Tanagas do not have titles traditionally because the tanaga should speak
for itself. However, moderns can opt to give them titles. Text tula is often
read on cellular phones.

ii. Hyperpoetry – It is a form of digital poetry that uses links using hypertext
mark-up. It is a very visual form, and is related to hypertext fiction and
visual arts. The links mean that a hypertext poem has no set order, the
poem moving or being generated in response to the links that the
reader/user chooses. It can either involve set words, phrases, lines, etc.
that are presented in variable order but sit on the page much as
traditional poetry does, or it can contain parts of the poem that move and
/ or mutate. It is usually found online. The earliest examples date to no
later than the mid-1980s.

iii. Spoken word poetry – It is a poem that has made its way into the hearts
and souls of thousands of Filipinos especially the millennials. It is a type
of poem performed or read in artistic and emotive manner which can be
accompanied by music or presented in the streets or bars, even café
shops. It is an oral art that focuses on the aesthetics of word play such
as intonation and voice inflection. It is a "catchall" term that includes any
kind of poetry recited aloud, including poetry readings, poetry slams, jazz
poetry, and hip hop, and can include comedy routines and prose
monologues. The most viewed YouTube Filipino spoken word artist is
Juan Miguel Severo whose original poems have been performed in TV
dramas like On The Wings of Love.

e. Fiction - Fiction has genres that can be defined as narrative literary works whose
content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. In
fiction something is feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story.

49
Examples are the following:

i. Short Story – This is brief fiction that can be read in one seating and is
not able to support any subplots.

ii. Chick-Lit – This is a genre which addresses issues of modern

womanhood, often humorously and light-heartedly. The genre became
popular in the late 1990s, with chick-lit titles topping best seller lists and
the creation of imprints devoted entirely to chick-lit. Although it
sometimes includes romantic elements, chick-lit is generally not
considered a direct subcategory of the romance novel genre, because
the heroine's relationship with her family or friends is often just as
important as her romantic relationships.

iii. Flash fiction – This is a style of fictional literature or fiction of extreme

brevity. There is no widely accepted definition of the length of the
category. Some self-described markets for flash fiction impose caps as
low as three hundred words, while others consider stories as long as a
thousand words to be flash fiction.

iv. Realistic Fiction – It is a story that can actually happen and is true to
real life.

v. Historical Fiction- It is a story with fictional characters and events in a

historical setting.

vi. Horror – These are frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting stories.

vii. Mystery – It deals with unraveling of secrets and solution of a crime.

viii. Illustrated Novels – These are stories through text and illustrated
images.

ix. Graphic Novels – These are narratives in comic book formats.

x. Speculative Fiction – It is a term encompassing the more fantastical

fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, weird fiction,
supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction,
apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in
literature as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts.

a. Science Fiction – It is a story based on impact of potential science,

either actual or imagined and is set in the future or on other planets.

50
 b. Fantasy – It is the forming of mental images with strange or other
worldly settings or characters and invites suspension of reality.

c. Humor – It is the faculty of perceiving what is amusing or comical. It

is fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement which meant to entertain.
This genre of literature can actually be seen and contained within all
genres.

WHAT’S MORE

INSTRUCTIONS: Using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast the various literary
genres of the earlier periods and the 21st century Philippine literature. Focus on their
themes, elements and styles. Do this in your notebook.

Note to the teacher:

Have your own assessment on the above What’s In activity. You Also decide the
scoring of this activity.
Thank you.

ASSESSMENT

INSTRUCTIONS: In your notebook, write the literary genre described in each

statement below. Choose your answers from the words found in the box.

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 Science fiction play haiku blog
graphic novel Chick-lit folk song duplo
hyperpoetry drama Lullaby short story
poem novel fable legend
humor sarswela

1. It is a narrative in comic book format.

2. It is a poetic joust in speaking and reasoning.
3. It is a story based on impact of potential science.
4. It is form of digital poetry that uses links of hypertext mark-up.
5. It is a soothing song often sung to put babies to sleep.
6. It is fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement which meant to entertain.
7. It is fictitious narrative about the origin of the place, name person or thing.
8. It is a weblog containing short articles called posts that can be changed regularly.
9. This is a genre which addresses issues of modern womanhood, often humorously
and light-heartedly.
10. This is a type of drama that originated in Spain.

Congratulations! You are done. Now, let’s move to lesson 4.

LITERARY, BIOGRAPHICAL,
LESSON
4 LINGUISTIC, AND SOCIO-
CULTURAL CONTEXTS

52
Competency 3: Explain the literary, biographical, linguistic, and socio-cultural
contexts; and discuss how they enhance the text’s meaning and enrich the reader’s
understanding, EN12Lit-Ie-28 (4 hours).

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

1. analyze selected literary works by writers from Visayas and Mindanao;

2. identify the context of a given literary text;
3. relate the context of a literary text to its meaning; and
4. situate or place the literary text in the context of the region where the
writer is from and of the nation.

WHAT IS IT

A. LITERARY TEXT CABILING,AYALA

Literary text is a piece of written material, such as a book or poem that has the
purpose of telling a story or entertaining, as in a fictional novel.
Context anything beyond the specific words of a literary work that may be
relevant to understanding the meaning. Contexts may be economic, social, cultural,
historical, literary, biographical, etc. (e.g. the political context of the rule of Elizabeth
and James, the religious context of Calivinism, the social context of homosexual
relations and cross-dressing and the literary context of Renaissance literature, for
example, all have significant implications for understanding the words of
Shakespeare).
As a reader, why do you have to make sense of the context of a literary work?
How is each literary work representative of the region where the writer is from and of
the nation.
Merlie M. Alunan was born in Dingle, Iloilo and graduated with a Creative
Writing degree from Siliman University. She is Professor Emeritus at the University of
the Philippines and promotes writing in the mother tongue. Her poems are in English,
Cebuano, and Waray. At present, she resides in Tacloban City.

53
Example 1:

Old Women in Our Village (An Excerpt)

by Merlie M. Alunan

Old women in my village say

the sea is always hungry, they say,
that’s why it comes without fail
to lick the edges of the barrier sand,
rolling through rafts of mangrove,
smashing its salt-steeped flood
on guardian cliffs, breaking itself
against rock faces, landlocks, hills,
reaching through to fields, forests,
grazelands, villages by the water,
country lanes, towns, cities where
people walk about in a dream,
deaf to the wind shushing
the sea’s sibilant sighing
somedaywecome
somedaywe come
someday . . . .
Only the old women hear
the ceaseless warning, watching
the grain drying in the sun,
or tending the boiling pot
or gutting a fish for the fire, fingers
bloody, clothes stained, scent of the ocean
rising from the mangled flesh into their lungs.
Nights, as they sit on their mats
rubbing their knees, waiting for ease
to come, and sleep, they hear the sea
endlessly muttering as in a dream
someday someday someday . . .
Nudging the old men beside them,
their mates—empty-eyed seafarer,
each a survivor of storms, high waves,
and the sea’s vast loneliness,
now half-lost in their old age
amid the household clutter—
old women in my village
nod to themselves and say,
one uncharted day, the sea
will open its mouth and drink in
a child playing on the sand,
a fisherman with his nets,

54
 great ships laden with cargo,
and still unsated, they say,
suck up cities towns villages—
one huge swallow to slake its hunger.
As to when or how it would happen,
who knows, the women say, but this much
is true—no plea for kindness can stop it—
nodding their heads this way and that,
tuning their ears to the endless mumbling . . . .
somedaywecomewecomewecome
somedaywecomewecomewecome
somedaysomedaysomeday
(Reproduced by permission of Prof. Merlie M. Alunan)

Explanation:

The imagery in “Old Women in Our Village” (2012) is heightened through the
use of sound devices. For instance, the cacophony in the first stanza implies strong
feelings, like in the line “against rock faces, landlocks, hills.” Then euphony in the next
stanza evokes pleasant feelings as in the line “the sea’s sibilant sighing.” This
suggests an impending disaster, which is echoed in the rest of the poem.

Gutierrez Mangansakan II, an advocate of the Moro culture, is a filmmaker

and writer from Pagalungan, Maguindanao. In 2001, his film House under the Crescent
Moon won the grand prize for video documentary from the Cultural Center of the
Philippines Prize for Independent Film and Video. Since then, he has made films that
focus on the plight of women and children. Also, he was the editor of Children of the
Ever-Changing Moon (2007), a collection of essays by young Moro writers. He
became a fellow at the University of Iowa’s International Program in 2008.

Mangansakan wrote a short story entitled “A Harvest of Sorrows” for the

collection Peace Mindanao edited by Jaime An Lim, a multi-awarded writer, it is also
published by UST Publishing House in 2013. The story features a narrator whose
experience mirrors Mangansakan’s experience in relief work. For him, the issue and
images of refugees and displacement have always been a consistent element in both
his films and writing.

Example 2:

A Harvest of Sorrows
by Gutierrez Mangansakan II

“A Harvest of Sorrows” begins with the narrator’s arrival at an evacuation center

at 9 AM in a remote village in Mindanao. He has come to give away several sacks of

55
rice to the refugees in the center. The refugees have fled their homes because fighting
broke out in their villages. At the center he meets his friend Ayesha, the social worker
who is in charge of supervising relief operations. Ayesha tells him that a woman in the
center gave birth to a stillborn child, and the father does not know it yet. The father,
together with the other men, has gone back to the village to guard the rice fields, where
crops are ready for harvest in ten days. Later, while the narrator and Ayesha are
having coffee, the latter announces that the father will be sent for and that the child
will be buried after the noon prayer.

Important Points

 Each writer in the lesson tackles a theme that situates his or her work in a
context specific to the region.
 Merlie Alunan’s poem “Old Women in Our Village” depicts sea, an important
part of life of the Visayans, as an agent of destruction and death. On the other
hand, Gutierrez Mangansakan II’s short story “A Harvest of Sorrows”
highlights the plight of refugees from war.
 Context – This is the background of the text which may have been influenced
by the author’s life, language, society, and culture.
 Imagery – This language awakens the reader’s sensory perceptions through
words and phrases.
 Cacophony – This sound device refers to words or phrases with harsh
sounds that create a disturbing tone.
 Euphony – This sound device refers to words or phrases with melodic
sounds that create a calming tone.

WHAT’S NEW

INSTRUCTIONS: As your output for this lesson compose a-two stanza poem about
nature using the sound devices cacophony and euphony. Write your answer in your
journal notebook.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
B. LITERARY READING THROUGH A BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

56
 At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to analyze a literary text
through a biographical context.

WHAT I KNOW

INSTRUCTIONS: Read the following statements. Write the letter with the correct
answer in your notebook.
1. What do you call a term which means goes beyond words in understanding the
meaning of a literary text?
a. context b. biographical c. linguistic d. socio-cultural

2. The following are importance of context except

a. give information b. provide new concepts
c. provide words d. highlight important words

3. Which factor does not influence by context?

a. author’s life b. language
c. society c. concept

4. In biographical context, what is being looked into in understanding the literary

texts?
a. life of the author b. language used
c. culture portrayed c. society where he belonged

5. What do you call a piece of material that has a purpose of telling a story or
entertaining?
a. literary text b. story c. novel d. drama

WHAT IS IT

57
 Biographical Context places a particular literary work within the context of the
author’s life. Consider the circumstances under which the literary work was written.
While exploring biographical context, useful sources include biographies of the author,
autobiographies or memoirs by the author or by people who knew him or her, and
critical works that give close attention to the author’s life.

In analyzing a text based on its biographical context, you should consider not
only how the factors mentioned earlier have caused an impact to the author, but also
how these factors were reflected in, and have helped shape, his or her work(s). It is
important to take into consideration the literary background of the author. You must
research about who and which the author reads as these may have also influenced
him or her and his or her work(s).

Example:
ABNKKBSNPLAko
by Bob Ong

ABNKKBSNPLAKo is an autobiography detailing author Bob Ong’s school

days, from his experiences on his first day of primary school to his disastrous university
experience and culminating with his entry into the education sector himself, as a
teacher. The book is written in Tagalog, the language of the Philippine Islands. The
autobiography’s long title is meant to be read phonetically, as “Aba, nakakabasa na
pala ako?!” which when translated to English means, “Wow, I can actually read now?!”
Bob Ong is Filipino, but the name is a pseudonym and his true identity is unconfirmed,
though several contemporary Filipino authors have been proposed.

WHAT’S NEW

58
INSTRUCTIONS: Read the essay entitled Silliman in the Seventies: A Personal Journey
by Anthony L. Tan and answer the given questions. Write your answers in your
notebook.

Silliman in the Seventies: A Personal Journey

(for Carlos Ojeda Aureus)
Anthony L. Tan

I remember the words of Rilke’s “Ninth Elegy”: Maybe we’re here only to say:
house,/ bridge, well, gate, jug, olive tree, window—/ at most, pillar, tower... but to say
them, remember,/ oh to say them in a way that the things themselves/never dreamed
of existing so intensely. Albert Faurot, the music teacher, gave me a bilingual edition
of Rilke’s Duino Elegies and The Sonnets to Orpheus. His dedication “To another poet
and friend” gave me one of the high moments of my life in Silliman. His End House
was a favorite haunt for Butch Macansantos, Armando (my younger brother) and me;
yet when he passed away, I was not even around to pay him my last respects.

When for the first time I came to Silliman, I was trying to escape from the
limitations of my island home in the Sulu Sea. I was in search of another island,
disdaining a humdrum destiny that was mine at birth, the destiny my ancestors, even
from their graves, seemed to have foisted on me. I had thought then that I was urged
on, like Tennyson’s Ulysses, by hunger for new knowledge. Even before this hunger
had been appeased, a deeper kind of hunger was growing inside of me. It masked
itself as the hunger to move about, but in reality, it was not wanderlust but, my enemies
would think, the other kind of wandering and lusting. I must be kind and just to myself
and think simply that this new kind of hunger grew out of the demise of an old love,
unfortunately because of my immaturity. (Because, Mr. Kahlil Gibran, I did not at that
time want to bleed upon the thorns of love; that I was not, unlike your sheaves of corn,
ready for “love’s threshing-floor”.) I wanted to make up for that loss and I thought a
new island would be the right place to start anew because, in a manner of speaking,
my old island home had been washed away by the waves of time and misfortune.

So, it was then that in the summer of 1970 I found myself in Silliman.I was like
a shipwrecked sailor who had come upon an island, and I was learning the names of
things which I thought did not exist.

Many things crowd into my memory when I look back to that time nearly 30
years ago. I remember the languor and rhythm of the afternoon, the horses’ hooves
clip-clopping down the asphalt streets, the pleasant rattle the cochero made when he
touched the spokes of the turning wheel of his tartanilla with the handle of his whip. In
the noon heat the sea just off the boulevard would be shimmering and blinding as if
someone had thrown a million shards of mirrors on the water. It was just like in the old
59
home with the sea breeze coming in from another island. The stead, white houses of
the elite facing the sea reminded one of the relaxed atmospheres of the boulevard.
Late afternoon it would be full of the happy sounds of children, their concerned parents
or yayas watching over them. But there would also be wrinkled habitués promenading
in the sunset, or into the sunset of their years. Meanwhile, the boats docked at the
wharf, but soon to depart for other ports and to carry away someone to another
country, to strange seas and climes.

After sundown or early evening, as you walked down to the university cafeteria
to eat supper, you would hear again the clip-clopping tartanilla pass by. And again late
at night when you paused from whatever it was you were doing or reading. The ending
of one of Nick Joaquin’s stories would come to life except that here there was no
resonance or suggestion of romance but simply the humdrum sound of tartanilla. But
who knows what was taking place behind the cochero? Maybe two lovers, coming
home from a movie downtown, were kissing behind the cochero, their hearts beating
each to each.

Unbeknownst to a provinciano like me, living in this untroubled paradise, with

only my yearning for love as a kind of unrelieved pain, deep trouble was already
brewing in many parts of the land. There was profound discontent among the masses.
The president, who proved to be a dictator, was stealing the money from the people
and depositing it in banks outside the country, while his wife was buying shoes and
shoes and vats of perfumes and body lotion to keep her young and beautiful. The
generals were jockeying for power while their wives were ingratiating themselves with
the First Lady. Meanwhile, the lowly-paid, underfed, ordinary foot soldiers were dying
daily in the hinterlands of Mindanao at the hands of the communist rebels, or in the
jungles of Jolo, redolent with the smell of durian and rotting lanzones, they were being
slaughtered by roving bands of bandits and zealous mujahedeens. Unbeknownst to
many in the country the president was planning to suspend the writ of habeas corpus
and later to declare martial law.

As a graduate student in English in 1970, I had to enroll in a creative writing

class. In summer, this class happened to be the famous National Summer Writers
Workshop. Although I had no ambition to be a creative writer, I was excited to be in a
writers’ workshop. Here was an opportunity to sharpen my skills in writing even if I did
not intend to be a writer. At that time I did not know what exactly I wanted to do with
my life.

Some of the writing fellows in the 1970 summer writers’ workshop, mostly from
Manila-based schools like UP, Ateneo and De La Salle, have today become nationally
famous, although not all of them turned out to be the poets that they at first thought
they would be. Many of course are hardly heard of these days, deciding perhaps to do
60
something better. Some joined the underground movement in order to fight the coming
dictatorship. In the aftermath of martial law some changed their occupations,
becoming journalists instead or copy editors in some lucrative advertising firms. And
some went abroad, to the U.S.A., to do something else like taxi driving. Taxi driving
might seem embarrassing, but it is not without precedence in literary history, a
precedence that moved Albert Camus to remark that art is gratuitous because look
what Rimbaud did in Abyssinia after he had left the writing of poetry.

The few who persevered have become well-known writers and are now
harvesting the coveted awards that are given annually by the Manila- based weeklies
and the Carlos Palanca Foundation. One name stands out today, Carlos Ojeda
Aureus, the Bicolano writer whose book of short stories, Naguenos, is the Philippine
counterpart of James Joyce’s Dubliners. The other famous name is Ricky Lee, a
scriptwriter of Tagalog movies. And of course, there is Conrado de Quiros, a well-
known columnist with the big time Philippine Daily Inquirer.

There were others in that batch like Willie Sanchez, Albert Casuga and
Celedonio Aguilar who for one reason or another have stopped writing. The members
of the panel of critics in the 1970 workshop, aside from Dr. Edilberto K. Tiempo and
Dr. Edith L. Tiempo, were Myrna Pena-Reyes, Raymond Llorca, Bien Lumbera and
Mig Enriquez.

In retrospect, the writing fellows and the critics formed an august body of
intelligent men, but at that time, because of my ignorance and naivete, because of my
lack of ambition to be a serious writer, I did not feel the awe that was due to this group
of men and women. There is something about me that until now is not impressed by
importance, literary or otherwise, but I take off my hat to kind, honest, intelligent men
and women.

Since I was not a writing fellow but a graduate student enrolled for credit, I had
the leisure to sit back and listen 99 percent of the time to the fellows and critics discuss
the manuscripts submitted to the workshop. I remember that the only time I had the
opportunity to speak was when Dr. Lumbera thought that it would be good to let the
fellows and the students talk first. Uncharacteristic for a timid person like me, I
immediately, boldly grabbed the opportunity, opened my big mouth, bared my fangs
like a dog lately unleashed. Having honed my critical sword in the periodical section
of the old Silliman library, on the whetstone of such periodicals as Modern Fiction
Studies, I decided to wield it on a short story that did not live up to the standards of
good fiction, pointing out the failure of characterization and the consequent
improbability of the story. Apparently, Dr. Lumbera noticed what I did because at the
end of the session he approached me and talked to me about something, maybe it
was about my work. I remember saying that I was looking for work because I had
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already resigned from a teaching job with the Notre Dame of Siasi. He suggested that
I see the Tiempos, but I was too timid to follow his advice. I would meet Bien again six
years later when I was a writing fellow at the UP Writers Workshop.

How Doc Ed got me into the English Department of Silliman is a long story itself.
Looking back, I could say it was one of those turning points in one’s life that did not
seem, at the moment that it was taking place, momentous at all.

After the workshop, after we had gone back home and had returned to campus,
when classes for the first semester were about to begin, I met Caloy Aureus again in
Larena Hall, one of the boys’ dorms. He had become a friend, this Bicolano fictionist
who looked like the young William Butler Yeats when Yeats was in love with Maud
Gonne. As always, he was carelessly handsome, or more specifically, comblessly
handsome because in the years that we were together in Silliman, as far as I knew,
he never owned a comb or wore pomade or gel, and he thought that it was womanish
to wear

He asked me to accompany him to the residence of the Tiempos because he

had to arrange the schedule of his classes. The Tiempos had promised him a teaching
job so that he could at the same time study for his master’s degree in Creative Writing.
As a writing fellow, Caloy had submitted a short story which, in spite of its subject
matter, or probably because of it (a rape near a cathedral), impressed the panel of
critics. Dr. Tiempo, or Dad, as we later came to call him, was the dean of the graduate
school, and Mom Edith was the head of the English Department.

I had no inkling that that very evening, that Friday evening, still warm and
pleasant as if the long days of summer were not over yet, the tide of my fortune was
going to change.

It was my first time to be at the residence of the Tiempos in Amigo Subdivision.

I remember the warm glow of the lights in the sala and in the adjacent dining room.
There was snack for Caloy and me, brewed coffee I think it was, and cookies. While
Caloy and the Tiempos were busy with the schedule of Caloy’s classes, those that he
was going to teach in the undergrad and those that he was going to attend as a student
in the graduate school, I sat back, looked around the sala, at the books and bric-a-
brac on the shelves, the large, wooden stereo set and the large records, hardly
enjoying the brewed coffee because in two days I had to pack my things up and go
back to that God-forsaken island in the Sulu Sea where I came from. The prospect of
going back, of repeating history, that is, the family history of store keeping, gave me
that sinking feeling that there was no justice in the universe, the feeling of a sailor in a
rickety boat driven into the teeth of a storm.

62
 We were walking to the iron gate when some good angel bent over Doc Ed and
whispered to him, urging him to ask me what I was going to do. As calmly as I could,
although the tide of dejection was rising to my head, I explained to him my situation,
the dreadful prospect of return, without giving him a hint of that dread, and the desire
to stay on in Silliman if possible. He said there were available scholarships in the
graduate school. Was I willing to work as a graduate fellow and also study for a
master’s degree? Could I postpone my return trip that Sunday? Could I see him on
Monday in his office and see what could be done?

Those words and my affirmative response cancelled out the other possibilities
of my life, turned the possibilities to might-have-beens: like I could have been a rich
but discontented store keeper in a loveless island, or a rebel with the MNLF.

In Dumaguete and Silliman I stayed on and stayed on and stayed on for the
next thirteen years.

Every year I looked forward to summer and the workshop. In 1972 I worked as
the assistant of Mr. Joe Torres, the reliable typist of the workshop manuscripts. I
mimeographed the stencils that he had cut in that small room on the ground floor of
the old library, which was an extension office of the English Department because at
one time or another Mr. Jess Chanco, Mr. Darnay Demetillo, Mr. Joe Teague and Mr.
Antonio Enriquez held office there.

The following year I qualified as a writing fellow. I submitted a few poems and
a short story about Tausug vengeance. The story had an epigraph from William Butler
Yeats’s poem about things falling apart because the center cannot hold. The story was
hotly debated by the panelists and writing fellows. I was thrilled by the reactions of the
participants, whether they were favorable or otherwise. It was then that I realized that
anything about Tausug was interesting to many readers. Somewhere on the fringe of
my subconscious I began to entertain the idea of someday writing a novel about my
God-forsaken island.

The late Mr. Rolando Tinio was a panelist that year, and he played the role of
the devil’s advocate to the hilt. There was no story or poem that pleased him. I
remember an incident one afternoon when a literature-teacher fellow showed his poem
to Mr. Tinio. It was under the acacia tree in front of Larena Hall. A circle of benches
surrounded the tree. It was where idle students would make tambay, where the laundry
women on Saturday and Sunday afternoons would wait for the students to pick up the
laundry. After a quick reading of the poem, Mr. Tinio dropped the piece of paper, bent
down and covered it with a pile of sand, and remarked that the poem deserved the
burial. The way he scooped the sand with both hands, wordlessly pouring the grains
of sand on the paper, how he quickly stood up and delivered the punch line was a
63
brilliant comic action. We were all entertained. We all laughed, including the
mustachioed victim of this joke who, we learned later, he invited to teach with him at
the Ateneo de Manila.

Except for the summer of 1976 when I was at the UP Writers Workshop in
Diliman, I attended the Silliman workshop every year in various capacity: sometimes
as a tour guide to the visiting writing-fellows from Manila and Cebu, the role being
performed by Mickey Ibañez and Victor Padilla today; sometimes as an unofficial,
unpaid panelist; and later with Butch Macansantos, as jester who entertained the
writing fellows with ethnic jokes. I remember those long, carefree evening hours, lying
on the ball-field between the men’s dorms and the nurses’ home, exchanging jokes
with the fellows while above us the moon sailed by in the cloudless summer sky.

The writ of habeas corpus was suspended in 1971. The rumor of martial law
was in the air. The campus weekly was full of omens and portents of things to come,
side by side with pictures of Fidel Castro and Che Guevarra as icons of rebellion and
liberation. Although Mao was equally qualified to stand as icon, his picture was not
often reprinted in the weekly because (and this is a wild guess because I did not know
the editors of the paper) Mao had some ethnic resemblance to the aspiring dictator.
Everywhere in the dormitory rooms, the walls were plastered with these pictures. The
excessive presence of Che’s bearded image moved one run-of-the-mill lawyer to
complain that instead of Che the students ought to hang the picture of the clean-
shaven Richard Nixon, then president of the United States. With his lower lip
protruding, he asked in earnest, “Why not Nixon?”

We would get free copies of various Marxist writings. Mao’s little red book was
easily available; the quotations were familiar. The Internationale, in English and
Pilipino, sounded inspiring. When sung in protest against beauty pageants on campus,
or some irrelevant cultural shows, it could move you to righteous anger. Let me hasten
to add though that the airwaves were still dominated by American pop songs, by
"MacArthur Park" and "Leaving on a Jet Plane."

One day the late Senator Benigno Aquino came to campus, and everybody was
at the gym to listen to him. A brilliant, charismatic speaker, he warned the country that
Marcos was going to declare martial law, that the suspension of the writ of habeas
corpus was merely a dry run in order to gauge the reaction or opposition of the body
politic. According to Aquino, Marcos had repeatedly denied he was going to declare
martial law, but don’t you believe Marcos, he said, because Marcos, Goebbels-like,
was a congenital liar. I had heard of incorrigible liar and inveterate liar, but it was my
first time to hear of congenital liar. Imagine, to lie as soon as you are born. True
enough, exactly a year after the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, martial law
was declared.
64
 The night before September 21, we were already burning our piles of The
Weekly Sillimanian, returning the little red book to its rightful owner, removing from the
walls and cabinets the pictures of bearded heroes and replacing them with glossy
pages from some magazines whose heroines had long legs but were not necessarily
beardless. I learned early on that you can be a rebel but you don’t have to go to jail;
that when your enemy is pushing you against the wall, a quick change of hair, color or
wave, is absolutely necessary. Put the hair somewhere. It can save your life. So, while
some of my dormmates had to flee to the provinces, I stayed in the third floor of
Woodward Hall, partly out of necessity because I didn’t have the money to go to far
as Zamboanga.

There were three kinds of rebel-heroes. The real ones lived in the mountains,
shoeless and in rags so that the suggestion that they were naked was not without
basis; hence they were called hubad na bayani. The ones who believed they were
rebels but who couldn’t let a day go by without smoking imported cigarettes, and who
devoured PX goods, were referred to as huwad na bayani. The last and worst kind of
heroes was those who sold their souls to the regime so that they could enjoy the
luxuries their neighbors were enjoying. They were referred to as tuwad na bayani
because in order to sell their souls they had to bare something physical.

It took Silliman a long time to open again, probably the last of the private schools
to resume classes. The reason was that according to military non-intelligence, Silliman
was full of rebels. It had that impression because the campus paper printed Marxist
writings, and there was hardly a week when some pictures of Fidel or Che did not
grace its pages. But as a matter of fact, there were hardly a hundred students who
were really that serious about rebellion. I had been a witness in one protest march
against a cultural show held in the gym. There were only about thirty placard-carrying
students who marched and shouted in front of the gym. They hardly made adent on
the show inside the gym until an agent provocateur advised them to get into the gym
and do their shouting and marching there. Only then did they succeed in disrupting the
show. But sheer number there was none. Out of a population of 5,000 students, you
have only thirty. What percentage of the population is that? Is that enough to say that
the campus was swarming with rebels.
When school resumed some changes were in order. Before martial law, the
physical setting of the campus was such that it was integrated into the larger
Dumaguete community. Anyone could get in and out of the campus. After martial law,
some wire fences had to be put up per instructions from the military. The freedom to
move about was already restricted by the construction of gates near the dormitories.
Curfew was imposed on the residents of the dorms. We had to climb the fence once
the gates were already closed, or we had to cut away a few feet of wire to make a hole

65
in the fence. The administration, trying to toe the line, had to impose the wearing of
short hair. In protest, one of my professors had his head shaven.

It took sometime before the campus paper was given the license to operate
again. When it came back there was none of the usual Marxist writings, absolutely
none of the pre-martial law pictures. In its first year of resumption I was the faculty
adviser, meaning my job was to see to it that no such thing happened in the paper. On
the other hand, the paper did not sing praises to martial law, but went quietly to do its
job as a campus paper and as a workshop for aspiring journalists of the College of
Mass Communications.

The presence of the wire fences and the uniformed security guards manning
the gates made the campus look like one huge garrison. Under the seeming sense of
normalcy there was a seething hatred for the dictator. The Silliman community as a
whole consistently voted no in referendums and plebiscites when the dictator asked
for a yes, and yes when he asked for a no. An excellent example of how students
thought about the so-called virtues of martial law was the English translation of the
propaganda Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa. An agriculture student from Leyte translated it
as One Day, One Eat.

Slowly, imperceptively, people got used to martial law like a puppy getting
accustomed to its chains after several days of lusty protest. There were occasional
outpourings of hatred for the dictator and his dragon lady.

We as graduate students returned to the library to read again the complete

works of such and such a poet. It was Eliot, then Auden, then Yeats and Frost and
Dylan Thomas. Later it was Conrad, Lawrence, Joyce and James. Then the critics.
Then the journals put out by American universities. We were becoming Anglophiles.
Even on Saturday nights, when most of the undergraduates were out with their friends,
we were in the desolate library poring over books or periodicals.

It took me sometime to finish my thesis so I did not graduate until 1975. Caloy
had finished earlier; and as soon as he had his master’s degree, he left Silliman and
went to UP. Lack of ambition, lackadaisical attitude, and the desire to just stay on in
Silliman campus were the reasons why I did not finish in two years. But one day it
occurred to me that I wanted to move up to Baguio City. To inspire me to get the
degree I wrote on a piece of paper Next Destination: Baguio. I pasted it on the mirror
so that I could see it every morning. In one semester I finished the thesis and defended
it in time for graduation in March of 1975.

I went to Baguio with the intention of finally moving there, but when I saw the
city I was disappointed. The UP Baguio campus was so small. The terrain of the city
66
was so uneven. The houses were perched on hillsides and gave the impression that
any rainy time they would fall on the houses just under them on the next tier. It felt like
it was being on tenterhooks everyday of your life. I did not want that kind of
precariousness. But I think the main reason was that it was too far from the sea. Having
grown up on the seashore, I could not for the life of me live far from it. So, I went back
to Dumaguete, back to old, cozy Silliman, in the security of the century-old acacia
trees. And I stayed on until finally I thought I really needed a change of scene.

There was one summer, it must have been 1977 or 1978, when a giant of a
man visited the campus of Silliman. He was Kenneth Rexroth, one of the leading Beat
Poets in the 1950’s, and a translator of Chinese, Japanese and French poems. A poet
and a polyglot, that was impressive. But what impressed me more was the fact he was
once a lumberjack, I mean, the combination of being a poet and a translator and a
lumberjack all in one person impressed me so much. It made me realize that a poet
need not look like a scholar, stooped, tubercular, with nicotine-stained teeth and
smelling of liquor. He made it easier for me later on to accept the picture of Gabriel
Garcia Marquez on the dust jacket of the first edition of the English
translation of One Hundred Years of Solitude, this outstanding novelist, this genius,
looking like a day laborer.

What made his visit to Silliman memorable for me was when he read the poems
of three local poets, Marie Pal Alburo, Rowena Tiempo Torrevillas and me. He had a
big booming voice commensurate to his 7-foot frame. He read my poem “Incantation,”
and commented that the unique repetition of words and phrases within each line of the
poem (e.g. “one to whom I cannot write a verse cannot write/is left alone among her
dress tatters left alone”) has literary precedence in medieval Provence. I must confess
that although I have heard about of the Provencal minstrels, I have not read any of
their poetry, at least not at the time I wrote the poem for the creative writing class of
Myrna Pena-Reyes. It is unfortunate nobody has recorded his readings, which gave
me goose pimples.

Around the same time an aspiring poet from Bohol, pretty and petite, married
with two children, came to Silliman to enroll in the graduate school. Since she knew
my elder brother in Tacloban where she used to work, I was the first person, outside
of her relatives, who became her friend in Silliman. I introduced her to my very bright
student Grace Monte de Ramos with whom she became immediately intimate, and
Grace introduced her to Fanny Llego, a painter, poet and fictionist. The three of them
used to hold a Friday night “tertulia” on the second floor of a building owned by Fanny’s
father. It was a soiree complete with candles, incense sticks, sweet red wine and
imported canned goods sent in by Fanny’s Australian friend. They called themselves
The Triumvirate, but they were more like The Three Witches of Laguna (the area at

67
the back of the men’s dorms) because they would tell stories till the wee hours of the
morning.

The soiree lasted for nearly a year but it had to come to an end because her
husband and two children joined her in Dumaguete. They rented a house far from the
campus where Butch Macansantos and I, aside from Grace and Fanny, were frequent
visitors. She was always a perfect hostess, never running out of conversation, or out
of food, generous to a fault, and some fair-weather friends had taken advantage of her
kindness. In the literary world as well as in the academe her name has become a
byword: Marj Evasco.

In 1983, I resigned from the English Department, quietly, without fanfare. When
Doc Ed learned about it, he did not talk to me. He could not accept that I was leaving,
that I who had stayed the longest when everybody else had left for one reason or
another, that I too was leaving. I couldn’t shake off that Et tu, Brute feeling. But I had
to leave for the sake of my sanity. I am amused now when I remember that morning
during the 1983 workshop.

Krip Yuson, Cesar Aquino and I were in Krip’s room at the Alumni Hall. Dad
came in to see Krip who had just arrived from Manila. Although he talked to both Krip
and Cesar, Dad completely ignored me. Oh, where is that angel that made him talk to
me thirteen years ago? I tried to put myself in his shoes. How would a father feel when
his son was going away from home?

Life indeed is a series of arrivals and departures, mostly departures, someone

said. And when we bid good-bye in this life, we are just rehearsing for the final good-
bye we all must bid someday. Right, Mr. Laurence Sterne? Another thirteen years
went by. I had come to Iligan City to work. In September 1996 I learned that Dad had
passed away quietly. Like a dutiful son I came to Dumaguete to pay my last respects.
I crossed two bodies of water, traveled ten hours just so I could be at his funeral. For
the first time in my life I became a pallbearer and delivered a eulogy. But I envy what
Atty. Ernesto Yee did when he learned that Dad had passed away: he went to the
house to polish Dad’s pair of shoes. I wish I had done that myself, for Dad deserved
that act of kindness. In spite of his detractors and enemies, he was a kind man whose
heart was not only in the right place but was also, as Cesar Aquino put it in a glowing
tribute, as large as Africa.
Questions:
1. What is the essay all about?
2. Whose life is discussed in the text?
3. Where does the narrator come from?
4. How was the life of the narrator during his stay in Silliman University?
68
 ASSESSMENT

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the following questions. Write your answers in your

notebook.

1. What is a biographical context?

2. What are different types of context?
3. What is a literary text?
4. Why do we need to consider the background of the author in understanding
the meaning of a literary text?
5. What factors are to be looked into in using biographical context in
understanding the meaning of a text?

C. LITERARY READING THROUGH A LINGUISTIC CONTEXT

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the lesson, the learners are expected to:

1. analyze the literary text through linguistic contexts and discuss

how they enhance the text’s meaning and enrich the reader’s
understanding; and
2. explain the relationship of context with the text’s meaning.

WHAT I KNOW

69
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the following items by identifying whether they are true or
false. In your notebook, write TRUE if the statement is factual, and if not write FALSE.
1. Socio-cultural context is about how literary works depicts the society.

2. Linguistic context concerns on the language used in the literary text.

3. In socio-cultural context, it is not necessary that literary work is connected

to the society.

4. The use of sensory images by the author gives the readers a clear picture
of the story.

5. Using simple language helps readers understand the literary texts.

WHAT IS IT

Linguistic context is discourse that surrounds a language unit and helps to

determine its interpretation.
Example 1:

Puppy Love (Excerpt)

F. Sionil Jose

We returned close to midnight from the district competition in a fleet of caretelas

and parted in the school-house where we lift the odds and ends we used, the athletes
their athletic equipment. We won in the dance competition. I walked Gina to her house.
February and the cool night had a full moon sailing in the sky. I was hungry and so
was she; we meet a few townspeople on their way from the movie house and they
asked us how we fared. “We won! We won!” Gina gushed.
I wanted to stay with Gina but upon approaching their house, all lights were on.
They had some guests and I was too shy to go although I doubted very much if there
was any food in our house.

Explanation:

“Puppy Love” by F. Sionil Jose is a story of love, tragedy, revelation and hope.
The story is culled from Filipino life, it uses simple words, figures of speech (e.g., “full
moon sailing in the sky”) and sensory images. The author knows how to play with the

70
language where the readers can visualize the subject, characters or settings in that
way, they can understand its underlying meaning.

Example 2:

"Lyric 17"
by Jose Garcia-Villa

First, a poem must be magical,

Then musical as a sea-gull.
It must be a brightness moving
And hold secret a bird's flowering.
It must be slender as a bell,
And it must hold fire as well.
It must have the wisdom of bows
And it must kneel like a rose.
It must be able to hear
The luminance of dove and deer.
It must be able to hide
What it seeks, like a bride.
And over all I would like to hover
God, smiling from the poem's cover.

Explanation:

• The interpretation of the poem “Lyric 17” by Jose Garcia Villa surrounds
language unit that helps effectively determine the meaning of the text
• This poem is about what qualities make poetry good.
• The author in my opinion is trying to convey the right qualities that are required
in a poem to make it satisfactory.
• I think the poem feels passionate towards poem writing as can be seen through
how instead of merely writing an instruction sheet on how to write a good poem"
he instead writes a poem about good poems.
• What more, the language he uses is fanciful and the metaphors and
rhyming couplets indicates the thought put behind his work.
• In the poem, the term “musical as a seagull” may indicate that the poem
should be a rarity and something unheard of; “a diamond in the rough" very
much alike how one has never heard of a musical seagull. The poem similarly
should also be fluent.
• Meanwhile "brightness moving” may indicate how poems should not be dark"
it should be optimistic and pleasant and should not be constant" rather
captivating and intriguing to one’s reader.

71
 • The phrase “holds secret a bird’s flowering” is a metaphor that indicates
towards the hatching of a bird young from an egg. This represents showing a
new perspective to the reader and how the poem should inspire its audience to
think and not merely be able to and its meaning from merely reading it.
• “Fire as well” represents wit and brain in a poem that makes a poem
interesting and not dull.
• “Slender as a bell” refers to how bells have multiple sizes
• “Wisdom of bows” has multiple meanings such as firstly, the tradition of
bowing; secondly, archery, and lastly, ribbon tying.
• All things that are in different areas and hold symbolisms such as bowing being
a form of respect, archery being a skill that can be used as a form of leisure or
someone’s livelihood and bows something for aesthetic purposes.
• “Kneel like a rose” indicates humility in beauty and strength. While a rose is
beautiful it has unseen strength in thorns and kneeling indicates submission
thus subsequently referring to humility.
• Meanwhile, "must be able to hear” shows that the poem must be sensitive
and be able to sense its reader while guiding and appeal to its audience with
more than visual imagery.
• “Luminance of dove and deer” possible gives references to the how a deer
symbolizes gentleness and the dove purity.
• “Must be able to hide" and “seeks like a bride” brings attention how while
the poems meaning should not be in clear vision, it should not be completely
obscured to the point it is lost as well as indicating that it should draw the
audience attention like how the bride seeks attention on special day.
• “And over God smiling from the poem’s cover” shows that the writer of the
poem would be the God of the poem and has free rule over the poem instead
of something obstructing his ability to create freely. Throughout the poem, the
word (must) is used eight times. This shows the writer’s compulsion as to how
strongly he feels that all writers should follow the guidelines above in poem
writing.
• If you are writing a poem or any genre of literature because you want to capture
a feeling that you experienced, maximize your creativity especially on the use
of language. The use of beautiful language in the text determines the effective
and correct meaning of the expression.

D. LITERARY READING THROUGH A SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT

C.
72
 WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the lesson, the learners are expected to:

1. analyze the literary text through l socio-cultural contexts and discuss

how they enhance the text’s meaning and enrich the reader’s
understanding; and

2. explain the relationship of context with the text’s meaning.

WHAT IS IT

Sociocultural context is evident when literary works respond in some way to

the society in which they were written, and most often (though not always) that
response takes the form of criticism. Sociocultural context is about how a particular
literary work depicts society. Sources you might investigate include works (books and
articles) of history or sociology that talk about the strengths, weaknesses, and changes
occurring in the society during the period in which the literary work is set, and critical
works that emphasize the connection between the society and the literary work.

Example 1:

ABNKKBSNPLAko
Bob Ong

ABNKKBSNPLAko depicts the Filipino culture and, although in a humorous

way, reveals the social realities and issues that remain present up until now namely
education, economy, corruption up until personal struggles. The author also leaves
audiences with advice regarding life and school in general.

Example 2:

73
 Ben Singkol
F. Sionil Jose

Ben Singkol is a 2001 novel written by Filipino National Artist F. Sionil José. It
is about Benjamin "Ben" Singkol, who is described as “perhaps the most interesting
character” created by the author. Based on José's novel, Singkol is a renowned
novelist who wrote the book entitled "Pain", an autobiography written during the
Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Through the fictional novel Singkol recalled
the hardships experienced by the Filipinos during the occupation. Singkol was
described to be a coward, a "supot" or an uncircumcised man who did not only run
away from such a “ritual of manhood” but also evaded his “foxhole in Bataan when the
Japanese soldiers were closing in”. Singkol was a “runner” or “evader” throughout
much of his lifetime, while being haunted by the “poverty of his boyhood” and of the
“treachery that he may have committed” in the past. In 1982, Singkol began receiving
letters from a Japanese named Haruko Kitamura.

WHAT’S NEW

INSTRUCTIONS: Read again the essay entitled “Silliman in the Seventies: A Personal
Journey” by Anthony L. Tan on pages 73-80 of your learning module. Write in your
notebook your answers on the following questions:

1. In the essay, what type of language is used?

2. What have you observed on the use of words by the writer?
3. Does the writer convey the message of the essay? Why do you say so?

74
 WHAT’S MORE

INSTRUCTIONS: Read the story entitled “Pinikas” by Jayson Parba and answer the
questions. Write your answers in your notebook.

Pinikas, Unang Bahin

Fiction by Jayson Parba | May 3, 2015

DAKONG Balita: MAMINGKAHAY, MIDAGAN PAGKA KAGAWAD.

Kini ang nakapakignat sa among mga silingan sa Baryo Panatayan. Sa ilang

unang pagkadungog niini, ila ming gihimong pulotan sa bahal nga gitinda ni Nanay
Pirmin nga among silingan. Ug usahay pod, samtang ang mga babaye gapanlaba
didto sa Aplaya o gahingotoay man ganing dihas ilang pantawan, gapadparan sa
hangin ang ilang diskusyon padulong sa among balay ug kini molusot sa mga buslot
namong bungbong hangtod kini among madunggan. Dako gyod nga balita!

Ambot ba pod, di nako masabtan nga misulod man sa alimpatakan ni Mama

ang politika, kay sa tinuod lang gyod dili ko ganahan anang butanga. Alang nako, ang
mga politiko puro mangingilad. Maayo lang na sila panahon sa kampanya. Saad diri,
saad didto. Buhaton ko ni, buhaton ko na. Apan kon modaog na gani, hala! Makalimot
na dayon. Kon inyong duolan para mangayog tabang, mangatol dayos ulo, dayon sa
kilid. Morag among iro nga si Pusoy nga labihan kakutoon. Aha na kaha to karong
buanga, ay? Mikalit lag kawala. Wala nay uli-uli human sa eleksiyon. Basig nabiktima
to sa mga tambay didto sa ilang Nanay Pirmin. Matod pas mga tsika-tsika, dili daw na
gapamili ang mga hangal. Bisag kagiron nga iro, basta luto na, lami na kuno kaayo!
Kangil-ad.

Sukad adtong bata pa ko, makaingon ko nga sikat na ang among pamilya sa
among barangay. Sikat, dili tungod kay sapian o gamhanan ba hinuon. Dili pod mi
pawerpol sama sa mga Singko nga maoy lider o dako-dako sa among baryo sukad pa
sa panahon ni Cory. Matod pas mga tsismosa namong mga silingan, ngilngig daw na
sila kay mokaon na silag bala aron lang magpabiling gamhanan isip mayor, kapitan,
ug kagawad. Apan lahi ang among kasikat. Kini namugna diha sa mga liking bingka
nga among ginasuroy kada sayos buntag sa tibuok Baryo Panatayan. Unang
tuktugaok pa lang gani sa mga sunoy ni Tatay Bensyo nga among silingan, mamukaw
na dayos Mama aron momata mi ni Manoy Onyot, Inday Jing-jing, ug Dodong Angelo.

Sa tinuod lang, si Mama ang gabuhi namong tanan. Kon walay bingkang
maluto, wala pod mi matak-ang sa abohan aron among makaon. Unsaon nga si Papa
wala may klarong trabaho ug palahubog kaayo. Taman ra siyas hubog-hubog
75
samtang si Mama tawon, moabot sa mga hilit nga sityo sa among baryo aron lang
mahalinan, sama didto sa Aplaya nga pipila lang ang tawo. Usahay pod, sa iyang
pagpamasin moabot siya didto sa Malakdang kon diin daghan ang mga minerong
ganahan mohabhab og bingka. Ug bisan mora na og kabaw si Mama sa
pagpaningkamot, oki ra man kaayo ang among kinabuhi.

Yano lang apan malipayon. Labi na gyod kon daghan siyag halin kay magpalit
man dayon na siyag kok alang namong managsoon. Usahay pod, hotdog ang iyang
paliton nga among ilogan ni Dodong Angelo.

Apan daghan na ang nausab.

Si Manoy Onyot tua nas Japan. Adtong una, abi nakog mga babaye lang ang
puyde mag-Japayuki. Lakip man pod diay laki, no? Unsaon nga talentado man pod si
Manoy. Maayo kaayo mosayaw. Humok og lawas. Matod pa niya, ganahan kuno
kaayo ang mga matrona sa iya. Aw, sa akong banabana, medyo tisoyon man pod si
Manoy Onyot. Matsohon pod og lawas. Ug unom ka buwan gikan siya milarga,
gapadala siyag kwarta sa amoa. Misikat pod mi adtong higayona, uy. Kay di na man
kinahanglan namo manuroy og bingka. Ang mga taga-Panatayan, gimingaw sa
bingkang Mama. Matod pa nila, “Lahi ra gyod ang bingkang Minda.” Sa ilang mga
gipanulti, mora daw silag mga palahubog nga wala na makainom og tuba sukad nga
wala na mi nanuroyg bingka.

Apan kadiyot ra kaayo to. Sa ikapitong buwan, wala na nakapadala si Manoy

og kuwarta. Wala na mi balita sa iya. Ang mga panaghap sa among mga silingan,
basin daw napreso si Manoy o di ba hinuon, nabiktima sa mapya. Simbako! Dili pod
unta. Basin nagkaproblema lang seguro to siya o di ba kaha, basin pit-os lang gyod
ang iyang kahimtang.

Mao nga si Inday Jing-jing pod ang misunod pagpanglampit sa laing nasod. Sa
Saudi man kuno to. Nagpa-helper. Nagkautang-utang si Mama adtong pag-adto niyas
Manila aron mangita og agency. Maayo na lang gani, nakalarga ra gyod human sa
upat ka buwan. Apan demalas gihapon. Adtong nagpadalag suwat si Inday Jing-jing
sa amoa, basa kaayo ang aping ni Mama sa kasakit sa iyang dughan. Gibalita ni Inday
nga ang iyang amo kuno mga maro ug mangtas kaayo. Gapanakit sa mga katabang!
Mao nga misibat si Inday Jing-jing ug karon gatago-tago. Maayo na lang gani kay
dunay mga Pinoy didto kon asa siya midangop.

Malas gyod kaayo. Mao nga si Mama mibalik paglutog bingka. Kami pod nga
iyang mga anak, mas nahimong kugi tungod kay kabalo mi sa kasakit nga gibati sa
among inahan. Bisan gani si Papa mas nahimong responsable. Seguro iya pod
naalimatmatan nga sobra na kaayo ang mga suliran sa abagang Mama. Talagsa na
lang siya moinom. Dili samas una nga halos kada adlaw, galigid siya pirme sa
kahubog.

76
 Sa hinay-hinay akong gitun-an paghikalimot ang among suliran, labi na gyod
mahitungod sa among mga igsoon. Matod pang Papa adtong nahubog siya, “Layp
gos on” daw, samtang mitubag pod si Mama ug miingon, “Korik. Weder we like it not.”
Haha! Makalingaw gyod ning akong mga ginikanan kay kabalo ko nga sayop ang ilang
gipanulti. Unsa kahay masulti ni Mr. Balod nga maestro nakos English, no?
Mobuhakhak gyod tog maayo kon iya pang nadungog ang gipanulti ni Mama ug Papa!

Usa ka Domingo, samtang nanuroy mig bingka ni Mama sa may Malakdang,

among naabtan silang Nong Teryo, Rodrigo, ug ubang mga silingan nga nagpundok.
Sa among pagpaduol kanila, akong nakita nga seryoso kaayo sila sa ilang diskusyon.
Morag naay dakong panghitabo nga migitik kanila samtang ang ilang mga baba
paspas kaayong nilitok sa ilang mga gihunahuna. Sa ilang kabisi wala mi nila
nabantayan. Halos wala pod sila kadungog sa among pagsinggit og “Bingka! Bingka
mo diha!” Hangtod nga miabot mi sa ilang gitindogan ug didto namo nadunggan kining
ilang diskusyon:

“Aw, kon akoy pasultion, daghan na pod baya nahimo si Kapitan.”

“Unsa goy daghan nga hangtod karon, pobre man gihapon kaayo ning atong
barangay? Labi na gyod ning atong sityo.”
“Sakto gyod ka diha, pre. Bisan gani atong tulay, wa man lang gani ni niya
napaayo.”

“Mao. Gatuya-tuya gihapon!”

“Depende man god na sa atong panlantaw, pre. Naa man poy maayong
nabuhat si Kapitan.”

“Ug ang atong dalan, libaong lang gihapon! Halos dili na gani gapanglahos ang
mga habal-habal diris atoa.”

“Kinihanglan tag kabag-ohan.”

“Aw, unsa mang kabag-ohan ang inyong gusto?”

“Mga lider nga hustog plataporma. Moserbisyo natog sakto.”

“Duol na man gyod ang piliay. Oras na seguro nga mangita tag bag-ong mga
nawong.”

“Lagi! Sakto gyod ka, pre. Mao nga sa inyong pagpangitag kabag-ohan, mas
maayo nga dili mo magutman,” kalit nga miapil ni Mama sa diskusyon. “Na hala, naay
bingka, o. Kaon sa mo.”

Dakong ngisi sa mga nagtipok samtang gitunolan namo silag bingka aron ilang
paliton.
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 “Ay, kon akoy makapitan diris atoa, librehon ta mog bingka kada buntag,”
sumpay ni Mama.

Mibuhakhak silang Nong Rodrigo ug Teryo.

“Aw, botaran gyod ka namo, Mareng. Wa gyoy magutman!” matod pang Teryo
samtang iyang gipikas ang bingka ug gihamon sa iyang baba ang katunga niini.
Nanguli ming Mama nga hagkap ang dughan kay nahurot man ang tanan
bingkang among gisuroy. Sa unahan nilang Nong Teryo nga nagdiskusyon
mahitungod sa politika, naa man poy daghan istambay nga gainom didtos ilang Apyot.
Seguro sa ilang pag-inom-inom, nakalimot sila og kaog pamahaw mao nga bingkang
Mama ang ilang gipahimungtan. Gihurot nilag kompra among bingka. Wala na gani
nakapalit si Nong Segundo nga suki kaayo ni Mama. Morag nangluod ang tiguwang
kay wa man lagi siya nabinlan. Apan matod pang Mama, “Sagdi lang, yo. Binlan ta na
gyod kas sunod.”
Pag-abot namos balay, kilumkilom na kay layo pa man among gibaklay. Wala
mi misakayg habal-habal sa pagpaningkamot nga makatipig. Sayang man pod ang
setenta pesos nga plete. “Maayo na lang na ipalit og duha ka kilong bugas,” matod
pang mama. Mao nga gigutom kaayo mi pag-abot namo sa balay. Maayo na lang gani
aduna pay bahaw ug buwad nga sobra adtong paniudto. Nag-atbang ming Mama
samtang among gitagbaw sa bahaw ang among kagutom. Ug sa kalit, iyang gibuak
ang kahilom nga mitabon kanamo samtang ang akong kamot nagkalingaw og hagpat
sa mga bukog sa buwad sa dili pa nako ihungit.

“Dong, unsa kahag modagan kog pagka kagawad, ba?”

Halos natuk-an ko samtang ako kining nadungog. Ug wala nako tuyoa nga
mobuhakhak.

“Pag-sure diha, Ma, uy!” maoy akong nasulti dayon pahiyom, dala agik-ik. Wa
gyod nako mapugngi akong kaugalingon.

“Aw, ngano man diay? Unsa may sayop ana?”

“Wala man hinuon, Ma. Apan sultihi daw ko bi, unsa may imong buhaton kon
modaog ka?”

Plataporma. Mao kanay dakong problema ni Mama sa misunod nga mga adlaw
pagkahuman niyag deklara sa iyang pagdagan isip kagawad. Wa gyod ko nakatuo
nga iyang tinud-on tong iyang gipaambit kanako samtang nangaon mig bahaw. Abi
man god nakog binuang lang to.
(Padayonon)

78
 Pinikas, Ikaduhang Bahin
Fiction by Jayson Parba | May 10, 2015

Usa ka hapon, pag-agi nako didtos tindahan ni Ante Nita, maoy tapik sa mga
istambay ang umaabot nga piniliay.

“Unsaon na lang kaha ning atong eleksiyon, Pre, no? Morag haskang gubota.”

“Gubot pas imong bungot, Pre.”

“Ayawg tripingi nang akong bigote, Pre. Assit biya na. Haha!”

“Tuod, Pre, tiamona? Apil si Kulas modagan pagka kagawad? Pastilan! Puyde
diay na?”

“Aw, apil man gani si Nong Karyo nga gabadhay-badhay nas katiguwang,
modagan! Haha! Kon modaog siya, syur gyod ko nga dili niya mahuman iyang termino.
Ma-terminit na siyag sayo!” dalag aksiyon og putol sa iyang liog.

“Haha! Ug, in pernis, Pre, si Minda nga mamingkahay, modagan pod kuno!”

“Lagi. Mao poy akong nadunggan.”

“Taymsa, si Botyok man diay ni.”

Nagpakaron-ingnon ko nga wa makadungog sa ilaha. Molakaw na unta dayon

ko humag palit sa sigarilyo nga gisugo ni Papa kanako, apan ila kong giatubang.
“Unya, kay modagan man daw imong mama, Tyok?”

“Ha? Aw, lagi daw.”

“Na! Basin biyag madagma na siya, ha?” maoy tubag ni Nong Kikong dala
dayon og buhakhak.
Midali-dali kog pauli human adtong panghitaboa. Dili ko gusto nga mahimong
sentro sa ilang diskusyon ang among pamilya. Basin unya og di nako mapugngan ang
akong kaugalingon ug makakita kog sumbagay. Apan, morag mihagyong nga buyog
ang giingon ni Nong Kikong sa ako. Imbes nga masuko ko, ako hinuon kining gitagoan
sa akong hunahuna ug giisip nga usa ka hagit. Magbantay lang gyod na silag modaog
si Mama. Kataw-an ko man gyod na sila ba. Tan-awon ta lang!
Sa dihang nagkaduol na ang kampanya, mas klaro na sa ako ang tanan. Ang
mga kauban ni Mama sa iyang partido mao diay ang nangusog sa kabag-ohan. Ilang
giatbangan ang tahoran na sa politika. Kon sa salida pa, silang mama ang kontrabida.
Ingon ana man gyod nang politika. Ang mohagit sa mga karaan ang daotan, labi na
kay wala man silay maikapasigarbo nga nabuhat na. Samtang silang nangaraan na,
magpabida dayon sa ilang mga tulay nga napatukod, kalsadang napasemento, mga

79
tambal nga nahatag, mga hinabang sa kabos, ug uban pa kunong kamaayohan nga
ilang nabuhat alang sa katawhan. Sa ilang mga tsismis nga gipakuyanap, ”Unsa may
mabuhat anang mga bag-o nga wala ma na silay kasinatian?”

Tinuod pod baya ang uban nilang gipanulti. Apan sa ilang pagpahumot, ilang
nahikalimtan nga sila gasingoton pod, gakautot, ug gakalibang. Hugaw gihapon.
Sama ra god ni Kapitan nga siyam na ka tuig nga nanilbihan apan hangtod karon, igo
ra mag-donate kunohay og kuwarta alang sa mga paliga sa Barangay. Basta pista
ug summer gani, duna man dayoy paliga sa barangay aron ingnon nga bibo kuno.
Mas bibo, mas progresibo kuno. Mao nay iyang giingon didto sa plasa. Mao pod nay
panglantaw sa among mga silingan. Pero ambot ba? Kay alang kanako, dili man ang
kabibo sa usa ka lugar ang basihan sa pag-uswag. Unsaon man nang bibo apan ang
mga lumulupyo walay klarong trabaho? Ang mga tawo galangoy sa kalisod? Apan dili
pod nako mabasol ang among mga silingan. Alang kanamong mga kabos, ang karon
lang ang importante. Katawa karon samtang adunay kalingawan. Ayawg hunahunaa
ang ugma nga walay kaseguradohan. Ingon ani mi. Apan akong naalimatmatan nga
kini dili husto, ug maayo untag kini mabag-o.

Haskang biboha sa among baryo adtong miabot ang adlaw sa kampanya. Mas
bibo pas liga sa basketbol. Unsaon nga ang mga tao galibog man sa ilang pilian. Close
fight kaayo kon sa dula pa. Mas mibibo gyod adtong misaka na didto sa stage ang
mga kandidato aron lagi ila daw ipresenta ang ilang plataporma. Si Nong Karyo
mipasalig nga ang iyang suweldo sa unang tulo ka buwan, iya kunong itunol sa kada
sona aron adunay hinabang alang sa mga senior citizen sama niya. Haskang palakpak
sa mga tiguwang pagkahuman niyag esplikar. Morag kalit nabaskog ang ilang huyang
nang mga lawas. Si Nong Teryo nga tigbantay sa poultry sa Hapon, misalig nga
modaog gyod daw siya. Ug tungod ana, iyang gigarantiya nga ang iyang unom ka
buwan nga suweldo, iya pod kunong ihatag sa pito ka sona sa among baryo aron
adunay health funds para sa mga masakiton nga kinahanglan og tabang. Unsaon nga
sa kalayos among lugar sa siyudad, ang mga masalakiton nga gikinahanglan
tambalan, kasagaran dili na moabot sa ospital. Mokalit lag piyong. Morag gakapuyon
nas ilang kinabuhi samtang gauntol-untol sa dang lubaong ang sakyanan nga gamiton
pagdala kanila sa ospital. Ila segurong mahunahunaan nga mas maayo pa nga dili na
lang momata kaysa mag-antos sa kasakit.

Pagtawag sa ngalan ni Mama Minda, grabeng pagpaninggit sa mga tawo.

Adunay kusog kaayong hugyaw nga makabungol. Nagpadaplin ko tungod sa santol
didtos atbang sa stage kon asa adunay pipila ka mga tawo nga miapil sa pagtambong.
Mora kog tuod nga di makalihok tungod sa akong kakulba. Sa akong hunahuna, unsa
kahay isulti ni Mama? Maayo untag nakapraktis siya daan.

Misaka si Mama sa stage nga gabaragbarag. Misamot akong kakulba. Iyang

gikuha ang mikropono gikan sa tigpaila. Palakpak. Kusog nga palakpak.

80
 “Ako…kabawo ko nga kaila na man mo nako. Di ba?”
Nangatawa ang mga tawo dalag singgit sa ngalan ni Mama. ”Minda! Minda! Minda!”

“Aw ako? Karon dili ko manaad ninyo. Dili ko maghisgot sa akong plataporma.
Unya nag modaog ko. Salamat. Salamat ninyong tanan!”

Mitikang si Mama pakanaog gikan sa stage. Bisag gabaragbarag siya, akong

nakit-an nga gatan-aw siya sa iyang tikang. Apan wa siya kabantay nga nasabod ang
iyang tuong tiil sa wire sa mikropono, ug kalit siyang nahagba. Nakalitan ang mga
tawo. Sa pagkapaspas sa panghitabo, apil ko nakalitan ug morag adunay bomba nga
mitubo sa siyagit sa mga tao, ang uban bugal-bugal. Apan kalit pod mibangon si Mama
nga morag kalit nakamata human uroma. Mibangon siya nga gangisi ug
gabayawbayaw sa iyang kamot. Dayon milakaw siya palayo sa mga tawo hangtod
nawala siya sa akong panlantaw.

Bisan way nahot ang gibuhat ni Mama sa iyang kampanya, nanghinaot gihapon
mi nga makalusot siya. Maayo na lang. Makabuhi na pod baya nag pamilya ang
sweldos kagawad. Ug usa pa, gusto na gyod nakong mopadayon og eskwela para
makahuman kog college. Maulaw man god ko moingon nilang mama samtang lisod
kaayo ang among kahimtang. Kon moeskwela ko, mosamot ang kalisod nga bation ni
Mama. Apan kon makadaog siya, aw, medyo arang-arang na lang. Lahi ra gyod ning
naay politiko sa pamilya. Mas makaginhawa gyod tingali mi.

Miabot ra gyod ang takna nga among gipaabot. Ang eleksiyon. Mora kog
gipulgas nga iro nga dili mahimutang kay gusto man lagi dayon nakong mahibaloan
ang resulta. Miadto ko sa tunghaan kon diin giihap ang mga balota. Daghan kaayong
tawo. Mga watchers man daw to sila. Tigbantay aron mahimong hapsay ug limpyo
ang inihapay sa boto. Ang ubang naa didto, igo ra nangayog paniudto nga pansit
ug fried chicken nga gipanghatag kuno ni Kapitan. Aduna poy nagkagubot nga
nanguha og sobre nga adunay tigbaynte pesos ang sulod. Ambot kang kinsa to gikan?
Wala na lang ko nangutana.

Nagsugod ang inihapay sa balota mga alas-sais sa gabii. Milili ko sa bentana

sa usa ka classroom. Inig karon ug unya, makadungog kog lainlain nga ngalan sa
kandidato. Ako pod usahay madunggan ang ngalan ni Mama. Ug sa hilom, akong
giampo nga unta, modaog siya. Miabot nag halos ala una sa kadlawon ang inihapay.
Adtong nahuman na og ihap ang mga balota, akong gilantaw pag-usab ang kada
presento ug akong gikuha ang mga eskor sa kada kandidato, labi nga gyod ang boto
alang kang mama Minda. Human, ako kining giihap gamit ang papel ug bolpen.
Gakurog akong kamot samtang natataw ko ang numerong pabor kang mama.

Sa kadlawon, migawas na gyod ang tinuod nga resulta. Akong nadungog nga
minos og singkwenta ang botar alang kang Mama gikan sa numero pabor kang Nong
Karyo nga naglukso-lukso sa iyang gibarogan. Nakapanghupaw ko. Mihinay-hinay
81
kog lakaw paingon sa gawas. Mihangad kos langit kon diin ang buwan gibuak sa
panganod nga hinay-hinay mitambon niini hangtod kini nasusama sa usa ka bingkang
pinikas. (Kataposan) Si Jayson Parba usa ka estudyante sa programang PhD in
Second Language Studies sa University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
kon asa gatudlo usab siyag mga kursong konektado sa Filipino language, culture, ug
literature. Ang”Pinikas” midaog og Ikatulong Ganti sa Unang Satur P. Apoyon Tigi sa
Mubong Sugilanong Binisaya sa tuig 2011.
Source: https://dagmay.com/2010/11/07/dangoyngoy-sa-suba/

Questions:
1. What is the story all about?
2. What part of the story shows socio-cultural context? Cite an instance in the
story.
3. Based on the story, how does this show about the characteristics of Filipinos?

ASSESSMENT

INSTRUCTIONS: In your notebook, answer the following questions.

1. What is linguistic context?
2. What is a socio-cultural context?
3. What is the concern of linguistic context?
4. Why do you need to consider the society in understanding the literary
text?
5. Why do writers need to use simple language?

Note to the teacher:

Have the students an activity of this:
INSTRUCTIONS: Watch in advance the movie entitled “She’s Dating the Gangster”
starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla. This is in preparation for your activity in
the next lesson.

Congratulations! You are done with Lesson 4. Now, let’s proceed to lesson 5.

CREATIVE REPRESENTATION
LESSON OF A LITERARY TEXT BY
5 APPLYING 82MULTIMEDIA
SKILLS
Competency 4: Produce a creative representation of a literary text by applying
multimedia skills, EN12Lit-Ie-31.1- EN12Lit-Ie-31.2 (4 hours).

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

At the end of the lesson, the learners are expected to:

1. choose an appropriate multimedia format in interpreting a literary text;
2. apply ICT skills in crafting an adaptation of a literary text; and
3. do self-and/or peer assessment of the creative adaptation of a literary
text based on rationalized criteria, prior to presentation.

WHAT I KNOW

INSTRUCTIONS: Identify each statement if it’s true or false. In your notebook, write
TRUE if it’s correct, and FALSE, if it’s wrong.

1. A literary text can be adapted in a form of a film or in other forms of

genre.
2. Using a multimedia format in a presentation helps to catch viewer’s
interest.
3. Video is one of the multimedia formats.
4. Multimedia is more effective than traditional multimedia.
5. Multimedia means a combination of different content forms.
6. Microsoft Word is the best program to use to write a letter.
7. A Micro Processor is an embedded system.
8. Internet security keeps you from downloading internet files.
9. You should start an email by writing your name.
10. Computer/Laptop should not have a GUI (Graphics User Interface).

WHAT IS IT

83
 Literary Adaptation, Multimedia and its Forms DOMINGO

Literary adaptation is the adapting of a literary source (e.g. a novel, short

story, poem) to another genre or medium, such as a film, stage play, or video game.
It can also involve adapting the same literary work in the same genre or medium just
for different purposes, e.g. to work with a smaller cast, in a smaller venue (or on the
road), or for a different demographic group (such as adapting a story for children)
Examples:
1. The film “Bakit Hindi Ka Crush Ng Crush Mo?” (2013)
The film is an adaptation of Ramon Bautista’s self-help book of the same
name. Movie making or video making is an ICT skill where a more advance
skills and knowledge have been developed. Its application from the original
form which was a “novel” made into a new form that is a “movie” will deepen
your knowledge of technology and how it works. These include practical skills
like programming and coding.

2. The film “Diary ng Panget” (2014)

Diary ng Panget (lit. Diary of an Ugly Person) (also known as Diary ng
Panget: The Movie) is a 2014 Philippine romantic comedy film based on the
best-selling novel of the same name written and published on Wattpad by
Denny R. The film was directed by Andoy Ranay and stars Nadine Lustre,
James Reid, Yassi Pressman, and Andre Paras. It was distributed by Viva Films
and released on April 2, 2014.

FELONGCO Multimedia means that computer information can be represented through

audio, video, and animation in addition to traditional media (i.e., text, graphics
drawings, and images). It is the field concerned with the computer-controlled
integration of text, graphics, drawings, still and moving images (Video), animation,
audio, and any other media where every type of information can be represented,
stored, transmitted and processed digitally.

Forms of Multimedia
1. PowerPoint Presentation with voice-over narration
A PowerPoint presentation is a presentation created using Microsoft
PowerPoint software. The presentation is a collection of individual slides that
contain information on a topic. PowerPoint presentations are commonly used
in business meetings and for training and educational purposes.
Click these links to access on how to create a powerpoint presentation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8V7xj15f9w
84
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uk4CU7uobM

2. Video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback,
broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Visual multimedia source
that combines a sequence of images to form a moving picture. It transmits a
signal to a screen and processes the order in which the screen captures should
be shown. Videos usually have audio components that correspond with the
pictures being shown on the screen.

Access this link to watch a tutorial on how to create a video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHeffRYnnys

3. Animated video
Animated video is an engaging instrument that can help you tell your
story more comprehensively. It brings concepts to life that text or live videos
can’t. Think about it: you can make your characters talk all you want, fly, or
travel in time. With the help of animation, you can show how mechanisms and
processes work.
Use this link to watch a video tutorial on how to create an animated video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY4L7D-FoLA

ASSESSMENT

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the given questions briefly and concisely. Limit your
responses in 1-3 sentences. Write your answers in your notebook.
1. What is a multimedia?
2. What is meant by literary adaptation?
3. What literary works are usually adapted?
4. Why do we need to use multimedia?
5. How important is the use of multimedia in presenting a unique and creative
output

WHAT I CAN DO

ACTIVITY 1

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 From the list of multimedia formats discussed above, choose one which you
think is appropriate in crafting your own adaptation of the book entitled “She’s Dating
the Gangster” by Bianca Bernardino. (If you haven’t read the book yet, try to access
the book for free in the Wattpad App)

Here is a scoring rubric as a basis in rating your output.

CATEGORY 5-Exemplary 4-Proficient 3- Developing 2- Beginning

Presentation Presentation Presentation

Presentation
demonstrates a demonstrates demonstrates
demonstrates
high level proficiency little or no
some proficiency
Multimedia proficiency and and effective proficiency or
and effective use
Technology effective use of a use of effective use
of a multimedia
multimedia multimedia a of a
format.
format. format. multimedia
format.
Content
Content is Content is not
sometimes
Content is well organized but organized and
appears
organized and all one to two there are more
unorganized and
the important important than five
there are three-
Organization events from the event/s is/are important
four important
adapted text are missed from events missed
events are
present. the adapted from the
missed from the
text. adapted text.
adapted text.
Output
Output
Output presented Output presented is
presented is
is unique and presented is imitated from
Uniqueness somewhat
exemplar. unique. another
unique but plain.
source.
Presentation is Presentation
Presentation is Presentation is
somewhat is not
very attractive attractive and
attractive and attractive and
Appearance and appealing to appealing to
appealing to the appealing to
the viewers. the viewers.
viewers. the viewers.

WHAT’S MORE

ACTIVITY 2

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INSTRUCTIONS: Evaluate your own adaptation of the story entitled, “She’s Dating
the Gangster” by using a checklist. Kindly accomplish the checklist in your notebook
by putting a check on the column of your choice.

SELF - EVALUATION CHECKLIST

Very Somewhat
I am expected to . . . Well
well well
use an appropriate multimedia format in crafting an
adaptation of a text
observe uniqueness in my presentation
apply ICT skills in crafting an adaptation
make the presentation very attractive to the audience
observe organization of contents and no single text is
missed

ACTIVITY 3

INSTRUCTIONS: Produce a video interpretation from any of the following non-fiction

genres below:
a. your travel experiences (travelogue) your autobiography
b. your testimony/ies
c. biography of other people
d. story web of the chosen literary text
e. journalistic reports

Note: Evaluate your own adaptation using the appropriate rubric/s below

ACTIVITY 4

INSTRUCTIONS: Make a documentary film focusing on any of the following:

a. tragic story/ies
b. culture, practices, beliefs, and lifestyle of a certain tribal group of
people.
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 c. festivals, etc.

For Activities 3 and 4: In order to be guided on your pursuit in doing the activities,
a rubric will be followed which is presented in the next lesson.

SELF- AND/OR PEER

LESSON ASSESSMENT OF THE
6 CREATIVE ADAPTATION
OF A LITERARY
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TEXT
Competency 5: Do self- and/or peer assessment of the creative adaptation of a
literary text, based on rationalized criteria, prior to presentation, EN12Lit-Ie-31.3 (4
hours).

RUBRICS FOR SELF- AND/OR PEER ASSESSMENT OF THE CREATIVE

ADAPTATION OF LITERARY TEXTS

Rubric for Documentary Film/Video Presentation

Name of Presenter/s: _________________________________________________
CATEGORY 5 4 3 2
The introduction is The introduction The introduction The
compelling and is clear and shows some introduction
provides motivating coherent and structure but does not orient
content that hooks evokes interest does not create the audience
the viewer from the in the topic and a strong sense to what will
beginning of the response from of what is to follow. The
Introduction video and keeps listeners. follow. May be sequencing is
the audience's overly detailed unclear and
attention. or incomplete does not
and is somewhat appear
appealing to the interesting or
audience. relevant to the
audience.
Students create an Students create Students create The
original, accurate an accurate an accurate documentary
and interesting documentary documentary but is not accurate
documentary that that adequately it does not cover and not an
Content
adequately covers covers the topic the topic the appropriate
the topic in an in an appropriate issue in an length.
appropriate length length of time. appropriate
of time. length of time.
Tone, voice, Tone, voice, Tone, voice, Tone, voice,
graphics, and graphics, and graphics, and graphics, and
visual images visual images visual images visual images
convey interest and frequently frequently rarely convey
Technical enthusiasm. The convey interest convey interest interest or
Production presentation is and enthusiasm. or enthusiasm. enthusiasm.
clear and loud The Most of the The
enough to be presentation is presentation is presentation is
heard. Composition clear and loud clear and loud unclear and/or
and technical enough to be enough to be not loud
production heard. heard. enough to be
enhance the topic. Composition Composition heard.
and technical and technical Composition
production production and technical
usually enhance sometimes production
the topic. distract from the absent or
topic.

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 distract from
the topic.

Uses and cities Uses only one or Uses mostly Does not use
Sources several reliable two reliable questionable outside or no
sources (5 up). sources (2-4). sources. source
Narrative has a Narrative has a Narrative is No attempt at
clear organizing clear organizing disorganized an organizing
Structure structure and flows structure but structure is in
logically needs some place
improvement
Changes the Changes the Uses more than Uses only one
screen image media one medium, but medium
and/or audio on a sometimes to does not engage
Variety and regular basis to engage the audience
Placing engage the audience, but
audience pacing could be
improved
Project is unique, Project is Project is nice Project
does not look like somewhat and works, but is appears
others. It shows unique, does not not unique. It forced, hard to
creativity that look like others. has similarfollow. Has too
works, it is not just It shows a little components as many parts
weird but exciting creativity that other that are
and fresh. works. presentations strange and do
The project clearly The project The projectnot serve any
shows that much shows that some looks like parts purpose. Tried
effort went into it. effort went into of it were thrown to be creative
Looks complete. All it. Looks together at the but does not
the parts work as somewhat last minute. work.
Creativity
intended. complete. Most Looks mostly The project
of the parts work done, just needs looks as if it
as intended. some touch up was put
here and there. together in a
Some parts do hurry. Still
not work as needs quite a
intended. bit of work, just
doesn't look
done. Full of
errors, parts
don't work as
intended.
The documentary The The The
uses the documentary documentary documentary
appropriate uses more than uses a high did not use the
Appropriate terminology that is the appropriate percentage of appropriate
Level covered in the terminology that terms that is terminology
grade 12 course is covered in the used in lower that is covered
that can be grade 12 level grades (9 -11). in the grade 12
that cannot be course.
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 understood by the easily
grade level. understood.

Rated by: _______________ Date:__________Overall Score:________ /45points

Feedbacks:

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Rubric for Drama Presentation

Name of Presenter/s: _________________________________________________

Rated by: _________________ Date:________ Overall Score:______ /45points
Poor Fair Good Awesome
AREAS
5 pts 10 pts 15 pts 20 pts
Poor Fair Good Awesome
-poor writing -writing is fair -nicely written -well written
-not very -some aspects -creative -extremely
creative are creative -suspense and creative
Script -no attempt has -some attempts tension are built up -suspense and
been made to were made to well tension
add suspense add suspense are built up in a
and tension and tension very
clever manner
Poor Fair Good Awesome
Group had Group was Group was Group was on
Use of much difficulty sometimes on consistently on task 100% of
Class Time staying on task task during work task during work the time during
during work sessions sessions work sessions.
sessions
Poor Fair Good Awesome
Students are Sometimes Students stay in Students have
not committed students are character actually
to their roles. in character throughout the "become" the
Role Play The audience throughout the scenes and have roles they are
does not believe scenes. made a strong playing.
in the Sometimes the commitment to Actors are
characters. actors are their roles. 100%
believable. Actors are believable in
believable their roles
Poor Fair Good Awesome
Minimal props Some props and Props and Many props
Props/Costu and costumes costumes were costumes were and costumes
ming were used to used to add to used effectively to were included
add to the the sense of add to the sense of to add to the
sense of drama drama drama sense of
Feedbacks:
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 drama at all
times
Poor Fair Good Awesome
Overall -unsatisfactory -Satisfactory -Very Good -Outstanding
Dramatic Dramatic Dramatic Dramatic Dramatic
Effect Performance. It Performance Performance Performance
needs more
work.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

PowerPoint Presentation- Time Travels

(http://www.scholastic.com)

Name of Presenter/s:_________________________________________________

Category 5 4 2 1
Background Background does Background Background
does not not detract from does not detract makes it difficult to
detract from text or other from text or see text or
Background text or other graphics. Choice other graphics. competes with
graphics. of background Choice of other graphics on
Choice of could have been background the page
background is better suited for foes not fit
appropriate the project project.
for this
project.
Font formats Font formats have Font formatting Font formatting
(e.g., color, been carefully is not well- makes it very
Text - Font bold, italic) planned to planned and difficult to read the
Choice & have been enhance does not material.
Formatting carefully readability. enhance the
planned to content. It
enhance reduces the
readability readability.
and content.
All content Most of the The content is Content is
throughout the content is generally typically
presentation accurate but there accurate, but confusing or
Content is accurate. is one piece of one piece of contains more
Accuracy There are no information that information is than one factual
factual errors. might be clearly flawed or error. It is difficult
inaccurate. inaccurate. to understand the
time period that
was chosen
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 Presentation Presentation has Presentation Presentation has
has no 1-2 misspellings, has 1-2 more than 2
Spelling and misspellings but no grammatical grammatical and
Grammar or grammatical errors but no misspelled words.
grammatical errors. misspelled
errors. words.
All graphics A few graphics All graphics are Several graphics
are attractive are not attractive attractive but a are unattractive
(size and but all support the few do not seem AND detract from
Use of colors) and theme/content of to support the the content of the
Graphics support the the presentation. theme/content presentation.
theme/content of the
of the presentation.
presentation.
Project Project includes Project is Project is lacking
includes all most material missing more several key
material needed to gain a than two key elements and has
Effectiveness needed to comfortable elements. inaccuracies.
gain a understanding of
comfortable the time period
understanding chosen.
of the time
period
chosen.
Student Student Student Student was
presented the presented encountered unable to
Presentation material with material but could many difficulties complete
confidence. have been more in presenting presentation
confident. the materials before the class.
and not
confident..

Rated by: ________________ Date:__________ Overall Score:______/35points

Feedbacks:

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

Rubric for Travelogue Writing

Name of Presenter/s: _______________________________________________

Rated by: _________________ Date:_______ Overall Score:________/40 points

Feedbacks:

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___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

CATEGORIES 2 (POOR) 3 (FAIR) 4 (GOOD) 5 (AWESOME)

There is no title, or There is a title, There is a title There is a
Title the title is but it does not which is related creative title that
not original (ex., appear to be to the writing sparks interest of
"Travelogue related to the piece. the reader and
Writing Piece". writing piece. is related to
the writing piece.
Where and when Few descriptive Several Many excellent
Setting the travel words are used descriptive descriptive
experience takes to tell where and words are used words are used
place is not clearly when the travel to tell where and to tell where and
stated. experience when the travel when the travel
takes place. experience experience
takes place. takes place.
The writer uses The writer uses The writer uses a The writer uses a
Word Choice common word some varied variety of wide variety of
choices. A mental word choices. It interesting interesting words,
picture of the is difficult to see words that can and easily creates
setting is not a mental picture easily create a very clear
clear nor achieved. for the reader. a mental picture mental picture for
for the readers. the readers.
The writer rarely Sometimes the First – person First – person
First-Person uses first – person writer uses first – narration is used narration is used
Narration narration, once or person narration most of the time andall of the time
or not at all. and changes shifts to throughout the
mode of narration another mode of writing piece.
in his/her writing narration once
piece. or twice through
the writing
piece.
The writer The writer The writer The writer
5 Senses incorporates one incorporates 2 incorporates incorporates all
of the five senses, out of the five four out of the the five senses
or does not senses. five senses very effectively.
incorporate them effectively.
at all.
Writings is hard Writings is a little Writings is Writing is very
Organization to follow and hard to follow. organized with well organized.
transitions are not Transitions are clear transitions. One idea or
clear (ideas and somewhat clear. scene follows
scenes seem to another with
change randomly). very smooth and
clear transitions.
___________________________________________________________________

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 It has 3 – 4 errors
It has more than 5 errors It has 1 – 2 It has no errors in
in spelling, in spelling, errors in spelling, spelling, punctuation or
Spelling, punctuation, and punctuation, or in punctuation, or in grammatical
Punctaution grammatical (interefersgrammatical in grammatical structures.
and with the structure. structures.
Grammar meaning).

There is once or not at There is some There is There is a lot of

all evidence of evidence of evidence of evidence of
editing and editing and editing and editing and
revising between revising revising revising
Writing the brainstorm, the between the between the between the
Process draft copy, and brainstorm, the brainstorm, the brainstorm, the
the final copy of rough copy, and rough copy, and rough copy, and
output. the good copy. the good copy. the good copy.

Rubric for Video travelogue/Biography/Autobiography/Journalistic Reports

Name of Presenter/s:_________________________________________________

Rated by: ________________Date:_______ Overall Score:_______ /30points

Feedbacks:

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___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Criteria Advanced Proficient Needs Work

5 3 1
Are shots and Yes, plus creative use Some shots were Little attention was
camera movements of the camera and/or out of focus OR paid to proper use
carefully done? lights were over or of the camera, OR
Was attention paid underexposed; OR composition is
to composition, some shots had poor; OR lighting
focus, and lighting? bad composition is bad
Is the amount and Yes, plus extra effort More footage could Minimal effort was
type of video was made to obtain have been obtained made to obtain
footage shot sufficient video to help express and sufficient video
sufficient to footage to express the support the main footage to express
express the main main idea idea the main idea
idea?
Was attention paid Yes, plus extra effort Some audio was Audio quality was
to factors affecting was made to record recorded with too poor
audio quality during good audio, or much background
recording? creative use of audio noise; OR some
audio was too quiet
Was shooting Yes, plus extra effort Most shooting was Shooting was
finished on was made to complete finished on finished on
schedule? shooting schedule schedule
Is the main idea Yes, plus the idea was The main idea was The main idea is
thoughtful and very original, not completely unoriginal and/or
meaningful? Is the perceptive and/or developed in the unclear; OR
development of the insightful, details are finished project details do not
main idea clear, extremely well- support or
complete and well- designed to support enhance the main
focused as the main idea idea
expressed through
editing choices?
Did the group follow Yes Only few footages Too much footage
guidelines for were captured was captured
capturing video to the
computer by limiting
the length of captured
footage?

ASSESSMENT

INSTRUCTIONS: Read the sentences carefully and choose the correct answer. Write
only the letter of your answer in your notebook.
1. What is an end rhyme?
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 a. A rhyme that is found at the end of the stanza.
b. A rhyme that appears at the end of a line.
c. A rhyme is found at the beginning of a line.
d. A rhyme that is found every word of a line

2. What sound device is used in the following? Toil, tale, tell, and tail.
a. Repetition
b. Alliteration
c. End rhyme
d. Onomatopoeia

3. What figures of speech is used in the sentence below?

Mary had a little lamb, its pleas as white as snow.
a. Simile
b. Metaphor
c. Personification
d. Apostrophe

4. What type of poetry are Haikus, limericks, odes, elegies, epitaphs, epigrams,
sonnets, pastorals, songs, & villanelles?
a. Narrative poetry
b. Lyric poetry
c. Dramatic poetry
d. Electronic poetry

5. In the poem “Padre Faura Witnesses the Execution of Rizal” by Danton

Remoto, what does the word “star” signifies?
a. It refers to the hero Rizal who was executed.
b. It is about the stars in the sky.
c. It is about the heavenly body that does not collide.
d. It refers to the famous person.

6. What is a textual?
a. A poem written by a writer.
b. A poetry written and read on a mobile phone.
c. A poem published in a magazine.
d. A poem to be read on stage.

7. “Man of Earth” is a poem written by Amador T. Daguio, who is mentioned in

the last stanza of the poem?
a. Bamboo
b. Earth
c. Leaf
d. Lord

8. It is a form of fiction which means a long prose narrative that deals with
human experience through a relative sequence of events.
a. Short story

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 b. Novella
c. Novel
d. Drama

9. It is a type of character who does not exhibit the stereotypical qualities

inherent to a hero.
a. Antagonist
b. Antihero
c. Foil
d. Static

10. It is an element of poetry which refers to the significant truth about life which
story attempts to communicate to its readers.
a. Theme
b. Symbol
c. Conflict
d. Point-of-view

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

This module enabled me to identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic

dimensions of Philippine literary history; identify representative texts and authors from
each region; compare and contrast the various 21st century literary genres, elements,
structures and traditions. Moreover, it enabled me to produce a creative representation
of a literary text by applying my multimedia skills; and do self- and/or peer assessment
of the creative adaptation of a literary text. All of these were successfully achieved by
studying, examining, and analyzing, and performing the tasks/activities to enhance my
skills.
Indeed, with the knowledge I have acquired and by applying it to myself, I can
say that I have a good grasp of what the course wants me to gain and be able to use
it in my chosen field in the future.

I AM VERY EXCITED TO PROCEED TO THE NEXT MODULE!

CONGRATULATIONS!
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