Literary Genre Plot – this is the series of events that take place.

This refers to a type or category of literature. It has a specific form, content, Stage directions – these statements tell the actors how they should look, move, and speak. They
and style. The four main genres of literature are poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and also give the director a picture of how the setting looks like, and what music and other sounds
drama. Under each of those genres are different genres. For example, fiction includes would set the mood of the play.
speculative fiction, fantasy, and science fiction "The World Is an Apple" by Alberto S. Florentino is a one-act play. As the term suggests, a one-act
Poetry play is composed of only one act or part. Its story has a few characters; it is condensed and has a
Elements single effect.
Rhythm – a pattern created with sound Three of the notable Filipino dramatists in English of the Postwar Years are Severino Montano,
Meter – the systematic regularity in rhythm Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero, and Alberto Florentino. They produced relevant dramas during the period.
Stanza – a part of a poem with similar rhythm and rhyme that will usually However, because their works were written in English, they could only reach out to the educated
repeat later in the poem class.
Rhyme – the repetition of similar sounds in the lines of a poem Creative Nonfiction
Rhyme scheme – a pattern of rhyme. Either the last words of the first and Creative nonfiction refers to narratives of real events told using a literary style of writing. Some
second lines rhyme with each other, or the first and the third line, of its forms are the memoir, the biography, the autobiography, the diary, and the essay. It is a
or the second and the fourth, and so on. It is denoted by alphabets major genre of literature. It refers to narratives of real events told in a literary style. In Philippine
like aabb (1st line rhyme with 2nd line and 3rd line rhyme with 4th line); Literature, the essay is the most common form of creative nonfiction.
abab (1st line rhyme with 3rd line and 2nd line rhyme with 4th line); Kinds of Creative Nonfiction
abba (1st line rhyme with 4th line and 2nd line rhyme with 3rd line); • Memoir - This account is narrowly focused on a single event in a person’s life.
and so on. • Biography - This is a detailed account of a person’s life written by another person.
Theme – the central idea of the poem, the poet wants to convey to the reader. • Autobiography - This is a written account of the life of a person written by the subject himself or
Symbolism – an object, idea or word that is used to represent another idea, herself.
thought or feelings that will create such a strong effect • Diary - This is a collection of discrete accounts of a person’s experiences and thoughts each day.
Imagery – the mental pictures the poet creates through language • Essay - This writing features any subject that the writer personally comments about or describes.
- words used by the poet to create an image in the mind of the readers. Philippine Creative Nonfiction
Imagery appeals to the five senses The American Occupation (1898–1940)
Allusion – using this literary device, the writer refers to a significant person, The essay in English proved to be an influential medium. The first volume of essays was Life and
place, thing, or idea in culture, history, literature, or politics briefly Success (1921) by Zoilo Galang. The earliest travel writing was Notas de Viaje (1930) by Maria Paz
and indirectly. Mendoza-Guazon. The essay “Literature and Society” by Salvador Lopez sparked a debate on
Apostrophe – with this literary device, the writer addresses someone or socially relevant literature versus aesthetic value. It won in the first Commonwealth Literary
something that is not present in his work. Awards in 1940.
Fiction The Japanese Occupation (1941–1945). Because of censorship, only a few essays in English
Literary elements – These devices are inherent in a literary text. Some examples are the were published. Horizons from My Nipa Hut, published in 1941, is a collection of humorous essays
characters, setting, conflict, plot, and theme of a short story. by Francisco B. Icasiano. I Am a Filipino, the most famous essay of Carlos P. Romulo (born in
Literary techniques – These devices are used deliberately by a writer in his or her work to Intramuros, Manila and grew up in Camiling, Tarlac), was published the same year.
convey a particular meaning. Dialogue is an example. 1960s and 1970s
The literary meaning of a work is conveyed through its elements and the literary techniques that Literary journalism came into its own. It appeared in some publications like the Philippines Free
the writer used. In a short story, for instance, the writer weaves a story, putting elements and Press and the Philippine Graphic. It attracted some of the best Filipino writers. Nick Joaquin, who
techniques together in a specific arrangement to convey its meaning. sometimes used the pen name Quijano de Manila, was the most prolific among those writers.
Example: 1990s
"The Mats" by Francisco Arcellana A few autobiographies and memoirs were published like Memory’s Fictions: A Personal History
“How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife” by Manuel Arguilla (1993) and Postscript to a Saintly Life (1994) by Bienvenido Santos. Also, there were works on
Drama wars like Living With the Enemy: A Diary of the Japanese Occupation (1999) by Pacita Pestaño-
Drama is a literary work that tells a story through actions and dialogues. It is usually performed Jacinto, and Breaking the Silence (1996) by Lourdes Reyes Montinola. Also, published in this
on stage. period were travel writings by Filipino women like Sylvia Mayuga’s Earth, Fire & Air (1992) and
Elements: Kerima Polotan’s Adventures in a Forgotten Country (1999).
Characters – these actors set the scene and flow of the story.
Dialogues – these are conversations between the characters.
Early 21st Century Ghost stories are part of Filipino pop culture. They are a specific kind of stories in the horror
This period saw the publication of collections of short essays and narratives of young writers. fiction genre. As the name suggests, a ghost story features a ghost as one of its characters. Like any
Their works were Wala Lang (2004) by Bud Tomas; Love, Desire, Children, Etc.: Reflections of a story in the horror fiction genre, a ghost story is meant to scare its reader.
Young Wife (2005) by Rica Bolipata-Santos; The King of Nothing To Do (2006) by Luis Katigbak; Joel P. Salud’s “The Haunting at Concha Cruz Drive” is an example of a ghost story. It was published
and Stressed in the City (2007) by April T. Yap. in True Philippine Ghost Stories Book 1 in 2002. It tells the story of three friends driving along a
Other creative nonfiction in the Philippines are: road named Concha Cruz Drive which is known to be haunted by ghosts of a young couple who
1. “The Cardinal’s Sins, the General’s Cross, the Martyr’s Testimony, and Other were victims of drag racing accident.
Affirmations” by Gregorio C. Brillantes
2. “Manananggal Terrorizes Manila and Other Stories” by Jessica Zafra New and Emerging Literary Forms in the 21st Century
3. “Sapay Koma” by Jhoanna Lynn Cruz Many works of literature produced at present are characterized by the writers’ use of
unconventional techniques. For instance, the illustrated novel, the graphic novel, and doodle-
Philippine Literature in the 21st Century (2001 up to the present) fiction present narratives using pictures or images.
This body of literature includes digital writings, graphic novels, textula, hypertext, and other Illustrated novel – presents images that tell some parts of the story, while the other parts are told
emerging literary genres at present. in words.
• New literary works created within the last decade. Example: Zsazsa Zaturnah sa Kalakhang Maynila
• Written by contemporary authors. Graphic novel – tells a story in comic book format.
• Deals with current themes/ issues and reflects a technological culture. - a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using comic form. The term is
• Often breaks traditional writing rules. employed in a broad manner, encompassing non-fiction works and thematically linked short
• Emerging genres like IM and blog format books, digi-fiction and doodle. stories as well as fictional stories across a number of genres.
Popular Fiction
Popular fiction, also called genre fiction, refers to works of literature that are intended for the Doodle fiction – contains doodles and hand-written graphics.
masses or large audience. Its main purpose is to appeal to the general public. - a literary presentation where the author incorporates doodle drawings and hand written
Features of popular fiction: graphics in place of traditional font. Drawing enhances the story, often adding humorous elements
• Its story is plot-driven. that would be missing if the illustrations were omitted.
• Its characters are mostly stock figures.
• Its setting is either familiar or exotic. Digi-fiction - a literary experience that combines three media: book, movie/video, and internet
• Its language is closer to everyday spoken language. website. In order to get the full story, students must engage in navigation, reading, viewing, in all
• It contains a lot of dialogues. three formats. Digital fictions are different from e-books because they do not just exist as a digital
version of a print novel, rather, they are known as “born digital” – that is, they would lose
Science fiction, also called sci-fi, at its core, deals with science and technology. It is often lumped something of their aesthetic and/or structural form and meaning if they were removed from the
with the fantasy and horror genres under the broader term “speculative fiction.” As this term digital medium.
suggests, sci-fi writers are often preoccupied by the question “what if.” - they may contain hyperlinks, moving images, mini-games or sound effects.
Pocholo Goitia’s short story “An Introduction to the Luminescent” is an example of science fiction. - Unlike e-books in which the reader moves from one page to another in a linear fashion, in many
It was published in Philippine Speculative Fiction volume 1 in 2005. The story is set in the year digital fictions, the reader has a role in constructing the narrative, either by selecting hyperlinks or
2105 in a mall described as an “ultrasaur,” a massive structure that towers at two kilometers and by controlling a character’s journey through the story world.
stretches at half kilometer. Magenta, one of the characters, is a member of La Luminosa, a group of
biogenetically engineered people that live in the mall. This mall is protected by “clone warriors” Manga – the Japanese word for comics
that hover in the air using devices called gravity disruptors. - it is used in the English-speaking world as a generic term for all comic books and graphic novels
originally published in Japan.
Chick literature, or chick lit, is written by women who write for women. The usual target readers - considered an artistic and storytelling style.
are young and single women, especially in their 20s or 30s. The stories deal with real life, usually - the term “Ameri-Manga” is sometimes used to refer to comics created by American artists in
love and relationships, and they are written in a light-hearted tone. manga style.
Tara Sering’s Getting Better is an example of chick literature. The novella was published in the
October 2002 issue of Cosmopolitan Philippines, a magazine that targets contemporary women Besides the illustrated novel, the graphic novel, and doodle-fiction, there are other literary forms
and that mostly features topics regarding relationships, beauty, fashion, and health. Told in the or genres emerging at present, such as the flash fiction, slipstream, metafiction, and magic realism.
second person point of view, the story tackles the life of a single woman named Karen—how she 1. Flash Fiction is known for its extreme brevity. A typical work of flash fiction is only a few
was as a girlfriend, how she dealt with cheating, and how she moved on. hundred words long. Examples are the stories in Fast Food Fiction: Short Short Stories To Go
(2003), edited by Noelle Q. de Jesus. The collection features stories written by well-known Filipino Kundi gasgas na pag-asa.
writers like Gemino H. Abad, Gregorio Brillantes, Jose Dalisay, Jr., Jessica Zafra, and Lakambini Si MEGAN YOUNG nang Manalo
Sitoy. Example: For sale baby socks, never worn. Nagbunyi ang Pilipino
May dala sanang asenso
2. Slipstream or the “fiction of strangeness,” features elements of fantasy, science fiction, and Makakapag-asa tayo.
serious fiction. For many, works of slipstream are difficult to categorize because of their Nagkagyera sa Mindanao
similarities with speculative fiction. The collection Philippine Speculative Fiction, edited by Dean Kaban ng bayan ninakaw
Francis Alfar and Nikki Alfar, contains stories that are slipstream fiction. Sa Bagyo’y daming pumanaw
MISS WORLD, salamat sa araw.
3. Metafiction is about fiction itself. A work of metafiction can be a story about a writer who writes
a story or a story about another work of fiction. Some works of metafiction by Filipinos are the 6. Blog – This Web site is where a person writes about his or her personal opinions, activities, and
novel Ilustrado (2010) by Miguel Syjuco and Hari Manawari (2011) by German Gervacio. experiences. A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website
displaying information in the reverse chronological order, with latest posts appearing first. It is a
4. Magic Realism is a fiction genre in which magical elements are blended with reality. It is platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their
characteristic of the stories by Latin American writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis
Borges, and Isabel Allende. The short story “The Death of Fray Salvador Montano, Conquistador of Biographical context, also called authorial context, places a particular literary work within the
Negros” by the Filipino writer Rosario Cruz Lucero has elements of magic realism. context of an author’s life. Consider the circumstances under which the literary work was written.
Electronic literature refers to works commonly published and shared on the Web. Unlike While exploring biographical context, useful sources include biographies of the author,
traditional printed literature, it has features that could only be presented through multimedia. autobiographies or memoirs by the author or by people who knew him or her and other critical
Kinds of Electronic Literature works which give close attention to the author’s life.
1. Hyperpoetry – This is a kind of graphic poetry, which combines words with images. It has no There are many ways into which you could go about identifying biographical contest in a literary
standard lines or verses, but its words are arranged in a way that it creates meaning and visual work. Some of these strategies may include:
effect. 1. Research on what the author believes in and also what he or she does not. 2. Analyze how the
author’s belief system is reflected in his or her work.
2. Hyperfiction – This contains hyperlinks. When readers click on a hyperlink, they go to another 3. Look at the author’s other works and analyze if there is a pattern with regard to the theme that
Web page that contains the next part of a story. is indicative of his or her life and beliefs.
For you to better understand biographical context, some essays and short stories have been
3. Photo poem – This uses real-life images or electronically generated images as representation of identified below. These literary pieces are good examples for you to read and have a better glimpse
the textual poem. on biography of the writer as a literary context
1. “Under My Invisible Umbrella” by Laurel Fantauzzo. This essay that talks about a Filipino- Italian
4. Silent comics – These have no verbal dialogues. The dialogues are presented through symbols. who was born in the United States. Because her features are more Italian than Filipina, she
encountered problems with people treating her as “extra special” in the Philippines, which she
Textula – it is a mobile phone poetry using traditional formal verses like. This poem is intended to finds more isolating than welcoming.
be shared through the SMS. It is poetry written and read on a mobile phone. It is popularized by
the playwright Frank Rivera, who came to be known as the “makata sa cell phone.” His works of 2. “Catch a Falling Star” by Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo. This a collection of realistic short stories that
textula and other poems are performed in different occasions, such as rallies, school programs, and revolve around a child character named Trissy or “Patriciang Payatot”. In the narratives, you
contests; published in newspapers; heard on radio; and shared on social media or through text would find out that Trissy is not much involved in outdoor games, she was inclined to writing,
messaging. paper doll making and other simple crafts.
Frank Rivera, a playwright, received recognition for a number of his plays like Ambon, Ulan, Baha:
Sarsuwelang Pinoy (2003) and Oyayi, Ang Zarzuela (2004). Also he received awards of the Makata Socio-cultural context is when literary works respond in some way to the society in which they
sa Cellphone (2005), a collection of poetry which include his populay textula. For his work of were written and most often these responses take the form of criticism.
textula, he was dubbed as the "makata sa cellphone." Socio-cultural context is about how a particular literary work depicts a society. It concerns
questions like: With what societal issues is it concerned? What seems to be the author’s attitude
Example: Textula ni Frank G. Rivera towards society?
Bayang mahilig sa ganda This literary context approach tackles on strengths, weaknesses and changes occurring in the
Inuuna ang postura society during a particular period wherein the literary work is set. Socio-cultural context
Walang laman ang bituka emphasizes on the connection between the society and the literary work.
How can we analyze a text through a socio-cultural context? Here are guide questions that may 1. Structuralism. It relays the texts being examined to a larger structure. The structure may be a
help you: particular genre, a range of intertextual connections, a model of a universal narrative structure, or
1. What is the relationship between the characters or the speakers in the text and their society? a system of recurrent patterns or motifs.
2. Does the text explicitly address issues of gender, race or class? How does the text resolve these 2. Formalism (New Criticism). This is a school of literary criticism and literary theory that
issues? focuses on the structure of a particular text. It examines a text without considering any outside
3. Who has the power? Who does not? What is the reason for this setup? influence.
4. How does this story reflect the nation? What does this say about the country and its inhabitants? 3. Post-structuralism. This is the reaction to structuralism. In the linguistic context, there may be
5. Who has the economic or social power? Is there oppression or class struggle? How do the underlying structures that may have different interpretations based on how the words or phrases
characters overcome this? Does money or finances play a large role in the narrative? were used in the text.
6. What is the prevailing social order? Does the story or poem accept or challenge it?

Here are several Sociological, Economic, and Cultural Perspective when reading using the socio-
cultural context.
1. Marxism. According to the Marxist perspective, literature shows class struggle and materialism.
It looks into the social classes portrayed in the work. It also looks into how the text serve as a
propaganda material. It also examines oppression, social conflicts, and solution to these struggles
as shown in the literary text.
2. Feminism. The feminist perspective examines the role of the women in the literature. It looks
into how the female character may be empowered or discriminated against.
3. Queer Theory. The queer perspective is concerned with the queer or the third gender. The
perspective itself was named in 1991. Under this perspective, the third gender, meaning the gay,
lesbians, and other characters or
persona in literature that may fall under queer are being examined.

4. Historicism. Historicism or traditional historical criticism is a perspective dealing with the

history that influenced the writing of literature.
5. Postcolonialism. It is a literary perspective that looks into the changes in the attitude of the
post colonies after the colonial period. Through this perspective, the dependence or independence
of decolonized countries or people are being examined.
6. New Historicism. Another perspective in the socio-cultural context that focuses not only on the
history when the literary test was written, but also how the history happened. In New Historicism,
the abovementioned perspectives can be integrated with each other.

Linguistic context is a discourse that surrounds a language unit and helps determine its
interpretation. It revolves around the idea that literary texts can be read through the context of the
language used to write the text as well as the way language was used in the text.
Here are some strategies you may use to read a text through the linguistic context.
1. Analyze the diction or choice of words in the text.
2. Examine the text’s syntax or use of sentences, clauses, phrases, line cuts.
3. Observe the use of figurative language
4. Analyze the mood and tone of the text.
5. Observe the text’s overall structure.
6. Analyze the content of the text.
The following are literary approaches that focus on language. These approaches may lead you in
your view of reading through linguistic context.