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
 Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
21st Century Literatures from the Philippines and the World Alternative Delivery
Mode Quarter 1 – Module 1: Understanding the Literary History and Appreciating
the
21st Century Literatures of the Philippines
First Edition, 2020

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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

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Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

ii
iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No.

Cover page i Copyright page ii Table of Contents iv

FIRST QUARTER - MODULE 1

What I Need to Know 1 Things to Remember to Get Through 1 Remember
This 2

LESSON 1- Geographic, Linguistic, and Ethnic Dimensions of

Philippine Literary History from Pre-Colonial to Contemporary
What I Need to Know 3 What I Know 3 What is it 5 What’s In 11 What’s More 12
Assessment 13

LESSON 2 - Texts and Authors from Each Region

What I Need to Know 14 What I know 14 What’s In 15 What’s New 15 What Is It
16 What’s More 33 What I Have Learned 33 ​Assessment 35 ​What I can do 36
Additional Activities 37

LESSON 3 - 21st Century Literary Genres, Elements, and Structures

What I I Need to Know 38 What I Know 38 What Is It 39 What’s New 39 What Is
It 40 What’s More 50 Assessment 51

LESSON 4 - Literary, Biographical, Linguistic, and Socio-Cultural Contexts

A. Literary text
What I Need to Know 52 What Is It 52 What’s New 55

iv
B. LITERARY READING THROUGH A LINGUISTIC CONTEXT
What I Need to Know 56 What I Know 56 What Is It 57 What’s New 58
Assessment 68

C. LITERARY READING THROUGH A LINGUISTIC CONTEXT

What I Need to Know 68 What I Know 69 What Is It 69
D. LITERARY READING THROUGH A SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT
What I Need to Know 72 What Is It 72 What’s New 73 What’s More 74
Assessment 81

LESSON 5 - Creative Representation of a Literary Text by Applying Multimedia

Skills ​What I Need to Know 82 What I Know 82 What Is It 83 Assessment 84
What I Can Do 85 What’s More 86

LESSON 6 - SELF- AND/OR PEER ASSESSMENT

RUBRICS
Documentary Film/Video Presentation 88 Drama Presentation 90 PowerPoint
Presentation- Time Travels 91 Travelogue Writing 93 Video
travelogue/biography/Autobiography/Journalistic Reports 95 Assessment 96
What I Have Learned 97

References 99

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

This first learning module contains 21​st ​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.

1
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.

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!

REMEMBER THIS
 2

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
3
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

4
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
What is literature?
The word literature is derived from the Latin term ​litera w​ hich 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.
WHAT IS IT ​V
5​
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.

6
2. The Spanish Colonial Period (1565-1897)

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

​ as the first book ever printed in

a. ​Christian Doctrine or Doctrina Christiana w
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

​ y Marcelo H. del Pilar expressed his

a. ​Pasyon Dapat Ipag-alab ng Puso b
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 t​ alked about world of royals, warriors
​ rancisco
and lovers (the basic concept in Florante at Laura). e. ​Komedya. F
​ mbodied the concept of colonization and
Baltazar’s ​Florante at Laura e
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.
​ e deshojo la Flor
• The poems of Fernando Ma. Guerrero (Crisalidas), Balmori’s S
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.

7
• 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
​ as won acclaim both here and abroad
Have Come, Am Here h

The New Filipino Literature during this Period

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.

8
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 a ​ nd 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.

9
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 l​ ed 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 (1981)
Lino Brocka Philip Salvador, Gina Alajar, Charo
Santos
Drama
Relasyon (1982)
Ishmael Bernal
Vilma Santos, Christopher de Leon Drama
Dugong Buhay (1983)
CarloJ. Caparas
Ramon Revilla, Bong Revilla, Imelda Ilanan
Action
Ang Panday (1984)
Ronwaldo Reyes
Fernando Poe, Jr, Marianne dela Riva, Max Alvarado
Action/F antasy
Tinik sa Dibdib (1985)
Leroy Salvador
Nora Aunor, Dina Bonnevie, Phillip Salvador
Drama
10
d. Rebirth of Freedom (1986-present)
 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.
 11

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)

Pre-

Colonial
Period

Spanish
 Period

American
Period

Contemporary
Period
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.

12
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 Roman Alphabet.
2. It defines as anything that is printed as long related to ideas etc. 3. It is the first book
written by Fr. Juan de Placencia. 4. A Filipino form of debate done in verse. 5. It is a
word derived from a Latin term ​litera 6 ​ ​. Tagalog Zarzuela, Cenaculo a
​ nd the ​Embayoka
of the Muslims ​were presented in what period? 7. Narrative poems talked about world of
​ literature influenced by the Spanish contexts of
royals, warriors and lovers. ​8. A
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.
a. Letter b. Alibata c. Doctrina Christiana d. Webster e. Balagtasan f. Riddles g. New
Society h. word of mouth i. Awit and Corrido j. Palanca Memorial Award k. Pasyon l.
Spanish Colonial Period m. Literature
Now, Let’s Proceed to Lesson 2.
13

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.
14
WHAT’S IN ​
15 ​ 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.
21​st ​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 21​st
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.
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?
Texts and Authors from each Region
This part shows you the various texts and authors from different regions in the country.
WHAT IS IT ​V
16 ​
The table below presents the current regional division of the Philippines.
Samples of 21​st ​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 21​st ​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

17

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

18

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 AND
THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHILIPPINE LITERATURES

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

ed in literary translation. The writer's works have
blished in national and international literary
s: Kritika Kultura, Philippine Studies, Unitas, Tomas,
Journal of Arts and Culture, Daluyan, Loyola
Review, and the Malay Indonesian Studies. He is
or promoting the traditional poetic genre of the
s ​"Balagtasan".​ He participated in international
Source:
adings "Kuala Lumpur-10" (2004) and the Second
http://pinoylit.hyperm
stival "Korea-ASEAN" in Jakarta (2011). Among his
art.net
: ​ASEANO: An Anthology of Poems from Southeast
5), ​Dili’t Dilim ​(1997), ​Sounds of Asia ​(2011), ​Ang Retrieved: May
mbing ni Lolo Ding (​ 2012), and ​Nawawala si 20, 2020
ng (​ 2015).

anitikan.ph
May 20, 2020
Source:

panitikan.ph

Retrieved: May 20, 2020

Source:
https://www.xu.edu.p
h/xavier-news

Retrieved: May
25, 2020
MANUEL E​. ​ARGUILLA ​(1911-1
English. He was best known for
19 Leon Brought Home a Wife",​
Commonwealth Literary Contest
life in Barrio Nagrebcan, Bauang
1911.
 ecade, he was a member of the English
egular member of the panel of critics in the
rkshop. He taught briefly at the DLSU and
English Dept. at MSU- Iligan Institute of
p://pinoylit.hypermart.net he continues to teach. A member of the
May 20, 2020 he helps Jaime An Lim and Christine
n the Iligan Writers Workshop/Literature
ce. He also writes fiction and children’s
n a number of awards, among them, the
oetry, the Palanca 1st prize for ​Poems for
Tan ​was born on 26 August 1947, Siasi [Muddas], also, the Palanca for essay. Among his
degrees AB English, 1968, MA Creative Writing, ao Cemetery and Other Poems,​ 1985 and
Ph.D. English Lit., 1982 were all obtained from the Anvil, 1996.
University where he edited ​Sands and Coral, ​1976.

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

20

Source: ​songhits.ph
Retrieved: May 28,
2020

Source: philstar.com
Retrieved: May 25,
2020
 ting in 1974. She teaches at the Creative
ersity of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban
in Tacloban City. She received various
erome Thornton Award for Nonfiction, Don
morial Award for Literature, National Book
hu Literary Awards, and Ani ng Dangal.
are Heartstone, Sacred Tree, Amina
Selected poems, Kabilin: 100 Years of
Fern Garden: An Anthology of Women
h, Songs of ourselves: writings by Filipino
nd many other
Source:
https://en.wikipedia. Source: philstar.com Retrieved: M
org/wiki/Ivy_Alvarez
w Zealand​-based ​Filipino Australian ​poet,
Retrieved: May 20,
r. Alvarez has had her work featured in
2020
s in Australia, Canada, England, the
o Homer Lacambra Ayala ​or also known as ​Joey
ealand, Ireland, Russia, Scotland, Wales,
s born on June 1, 1956 in Bukidnon, Philippines.
ca, and online. Alvarez was born in the
nown for his folk and contemporary pop music artist
rew up in ​Tasmania​, Australia. While
ppines, he is also known for his songs that are
he ​University of Tasmania​, she published
he improvement of the environment. He is a finalist
urnals and anthologies, and subsequently
ne Popular Music Festival 2013.
ws editor of ​Cordite Poetry Review,​ an
etry journal.
nghits.ph
May 28, 2020
pedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Alvarez
20
Alunan ​graduated from Silliman University with an

21
Suzette Severo Doctolero ​(born December 16, 1968 C ​ alabanga​, ​Camarines Sur​) is a Filipino
screenwriter for film and television. She is best known for being the creator of ​Encantadia i​ n
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​, I​ ndio​[ ​and ​My ​Source: ​https://en.wikipedia.or g/wiki/Suzette_Doctol
Husband's Lover.​ S
​ he also wrote the story for the film ​Let the Love Begin a
​ nd became the
[​
creative consultant for the television series ​Alyas Robin Hood​ and ​Destined to be Yours​. ​ero

Retrieved: ​June 1, 2020

Source: ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzette_Doctolero ​Retrieved: June 1, 2020
Source: ​panitikan.ph ​Retrieved: May 24, 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 of the Arts, now known as the Ford Academy of the
Arts.
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]

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

each of the following writers:
WHAT’S MORE
 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.
after taking up this lesson in terms of
What were your misconceptions about contributions of the writers to literatures?
literature prior to taking up this lesson?
35
What new or additional learning have you had
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 ​h. Anthony ​authors ​Tan
are publishing their work online.
i. Joey Ayala ​2. He is a writer associated in National Capital j​ . Aida ​Region.
Rivera Ford ​3. 4. An He to Metro example remarked Manila of that 21alone.
st ​
government Century Literature should stop of k​ . l. m. ​the I​ vy Manuel Merlie ​giving
Philippines.
Alvarez
M. t​ he ​Arguilla
Alunan
bulk of its national budget
5. A writer who comes from Northern Mindanao. 6. She is a Filipino screenwriter for film
and television. ​7. He is a writer and Chair of the English Dept. at MSU-Iligan Institute of
Technology
where he continues to teach. ​8. ​He is a singer and composer of “​Karaniwang Tao” song. 9.
The writer of “Midsummer” 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 (21​st ​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 Areas
Very Good 10-8
Good 7-5
Needs Improvement 4-1 ​Content Article has specific
central idea that is clearly stated in the opening paragraph, appropriate, concrete details.
Central idea is vague; non-supportive to the topic; lacks focus
Unable to find specific supporting details
Organization Article is logically
organized and well- structured
Writing somewhat digresses from the central idea
Central point and flow of article is lost; lacks organization and continuity Research Cited
research
information, introduced personal ideas to enhance article cohesiveness
Some research of the topic was done but was inconclusive to support topic; cited information
was vague
Did little or no gathering of information on the topic, did not cite information Style Writing is
smooth,
coherent and consistent
Sentences are varied and inconsistent with central idea
Lacks creativity and focus. Unrelated word choice to central idea Mechanics Written work has
no
errors in word selection and use sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization
Written work is relatively free of errors in word selection and use, sentence structure, spelling,
punctuation and capitalization (some have errors)
Written article has several errors in word selection and use.
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.

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 the definition of literary genre?

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.
WHAT I KNOW
 WHAT IS IT

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
​ ​Century Literature of the Philippines and the World.
Curriculum Guide, 21st

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

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
​ nd for the Bicolanos, ​atototdon.​ Here are the examples:
Ilongos, ​paktakon a

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 ​(Awit ng 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 (​ Tagalog Folk Song)

Lullaby ​(Oyayi) ​Serenade ​(Harana)

Dandansoy ​(Visayan Folk Song) ​Magtanim ay di biro Maghapong nakayuko Di man
lang makaupo Di man lang makatayo
Braso ko’y namamanhid Baywang ko’y nangangawit. Binti ko’y namimitig Sa
pagkababad sa tubig.
Sa umaga, paggising Ang lahat, iisipin Kung saan may patanim May masarap na
pagkain
Halina, halina, mga kaliyag, Tayo’y magsipag-unat-unat. Magpanibago tayo ng lakas
Para sa araw ng bukas (Bisig ko’y namamanhid Baywang ko’y nangangawit. Binti ko’y
namimintig Sa pagkababad sa tubig.)
Kay-pagkasawing-palad Ng inianak sa hirap, Ang bisig kung di iunat, Di kumita ng pilak.
Dandansoy, bayaan ta ikaw Pauli ako sa payag Ugaling kung ikaw hidlawon Ang payag
imo lang lantawon.
Dandansoy, kung imo apason Bisan tubig di magbalon Ugaling kung ikaw uhawon Sa
dalan magbubon-bubon.
Kumbento, diin ang cura? Munisipyo, diin justicia? Yari si dansoy makiha. Makiha sa
pag-higugma
Ang panyo mo kag panyo ko Dal-a diri kay tambihon ko Ugaling kung magkasilo Bana
ta ikaw, asawa mo ako.
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
​ o to sleep, dear little one ​Maturog kad
Maturug, duduayya G
 ​ ill my child please sleep, ​Tay lalaki nga napigsa
tay bunga, W
This strong boy ​Ta inton dumakkel tay bunga, S ​ o when the
child grows big ​Isunto aya tay mammati H ​ e 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 i​ n Maranaw, ​Aliguyon at Hudhud i​ n Ifugao​, Ibalon i​ n Bicol.

Below is a ​guman o ​ r epic of the Subanen people of Zamboanga, which is

​ r festivals.
chanted during ​Buklog o

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 o ​ r 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

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 i​ s 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 i​ s 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 a ​ nd has paved the way to a
​ hich he
revolution against Spain. Del Pilar’s essays and editorials in ​Diariong Tagalog w
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

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 w ​ ith 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.

21​st ​Century Literature of the Philippines

All literary works written and published at the later part of the 21​st ​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 21​st ​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.

INSTRUCTIONS: ​Using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast the various literary
genres of the earlier periods and the 21​st ​century Philippine literature. Focus on their
themes, elements and styles. Do this in your notebook.
INSTRUCTIONS: ​In your notebook, write the literary genre described in each statement
below. Choose your answers from the words found in the box.
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.
WHAT’S MORE
 ASSESSMENT

51
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.

CONTEXTS
LESSON
4
ARY, BIOGRAPHICAL, 52

STIC, AND SOCIO-

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).

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.

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.
A. LITERARY TEXT
WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT
 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 w ​ on 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.
​– This language awakens the reader’s sensory perceptions through
• ​Imagery
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.

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 I KNOW
 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

61
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.
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
WHAT IS IT
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.
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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.

 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:
WHAT I NEED TO KNOW
WHAT IS IT
 73
Ben Singkol ​F.
Sionil Jose

Ben Singkol i​ s 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?

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