HOME
• According to the Oxford dictionary, “Home” simply means
the place where one lives permanently, especially as a
member of a family or a household.
• However, the word itself carries meaning well beyond its
dictionary definition. The idea of home strikes a chord not
only because it is a common topic of writing, but it also
traces the development of Filipino essay; one can say that,
like most writers, the Filipino essay has “come home”.
THE LITERARY
ESSAY
• The essay is a simply “ a short piece of writing on a particular
subject,” again according to Oxford dictionary.
• Almost any type of writing can technically be considered an
essay, as long as it is short and about a subject.
• This can lead to the misconception that essays are easy to
write or of lesser importance as a form of literature, which is
not the case.
• The essay in Philippine writing has a particular history and
trajectory. The first essay were written not by Filipinos
themselves, but by the Spanish Friars who arrived in the
country and were tasked to document it for those who
remained in Spain.
Some of the earliest works written in the
Philippines that can be considered are:
• Arte y reglas de las Lengua tagala – Fr. Francisco Blancas de
San Jose
• Librong Pag-aaralan nang maga tagalog nang unicang
Castila – Tomas Pinpin
• Platicas Doctrinale – Fr. Modesto de Castro
• Considered to be a landmark work in that it helped formalize what would
come to be known as “Filipino Values”.
• The essay found its home Philippine writing during the later
years of Spanish particularly the rise of the reformist
movement.
• Fr. Jose Burgos, Pedro Paterno, Marcelo H. Del Pilar and
Jose Rizal all wrote to raise awareness of the abuses of the
colonial rulers of the time.
• During the revolution, Andres Bonifacio’s “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng Mga
Tagalog” and Emilio Jacinto’s “Liwanag at Dilim” were just some of the
works being read by Filipinos in the country.
• The essay’s development continued after the revolution, with the
arrival of the American Education system and American Literary
choices. There was a new category of essay, one being considered as
literary, but often focused on matters which were more personal.
• The style of writing also began to change, becoming less
formal, with some essays flirting with poetic or narrative
techniques. Many of these works were published in
newspapers and magazines, and eventually collected in
books.
• Writers like Nick Joaquin, S.P. Lopez, Francisco Arcellana,
N.V.M. Gonzalez, Estrella Alfon, Kerima Polotan, and many
others covered a huge variety of subjects and styles in their
essays. Even during the Martial Law years of the 1970s,
when press freedom was curtailed and critics of the Marcos
regime risked imprisonment or torture, many continued to
write essays speaking out against oppression.
• With the overthrow of Marcos in the 1980s and the rapid
growth of the free press, essays have flourished once more,
in even more forms and categories, including CREATIVE non-
fiction.
What is CREATIVE NON-FICTION?
• Creative nonfiction is seen more as a category, or a method
of classification, to differentiate it from other types of essays.
• For a work to be considered creative nonfiction, it must use
creative writing techniques more commonly techniques
found in fiction.
• Essays that have clear narrative elements, or use fiction
techniques such as dialogue or characterization, are
classified as creative nonfiction.
• Essays have allowed Filipino writers to explore a broad
spectrum of topics and concerns, ranging from lofty
discussions of nationalism and the purpose of art, to more
intimate pieces, harnessing nostalgia and memory as ways to
leave and return home.
• Exie Abola’s essay “Many Mansions” which explores the
issues of home and where it can be located, not only remind
us of our own homes and lives, but also asking whether
home is indeed where the heart is.
• Share on the description of the kind of house that you
have.
• Share about four things that you love about your
home.
• OFW’s are often separated from family members
geographically, how can this affect how we view
‘home’?
• How does Abola’s essay dramatize the saying “home is
where the heart is
Activity:
• What defines home to you?
• If you need to leave where you were staying now,
what would you do to make yourself at home?
• How do you see your home thirty years from now?
• Using the techniques picked up from Exie Abola’s
article, Write a four paragraph essay elaborating your
answers from questions 1 and 2.
Answer the following:
• What was the main impression Abola gives of the Marikina
house?
• List at least three descriptive terms which support your
answer in number 1 in the space below.
• Create a table listing down the comparisons that the author
makes between this current house and their previous one.
