LESSON 5: LITERATURE

Literature is considered to be a whole bulk of written works. However, another definition or literature means a body of
works that show “the best that has been thought and said,” or works that signify the highest achievements of a particular
culture.
Types and Elements of Literature
Poetry refers to expressing a feeling or an idea using figurative or symbolic language in verse. One can take note of the
following elements when reading poetry:
Meaning
A writer can use the following in order to express his or her feelings or ideas: technical terms, idiom, dialect, new words,
allusion and connotation.
Figurative Language
This mainly consists of simile, metaphor, and other figures of speech that can be used in order to express something in a
different way aside from its literal meaning.
Imagery
This consists of description and details that can trigger the readers senses (sight, hearing, smell, etc).
Sound and Rhythm
Sound can refer to the emphasis on certain words or rhymes. Rhythm is the position of beats or the sound pattern of the
work.
On the other hand, prose refers to literature that is not poetry. Prose has two categories. Prose may be informative or
persuasive, just like in the case of an essay. An essay has the following elements:
Theme or Content
This pertains to the general thought or idea of the whole composition. On addition, the motive and goal of the writer if
reflected on the theme.
Style
Writing style refers to the choices of the words and sentence structures used to convey the message and hold the attention
of the reader.
Form and Structure
The sequence of topic and transitions that make up the whole essay reflects the form.
Fiction also has its own elements, which are the following:
Plot or story line
The plot is a sequence of events that build up the whole story. This gives the flow or the story.
Setting
The setting is the time and place in which the story happened.
Theme
This is the central thought or idea of the whole story.
Language and style
the style pertains to the choices of words the writer uses. This includes the sentence structures and figurative language that
affect the mood or tone of the story.
Point of view
This may be presented using the third-person point of view, which means the narrator may be present the author himself or
herself.
Traditions and Forms of Philippine Poetry
Ethnic tradition
this consist of ancient songs, epic narratives, maxims and proverbs, prayers and riddles.
Epic
The epic narrative relates adventures of a hero with supernatural powers. The epic narrative is usually chanted or sung
before an audience during social gatherings.
Folk Song
This refers to a song that is transmitted orally from the one generation to another. It usually has a melody and it expresses
ideas, emotions, and thoughts of the community.
Proverbs
These are concise statements that teach ideas on morality and tradition. A proverb usually expressed as a rhyming pair of
lines that depict two different elements. The meaning of each elements is not readily understood; the whole point of the
proverb can be easily understood if these two elements are joined together:
Riddles
A riddle describes an object in an entirely different manner or in a way that it is not easily understood.
Short Poems
A short poem usually has four lines, with 5-12 syllables per line.
Poetic Jousts
Each region in the country has their own version of a poetic joust. For instance, the Balitao in Cebu and Aklan is a teasing
impromptu debate. A poetic joust may also involve marriage negotiations between two families, which is the case for the
Cebuano Pamalaye, Ilonggo Siday sa Pamalaye, and Kiniray-a hingaw. The Ilocano dallot which is later known as ariken is
a chanting joust between a man and a woman. The Tigsik in Bicol is a toast competition during a drinking session.
Spanish Colonial Tradition
This poetic tradition comprises religious and secular Lyric poems, and narrative poems.
Metrical Romance
The metrical romance is more popularly known as biag or panagbiag in Ilocano, impanbilay in Pangasinan, kuriru in
Pampango, and corrido in Cebuano, Ilongo, and Bicol, and awit or korido in Tagalog. However, there are differences when
it comes to identifying the awit and korido among the Tagalog. Fir them, the korido is written in verses with 8 syllables each.
The metrical romance focuses on chivalric, folkloric, legendary and religious themes.
Pasyon
The pasyon, written in stanza with 5 lines with 8 syllables per line, recounts the life of Jesus Christ. There are two types of
pasyon, the traditional pabasa, and political pasyon. The latter is used to arouse the people to stand for justice. The pasyon
is also useful as a source of images, stories, and form.
The poetry of Reform, Revolution, and resistance to american colonialism. Poetic tradition mainly comprises
balagtasan poems, satirical verses, patriotic poems, and social criticism in verses
American Colonial Tradition and the Contemporary Tradition
These traditions involve the creation of poems using both traditional and modern forms. Some poets continue to write
works relfecting the tradition from the spanish colonial period, while others began expressing the need to enhance national
consciousness and identity.
Forms of Contemporary Prose in the Philippines
Folk Narrative
The folk narrative may be any story based on real or fiction events in the past told among the people in a cultural group or
community. There are 3 types of the folk narrative myth, legend, and folktales.
Myth
This refers to a story that explain the origin of the world and its first inhabitants. Typically associated with theology and ritual,
the myth features supernatural beings, spirits, and human beings as characters.
Legend
The legend may be classified into the following according to subject matter;
 Heroic and Historical. Which tackles episodes in the lives of great men and women
 Religious, which narrates display of miracle of God and of the saints.
 Supernatural. Which focuses on the existence of beings from the underworld
 Toponymic. Which explains why a certain place has this name
 Other legends.
Folktales
These are classified into animal tales or fables, magic tales, humorous tales, novalistic tales, religious and didactic tales.
Essay
The essay explain insight and/or information using description, narration, and humor: it has two types:
Formal essay
It discusses crucial topics based on reseach in a serious manner. The conclusion of this type of essay exhibits how the
writer analyzed and summarized data.
Informal essay
The informal essay is a narrative that enables the writer to express his or her experiences, insights and observation in a
creative manner.
Novel
The novel may be defined as a lengthy and complex narrative of events based on the author’s imagination. The following
are the four traditions of the Philippine novel:
Didactic Tradition
Novels in this tradition were written to guide the people in the Roman Catholic faith. A typical plot in this tradition includes
acts of God such as accidents, calamities, and coincidences to imply that the good will have their reward and evil will be
punished.
Romantic Tradition
Novels in this tradition pattern their stories from metrical romances. Love, magic, and religious didacticism are evident
among novels in this tradition.
Realist Tradition
The focus of novels in this tradition is describing experiences of a person or people as social structures and forces affect
them. However, the plot does not usually point the reader to the root cause of the social issue. The plot usually ends when
the individual gets overwhelmed with the effect of social forces on him or her
Radical Tradition
A novel in this tradition promotes change in the social and political system. Unlike the novel in the realist tradition, this novel
points the reader to the root cause of injustice. In addition to this, it also specifies how to change the society. The plot
usually ends with the oppressed characters, particularly peasants and workers, being victorious.
Short Story
The short story is as defined as a concise secular narrative. It has three traditions, which are romantic tradition, realistic
tradition, and radical tradition. Short stories in the romantic and realistic traditions have similar characteristics with novels in
the romantic and realist traditions respectively. However, short stories in these two traditions did not become popular
during the contemporary period.
Komiks
Komiks is a special form of contemporary literature. This involves drawing frames showing a set of characters with their
actions read from left to right. The komiks also contain balloons which enclose words or dialogue of the characters. Action
can be visualized in komiks through illustrating lines and other images that have designated meanings. A reader can easily
differentiate characters based on the designs of the characters emblems or based on calligraphy.
LESSON 6: MUSIC
Music is considered to be the least tangible of the arts. It is defines as an arrangement of sounds to create a continuous
and unified composition.
Elements of Music
Melody
This refers to a succession of consecutive notes or tones changing in pitch and duration. It is also considered to carry the
overall theme of music. Melody is inseparable from rhythm
Rhythm
This has something to do with the patterns in time. It has three qualities: tempo, meter, and rhythmic pattern. Tempo
describes how fast or slow the music is. On the other hand, meter refers to the unit of time that is made up of a group of
accented and unaccented beats or pulses.
Harmony
This may refer to a combination of different tones or pitches played or sung together. These notes played or sung together
at the same time is called a chord. Harmony may also involve playing chords successively.
Texture
This element refers to the relationship of melodic and harmonic lines in music. Music is considered to have thicker texture if
it has more melodic lines.
Dynamics
This refers to the degree of softness and loudness of music. This may also include the way of changing from soft to loud or
vice-versa.
Timbre
Also known as tone color, this refers to the quality of sound generated by an instruments or by a voice.
Form
This element refers to how the other elements of music are organized. Music can be described if there are repeating
sections or melodies, if there is contrast among musical instruments and rhythm, or if there is variation of the musical
composition.
Forms and Types of Philippines Music
There are three kinds of music in the Philippines. These are ethnic traditional music, European-influenced religious and
secular music, and American-inspired popular, classical, and semi-classical music. Although these three musical traditions
have different characteristics, these have brought influences during the contemporary period.
Ethnic traditional music
Philippine music in thnic tradition is described to be music that has similar elements with music from our Southeast Asian
neighbors. This kind of music can tstill be heard in Nothern Luzon, Mindanao, Palawan, and Sulu, where about 10% of the
Filipino population had avoided Spanish influence.
Ballad
A ballad refers to a song that explains an event occuring in a community. Some of these ballads include the idangdang
from Bukidnon and the liyangkit parang sabil of the Tausug. Some ballads were influenced by the Spaniards, sych as the
composo and Pampanga’s “Ing Bangkeru.” nowadays, the term “Ballad” is loosely described as a popular romantic song in
the urban areas.
Chant
This refers to a song with an unaccompanied melody and variable rhythm. This is usually found in epic songs.
Song debate
The song debate is a song involving male and female singers who try to outsmart each other about a certain topic. Themes
usually include love, courtship, and marriage.
European-influenced Religious and Secular Music
Art Song
An art song is a composition characterized by merging the voice part, lyrics, and the accompaniment together “to achieve
an artistic musical whole” singing an art song requires skill, especially when performed during a concert or recital.
A kundiman, which is considered as a signature love song of the Philippines, is an example of an art song.
Habanera/Danza
This refers to a social dance in duple time. Originally from Cuba, this is usually performed on a stage or in a ballroom: the
habanera is influential as its tempo is used in some contemporary compositions like Nicanor Abelardo’s “Ikaw Rin” and
Antonio Molina’s “Hatinggabi.”
Liturgical Music
Liturgical music refers to vocal and instrumental compositions that go together with the official rites of Christian churches.
this began as early as the Spanish colonial period and the rise of Roman Catholicism. However, it was during the later 19 th
century when vernacularization of the liturgical rites began. During the 20 th century, musicians employed more innovative
styles and forms, including fusion of Asian and indigenous elements to church music. The birth of Pentecostal churches
and charismatic groups in the 1980’s also brought changes in church music. Simple repetitive songs were used during
prayer meetings, while there were some instances when people in these churches sang Gospel music, which refers to a
group of contemporary musical styles with religious lyrics.
Kumintang
Originally documented as a war song, the kumintang is a dance of love accompanied by a guitar and bajo de uñas (string
bass). its quasi-recitative melody is played by these instruments is in 3/4 time. The elements of the kumintang are utilized
in some compositions such as Nicanor Abelardo’s “Mutya ng Pasig” and Lucio D. San Pedro’s “Lahing Kayunmanggi.”

Pasyon Chant
The pasyon chant refers to the various styles used thoughtout the country for the singing of the pasyon. It is typically
performed in two groups formations: the first involving two persons or group singing alternatively, and the second involving
each person taking his or her turn in singing.

American-inspired Music
This tradition can be further classified into three: classical music, semi-classical music, and popular music. It is important to
not that these three categories are not mutually exclusive with one another.

Classical Music
This category of American-influenced music includes classical music from the Western world, and classical and modern
music composed by Filipinos. These include the following
 Chamber Music
this refers to instrumental music played by a small ensemble. Each part of the music is played by one performer. This
makes chamber music different from orchestra music because the latter involves several instrumentalists playing one part.
Starting from the American period up to the present, composers has blended other elements and sources to chamber
music. Some of these elements include using local sources of sound, using non-Western musical structures, and other
innovations..
 Choral Music
this involves music written for a group of singer. Choral compositions can be monodic, meaning to be sung together or in
unison without accompaniment; homophonic, which consists of one melodic line that is accompanied by chords or
instrumental accompaniment; or polyphonic, which entails two or more distinct and equally significant melodic lines at the
same time.
 Opera
the opera is essentially drama that is sung and accompanied by instruments. It has a set of structure, consisting of an
overture, songs for a variety of number of singers, other vocal combinations, and interludes. A librettist, composer, and
often a choreographer are all involved in creating an opera.
Filipinization of opera began before the early 1900s. some foreign libretti were translated into Tagalog, such as Lucia di
Lammermoor, La Traviata, and Rigoletto. Original Filipino operas were then created during the early 1900s.

Solo Instrumental Literature

This type of music highlights a solo instrument. This solo instrument may also be accompanied by another instrument or by
a number of instruments. The concerto and the sonata are examples.
 Concerto
the concerto refers to a piece for a solo instrument, or a group of solo instruments, and an orchestral ensemble. Although
the concerto si derived from the four-movement sonata form, it is distinguishing features, particularly omitting the third
movements called minuet or scherzo
 Sonata
the sonata is a work for a solo instrument with four movements. The typical sequence of movement is a
allegro-andante-minuet (or scerzo-allegro). however, theminuet or scherzo is often omiited. The result is a fast-slow-fast
order of movements. The popularity of the sonata form has declined, especially among younger composers who prefer
newer experimental techniques. However, Jeffrey Ching is one musician who has composed sonatas for piano, flute, and
violin during the 1980s.

Symphonic Literature
These refers to a lenghthy orchestral compositions. A composition for orchestra may contain several movements, or may
contain one movement with many sections. Works that full under symphonic literature include the following:
 Symphony
the symphony is considered as a sonata written to be played by an orchestra. Just like a typical sonata, the symphony has
three or four different movements. Composing symphonies started as early as the American period. However, there were
no symphonies documented from 1981 to 1990.
 Suite
a symphonic suit, on the other hand, refers to a well-arranged set of individual movements, which are unified because of
using either a common form or key, or a nonmusical element.
 Convert Overture
a concert overture is a composition that is typically written in a sonata-allegro form. This has one movement with many
sections.
 Symphonic Poem
the symphonic poem is also called the tone poem, base on a nonmusical poetic or realistic idea. Themes for symphonic
poems include biblical themes and personalities, historical events, literary works, and local scenery.

Semi-classical Music
Musical forms under this category include band and rondalla music, hymns and marches, sarswela music, and stylized folk
songs.
 Band music
this refers to compositions created for the band, which is a group of brassn percussion, and woodwind instruments.
Examples of a band are brass band, symphonic band, military band, and jazz band, a band may also refer to groups of
instruments such as an accordion band or bamboo band. Most, if not all, contemporary Filipino composers produced band
music. Band music is still popular and has gained national attention after the marcos regime.
 Marcha/march
this refers to a composition with music played in regular phrases, and a strongly accented rhythm, usually in a 4/4 time
signature. The march is played in some dances or with marching groups.

Popular music
This category includes original music composed by Filipino, which utilyzes Western and local musical influences. During
the 1970s, emergence of original Pilipino music (OPM) first began with translation of foreign lyrics into the vernacular. In
1973, Joey “Pepe” Smith and Juan de La Cruz Band released “Ang Himig Natin” as a result of experimenting with the
fusion of rock music with Filipino lyrics. This gave birth to Pinoy pop. There are several forms of Pinoy pop, which include
the following:
 Pinoy rock, which involves the use of drums, electril guitars, synthesizers, and other eletronic instruments;
 Safe pinoy pop or “middle-of-the-road” type of music, as shown in the compositions of Apo Hiking Society and Jose
Mari Chan;
 Pinoy folk, which is inspired by simple and repetitive tunes made popular by Western folk singers (Pinoy folk music
later involved the use of Asian or ethnic musical traditions and instrument);
 Pinoy disco music, which is essentially a Filipino adaptation of Western Disco music;
 Rap, which is described as a musical form involving a fast-paced rhythmic narration accompanied by electronic
musical instruments. It is usually performed with dancing. Francis Magalona introduced Pinoy rap.

Protest songs became highly popular during the 1970s, during the time when students activism emerged. These songs
were created and sung to express and promote ideas on changing the social and political system at that time. These also
aimed to inspire bravery, heroism, and nationalism. Perhaps the most popular protest song during this time was “Bayan
Ko,” which was written by Jose Corazon de Jesus (lyrics) and Constancio de Guzman (music) in 1928. later, musicians
experimented with various musical styles and melodies in creating protest songs.

After the 1986 EDSA Revolution, musicians continued to look back and experiment with a variety of musical forms,
including traditional ones. Arrangements of folk songs and popular dance rhythms are blended together in band music and
rondallas. However, jazz and classical music remained to be unpopular among Filipinos.