21st Century Literature

from the Philippines and the

World

LESSON 7: BASIC ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY

NAME: EDWIN C. PERALTA III

GRADE & SECTION: 11 STEM PYTHAGORAS
TEACHER: MRS. MADELEINE CABALAN-AYO
 LESSON 7: BASIC ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY

What’s In
Studying literature can be very easy with the right amount of knowledge gained from your
studies in the past. Can you recall module 4? How do you define anecdote? What are the
purposes of an anecdote? What lesson does the anecdote in ―Home of the Ashfall‖ convey? For
this next lesson, you will be guided in gathering more literary tools that will surely make
learning more exciting.

Module 4's principles and teachings, which are all about the Creative Representation of
Literary Text, are still fresh in my mind and I can recall them. This lesson has two subtopics:
Multimedia formats in Interpreting Literary Text and Permitting Learners to Use Multimedia in
Different Learning Situations to Creatively Understand and Interpret a Literary Text. This
lesson aims to assist students in creating artistic representations of literary texts by applying
multimedia skills and permits learners to use multimedia in different learning situations to
creatively understand and interpret a literary text. Learning to actively and jointly create
knowledge structures using technology has become more interesting as a result of this, and
multimedia has had a major influence on studying literature. The second subtopic, on the other
hand, is about using ICT skills to interpret literary texts. This class taught students how to
evaluate anecdotes and their purposes using multimedia in order to improve their ICT skills. An
anecdote is a brief tale about a genuine event or person that is entertaining or intriguing.
Because anecdotes can be about every topic under the sun, they can tell a variety of stories and
narratives. It's a brief narrative about a real person or event that's meant to make the audience
laugh or think about something. Anecdotes were used in John Jack Wigley's book "Home of the
Ashfall." Home of the Ashfall is an article on John Jack's experiences and observations during
Mount Pinatubo's eruption. His work reflects the culture of the Mount Pinatubo region as well
as the Filipinos' reaction to the eruption. It demonstrates that no matter how devastating the
disasters are, Filipinos constantly smile and assist one another. It's known as "Bayanihan" in
Filipino, and it's a valuable lesson that the book may teach. Most significantly, the goal of
writing about his life during the eruption is to raise awareness and caution among readers about
the need of being prepared to deal with natural disasters.

What’s New
In this module, you will learn about the six basic elements of a short story. You will be reading a
short story entitled ―Sinigang‖ by Marie Aubrey J. Villaceran, a professor at the Department of
English and Comparative Literature in the University of the Philippines, Diliman. In the story,
Liza narrates how she deals with the issue of her father, having an affair with another woman,
and how it emotionally separates her from him. Read and learn more about the story and find
out how the basic elements are used.
1. Where did the story happen?
 Liza’s Home
2. Who are the characters in the story?
 Liza
 Tita Loleng
 Father of Liza
 Liza’s Mother
 Sylvia
 Lem

3. What do you think led to the emotional separation of Liza from her father?
 Liza’s father who had an extramarital affair with Sylvia, and consequently had a son,
Lem.
4. What was the most interesting part of the story?
 When she first met Sylvia, they discussed her appearance. Her memories were flashing
in front of her eyes. When she learned the lady in front of her was her father's mistress,
her emotions were shattered. She was clearly annoyed by Sylvia's presence. After that,
Sylvia approached her and apologized, explaining that everyone makes errors. Sylvia
even took her hands in hers to ask pardon, and she nodded and appeared to understand
because she wanted to break free of Sylvia's grip.
5. What was the story about?
 Marie Aubrey J. Villaceran wrote the short tale Sinigang in 2001. This story follows Liza,
the main character, as she deals with her father's adulterous romance with Sylvia, which
resulted in the birth of a boy named Lem.
6. Who narrated the story?
 Liza narrated the story

What’s More
The elements of a short story are the characters, setting, plot, conflict, theme, and point of view.
The plot structures are the following: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and
resolution.
A. DIRECTIONS: Identify the six (6) elements from the short story Sinigang.

1. SETTINGS – Liza’s Home

2. CHARACTERS - Liza, Tita Loleng, Father of Liza, Liza’s Mother, Sylvia and Lem
3. PLOT
EXPOSITION - The story is about how Liza deals with the issue of her father who had
an extramarital affair with Sylvia, and consequently had a son, Lem. Liza was a daddy’s
girl that is why her relationship with his father got tainted after she discovered the issue
about her father.
RISING ACTION - While she was preparing the tomatoes, Tita Loleng started asking
questions to her, then a memory came to her mind. Liza is sitting on a sofa in the living
room in Bulacan. She was in his half-brother’s wake who died because of cancer. She was
 only requested to be there because her father requested her mother to ask her to visit
Lem’s wake.
CLIMAX - At the wake, a woman approached Liza and introduced herself as Sylvia, her
father’s mistress. Back to the present, she answered Tita Loleng that she met Sylvia and
they talked about how she looked. Her memories continued to flash. Her emotions
crumbled as she realized that the woman in front of her is her father’s mistress. She
obviously disliked the presence of Sylvia. After that, Sylvia talked to her and asked her
forgiveness for everyone makes mistakes. Sylvia even grabbed her hands to beg for
forgiveness and she wanted to be free from Sylvia’s hold that is why she nodded and
pretended to understand.
FALLING ACTION - Back to the present where Liza was crashing the salt, onions and
tomatoes together with her hands, Tita Loleng exclaimed that it was enough. Tita Loleng
brought out the vegetables needed to prepare while softening the meat, then she left Liza
with the cooking after instructing what to do for the rest. She then started to simmer the
ingredients and started to prepare the vegetables for the sinigang. When the pot with the
meat started to boil, she added the powdered tamarind mix and the vegetables.
RESOLUTION - Still in her memory, she looked at her father, then his heavy hands
with sadness fell to her shoulder. Her father told her that he’s sorry which is the word
that she was waiting for. She then decided to forgive his father and rebuild their lost
connection little by little.
4. CONFLICT - This is a man versus man because this conflict is between Liza and his father.
Another thing, this conflict will test Liza on how she will deal her relationship to his father.
5. THEME - Accepting and forgiving others despite the mistakes they did.
6. POINT OF VIEW – First Point of View

B. DIRECTIONS: In this activity, you have to identify the plot structure of the story
―Sinigang‖. Write A for exposition; B for rising action; C for climax; D for falling action; and E
for resolution. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

A 1. ―Did you meet…her?‖ Tita Loleng asked.

A 2. The woman looked to me like she was in her forties—the same age as my mother.
B 3. The woman, upon seeing my curious stare, had explained, ―I am Sylvia.‖
C 4. I finally turned to him. There was only one question I needed to ask. ―Why?‖
C 5. I wanted to scream at her to let go but I did not move away.
D 6. All my muscles tensed upon hearing her name. It took all my self-control to outwardly
remain calm and simply raise an eyebrow.
 C 7. When my Dad had come out of the room, I remembered sensing it immediately— the
same way an animal instinctively perceives when it is in danger.
B 8. When her weeping had subsided, she raised her head and looked at me. ―Everyone makes
mistakes, Liza.‖ Her eyes begged for understanding.
A 9. I continued to pick out tomatoes for the sinigang we were to have for dinner. I wasn’t
usually the one who assisted my aunt with the cooking.
E 10. ―I’m sorry,‖ he had told me.

What I Have Learned

DIRECTIONS: Reflect on the short story, ―Sinigang‖, by Maria Aubrey J. Villaceran and
answer the questions below. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. What significant lesson have you learned from the story? How will you apply it in your own
life?
 The significant lesson is that the love of family is quite a strong bond. Although
people make mistakes like the father did, but one should understand other
situation. Also at times people do forgive their loved ones despite of big crimes.
2. Why do you think some married men commit extramarital affair?
 Married men enter into extramarital affair either due to dis satisfaction from
current partner, due to their own weak character, or to help someone else in need
3. React on this: It is ordinary in our Filipino culture for husbands to commit adultery and look
for another woman who can satisfy their desires simply because they are men and not saints.
 It is not so ordinary and when a man does this, then his family especially children do
dislike them

What I Can Do
ACTIVITY 1: ACT IT OUT
Directions: Choose a part in the story, Sinigang, which you find the most interesting. Then,
produce a three-minute video of it using the characters’ lines and depicting their feelings. You
may involve a friend or a family member in the video.
 ACTIVITY 2: BLOG
Directions: Create a blog on moral values that you got from the short story "Sinigang" and its
impact to you as a 21st century learner. Share it to the world by posting your blog in WordPress.
Let your classmate or friend evaluate your work using the rubric below. Tick the box of the score
given. Be guided of the score and its description.
https://wordpress.com/view/peralta21stcenturywhaticando.wordpress.com

https://wordpress.com/view/peralta21stcenturywhaticando.wordpress.com

Sinigang: Moral Values and Impact

on 21st Century Learner
Created by: Edwin C. Peralta III
 SCORE DESCRIPTION
5 Excellent
4 Very Good
3 Good
2 Fair
1 Poor

NO. CRITERIA 5 4 3 2 1
1. Uses audio/visual aids or media to clarify ✓
information.

2. Presents relevant content based on the ✓

theme of the story.

3. Shows considerable originality and ✓

inventiveness.

4. Presents the ideas in a unique and ✓

interesting way.

Additional Activities
DIRECTIONS: Accomplish the self-assessment table below. Do this task objectively.
Remember that there are no wrong answers for this activity. Refer to the activities that you have
completed as basis in completing this task.

Usually Sometimes Seldom Never

1. I can analyze a short story by ✓

identifying its basic elements.
2. I identify the point of view used in the ✓
story.
3. I can demonstrate an understanding ✓
of the moral values taught in the story.

4. I enjoy using multimedia in making ✓

creative representations of a literary
text.
5. I can do self or peer assessment to ✓
evaluate the creative adaptation of a
literary text based on a rationalized set
of criteria.