11/12

st
21 Century Literature
from the Philippines
and the World
First Quarter
st
Module 2: 21 Century
Literary Genres
 11/12

st
21 Century Literature
from the Philippines
and the World
First Quarter
st
Module 2: 21 Century
Literary Genres

Tessa Joy D. Duhaylungsod

Writer

Chona B. Aque Johna T. Laranjo

Joel E.Pabinguit Carren D. Daug

Evaluators
 INTRODUCTION
This module is written in support of the K to 12 Basic Education Program to ensure
attainment of standards expected of you as a learner.
This aims to equip you with essential knowledge in comparing and contrasting the
various literary genres and the ones from the earlier genres/periods citing their elements,
structures and traditions. This is designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your pace and time. You will be enabled
to process the contents of the learning resource while being an active learner.
This includes the following parts and corresponding icons.
What I Need to Know – This lays out the learning outcome that you expected
to have accomplished at the end of the module.
What I Know – This determines your prior learning on the particular lesson
you are about to take.
What’s In – This is a brief drill or review to help you link the current lesson
with the previous one.
What’s New – In this portion, the new lesson will be introduced to you in
various ways such as a story, a song, a poem, a problem opener, an activity or a
situation.
What Is It – This section provides a brief discussion of the lesson. This aims
to help you discover and understand new concepts and skills.
What’s More – This comprises activities for independent practice to solidify
your understanding and skills of the topic.
What I Have Learned – This includes questions or blank sentence/paragraph
to be filled in to process what you learned from the lesson.
What I Can Do – This section provides an activity/ies which will help you
transfer your new knowledge or skill into real life situations or concerns.
Assessment – This is a task which aims to evaluate your level of mastery in
achieving the learning competency.
Additional Activities – In this portion, another activity/ies will be given to you
to enrich your knowledge or skill of the lesson learned. This also tends
retention of learned concepts.
Answer Key – This contains answers to the activities in the module.

At the end of this module, you will also find:

References – This is a list of all sources used in developing this module.

With the different activities provided in this module, may you find this material
engaging and challenging as it develops your critical thinking skills. You can do it!
 What I Need to Know
After going through this module, you are expected to:

 compare and contrast the various literary genres and the ones from the earlier
genres/periods citing their elements, structures and traditions (EN12Lit-Id-25)

What I Know
To find out what you already know about the topic, do the activities below and write your
answers in your notebook.
A. Identify whether the statement is correct or not. Write TRUE if it’s correct and FALSE if
it’s not.
1. The 21st Century Philippine Literature covers the new range of developments in
digital writings, creative writings and genres.
2. With the use of different types of technology, the writers are able to connect with the
readers.
3. 21st century literature is anything that was written and published in the year 2000s.
4. Social media platforms are tools that can be used by writers to cover a wide range of
readers.
5. Being a 21st century reader, you don’t need to possess literacy skills which include
technological abilities.
6. Hypertext poetry and hypertext fiction are new genres of literature that use the printed
page.
7. Short story and flash fiction are the same.
8. Chick literature often addresses issues of modern womanhood.
9. The literary genre which encompasses all the stories that are removed from the reality
that we are currently living in is called speculative fiction.
10. Graphic novel and comic book are the same.
B. Read carefully each statement. Choose the letter of your answer.
1. What poetry is written and read on a mobile phone?
a. hypertext b. lyric poetry c. rhyme d. text tula
2. All of these kinds of electronic literature are of the same genre except one. Which one
is it?
a. hyperfiction b. hyperpoetry c. photo poem d. text tula
3. What is a rhythmic imaginative language expressing the invention, thought,
imagination, passion and insight of the human soul?
a. fiction b. literature c. poetry d. prose
4. What element of poetry is the repetition of sounds in different words?
a. imagery b. meter c. rhyme d. rhyme scheme
5. What is a short formula for describing the pattern of rhyme in a poem?
a. enjambment b. imagery c. rhyme scheme d. structure
6. Which of the following pair of words form “tugmang katinig”?
a. makibaka-binabata c. panalangin-paghiling
b. napapako-mapaso d. wala-tama
 21st Century Literature from the Regions

The 21st Century Philippine Literature covers the new range of developments in
digital writings, creative writings and genres. Elsewhere in the world, writers are doing things
they did not do much until recently. Think of the prose novels being serialized on blogs, with
readers suggesting to authors (and authors obediently accepting) that the plot or the
characters should be changed. Think of hypertextual poems, where readers move from one
website to another because of embedded links in the words, sometimes not returning to the
original pages at all. Think of enhanced eBooks, where readers are treated to audiovisual
clips that not only support the narrative in a novel, but actually are crucial to the development
of plot and character. Think of flash fiction, which has been brought to its extreme with six-
word and even one-word short stories.

What’s In
Recall your knowledge about earlier literary genres by accomplishing the activities
that follow. Write your answers in your notebook.

Activity 1
Identify what type of prose the following literary genre is. Write Fiction or Non-fiction.
1. Biography 5. Drama
2. Novel 6. History
3. Short Story 7. Travelogue
4. Autobiography 8. Legend

Activity 2
Identify what type of poetry the following literary genre is. Write Lyric, Narrative or
Dramatic.
1. Song 5. Tragedy
2. Epic 6. Monologue
3. Sonnet 7. Ballad
4. Comedy 8. Ode

Find out the differences of these earlier literary genres to the 21 st century literary genres
as you continue your journey in this module.

What’s New
A lot of words have been added to the dictionary over the past few decades thanks to
the social media, but few have become so widely used and accepted as “hashtag’ (#). A
hashtag is simply a keyword phrase, spelled out without space with a pound sign (#) in front
of it. You can put these hashtags anywhere in your social media posts: in the beginning, at the
end or anywhere in between.
 Your task this time is to write a post on your social media account regarding your
feeling, opinion, emotion, reaction or idea with a corresponding hashtag related to it. Choose
one from the following hashtags below. You may express your thoughts in sentence or poetic
form. Write your post in your notebook.

# StayHomeSaveLives
#fightcovid19
#WeHealAsOne
#newnormal
#SalutetotheFrontliners
#thankfultoGod
#feelingpositive
# #KeepcalmStaystrong

What Is It
Social media platforms are tools that can be used by writers to cover a wide range of
readers. With the use of different types of technology, the writers are able to connect with the
readers in a less expensive but easier way of communicating their literary pieces.
Twenty first century literature per se, is anything that was written and published in the
year 2000s. It is a bit too early to give a definite definition and elaborate description of the
21st century literature in the Philippines and the world. It is possible, however, to approach
contemporary literature as a reaction to and dialogue with existing forms of expressive
culture.
As we engage in technology more and more, we create and discover more existing
forms of expressive culture as well. We have a wide range of resources through the internet
and these give opportunities to people, especially the youth, to begin writing and expressing
their thoughts, ideas and feelings. A perfect example would be WattPad. It became popular to
the Filipino youth in 2006. The idea is to create an e-book reading application, as e-books are
becoming in demand during that time, however, the founders thought that it would be time
consuming to maintain their own catalog, so they decided to let the community decide what
they want to read, and they can also upload their works and content into the application. This
has made it possible for the youth to read more and to start creating their own compositions.
It has become a network.
Here are examples of literary genres in the 21st century Philippine literature:

Creative nonfiction
It’s a rich mix of flavors, ideas, and techniques, some of which are newly invented
and others as old as writing itself. It can be an essay, a journal article, a research paper, a
memoir, or a poem; it can be personal or not, or it can be all of these. Some of the creative
nonfictions in the Philippines are:
1. “The Cardinal’s Sins, the General’s Cross, the Martyr’s Testimony, and Other
Affirmations” by Gregorio C. Brillantes
 2. “Manananggal Terrorizes Manila and Other Stories” by Jessica Zafra
3. “Sapay Koma” by Jhoanna Lynn Cruz

Hyper poetry
Hypertext poetry and hypertext fiction are new genres of literature that use the
computer screen as medium, rather than the printed page. The literary works rely on the
qualities unique to a digital environment, such as linked World Wide Web pages or effects
such as sound and movement. Hypertext “poetry” can consists of words, although not
necessarily organized into lines and stanzas, as well as sounds, visual images, movement or
other special effects.

Chick Lit
This is genre fiction, which “consists of heroin-centered narratives that focus on the
trials and tribulations of their individual protagonists”. The genre often addresses issues of
modern womanhood – from romantic relationships to female friendships to matters in the
workplace – in humorous and lighthearted ways. Some of the chick lit in the Philippines are:
1. “Spotlight New Adult” by Mina V. Esguerra
2. “Tall Story” by Candy Gourlay
3. “All’s Fair in Blog and War” by Chrissie Peria

Speculative fiction
It covers all stories from fantasy to science fiction to slipstream to magic realism to
urban fantasy – so on and so forth. In other words (or in other worlds), it encompasses all the
stories that are removed from the reality that we are currently living in. As the introduction
states, “speculative fiction is a type of story that deals with observations of the human
condition but offers the experience through a different lens…and challenges us to see what
tomorrow could be like or what the mythic past of our imagination actually is.” Some of the
speculative fictions in the Philippines are:
1. “Smaller and Smaller Circles” by FH Batacan
2. “Sink” by Isabel Yap
3. “The Secret Origin of Spin-Man” by Andrew Drilon

Flash fiction
Flash fiction goes by many names, including microfiction, microstories, short-shorts,
short short stories, very short stories, sudden fiction, postcard fiction, and nanofiction. While
it can be difficult to pinpoint an exact definition of flash fiction based on word count,
consideration of several of its features can help provide clarity, like its brevity, length,
background, and purpose. Some of the flash fictions in the Philippines are:
1. “100 Kislap” by abdon M. Balde Jr.
2. “Karapote: Antolohiya Dagiti 13 a Nasuerte A Sarita” by Ariel S. Tabag

Blog
A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website
displaying information in the reverse chronological order, with latest posts appearing first. It
is a platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their views on an individual
subject.

Graphic novels
The “graphic novel” has existed as an art form arguably from the time our species
learned how to paint. However, the term has only been in use since the 1960’s, and though
it’s often a hotly debated issue, it’s generally accepted that a graphic novel is a longer work
or collection of works presented in “comics” style. Some of the graphic novels in the
Philippines are:
1. “The Mythology Class” (Nautilus comics) by Arnold Arre
2. “Light” (Anino comics) by Rob Cham
3. “Sixty Six” (Anino comics) by Russell Molina
4. “Maktan 1521” by Tepai Pascual

Now let’s focus and tackle more about another new literary genre and find out its
similarities and differences with the traditional poetry.

Text Tula (Mobile phone poetry)

Poetry comes in a wide variety of forms, such as free verse, blank verse, couplet,
sonnet, quatrain, cinquain, diamante, limerick, haiku and ballad. Many forms, such as haiku
and sonnet, were originally developed in other languages but became popular with poets
writing in English. Thus, form in poetry refers to the way words and sentences are structured
in a poem, and the kind of sounds that may come within a given structure.
Poetry is written by a poet in meter or in verse expressing various emotions which use
a lot of techniques like figures of speech which is a literary device used as a word or phrase
that has a meaning that may be different than its literal meaning and which adds color and
interest and awakens the readers’ imagination. It heavily uses imagery, meter and rhyme. It is
generally considered to be the oldest of the arts. Long before our forefathers learned to write,
they sang and recited lines of verse.
One of the most recent genres in Philippine literature is the text tula or textula, a
poetry genre mastered by Frank Rivera where entire poems are written and read on mobile
phones. Though usually short due to the necessity of the number of characters allowed in text
messaging, the elements of poetry are still present in this genre.
Lyric poems are often divided into stanzas or verses. Stanzas are usually separated by
a single blank line. Stanzas within a poem may have the same form or may vary. The poet
also tries to develop interesting forms based on variations of rhyme, rhythm and meter.
Rhyme is the repetition of sounds in different words. Rhyme can occur within lines
(internal rhyme) or – more usually – at the end of lines (end rhyme). Text tula uses rhyme
which is called in Tagalog poetry as “tugmang karaniwan” wherein the last syllable of each
line in a stanza has the same sound; “tugmang katinig” refers to the sound device in which
lines have the same consonant sounds and “tugmang patinig” for having the same vowel
sounds.
A rhyme scheme is a short formula for describing the pattern of rhyme in a poem.
End words that rhyme are assigned in the same letter. The rhyme schemes are: the Basic or
aaaa rhyme scheme; the Enclosed or abba rhyme scheme (inipit in Filipino); the Alternate or
abab (salitan in Filipino); and aabb rhyme scheme (sunuran in Filipino). For example, the
rhyme scheme for this poem is aabb.
“Thoughts on Poetic Terms”
Literature 101, it seems to me a
Has plenty of terms for poetry. a
I’ve made a lots of notes and done my best, b
I’m betting these terms are on the test. b
Text Tula uses short traditional tagalog form of poetry called Tanaga which has a 777
syllable count with rhyme scheme aabb, abab, abba. The Tanaga is a type of Filipino poem,
consisting of four lines with seven to nine syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of
each line --- that is to say a 7-7-7-7 or 9-9-9-9 syllabic verse, with an AABB rhyme scheme.
To compare, the Japanese haiku has 17 phonetic units divided into three phrases of 5, 7, and 5
units respectively.

What’s More
Independent Activity 1
Here’s an example of text tula by Frank Rivera who is also known as “Makata sa Cell
phone.”

2 Tanagang UAAP
by Frank G. Rivera

1.
Ayy! Napana ang Tigre
Ang dilaw naging verde
Di-El-Es-Yu-Yu-Es-Ti
Mga Teng ang nagwagi
2.
Sa mahilig sa bola
Hindi bago ang kanta
Nang mag-dribble si Ama
Sa anak ipinasa.

Source:https://www.scribd.com/document/412634387/21st-Century-
Literature-of-the-Philippines-and-of-the-World-1

Independent Assessment 1
A. Answer the following questions. Write your answer in your notebook.
1. What is the text tula about?
2. Is it similar to the traditional poems that you have read before? In what way is it
similar or different?
3. Does the text tula have rhyming patterns?
4. How about the verse, do they have a similar number of syllables per line?
5. What are the possible venues of social media where we can use text tula?

B. What are the words that rhyme based on the “Tanaga” of Frank Rivera? What is its
rhyme scheme?
1. __________ 2. __________
__________ __________
__________ __________
__________ __________
Rhyme scheme: __________ Rhyme scheme: __________
 Independent Activity 2
Read and understand another text tula.

A TEXTULA
by Frank G. Rivera

Merong himala, hindi totong wala

Ituro ma’y mali,alam nati’y tama
Kahit walang sagot itong panalangin
Hindi tumitigil ang ating paghiling.

Walang nagturo na tayo’y makibaka

Ngunit sulirani’y ating binabata
Kahit may pangakong laging napapako
Sa anumang init, handa ring mapaso.

Sa ating puso’y may awit ng pag-asa

Kahit titik nito’y hindi makabisa
Ang katotohana’y lalaging totoo
Basta maniwalang mayroong milagro.

Source: https://www.scribd.com/presentation/383384435/Poety-A-Textula

Independent Assessment 2
Describe the literary elements of the given text tula. Copy and complete the table with
details in your notebook.
A TEXTULA
Literary Elements
by Frank G. Rivera
Structure
-What type of poetry is it?
-How many lines and stanzas does the
poem have?
-How many syllables in each line?
Sound device
-Describe the poem’s rhyme and rhyme
Scheme.
Figures of Speech
-Identify the lines which have figures of
speech and identify its type.
Imagery
-Which lines appeal to our senses? Is it
sense of touch, sound, sight, taste or
smell?
Mood/Tone
-What is the author’s mood/tone in his
poem?
Theme
-What is the central thought/idea of this
poem?
 What I Have Learned
I learned that:

 Social media platforms are tools that can be used by writers to cover a wide range of
readers. With the use of different types of technology, the writers are able to connect with
the readers in a less expensive but easier way of communicating their literary pieces.
 Twenty first century literature per se, is anything that was written and published in the
year 2000s.
 Examples of literary genres in the 21st century Philippine literature are:
1. Creative nonfiction is a rich mix of flavors, ideas, and techniques, some of which are
newly invented and others as old as writing itself. It can be an essay, a journal article, a
research paper, a memoir, or a poem; it can be personal or not, or it can be all of these.
2. Hypertext poetry and hypertext fiction are new genres of literature that use the
computer screen as medium, rather than the printed page and rely on the qualities
unique to a digital environment.
3. Chick Lit is genre fiction, which “consists of heroin-centered narratives that focus on
the trials and tribulations of their individual protagonists and often addresses issues of
modern womanhood.
4. Speculative fiction encompasses all the stories that are removed from the reality that
we are currently living in.
5. Flash fiction goes by many names, including microfiction, microstories, short-shorts,
short short stories, very short stories, sudden fiction, postcard fiction and nanofiction.
6. A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website
displaying information in the reverse chronological order, with latest posts appearing
first.
7. Graphic novel is a longer work or collection of works presented in “comics” style.
8. Text tula is a poetry genre mastered by Frank Rivera where entire poems are written
and read on mobile phones. It uses short traditional formal verses like tanaga which
has a 7777 syllable count with rhyme scheme aabb, abab, abba.

What I Can Do
Text tula is done using a mobile phone. With the use of social media, we can practice
expressing our emotions and opinions in a more creative and artistic way while more people
have the chance to see it.
In your Facebook account (or create if you don’t have an account yet), post your
Tanaga/text tula with a hashtag #21stCenPhilLit.

Example:
#Tanaga Para Sa Taong Sawi

Hindi man naging kayo

May taong para sa’yo
Panginoon ay nar’yan
Ikaw ay gagabayan.

#21stCenPhilLit
 In the meantime, write your Tanaga/text tula, with a 7-7-7-7 syllabic verse in your
notebook. You can write as many as four Tanagas. Choose your own subject/topic.

Criteria for Scoring:

Creativity – 40%
Rhyme – 20%
Diction/wordings – 20%
Use of verse – 20%
Total 100%

Assessment
Post-test

A. Directions: Read each item carefully. Choose the letter of your answer and write it in
your notebook.

1. Which of the following genres of fiction often addresses issues of modern

womanhood?
a. chick lit b. creative nonfiction c. flash fiction d. speculative fiction
2. Which of the following literary genre encompasses all stories that are removed from
the reality that we are currently living in?
a. chick lit b. creative nonfiction c. flash fiction d. speculative fiction
3. What poetry is written and read on a mobile phone?
a. hypertext b. lyric poetry c. rhyme d. text tula
4. What is an online journal or informational website displaying information in the
reverse chronological order, with latest posts appearing first?
a. blog b. hyperpoetry c. graphic novel d. social media
5. What rhythmic imaginative language expressing the invention, thought, imagination,
passion and insight of the human soul?
a. fiction b. literature c. poetry d. prose
6. What literary device refers to the words or phrases that express meanings in a
nonliteral way?
a. figures of emphasis c. figures of sound
b. figures of relationship d. figures of speech
7. What is a type of Filipino poem that consists of four lines with seven to nine syllables
each with the same rhyme at the end of each line?
a. haiku b. hypertext poetry c. tanaga d. text tula
8. What is the rhyme scheme of the stanza below?
Merong himala, hindi totong wala
Ituro ma’y mali,alam nati’y tama
Kahit walang sagot itong panalangin
Hindi tumitigil ang ating paghiling.
a. aaaa b. aabb c. abab c. abbba
 B. Directions: Compare and contrast text tula from the traditional form of poetry in terms
of its elements, structure and tradition using a Venn diagram. Then answer
the questions that follow. Write your ideas in your notebook.

Elements

Structure Text tula Traditional

poetry/
Tanaga

Tradition

Questions:
1. What are the similarities between the text tula and traditional form of poetry?
2. What are the differences between the text tula and traditional form of poetry?

Additional Activities
Think of a poem which you like the most. Share what you like about the following
and do this on your notebook.
a. Poem
b. Its subject/topic/theme
c. The mood the poem puts in you
d. What it makes you remember
e. What it makes you think about

What I like about

Title of the poem/ Author _____________________________________

Its subject/topic/theme _______________________________________

The mood the poem puts you in ________________________________

What it makes you remember _________________________________

What it makes you think about ________________________________

 References:
“21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World (1).” Scribd. Accessed May 8,
2020. https://www.scribd.com/document/412634387/21st-Century-Literature-of-the-
Philippines-and-of-the-World-1
Cruz, Katrina Melissa. “Introduction to Philippine Literature.” Wordpress.com. Accessed
June 4, 2019. https://21stcenturylitph.wordpress.com/intorduction-to-philippine-literature
“Poetry-A Textula”.Scrbd. Accessed June 19, 2020.https://www.scrbd.com/presentation
/383384435/Poetry-A-Textula