SOCLIT PRELIMS

Do you know about its origin? What are its developments?

Taken to mean only written works, literature was first produced by some of the world’s earliest
civilizations—those of Ancient Egypt and Sumeria— as early as the 4th millennium BC; taken to
include spoken or sung texts, it originated even earlier, and some of the first written works may
have been based on a pre-existing oral tradition. As urban cultures and societies developed,
there was a proliferation in the forms of literature. Developments in print technology allowed for
literature to be distributed and experienced on an unprecedented scale, which has culminated in
the twenty-first century in electronic literature.

WHY STUDY LITERATURE? WHAT CAN BE ITS BENEFITS? 

By studying good literature, we learn more about human problems and difficulties. We will know
about universality of such problems and ways to overcome them. Thus, it makes ourselves
better human beings. Moreover, it allows us to go to the places we’ve never been, meet persons
we’ve never met and encounter ideas that never crossed our minds. Furthermore, international
understanding and world peace could as well be achieved.
 7 LITERARY STANDARDS
 UNIVERSALITY - Literature appeals to everyone, regardless of culture, race, sex and time
which are all considered significant.
 ARTISTRY- Literature has an aesthetic appeal and thus possesses a sense of beauty.
 PERMANENCE- Literature endures across time and draws out the time factor:
TIMELINESS - occurring at a particular time
TIMELESSNESS - remaining invariable throughout time
 STYLE- Literature presents peculiar ways on how man sees life as evidence by the
formation of his ideas, forms, structures and expressions which are marked by their
memorable substance.
 INTELLECTUAL VALUE - It stimulates critical thinking that enriches the mental processes of
abstract and reasoning, making man realizes the fundamental truths of life and its nature.
 SPIRITUAL VALUE - Literature elevates the spirit and the soul and thus has the power to
motivate and to inspire.
 SUGGESTIVENESS - It unravels man's emotional power to define symbolism, nuances
implied meanings, images and messages, giving and evoking visions above and beyond the
plane of ordinary life and experience.

A particular literary piece must possess these seven literary standards in order to be called a
peerless epitome of artwork capable of enduring the inevitable gusty tides of alteration. To
criticize it is to consider the seven literary standards. Be critical. Ask yourself once in a while.
Does it move you? Does it tickle your imaginations? What does it suggest? What lessons can
be drawn out? Would it still be read and be a good reference hundreds of years from now?
Does it possess multifaceted natures for all sorts of audience? Does the style fascinate you? Is
the style used unique? These are just some of the considerations to check whether literary
pieces follow the different standards or not.

DIVISIONS OF LITERATURE
Prose – form of language based on grammatical structure and the natural flow of speech.
Spoken dialogue, factual discourse and a whole range of forms of writing normally use prose:
literature, journalism, history, philosophy, encyclopedias, etc., rely upon it for the bulk of what
they have to say.
Poetry – something that arouses a complete imaginative feeling, by choosing appropriate
language and selective words, and arranging them in a manner that creates a proper pattern,
rhyme and rhythm.
 PROSE. POETRY
FORM Paragraph form. Stanza or verse form
LANGUAGE Ordinary language Metrical, rythmical and
figurative language
APPEAL. To the intellect. To the emotion
AIM -To convince, inform, instruct, -Stir the imagination and set an
imitate and reflect ideal of how life should be.

1. PROSE 
A. FICTION - These are works of literature which are based from imagination.
 Novel - It is a fictitious narrative with a complicated plot; it may have a main plot and
one or more sub-plots that develop with the main plot.
 Novelette - A novelette is also a narrative fictional prose. It is longer than a short
story, but shorter than a novella.
 Short Story - A fictitious narrative compressed into one unit of time, place and
action. It deals with a single character interest, a single emotion or series of
emotions.
 Fairy Tale - A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features folkloric fantasy
characters, such as dwarves, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, mermaids,
trolls, or witches, and usually magic or enchantments.
 Legend - These are fictitious narratives, usually about origins. Fantasy It is a fiction
genre that uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element,
 theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds
where magic and magical creatures are common.
 FABLE - It is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that
features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature
that are anthropomorphized (given human qualities, such as the ability to speak
human language).
 FOLKTALE- are generally passed down from one generation to another and often
take on the characteristics of the time and place in which they are told.
 PARABLE - is a story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive
lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants,
inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whereas parables have human
characters.
 SCIENCE FICTION - It deals mainly with the impact of actual or imagined science.
upon society or individuals. The premise may either be based on or flatly contradict
scientific facts and principles.
 ANECDOTE- These are merely products of the writer's imagination and the main
aim is to bring out lessons to the reader.
 MYTH It is a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero
or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation,
especially one that IS concerned with deities or demigods and explains some
practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.
 PLAYS- This is presented on stage, is divided into acts and each has many scenes.

B. NON-FICTION - These are literary works that are based mainly on

facts rather than on the imagination.

 DIARY - A daily written record or account of the writer's own experience, thoughts,
activities or observations.
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY - A written account of man's life written by himself.
BIOGRAPHY - A written account of man's life written by someone else.
 JOURNAL - A magazine or periodical especially of a serious or learned nature.
MEMOIR - A specific event in a life of a person.
 LETTERS - It is a prose form in which by the force of its style and importance of its
statement becomes an object of interest in its own right.
 NEWS-A news story is a factual, prose story for print or broadcast media about a
person, place or event answering these five questions: who, what, when, where,
why and how.
 ESSAY - A short piece of writing on a particular subject.
 SPEECH - The expression of or the ability to express thoughts and feelings by
articulate sounds.
 ORATION- This is a formal treatment of a subject and is intended to be spoken in
public. It appeals to the intellect, to the will or to the emotions of the audience.
 RESEARCH - A systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in
order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.
 THESIS - A long piece of writing on a particular subject that is done to earn a
degree at a University.
 COOKING BOOK - A book of directions explaining how to prepare and cook various
kinds of food.

2. POETRY
           A. LYRIC - It expresses emotions, appeals to your senses, and often could be set
to music.

ODE - A poem of some length serious in subject dignified in style. It is written in

spirit of praise of some persons or things.
ELEGY - A poem written on the death of a friend or a poet.
SONG - A poem in a regular metrical pattern set to music. It has twelve syllables
(dodecasyllabic)
             and slowly sung to the accompaniment of a guitar or bandura.
CORRIDO - These have measures of eight syllables (octosyllabic) and recited to
a material beat.
SONNET - A poem containing fourteen iambic lines and a complicated rhyme.
FOLKSONG - These are short poems intended to be sung. The common theme
is love, despair, grief, doubt, joy, hope, and sorrow.
 PSALMS - This is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing a
philosophy of life.
PROVERBS - These are concise statements that teach ideas on morality and
tradition.

B. NARRATIVE - A poem that tells a story, and has the elements of a story. Narrative
poems often have a rhyme scheme.

EPIC - A long poem about a hero concerning the beginning, the continuance and
the end of event of great significance.
METRICAL ROMANCE- A poem that tells a story of an adventure, love and
chivalry. The typical hero is a knight on a quest.
METRICAL TALE - A poem consisting usually of a single series of connective
events
that are simple idylls or home tales, love tales, tales of the super natural or
tales written for a strong moral purpose in verse form.
BALLAD - The simplest type of narrative poetry. It is a short poem telling a single
incident in simple meter and stanzas.

C. DRAMATIC - A poem where the speaker is someone other than the poet himself.
A dramatic poem often includes characters and dialogue

DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE- It presents the speech of a single character who

addresses one or more persons
who are present and who are listening to the speaker but remain silent.
SOLILOQUY - It is a passage spoken by a speaker in a poem or by a character
in a play, except that there is no one present to hear him.

3. ESSAY

A. Formal - deals with serious and important topics. It has an authoritative style and
shows the masterful grasp about the topic. It is in formal form and clear straightforward
expression. Its main purpose is to teach and instruct.
B. Informal - covers the light, ordinary even common subjects through a casual,
conversational, friendly, often humorous but equally insightful as the formal essay.

4. DRAMA
A. Comedy - It is a type of drama intended to amuse the audience rather than make
them deeply concerned about the events that happened. The characters overcome
some difficulties, but they always overcome their ill fortune and find happiness in the
end.
B. Farce - A comedy that depends for its humor on quick and surprising turns of events
and on exaggerated characters and situations, or the type of humor characteristic of
such a play.
 C. Tragedy - It is a type of drama that shows the downfall and destruction of a noble or
outstanding person, traditionally one who possesses a character weakness called a
tragic flaw.
D. Melodrama - A sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting
events intended to appeal to the emotions. 
E. Tragicomedy - It is a play that does not adhere strictly to the structure of tragedy.
This is usually serious play that also has some of the qualities of comedy. It arouses
thought even with laughter.

IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE IN SOCIETY

LITERATURE HELPS EXPAND HORIZON       

Literature gives its readers an inside look into how cultures from other parts of the world differ
from their own, and how customs from other countries help shape on how their citizens view the
world.  By opening their minds to what different cultures have to offer, readers of literature
become more accepting of the unique differences of people from around the world. It can also
give them unique insights into their own past or present cultures, and can help them make a
stronger connection to others in their own cultures.

LITERATURE GIVES A LOOK INTO THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Literature provides a window into the past, allowing readers to see how their ancestors and
others dealt with day-to-day life. Readers can see where their own people came from, and how
the country they live in became what it is today.

LITERATURE GIVES A VIEW INTO HUMAN CONDITIONS

Literature also helps readers to understand the human condition, and what makes them who
they are, whether talking about love, war or other important themes throughout life.

After knowing the importance of literature to the society, there are some instances wherein
people voice out everything that triggers their curiosity then put it into writing. At some point, it
goes beyond the norm of a certain community that some people question their faith, beliefs, will,
and even their government. So, what do people of authorities do to this kind of literary works?
They ban them. In our next topic, we will know the reasons why do they ban some literary
pieces. Let’s start!
NOTE: Banning of books is not applicable to the whole world. There are some places or even a
place where they ban a book because it goes against the community’s standard.
 REASONS FOR LITERATURE BEING BANNED
BOOK BANNING
Banning is the actual removal of materials from school curriculum library, community or even
nation--thereby restricting the access of others.
Each book that is banned or censored is done so for the content within the pages. There are a
few common reasons that books have been banned or censored in schools, libraries, and books
stores.
These include:

 RACIAL ISSUES
About and/or encouraging racism towards one or more groups of people.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Challenged at the Warren, IN Township schools (1981) because the book does
"psychological damage to the positive integration process" and "represents institutionalized
racism under the guise of good literature." After unsuccessfully trying to ban Lee's novel,
three black parents resigned from the township human relations advisory council.
(Source: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics)
 ENCOURAGEMENT OF "DAMAGING" LIFESTYLES/ ILL WILL
Content of book encourages lifestyle choices that are not the norm or could be considered
dangerous or damaging. This could include drug use, co-habilitation without marriage, or
homosexuality.
George by Alex Gino 
Challenged, banned, restricted, and hidden to avoid controversy; for LGBTQIA+ content and a
transgender character; because schools and libraries should not “put books in a child’s hand
that require discussion”; for sexual references; and for conflicting with a religious viewpoint and
“traditional family structure”.
(Source: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10)

 BLASPHEMOUS DIALOG
The author of the book uses words such as "God" or "Jesus" as profanity. This could also
include any use of profanity or swear words within the text that any reader might find
offensive. This category, by the way, also covers blasphemy—because if it offends God, it
offends a whole lot of people. 
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
Challenged, but retained, in the Bryant, AR school library (1998) because of a parent's
complaint that the book "takes God's name in vain 15 times and uses Jesus's name lightly."
(Source: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics)
 SEXUAL SITUATIONS OR DIALOG/LITERATURE WITH OBSCENE ACTS
Many books with content that include sexual situations or dialog are banned or censored.
Live Show (2001)
The Schindler’s List brouhaha was not the last time that a president intervened in a dispute
involving the MTRCB. In March 2001, the board under film scholar Nicanor Tiongson allowed
Jose Javier Reyes’ “Live Show” to be shown in public theaters. Originally titled “Toro,” the lead
characters in the movie engage in sex in front of nightclub patronizers for money.
Tiongson’s decision was loudly opposed by the Roman Catholic Church under the late Jaime
Cardinal Sin.  Then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo promptly ordered that the film be pulled
out of cinemas, eventually deciding to ban it altogether after a review.
(Source: www.mcgi.org)

 PRESENCE OF WITCHCRAFT
Books that include magic or witchcraft themes. A common example of these types of books
are J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series. 
Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
Banned and forbidden from discussion for referring to magic and witchcraft, for containing
actual curses.
(Source:  http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10)
 RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS/ DEFAMATION OF OTHER RELIGION
Books have been banned or censored due to an unpopular religious views or opinions in the
content of the book. This is most commonly related to satanic or witchcraft themes found in
the book.
Ang Dating Daan‘s Eliseo Soriano goes off the air (2004).
Eliseo Soriano, televangelist and the outspoken founder of the religious
group Ang Dating Daan, challenged the MTRCB when it suspended his show for
three months. The lengthy suspension came after certain INC ministers
complained about Soriano for hurling invectives at them on national television.
The SC affirmed MTRCB’s decision, explaining that “plain and simple insults
directed at another person cannot be elevated to the status of religious speech.” It also
added that Soriano was merely moved by anger and the need to seek retribution, and
not by any religious conviction when he made the offending remarks.
(Source: www.mcgi.org)

 POLITICAL BIAS/ ANTI-GOVERNMENT

Most commonly occurs when books support or examine extreme political
parties/philosophies such as: fascism, communism, anarchism, etc.
Banning of “Ora Pro Nobis” (1989)
 
This Lino Brocka masterpiece, which shows the bloody armed struggle
between government-sponsored paramilitias and Communists in Mindanao, was
banned from public viewing because of its supposed subversive theme.
The administration of then-President Corazon Aquino received flak for this censorship,
with critics citing the decision as proof that democracy has not been fully restored even
after the 1986 People Power Revolution. The movie was eventually shown during the
1989 Cannes Film Festival.
(Source: perpetualopinionator.wordpress.com)
 AGE INAPPROPRIATE 
These books have been banned or censored due to their content and the age level at which
they are aimed. In some cases children's books are viewed to have "inappropriate" themes
for the age level at which they are written for.
“For Adults Only” rating on The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Based on Dan Brown’s novel of the same title, the highly-successful
movie triggered violent reactions from around the world especially from the
Roman Catholic Church and its allies.
In the Philippines, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
called on MTRCB to have the movie banned mainly because of its claim that
Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene had a relationship and in fact began a
bloodline.  The MTRCB ultimately decided to give the movie a “For Adults
Only” rating.
(Source: www.mcgi.org)
NOTE: This example can also be under defamation of other religion.

Now that we are done with the reasons why some literary pieces are being banned, let us move
on now to our last topic for this week.
Do you think music is part of literature? Why?
I know that you’ve though of the definition of literature is which about expressing one’s ideas or
emotions and music is one of the ways for a person to express his/her feelings. So, yes, you are
right when you say that music is part of literature and that is our next topic.

MUSIC AS PART OF LITERATURE

Ano ang musikang Pilipino?
Ang mga musikang Pilipino ay mga katutubong awit ng ating lahi na naimpluwensyahan ng
Kastila at Amerikano
Ano ang musikang makabayan?  
Ang musikang makabayan ay mga awit na tumatalakay sa mga isyung panlipunan at
nagtataguyod ng malasakit sa bayan
Nahahati ito sa musikang mainstream at musikang alternatib

Musikang mainstream           
Ito ang mga nakasanayang awit na pinatutugtog sa radio
Musikang alternatibo
Ito ang mga madalang mapatugtog sa radio
Bakit mahalaga ang paggamit ng musikang makabayan sa pagtuturo?
 Ipinakikilala nito sa kabataang pilipino ang sarili nating sining at kultura.
     Hinahasa nito ang kritikal na pag-iisip ng mga mag-aaral sa pagsusuri ng mensahe ng
mga awit.
    Nagsisilbi itong lunsaran ng mga isyung panlipunan na dapat maunawaan ng mga
kabataan.
    Nakakatulong ito upang maunawaan ang Sikolohiyang Pilipino at ang ating lipunan.
Papel ng musika bilang panitikan ayon kay Prof. Edru Abraham
    Ang musika ay dapat gamitin bilang sangkap ng pagkakaisa ng mga Pilipino.
    Ang musika ay bahagi ng karanasan ng ating lipi ay na hindi dapat ikahiya
at kailangang ipagmalaki pa nga at ipamahagi sa mundo.
EXAMPLE:

DUKHA
Ako'y isang anak mahirap
Lagi nalang akong nagsusumikap
Ang buhay ko'y walang sigla
Puro nalang dusa
Paano na kaya ang buhay ko?
 
Sa akin ay walang tumatanggap
Mababa raw ang aking pinagaralan
Grade one lang ang inabot ko
No read, no write pa ako
Paano na kaya ang buhay ko?
 
Isang kahig, isang tuka
Ganyan kaming mga dukha
Isang kahig, isang tuka
Ganyan kaming mga dukha

Types of Conflict
Literature without conflict is like living a monotonous life or watching a two-hour
vlog of a person who recorded himself sleeping for two literal hours – it is dull
and boring. Oftentimes, we feel a tinge of pain as our favorite characters go
through hardships.
Not to mention how much we cried when star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet
had to die together; or how Game of Thrones character Ned Stark was beheaded
just after we got so much attached to his character; and how we hated the
demigorgons for disturbing the coolest kids in Stranger Things. These struggles
were necessary to keep us entertained, just as how the pain that we experience
adds color to the life that we are currently living.

So let's look at the seven of the most common types of conflict, using examples
from famous novels to illustrate each type.

 
CONFLICT – is any struggle between opposing forces.

1. MAN VERSUS MAN -A situation in which two characters have opposing desires or interests.
- The typical scenario is a conflict between the protagonist and antagonist. Conflict that pits one
person against another is about as classic as a story can get.
This type of conflict is pretty much self-explanatory. with one person struggling for victory over
another. There are countless examples of this type of conflict in literature.
Classic Example: Romeo duels Paris to avenge Mercutio's death in Shakespeare's Romeo d
Juliet.
Modern Example: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr disagree politically and interpersonally in
the Broadway mumusical hamilton

2. MAN VERSUS NATURE - A character is tormented by natural forces such as storms or

animals. In this type of conflict, humankind comes up against nature, battling for survival against
its inexorable and apathetic force. The hero may be forced to confront nature, or the protagonist
may be seeking the conflict, trying to exert dominance over nature.
Classic Example: Santiago fights a group of sharks who devour the marlin he has finally caught
in Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.
Modern Example: In the 1993 film Jurassic Park, Drs. Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler flee an
escaped Tyrannosaurus Rex.

3. MAN VERSUS SELF Struggles with one's soul, physical limitations, choices or decisions. -
Also known as an internal conflict In this type of conflict, a character finds him or herself battling
between two competing desires or selves, typically one good and one evil
Classic Example: Throughout Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet struggles with his loyalty to his
mother, his duty to avenge his father, and his own sanity.
Modern Example: Tara Westover begins to doubt her own memories and experiences after
asserting her independence in her memoir Educated.
4. MAN VERSUS SOCIETY Struggles against ideas, practices, or customs of events in a
society. The person-against-society conflict follows the storyline of an individual or a group
fighting (sometimes successfully, sometimes not-so-successfully) against injustices within their
society.
Classic Example: Harrison Bergeron defies the restraints of his oppressive society by casting off
his handicaps and dancing on television
Modern Example: Katniss survives the Hunger Games and becomes the symbol of rebellion in
the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

5. MAN VERSUS TECHNOLOGY/MACHINE - A struggle with man-made machines or man-

made entities which may possess "artificial intelligence". The popularity of this genre has risen
steadily over the last hundred years, and in the face of increasing mechanization and improving
artificial intelligence, it's not hard to see why. This type of conflict focuses on a person or group
of people fighting to overcome unemotional and unsympathetic machinery that believes it no
longer requires humanity.
Classic Example: Dr. Frankenstein creates-and then attempts to overpower-his scientific
creation in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Modern Example: Liberated humans battle their mechanical overlords in the 1999 film The
Matrix.

6. MAN VERSUS FATE A protagonist working against what has been foretold for that person.
This type of conflict occurs when a character is trapped by an inevitable destiny, freedom and
free will often seem impossible in these stories.
Classic Example: Poseidon punishes Odysseus by forcing him to wander from disaster to
disaster in Homer's The Odyssey.
Modern Example: Wicked's Elphaba longs to establish her own identity, but must accept her
fate as the Wicked Witch of the West.

7. MAN VERSUS SUPERNATURAL/UNKNOWN - Characters are facing ghosts or demons if

those entities are not too human like. This is a common thread in science fiction and
supernatural horror movies and books. In this type of conflict, the protagonist battles against an
entity that isn't entirely known or comprehensible, whether it is extra-terrestrial or metaphysical
Classic Example: The protagonist of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" cannot tell whether the
raven tormenting him is a supernatural visitation or a product of his own tormented mind.
Modern Example: The haunted Overlook Hotel drives Jack Torrance to insanity in Stephen
King's The Shining.
 Conflict Drives Characterization
Most enduring stories contain more than one of these types of conflict, and one
conflict can develop into another during a character's journey. It's important to
understand your character's traits, as well as what type of literary character he or
she is, to comprehend more about any particular conflict.

FOOTNOTE TO YOUTH
by: Jose Garcia Villa
The sun was salmon and hazy in the west. Dodong thought to himself he would tell his father
about Teang when he got home, after he had unhitched the carabao from the plow, and led it to
its shed and fed it. He was hesitant about saying it, he wanted his father to know what he had to
say was of serious importance as it would mark a climacteric in his life. Dodong finally decided
to tell it, but a thought came to him that his father might refuse to consider it. His father was a
silent hardworking farmer, who chewed areca nut, which he had learned to do from his mother,
Dodong’s grandmother.
I will tell him. I will tell it to him.
The ground was broken up into many fresh wounds and fragrant with a sweetish earthy smell.
Many slender soft worms emerged from the further rows and then burrowed again deeper into
the soil. A short colorless worm marched blindly to Dodong’s foot and crawled clammily over it.
Dodong got tickled and jerked his foot, flinging the worm into the air. Dodong did not bother to
look where into the air, but thought of his age, seventeen, and he said to himself he was not
young anymore.
Dodong unhitched the carabao leisurely and gave it a healthy tap on the hip. The beast turned its
head to look at him with dumb faithful eyes. Dodong gave it a slight push and the animal walked
alongside him to its shed. He placed bundles of grass before it and the carabao began to eat.
Dodong looked at it without interest.
Dodong started homeward thinking how he would break his news to his father. He wanted to
marry, Dodong did. He was seventeen, he had pimples on his face, the down on his upper lip was
dark – these meant he was no longer a boy. He was growing into a man – he was a man. Dodong
felt insolent and big at the thought of it, although he was by nature low in stature. Thinking
himself man-grown, Dodong felt he could do anything.
He walked faster, prodded by the thought of his virility. A small angled stone bled his foot, but
he dismissed it cursorily. He lifted his leg and looked at the hurt toe and then went on walking.
In the cool sundown, he thought wild young dreams of himself and Teang, his girl. She had a
small brown face and small black eyes and straight glossy hair. How desirable she was to him.
She made him want to touch her, to hold her. She made him dream even during the day.
Dodong tensed with desire and looked at the muscle of his arms. Dirty. This fieldwork was
healthy invigorating, but it begrimed you, smudged you terribly. He turned back the way he had
come, then marched obliquely to a creek.
Dodong stripped himself and laid his clothes, a gray under shirt and red kundiman shorts, on the
grass. Then he went into the water, wet his body over and rubbed at it vigorously. He was not
long in bathing, then he marched homeward again. The bath made him feel cool.
It was dusk when he reached home. The petroleum lamp on the ceiling was already lighted and
the low unvarnished square table was set for supper. He and his parents sat down on the floor
around the table to eat. They had fried freshwater fish, and rice, bananas and caked sugar.
Dodong ate fish and rice, but did not partake of the fruit. The bananas were overripe and when
one held them, they felt more fluid than solid. Dodong broke off a piece of caked sugar, dipped it
in his glass of water and ate it. He got another piece and wanted some more, but he thought of
leaving the remainder for his parents.
Dodong’s mother removed the dishes when they were through, and went out to the batalan to
wash them. She walked with slow careful steps and Dodong wanted to help her carry the dishes
out, but he was tired and now felt lazy. He wished as he looked at her that he had a sister who
could help his mother in the housework. He pitied her, doing all the housework alone.
His father remained in the room, sucking a diseased tooth. It was paining him, again. Dodong
knew. Dodong had told him often and again to let the town dentist pull it out, but he was afraid,
his father was. He did not tell that to Dodong, but Dodong guessed it. Afterward, Dodong
himself thought that if he had a decayed tooth, he would be afraid to go to the dentist; he would
not be any bolder than his father.
Dodong said while his mother was out that he was going to marry Teang. There it was out, what
we had to say, and over which he had done so much thinking. He had said it without any effort at
all and without self-consciousness. Dodong felt relieved and looked at his father expectantly. A
decresent moon outside shed its feeble light into the window, graying the still black temples of
his father. His father looked old now.
“I am going to marry Teang,” Dodong said.
His father looked at him silently and stopped sucking the broken tooth, the silence became
intense and cruel, and Dodong wished his father would suck that troublous tooth again. Dodong
was uncomfortable and then became very angry because his father kept looking at him without
uttering anything.
“I will marry Teang,” Dodong repeated. “I will marry Teang.”
His father kept gazing at him in inflexible silence and Dodong fidgeted in his seat.
“I asked her last night to marry me and she said…yes. I want your permission… I… want…
it…” There was an impatient clamor in his voice, an exacting protest at his coldness, this
indifference. Dodong looked at his father sourly. He cracked his knuckles one by one, and the
little sound it made broke the night stillness dully.
“Must you marry, Dodong?”
Dodong resented his father’s question; his father himself had married early. Dodong made a
quick impassioned essay in his mind about selfishness, but later, he got confused.
“You are very young, Dodong.”
“I’m seventeen.”
“That’s very young to get married at.”
“I… I want to marry… Teang’s a good girl…
“Tell your mother,” his father said.
“You tell her, tatay.”
“Dodong, you tell your inay.”
“You tell her.”
“All right, Dodong.”
“You will let me marry Teang?”
“Son, if that is your wish… of course…” There was a strange helpless light in his father’s eyes.
Dodong did not read it. Too absorbed was he in himself.
Dodong was immensely glad he had asserted himself. He lost his resentment toward his father.
For a while he even felt sorry for him about the diseased tooth. Then he confined his mind
dreaming of Teang and himself. Sweet young dreams…
Dodong stood in the sweltering noon heat, sweating profusely so that his camiseta was damp. He
was still as a tree and his thoughts were confused. His mother had told him not to leave the
house, but he had left. He wanted to get out of it without clear reason at all. He was afraid, he
felt. Afraid of the house. It had seemed to cage him, to compress his thoughts with severe
tyranny. Afraid also for Teang. Teang was giving birth in the house; she gave screams that
chilled his blood. He did not want her to scream like that, she seemed to be rebuking him. He
began to wonder madly if the process of childbirth was really painful. Some women, when they
gave birth, did not cry.
In a few moments he would be a father. “Father, father,” he whispered the word with awe, with
strangeness. He was young, he realized now contradicting himself of nine months ago. He was
very young… He felt queer, troubled, uncomfortable…“Your son,” people would soon be telling
him. “Your son, Dodong.”
Dodong felt tired of standing. He sat down on a sawhorse with his feet close together. He looked
at his calloused toes. Suppose he had ten children…What made him think that? What was the
matter with him? God!
He heard his mother’s voice from the house.
“Come up, Dodong. It is over.”
Suddenly, he felt terribly embarrassed as he looked at her. Somehow, he was ashamed to his
mother of his youthful paternity. It made him feel guilty, as if he has taken something not
properly his. He dropped his eyes and pretended to dust off his kundiman shorts.
“Dodong,” his mother called again. “Dodong.”
He turned to look again and this time, he saw his father beside his mother.
“It is a boy.” His father said. He beckoned Dodong to come up.
Dodong felt more embarrassed and did not move. His parent’s eyes seemed to pierce through
him so he felt limp. He wanted to hide or even run away from them.
“Dodong, you come up. You come up,” his mother said.
Dodong did not want to come up. He’d rather stayed in the sun.
“Dodong… Dodong.”
I’ll… come up.
Dodong traced the tremulous steps on the dry parched yard. He ascended the bamboo steps
slowly. His heart pounded mercilessly in him. Within, he avoided his parent’s eyes. He walked
ahead of them so that they should not see his face. He felt guilty and untrue. He felt like crying.
His eyes smarted and his chest wanted to burst. He wanted to turn back, to go back to the yard.
He wanted somebody to punish him.
His father thrust his hand in his and gripped it gently.
“Son,” his father said.
And his mother: “Dodong..”
How kind were their voices. They flowed into him, making him strong.
“Teang?” Dodong said.
“She’s sleeping. But you go on…”
His father led him into the small sawali room. Dodong saw Teang, his girl-wife, asleep on the
papag with black hair soft around her face. He did not want her to look that pale.
Dodong wanted to touch her, to push away that stray wisp of hair that touched her lips. But again
that feeling of embarrassment came over him, and before his parents, he did not want to be
demonstrative.
The hilot was wrapping the child. Dodong heard him cry. The thin voice pierced him quietly. He
could not control the swelling of happiness in him.
“You give him to me. You give him to me,” Dodong said.
Blas was not Dodong’s only child. Many more children came. For six successive years, a new
child came along. Dodong did not want any more children. But they came. It seemed that the
coming of children could not helped. Dodong got angry with himself sometimes.
Teang did not complain, but the bearing of children told on her. She was shapeless and thin now,
even if she was young. There was interminable work to be done. Cooking. Laundering. The
house. The children. She cried sometimes, wishing she had not married. She did not tell Dodong
this, not wishing him to dislike her. Yet she wished she had not married. Not even Dodong
whom she loved. There had been another suitor, Lucio, older than Dodong by nine years, and
that was why she had chosen Dodong. Young Dodong. Seventeen. Lucio had married another
after her marriage to Dodong, but he was childless until now. If she had married Lucio, she
wondered, would she have borne him children? Maybe not, either. That was a better lot. But she
loved Dodong…
Dodong whom life had made ugly.
One night, as he lay beside his wife, he rose and went out of the house. He stood in the
moonlight, tired and querulous. He wanted to ask questions and somebody to answer him. He
wanted to be wise about many things.
One of them was why life did not fulfill all of the Youth’s dreams. Why it must be so. Why one
was forsaken… after love.
Dodong could not find the answer. Maybe the question was not to be answered. It must be so to
make youth Youth. Youth must be dreamfully sweet. Dreamfully sweet. Dodong returned to the
house, humiliated by himself. He had wanted to know a little wisdom but was denied it.
When Blas was eighteen, he came home one night, very flustered and happy. Dodong heard
Blas’ steps for he could not sleep well of nights. He watched Blass undress in the dark and lie
down softly. Blas was restless on his mat and could not sleep. Dodong called his name and asked
why he did not sleep.
“You better go to sleep. It is late,” Dodong said.
Blas raised himself on is elbow and muttered something in a low fluttering voice.
“Itay..” Blas called softly.
Dodong stirred and asked him what it was.
“I’m going to marry Tona. She accepted me tonight.”
Dodong lay on the red pillow without moving.
“Itay, you think its over.”
Dodong lay silent.
I loved Tona and… I want her.”
Dodong rose from his mat and told Blas to follow him. They descended to the yard where
everything was still and quiet.The moonlight was cold and white.
“You want to marry Tona,” Dodong said. He did not want Blas to marry yet. Blas was very
young. The life that would follow marriage would be hard…
“Yes.”
“Must you marry?”
Blas’ voice was steeled with resentment. “I will marry Tona.”
“You have objections, Itay?” Blas asked acridly.
“Son… n-none…” (But truly, God, I don’t want Blas to marry yet…not yet. I don’t want Blas to
marry yet…)
But he was helpless. He could not do anything. Youth must triumph… now. Afterward… it will
be Life.
As long ago Youth and Love did triumph for Dodong… and then Life.
 
Dodong looked wistfully at his young son in the moonlight. He felt extremely sad and sorry for
him.

ELEMENTS OF THE STORY

CHARACTERS •      Dodong - Main character of the story who got married to Teang at the age of 17.
•      Teang - Regretted marrying at an early age.
 •      Lucio - Teangs other suitor who got married after she did and who’s childless until now.
•      Blas - Dodong and Teang’s oldest son who followed their footsteps in the end. Blas
contemplated to marry Tona when she was 18.
•      Tona - The woman whom Blas wants to marry.

SETTING The setting is in a RURAL AREA. Specifically in a farm.

POINT OF VIEW The point of view is in Third Person.

PLOT OF THE •           Exposition - The exposition of "Footnote to Youth" introduces Dodong, the protagonist, his
STORY fiance and his father. It also introduces the conflict Dodong is facing, which is that he must
tell his father that he plans to marry. He knows his father will think he is too young, but he
is determined to marry the woman he loves.
 
•           Rising Action - The rising action occurs when Dodong is interested in marrying Teang and
tells his father that he wants to do so. He considers marrying Teang as essential to his life
and even holds back momentarily from sharing it with his father, fearing resistance. He is
only seventeen, as his father reminds him, but Dodong is too stiff-necked to reconsider. He
does not even notice the helpless look in his father's eyes, which suggests that he should
not marry.   
 
•           Climax - Dodong married Teang. After nine months, Teang gave birth to a child named
Blas. For six consecutive years, a new child came along. Teang did not complain even
though she secretly regretted being married at an early age. Sometimes she even
wondered if she would have the same life if Lucio, her other suitor who was nine years
older than Dodong, was the one she married.
Lucio has had no children since the time he married. When Teang and Dodong were twenty they looked like they were fifty. When Blas
was 18, he told his father that he would marry Tona. Dodong did not object, but tried to make Blas think twice before rushing to marriage
- because Dodong doesn't want Blas to end up like him.

•           Falling Action - Dodong comes to a realization that early marriage can ruin one's
life. Dodong had seven children. He is not only ashamed in front of his parents for his
youthful paternity, but also gets angry at himself because the birth of so many children
could not be helped.
He is also humiliated. He realizes that life does not fulfill all the dreams of youth.
And also when Dodong can’t do anything to change the mind of his son into marrying Tona.

•           Denouement - Dodong was helpless. He couldn’t do anything but to give his consent. 
Dodong felt really sad and sorry for his son.
 
•           Conclusion - “History repeats itself”
ü  Footnote to youth talks about the youth as of today. It was written by Jose Garcia
Villa in 1933.
 ü  It is the basic story of marrying at a very young age and questioning the wisdom of
making life choices at a young age that must be lived with.
ü  It also shows that a father’s wisdom is not always something you can base your life
on.
ü  If you make a decision even at a young age, sometimes you must live with the
consequences.

•           The theme of foot note to youth is teen marriage. The story revolves around the main
character Dodong , his pursuit of his love for Teang and the realization of the complexity of
THEME early marriage.
•           It also speaks about  responsibilities and realities and decision Making.

•           Don’t rush things.

MORAL OF THE
•           Don’t make decisions that will ruin your future.
STORY
•           It’s better to use both our heart and mind.

The story in a Nutshell

In Jose Garica Villa's Footnote to Youth, he tackles the responsibilities and realities that come with
marriage and the family life.

In it, he narrates the story of Dodong, wherein we are introduced to Dodong when he is seventeen and
seeking to marry his love Teang.

He is problematic over how he intends to talk to his father about marrying Teang, going over the
possible responses his father would give, and at the same time convincing himself that he is old enough
to handle the responsibility.

The worm is described as blindly marching towards Dodong's foot, which is exactly how we could also
describe Dodong and his choices in this story.

Dodong blindly marched into marriage, expecting his life to become better. However, that is not what
happened. Instead, after nine months Teang was pregnant with his child, and he felt incredibly
unprepared:

In this, we can safely conclude, then that Dodong is just like the worm that blindly crawled onto his foot.
The worm is a note that is intended for Dodong, and for readers os well, not to go charging blindly into
the fray.

"Dodong did not bother to look where the worm fall, but thought of his age, seventeen and he said to
himself he was not young anymore." From the very beginning Dodong's character is revealed as
someone self-obsessed to the point that he doesn't bother to look at the consequences of his actions.
This is the footnote to youths not to charge blindly into adulthood
The story goes on, however, to describe another suitor Teang had, Lucia, who was older than Dodong by
nine years. "Lucio had married another after her marriage to Dodong. but he and his wife were childless
until now.

If she had married Lucia, she wondered, would she have borne him children? Maybe not, either. That
was a better lot. But she loved Dodong." Here we are given a clearer picture about her unhappiness and
disappointment.

And so, just like his father before him, Dodong was suddenly faced with the dilemma when his eighteen-
year-old son Tona," Dodong said. comes up to him and asks to marry. "You want to marry >He did not
want Blas to marry yet. Blas was very young. The life that would follow marriage would be hard. "And
yet, like his father before him, Dodong did not prevent his son from experiencing those hardships as well
In this, the story's theme becomes more universal in the sense that it is a footnote not only to the youth,
but to parents as well

The parents in this story, Dodong's father and Dodong himself, did little to shape and mold the lives of
their sons

➤ Rather than offering guidance and wisdom based on their own personal experiences, they both
decided to give in to their son's desires.

The role of the parent is crucial in the molding of a child's future, and these parents neglected that
responsibility by deciding to hold their tongues. As a result, their children suffer, and go through a
terrible experience of marriage life.

LITERARY DEVICES
These are techniques which shape narrative to produce an effect on the reader.
 Plot Device – is an object, character or concept introduced into the story by the
author to advance its plot.
 Plot Twist – any unexpected turn of the story that gives a new view on its entire
topic. A plot twist at the end of the story is called a twist ending.
 Flashing Arrow – a technique used to focus the reader’s attention on an object or a
location that will be important later in the story.
 Red Herring – a plot device that distracts the reader’s attention from the plot twists
that are important for the story. It is used to maintain tension and uncertainty.
 Death trap – a plot device that the villain uses to try to kill the protagonist and
satisfy his own sadistic desires.
 Comic Book Death – a technique which makes a major character “die or disappear
forever”, but the character re-appears later in the story.
 Dark and Stormy Night – a cliché-like opening that usually includes darkness,
violent lightning and a general mood of solitude.
 Reverse Chronology – a technique where a story begins at the end and works
back toward the beginning.
 In medias res – a literary technique where the narrative starts in the middle of the
story instead from its beginning. The characters, setting and conflict is often
introduced through a series of flashbacks.
 Analepsis (flashback) – presents the events from previous to the current time
frame. Flashbacks are usually presented as character’s memories and are used to
explain their backgrounds and the back-story.
 Prolepsis (flash forward) – presents events that will occur in the future.
 Foreshadowing – it is a premonition, much like a flash forward, but only hints at the
future.
*FINALES. There are several patterns for story endings:
 Cliff-hanger – an abrupt ending that leaves the plot incomplete, without
denouement. It often leaves characters in a precarious or difficult situation which
hint at the possibility of a sequel.
 Twist Ending – an unexpected finale that gives an entirely new vision on the entire
plot. It is a powerful technique but it can leave the reader dissatisfied or frustrated.
 Happy Ending – a finale when everything ends in the best way for the hero
 Poetic Justice – type of a happy ending where the virtue is rewarded and the vice
is punished.
 Deus ex machina – a plot device dating back to ancient Greek theatre, where the
conflict is resolved through a means (by god, deus) that seem unrelated to the story.
This allows the author to end the story as desired without following the logic and
continuity of the story.

Background of the Author

Carlos Sampayan Bulosan (c. 1911- September 11, 1956) was a Filipino American author, poet,
and activist. A chronicler of the Filipino American experience during the 1930s early 1950s, he
is best remembered for his semi-fictional, semi autobiographical novel Amorica Is In the Heart
(1946)- a staple in American Ethnic Studios and Asian American Studios classos. Bulosan's
works describe the experience of growing up poor in a rural area of the Philippines, chronicling
social and economic conditions created by the American occupation and centuries of Spanish
colonialism.
Bulosan's work captures the "push" factors that drove his generation to the United States Like
Bulosan, they hoped to find a better future and forged resilient and adaptive communities in the
face of an often-hostile and exploitative European American culture in the United States.
Bulosan is a central figure in Filipino American history. His words and image appear in murals
and exhibits throughout Seattlo's International District. He is remembered as a progressive anti-
colonial, pro-labor, humanitarian voice by an array of communities including Asian/Pacific
Islanders, organized labor, academics and intellectuals, and a wide range of social justice, ethnic;
and activist communities.
 My Father Goes to Court
By Carlos Bulosan
My Father Goes to Court is a humorous story by Carlos Bulosan. It is perhaps the most famous one among the
stories in his collection The Laughter of my Father, published in New York by Harcourt and Brace 1944, having
previously appeared in The New Yorker on 13 November 1943.

My Father Goes to Court

By Carlos Bulosan
 
When I was four, I lived with my mother and brothers and sisters in a small town on the
island of Luzon. Father’s farm had been destroyed in 1918 by one of our sudden
Philippine floods, so several years afterwards we all lived in the town though he preferred
living in the country. We had as a next door neighbour a very rich man, whose sons and
daughters seldom came out of the house. While we boys and girls played and sang in the
sun, his children stayed inside and kept the windows closed. His house was so tall that
his children could look in the window of our house and watched us played, or slept, or
ate, when there was any food in the house to eat.
 
Now, this rich man’s servants were always frying and cooking something good, and the
aroma of the food was wafted down to us form the windows of the big house. We hung
about and took all the wonderful smells of the food into our beings. Sometimes, in the
morning, our whole family stood outside the windows of the rich man’s house and
listened to the musical sizzling of thick strips of bacon or ham. I can remember one
afternoon when our neighbour’s servants roasted three chickens. The chickens were
young and tender and the fat that dripped into the burning coals gave off an enchanting
odour. We watched the servants turn the beautiful birds and inhaled the heavenly spirit
that drifted out to us.
 
Some days the rich man appeared at a window and glowered down at us. He looked at
us one by one, as though he were condemning us. We were all healthy because we went
out in the sun and bathed in the cool water of the river that flowed from the mountains
into the sea. Sometimes we wrestled with one another in the house before we went to
play. We were always in the best of spirits and our laughter was contagious. Other
neighbours who passed by our house often stopped in our yard and joined us in laughter.
 
As time went on, the rich man’s children became thin and anaemic, while we grew even
more robust and full of life. Our faces were bright and rosy, but theirs were pale and sad.
The rich man started to cough at night; then he coughed day and night. His wife began
coughing too. Then the children started to cough, one after the other. At night their
coughing sounded like the barking of a herd of seals. We hung outside their windows and
listened to them. We wondered what happened. We knew that they were not sick from
the lack of nourishment because they were still always frying something delicious to eat.
 
One day the rich man appeared at a window and stood there a long time. He looked at
my sisters, who had grown fat in laughing, then at my brothers, whose arms and legs
were like the molave, which is the sturdiest tree in the Philippines. He banged down the
window and ran through his house, shutting all the windows.
 
From that day on, the windows of our neighbour’s house were always closed. The
children did not come out anymore. We could still hear the servants cooking in the
kitchen, and no matter how tight the windows were shut, the aroma of the food came to
us in the wind and drifted gratuitously into our house.
 
One morning a policeman from the presidencia came to our house with a sealed paper.
The rich man had filed a complaint against us. Father took me with him when he went to
the town clerk and asked him what it was about. He told Father the man claimed that for
years we had been stealing the spirit of his wealth and food.
 
When the day came for us to appear in court, father brushed his old Army uniform and
borrowed a pair of shoes from one of my brothers. We were the first to arrive. Father sat
on a chair in the centre of the courtroom. Mother occupied a chair by the door. We
children sat on a long bench by the wall. Father kept jumping up from his chair and
stabbing the air with his arms, as though we were defending himself before an imaginary
jury.
 
The rich man arrived. He had grown old and feeble; his face was scarred with deep lines.
With him was his young lawyer. Spectators came in and almost filled the chairs. The
judge entered the room and sat on a high chair. We stood in a hurry and then sat down
again.
 
After the courtroom preliminaries, the judge looked at the Father. “Do you have a
lawyer?” he asked.
 
“I don’t need any lawyer, Judge,” he said.
 
“Proceed,” said the judge.
 
The rich man’s lawyer jumped up and pointed his finger at Father. “Do you or you do not
agree that you have been stealing the spirit of the complaint’s wealth and food?”
 
“I do not!” Father said.
 
“Do you or do you not agree that while the complaint’s servants cooked and fried fat legs
of lamb or young chicken breast you and your family hung outside his windows and
inhaled the heavenly spirit of the food?”
 
“I agree.” Father said.
 
“Do you or do you not agree that while the complaint and his children grew sickly and
tubercular you and your family became strong of limb and fair in complexion?”
 
“I agree.” Father said.
 
“How do you account for that?”
 
Father got up and paced around, scratching his head thoughtfully. Then he said, “I would
like to see the children of complaint, Judge.”
 
“Bring in the children of the complaint.”
 
They came in shyly. The spectators covered their mouths with their hands, they were so
amazed to see the children so thin and pale. The children walked silently to a bench and
sat down without looking up. They stared at the floor and moved their hands uneasily.
 
Father could not say anything at first. He just stood by his chair and looked at them.
Finally he said, “I should like to cross – examine the complaint.”
 
“Proceed.”
 
“Do you claim that we stole the spirit of your wealth and became a laughing family while
yours became morose and sad?” Father said.
 
“Yes.”
 
“Do you claim that we stole the spirit of your food by hanging outside your windows when
your servants cooked it?” Father said.
 
“Yes.”
 
“Then we are going to pay you right now,” Father said. He walked over to where we
children were sitting on the bench and took my straw hat off my lap and began filling it up
with centavo pieces that he took out of his pockets. He went to Mother, who added a
fistful of silver coins. My brothers threw in their small change.
 
“May I walk to the room across the hall and stay there for a few minutes, Judge?” Father
said.
 
“As you wish.”
 
“Thank you,” father said. He strode into the other room with the hat in his hands. It was
almost full of coins. The doors of both rooms were wide open.
 
“Are you ready?” Father called.
 
“Proceed.” The judge said.
 
The sweet tinkle of the coins carried beautifully in the courtroom. The spectators turned
their faces toward the sound with wonder. Father came back and stood before the
complaint.
 
“Did you hear it?” he asked.
 
“Hear what?” the man asked.
 
“The spirit of the money when I shook this hat?” he asked.
 
“Yes.”
 
“Then you are paid,” Father said.
 
The rich man opened his mouth to speak and fell to the floor without a sound. The lawyer
rushed to his aid. The judge pounded his gravel.
  
“Case dismissed.” He said.
 
Father strutted around the courtroom the judge even came down from his high chair to
shake hands with him. “By the way,” he whispered, “I had an uncle who died laughing.”
 
“You like to hear my family laugh, Judge?” Father asked?
 
“Why not?”
 
“Did you hear that children?” father said.
 
My sisters started it. The rest of us followed them soon the spectators were laughing with
us, holding their bellies and bending over the chairs. And the laughter of the judge was
the loudest of all.
 
 
 
Aguila, Augusto Antonio A., Joyce L. Arriola and John Jack Wigley. Philippine Literatures:
Texts, Themes, Approaches. Espana, Manila: Univesity of Santo Tomas Publishing
House. Print.
 

 
 

Elements of the Short Story (My Fathers Goes to Court)

SETTING: In the City
CHARACTERS: the young narrator, poor father, wife and his children, rich man, rich
man’s children, servants, policeman, judge and the lawyer
PLOT
Exposition:
There was a young narrator describing his family who lived in a town with a rich
neighbor. This family's children often goes out to play along with each other and always
find themselves laughing, while the rich man's children are always kept inside the
house. The family often hang and stand beside the rich man's window to see whatever
they are up to. They always unintentionally smell the rich aroma of those foods their
neighbor's maids are cooking.
 Rising Action:
As time went on, the rich man's children became thin and anemic, while the young
narrator's family grew even more robust and full of life. Their faces were bright and rosy
while the others were pale and sad. Soon, the rich man started to cough and his wife
began too. Then their children started to cough, one after the other. Until one day, the
rich man suddenly closed their windows after seeing the young narrator's siblings;
healthy and full of life.
Climax:
One morning, a policeman from the presidencia came to the young narrator's house.
The rich man had filed a complaint against them stating that they've been stealing the
spirit of their wealth and food. The day came for the two families to face the trial in the
court. The rich man had a lawyer while the young narrator's father stood by his decision
to not hire any.
Falling Action:
The trial began by the rich man's lawyer started to ask annoying questions to the father.
After answering, the father requested to bring the complainant's children to the stand
and began to ask almost the same questions he answered. After being somehow
proven guilty by the lawyer and the rich man's children, the father agreed to pay the
crime they committed.
Denouement:
The father agreed to pay the crime they committed. He walked over to where his
children were sitting and took his straw hat and began filling it up with centavo pieces.
With the permission from the judge, he strode into the other room with the hat full of
coins in his hand while the doors of both rooms were wide open. The sweet tinkle of the
coins carried beautifully in the courtroom. All the people heard the sound. He talked to
the rich man and said: "That's the spirit of money, you are paid". The rich man fell to the
floor as the father stands the case to be dismissed.

The story in a Nutshell

There was a Happy family who always enjoys the day. The children were always playing outside with a
smile, bathing in a cold river from mountains, full of enjoyment.

Until one day, there was a Sad family who come home in their house. They always locked the windows
tightly that no sunlight enters

The children were curious an that house because they looked up in the window, pale and thin children
looking to their place. The children were always watching the other children playing outside with the
sun shines

➤ The rich man's servants were cooking special foods. Thus, the happy children always stay in the
window to smell the spirit of the food. Until the day came that the rich man filed a case against the
Father because of stealing the spirits of his food and wealth. Though, they end up in the court, with their
family.

The father always agrees to all questions regarding the smelling of the aroma of their Food, but not
wealth. After that, the father stood up and get some coins to his children and wife and put them in his
straw hat. Then, he walked to the rich man and sounded the coins and then he said to him if he heard
the spirit of the sound, then the rich man agree and he fell down The jury stopped the case and
congratulated the father and he want to hear hischildren laugh. They laugh out loud but the jury
laughed harder.

The poem entitled “The Poverty of the Woman Who Turned Herself into Stone” is a classic Filipino poem that was written
by Lina Sagaral-Reyes, a classic Filipino poet.
The speaker of the poem, which is a woman, sees and describes the situation of the character presented in the poem.
The poem is in the third person point of view. The “stone” in the poem represents the state of the woman wherein she is no longer
capable of feeling any emotion. It represents her being numb to the cold and pain from the judgment of the people around her. It can
be implied that she has turned into a stone-hearted woman. She is always angry and does not feel sorrow. Her life is only of a single
color – gray – which is a color that symbolizes sadness, bleakness, and dullness.
Poverty forced the woman to endure her struggles without complaining. She thinks that there is nothing she can do
anymore to change her life, so she just remains where she is and just listens to the voices of the people who weigh her down.
Poverty also made her blind, and she chose not to see the ugly truth and reality. She just allowed herself to be swallowed by the
darkness of her suffering.
As the title suggests, this is a poem about a dry season which is dry in the sense that the persona is poor, but who, in spite of his
poverty, manages to see the brightest side of things and to make do with the deprived conditions under which he lives. The conflict
here is clear between the conditions of extreme poverty and the attitude of cheerfu1ness and what this attitude sees of abundance
in his environment.
 The diction is very well-defined between the two elements of tension in the poem. For example, the objects of poverty are pictured
in the words: "broken pieces"; "our lean and hardwood house"; "cracked glass"; "no special feast"; "rice and fish and coffee"; "there
is no wine"; "everything is spare and useful"; "floorboards creaking and creaking"; "the sunhammered tree outside our crooked
window"; "dry season."
The words that bespeak his attitude of seeing abundance and the things around him are: "it is a wonder"; "a fine day"; "Stm spilled";
"the wind lolloping"; "the birds singing and singing"; "we pick up broken pieces" (showing willingness to make do with the broken
pieces); be glad for several things: that his pain is personal, that he has a bed which is in one comer, that he has a table, that there
is a "China jug of water/Will do to make us relish appetite"; "everything is spare and useful to keep alive."

What is Poetry
Poetry is a type of literature that conveys a thought, describes a scene or tells a story in a concentrated,
lyrical arrangement of words Poems can be structured, with rhyming lines and meter, the rhythm and
emphasis of a line based on syllabic beats Poems can also be freeform, which follows no formal
structure The basic building block of a poem is a verse known as a stanza A stanza is a grouping of lines
related to the same thought or topic, similar to a paragraph in prose. A stanza can be subdivided based
on the number of lines it contains For example, a couplet is a stanza with two lines On the page, poetry
is visibly unique a narrow column of words with recurring breaks between stanzas

Lines of a poem may be indented or lengthened with extra spacing between words. The white space
that frames a poem is an aesthetic guide for how a poem is read

TYPES OF POETRY
LYRIC NARRATIVE DRAMATIC SPECIAL TYPES
sonnet epic Dramatic haiku
monologue
elegy ballad soliloquy limerick
ode social oration Name poem
Free verse

There are many different types of poems. The difference between each type is based on
the format, rhyme scheme and subject matter.

 Allegory - a narrative found in verse and prose in which a character or event is used
to speak about a broader theme.
 Canzone - a lyric poem originating in medieval Italy and France and usually
consisting of hendecasyllabic lines with end-rhyme.
 Haiku - an unrhymed poem consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7,
and 5 syllables respectively
 Blank Verse - a type of poetry written in a regular meter that does not contain
rhyme.
 Conceit - an often unconventional, logically complex, or surprising metaphor whose
delights are more intellectual than sensual.
 Imagery - a vivid and vibrant form of to description that appeals readers' senses and
imagination.
 Burlesque - a form of poetry that treats a humorously, or is simply a trivial serious
subject ridiculously, story
 Dactyl - a three-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which a stressed syllable is
followed by two unstressed syllables.
 Free Verse - is a poetry without a set form, so it doesn't have a repeated rhythm or
rhyme scheme.
 Cacophony - when sounds, or words, mix together in a way that sounds harsh, bad,
or unpleasant to our ears.
 Epitaph - a short lyric written in memory of someone who has died.
 Limmerick - a poem, often humorous in nature, that consists of five lines in a single
stanza with a rhyme scheme of AABBA.
 Name or Acrostic Poem - uses the letters of the word for the first letter of each line.
 Pastoral - explores the fantasy of withdrawing from modern life to live in an idyllic
rural setting
 Petrarchan Sonnet - divides the 14 lines into two sections an eight-line stanza
(octave) thyming ABBAABBA, and a six-line stanza (sestet) thyming CDCDCD or
CDECDE
 Quatrain - a series of four-lines that make one verse of a poem, known as a stanza.
 Shakespearean Sonnet - a Shakespearean sonnet is a poem with three quatrains,
using a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef, followed by an ending couplet of two lines
with a rhyme scheme of gg.
 Refrain - a verse, a line, a set, or a group of lines that appears at the end of stanza,
or appears where a poem divides into different sections.
 Tanka - an unrhymed Japanese verse form of five lines containing five, seven, five,
seven, and seven syllables respectively.
 Senryu - a three-line Japanese poetic form that focuses on human nature, generally
with an ironic or darkly comedic edge.
 Terza Rima - a three-line stanza using chain rhyme in the pattern ABA BCB CDC
DED