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English
Quarter 4- Module 1
Literature as a Means of
Preserving Unchanging Values
in a Changing World
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HOW TO USE THIS SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIAL (SLeM)

Before you start answering the SLeM, I want you to set aside other
tasks that will disturb you while enjoying the lessons. Read carefully the
instructions below to successfully achieve the objectives of this kit. Have
fun!
1. Follow carefully all the contents and instructions indicated in every
part of this SLeM.
2. Write on your notebook the concepts about the lessons. Keep in mind
that writing develops and enhances learning.
3. Perform all the provided activities in the SLeM.

4. Let your facilitator/guardian assess your answers.

5. Analyze conceptually the post-test and apply what you have

learned. 6. Enjoy studying!

Development Team of the Module

Writers: Sheila L. Lago,
Shirley G. Lasala,
Korina Marie P. Espadilla,
Maricel S. Oliva,
Jane M. Abare

Expectations

Welcome to English 9 Quarter 4- Module 1 on Most Essential Learning

Competencies (MELCS). This will provide what you will learn after completing the
lessons in the SLEM.
In this module, you will learn how culture affects one’s way of living. After
going through this module, you are expected to:

 Analyze the poem “The Man with the Hoe”;

 Communicate values, opinions or personal insights about the

message of the poem; and

 Judge the relevance and worth of ideas, soundness of author’s

reasoning, and the effectiveness of the presentation. (EN9RC-IVf-

2.22).
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Pre-Test

A. VOCABULARY ENRICHMENT
Identify the meaning of the italicized words. Write the letter of the correct on your answer sheet.
1. Liars often distort issues to suit their purposes.
a. twist b. explain c. balance
2. God has dominion over all of creation.
a. right b. duty c. control
3. Bare narra trees are a portent that summer is near.
a. significance b. indication c. announcement
4. Despite society’s and government’s censure on drug abuse, there are still many users and
pushers.
a. full commitment b. strong disapproval c. favourable action
5. SARS is a dreaded disease because it is immedicable at present.
a. painful b. contagious c. incurable
6. The non- believers profaned the Blessed Sacrament and burned the church during one of
their raids.
a. desecrated b. respected c. venerated
7. Never trust a perfidious friend like Judas.
a. vindictive b. treacherous c. doubtful
8. His 8 to 5 shifts made him indifferent to rapture and despair.
a. boredom b. fury c. joy
9. Radical ideas were censured during Martial Law to prevent people from rallying.
a. condemn b. commend c. praise
10. Farmers have been oppressed by landlords since time immemorial.
a. new b. old c. recent

Looking Back to Your Lesson

How does the line “Sorry, wrong number” at the end of the play contribute to the
readers’ understanding of the plot?

Brief Introduction

Edwin Markham’s “The Man with the Hoe” is a famous poem inspired by the painting
L’homme ala houe by Jean Francois Millet (1814- 1875). It was first read in public at a New
Year’s Eve party in 1898 and published soon afterward. It portrays the hard labor of much of
humanity using the symbolism of a laborer leaning upon the hoe, overburdened by his work
but receiving hardly any rest or reward. It has been translated into more than 30 languages.

The Man with the Hoe by Edwin Markham

God made man in His own image,

in the image of God made He him. —Genesis.

Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans

Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
A thing that grieves not and that never hopes,
Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?
Who loosened and let down this brutal jaw?
Whose was the hand that slanted back this brow?
Whose breath blew out the light within this brain?
Man with the Hoe, Jean-François Millet, 1860–62
Is this the Thing the Lord God made and gave
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To have dominion over sea and land;

To trace the stars and search the heavens for power;
To feel the passion of Eternity?
Is this the Dream He dreamed who shaped the suns
And marked their ways upon the ancient deep?
Down all the stretch of Hell to its last gulf
There is no shape more terrible than this—
More tongued with censure of the world’s blind greed—
More filled with signs and portents for the soul—
More fraught with danger to the universe.

What gulfs between him and the seraphim!

Slave of the wheel of labor, what to him
Are Plato and the swing of Pleiades?
What the long reaches of the peaks of song,
The rift of dawn, the reddening of the rose?
Through this dread shape the suffering ages look;
Time’s tragedy is in that aching stoop;
Through this dread shape humanity betrayed,
Plundered, profaned and disinherited,
Cries protest to the Judges of the World,
A protest that is also prophecy.

O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,

is this the handiwork you give to God,
This monstrous thing distorted and soul-quenched ?
How will you ever straighten up this shape;
Touch it again with immortality;
Give back the upward looking and the light;
Rebuild in it the music and the dream;
Make right the immemorial infamies,
Perfidious wrongs, immedicable woes?

O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,

How will the Future reckon with this Man?
How answer his brute question in that hour
When whirlwinds of rebellion shake the world?
How will it be with kingdoms and with kings—
With those who shaped him to the thing he is—
When this dumb Terror shall reply to God
After the silence of the centuries?

*You can also also use this link to watch a video clip of this poem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfldpr5Kfwg

Discussion of New Concepts and Practicing New Skill

1. Which figure of speech is mostly used in the text? Was it effective? Why or why not?
2. What is the message of the poem?
3. Discuss the class struggle presented in the poem. Compare it with what is currently happening
in our country, especially in this economy.
4. How did the message of the text make you feel?
5. In your opinion, who is being referred to as the man with a hoe? Defend your answer.
6. Discuss the aim of the speaker. To whom is s/he addressing her/his cries? Why?
7. As a student and a citizen of this great nation, how are you going to eliminate the numbers of
men with hoes in our country?
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Activities

Activity 1: Checking Your Understanding

Answer the following questions.
1. What analogies does the writer use to refer to the man with the hoe?
2. What two classes of people are mentioned in the poem?
3. What does the bent body of the man with the hoe signify?
4. What class of people does the hoeman represent?
5. What are supposed to be the man’s roles as God envisioned?
6. What tragedies has the man suffered being a slave of the wheel of labor?
7. What feeling is evoked from the man’s situation?
8. Why did the author mention Plato, the swing of Pleiades, the peaks of song,
the rift of dawn and the reddening of the rose? Do they mean anything to the
man? Explain.
9. How does the man look after all the sufferings he has been through?
10. What are the speaker’s pleas to the masters and rulers in all lands?

Activity 2: Compare and Contrast

Using a Venn diagram, describe the similarities between the poem and the painting.

Activity 3: Picture Perfect

Study the pictures below. Share your ideas of a picture-perfect solution to the issues
exhibited in the photos.

A.
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B.

C.

Activity 4: MEME/GIF MAKING

In less than a month, we will be celebrating Labor Day (May 1) which

is dedicated to all the tireless workers or laborers that ensure that the
economy of our country is country smoothly. In line with this, let us show our
support and appreciation to our essential front liners (cashiers, janitors, fast
food crews, delivery drivers, public transport drivers etc.) whom, despite of
facing a higher risk of contacting the virus in this pandemic, are still offering
their services to the whole nation. Each student will create either a meme or a
GIF about the hard work, sacrifices and/or contribution that Filipino workers
do for our country.
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RUBRIC FOR MEME/GIF MAKING

*Slow Clap* Noice! Cool meme, bro! Nah.

18-20 pts. 14-17 pts. 10-13 pts. 10 and below
Content Meme or GIF featured Meme or GIF Meme or GIF Meme or GIF has
the hard work, showcased Filipino showcased Filipino a very simplistic
sacrifice and workers’ hard work workers’ either (only representation of
contribution of our and sacrifice one): a) hard work b) Filipino workers
workers for our sacrifice or c)
country contribution to the
country
Originality Meme/GIF is original Meme/GIF is Meme/GIF is Meme is repost
(picture has never somewhat original, somewhat original but
been seen elsewhere) similar idea but the idea is stolen
different/new image is
used
Humor Excellent humor Meme has decent Meme is okay in the Why so serious?
without downplaying amount of humor humor department
the weight of the topic
Image Meme is HD Meme is clear but not Meme is kinda Meme is
Quality HD pixelated pixelated

Remember

One of the most important functions of Literature is its ability to reflect the
culture and values of a specific period in history. In doing so, mankind is able to
ponder on their humanity and assess pre-existing cultures and conditions which
might not be beneficial to all members of society and change these. It is universally
agreed upon by writers, literary critics and readers alike that the best, most timeless
pieces of literature are the ones that human can relate even if years had passed after
its first publication.

Markham’s Man with a Hoe is a timeless literary piece that urges us to step
up in the face of inequality and reminds us that each role that we play in order to
help society move forward is essential.

Checking Your Understanding

Activity: Poetry Photography

Using your smartphone or camera, capture an image of a family member
who exemplifies hard work and sacrifice for the family. Create your own two-
stanza poem that describes him/her and attach it to the photo.

Rubric: Poetry Photography

Creativity: 30%
The poem and picture showcase the unique, creative and
original techniques of the owner.
Form and Language: 35%
The poem uses carefully chosen words and well-organized
ideas crafted in a purposeful presentation of thoughts.
Poetry and Picture Match: 35%
The picture and the poem portray a similar, relevant
message to the readers.
Total: 100%
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Post-test
Read and answer the following questions. Write the letter of your answer on
your answer sheet.

1. What inspired Markham to write the poem "The Man with the Hoe''?
a. Karl Marx’s Das Kapital
b. Edvard Munch’s The Scream
c. Jean-Francois Millet’s L’ homme ala houe

2. Before the poem begins, explain the quotation from the Bible that was
included by the poet.
a. Human beings are the creation of God, so the creation of God represents God.
b. Those who oppressed vulnerable people will be oppressed by God himself.
c. The kingdom of Heaven belongs to the poor and oppressed.

3. What are the themes tackled in the poem?

a. exploitation, inequality, class struggle
b. injustice, unemployment, downfall of economy
c. existential crisis and despair

4. Who among the following does NOT symbolize the essence of the man with a
hoe?
a. cashier b. farmer c. landlord

5. How does the society treat the man with a hoe based on the poem?
a. with gratitude b. with appreciation c. with inequality

6. What is the tone of the poem?

a. sad, pity b. hopeful c. encouraging

7. What class of people does the hoeman represent?

a. rich and influential b. dreaded and avoided c. poor and overburdened

8. What analogy does the writer use to refer to the man with the hoe?
a. rulers in all lands b. a brother to the ox c. signs and portents of
the soul

9. Allusion is also used by the writer through the following words/phrases

EXCEPT_____.
a. the swing of Pleiades b. Plato c. passion of Eternity

10. Who are the contemporary men with hoes?

a. people with disabilities b. rich and powerful people c. working people

References
Galindo, H. et. al (2018). Valuing Other People. English Time.Vol. 12, No.2, 12-14.

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

https://www.kapwing.com/meme-maker

https://giphy.com/create/gifmaker

https://gifmaker.me/
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