21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the Word

Detailed Lesson Plan

I. Objectives: At the end of 45-minute lesson, students should be able to:

a) elaborate the emerging genres in the Philippine literature;
b) reflect significant concepts from texts to real life situation; and
c) construct multiple analysis from the given text.

II. Subject Matter: Speculative Fiction: Six from Downtown by Dean Francis Alfar
References: Module 7 - 21st Century Literature of the Philippines Home (weebly.com)
Authors:
Materials: (Option A) laptop, projector, large cube, and etc.
(Option B) illustration book, marker etc.

III. Procedure:
Teacher’s Activity Students’ Activity
Good morning class! How’s your day? Good morning Sir! We’re fine.
Good.
Let us all stand for a prayer to be followed by (Students praying…)
checking of attendance
Look beside your seatmate and identify who’s absent for
today. (Replies for attendance.)

A. Drill
A.1. Drill
As we start our day let us all have some brain teasers to
stimulate our mind.

1. Name 3 consecutive days without using the days of Expected answers.

the week. 1. Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
2. In which sport do winners move backwards and losers 2. Tug of war
move forward? 3. COMPARING
3. What starts with 4. FEATURE
4. FTREAUE 5. RESEMBLE
5. RSMBLEEE
Well done.

B. Review
Who among you can recall about the previous lesson? (Some students raise their hands.)
Shay, would you mind sharing it? And kindly explain it in Shay: “It is about the historic background of the
class. Philippine literature. And it is rooted from precolonial oral
traditions to the colonial influence of the Spaniards on the
indigenous culture and traditions.”

Well said. And most of us are still practicing those for

academic and culture preservation purposes.

C. Lesson Proper
C.1. Motivation

Before we begin with our new lesson, let me present a

short clip…

What was your reaction from the clip that I presented? : proud for having an original Filipino mythology-based
anime.
Great right? It really is a glory that Filipino anime films
are stepping up and adapting our beliefs, culture, and
practices.

C.2. Presentation of New Lesson

Now class, speaking of Filipino culture, let’s move to the
future of Philippine Literature. Here are 3 of the latest
genres emerging in Philippine literature and examples of
their literary works. 
1) Speculative fiction- This is an umbrella term in the
country's literature that includes all genres of horror,
fantasy, science fiction, magical realism, and other
nonrealistic genres.”
2) Avant-garde poetry - These are poems that push the
boundaries of what is expected as the norm. In that
sense, these kinds of poems experiment with form,
phrasing, idea, imagery, and the like.”
3) Contemporary essay - The contemporary essay
nowadays is unrestricted and explores diverse topics
such as dysfunctional families. LGBT issues,
terrorism, religion and or faith.

I have here an example of an example of speculative

fiction written by Dean Francis Alfar (1969).
He is the co-editor and publisher of the yearly Philippine
Speculative Fiction anthology. His novels and short
stories have won him several national awards--including a
total of 10 Don Carlos Palanca Awards. His publications
have been global, with his own short stories being
published in other international journals. He wrote Six
from Downtown in year 2007, a very good example of a
speculative fiction.

As we know Speculative fiction is a broad category of

fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not
exist in reality, recorded history, nature, or the present
universe. Such fiction covers various themes in the
context of supernatural, futuristic, and other imaginative
realms. Dean Francis Alfar
C.3. Unlocking of Difficulties
Here are some uncommon words that we will expect from
the given text.
 Smoldering
 Protruding
 Lugubrious
 Haphazardly
 scapular - the process of burning slowly with smoke but no
flame.
C.4. Spring Board - sticking out; projecting.
- looking or sounding sad and dismal.
Six from Downtown - in a manner lacking any obvious principle of
By Dean Francis Alfar organization.
- relating to the shoulder or shoulder blade
1) The Wet Market
A WEEK AFTER I arrived in the city, I spent a day at the
wet market, negotiating my way down the slippery floors
and taking pictures. I was soon lost

in the brilliant rainbow of fresh seafood, laid out in ice,

suspended on hooks, swimming in plastic pails and low
metal drums, whose names brought back memories of my
childhood: palos, pating, alimasag, pindangga, lapu,
apahap, sap, pompano, tambacol, labahita, malasugi,
pugita. At other stalls, I found trays of lato, seaweed that
resembled a miniature bunch of grapes which my parents
loved dipping in a mix of crushed garlic and spicy
vinegar, as well as palm-sized oysters, their dull shells
encrusted with barnacles.
One stall’s sign captured my attention and got my taste
buds going: Fresh Sirena. I smiled to myself, surprised at
how many years had passed since I last tasted mermaid.
(Reading/Listening Activity)
“Be ready at any time,” he’d intone, exhaling smoke into
the air laden with salt.
The mermaids we’d catch ranged from two and half to
three feet in length. Their tails, excellent steamed, grilled
or boiled with tamarinds, were an iridescent green flecked
with blue points of lights. Halfway up was the bony flesh
that was always cast away after cutting: the torsos were
When I was a child growing up in the south, my
grandfather would take me out mermaid fishing. The boat
of my memory was cramped and seemed ungainly in the
water, but none of that mattered since I loved being out at
sea with him.
“They think it’s unlucky,” he told me once, when I
observed that it seemed only men went into the sea. “It
does not matter to me that you are a girl. You’re what God
has given us and that’s all the luck we’ll need.”
At a precise position whose exact oceanic location was
known only to him, my grandfather would drop the
makeshift anchor overboard and organize the fishing lines,
stretching across the span of his arms the very fine
filaments he purchased from American soldiers before
they fled the Japanese. When all the preparations were
done, he’d ask me to attach the bait. This was one of the
best parts for me because I got to open the large biscuit tin
with the end of a spoon and select a piece of jewelry. I
would scoop out a handful of shiny trinkets and fuss over
them, showing off to my grandfather how seriously I took
the task. My favorite bait was a gold scapular embossed
with the image of the Virgin Mary. After I had carefully
attached the bait to the line, my grandfather would always
tell me to sit still, watch the sea quietly and be ready with
the net. Then he’d slowly lower the filament into the
water, one hand unrolling calculated measures of length.
Sometimes, it took forever for a mermaid to bite, and I
remember thinking that perhaps they had all the jewelry
they’d ever need. While waiting, my grandfather would
smoke a thin cigarette between his teeth, flipping it into
his mouth when only the smoldering filter remained,
checking once in a while if I had a firm grip on the
wooden handle of the net that was my part in things.
(Next column continuation >>>)
C.5. Intellectual & Aesthetic Discussion
Now let’s discuss, who are the characters and where did
the first story take place?
What was your reaction upon finishing up the story?
From the fantasy we’ve known, are the practices of having
mermaids exist similar to what the author represents it?
How can you say so?
What Filipino characteristics are being applied on the
stories?
Can anyone tell me what literary device does the author
apply to give emphasis on the details of his story? And
kindly provide or locate an example.
mottled pink and grey, with protruding nubs where nipples
would be; the thin arms ended in four fingers, a filmy web
of flesh between each one. The egg-shaped heads were
crowned with pale stringy hair, like the ghosts of seaweed,
covering much of the face that was punctured thrice by
tortoise-colored eyes and a gasping mouth lined with
sharp tiny teeth.
“Here’s one,” my grandfather would whisper upon
sensing the line grow taut, before exploding into action,
standing up and reining in the filament, hand over hand,
until the mermaid broke the surface of the sea, unwilling
to let go of the shiny bait. At his signal I’d quickly extend
the net, making certain to trap the glistening tail, and
together we’d haul the mermaid into the boat, where my
grandfather would exchange the string in one hand for a
fire-hardened club and strike at the mermaid’s head until it
stopped moving.
One was usually enough for our large family, but I
remember during the times of fiesta how the sea would be
dotted by little boats similar to my grandfather’s, and how
they’d return hours later, pitching low in the water, each
with several mermaids.
I stood by the sirena stall and looked over what was
offered, fighting the rising disappointment fueled by the
memories of my childhood years. The mermaids lay side
by side and almost haphazardly on top of each other, eyes
closed and mouths agape, on a bed of crushed ice, most of
them barely a foot long, some even smaller, and their tails
had only the barest hint of green. Sensing my disquiet, the
vendor, a middle-aged man with a red bandanna and a
bulging belly, explained in a lugubrious tone that it was
the lean season, and that all mermaids were that size
nowadays.
I purchased the freshest looking one, astounded at the
price per kilo, and asked if there was a place nearby that
could grill it for me. The vendor winked and, for one
hundred pesos, offered to cook it himself. I suspected he
was overcharging me but gave in when he agreed to throw
in a handful of sea snails for free.
: a girl/woman, grandfather, and the vendor. At the wet
market
: (varied responses)
: No, way back then stories about mermaids does not
include them being consume.
:” Having superstitious belief of charms and bad luck, and
as known for being a Christian country they include the
(saints) Mother Mary embossed in their tool for
endeavor.” etc.
 : the author uses a lot of literary devices like flashbacks,
but the most dominant is imagery to provide description
that appeals to the readers’
senses. Example,
“The mermaids we’d catch ranged from two and half to
three feet in length. Their tails, excellent steamed, grilled
or boiled with tamarinds, were an iridescent green flecked
with blue points of lights. Halfway up was the bony flesh
that was always cast away after cutting: the torsos were
Precisely correct! mottled pink and grey, with protruding nubs where
nipples would be; the thin arms ended in four fingers, a
C.6.Generalization filmy web of flesh between each one. The egg-shaped
heads were crowned with pale stringy hair, like the ghosts
Now, who can tell me the literal concept of the story all of seaweed, covering much of the face that was punctured
about? thrice by tortoise-colored eyes and a gasping mouth lined
with sharp tiny teeth.” etc.

Why do you think literary genres have evolve throughout

the century?
: The story is a fantasy where the woman reminisces how
Sirena/ mermaids being sought and eaten from then until
the present. It talks how delicate the type of fish it was,
and how it got over the times.

: Trends and culture have greatly impacted the concept of

How can you share the comparison of the emerging genres
to people in a concise description?
Excellent work! I am glad that everybody were able to
create sentences using the figurative simile and metaphor.
modern genre. The key role of literature is to entertain as
well share ideas of historic and present practices. Thus
style of writing these must attain and adapt the complex
and relatable manners as well as bring unexpected or
surreal events to our minds.

Very well. : I will relay to them, to avoid confusion, that speculative

fiction does not differ from other fiction instead it is the
C.7. Application umbrella term for all unrealistic genres. While Avant-
garde poetry, differs from the traditional way of
At this moment you are going to apply an analysis or composing poetry. And contemporary essay display least
criticism to the text being given. talked issue whereas present I the current community.
It could be a;
 short essay
 meme (quick draw)
You are going to do it by pair and given a limited time of
5 minutes (VARIED TASK)
Criteria
Objectivity – 40%
Okay, good job! Uniqueness – 30%
Time oriented – 20%
C.8. Valuing Overall presentation – 10%
Total : 100%/ 30 points
Now class how significant it is that our literature must
advance globally?

C.9. Evaluation
Now let’s test. Directions: On a ¼ size paper. Determine
whether the sentence is an example of a metaphor or
simile. Write M for metaphor and S for simile.

III. Agreement:

For your homework, interpret the figurative meaning of

each item from your quiz.
Am I clear?
Okay, that’s all for today see you next time class.

Date Submitted:
April 2022

Prepared by:
APOLLO SIMON T. TANCINCO

Checked by:
MRS. JACQUELINE D. FLORES
Cooperating Teacher___