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21st Century Literature from

the Philippines and the World
Quarter 1 – Module 2

TOPIC: Canonical authors and Works of Philippine National Artists in Literature

D works
Grade Levels: Grade 11/12
Core Subject: 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Quarter 1 – Module 2
First Edition, 2020

First Edition, 2020

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall

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brand names, trademarks, etc.) included in this module are owned by their
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over them.

Published by the Department of Education

Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Grace A. Cimafranca, Catherine A. Credo, Sheenna Español, Pilita E. Ramirez
Editor: Esteria Macajelos
Reviewer: Esteria Macajelos
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Management Team: Senen Priscillo P. Paulin, CESO V Rosela R. Abiera
Fay C. Luarez, TM, Ed.D., Ph.D. Maricel R. Rasid
Adolf P. Aguilar Elmar L. Cabrera
Anna Lee A. Amores

Printed in the Philippines by ________________________

Department of Education –Region VII Schools Division of Negros

Oriental

Office Address: Kagawasan, Ave., Daro, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

Tele #: (035) 225 2376 / 541 1117
E-mail Address: negros.oriental@deped.gov.ph
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21st Century Literature

from the Philippines and
the World
Quarter 1 – Module 2
Canonical authors and Works of
Philippine National Artists in
Literature
Introductory Message

For the facilitator:

Welcome to the 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the
World Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) Module on Canonical authors and
Works of Philippine National Artists in Literature.

This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by

educators both from public and private institutions to assist you, the
teacher or facilitator in helping the learners meet the standards set by the K
to 12 Curriculum while overcoming their personal, social, and economic
constraints in schooling.

This learning resource hopes to engage the learners into guided and
independent learning activities at their own pace and time. Furthermore,
this also aims to help learners acquire the needed 21st century skills while
taking into consideration their needs and circumstances.
In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the
body of the module:

Give learners an uncommon

experience.

As a facilitator, you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this
module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing
them to manage their own learning. Furthermore, you are expected to
encourage and assist the learners as they do the tasks included in the
module.

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For the learner:

Welcome to the 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the
World Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) Module on Canonical authors and
Works of Philippine National Artists in Literature.

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and
time. You will be enabled to process the contents of the learning resource
while being an active learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

What I Need to This will give you an idea of the skills or
Know competencies you are expected to learn
in the module.

What I Know This part includes an activity that aims

to check what you already know about
the lesson to take. If you get all the
answers correct (100%), you may decide
to skip this module.

What’s In This is a brief drill or review to help you

link the current lesson with the previous
one.

What’s New In this portion, the new lesson will be

introduced to you in various ways; a
story, a song, a poem, a problem opener,
an activity or a situation.

What is It This section provides a brief discussion

of the lesson. This aims to help you
discover and understand new concepts
and skills.

What’s More This comprises activities for independent

practice to solidify your understanding
and skills of the topic. You may check
the answers to the exercises using the
Answer Key at the end of the module.
What I Have This includes questions or blank
Learned sentence/paragraph to be filled in to
process what you learned from the

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 lesson.

What I Can Do This section provides an activity which

will help you transfer your new
knowledge or skill into real life situations
or concerns.

Assessment This is a task which aims to evaluate

your level of mastery in achieving the
learning competency.
Additional In this portion, another activity will be
Activities
given to you to enrich your knowledge or
skill of the lesson learned.

Answer Key This contains answers to all activities in

the module.

At the end of this module you will also find:

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

The following are some reminders in using this module:

1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any
part of the module. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the
exercises.
2. Don’t forget to answer What I Know before moving on to the other
activities included in the module.
3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each task.
4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking your
answers.
5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.
6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are through
with it.

If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not
hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that you
are not alone.

We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning
and gain deep understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENT PAGES

TITLE PAGE ------------------------------------------------ i

INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE --------------------------------- ii

For the Facilitator --------------------------------- ii
For the learner ----------------------------------------- iii

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW --------------------------------- 1

Learning Competency --------------------------------- 1-2

WHAT I KNOW ------------------------------------------------ 2

WHAT’S IN ------------------------------------------------ 3-4

WHAT’S NEW ------------------------------------------------ 5-6

WHAT IS IT ------------------------------------------------ 6-7

WHAT’S MORE ------------------------------------------------ 7

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED --------------------------------- 8

WHAT I CAN DO ---------------------------------------- 8

ASSESSMENT ------------------------------------------------ 9

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES --------------------------------- 9

ANSWER KEYS ------------------------------------------------ 10

REFERENCE LIST -------------------------------------------- 11

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 WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

After your journey towards your quest for knowledge, you are
now aware that there are more to discover about poetry.

Many people are intimidated by the mention of the word

“poetry.” It is often perceived as something that is hidden and beyond
understanding. But there are some pieces of information that can help us to
grasp poetry whether we are just starting to learn about analyzing it or
trying to find our own poetic voice. Poetry has often reflected the voice of the
time. Meaning, subject matter and language choices may change with
whatever is considered an everyday concern in the current society’s
expectations. Not many contemporary poems will use the same language as
Shakespeare, but that does not mean that they are any less valid and
likewise, poetry that lasts through the transition of time still resonates with
the reader in some way.

In this module, you will learn about Canonical authors and

Works of Philippine National Artists in Literature. Your answer to the
activities given will help you understand better about the contributions of
the Canonical authors to Philippine Literature. You are now ready to get to
the second phase of your search for knowledge. Have fun while learning!

Learning Competencies

EN12 Lit-Ia-21 Writing a close analysis and critical interpretation of

literary texts and doing an adaptation of these require
from the learner the ability to identify representative
texts and authors from each region ( e.g. engage in oral
history research with focus on key personalities from the
students’ region/ province/ town.)

At the end of the module, you should be able to:

Knowledge: determine representative texts and authors from each

region ( e.g. engage in oral history research with focus on
key personalities from the students’ region province/town.)

Skills: analyze a literary text through citing the elements,

and traditions;
Attitude: appreciate the contributions of the Canonical Filipino
writers to the development of National literature.

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 Please take note that all answers shall be written in your activity
notebooks, and that there should never be any markings placed in this
module.

WHAT I KNOW

Let’s try to find out if you can still remember the elements of poetry.
Read and analyze the given stanza and answer the questions that follow.

The Sea
By Esteria J. Macajelos

God created you vast and wide

Home of creatures that play with tide.
Blushing, sparkling, lying with pride,
Sight to hold, mysterious and might.

Sunrise colors your face a sight

Gold, yellow, and orange delight
People stare with awe and wonder
With such beauty no words compare

1. What are the words that rhyme at the end of each line?
2. Give at least 5 words that appeal to the senses?
3. What is the rhythm or beat established by the poem?
4. List words that have the same initial sound.
5. List words which have the same middle vowel sounds
6. How many syllables does each line have?
7. How many lines are there in each stanza?

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 WHAT’S IN

In module 1, you have learned to identify the geographic,

linguistic and ethnic dimension of Philippine literary history. This time, let
us try to explore the different texts written by canonical authors from
different regions.

Here’s one from Manila. Read the poem and answer the questions
that follow.

Third World Geography

By: Cirilo F. Bautista
Manila

A country without miracles

sits heavy on the map,
thinking of banana trees rotting
in the sunlight.
The man who watches over it
has commandeered all hopes,
placed them in a sack,
and tied its loose end.
He goes around carrying it
on his back.
When asked what is inside,
he says, “Just a handful of feathers,
just a handful of feathers.”
That’s how light the burden
of government is in peace time—
any tyrant can turn it into a metaphor.
You kneel on the parched earth
and pray for rice. Only the wind
hears your useless words.
The country without miracles
tries to get up from the page,
but the bold ink and sharp colors
hold it down.

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1. The figure of speech used in the lines “A country without miracles sits
heavy on the map, thinking of banana trees rotting in the sunlight” is
_________________.
a. Metaphor
b. Personification
c. Simile
d. Hyperbole

2. What has happened to hope in the poem as described by the lines

“The man who watches over it has commandeered all hopes, placed
them in a sack, and tied its loose end. He goes around carrying it on
his back.”
a. It has been killed.
b. It has been conquered.
c. It has been stolen
d. It has been silenced.

3. What are the “feathers” discussed in the poem supposed to be a

metaphor of?
a. The burden of government
b. The dashed hopes of people
c. The feathers of dead birds
d. The poverty in the country

4. “You kneel on parched earth and pray for rice.” This implies that the
people in the poem are________________.
a. Angry
b. Depressed
c. Hungry
d. Thirsty

5. The persona speaking in the poem is ______________.

a. A character in the poem
b. An unbiased observer
c. The author
d. The man who watches over the country

6. The poem is written with a sarcastic tone. Explain your answer with
lines from the poem.

7. Describe the dramatic situation of the poem in no more than four

sentences.

8. List the allegorical elements in the poem and what this could relate to.

9. Discuss in no more than five sentences how Bautista uses the idea of
weight in the poem and how it affects the personalities in it.

10. What could the act of “getting up” refer to in the final lines of the
poem? Discuss in no more than five sentences.
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 WHAT’S NEW

About the author

Edith L. Tiempo (April 22, 1919 – August 21, 2011), poet, fiction writer,
teacher and literary critic was a Filipino writer in the English language.
Tiempo was born in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. Her poems are intricate
verbal transfigurations of significant experiences as revealed, in two of her
much anthologized pieces, "Halaman" and "Bonsai." As fictionist, Tiempo is
as morally profound. Her language has been marked as "descriptive but
unburdened by scrupulous detailing." She is an influential tradition in
Philippine Literature in English. Together with her late husband, writer and
critic Edilberto K. Tiempo, they founded (in 1962) and directed the Silliman
National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City, which has produced some of
the Philippines' best writers. She was conferred the National Artist Award for
Literature in 1999.

What do you value in life? Do you value the same thing the persona
in the poem holds dear?

Read the poem and discover if you have the same experience
with the persona.

Bonsai
Edith Tiempo

All that I love

I fold over once
And once again
And keep in a box
Or a slit in a hollow post
Or in my shoe.

All that I love?

Why, yes, but for the moment-
And for all time, both.
Something that folds and keeps easy,
Son’s note or Dad’s one gaudy tie,
A roto picture of a queen,
A blue Indian shawl, even
A money bill.

It’s utter sublimation,

A feat, this heart’s control
Moment to moment
To scale all love down
To a cupped hand’s size

Till seashells are broken pieces

From God’s own bright teeth,
And life and love are real
Things you can run and
Breathless hand over
To the merest child.

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Questions:

1. Who is the poetic persona of the poem?

2. What is that line in the first stanza that is repeated in the second? What
is the difference in meaning between the two? Why is there a
question mark?
3. We have the lines “Till seashells are broken pieces/From God’s own bright
teeth” in the last stanza. What does this imply? How does God show His
great love? Can you cite evidences or stories that affirm His love?
4. How is love being portrayed in the poem?
5. In the third stanza, why do you think the speaker mentions that all love is
to be scaled down? How do you scale down your love?
Give examples.

WHAT IS IT

Elements of Poetry
Imagery is the concrete representation of a sense impression, feeling, or
idea that triggers our imaginative ere-enactment of a sensory experience.
Images may be visual (something seen), aural (something heard), tactile
(something felt), olfactory (something smelled), or gustatory (something
tasted). Imagery may also refer to a pattern of related details in a poem.
Alliteration is a repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of
words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable: “descending
dew drops;” “luscious lemons.” Alliteration is based on the sounds of letters,
rather than the spelling of words; for example, “keen” and “car” alliterate,
but “car” and “cite” do not.

Assonance is the repetition of similar internal vowel sounds in a sentence or

a line of poetry, as in “I rose and told him of my woe.” is the repetition of
similar internal vowel sounds in a sentence or a line of poetry, as in “I rose
and told him of my woe.”

Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word, the "dictionary

definition."¨ For example, if you look up the word snake in a dictionary, you
will discover that one of its denotative meanings is "any of numerous scaly,
legless, sometimes venomous reptiles¡ Khaving a long, tapering, cylindrical
body and found in most tropical and temperate regions."

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Connotation, on the other hand, refers to the associations that are
connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that
word. The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the
denotative meanings. The connotations for the word snake could include evil
or danger.

Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities, by giving

them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.

Theme is defined as a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary

work, which may be stated directly or indirectly.

Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few
times to make an idea clearer and more memorable.

Figurative language is a form of language use in which the writers and

speakers mean something other than the literal meaning of their words. Two
figures of speech that are particularly important for poetry are simile and
metaphor. A simile involves a comparison between unlike things using like
or as. For instance, “My love is like a red, red rose.” A metaphor is a
comparison between essentially unlike things without a word such as like or
as. For example, “My love is a red, red rose.” Synecdoche is a type of
metaphor in which part of something is used to signify the whole, as when a
gossip is called a “wagging tongue.” Metonymy is a type of metaphor in
which something closely associated with a subject is substituted for it, such
as saying the “silver screen” to mean motion pictures. Personification is a
figurative comparison endowing inanimate things.

WHAT'S MORE

To understand further, more questions are given below to test your

knowledge in the poem “Bonsai”.

Are you ready? Let’s begin.

1. What image does the speaker in the poem begin to present in the first
stanza?
2. What does “Bonsai”, symbolize?
3. What is the message/ theme of the poem?
4. What figurative language is presented in this line? To a cupped hand’s
size” in the third stanza.

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 WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

Directions: Review the lesson on Canonical authors and Works of

Philippine National Artists in Literature. Then write your reflection in your
notebook by finishing up the unfinished statements below.

I have learned that ________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

I have realized that _______________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

I will apply _______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

WHAT I CAN DO
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You have just tried giving your ideas about the different literary works
of Canonical authors. What you will learn in the next set of activities will
also enable you to grasp fully your understanding on the concept of poetry.

Instructions: Translate the poem, “Bonsai”, using our dialect. Identify at

least two figurative language in the poem.

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 ASSESSMENT

Finally , let us evaluate your learning. Here’s is your task .

A. Instructions: Match the words in column A with column B. Write the

letter of the correct answer in your notebook.
A. B.

____1.dictionary meaning of the word a. alliteration

____2. the representation through language b. connotation
of sense experience
___ 3. the comparison of two inanimate objects c. symbol
using like, as than, similar to
___ 4. the attributes of a human being , animal, d. imagery
an object and a concept
___ 5. exaggeration in the service of truth e. metaphor
___ 6. something suggested by a word or a thing f. simile
___ 7. something that means more than what it is g. assonance
___ 8.the comparison of two inanimate objects h. personification
without the use of like, as than, and similar to
___ 9. the repetition of vowel sounds i. denotation
___ 10. The repetition of initial consonant sounds k. hyperbole
l. consonance

B. Task . Write a two – stanza poem focusing on at least two to three

elements of poetry.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

Here is your additional task.

Task. Interpret the meaning of the poem, “ Bonsai” through a drawing

or a poster.

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 REFERENCES

Books

Agustin,Roy Tristan B.et.al. 21st Century Literature From the Philippines and
the World. Quezon City: Vibal Group, Inc., 2016.

Uychoco, Marikit Tara A. 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the
World. Quezon City: Rex Bookstore, 2016.

Online Sources

www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&e1. n.d.
tagaloglang.com/philippine-geography-song/ (accessed June 24,
2020).

Bethelmy, LC. www. frontiersin.org. March 13, 2019.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00509 (accessed June 23, 2020)

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For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – Schools Division of Negros

Oriental
Kagawasan, Avenue, Daro, Dumaguete City, Negros
Oriental

Tel #: (035) 225 2376 / 541 1117

Email Address: negros.oriental@deped.gov.ph
Website: lrmds.depednodis.net

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