LESSON

Origin of Literature
01
What is Literature?
 “Literature” is derived from the Latin word litera which means letter. (Origin of the term)
 It is everything that has ever been written
 Literature illuminates life
 Literature is a creative product of a creative work, the result of which a form and beauty
 Literature deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of man. Thus, literature is the story of man (kahayan 1998
p. 5-7)
 The best way to understand human nature fully and to know a nation completely is to study literature (Garcia
et. al)
 Literature is our life's story including the strategies, ideas, failures, sacrifices and happiness. (Ang, 2006)

Hallmarks of Good Literature

 Artistry- quality which appeals to our sense of beauty.
 Intellectual Value- a literary work stimulates thought enriches our mental life by making us realize
fundamental truths about life and human nature.
 Suggestiveness- This is the quality associated with the emotional power of literature.
 Spiritual Value- a good literature elevates the spirit by bringing out moral values which makes us better
person
 Permanence- a good literature endures- it can be read again and again as each reading gives fresh delight and
new insights and open new worlds of meaning and experience
 Universality- great literature is timeless and timely, forever relevant in terms of its theme and conditions.

LESSON

02 Literary Genre: Prose

What is Prose?
Is a form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It applies a natural flow of speech, and ordinary
grammatical structure.

Fictions
Is an Imaginative recreation and re-creation of life. Includes Short stories and Novels.
Types of Prose Types of Prose Types of Prose

- Romance - Fantasy - Hostorical

- Action - Thriller - Magic Realism
- Adventure - Horror - Women's Fict
- Science Fict. - Mystery
- Crime
 Types of Fictions

Short Story Novel Fable

Often referred to as a Is a fictitious narrative with a Usually featuring animals that behave
“SLICE OF LIFE” It is a complicated Plot. Novels have and speak as human beings, told in
Fictitious narrative main plot and sub-plots that is order to highlight human follies and
compressed into one develop from the main plot. It weaknesses
is made up of Chapters.
Folktale Legend
Is an old story that's been told
again and again, often for Traditional story or group of stories told
generations. about a particular person or place

Difference Between Novel and Short Stories

The Novel is longer because of several complications
and twists to its plot.
 Length and Complex
A Novel is a larger-scale project that takes a lot
more stamina, it will take longer to write, so you
need to make sure you have a complex and
sustainable idea.
Short Stories contains problems that are resolve
quickly.
 Length and Complex
They usually focus on one aspect of a character’s
life, or one aspect of a problem/relationship in a
character’s life.

Elements of Fictions
Characters- The representation of human being of a human being persons involving in the conflict.
 Five Ways of Revealing Literary Characters
1. What the character do along with the 3. What the characters say and think?
circumstances in which they do it? 4. What the other characters say about them?
2. How the characters are described? 5. What the author says about them?

 Types of Characters
o Round character: Is a dynamic character who recognize changes in the circumstances. Is a fully develop
character with many traits – bad or good – shown in the story
o Flat character: Also Known as the stock or the stereotype character who does not grow and develop. A flat
character that is not fully developed
o Protagonist – Hero/Heroine
o Antagonist – A foil to the protagonist
o Deuterogonist – Second in importance
o FRinge – One who is destroyed by his inner conflict

Setting- The Locale (PLACE) or period of time in which the action of a short story, Play, Novel or the Motion
Picture takes place (Also known as the background of the story).

Conflict- The struggle or complication involving the characters, opposition of persons or forces upon which the
action depends in drama or fiction.
 Types of Conflict
o Internal Conflict o Interpersonal Conflict o External Conflict
Plot- A casually related sequence of events, what happens as a result of the main conflict in presented in a
structure format.

 Narrative Order
o Chronological o Flashback o Time lapse

 Plot Devices
o Flashback o Suspense
o Foreshadowing o Surprise Ending

Mood- The atmosphere or emotional effect generated by the words, images, situations in a literary work.

Tone- A term used to denote an attitude of feeling of the speaker or author as conveyed by the language in its
artful arrangement

Symbolism- Than themselves, they bring to mind not their own concrete qualities, but the idea or obstruction that
is associated with them.

Image- Are usually characterized by concrete qualities rather than abstract.

Theme- The central or dominating idea in literary work. It is the topic or the subject of the selection.

Non-Fictions Biograph
y
The branch of literature comprising works of
narrative prose dealing with or offering opinions or
conjectures upon facts and reality History Speeches

Types of
Non-
Fiction
Essays Researches

News
Autobiography
Article

Elements of Non-Fictions
Purpose- Characteristic of non- fiction writings is the purpose.
 To Inform  To Entertain
 To Persuade  To Explain

Lay out- Lay out should attract the reader and encourage reading and progression through the book.
1. Format is interesting, attractive, magnetic 4. Table of contents
2. Index 5. Book size
3. Glossary, pronunciation key
o Photographs compliment text, located near the related text, captions accurate. Illustrations are important but if
the writer relies too much on pictures, the reader/listener/viewer may not get a comprehensive understanding
of the information that would be better communicated with words
Information- Information includes facts, little known information, and ideas that spark curiosity, create mystery,
and propel the listener/reader/viewer to discover and learn.

Characterization
1. Characters are well developed 4. Uses quotations and anecdotes. Particularly in
2. No stereotype or biased characterization ‘ biographies it is important to use the character's
3. Creates empathy for the characters real words and anecdotes that originate from
someone with first-hand knowledge of the
incidents.
Style and Tone - Style should maintain the reader's interest. Nonfiction presents information, but the
listener/viewer/reader doesn't need to be bored by a collection of information in choppy sentences. Good style
adds interest to the story.

LESSON
Literary Genre: Poetry and
03 Drama
What is Poetry
Derived from the Greek word “POESIS” meaning making or creating. Poetry is a kind of language that says it more
intensely than ordinary language does.
 Apparently, we have to remember 5 things about poetry (Baritugo, 2004, p.1)
1. Poetry is a concentrated thought 4. Poetry answers our demand for rhythm
2. Poetry is a kind of word-music 5. Poetry is observation plus imagination
3. Poetry expresses all the senses
 Poetry is as varied as nature of man-unique in some sense along with man’s eccentricities, yet clings if
appreciated or if Deeply imbibed by the reader (Aguilar,1997, p.1)
 A poem is a meaningful organization of words (Gemino Abad)
 The fusion of two poles of mind, emotions and thoughts (T.S Elliot)
 Poetry is the union of mind and feelings. (Manuel Viray)
 Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recorded in tranquillity. (William Wardsworth)
Elements of Poetry
Sense- Is revealed through the meaning of words images and symbols.
 Diction – Denotative and Connotative meanings /symbols.
 Images and Sense Impression- sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, motion and emotion
 Figure 0f Speech – simile, metaphor , personification, apostrophe , etc.
Sound- Is the result of the combination of elements.
 Tone Color- alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme, repetition,
anaphora. Hickory dickory dock. -a
The mouse ran up the clock. -a
 Rhythm- ordered recurrent alteration of strong and weak elements in
The clock struck one, -b
the flow of the sound and silence: DUPLE, TRIPLE, RUNNING, OR
And down he run. -b
COMMON RHYME.
Hickory dickory dock –a
 Meter- stress; duration or number of syllables per line, fixed metrical
pattern, or a verse form: QUANTITATIVE, SYLLABIC, ACCENTUAL AND
ACCENTUAL SYLLABIC.
 Rhyme Scheme- formal arrangement of rhymes in stanza or the whole poem.
Structure- Arrangement of words and lines fit together and The organization of the parts to form a whole.
 Word Order- natural and unnatural arrangement of words
 Ellipsis – omitting some words for economy and effect
 Punctuation – abundance or lack of punctuation marks
 Shape- contextual and visual designs, jumps, omission of spaces. Capitalization and lower cases.
Classification of Poetry
Narrative Poetry
Epic
A long narrative poem of the largest
proportions. A tale centering about a
hero concerning the beginning,
continuance, and at the end of the
events of great significance.
Metrical Romance
\ Elegy
A narrative poem that tells a story of
adventure, love, and chivalry. The
typical hero is a knight on a quest.
The common generic name for the
type of stories we are accustomed to
term in English "metrical romances"
is CORRIDO.
Metrical Allegory
An extended narrative that carries a
second meaning along with the
surface story. Things and actions are
symbolic.
Metrical Tale
A narrative poem consisting usually
a single series of connective events
that are simple idylls or Home tales,
love tales, tales of the supernatural
or tales written for a strong moral
purpose in verse form.
Ballad
The simplest type of narrative
poetry. It is a short narrative poem
telling a single incident in simple
meter or stanzas
Popular Ballad
A ballad of wide workmanship telling some simple
incidents of adventure, cruelty, passion or
superstition, an incident that shows the primary
instincts of man influenced by the restraint of
modern civilization
Lyric Poetry
Ode
A lyric poem of some length serious in subject
and dignified in style. It is the most majestic
of the lyric poem. It is written in spirit of
praise of some persons or things that is not
present.
Example: Ode to nightingale by John Keats
Elegy is a form of literature that can be
defined as a poem or song in the form of
elegiac couplets, written in honor of someone
deceased. It typically laments or mourns the
death of the individual.
Example: The Lover’s death by Ricaredo
Demetillo
Sonnet
A poem that follows a strict rhyme scheme
and specific structure of fourteen lines.
Example: Santang Buds by Alfonso P.
Santos
Song
A lyric poem in a regular metrical pattern set
to music. These have 12-syllable and slowly
sung to the accompaniment of guitar and
banduria.
Example: Florante at laura by Francisco
Balagtas
Dramatic Poetry
Soliloquy
Are thoughts spoken out loud without
addressing another. a monologue addressed
to oneself.
Dramatic Monologue
The monologue may have multiple characters
but only one speaker. That speaker may or
may not be reliable. The reader has to keep in
mind
 Modern and Artistic
Created by a poet imitation of the folk ballad, make
uses (sometimes, with considerable freedom) of
many of its devices and conventions.
 What is Drama? - A story intended to be act out on stage

Types of Drama
TRAGEDY
Tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying
catharsis or pleasure in audiences. While many cultures have developed forms that provoke
this paradoxical response

COMEDY
Comedy is a genre of fiction that refers to any discourse or work generally intended to be
humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, television, film, stand-up
comedy, books or any other medium of entertainment

FARCE
In theatre, a farce is a comedy that aims at entertaining the audience through situations that
are highly exaggerated and extravagant Farce is also characterized by physical humor, the
use of deliberate absurdity or nonsense, and broadly stylized performances. It is also often
set in one particular location, where all events occur. Farces have been written for the stage
and film.

MELODRAMA
A melodrama is a dramatic work wherein the plot, which is typically sensational and
designed to appeal strongly to the emotions, it takes precedence over detailed
characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue, which is often bombastic or
excessively sentimental, rather than action. Characters are often simply drawn and may
appear stereotyped.

MUSICAL
Is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance.
The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are
communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment
as an integrated whole.
TRAGICOMEDY
A literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term
can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements

LESSON
Different Periods in the
04 Philippine History
 LESSON
Different Periods in the
05
Philippine Literature
Philippine Literature
 Philippine Literature is the body of works, both oral and written, that Filipinos whether native; naturalized or
foreign born, have created about the experience of people living in or relating to Philippine Society.
 It is composed or written in one of the Philippine languages, in Spanish, in English and in Chinese as well.

PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD (--BC to 1564)

Characteristics Literary Forms

Based on oral traditions

Crude on ideology and
phraseology
Riddles (bugtong)– battle
of wits among participants
 Tigmo –Cebu
 Paktakon – Ilonggo
 Patotdon– Bicol
Proverbs (salawikain)–
wise sayings that contain a
metaphor used to teach as a
food for thought
Oral Literature Folk Songs Folk Tales Epics
Myths – explain how the
world was created, how
certain animals possess
It is a form of folk lyric
certain characteristics, why
which expresses the hopes
some places have
and aspirations, the
waterfalls, volcanoes,
people's lifestyles as well as
mountains, flora or fauna.
their loves. These are often
EXAMPLE: Why Pineapple
repetitive and sonorous,
Has Eyes
didactic and naïve
Legends – explain the
origin of things. Legend of
Maria Makiling
Hele or oyayi – lullaby

Fables – used animal

Ambahan (Mangyan) – 7-
syllable per line poem that
Proverbs (salawikain)– are about human
wise sayings that contain a relationships and social
metaphor used to teach as a entertainment.
food for thought
characters and allegory.
Fantastic stories – deal
with underworld characters
such as “tiyanak”, “aswang”,
“kapre” and others.

Kalusan (Ivatan) - work

Tanaga- a mono-riming songs that depict the Epics - These are “narratives of sustained
heptasyllabic quatrain livelihood of the people. length based on oral tradition revolving
expressing insights and around supernatural events or heroic
lessons on life is "more deeds” (Arsenio Manuel).
emotionally charged than  Biag ni Lam-ang (Ilocano)
Kanogan (Cebuano) – song
the terse proverb and thus  Kudaman (Palawan)
of lamentation for the dead.
has affinities with the folk  Hinilawod (Panay)
lyric."  Darangen (Maranao)
 SPANISH COLONIZATION PERIOD (1565 – 1863)

Characteristics Literary Forms

It has two distinct classifications:

religious and secular Secular Literature Religious Literature

It introduced Spanish as the

medium of communication Religious lyrics written by ladino poets or
those versed in both Spanish and Tagalog
were included in early catechism and were
Awit - colorful tales of chivalry made for singing and used to teach Filipinos the Spanish language.
chanting

Pasyon – long narrative poem about the

Korido – metrical tale written in octosyllabic quatrains passion and death of Christ. The most
Example: Florante at Laura by Francisco Baltazar popular was “Ang Mahal na Passion ni Jesu
Cristong Panginoon Natin” by Aguino de
Belen
Prose Narratives – written to prescribe proper decorum
 Dialogo
 Manual de Urbanidad Senakulo – dramatization of the pasyon, it
 Ejemplo shows the passion and death of Christ
 Tratado
Examples: Urbana at si Feliza by Modesto De Castro Ang
Bagong Robinson (1879) by Joaquin Tuason

NATIONALISTIC / PROPAGANDA AND REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD (1864 – 1896)

Characteristics Literary Forms

Planted seeds of nationalism in

Filipinos Propaganda Literature Revolutionary Literature

Language shifted from Spanish Was a period of Philippine More propagandistic than
to Tagalog history and literature when the literary as it is more violent in
“Ilustrados” (intellectual indios) nature and demanded
started calling for reforms, complete independence for the
Addressed the masses instead
equality and improvement country.
of the “intelligentsia”
which lasted approximately
from 1868 to 1898 although Political Poetry
most of their activities happened Essays
between 1880-1895
Propaganda Katapusang
helped inflame Hibik ng
Literature Political
Noli Me Tangere and El the spirit of Pilipinas –
Reformatory in Novels
Filibusterismo – Jose Rizal’s revolution Andres
objective
masterpieces that paved the Bonifacio
way to the revolution Kalayaan –
Political Essays – satires, Liwanag at
newspaper of
editorials and news articles Dilim – Emilio
the society,
were written to attack and Jacinto
 Diariong Tagalog – founded
by Marcelo del Pilar
Diariong Tagalog was a
patriotic newspaper in
Tagalog and Spanish
published during the
Spanish occupation of the
Philippines. It was founded
by Marcelo H. del Pilar in
1882 and Francisco Calvo y
Mú ñ oz funded the printing
of the newspaper.
La Solidaridad – whose
editor-in-chief is Graciano
Lopez-Jaena
Noli Me Tángere is an 1887 novel
by Filipino writer and activist José True Decalogue –
Apolinario Mabini
Rizal published during the Spanish
colonial period of the Philippines. It
explores perceived inequities in law
and practice in terms of the ‘” Fifth. Thou shalt strive for the
happiness of thy country before
treatment by the ruling government
and the Spanish Catholic friars of the thy own, making of her the
kingdom of reason, of justice
resident peoples.
and of labor: for if she be happy,
thou, together with thy family,
El filibusterismo, also known by its
shalt likewise be happy.”
alternative English title The Reign of
- An excerpt “True Decalogue”
Greed, is the second novel written by
by Apolinario Mabini
Philippine national hero José Rizal. It
is the sequel to Noli Me Tá ngere and,
like the first book, was written in
Spanish. It was first published in
1891 in Ghent

López Jaena founded the newspaper La Solidaridad in Barcelona. Throughout its course, La Solidaridad
urged reforms in both religion and government in the Philippines, and it served as the voice of what
became known as the Propaganda Movement

AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD (1910-1950)

Period of Apprenticeship Period of Emergence

(1910-1930) (1945-1960)

Characteristics Literary Form Characteristics

Filipino writers imitated Highly influenced by Western

Short Stories Novels
English and American Models Literary trends like
romanticism and realism
Poems writtenX` were
amateurish, which phrasing
and diction is awkward and Short story is the most
artificial. prevalent literary form.

Dead Stars Paz

Marquez Benitez Jose Garcia Villa earned the
Dead Stars is a short story of an over thirty years old international title “Poet of the
bachelor, Alfredo Salazar who was about to get married to Century”.
his fiancée, Esperanza. His love and passion for his fiancé
started getting fade as he was attracted to another woman
named Julia Salas. As Alfredo knew that his family will
disapprove his desire of having another woman, he
unwantedly married with Esperanza and started his own
family. Later, after eight years, Alfredo went on a business
trip to Julia’s place. In his visit to Julia, to his surprise, he
recognized that he no more feel attracted to her anymore.
He compared his love for her as dead stars, his memory of
a long way to get a girl he thought he loved.
 Footnote to Youth
Jose Garcia Villa
“Footnote to Youth” is a 1932 short story set in the
Philippines and centered on Dodong, a farmer's son who
marries young. When seventeen-year-old Dodong decides to
marry his sweetheart, Teang, his father feels that Dodong is
too young to marry but is unable to stop him.

Child of Sorrow
by Zoila Galang
The story revolves around two lovers, Rosa and Lucio, who had undergone a lot of tribulations in their
relationship. They were torn between fighting for their love or complying their responsibilities to their parents.
Besides, there was Oscar who gave several quakes to their strong ties. Until one night, Oscar raped the beautiful
Rosa. She was helpless that time like a gazelle in the teeth of a lion. The two--Rosa and Lucio--said goodbye to
each other with Rosa couldn't move on and wept almost every day and Lucio who drowned himself in
paperwork, books, and all. At the end, Rosa died.

JAPANESE OCCUPATION (1942-1960)

War Years (1942-1944) Period of Maturity & Originality (1945-1960)

Characteristics Literary Form Characteristics Literary Form

Tagalog poets broke away Bountiful harvest in Palanca Awards for

Suyuan sa Tubigan by
away from balagtas tradition poetry, fiction, Literature
Macario Pineda
and instead wrote in simple drama, essay  Jose Garcia Villa
language and free verse.  Nick Joaquin
 NVM Gonzales
Lupang Tinubuan by Filipino writers  Gregorio Brillantes
Fiction prevailed over poetry Narciso Reyes mastered English  Gilda Cordero
and familiarized Fernando
themselves with  Bienvenido Santos
Uhaw ang Tigang na Lupa by Liwayway Arceo diverse techniques.

National Artist Awards

Literary giants Appeared.  Jose Garcia Villa
 Nick Joaquin

CONTEMPORARY/ MODERN PERIOD (1960-PRESENT)

Martial law repressed

Theatre was used as a vehicle of The new trends have been used and
and curtailed human
protest such as the PETA and UP introduced to meet the needs and tastes of
rights including
Theatre. the new generation. 21st Century learners
freedom of press
are demanded to be ICT inclined to
Writers used allegories
compete with the style and format of
and symbolism to
From eighties onwards, writers writing as well. New codes or lingos are
drive home their
continue to show dynamism and used to add flavour in the literary pieces
message at the face of
innovation. produced nowadays.
heavy censorship.
 LESSON
Approaches to Literary
06 Criticism
Literary criticism is the practice of interpreting and writing
about literature as the latter, In turn, strives to make sense of the world.
Literary theory is the study of the Principles which inform how critics
make sense of literary works.
Biographical Criticism
Is a critical approach to literature in which information about an author’s life and background is used to better
understand his works.
 FOCUS: “the effect and influence of the writer's life on his or her work”.
 Header. Person: ...
 Life Summary. Write an interesting 1-2 paragraph summary of the person's life.
 Key Players. ...
 Discussion Questions. ...
 Significant Event or Achievement. ...
 Significant Point Explanation

Historical Criticism
Works by looking into a literary works background: cultural and social contexts, as well as the authors biography.
 Things to consider for your historical critique...
1. Who was the author?
2. How did his or her life influence the work?
3. What was the time period of the text like?
4. How does it setting influence the meaning?

Katapusang Hibik ng Pilipinas by Andres Bonifacio (an excerpt)

Ang lupa at buhay na tinatahanan Sa sangmaliwanag ngayon ay sasabog
bukid at tubigang kalawak-lawakan ang barila't kanyong katulad ay kulog
at gayon din pati ng mga halamanan ang sigwang masasal sa dugong aagos
sa paring Kastila ay binubuwisan. ng kanilang bala na magpapamook.

Bukod pa sa rito'y ang iba't-iba pa Di na kailangan sa Espanya ang awa

huwag nang saysayin, O Inang Espanya ng mga Tagalog, O Inang kuhila
sunod kaming lahat hanggang may Hininga paraiso namin ang kami't mapuksa
Tagalog di'y siyang minamasama pa. langit mo naman kung kami'y madusta.

Ikaw nga, O Inang pabaya't sukaban Paalam na Ina, itong Pilipinas,

kami'y di na iyo saan man humanggan paalam na Ina, itong nasa hirap,
ihanda mo, Ina, ang paglilibingan paalam, paalam, Inang walang habag,
sa mawawakawak na maraming bangkay. paalam na ngayon, katapusang tawag.

Deconstruction
Is a school of literary criticism that suggests that language is not a stable entity, and that we can never exactly say
what we mean. Therefore, literature cannot give a reader anyone single meaning, because the language itself is
simply too ambiguous.
1. Understand the text 3. Identify the Unity that resolves tension
2. Identify tensions 4. Point out how the tension are not really in
oppositio
Footnote to Youth by Jose Garcia Villa
‘’.. Blas is eighteen years old. One night, he tells his father that he wants to marry his girlfriend Tona. Like his father
before him, Dodong doesn't want Blas to marry as he's too young. He knows what's going to happen if Blas marries
too early. He gives him permission to marry anyway. But he does so with sadness in him.”

Feminist Criticism
Tries to correct predominantly male-dominated critical perspective with a feminist consciousness. This form of
criticism places literature in a social context and employs a broad range of disciplines, such as history, psychology,
sociology, and linguistics, to create a perspective that considers feminist issues. Feminist theories also attempt to
understand representation from a woman’s point of view and analyze women’s writing strategies in the context of
their social conditions.
 FOCUS: different perspective and discover the women's contribution to the history of literature.
 Topic: Men are better in decision making roles than women.
 Does the Female suppressed?
 Does the Mane Dominates?

Marxist Criticism
Is a strongly politically-oriented criticism, deriving from the theories of the social philosopher Karl Marx. Marxist
critics insist that all use of language is influenced by social class and economics. It directs attention to the idea that
all language makes ideological statements about things like class, economics, race, and power, and the function of
literary output is to either support or criticize the political and economic structures in place.
 FOCUS: Philosophy, Political Economy, and Socialism.
How to write Marxist Criticism
A Marxist analysis of a text will explore the ways in which the ruling influencers of society can be said to oppress
the lower class in some shape or form, while acting with their own interests. This includes the act of co
modification and exploitation of the labor of the working class.

New Criticism
Evolved out of the same root theoretical system as deconstructionism, called formalist criticism. New criticism
suggests that the text is a self-contained entity, and that everything that the reader needs to know to understand it
is already in the text.
 FOCUS: examines the relationships between a text's ideas and its form, between what a text says and the way it
says it
How to Write New criticism CLOSE READING
1. Look for tensions
2. How tensions resolved in Unity

Dead stars by Paz Marquez Benitez

‘’Dead Stars is a short story of an over thirty years old bachelor, Alfredo Salazar who was about to get married to
his fiancée, Esperanza. His love and passion for his fiancé started getting fade as he was attracted to another
woman named Julia Salas. As Alfredo knew that his family will disapprove his desire of having another woman,
he unwantedly married with Esperanza and started his own family. Later, after eight years, Alfredo went on a
business trip to Julia’s place. In his visit to Julia, to his surprise, he recognized that he no more feel attracted to
her anymore. He compared his love for her as dead stars, his memory of a long way to get a girl he thought he
loved.’’

Psychological Criticism
Uses psychoanalytic theories, especially those of Freud and Jacques Lacan, to understand more fully the text, the
reader, and the writer. The basis of this approach is the idea of the existence of a human consciousness – those
impulses, desires, and feelings about which a person is unaware but which influence emotions or behaviour.
 FOCUS: biographical circumstances of an author. The main goal is to analyze the unconscious elements within a
literary text based on the background of the author.
How to write a Psychological criticism? Psychological Questions
1. Why do the characters react the way they do?
2. What causes characters to mature in the book?
3. How have the characters lives and background influence their actions?
4. What fears and Nervous ticks do the characters have? Why?
5. What kind of personalities do they have?
How to write a Psychological criticism? Psychological Theories
 Kohlberg – Moral development
 Freud
 Erikson- Psychosocial
 Maslow- Hierarchy of needs
 Pavlov
 Vygotsky

Dead stars by Paz Marquez Benitez

‘’Dead Stars is a short story of an over thirty years old bachelor, Alfredo Salazar who was about to get married to
his fiancée, Esperanza. His love and passion for his fiancé started getting fade as he was attracted to another
woman named Julia Salas. As Alfredo knew that his family will disapprove his desire of having another
woman, he unwantedly married with Esperanza and started his own family. Later, after eight years, Alfredo went
on a business trip to Julia’s place. In his visit to Julia, to his surprise, he recognized that he no more feel attracted
to her anymore. He compared his love for her as dead stars, his memory of a long way to get a girl he thought
he loved.’’

Queer Theory, or Gender Studies

Is a relatively recent and evolving school of criticism, which questions and problematizes the issues of gender
identity and sexual orientation in literary texts. Queer theory overlaps in many respects with feminist theory in its
aims and goals, being at once political and practical. To many queer theorists, gender is not a fixed identity that
shapes actions and thoughts, but rather a “role” that is “performed.” It also challenges the notion that there is such
a thing as “normal,” because that assumes the existence of a category for “deviant.” Queer theorists study and
challenge the idea that these categories exist at all, but particularly in terms of sexual activities and identities.
 FOCUS: not just on women but on the construction of gender and sexuality, especially LGBTQ issues, which
gives rise to queer theory

The Safe House

- Sandra Nicole Roldan -

From the street, it is one box among many. Beneath terracotta roof tiles baking uniformly in the sweltering noon
the building/s grey concrete face stares out impassively in straight lines and angles. Its walls are high and wide; as
good walls should be. A four-storey building with four units to a floor. At dusk, the square glass windows glitter
like the compound eyes of insects, revealing little of what happens inside. There is not much else to see.
And so this house seems in every way identical to all the other houses in all the thirty-odd other buildings nestled
within the gates of this complex. It is the First Lady’s pride and joy, a housing project designed for genteel middle
class living. There is a clubhouse, a swimming pool, a tennis court. A few residents drive luxury cars. People walk
purebred dogs in the morning. Trees shade the narrow paths and the flowering hedges that border each building
give the neighborhood a hushed, cozy feel. It is easy to get lost here.
But those who need to come here know what to look for-the swinging gate, the twisting butterfly tree, the cyclone-
wire fence. A curtained window glows with the yellow light of a lamp perpetually left on. Visitors count the steps
up each flight of stairs. They do not stumble in the dark. They know which door will be opened to them, day or
night. They will be fed, sometimes given money. Wounds will be treated, bandages changed. They carry nothing-no
books, no bags, or papers. What they do bring is locked inside their heads, the safest of places. They arrive one at a
time, or in couples, over a span of several hours. They are careful not to attract attention. They listen for the
reassuring yelps of squabbling children before they raise their hands to knock.
It is 1982. The girl who lives here does not care too much for the people who visit. She is five. Two uncles and an
aunt dropped by the other day. Three aunts and two uncles slept over the night before. It is impossible to
remember all of them. There are too many names, too many faces. And they all look the same-too tall, too old, too
serious, too many. They surround the small dining table, the yellow lamp above throwing and tilting shadows
against freshly-painted cream walls.
They crowd the already cramped living room with their books and papers, hissing at her to keep quiet, they are
talking about important things. So she keeps quiet. The flock of new relatives recedes into the background as she
fights with her brother over who gets to sit closer to the television. It is tuned in to Sesame Street on Channel 9.
The small black and white screen makes Ernie and Bert shiver and glow like ghosts. Many of these visitors she will
never see again. If she does, she will probably not remember them.
She wakes up one night. Through the thin walls, she hears the visitors arguing. She can easily pick out one
particular uncle’s voice, rumbling through the dark like thunder. He is one of her newer relatives, having arrived
only that morning. All grown-ups are tall but this new uncle is a giant who towers over everyone else. His big feet
look pale in their rubber slippers, a band-aid where each toenail should have been. He never takes off his dark
glasses, not even at night. She wonders if he can see in the dark. Maybe he has laser vision like Superman. Or,
maybe- like a pirate, he has only one eye. She presses her ear against the wall. If she closes her eyes and listens
carefully, she can make out the words: sundalo, kasama, talahib. The last word she hears clearly is katawan. The
visitors are now quiet but still she cannot sleep. From the living room, there are sounds like small animals crying.
She comes home from school the next day to see the visitors crowded around the television. She wants to change
the channel, watch the late afternoon cartoons but they wave her away. The grown-ups are all quiet. Something is
different. Something is about to explode. So she stays away, peering up at them from under the dining table. On the
TV screen is the President, his face glowing blue and wrinkly like an-old monkey’s. His voice wavers in the
afternoon air, sharp and high like the sound of something breaking. The room erupts in a volley of curses:
Humanda ka na, Makoy! Mamatay ka! Pinapatay mo asawa ko! Mamamatay ka rin P%t@ng*n@ ka! Humanda ka,
papatayin din kita! The girl watches quietly from under the table. She is trying very hard not to blink.
It is 1983. They come more often now. They begin to treat the apartment like their own house. They hold meetings
under the guise of children’s parties. Every week, someone’s son or daughter has a birthday. The girl and her
brother often make a game of sitting on the limp balloons always floating in inch from the floor. The small
explosions like-guns going off. She wonders why her mother serves the visitors dusty beer bottles that are never
opened.
She is surprised to see the grownups playing make-believe out on the balcony. Her new uncles pretend to drink
from the unopened bottles and begin a Laughing Game. Whoever laughs loudest wins. She thinks her mother plays
the game badly because instead of joining in. Her mother is always crying quietly in the kitchen. Sometimes the girl
sits beside her mother on the floor, listening to words she doesn’t really understand: Underground, resolution,
taxes, bills. She plays with her mother’s hair while the men on the balcony continue their game. When she falls
asleep, they are still laughing.
The mother leaves the house soon after. She will never return. The two children now spend most afternoons
playing with their neighbors. After an hour of hide-and-seek, the girl comes home one day to find the small
apartment even smaller. Something heavy hangs in the air like smoke. Dolls and crayons and storybooks fight for
space with plans and papers piled on the tables. Once, she finds a drawing of a triangle and recognizes a word:
class. She thinks of typhoons and floods and no classes.
The visitors keep reading from a small red book, which they hide under their clothes when she approached. She
tries to see why they like it so much. Maybe it also has good pictures like the books her father brought home from,
China. Her favorite has zoo animals working together to build a new bridge after the river had swallowed the old
one. She sneaks a look over their shoulders and sees a picture of a fat Chinese man wearing a cap. Spiky shapes run
up and down the page. She walks away disappointed. She sits in the balcony and reads another picture book from
China. It is about a girl who cuts her hair to help save her village from Japanese soldiers. The title is Mine Warfare.
It is 1984. The father is arrested right outside their house. It happens one August afternoon, with all the neighbors
watching. They look at the uniformed men with cropped hair and shiny boots. Guns bulging under their clothes.
Everyone is quiet afraid to make a sound. The handcuffs shine like silver in the sun. When the soldiers drive away,
the murmuring begins. Words like insects escaping from cupped hands. It grows louder and fills the sky. It is like
this whenever disaster happens. When fire devours a house two streets away, people in the compound come out to
stand on their balconies. Everyone points at the pillar of smoke rising from the horizon.
This is the year she and her brother come to live with their grandparents, having no parents to care for them at
home. The grandparents tell them a story of lovebirds: Soldiers troop into their house one summer day in 1974.
Yes, balasang k4 this very same house. Muddy boots on the bridge over the koi pond, strangers poking guns
through the water lilies. They are looking for guns and papers; they are ready to destroy the house. Before the
colonel can give his order, they see The Aviary. A small sunlit room with a hundred lovebirds twittering inside. A
rainbow of colors. Eyes like tiny glass beads. One soldier opens the aviary door, releases a flurry of wings and
feathers. Where are they now? the girl asks. The birds are long gone, the grandparents say, eaten by a wayward cat.
But as you can see, the soldiers are still here. The two children watch them at their father’s court trials. A soldier
waves a guru says it is their father’s. He stutters while explaining why the gun has his own name on it.
They visit her father at his new house in Camp Crame. It is a long walk from the gate, past wide green lawns. In the
hot surrey everything looks green. There are soldiers everywhere. Papa lives in that long low building under the
armpit of the big gymnasium. Because the girl can write her name, the guards make her sign the big notebooks. She
writes her name so many times, the S gets tired and curls on its side to sleep. She enters amaze the size of the
playground at school, but with tall barriers making her turn left, right, left, right. Barbed wire forms a dense jungle
around the detention center. She meets other children there: some just visiting, others lucky enough to stay with
their parents all the time.
On weekends, the girl sleeps in her father’s cell. There is a double-deck bed and a chair. A noisy electric fan stirs the
muggy air. There, she often gets nightmares about losing her home: She would be walking down the paths, under
the trees of their compound, past the row of stores, the same grey buildings. She turns a corner and finds a swamp
or a rice paddy where her real house should be.
One night, she dreams of war. She comes home from school to find a blood orange sky where bedroom and living
room should be. The creamy walls are gone. Broken plywood and planks swing crazily in what used to be the
dining room. Nothing in the kitchen but a sea green refrigerator; paint and rust flaking off in patches as large as
thumbnails. To make her home livable again, she paints it blue and pink and yellow. She knows she has to work
fast. Before night falls, she has painted a sun, a moon and a star on the red floor. So she would have light. Each
painted shape is as big as a bed. In the dark, she curls herself over the crescent moon on the floor and waits for
morning. There is no one else in the dream.
Years later, when times are different, she will think of those visitors and wonder about them. By then, she will
know they aren’t really relatives, and had told her names not really their own. To a grownup, an old friend’s face
can never really change; in a child’s fluid memory, it can take any shape. She believes that-people stay alive so long
as another chooses to remember them. But she cannot help those visitors even in that small way. She grows
accustomed to the smiles of middle aged strangers on the street, who talk about how it was when she was this high.
She learns not to mind the enforced closeness, sometimes even smiles back. But she does not really know them.
Though she understands the fire behind their words, she remains a stranger to their world’ she has never read the
little red book.
Late one night, she will hear someone knocking on the door. It is a different door now, made from solid varnished
mahogany blocks. The old chocolate brown ply board that kept them safe all those years ago has long since yielded
to warp and weather. She will look through the peephole and see a face last seen fifteen years before. It is older,
ravaged but somehow same. She will be surprised to even remember the name that goes with it. By then, the girl
would know about danger, and will not know whom to trust. No house, not even this one, is safe enough.
The door will be opened a crack. He will ask about her father; she will say he no longer lives there. As expected, he
will look surprised and disappointed. She may even read a flash of fear before his face wrinkles into a smile. He will
apologize, step back. Before he disappears into the shadowy corridor, she will notice his worn rubber slippers, the
mud caked between his toes. His heavy bag. She knows he has nowhere else to go. Still, she will shut the door and
push the bolt firmly into place.
 Preludes
- By Daryll Delgado –

A man died singing. He had sung a total of three songs before he heaved his last breath and collapsed on a chair. It
happened at the Municipal Hall. The time was three in the afternoon-. The sun was high. Heat seeped into people's
bones. Tuba warned their blood even more. Someone's ninth death anniversary was being celebrated. Another
man's life in that partyended. It ended on a high note.
At that very moment, Nenita the wife, was at home, picking leaves for a medicinal brew.
Earlier that day, Nenita had been lying on the sofa, slipping in and out of an afternoon sleep she should not have
heeded, embracing Willy Revillame in her dreams. She had had n-o plans of taking a nap. She had just wanted to
catch a glimpse of Willy after she sent off her grandson for the city, just before she resumed her cooking.
At the sala, she opened the window to let some breeze in. But the air was so dry. Outside it was very quiet.
Everyone was at the Hall, to attend the ninth death anniversary of the juez. Most of them bore the judge a grudge,
but they were all there anyway, eager to see what kind of feast his children had prepared. The children had all
come home from America and Europe for thisvery important occasion in the dead man's journey. Nenita herself
did not mind the judge really, even if she had always found him rather severe. It was the wife whom Nenita did not
feel very comfortable with. There had been some very persistent rumors involving the judge's wife that Nenita did
not care so much for.
As soon as Nenita was certain that her grandson had left, she positioned the electric fan in front of her, sat on the
sofa and turned on the TV to catch the last segment of her favorite show. The next thing she knew, Willy Revillame
was pulling her into his arms, soothing her with words of condolences, before handing her some cash and offering
his left cheek for a kiss. There was huge applause from the studio audience, even if they were all weeping with
Willie, shaking their heads in amazement.
Nenita forced herself out of the dream and the motion brought her entire body up and out of the sofa. She found
herself standing in the middle of the sala, face-to-face with a teary-eyed Willy. Her heart was beating wildly. Her
armpits were soaked in sweat. Her hair bun had come undone. She looked around guiltily, she thought she heard
her husband swear at her. She felt her husband's presence in the living room with her, even if she knew he was at
the death anniversary parry. She quickly turned off the TV and made her way to the kitchen.
She should not have taken that nap, Nenita berated herself. There was an urgent order for ten dozens of suman she
had to deliver the next day, for the judge's daughters who were leaving right after the anniversary. There was
already a pile of pandan leaves on the kitchen table, waiting to be washed and warmed, for wrapping the sweet
sticky rice rolls with.
She had spent all night until early morning boiling the sticky rice and mixing it with anise, caramel and coconut
milk, until her hands trembled and the veins swelled. By the time she was almost done, she had to prepare
breakfast and brew a special tea concoction for her grandson who had spent all night drinking. Her grandson had
very barely made it home-drunk as a fish, crying out a woman's name like a fool early that morning.
Nenita then remembered that she also had to prepare the medicinal tea her husband needed to take with his
dinner. She had yet to complete the five different kinds of leaves, Ampalaya,Banaba, Bayabas, Dumero, Hierba
Buena; the last one she purchases from a man who only comes to town on Thursdays. She was getting ready to pick
Ampalaya and Bayabas leaves from her garden when she heard her husband's voice again his singing voice. She
realized that the sound was coming all the way from the Hall. The sound was very faint, but more than perceptible,
and certainly unmistakable to her.
It was the only sound she could hear when she stepped out of the house and started picking the leaves. Everything
else around her was quiet and still. It seemed as though the entire town- the dogs, the frogs, and the birds included-
had gone silent for this very rare event her husband singing again. She had not heard her husband sing this way in
a very long time, ever since he became ill-when the sugar and alcohol in his blood burned the sides of his heart,
almost getting to the core of it. Since there he would get out of breath when he sang. And he also easily forgot the
lyrics, especially to the Italian classics, and some of the Tagalog Kundiman he used to be very well known for.
Nenita herself never understood all the fuss about her husband's singing, and the fuss his brothers and sisters
made when he stopped singing. She could not even understand half of the songs he sang. They were mostly in
Italian; Spanish, and Tagalog. He rarely sang Bisaya songs, the ones she could understand, and actually liked, even
if she herself could not carry a tune to save her life. Thankfully, their grandson was there to indulge her husband in
music talk. She was happier listening to the two of them talk and sing, and strum guitar strings, from the kitchen.
She used to feel slighted whenever her siblings-in-law recalled with such intense, exaggerated regret, the way their
brilliant brother squandered his money and his talent and oh, all the wrong decisions he made along the way.
Including, though they would never say directly, his decision to marry Nenita. They liked to remind their brothel,
themselves, and anyone who cared to listen, of what their brother used to be what he could have been, whom he
could have been married to. Nenita ceased to mind this, and them, a long time ago. She had forgiven all of them.
They were all dead now save for one brother who lived in the city. She never stopped praying for their souls, but
she was not very sorry that they died.
Nenita knew that her husband was happy the way he was. She never heard him complain. He had nothing to
complain about. She took him back every time his affairs with other women turned sour. She took care of him
when he started getting sick, when the part of his heart that was supposed to beat started merely murmuring and
whistling. Thankfully, her friend, the herbalista, had just the right concoction for this ailment. Even the doctors
were delighted with her husband's progress.
Nenita took her husband back again when, with the money her in-laws sent for his medication he went away to be
with one of his women. People say her husband went to Manila with the judge's widow. Nenita never confirmed
this. Nenita never asked- She just took her husband back. Nursed him back to health again. After that, tough, Nenita
noticed that he spent more and more time alone, in the toilet. And when she asked if he needed help with anything,
he would just mumble incoherently. So she let him be.
She could have prepared him then that other brew her herbalista friend had suggested at the time, the one that
would make his balls shrink, give him hallucinations, make his blood boil until his veins popped. But she didn't, of
course.
She did buy and continued to keep the packet of dried purple leaves said to be from a rare vine found only in Mt.
Banahaw. She didn't even know where Mt. Banahaw was, only that it was up there in the North. She did know that
she would never use the herbs, even if she wanted to keep, see, touch, and feel the soft lump of leaves in her palm,
every now and then. She derived some sense of security, a very calming sense of power, in knowing that she had
that little packet hidden in one of the kitchen drawers.
She listened more closely to her husband's singing. She closed her eyes and trapped her breath in her throat, the
way she did when she listened to the beats and murmurs of her husband’s heart at night. Listening to the air that
carried her husband's voice this way, she almost caught the sound of his labored breathing, and his heart's
irregular beating. He was singing a popular Spanish song now about kissing someone for the last time. Nenita
remembered being told by her husband that that was what it was about. Kiss me more, kiss me more, that was
what the man wanted to tell the woman he loved. Benita found that she could enjoy this one; the song was
recognizable. She laughed lightly as she found herself swaying in slow, heavy movements, to the music of her
husband's voice.
She started imagining herself as a young woman, dancing with this beautiful dark man who eventually became her
husband. And then she heard him choke, heave a breath before he sang: Perderte. Long pause. Perderte. Another
Pause. Despues. And then there was applause, in which Nenita joined, still laughing at her silliness.
After that, all was quiet again.
Nenita gathered the leaves and went back inside the house. Just as well, because it was starting to be very,
intolerably, hot outside. Certainly hot enough to boil an old man’s lood and pop his veins, she thought.
 LESSON

07 World Literature
 World literature is used to refer to the sum total of the world’s national literatures, but usually it denotes the
circulation of works into the wider world beyond their country of origin. To be considered world literature, it
has to speak to people of more than one nationality, hence it transcends borders.
 Often used in the past primarily for masterpieces of Western European literature, world literature today is
increasingly seen in global context because in the present time, countries are experiencing similar situations
and somehow, they are all linked together. Literature went through profound changes in the 20th and 21st
centuries, partly in that of technology, communication and warfare.

Bible- Became the basis of Christianity originating from Palestine and Greece. it contains
both The Old Testament and The New Testament. The word Bible comes from the Greek
word τὰ βιβλία (biblía) which means "books" in English, because it is many books in one
book.
Koran/Quran- The muslim bible from Arabia. The Quran, also Romanized Qur'an or
Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from
God. It is organized in 114 chapters, which consist of verses
Mahabharata- The longest epic in the world that contains the history of religion in India.
The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic where the main story revolves around two
branches of a family - the Pandavas and Kauravas - who, in the Kurukshetra War, battle for
the throne of Hastinapura. Interwoven into this narrative are several smaller stories about
people dead or living, and philosophical discourses.
The Iliad and the Odyssey- It is an epic poem written by Homer and the source of myths
and legends of ancient Greece. The Iliad tells the story of the Greek struggle to rescue
Helen, a Greek queen, from her Trojan captors. The Odyssey takes the fall of the city of
Troy as its starting point and crafts a new epic around the struggle of one of those Greek
warriors, the hero Odysseus.
Canterbury Tales- Depicts the customs and religions of the English in early days. Written
by Goffrey Chaucer
Uncle’s Tom’s Cabin- Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery
novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the
novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S.,
and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the [American] Civil War.
Divine Comedy- Written by Dante Alighieri. This literary work shows the customs and
religions of early Italians.
-Inferno
-Purgatorio
-Paradiso
El Cid Compeador- This literary work shows the culture and national history of
Spaniards.
The Song of Roland- This includes the Doce Pares and Ronces Valles of France. It talks
about the Golden Age of French Christianity. This includes the Doce Pares and Ronces
Valles of France. It talks about the Golden Age of French Christianity.
The Books of the Days- This includes the cult of Osiris and The Mythology and theology of
Egypt.
The Book of the Dead- Written by Confucius of China and became the basis of Christian
Religion.
One thousand and one Arabian Nights- This is from Arabia and Persia (Iran). It shows
the ways of government of industries and societies of Arabia and Persia.