lyrical essay

21st century literature of the philippines

LET’S GO!
 Learning Objectives

understand relate how

and sensory write a
appreciate images personal
the structure enhance the lyrical essay
of lyrical theme of a
essay lyrical essay
 get started!
Think of a fond memory you shared with a parent, grandparent,
or a loved one from your childhood. Narrow down to one
specific, very distinct moment. Recall what you felt then. Were
you happy? Sad? Excited? Hurt? Think of the sensory details
surrounding that memory. What were the sights, smells,
sounds, and feelings you remember from the moment?
 • a poem that
expresses personal

lyric emotions

• certain musicality and

rhythm

• communicates the
poet’s feelings
through figurative
language.
essay • a prose composition
that conveys the
writer’s views about a
particular subject
These two literary genres
seem to be opposing
poles: one expresses
through an almost-
musical weaving of verse;
the other though
straightforward narrative
or expository sentences.
 Lyrical essay

a form of creative non-fiction that

combines both prose and poetry
Rather than simply
narrating, explaining, or
arguing a point, the writer of
lyrical essay
a lyrical essay uses sensory
images to craft the essay.

The image can be of a

person, a place, an object,
an event, or a memory.
The lyrical essay recreates
an experience and evokes
lyrical essay
emotion in the reader by
using sensory details --
descriptions that express
what the writer sees, hears,
smells, tastes, touches, and
feels.
lyrical essay
the emergency sirens
awakened the still roads lyrical essay
wailing like a newborn baby
Your love reminded me of a
wind howling through the
storm
warm summer air smelled of
freshly cut grass
It is comprised of a series of
fragmented images using lyrical essay
poetic language (such as
alliteration, assonance,
internal rhyme, and rhythm)
rather than a series of
events unfolding one after
the next
 ALLITERATION
the repetition of usually
poetic
initial consonant sounds in language
two or more neighboring
words or syllables

Spinning in my highest
heels, love
Shining just for you
 ALLITERATION
poetic
All of the millionaire’s money language
only made him more
melancholy

I polish plates until they

gleam and glisten
 ASSONANCE
poetic
a literary device in which
the repetition of similar language
vowel sounds takes place
in two or more words in
proximity to each other
within a line of poetry or
prose
 ASSONANCE
poetic
You lift my feet off the
ground
language
You spin me around
You make me crazier,
crazier

She eats the sweet treats

 INTERNAL RHYME
poetic
is a poetic device that can
be defined as metrical lines
language
in which its middle words
and its end words rhyme
with one another. It is also
called “middle rhyme,” since
it comes in the middle of
lines
 INTERNAL RHYME
poetic
“For the moon never beams
without bringing me Dreams
language
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I
feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
 RHYTHM
poetic
use of long and short
stresses, or stressed and
language
unstressed, within the writing
 it is a new literary form,
lyrical essay
considered by some writers
as having been “born” the
literary journal The Seneca
Review defined and featured
the genre in 1997.
unique features of lyrical essay
The Seneca Review defines the lyrical essay as having the following unique features.

constructed from a distillation of

combines prose and poetry
ideas

mentions but doesn’t expound suggestive but not exhaustive

make reference to other genres, such

as film, music, literature
unique features of lyrical essay
The Seneca Review defines the lyrical essay as having the following unique features.

arranged in fragments such as

based on stories that are metaphors
mosaic

based on intimate voice crafted with lyrical language

relies on associations, imagery, and

connotation
 Because it is a new genre, it still
does not have an exact definition
and scope. Some writers of
lyrical essay
creative nonfiction have not yet
fully embraced the term “lyrical
essay” to classify the genre. It is
an emerging genre in its early
stages, which makes it open
form experimentation in style and
language, and all the more
exciting.
pre-reading
Open your NGS and read the
lyrical essay titled
“Passage” by Charlotte
Aninion de Guzman
text analysis
• Filll out the Imagery Chart below by identifying: (1) the senses which
the description appeal; (2) the emotions evoked by the
description(What was the narrator feeling? How did it make you feel?)

Imagery
senses (there may be more
... and I could see and smell again
my mother’s homemade halo-halo than one)
with globs of leche flan and
sweetened jackfruit winking merrily
emotion
on top of deliciously melting crushed
ice and Alaska evaporated milk.
text analysis
• Filll out the Imagery Chart below by identifying: (1) the senses which
the description appeal; (2) the emotions evoked by the
description(What was the narrator feeling? How did it make you feel?)

Imagery
senses (there may be more
... while her friends’ distant squeals
of pleasure and shouts float through
than one)
the open window as the gleefully
emotion
played patintero outside her house.
text analysis
• Filll out the Imagery Chart below by identifying: (1) the senses which
the description appeal; (2) the emotions evoked by the
description(What was the narrator feeling? How did it make you feel?)

Imagery
senses (there may be more
... the little girl could not hear them
than one)
as she slurped down her cold snack
emotion
text analysis
• Filll out the Imagery Chart below by identifying: (1) the senses which
the description appeal; (2) the emotions evoked by the
description(What was the narrator feeling? How did it make you feel?)

Imagery
senses (there may be more
... her mother gently patted her head
than one)
and kissed her sun-scented
forehead emotion
text analysis

2. What does the last line form Passage, “the little girl
sadly did not foresee that, someday... that future would
dream of her as well ... during a quiet and nostalgic
summer day ...,” mean?
 MINITASK 2
Revisit the memory chart that you completed earlier in the
lesson. use that as your guide for your lyrical essay. Anchor
your lyrical essay on the central memory and recall as much
vivid detail as possible. Use imagery that appeals to the
senses so that your reader will be able to imagine your
memory. Remember that you are not to explain or elaborate,
but rather show or suggest through images. Imagine that you
are putting together a mosaic of memories using words.
existentialism philosophical belief we are each
responsible for creating purpose or
meaning in our own lives

HOW DO YOU
EXPERIENCE
EXISTENTIALISM
IN YOUR LIFE?