LESSON 4

L I T E RARY ,
B I OG R APH I C AL ,
L I NG UI S T I C , AND
S OC I O- C UL T UR AL

ANABELLE VILLARINO
Subject Teacher
 A. LITERARY TEXT

a piece of written material, such as a book or

poem that has the purpose of telling a story or
entertaining, as in a fictional novel.
 CONTEXT
anything beyond the specific words of a literary
work that may be relevant to understanding the
meaning. Contexts may be economic, social,
cultural, historical, literary, biographical, etc.
 QUESTIONS:
As a reader, why do you have to make
sense of the context of a literary work?
How is each literary work representative
of the region where the writer is from
and of the nation?
Merlie m. Alunan was born in Dingle, Iloilo and graduated with a Creative Writing
degree from Siliman University. She is Professor Emeritus at the University of the
Philippines and promoteswriting in the mother tongue. Her poems are in English,
Cebuano, and Waray. At present, she resides in Tacloban City.
Old Woman in The
Village

B Y merlie Alunan
 Question:
what images were you able to
imagine when you read the poem?
Cite a line that supports your
answer.
 QUESTION
:
what sound devices were used in the
poem?
 SoUnD Devices
Cacophony- this sound device refers to
words or phrases with harsh sounds that
create a disturbing tone.
Euphony- this sound device refers to
words or phrases with melodic sounds that
create a calming tone.
 SoUnD Devices
Cacophony-
Example 1
He grunted and in a gruff voice said, “Give me that trash and I’ll
throw it out!”

- This sentence makes use of cacophony in a few ways:

“grunted,” “gruff,” and “give” have harsh g sounds and “that,”
“trash,” and “throw it out” all have hard t sounds.
 Sound Devices
Cacophony-
He is a rotten, dirty, terrible, trudging, stupid dude!

In this example, the cacophonic sound of the sentence mirrors its

harsh tone and meaning with hard t sounds in “dirty,” “terrible,”
and trudging,” hard d sounds in “dirty,” “trudging,” and “dude,”
and the hard st sound in “stupid.”
 Sound Devices
EUPHONY
“Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need. Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory,
As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear!”
 Sound Devices
EUPHONY

In this poem, Emily Dickinson has used soft and

harmonious consonants to create euphony. For example,
s, v, and f sounds run throughout the poem. Such words
are melodic in nature, hence they produce pleasing
sounds.
 Sound Devices
EUPHONY
Example #4: Macbeth (By William Shakespeare)
“…Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
 Sound Devices
EUPHONY

The language of Shakespeare is a great example of euphony. He has used

pleasant, harmonious, and musical sounds in the above excerpt
from Macbeth. Here, the euphonic words are shown in bold.
 Sound Devices
EUPHONY
Function of Euphony
The purpose of using euphony is to bring about peaceful and
pleasant feelings in a piece of literary work. The readers enjoy
reading such pieces of literature or poems. The long vowels create
more melodious effect than short vowels and consonants, making
the sounds harmonious and soothing. In addition, pronunciation and
enunciation become agreeable and easy. Furthermore, euphony is
used in poetry and speeches to convey messages effectively to
the audience and the readers.
 Gutierrez mangansakan II, an advocate of the moro culture, is a filmmaker
and writer from Pagalungan, maguindanao.En 2001, his film House under the
Crescent moon won the grand prize for video documentaryfrom the Cultural
Center of the Philippines Prize for Endependent Film and video. Since then,
he has made films that focus on the plight of women and children.
 Bob Ong is the pseudonym of a Filipino contemporaryauthor
known for using conversational Filipino to create humorous and
reflective depictions of life as a Filipino.
ABNKKBSNPLAKO?!
B Y BOB ONG
 QUESTION:
What genre/s does the story fall
under?
 mr. Jose’s writing, rich in themes drawn from his rural
upbringing, amounted to a continuing morality play about poverty
and class divisions in the Philippines.
PUPPY LOVE
BY F. SIONIL JOSE
 TASK:
Cite a line in the excerpt that uses
a Figure of Speech.
C ECONOmIC
O
N Economic context in literature is part of
the overall context of the work. The
T economy in which a literary work was
E written might be considered as part of the
X historical context.Economiccontextis the
T economy—or financial circumstances—in
which the literary work is written.
S
C SOCIAL
O
N The social context of a text is the way
T in which the features of the society it
E is set in impact on its meaning. There
X are two aspects to social context: the
kind of society in which the characters
T live, and the one in which the author's
S text was produced.
C CULTURAL
O
N The cultural context of a text helps the
T reader understand what is happening and why.
It is made of up several factors including
E
setting/location, background, cultures, beliefs,
X and community. Each of these items affects
T how a reader looks at and understandswhat is
S happening in that text.
C HISTORICAL
O
N Historical context refers to the time
T period in which a story occurs. Both
E historical events (like wars) and time
X periods (like the Great Depression) can
influence a story.
T
S
C LINGUISTIC
O
N Linguistic context refers to the context
T within the discourse, that is, the
E relationship between the words, phrases,
X sentences and even paragraphs.
T
S
C BIOGRAPHICAL
O
N Biographical context, which is formed by
T the beliefs, education, culture, and
E experiences of the author. Context of
X language and form, which helps readers
understand the vocabulary and sentence
T structures of a text as well as its literary
S form.
 WHY IS IT
ImPORTANT TO
UNDERSTAND THE
CONTEXT OF A
LITERARY TEXT?