2 7

MODULE 7

THE CREATIVE WORK IN LITERARY

AND/OR SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT

Welcome to Module 7! This module will expose you to more creative works,
this time focusing on the literary and/or sociopolitical contexts. These contexts will
help you not only to understand creative works better but also to relate them in the
lives of humanity. This module will also discuss the several orientations of creative
writing where you will be expected to produce a craft essay on your personal creative
process deploying a consciously selected orientation of creative writing. This
module has three lessons:

• Lesson 1: Literary and/or Sociopolitical Context

• Lesson 2: Orientations of Creative Writing
• Lesson 3: Craft Essay
At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. situate a creative work in sociopolitical contexts (HUMSS_CW/MPIIc-f-21);

2. demonstrate awareness of and sensitivity to the different orientations of creative writing
(HUMSS_CW/MPIIc-f-22); and
3. write a craft essay (HUMSS_CW/MPIIc-f-23).
 Lesson THE CREATIVE WORK IN THE LITERARY
AND/OR SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT
1

What I Need to Know

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:

1. situate a creative work in sociopolitical contexts (HUMSS_CW/MPIIc-f-21)

What I Know

Multiple Choice: To measure your knowledge of the concepts that this module
will develop, answer the following questions. Write only the letter of your answer.

1. Which critical approach is multidisciplinary as it includes the perspectives of

humanistic disciplines such as literature, art, and social and behaviour sciences?
a. Cultural b. New Historical c. Marxist d. Feminist

2. Which approach uses “To what extent are the lives of the characters influenced or
determined by the social, political, and economic forces?” as one of its guide
questions in interpreting a work of literature?
a. Feminist b. Marxist c. New Historical d. Cultural

3. What non-literary evidence can be used to establish the historicity of a story

written centuries ago?
a. Periodicals b. Websites c. Blogs d. Social media

4. What word is similar to the meaning of “milieu” in the study of literature?

a. Context b. Plot c. conflict d. Theme

5. Literary pieces is being compared to what critical approach?

a. Maps b. Books c. Lenses d. Imaginations

6. What lens can interpret the following lines from Mahasweta Devi’s Dhowli,
“…about her wedding she could not recall much because she must have been very
small at the time. She was sent to live with her husband when her body blossomed.
Her father had to take a large loan from the Misras for her wedding and sending off,
and he had to pay back the loan with his labor until he died. She remembered
nothing nice about her husband. He used to beat her”?
a. Feminist b. Marxist c. Historical d. Cultural

7. What general themes can be classified under the Cultural Approach?

a. Arranged marriages c. View of women as objects
b. Inequality in society d. Lender-borrower /rich-poor relationship

8. What is the similarity between Marxism and Feminism as literary theories?

a. Interest in history c. Closeness to reality
b. Power struggles d. Relationship between nations

9. Which is of least interest to a literary critic using Feminism?

a. Slavery b. Inequality c. History d. Abuse

10. What literary theory also studies the members of the opposite sex and the roles
they assume and perform?
a. Cultural b. Feminist c. Marxist d. Historical

What’s In

In the previous lesson, we were able to discuss the elements of drama which
includes character, setting, plot, dialogue, and other literary devices. We also
learned about intertextuality which discusses relationships between texts
especially literary ones.

With this knowledge, you were able to conceptualize a specific character,

setting, and plot for a one-act play. With this script in mind, you then envisioned
the ways of staging your one-act plays. Our last lesson also allowed you to
perform exercises involving the elements of drama successfully.

Finally, your one-act play scripts and concepts were brought into life through
your one-act plays applying your knowledge on the element of drama.
 What’s New

DEFINING CRITICAL APPROACHES

What common critical approaches do we use in studying any given

creative/literary work? Identify these approaches/theories below and put
a check (√) mark before the ones that we employ in our study of literature.

⎕ 1.Behavioral
⎕ 2. Cultural
⎕ 3. New Historical
⎕ 4. Biblical
⎕ 5. Personal
⎕ 6. Environmental
⎕ 7. Marxist
⎕ 8. Elitist
⎕ 9. Feminist
⎕ 10. Naturalist

What is It
By now, you must have learned that literature is multi-
dimensional as it encompasses many aspects of society such as its
culture, beliefs, and ideology. This is so because its creator, the creative person, writes
from specific experiences and contexts.

It has been emphasized by our previous lessons that appreciating a creative work,
most especially works of literature, entails a skill that may be developed through
repeated experience and constant practice. Moreover, this regular savouring of the
beauty of literary works can be taken to another level when you want to partake in the
enlightening critical conversations among your teachers and fellow students about
works of literature especially the ones that tackle issues found in your society.

To develop this skill, you must learn a few critical approaches that you can use
to interpret literature. Some of these have been used in our previous analysis on
poetry, fiction, and drama/play. To make sure that you will be able to use these
approaches in our succeeding lessons, we will discuss some commonly used ones
taken from the book of Habib (2008).

After each definition and description, sample questions are given as guide
questions in analyzing a piece of literature using a particular critical approach. Finally,
sample literary pieces that can be analyzed through the lens of the previously
discussed critical approach are also enumerated.
 Common Critical Approaches in Analyzing Literary Pieces

A. Cultural Studies–Cultural Studies is a multi-disciplinary approach which

includes the perspectives of humanistic disciplines such as literature and art and the
social and behavioural sciences such as anthropology, economics, and psychology.
As a critical perspective, it contests the older definition of culture and looks not at the
stable coherences of a society or a civilization’s history but its dissensions and
conflicts.

Sample Critical Question:

What kinds of gender identify, behaviour, and attitudes are reflected in the
work?

Is there any overtly or covertly expressed view of same-sex unions or

relationships?

Literary pieces that can be studied using Cultural Studies include the
following:

1. Blue Blood of the Big Astana by Ibrahim Jubaira

2. Surveyors of the Liguasan Marsh by Antonio Enriquez
3. We Filipinos Are Mild Drinkers by Alejandro Roces

B. New Historical Perspectives– New Historical Perspective is an approach

in studying literature which provides a context or background information on how
literary works were perceived in their time. This approach also shows how literary
works reflect ideas and attitudes of the time in which they were written. A newer
approach, New Historicism, still considers the contexts of literary works but this time
emphasizes on analyzing historical documents with the same amount of interest
afforded to the literary works to be interpreted.

Sample Critical Question:

How do power relations reflected in the literary work manifest themselves in

the cultural practices and social institutions prevalent during the time the work was
written and published?

Literary pieces that can be studied using the New Historical Perspectives/
New Historicism include the following:

1. Samboangan: The Cult of Warby Antonio R. Enriquez

2. Spots on Their Wings by Antonio R. Enriquez
3. Cave and Shadows by Nick Joaquin
C. Marxist Perspective–Marxist Perspective is an approach that examines
literature for its reflections of how dominant elites exploit subordinate groups, how
people become “alienated” from each other, and how middle class values lead to the
control and suppression of the working classes. It sees literature’s value in promoting
social and economic revolution and considers the literary work as a “product” in
relation to the actual economic and social conditions that exist at the time of the
work’s composition or the time and place of the action it describes.

Sample Critical Question:

To what extent are the lives of the characters influenced or determined by

the social, political, and economic forces?

Literary pieces that can be studied using the Marxist Perspectives include the
following:

1. Progress by F. Sionel Jose

2. Dhowli by Mahasweta Devi
3. Poor Folk by I.V. Mallari

D. Feminist Perspective–Feminist Perspective is an approach that typically

sees literature as an arena in which to contest for power and control and thus an
agent for social transformation. Like Historicism and Marxism, this approach also
examines the social, economic, and cultural aspects of literary works especially for
what those works reveal about the role, position, and influence of women.

Literary pieces that can be studied using the Feminist Perspectives include
Sample Critical Question:
the following:
How are the relations between men and women, or those between members
of the opposite sex, presented in the work? What roles do men and 1. “The
Wedding Dance” by Amador Daguio women assume and perform and with what
consequence?2. “The Virgin” by KerimaTuvera
3. “I’m Wife” by Emily Dickinson
What’s More
Matching literary approaches: Match the descriptions in B with the
literary/critical approaches in A. Write only the letter of your answer.

A B
a. Historical __________1. This approach breaches the
traditional understanding of the terms (like
teaching, learning, text, author among others) in
the process redrawing the limits that formerly
separated them.

b. Cultural __________2. This theory considers every literary

work as a product of its time and its world.

c. Formalism __________3. This approach is concerned with

understanding the role of politics, money, and
power in literature works and with redefining and
reforming the way society distributes its resources
among the classes.

d. Marxism __________4. This criticism attempts to redress the imbalance of

literary study in which all important books were written by men or the only
characters of real interest are male protagonists.

e. Feminism __________5. This approach does not limit itself

to language and structure but also spends time
analyzing non-literary texts from the same time in
which literary works were written.

What I Have Learned

Reading works of literature is not only for entertainment. These literary

pieces not only offer you, the readers, with an awareness of your society and
the culture that is in it, but it also provides a glimpse of your own and your
country’s history.

What social, cultural, political, and historical issues did you discover or
rediscover through our readings? How are they similar or different from the
 real issues that you know about? What approaches will enable us to discern
all of these issues?

What I Can Do

IDENTIFYING SOCIO-POLITICAL CONTEXTS IN A SHORT STORY

Unlocking of Difficulty: Before reading selection below, let us first define some
words that are used in the selection.

1. Perched – Rested on a spot

2. Indebted – Owing gratitude
3. Sari – Garment of southern Asian women
4. Coarse – Loose or rough in texture
5. Threshing – Separating seeds from a plant

Read the excerpt of the short story entitled Dhowli, by Mahasweta Devi;
identify the cultural, historical, Marxist, and feminist contexts found in it.

Dhowli
An excerpt
(Taken from drlouisapicard.files.wordpress.com)

She thought a lot, while tending the goats alone in the woods. She thought
about everything she could remember from her childhood—going to the fair, perched
on her father’s shoulders; spending the day looking at all the shops with their
expensive things, and then coming home happy with a paisa worth of sesame candy.
Of her marital home, all she remembered where the two rooms, the days of work at
the farm of the moneylender to whom they were indebted, and her mother-in-law
making the gruel at the end of the day, for the men to eat first before the women ate
what was left over.

About her wedding she could not recall much because she must have been
very small at the time. She was sent to live with her husband when her body
blossomed. Her father had to take a large loan from the Misras for her wedding and
sending off, and he had to pay back the loan with his labor until he died. She
remembered nothing nice about her husband. He used to beat her. He died of
afever. After he died, her mother-in-lawasked her to stay on.

“You have to work at your mother’s place too in order to eat. Do the same
here.”
 Dhowli knew that much: she could spend the rest of her life there, working all
day, clad in the widow’s borderless sari, coarse and short, working every day from
sunrise to sunset either on the creditors threshing floor or as some farmers’ labourer
or levelling the layer of brick pieces with a mallet making some road or other, and
then falling asleep by the side of her mother-in-law after eating whatever was there to
eat. But her husband’selder brother came there and started eyeing her. Her mother-
in-law then turned against her and Dhowli left.

Context/s of Situating Literature:

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.

IDENTIFYING SOCIO-POLITICAL CONTEXTS IN A STORY

Unlocking of Difficulties: Before proceeding to the reading selection below, let

us first define some words that are used in the selection..

1. Volley - Firing of weapons

2. Armada – Fleet of ships
3. Musketeers – Infantry men armed with a musket which is a long- barrelled
gun
4. Lancers – Soldiers using lances which are long weapons with metal
points
5. Artillery – Powerful guns
6. Stronghold - Place that is fortified and is easily defended
7. Bushes - Wild and unsettled land
8. Thickets – A dense or tangled growth of small trees
9. Meticulously – Extremely careful and precise
10. Heathen - Offensive term for those who don’t believe in God

Read the excerpt of the short story Unseen War by Antonio Enriquez. Identify
the cultural, historical, Marxist, and feminist contexts found in it.

The Unseen War

An excerpt from Enriquez (1996)

That very second the first volley burst from the 80 canons of the Spanish
armada, Senor Capitan Esteban de Murga, Maestre de Campo General Felipe
Macombong, Battalion Commander Santiago the Handsomer, the guide Orancaya
Sofocan, and the musketeers, lancers, bowmen, artillery men, and foot soldiers,
sprang from waiting behind Sultan Kudarat’s stronghold.

They would have rushed up like soldiers do smelling certain victory but for the
thick bushes, thickets, woody trees, and rough land; instead they marched or tramped
quickly, fast, northeastward; the infidel Moros, however, were aware only of the
Spanish Armada facing them at the bay, not of the forces behind them on land; which,
meticulously and systematically, started burning everything in sight; cottas, sitios, and
villages of the heathen Moros.

Context/s of Situating Literature:

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.

What’s More
Multiple Choice: Please read the questions below and answer the
questions that follow. Write only the letter of choice.

1. What cultural practice can be inferred from the following lines, “About her wedding
she could not recall much because she must have been very small at the time. She
was sent to live with her husband when her body blossomed”?
a. Poverty b. Fixed marriage c. Education d. Prostitution
2. What could have been Dhowli’s experience after the wedding as revealed by the
following lines, “But her husband’s elder brother came there and started eyeing her.
Her mother-in-law then turned against her and Dhowli left”?
a. Happy b. Contented c. Miserable d. Boring
3. What era in Philippine history is shown in the following lines from Unseen War,
“That very second the first volley burst from the 80 canons of the Spanish
armada…the musketeers, lancers, bowmen, artillery men, and foot soldiers, sprang
from waiting behind Sultan Kudarat’s stronghold”?
a. Martial Law b. Japanese era c. American regime d. Spanish
conquest

4. What perspective contests the older definition of culture and looks not at the stable
coherences of a society or a civilization’s history but its conflicts?
a. Historical b. Cultural c. Marxist d. Feminist

5. What approach considers the literary work as a “product” in relation to the actual
economic and social conditions that exist at the time of the work’s composition?
a. Marxist b. Cultural c. Historical d. Feminist
 Lesson
Orientations of Creative Writing
2

What I Need to Know

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:

1. demonstrate awareness of and sensitivity to the different orientations of creative
writing (HUMSS_CW/MPIIc-f-22)

What I Know
Multiple Choice: To measure your knowledge of the concepts that
this module will develop, answer the following questions. Write only the letter of your
answer.

1. What type of writing goes beyond the bounds of professional, technical, and
journalistic writing?
a. Descriptive b. Creative c. Narrative d. Persuasive

2. Which one is an example of a creative writing output?

a. Research paper b. Abstract c. Short film d. Journal article

3. Which does NOT belong to a writer’s craft?

a. Word choice b. Factual evidence c. Visual craft d. Imagery

4. What creative craft refers to the products of careful and deliberate choices of
words?
a. Word craft b. Structural craft c. Audible craft d. Visual craft

5. Which component is part of the visual craft?

a. Line breaks b. Rhythm c. Page lay-out d. Details

6. What is included in a writer’s word craft?

a. Imagery b. Repetition c. Alliteration d.Print Features

7. Which written work does NOT belong to creative writing?

a. Editorial b. Short Fiction c. Play d. Poetry
8. Which CRAFT refers to the situation for which one is writing?
a. Topic b. Context c. Audience d. Format

9. What attribute characterizes an essay as a creative output?

a. Sound devices c. Conversational tone
b. Rhythm and cadence d. Characterization

10. What category falls under audible craft?

a. Repetition b. Assonance c. Imagery d. Details

What’s In
In our previous lesson, we learned about situating a work of literature
into its cultural, social, and political contexts. We learned that even if
works of literature are imaginary, they somehow portray person,
events, places, and issues that are realistic.

In analyzing these literary works, there are critical approaches that can
be used to situate these products of imagination into the readers’ very own
consciousness and experiences.

Can you recall some of these approaches? What does the cultural
perspective reveal? How about the historical perspectives? What approach focuses
on how women are viewed in a society?

What’s New
Listen to Beyonce’s song entitled “Halo.” Then, fill out the table
below with the necessary information. Take a look at the example
first before proceeding on your own. The lyrics of the song are
provided below.

Halo by Beyonce

Remember those walls I built?

Well, baby they're tumbling down
And they didn't even put up a fight
They didn't even make a sound
I found a way to let you in
But I never really had a doubt
Standing in the light of your halo
I got my angel now

It's like I've been awakened

Every rule I had you breaking
It's the risk that I'm taking
I ain't never gonna shut you out
Everywhere I'm looking now
 I'm surrounded by your embrace Baby,
I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace
You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby, I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away, I can feel your halo (Halo) halo
I can see your halo (Halo) halo
I can feel your halo (Halo) halo
I can see your halo (Halo) halo ooh

Hit me like a ray of sun

Burning through my darkest night
You're the only one that I want
Think I'm addicted to your light
I swore I'd never fall again
But this don't even feel like falling
Gravity can't forget
To pull me back to the ground again
Feels like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breaking
The risk that I'm taking
I'm never gonna shut you out
Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby,I can feel your halo
You know you're my saving grace
You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby, I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away,

I can feel your halo (Halo) halo

I can see your halo (Halo) halo
I can feel your halo (Halo) halo
I can see your halo (Halo) halo ooh
Ican feel your halo (Halo) halo
I can see your halo (Halo) halo
I can feel your halo (Halo) halo
I can see your halo (Halo) halo ooh
(Halo) halo
(Halo) halo

Everywhere I'm looking now

I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby,I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace
 You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby, I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away, I can feel your halo (Halo) halo
I can see your halo (Halo) halo
I can feel your halo (Halo) halo
I can see your halo (Halo) halo ooh
Ican see your halo (Halo) halo
I can feel your halo (Halo) halo
I can see your halo (Halo) halo ooh
Ican see your halo (Halo) halo
I can feel your halo (Halo) halo
I can see your halo (Halo) halo ooh

Lyrics taken from lyricfind.com

Claim It! Name It! Frame It! (Explain/Analyze

(Quote from the (Label the Author’s
work.) Device/Technique.) Purpose.)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

What is it
Creative writing is a different genre of writing. When writing
under this genre, it is essential that you learn its different
orientations. To understand this topic better, recall the craft of a creative writer. To
give you a clearer idea, let us go back to our definition of creative writing first.

What is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal
professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically
identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of
literary tropes or with various traditions of poetry and poetics.

The creative works that we have been analyzing in this subject are all
products of this craft that we will learn in this part of our lesson. Laminack (2007) and
Ray (1999) who referred to craft to it as the art of writing. Specifically, the writer’s
intentional use of the following to create an effect on the reader:
• Figurative language
• Snapshots/imagery/details
• Thoughtshots
• Word choice/word placement
• Sound/dialogue
• Sentence structure/stylistic devices
• Text features Text structure

The following are the categories of craft:

1. Word Craft –This category refers to the usage of words in a text such
as the following:

• Language – Refers to the use of spoken and written words as a

communication system
• Word choice – Refers to the use of words and expressions in appropriate
contexts
• Vivid verbs – Refers to the use of action words that can be visually seen
and concretized by the readers such as saying “The man beamed” instead
of saying “The man was happy”
• Imagery – Refers to the use of figurative language in literature that appeals
to the human senses such “The starry night looked beautiful”
• Details – Refers to a particular item of information including descriptive and
illustrative ones that support an idea or contribute to an overall impression
of a written work

2. Structural Craft –This category refers to the construction of sentences

and paragraphs to form a cohesive whole. Structural craft includes the following
features:

• Text structure – Refers to the system of constructing a written work

• Paragraph type - Refers to how paragraphs are organized according to the
writer’s purpose such as narrative, expository, argumentative, and
descriptive
• Transitional device – Refers to the use of words and phrases to show
transition of ideas in a paragraph to show contrast, addition, example, and
comparison such as in addition to, furthermore, on the other hand, and
on the contrary
• Parallel structure – Refers to the use of words and phrases having the same
grammatical structure joined by a connector such as in the garden and in
the backyard
 • Repetition – Refers to the repetition of a word, phrase, or clause for
emphasis such as “and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before
I sleep”
• Page lay-out – Refers to how a certain page is designed using graphics,
textual designs, and other visual appeal to create an effect to the reader

3. Audible Craft–This category refers to how sound devices are used in

a text. This includes the following:

• Alliteration – Refers to the use of similar consonant sound at the beginning

of a word in a literary work such as “whither wilt thou wander”
• Assonance – Refers to the repetition of vowel sounds such as “rise high in
the bright sky”
• Onomatopoeia – Refers to the formation or use of words that imitate the
sound of something such as “the bell buzzed, clanged, and tinkled”
• Rhythm – Refers to the pattern formed by stressed and unstressed syllables
in poetry
• Cadence – Refers to the beat of measure of something that follows a set
rhythm
• Hard and soft sounds – Refers to the texture of sounds that relates to the
auditory impact that it produces to the reader such as the sound of lightning
compared to the sound of a baby’s laughter

4. Visual Craft–This category refers to the use of visual features and

includes the following:

• Print Features – Refers to the mechanics on how texts are printed such as
setting texts inbold and italics, choosing fontstyles and sizes, choice of
color, and use of punctuation marks
• Line breaks - Refers to the spacing of lines/paragraphs in a page
• White space – Refers to the area of a page where there are no texts or
images
• Graphics - Refers to the use of pictures, illustrations, charts, maps, and
other diagrams in a page

What’s More

Classifying the elements of a writer’s craft

Group the following pool of terms below into the four craft categories.
There should be three items under each craft.
- Word choice - Language
- Print features - Vivid verbs
- Parallel structure - Repetition
- Alliteration - Text structure
- Line breaks - Assonance
- Onomatopoeia - Graphics
 Word Craft Visual Craft

Structural Craft Audible Craft

Crafting How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife

Unlocking of Difficulties: Before proceeding to the reading selection below, let

us first define some words that are used in the selection.

1. Cud - Partly digested food that cows return to the mouth

2. Massive - Large
3. Daintily - Prettily
4. Fare – Price charged to transport someone
5. Forelock – Lock of hair that falls over the forehead
6. Yoke – Wooden frame for harnessing animals
7.Glistened – Shone brightly
8.Haze – Smoke in the atmosphere
9.Vibrant - Lively
10.Underfoot – Beneath the foot

Now that you have unlocked some difficult words, read the following
excerpt from Manuel E. Arguilla’s How My Bother Leon Brought Home a
Wife. Identify the literary devices (such as metaphor, simile, and
personification) and sensory details (such as words/phrases that make you feel,
see, smell, taste, and hear something).
 How My Bother Leon Brought Home a Wife

(Manuel Arguilla)

She stepped down from the carretela of CaCelin with a quick, delicate grace. She
was lovely. She was tall. She looked up to my brother with a smile, and her forehead was
on a level with his mouth.
"You are Baldo," she said and placed her hand lightly on my shoulder. Her nails

were long, but they were not painted. She was fragrant like a morning when papayas are
in bloom. And a small dimple appeared momently high on her right cheek. "And this is
Labang of whom I have heard so much." She held the wrist of one hand with the other and
looked at Labang, and Labang never stopped chewing his cud. He swallowed and brought
up to his mouth more cud and the sound of his insides was like a drum.
I laid a hand on Labang's massive neck and said to her: "You may scratch his forehead
now."
She hesitated and I saw that her eyes were on the long, curving horns. But she
came and touched Labang's forehead with her long fingers, and Labang never stopped
chewing his cud except that his big eyes half closed. And by and by she was scratching his
forehead very daintily.
My brother Leon put down the two trunks on the grassy side of the road. He paid

CaCelin twice the usual fare from the station to the edge of Nagrebcan. Then he was
standing beside us, and she turned to him eagerly. I watched CaCelin, where he stood in
front of his horse, and he ran his fingers through its forelock and could not keep his eyes
away from her.
"Maria---" my brother Leon said.
He did not say Maring. He did not say Mayang. I knew then that he had always
called her Maria and that to us all she would be Maria; and in my mind I said 'Maria' and it
was a beautiful name.
The sun was in our eyes, for it was dipping into the bright sea. The sky was wide
and deep and very blue above us: but along the saw-tooth rim of the
Katayaghan hills to the southwest flamed huge masses of clouds. Before us the
fields swam in a golden haze through which floated big purple and red and yellow
bubbles when I looked at the sinking sun. Labang's white coat, which I had wished

and brushed that morning with coconut husk, glistened like beaten cotton under the
lamplight and his horns appeared tipped with fire.

He faced the sun and from his mouth came a call so loud and vibrant that the
earth seemed to tremble underfoot. And far away in the middle of the field a
cow lowed softly in answer.
"Hitch him to the cart, Baldo," my brother Leon said, laughing, and she
laughed with him a big uncertainly, and I saw that he had put hisput his arm around
her shoulders. "Why does he make that sound?" she asked. "I have never
heard the like of it."
"There is not another like it," my brother Leon said. "I have yet to hear
another bull call like Labang. In all the world there is no other bull like him."
 She was smiling at him, and I stopped in the act of tying the sinta across
Labang's neck to the opposite end of the yoke, because her teeth were very white,
her eyes were so full of laughter, and there was the small dimple high up on her
right cheek.
"If you continue to talk about him like that, either I shall fall in love with him or
become greatly jealous."
My brother Leon laughed and she laughed and they looked at each other and
it seemed to me there was a world of laughter between them and in them.

I climbed into the cart over the wheel and Labang would have bolted, for he
was always like that, but I kept a firm hold on his rope. He was restless and would

not stand still, so that my brother Leon had to say "Labang" several times. When he
was quiet again, my brother Leon lifted the trunks into the cart, placing the smaller
on top.
She looked down once at her high-heeled shoes, then she gave her left hand
to my brother Leon, placed a foot on the hub of the wheel, and in one breath she
had swung up into the cart. Oh, the fragrance of her. But Labang was fairly dancing
with impatience and it was all I could do to keep him from running away.

• List down the literary devices such as metaphors, similes, personification that you
found in the excerpt.
o ______________________________
o ______________________________
o ______________________________

• List down the sensory details that made you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel something
in the story.

o ______________________________

o ______________________________

o ______________________________

Listening to sound devices

Based on the same excerpt above, focus on the sound devices this
time and list down five examples
• List down the sound devices such as repetition of words and phrases, alliteration,
assonance, and onomatopoeia that you found in the same excerpt.
o ______________________________
o ______________________________
o ______________________________
o ______________________________
o ______________________________
 What I have learned

From this lesson, you learned about creative writing and how it is
different from other types of writing such as journalistic, technical,
scientific, and academic writing. This writing is characterized by
literary devices with emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use
of literary tropes or with various traditions of poetry and poetics.

What categories do word, structural, audible, and visual craft? How are
alliteration and assonance similar and different? What is the difference between
repetition and cadence?

What I can do

Multiple Choice: Read the following questions below and choose

the best answer from the choices. Write only the letter of your choice.

1. What does the “T” in the CRAFT acronym stand for?

a. Time b. Topic c. Text d. Title

2. What element of craft includes alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia?

a. Word b. Visual c. Structural d. Sound

3. Which is NOT one of the writer’s crafts?

a. Audible b. Main idea c. Structural d. Word

4. What is included in a writer’s word craft?

a. Imagery b. Repetition c. Alliteration d. Print Features

5. Which CRAFT acronym refers to the readers for whom the text is written for?
a. Topic b. Context c. Audience d. Format
 Lesson Craft Essay
3

What I need to know

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
1. write a craft essay (HUMSS_CW/MPIIc-f-23)

What I know

Multiple Choice: To measure your knowledge of the concepts that this module will
develop, answer the following questions. Write only the letter of your answer.

1. Which written work does NOT belong to creative writing?

a. Editorial b. Short Fiction c. Play d. Poetry

2. What attribute characterizes an essay as a creative output?

a. Sound devices c. Conversational tone
b. Rhythm and cadence d. Characterization

3. From what French word did the word essay come from?
a. Essai b. Esaie c. Essaye d. Eshay

4. What characterizes the language of an essay?

a. Conversational b. Formal c. Technical d. Journalistic

5. Which situation is best suited for writing a creative essay?

a. Problem-solution c. Personal experiences
b. Political issues d. Proving a theory

6. What pattern of paragraph organization arranges information according to a

progression of time either forward or backward?
a. Spatial b. Chronological c. Sequential d. Contrast

7. What holds the sentences and paragraphs of an essay together?

a. Main idea b. Topic c. Conclusion d. Introduction

8. What does the “a” in the acronym CRAFT stand for?

a. Answer b. Audience c. Argument d. Assonance
9. What type of essay express ideas and feelings?
a. Argumentative b. Expository c. Narrative d. Speculative

10. Which one is not a type of essay?

a. Figurative b. Argumentative c. Narrative d. Expository

What’s In

Last time, we talked about the writer’s craft which is the art of writing. It
is the writer’s intentional use of figurative language and other textual features to
create an effect on the reader.

What does it include? What craft refers to the careful, deliberate word
choice? What refers to organizational features? What are some examples of audible
craft?
What’s New
Titles of Creative Essay: Take a look at some essay titles below
and decide if these are written creatively. Write a check (√) mark
before each number if the titles can be used in creative essays.

⎕ 1.My Bestfriend and I: Just a Like a Pair of Rainbows

⎕ 2. What Could Forever Mean in Days
⎕ 3. Why We Need Rain
⎕ 4. If I Had an Eighth Day of the Week
⎕ 5. The Hidden Law of Economics
⎕ 6.Rising HIV Cases
⎕ 7. The Need for Moral Recovery
⎕ 8.Climate Change in the Philippines
⎕ 9. The 2019 Polls: The Debates
⎕ 10.Flying with a Firefly

What is It
Another genre of literature aside from poetry, drama, and short story
are the essays. The word essay came from the French word
“essais” (Cantular, 2011). Have you written an autobiography
before? How about writing on your embarrassing or unforgettable
experience? Or, your new years’ resolution as soon you came back to school from
the Christmas holiday?

An essay can be written by you on almost any subject reflecting your attempts
to express your experiences, ideas, and feelings about whatever topic you are
writing on. An essay may be written creatively especially the ones that are reflections
of a writer’s personal experience, feelings, and ideas. It uses ordinary, colloquial
language and is conversational in tone and style. It considers the following acronym
to make it effective:
• Content
• Role
• Audience
• Format Topic
There are different kinds of essays. According to Cantular (2011), essays are
classified into its content and purpose. Here are the tyoes of essays:

1. Speculative – This type needs to explore ideas and feelings. It is less

organized, less authoritative, and less insistent in its presentation for it simply
projects the mind of the writer.
2. Argumentative – This essay presents claims and ideas in a
straightforward manner. Its main intent is to establish a point by supporting it with
evidences, data, and information.
3. Narrative – This essay relates an incident as it happened. It is unlike
fiction since its intention is the conveyance of idea/insight based on an event.
4. Expository – This essay has the purpose of expounding and making
something clear for the readers.

Just like any other prose composition, essays can be organized in the
following patterns or methods of organization.

A. Chronological order – A chronological pattern of organization arranges

information according to a progression of time, either forward or backward. When a
topic is best understood in terms of different segments of time, a chronological format
works well. For example, topics of an historical nature are best organized using this
pattern.

B. Order of importance – In this order, ideas or steps are prioritized by the writer
or speaker according to a hierarchy of value. When using the order of importance
pattern of organization, information can be structured from most important to least
important or least important to most important.

C. Sequential order - A sequential pattern of organization is similar to a

chronological pattern, but arranges information according to a step-by-step sequence
that describes a particular process. When one wishes to describe a process that
follows specific series of steps in a particular order, then a sequential pattern works
well. For example, suppose a writer's stated purpose is to explain how wine is made.
D. Spatial order - A spatial pattern of organization arranges information according
to how things fit together in physical space; i.e., where one thing exists in relation to
another. This pattern works well when a writer wishes to create a mental picture of
something which has various parts distinguished by physical location. Topics involving
geography, for example, are often best organized using a spatial pattern.

E. Comparison and contrast order - A compare and contrast pattern arranges

information according to how two or more things are similar to or different from one
another (or both). This is an effective pattern to use when the reader can better
understand one subject when it is described in relation to another. If the reader is
familiar with one topic, the writer can compare or contrast it with another topic to shed
insight on it. For example, suppose a writer's stated purpose is to help the reader make
an informed decision about whether to attend a two-year college or a four-year
university.

What’s More

Matching the CRAFT: Match the terms that correspond to the CRAFT
acronym in A with their descriptions in B.

A B
_____1.Context a. The type of writing produced
_____2.Topic b. The situation for which you are
writing
_____3.Role c. The person or people for which
you are writing
_____4.Audience d. The voice with which you are
writing
_____5.Format e.The subject matter on which you
are writing

The first letters of the words in column A under Self-Test 3.1 will form an
acronym that will read as C-R-A-F-T. You will use this acronym to make sure that
your essay will fit the standards as a literary genre distinct from poetry, fiction, and
play.

What I have learned

From this lesson, you just learned about craft as the art of writing.
However, it can also stand for an acronym to refer to the
characteristics of an essay that differentiates it from other genres of
literature. What does the acronym stand for?
You will use this acronym to make sure that your essay will fit the standards as a
literary genre distinct from poetry, fiction, and play.

You also learned about the different types of essays. Which types will you use
when you want to express your personal feeling, perceptions, and experiences? How
about when you want to expound or make something clear to the readers? How will
you express these essays? What method of paragraph development can writers
use?
 What I can do

Using your knowledge of the different methods or organizational

structure in writing essays, identify the best method or pattern of paragraph writing to
use in the following topics. Choose from the pool of choices below.

_____ 1. My First Trip Abroad

_____ 2.The Steps in Building the Biggest Bridge of the World
_____ 3. Four Reasons to Vote for a New Community Leader
_____ 4. Lake Fishing and Stream Fishing
_____ 5.Four Important Sights along Mississippi River

A. Chronological order

B. Order of importance

C. Sequential order
D. Spatial order

E. Comparison and contrast

Additional Activity

Write a creative CRAFT essay. Observe the different orientations of

creative writing as used in a craft essay that you have just learned namely;
CONTENT of your essay, your ROLE as a writer, your AUDIENCE, the
FORMAT that you will use, and the TOPIC of your essay. Choose the best
paragraph organization method applicable. Refer to the rubric below for the
grading system.
 CRAFT Essay Rubric

FOCUS CONTENT ORGANIZATI CREATIVE MECHANI

ON CONVENTIONS CS
4 Controlling Specific and/or Sophisticated Precise, use of the Evident
point made illustrative arrangement orientations of control of
about a single content of content creative writing like grammar
topic demonstrating with evident word, structure, and
strong and/or subtle visual, and audible mechanics
development of transitions crafts
ideas
3 Apparent Sufficiently Functional Generic use of the Sufficient
point made developed arrangement orientations of control of
about a single content with of content that creative writing like grammar
topic adequate sustains word, structure, and
elaboration logical order visual, and audible mechanics
with some crafts
transitions
2 No Limited content Confused Limited use of the Limited
apparent with inadequate arrangements orientations of control of
point but elaboration or of content creative writing like grammar
evidence of explanation without word, structure, and
a specific attempts at visual, and audible mechanics
topic transitions crafts
1 Minimal Superficial Minimal Minimal use of the Minimal
evidence of a and/or minimal control of orientations of control of
topic content content creative writing like grammar
arrangement word, structure, and
visual, and audible mechanics
crafts

Post-test

Multiple Choice: Read the following questions below and choose the best answer
from the choices. Write only the letter of your choice.

1. What critical approach relates the literary work with non-literary document written
at the same time?
a. Marxist b. Feminist c. Cultural d. New Historical

2. What does the “T” in the CRAFT acronym stand for?

a. Time b. Topic c. Text d. Title

3. What composition is written about the personal experiences, ideas, and feelings of
the writer?
a. Poetry b. Essay c. Play d. Fiction

4. What essay title can be best presented creatively?

a. The Passing of the Death Penalty
b. The Bangsamoro Organic Law
c. My First Taste of Forever
d. The Importation of Rice

5. Which order of paragraph organization arranges details according to the element

of time?
a. Sequential b. Spatial c. Chronological d. Comparison

6. What element of craft includes alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia?

a. Word b. Visual c. Structural d. Audible

7. What critical approach sees literature’s value in promoting social and economic
revolution and social conditions that exist at the time of the work’s composition or the
time and place of the action it describes?
a. Feminist b. Marxist c. New Historical d. Cultural

8. Which is NOT one of the writer’s crafts?

a. Audible b. Main idea c. Structural d. Word

9. What literary portrayal has the least socio-political context?

a. Poverty b. Heroes c. Violence d. Slavery

10. What type of essay relates an incident as it happened?

a. Narrative b. Speculative c. Argumentative d. Expository

------------------------------------------------------End of Module 7-------------------------------------------------------