Philippine Normal

University

Contemporary
Literature
 Sirena
by Gloc-9

What realization was shown at the end of the video?

What do you think will happen if the character decides to be the person his
father wanted him/her to be? Would there be a realization as powerful as
what is shown?
 Philippine Normal
University

The
Conversion
J. Neil Garcia

Contemporary Literature
Term 2, AY 2023 – 2024
Learning
Objectives
At the end of the lesson, the students are
expected to:
analyze the literary piece using formalist, queer,
and reader-response approaches;
reflect on the historical and social relevance and
impact of queer literature;
work as a team to produce a sound analysis of the
literary piece; and
discuss their analysis of the poem to the class.
Take Note!
While reading the literary piece, take
note of the following:
• The main idea
• Theme
• Setting
• Characters
• Point-of-View
• Structure and Plot
• Diction / Language
The Conversion
by J. Neil Garcia

This was first published in 1993 in the Philippine Free Press.

In 1994, it was republished as part of the Ladlad: An
Anthology of Philippine Gay Writing.
The It happened in a metal drum.

Conversion
They put me there, my family
That loved me. The water
Had been saved just for it, that day.
The laundry lay caked and smelly
In the flower-shaped basins.
Dishes soiled with fat and swill
Pilled high in the sink, and grew flies.
My cousins did not get washed that morning.
Lost in masks of snot and dust,
Their faces looked tired and resigned
To the dirty lot of children.
The All the neighbors gathered around our
open-aired bathroom. Wives peered out

Conversion
from the upper floor of their houses
into our yard. Father had arrived booming
with cousins, my uncles.
They were big, strong men, my uncles.
They turned the house inside-out
Looking for me. Curled up in the deepest corner
Of my dead mother's cabinet, father found me.
He dragged me down the stairs by the hair
Into the waiting arms of my uncles.
Because of modesty, I merely screamed and
cried.
The Their hands, swollen and black with hair, bore
me

Conversion
Up in the air, and touched me. Into the cold
Of the drum I slipped, the tingling
Too much to bear at times my knees
Felt like they had turned into water.
Waves swirled up and down around me, my head
Bobbing up and down. Father kept booming,
Girl or boy. I thought about it and squealed,
Girl. Water curled under my nose.
When I rose the same two words from father.
The same girl kept sinking deeper,
Breathing deeper in the churning void.
The In the end I had to say what they all

Conversion Wanted me to say. I had to bring down this

diversion
To its happy end, if only for the pot of rice
Left burning in the kitchen. I had to stop
Wearing my dead mother's clothes. In the mirror
I watched the holes on my ears grow smaller,
Until they looked as if they had never heard
Of rhinestones, nor felt their glassy weight.
The I should feel happy that I'm now
Redeemed. And I do. Father died within five years

Conversion
I got my wife pregnant with the next.
Our four children, all boys,
Are the joy of my manhood, my proof.
Cousins who never shed their masks
Play them for all their snot and grime.
Another child is on the way.
I have stopped caring what it will be.
Water is still a problem and the drum
Is still there, deep and rusty.
The bathroom has been roofed over with plastic.
The
Conversion
Scrubbed and clean, my wife knows I like things.
She follows, though sometimes a pighead she is.
It does not hurt to show who is the man.
A woman needs some talking sense into. If not,
I hit her in the mouth to learn her.
Every time, swill drips from her shredded lips.
I drink with my uncles who all agree.
They should because tonight I own their souls
And the bottles they nuzzle like their prides.
While they boom and boom flies whirr
Over their heads that grew them.
The
Though nobody
Remembers, I sometimes think of the girl
Who drowned somewhere in a dream many

Conversion dreams ago.

I see her at night with bubbles
Springing like flowers from her nose.
She is dying and before she sinks I try to touch
Her open face. But the water learns
To heal itself and closes around her like a wound.
I should feel sorry but I drown myself in gin
before
I can. Better off dead, I say to myself
And my family that loves me for my bitter breath.
We die to rise to a better life.
Main Idea Theme
The main idea of the literary
piece. What is it about?
The central message of the
literary piece. What is the
author trying to say about its
main idea?
 The Conversion
as a Queer Literature

While queer literature has long existed, it wasn’t explicit, nor was it widely
celebrated. It was during the 20th century that this form of literature became
popular.
Queer Literature
Queer literature is a genre that focuses on LGBTQIA+ characters and themes
and encompasses a wide range of narratives that challenge traditional
gender roles and explore diverse sexualities.

The term queer in LGBTQIA+ discourse serves several important purposes:

• Serves as an umbrella term that encompasses a spectrum of sexual
orientations and gender identities
• Describes the fluidity of gender and sexual orientations
• Creates a political statement that advocates LGBTQIA+ rights and
challenges societal norms
• Reclaims identity and empowerment from a derogatory term
 The Conversion
as a Queer Literature

How are queers presented and represented in the literary piece?

How does the literary piece contribute to our knowledge of queer, gay, or lesbian
experience and history, including literary history?
How does the literary text illustrate the problematics of sexuality and sexual
identity, i.e., the ways in which human sexuality does not fall neatly into the
separate categories defined by the words homosexual and heterosexual?
Understanding
The Conversion

through
the Formalist Approach
 Formalist approach focuses

Formalist only on the work itself and

completely ignores the author

Approach
of the work, time and
background information of the
work, and the audiences’
feeling or perception about the
work.

POINT-OF-VIEW SETTING

Describe the speaker in the literary
piece.
What role does the POV play in
conveying the message of the literary
piece?
When and where did the events in the
literary piece take place?
Does the setting play an essential role
in the theme of the literary piece?
Formalist CHARACTERS

Approach
Who are the characters in the literary piece?
How do they relate to each other?
How do their words and actions characterize them?
Are these characters relevant to the theme of the literary
piece?

LANGUAGE STRUCTURE & PLOT

How does the writer’s diction reflect the theme How is the literary piece organized?
of the literary piece? How does the literary piece begin and end?
Is figurative language used? What effects does it How does its structure relate to the plot?
produce?
 Buzz Session
1. Each group will be assigned a literary element to focus on (Point-of-view,
Setting, Characters, Language, and Structure and Plot).
2. In your group, discuss the questions related to your assigned literary
element. Brainstorm. Then, come up with answers that you will share
with the class.
3. Write your answers on a ½ sheet of paper.
4. Assign a member of the group to present your answers.
5. As a group, be ready to answer questions that your classmates might ask.
Criteria for Grading
the Buzz Session
Criteria Description Points
The discussion is based on what is
presented and revealed in the text.
Engagement with the Text 15
Explanations are backed with lines from
the text.

The members are on the task at all

times, listen to and respect each other,
Group Behavior 5
and contribute significantly to the
output.
Reader-response
to The Conversion
How would you describe the author’s writing style?
What experiences, thoughts, or knowledge does the literary piece evoke?
What aspects or characters of the text do you identify or disidentify with, and how does
this process of identification affect your response to the text?
 The
Conversion What reflections, questions,
or additional input do you have
by in mind?
J. Neil Garcia