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English
Quarter 3 – Module 4:
Expressing Appreciation
on Literature as a Mirror
to a Shared Heritage of People with
Diverse Backgrounds
English – Grade 8
Quarter 3– Module 4: Expressing Appreciation on Literature as a Mirror
to a Shared Heritage of People with Diverse Backgrounds
First Edition, 2020

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work
of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or
office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit.
Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of
royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names,
trademarks, etc.) included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders.
Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from
their respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim
ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education – Region XI

Regional Director: Evelyn R. Fetalvero
Assistant Regional Director: Maria Ines C. Asuncion

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Rowena M. Duero
Reviewers: Elenita F. Alibang, Christopher U. Gonzales
Template Developer: Neil Edward D. Diaz
Technical Support: Nancy A. Sarmiento
Management Team:
Evelyn R. Fetalvero Dee D. Silva
Mary Jeanne B. Aldeguer Eduard C. Amoguis
Analiza C. Almazan Ernie M. Aguan/Marilyn E. Sumicad
Ma. Cielo D. Estrada Lourdes A. Navarro
Manuel Vallejo Allen T. Guilaran

Printed in the Philippines by ________________________

Department of Education – Division of Davao del Norte

Office Address: DepEd Building, Provincial Government Center Mankilam, Tagum City,
Davao del Norte, Region XI, 8100

Telefax: (084) 216- 0188

E-mail Address: deped.davnor.lrms@deped.gov.ph

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English
Quarter 3 – Module 4:
Expressing Appreciation
on Literature as a Mirror
to a Shared Heritage of People with
Diverse Backgrounds
Introductory Message
For the facilitator:
As a facilitator, you are expected to orient the learners on how to
use this module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress
while allowing them to manage their own learning at home.
Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and assist the learners as
they do the tasks included in the module.

For the learner:

As a learner, you must learn to become responsible of your own
learning. Take time to read, understand, and perform the different
activities in the module.
As you go through the different activities of this module be
reminded of the following:
1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on
any part of the module. Use a separate sheet of paper in
answering the exercises.
2. Don’t forget to answer Let Us Try before moving on to the other
activities.
3. Read the instructions carefully before doing each task.
4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking
your answers.
5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.
6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are
done.
If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this
module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator. Always
bear in mind that you are not alone. We hope that through this
material, you will experience meaningful learning and gain deep
understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!

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 Let Us Learn

Hey there! In the previous activity sheets, you were able to read and
learn many literary works. Learning by reading is very important for you to
be able to understand many things in this diverse world that we are living.
Doing and acting the right things when mingling with other people is very
important for you to be understood but you must learn first to understand
other individuals’ ways, beliefs and culture.

This time you will be learning another literary selection based on a

real experience. It’s not something really new to you because I guess also
that you have already experienced similar situation in your life’s journey, so
this time we will just try to remember and rediscover the importance of the
lessons you’ve learned from your previous experience because it will surely
help you a lot to live harmoniously with other people.

As you go through this lesson, you are expected to:

1. express appreciation on literature as a mirror to a shared

heritage of people with diverse backgrounds (EN8LT-IIIe-10:);
and
2. select appropriate details from the narrative.

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 Let Us Try
Are you excited to get moving? To begin with your learning
journey, let us first have this activity. The following are Chinese
and American ways of life. Write C on the space provided before
each number if it is a Chinese culture and A if it is an American
culture.

______1 nearly all meals are shared

______2. regularly eat alone
______3. use chopsticks
______4. use knife and fork
______5. most vegetables are cooked in water, roasted, or pan-
fried
______6. eat raw vegetables/salads
______7. love their cheese and milk
______8. diets don't contain much dairy
______9. drink coffee
______10. drink tea

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 Let Us Study
Opps! You seem to have an idea on what you will be learning
in this activity sheet. Great! The narrative that follows is
based on an incident from Lensey Namioka’s past. It reveals
that Namioka was born in China and made many
adjustments when she and her family moved to the United
States. Find out how the narrator and her family try to adjust to
western life. Do you think there are positive results despite cultural
differences? Now, before you read and understand the narrative
below, match the italicized word in each phrase in Column A with its
meaning in Column B. Be ready to use each word in a sentence
afterwards. Do not worry, because each word in a phrase serves as
clue for you to come up with the correct answer. Hurry and give it a
try. Then answer the corresponding questions to begin with your
learning journey. Go and begin.

Column A Column B

____1. dash of tomato sauce a. to eat or drink noisily

____2. lavishly covered
____3. too mortified to go back
____4. nursed a bit
____5. relish tray
____6. after the spectacle
____7. buffet dinner slurp
____8. a zingy taste
b. a public display
c. humiliated, ashamed
d. splatter
e. sharp-flavored taste
f. fed, ate
g. excessively
h. to eat with pleasure

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 The All-American Slurp
(An Excerpt)
Lensey Namioka

The first time our family are invited to dinner in America, we disgraced
ourselves while eating celery. We had immigrated to this country from
China, and during our early days here, we had a hard time with American
table manners.
In China, we never ate celery raw or any other kind of vegetable raw.
We always had to disinfect the vegetables in boiling water first. When we
were presented with our first relish tray, the raw celery caught us
unprepared.
We had been invited to dinner by our neighbors, the Gleasons. After
arriving at the house, we shook hands with our hosts and packed ourselves
into a sofa. As our family of four sat stiffy in a row, my young brother and I
stole glances at our parents for a clue as to what to do next.
Mrs. Gleasons offered the relish tray to Mother. The tray looked pretty,
with its tiny red radishes, curly sticks of carrots, and long slender stalks of
pale green celery. “Do try some of the celery, Mrs. Lin,” she said. “It’s from a
local farmer, and it’s sweet.”
Mother picked up one of the green stalks, and Father followed suit.
Then I picked up a stalk, and my brother did, too. So there we sat, each with
a stalk of celery in our right hand.
Mrs. Gleason kept smiling. “Would you like to try some of the dip,
Mrs. Lin? It’s my own recipe sour cream and onion flakes with a dash of
Tabasco sauce.”
Most Chinese don’t care for dairy products, and in those days, I
wasn’t even ready to drink fresh milk. Sour cream sounded perfectly
revolting. Our family shook our heads in unison. Mrs. Gleason went off with
the relish tray to the other guests, and we carefully watched to see what
they did. Everyone seemed to eat the raw vegetables quite happily. Mother
took a bite of her celery. Crunch. “It’s not bad, she whispered. Father took a
bite of his celery. Crunch. “Yes, it is good,” he said looking surprised.
I took a bite, and then my brother. Crunch, crunch. It was more than
good; it was delicious. Raw celery has a slight sparkle, a zingy taste that you
don’t get in cooked celery, except my brother. He took two.
There was only one problem: Long strings ran through the stalks and
they got caught in my teeth. When I help my mother in the kitchen, I always
pull the strings out of my stalk Z-z-zip, z-z-zip. My brother followed suit. Z-
z-zip, z-z-zip, z-z-zip. To my left, my parents were taking care of their own
stalks Z-z-zip, z-z-zip, z-z-zip.
Suddenly I realized that there was a dead silence except for our
zipping. Looking up, I saw that the eyes of everyone in the room were on our
family. Mr. and Mrs. Gleason, their daughter Meg who was my friend, and
their neighbor the Badels—they were all staring at us as we busily pulled
the strings of our celery. That wasn’t the end of it. Mrs. Gleason announced

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that dinner is served and invite us to the dining table. It was lavishly
covered with platters of food but we couldn’t see any chairs around the
table. So, we helpfully carried over some dining chairs and sat down. All the
other guests just stood there. Mrs. Gleason bent down and whispered to us.
“This is a buffet dinner. You help yourselves to some food and eat it in the
living room.”
Our family beat a retreat back to the sofa as if chased by enemy
soldiers. For the rest of the evening, too mortified to go back to the dining
table. I nursed a bit of potato salad on my plate.
Next day, Meg and I got on the school bus together. I wasn’t sure how
she would feel about me after the spectacle our family made at the party.
But, she was just the same as usual, and the only reference she made to the
party was, “Hope you and your folks got enough to eat last night. You
certainly didn’t take much. Mom never tries to figure out how much food to
prepare she just puts everything on the table and hopes for the best.”
I began to relax. The Gleasons dinner party wasn’t so different from a
Chinese meal after all. My mother also puts everything on the table and
hopes for the best.

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Let Us Answer

1. Think about what happened to the Lin’s family on their first

experience in eating the raw celery in an American setting. Visualize
the scene and recall the person’s feelings. Describe the event.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. In your opinion, what kind of a person is the narrator?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

3. What kind of a person is Meg, her friend? Support your answer. How
do Meg and the narrator adjust to their cultural differences? Are there
positive results? Explain your answer.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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 Let Us Practice

How are you doing so far? Are you learning on your exercises?
This time let us get back to the narrative above and
understand more on what the author is trying to say. Answer the following
questions correctly.

1. Do you think about narrator’s tensions about “adjusting to a new

culture” have relaxed at the end of the story? Why or why not?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. The narrator and her family “worked hard” to adapt to an American

way of life. In what ways do you think people should change when
they move to another country? Which things about themselves should
they not try to change?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

3. What could be the reason why the narrator and her family tried hard
to adjust to their new environment?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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 Let Us Practice More
How did you find the previous activities? Were they
confusing? Do not worry, this next activity can help you.
An image concretely represents our sense impression.
Images appeal to our sense of sight, hearing, feeling, taste, and
smell. What was the strongest image that came to your mind when you read
the story? What specific words did the writer use to help you form this
image? Use the chart to classify these specific words as to:

Sight Taste Hearing

tiny red radishes zingy taste zipping

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 Let Us Remember

How was everything so far? I believe you already have an idea

of what you are learning at the end of this activity sheet. The
narrator points out the differences between the two families and
their culture.

Differences Between the Two Families

Typical Chinese Culture American Culture
(the Lins) (the Gleasons)
 Indifference to dairy  Preferences for dips for their
products particularly vegetables
sour cream  Raw vegetables are eaten
 Never eat celery or any
vegetable raw
 No chairs are needed around the
 Expect to see chairs dining table for buffet style is
around the dining table used

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 Let Us Assess
Opps! We are not done yet. Please do the activity below to check
how far you have understood the lesson. Are you ready? Good
luck!

Come up with strategies which you could adopt to promote unity

despite differences in customs, traditions, and beliefs. Your answers must
be in one paragraph of five to six sentences. Go and begin!

Suppose your family was to stay in a community which has a

different customs and traditions from yours. How would you make the
people in the community feel that you are one with them?

___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
____________________________.

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 Let Us Enhance
Now for you to apply what you have learned, let us try to see
how you are going to state in your own five sentences your
ideas about the situation below. Again do not worry,
because what is important is you understood cultural
differences. Go and try!

Write sentences about your unforgettable encounter with someone whom

you had disliked before because of your differences. Write also an
explanation on how you had gained a harmonious relationship with him or
her.
1. ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
3.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
4.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
5.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

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 Let Us Reflect
It looks like you are through with this module! Congratulations
for actively engaging in the different activities prepared for you.
Learning how and when to adjust to other people’s ways, beliefs, and
culture can help you improve your emotional intelligence. You will be easily
understood by others if you understand them also. On the other hand, lack
of apprehension of others will lead to chaos or trouble. Do not worry if you
sometimes find it hard to mingle different individuals to have a harmonious
relationship with them, because it will take time for you to consider diverse
culture, ways and beliefs. What is important is you are slowly learning and
willing to improve yourself. Good luck on your application of these learnings
in your daily undertakings.

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LET US PRACTICE
1.They are able to adjust to their
cultural differences by ignoring the
issue and not making a big fuss
about it.
2.People should adapt to the new
environment and adopt their ways
LET US PRACTICE MORE of living.
Sight Taste Hearing 3.They want to have healthy
Curly sticks of carrots sour cream crunchy relations with the new neighbor.
pale green celery delicious
LET US STUDY
Column A Column B
d. 1. dash of tomato sauce a. to eat or drink noisily
g. 2. lavishly covered b. a public display
c. 3. too mortified to go back c. humiliated, ashamed
f. 4. nursed a bit d. splatter
h. 5. relish tray e. sharp-flavored taste
b. 6. after the spectacle f. fed, ate
a. 7. buffet dinner slurp g. excessively
e. 8. a zingy taste h. to eat with pleasure
LET US ANSWER
1.The Lin family’s experience was a bit embarrassing. However, for
newcomers like the narrator and her family, the scene was LET US TRY
understandable.
2.The narrator has a sense of humor. 1. C 6. A
3.Meg is a true friend. Her friend is also one. Both understand each
2. A 7. A
other
3. C 8. C
4. A 9. A
5. C 10. C
6. C
Answer Key
 Reference

Virginia E. Bermudez et. al., English Expressways Quezon City, 2007, 130-
133.
https://www.businessinsider.com/cultural-differences-us-china-2019-
5#american-people-drink-coffee-while-chinese-people-drink-tea-5
https://www.insider.com/biggest-differences-chinese-and-american-diets-
2018-5#hot-tea-is-enjoyed-more-often-in-china-9

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For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – Region XI

F. Torres St., Davao City

Telefax: (082) 291-1665; (082) 221-6147

Email Address: lrms.regionxi@deped.gov.ph

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