INTRODUCTION

Philippine Literature:
Literatures from the
Region
 01
LITERATURE
What is Literature?
Introduction

Literature according to Funk and

Wagnalls are written works
collectively, especially those of
enduring importance, exhibiting
creative imagination and artistic
skill.
What Is This ● Literature came from the latin word
Topic About? literatura meaning writing;
literatus which means learning; and
thus is literate for learned.

● It is both oral and written work

characterized by expressive or
imaginative writing, nobility of
thoughts, universality and
timelessness.

● There are four majority literary

genres namely poetry, fiction,
drama and essay.
 Definition of
Exam
Concepts conten
t

POETRY Lyric Poetry

It is divided into three major It is composed of the sonnet,
types: narrative or story-telling elegy, ude, simple lyric and
poem, lyric, and dramatic. song.

Narrative Poetry Dramatic Poetry

It is classified as poetic plays like
It is composed of epic, ballad,
comedy, tragedy, dramatic history,
metrical tale and metrical force, melodrama; masque and
romance. dramatic monologue.
 Definition of
Concepts
FICTION
It has three types: short story,
novel and the novelette.
Short Story
A brief fictional prose narrative
that is shorter than a novel and
that usually deals with only a few
characters.
Exam
conten
t
Novel
It is a long fictitious prose
narrative with types like:
epistolary, gothic, historical
and the picaresque novel.
Novelette
It is a short novel. It is too
short to be a novel and too long
to be a short story.
Elements of THEME
Fiction A universal truth

SETTING
Time and place of the
CHARACT story
ER S
– t he pe opl
e in
the story

POINT OF VIEW
The
Definition of
Concepts
DRAMA
It is a story of conflict told
entirely in dialogue and in
dramatic writing.
The elements of drama are:
plot, characters, theme and
dialogue (action and
situations).
Exam
conten
t
ESSAY
It does not tell a story as its main
purpose. It shares an opinion, an
insight, an experience or an
observation.
Essays are classified as:
reflective, critical, editorial,
nature essay, scientific,
narrative, speculative, character
sketch and biographical.
 ● Prose is often classified into four
modes or forms of discourse;
Modes of narration, description, exposition,
and persuasion.
Discourse
○ Narration is writing that
relates a story. The subject
may be fictional as in novels
and short stories, or factual
as in historical accounts and
biographies.

○ Description presents the

details of something, often
through appeal to one or
more of the five senses –
sight, sound, smell, sound,
and touch.
Modes of
Discourse
○ Exposition uses logical
patterns such as comparison
and contrast or definitions, to
inform or explain.

○ Persuasion is writing that

attempt to convice readers to
adopt an opinion or act in a
certain way.
Modes of
Discourse
● An author usually uses more than
one form of discourse. For
example, in writing a narrative, one
is likely to include descriptions of
people and places and information
about historical events.
 ● Among the sound devices that a
poet may use are:
CONCEPTS TO
○ Onomatopoeia is a word or
REMEMBER phrase that actually imitates
or suggests the sound of what
it describes;
The speaker of the poem is
the voice of the poem. ○ Alliteration the repetition of
Sometimes the speaker is the initial consonant sounds;
poet himself or herself;
sometimes the speaker is a ○ Consonance the repetition of
character or thing created by the similar consonant sounds
poet. preceded by different
accented vowels; and

○ Assonance the repetition of

vowel sounds.
 ● The most common kinds of
● Other aspects of sound in poetry
are:
○ Rhyme is the repetition at
regular intervals of similar or
identical sounds; and
○ Rhythm the pattern created
by arranging stresses and
unstressed syllables.
● A poem’s images appeal to one or
more sense.
figurative language available to a
poet are metaphor, simile, and
personification.
○ Metaphor is a figure of
speech in which two unlike
things are compared without
the use of like, as;
○ Simile is a comparison using
like or as;
○ Personification is a figure of
speech in which an animal,
object, or ideas is described
as having human form of
characteristics.
THEME
● The theme of a literary work is its
underlying central idea or the
generalization it communicates
● A piece of literature may have been
about life.
● The theme expresses the author’s
opinion or raises a question about
human nature or the meaning of
human experience.
● At times, the author’s theme may
not confirm or agree with your own
beliefs. Even then, if skillfully
written, the story will have a theme
that illuminates some aspect of true
human experience.
a subject and a theme. The subject
is the specific topic of the selection.
The theme is the generalization
about life that the specific selection
leads you to see.
THEME
● A long work – for example, a novel
● ●
For example, “baseball” may be the
subject of a short story, but the
theme goes beyond a one-word
label such as “baseball”. The theme
of a story about baseball may be
“Teamwork is particularly
important when pressure builds.”
– may contain not just one theme
but several.
Sometimes the theme may be
clearly stated. More often, the
theme is implied or suggested
through other elements. In fact, you
can determine the theme by looking
closely at characterization, setting,
events, point of view, and tone.
 ● A symbol may also appeal to a
SYMBOL
● ●
A symbol is something that stands
for itself but also for something
larger than itself. It may be a
person, an animal, an inanimate
object, or an action.
● A writer often uses concrete object
to express an abstract idea, a
quality, or a belief.
reader’s emotions and can provide
a dramatic way to express an idea,
communicate a message, or clarify
meaning.
There are conventional symbols
and private symbols.
○ A conventional symbol is
one that is widely accepted
and used by many writers;
for example, a nightingale is
a symbol for melancholy, a
dove for peace, a rose for
beauty, red for danger, and
autumn for death.
 ● An object is a symbol only if seems
SYMBOL
○ A private symbol is one that
an individual writer creates
for a particular work of
literature.
to be representative of something of
another kind.
○ For example, you would not
say that the Hope diamond is
symbolic of all magnificent
diamonds; it is merely
representative of all
magnificent diamonds. You
might, however, say that the
Hope diamond is a symbolic
of wealth; a diamond is a
concrete mineral, whereas
wealth is something of a
different kind – an abstract
term.
TERM
● Do not confuse mood with tone.
● There are as many tones in
literature as there are in speaking.
● A writer’s tone may be sarcastic,
wry, sympathetic, objective,
bantering, serious, ironic, sad,
bitter, comic, or something else
altogether.
● Usually, a particular tone is
dominant, although undercurrents
of other tones may occasionally
surface.
The mood is the emotional climate
or atmosphere that an author
creates in the story and within
which the action occurs; the tone is
the attitude the author takes toward
the characters and events in
presenting the story to the reader.
The mood of a story may be
chilling, but the tone may be warm
and sympathetic.
TERM
● Here, as a reminder, is a list of
language devices that an author
may use to create tone:
○ Connotation – the unspoken
or unwritten meanings
associated with a word
beyond its dictionary
definition.
○ Denotation – the literal or
dictionary definition.
○ Imagery – the collection of
sense images in a piece of
literature.
○ Syntax – sentence patterns
of structure.
○ Sound devices – alliteration,
assonance, consonance,
onomatopoeia.
SETTING
● Setting includes time, place,
weather, seasons, physical props,
and the characters’ clothing, as well
as the wider culture in which the
conflicts and action occur.
● If setting is effective, it is
impossible to consider these
particular characters and these
particular events existing
elsewhere. That is to say, the them
of a story may be universal, but its
time and place may still be very
specific and precisely suitable.
● Setting may become clear in the
beginning of a story, or it may
emerge as the story unfolds.
 ● An author always has a purpose in
SETTING
● Sometimes, if the author wants to
focus on character or plot, setting
serves only as a backdrop for
action. It will simply be the place
or situation in which events occur.
At other times setting may take on
much more importance,
representing something abstract or
symbolic.
telling a story. The purpose is the
theme, or general idea about life,
that the author wants to
communicate. The author’s choice
of setting can reveal that purpose
by
○ Creating a mood or
atmosphere
○ Illuminating the characters
○ Unifying or organizing the
plot
○ Pointing beyond itself to a
deeper symbolic meaning
CHARACTER
● A character may be flat or round.

○ A flat characters’ personality

is dominated by a single
● To compare means “to examine two trait;
or more things, ideas, people, and
so on, for the purpose of noting
○ A round character possesses
similarities.” To contrast means “to
many different traits, some of
examine two or more items for the
which may even seem to be
purpose of noting differences.”
contradictory.
CHARACTER
○ A dynamic character changes
● A character may be static or
dynamic.
○ A static character does not
change from the beginning of
the work of literature to the
end.
in some way during the
course of the work. This may
change maybe a positive one
(for example, toward
maturity) or a negative one
(for example, the worsening
of a flaw).
POINT OF
VIEW
● Every aspect of a story is affected
● Point of view is the relationship by the author’s choice of the point
between the narrator, or storyteller, of view from which the story is
and the story. told. Most obviously, the decision
about point of view determines
● One point of view is not inherently what information the reader
better or worse than another, but for receives and how that information
any given work of literature one is presented.
particular point of view may be a
more effective choice.
 ● The narrator of a story may know
POINT OF everything about the characters and

VIEW events in a story – or may not. It is

● After you ask yourself, “Who is
● The author may choose to tell the
telling the story?” and “What does
this narrator tell me, and not tell
me, about the characters and
events?” your next question should
be “Why did the author select this
particular point of view?”
important for you not only to
determine what the narrator tells
you but also to think about what the
narrator does not tell you.
story with a narrator who uses a
first-person point of view. The
narrator uses “I” and other first-
person pronouns. The important
thing about a first-person narrator
is that he or she cannot directly
know what is going in anyone
else’s mind or what is happening
anywhere else.
POINT OF ● Limitations of first-person
VIEW narrator:

○ The narrator may not be

aware of the significance of
events and implications of
actions.

● Strengths of first-person
narrator: The narrator’s comments ○ The narrator may be
are immediate, vivid, personal, untrustworthy.
involving.
● Effects of limited third-person
narrator: The reader becomes very
involved and must constantly
question the narrators truthfulness.
POINT OF ● Strengths of limited third-person
narrator: The reader has fewer
VIEW unanswered questions than with a
first-person narrator.

● ● Limitations of limited third-

The author may choose to tell the
story from the limited third-person
point of view. In this case the
narrator focuses on a particular
character and tells us about events
● Effect of limited third-person
as they relate to this character. This
narrator will report the actions and
words of all characters but will
reveal the thoughts and feelings of
only the focal character.
person narrator: The narrator
cannot tell us everything we may
want to know.
narrator on reader: The reader
will fell more secure that with a
first-person narrator but will still
have questions – especially about
characters whose thoughts are not
revealed by the narrator.
POINT OF
VIEW
● The author may choose to tell the
story from an omniscient point of
view. In this case the narrator
knows about everything that is
happening and knows what all the
characters are thinking and feeling.
● Strengths of omniscient narrator:
The narrator can tell us everything
that is happening everywhere and,
therefore, can answer all our
questions.
● Limitations of omniscient
narrator:
○ Narration is not as intimate
as with a first-person or
limited third-person narrator.
○ There is less chance for
suspense when the narrator
seems to know everything
that is happening.
● Effects of omniscient narrator on
reader: The reader may trust the
narrator.
PLOT
● In order to think clearly about a
story’s ending, you must know how
all the parts of a story work
together. Here are statements about
each part:
○ Exposition – “Background”
information that may tell you
how and why the characters
arrived at this particular
place and time. Many stories
have very brief or no
exposition.
○ Narrative hook – The point
at which the author snares
your attention. This may be
the point at which the reader
begins to say, “I want to
know what’s going to happen
next – and why!”
○ Rising action – The buildup
of events and the
presentation of the problems
and conflicts face by the
characters.
PLOT
○ Falling action – The point at
which the reader learns of the
character’s reaction to the
○ Climax – the turning point of climax. This section of the
the story; the point of story may be very short.
greatest emotional
involvement. This is the
○ Resolution – The end of the
point when you know
falling action; the final tying
whether the main character
together of the story.
will be successful or not.
 PLOT STRUCTURE
SELECTION: “The Red-Headed League”
Climax: Holmes stops the robbery

PROBLEM: Will
they stop the
robbers?

PROBLEM: What FALLING ACTION: Holmes

does Holmes see at explains to Watson how he
the pawnshop? solved the mystery

PROBLEM: Why
was the league
dissolved?

RESOLUTION:
EXPOSITION: NARRATIVE HOOK:
UNDERSTANDING
PLOT
● To understand language, context
● Plot is the sequence of evens in a clues may be employed. The
story. These events often involve a context of a word is made up of the
conflict between opposing sides. words that surround it. When you
Usually the struggle become see an unfamiliar word as you read,
intense at the climax, the section you can figure out its meaning by
just before the conflict is solved. looking at its context.
The biggest part of the story is
given to solving the conflict or the
resolution.
WRITING A
STORY WITH A
PLOT
● Brainstorm to think of a good for a
conflict. Then use this idea to write
a story with a strong plot. As you
● In a story with a plot, the conflict revise it, check to see that it has a
rises to a climax arises to a climax climax and a resolution.
and is then resolved.
UNDERSTANDING
CONFLICT
● A conflict is a struggle or
sometimes it could be a challenge
between opposing forces or sides.
● The conflict in a story happens
between one person and another or
between a person and a force of
nature. These are called external
conflicts.
● The internal conflict occurs
between opposing ideas or feelings
within a character.
● In an internal conflict, one side of a
person seems to be opposing
another side.
● Sometimes, the character
experiences both an external
conflict and an internal conflict.
MAKING
INFERENCES
● An inference is a reasonable
conclusion that you draw based on
evidence.
● When you read, you make
inferences to gain more insight
from a story that what the author
tells you directly.
●
For example, in the story about Fr.
Diego de Herrera and the
“miracles” in Batalay, Bato,
Catanduanes, you can make small
inferences to fill gaps in the
information given.
● Again, you can also make large
inferences about how the
information in the story works
together to give meaning. You can
make many inferences
automatically while summarizing,
predicting or clarifying.