21ST CENTURY LITERATURE

1st Term – Midterms

LITERATURE PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

• Human experiences • PRE-COLONIAL
• As society and technology change, so does • Classified as oral in nature, simple and
literacy. bucolic (talking about life of people living in
- We become updated because of literature rural areas or provinces, countryside)
- Authors want to tell the audience to do • Early Philippine poetry consisted of riddles,
change about the current social issue proverbs or wise sayings, epigrams (poetic
proverbs that talk about values, virtues, and
21st CENTURY LITERATURE truths about life, salawikain) and folksongs.
• New literary work created within the last • Early Philippine prose consisted of tales,
decade myths and legends, fables and narratives in
• Written by contemporary authors verse or in prose as the epics of the
• Deals with current themes and issues regions.
• Reflects a technological culture • Early Philippine songs and music were
• Breaks traditional writing rules savage, naked, and tribal. They were also
lengthy, tedious, and hypnotic.
FUNCTIONS OF LITERATURE
1. Literature as a vehicle for self-expression. Legend
• Literature is based from human - Latin legendus, “something which ought to
experiences. be read”
2. Literature as a recorder of a national history - Story or narrative that lies somewhere
and its social and political upheavals. between myth and historical fact and which,
3. Literature as a tool for cultural transmission. as a rule, is about a particular figure or
• Racial discrimination still exists. Literature person
can be used as a tool to make other Folk Tale
countries appreciate each other's culture. - Traditional story or legend that’s common to
4. Literature as showcase of national identity. a specific culture and often passed along
• Philippine Literature shows us our national orally
history, what our bayanis did for our Riddles
country. Their heroic actions made what - A word puzzle
Filipinos are today. It shaped us in Proverbs
becoming brave soldiers that will fight for - Quote or advice that tells something about
our freedom. life

CLASSIFICATION OF CONTEMPORARY A. LEGENDS/FOLK TALES

LITERATURE 1. Malakas at Maganda
1. ILLUSTRATED NOVELS 2. Why the Sky is so High
• Story through text and illustrated images 3. The Legend of the Tagalogs
• Ex: Harry Potter 4. The Great Flood
2. DIGI-FICTION B. RIDDLES AND PROVERBS
• Triple media fiction 1. Balong malalim, puno ng patalim (a deep
• Online well full of knives) – bibig (mouth)
3. GRAPHIC NOVEL 2. Araw – araw namamatay, taun-taon
• Narrative work in which the story is nabubuhay (it dies everyday, then lives
conveyed to the reader using comic form every year) – kalendaryo (calendar)
• Ex: Japanese Manga 3. A bird in the hand is worth two in a bush (It’s
4. DOODLE-FICTION
better to be content with what you have than
• Literary presentation where the author
to risk losing everything by seeking more,
incorporates doodle drawings and
handwritten graphics in place of traditional ex: money, greediness)
form
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
1st Term – Midterms

• The writings of Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. del

4. Pag may tiyaga, may nilaga (if there is
Pilar, and Francisco Baltazar/Balagtas
perseverance, there is stew) – you need to
exposed the abuses of the Spaniards and
persevere to have something to eat. This
colonial mentality and subservience of the
saying reflects the Filipino’s way of life Filipino.
which is to be hardworking.
C. Epic
1. Lam-Ang
LITERATURE DURING AMERICAN REGIME
D. Songs
1. Sarung Banggi (Bicol) • American teachers were sent to teach
2. Manang Biday (Ilocano) English to the Filipinos
3. Malinac Lay Labi (Pangasinan) • English became the sole language or
4. Pobreng Alindahaw (Cebuano) medium of instruction and the official
5. Atin Cu Pung Singsing language of the government
(Kapampangan)
6. Lulay/Oyaye (Tagalog) Why was English taught?
7. Ili-Ili Tulog Anay (Ilonggo) - To avoid language barrier
8. Dandansoy (Visayan)
9. Magtanim ay Hindi Biro (Work Song) • The schools were open to anyone who
10. Batya’t Palu-palo (Work Song) could afford it – rich or poor alike
LITERATURE DURING SPANISH REGIME • The University of the Philippines was
established in 1908
• Spanish colonization brought about great • Americans contributed quality education
cultural changes for all
• GOD, GOLD, GLORY • In less than two decades, Filipinos were
• Became more sophisticated writing with Filipino content but in a foreign
• Content was mostly religious: life of saints, medium (so that Americans could
religious books, prayers, psalms, Marian understand their work)
hymns, the pasyon and the like
• Spaniards introduced the roman alphabet The Filipino – owned Periodicals:
and later brought in the printing press 1. The Philippine Review
• The medium of literature became tri-lingual: 2. The Citizen
Castillian language, Tagalog, and dialects of 3. Philippine National Weekly
various communities 4. The Variety News
• 333 years of colonization 5. The Philippine Journal of Education
• Literary forms: European metrical 6. Philippine Republic
romances, zarzuelas (lyric theater drama
incorporated with singing, dancing, and • Fiction and dram dealt with simple conflict in
dialogue), and balagtasan oneself and romantic love affairs.
• Opening of the Suez Canal – brought
prosperity to the Filipinos
• Soon the rich sent their sons to study in PERIOD OF NEW SOCIETY
European schools. They brought home
liberal ideas of freedom, equality, and • Started on Martial Law
national fervor for independence and • Suppression, freedom of speech
national identity. • September 21, 1972 – Period of Society
started
• The New Society tried to stop pornography
or those writings giving bad influences on
the morals of people
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
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• Ministry of Public Affairs was established by FILIPINO POETRY

the military government to supervise the
- Patience
newspapers, books, and other publications
- Native Culture
- Customs
OVERVIEW OF THE LITERATURE - Beauty of Nature
• Bilingual education was initiated by the POETS DURING PERIOD OF NEW SOCIETY
Board of National Education (1958)
1. Ponciano Pineda
• The focus of education and culture
2. Aniceto Silvestre
problems of national identity, re-orientation,
3. Jose Garcia Revelo
renewed vigor, and a firm resolve to carry
out plans and programs 4. Bienvenido Ramos
5. Vicente Dimasalang
MARTIAL LAW 6. Cir Lopez Francisco
7. Pelagio Sulit Cruz
• Did not deter the growth of Philippine
Literature (was allowed) COMPOSERS
• The late President, Ferdinand E. Marcos
1. Freddie Agilar
himself put out his writings on various
2. Jose Mari Chan
subjects and in forms just as varied
RADIO PLAY SERIES
OLD PLAYS REVIVED BY THE GOV’T
- Played in the afternoon where families are
1. Cenaculo (Life of Jesus)
gathered
2. Zarzuela
1. Si Matar
3. Ebayoka (Muslim)
2. Dahilan
• Theaters were built: 3. Ito and Palad Ko
4. Mr. Lonely
- Metropolitan Theater
RADIO AND TELEVISION
- CCP (Cultural Center of the Philippines)
1. Gulong ng Palad
- Folks Art Theatre 2. Flor De Luna
3. Anna Liza
• Kislap and Liwayway (Magazines) became FILIPINO FILMS
outlets for writers to publish many of their
works - Recall the unique practices of Filipinos
because of colonization
SLOGANS OF THE NEW SOCIETY 1. Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag (by Edgardo
1. Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang Reyes)
kailangan. 2. Minsa’y Isang Gamu-Gamo (Lead Star:
2. Tayo’y kumain ng gulay, upang humaba Nora Aunor)
ang buhay. 3. Ganito Kami Noon… Paano Kayo Ngayon
3. Magplano ng pamilya nang ang buhay ay (Lead Star: Christopher de Leon and Gloria
lumigaya. Diaz)
4. Ang pagsunod sa magulang, tanda ng anak 4. Insiang (by Hilda Koronel)
na magalang.
5. Tayo’y magtanim upang mabuhay.
6. Tayo’y magbigayan at huwag magsiksikan.
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1st Term – Midterms

THE SAFE HOUSE 5. INSURGENTS

- Comrades and the guests of the father
By: Sandra Nicole Roldan
whom they resorted into committing sedition
About the Author and other malicious and rebellious deeds
against the regime
• She teaches literature and creative writing 6. MAKOY
at the UP in Diliman, where she also earned - Known leader of the government regime
an MA Creative Writing degree that the Father and his comrades defiles,
• She has received local and international also known as Ferdinand Marcos
writing fellowships, and won a Philippine
Free Prose Literary Award for the HOUSE SAFE
• Her poetry fiction and non-fiction have
✓ Food
appeared in various publications and
✓ Money (cause of the organization)
anthologies. ✓ Medication
- Mondo Marcos (2010)
- Kritika Kultura (2011) DATES TO REMEMBER
- Hanggang sa Muli (2011)
• 1982 – The girl had seen different people
- Motherhood Statements (2013)
- Fast Food Fiction Delivery (2014) visiting their house. She thought they were
relatives.
VOCABULARY • 1983 – When the mother left because she
can’t handle the problems of money, bills,
1. SWELTERING – uncomfortably hot
and taxes and her husband’s rebellion
2. IMPASSIVE – not feeling/showing emotion
towards the government
3. NESTLED – settle/lie comfortably
• 1984 – Father was caught by the
within/against something
policemen. When they had an inspection,
4. HUSHED – calm and still silence
they saw a gun with his name in scripted on
5. GENTEEL – respectable or polite
it.
CHARACTERS
APO ON THE WALL
1. THE GIRL By: Bj Patino
- Innocence has made her oblivious of the
welfare and the secret of her family’s safe ABOUT THE POEM:
house
• Child’s point of view and its complicated
2. THE FATHER
relationship with his father.
- Man of the house and the profound leader
• Shows people how the martial law during
and host of his secret organization
Marcos’s regime affected the life of a certain
3. THE MOTHER
Filipino child.
- Housewife and mother of the girl
• The poem tells the reality of life during the
- Is fully aware of her husband’s antics and
reigning of Marcos alongside with the
mendacious activities had led her into
Martial Law. It reflects the scenario of what
melancholy that pushed her to leave
and how the Filipinos experienced the tragic
4. THE BROTHER
and traumatic event throughout the
- Only sibling of the girl who has resorted into
dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in the
watching TV because of their household’s
dilemma Philippines. “Apo on the wall” shows the real
situation concerning with the different
perspective between millennial and those
who lived through Martial law. It advocates
reasonably close to the realization of giving
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
1st Term – Midterms

importance on looking back to our past, • His first-ever chapbook of his poetries
moving forward through our present and entitled, “The Southern Cross and Other
ensuring the success of our future. Poems, was published in the year 2005 of
• Contrast of history with present. It imparted December. It is also then launched by the
a sense of learning about our own National Commission for Culture and Arts
experience from the past. It captivates as part of the UBOD New Author Series.
reader’s outlook to enlighten them about the
Authored the Following Books:
reality of the past that is changing their
present overview. - Discernments: Literary Essays, Cultural
• The author used figurative languages to Critiques, and Book Reviews (2013)
hide what he wanted us to visualize. Those - From the Major Arcana (2014)
metaphoric styles he injected for readers to - Sa mga Pagitan ng Buhay at Iba pang
think and read between the lines. Pagtutulay (2018)
JUSTICE POEM:
By: Ralph Semino Galẚn These are the accoutrements of her office:
About the Author the blindfold symbolizing impartiality;
• He is a poet, a literary critic, a translator, a golden pair of scales measuring the validity
and also an educator at the University of
Santo Tomas.
• Associate Professor of Literature, of evidence given, both pro and con;
Humanities, and Creative-writing at the
University of Santo Tomas Faculty Arts and the double-edged sword that pierces through
Letters and the UST Graduate School.
the thick fabric of lies; Thot’s feather
• Graduated magna cum laude with a degree
in A.B English (Major in Literature) from
Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of
Technology and an M.A in English Studies of truth which ultimately determines whether
(Major in Creative Writing) from UP Diliman, the defendant's life is worth saving.
where he is pursuing a Ph.D in Comparative
Literature. In J. Elizalde Navarro’s oil painting titled

His Literary Works and Success

• 1999 - 2002: Workshop Coordinator of the “The author describes justice in the first three
UP National Writers’ Workshop and a stanzas utilizing symbolisms such as a blindfold, a
former member of the admin staff since the golden pair of scales, and a double-edged sword,
year 1997. all of which are usually considered as
• Writer of Book Reviews under the Lifestyle accoutrements of lady justice, as shown in the
Section that are being published for the image."
Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- The Blindfold represents impartiality, which
• His poems in the languages of Filipino and
shows that justice shouldn’t be biased and
English have won prizes from the Philippine
should be applied equally to everyone,
Panaroma back in the year 1993 and Home
regardless of ethnicity, religion, or social
Life Magazine in poetry contests back in
standing. This explains why she chooses to
1998.
wear a blindfold so that she may judge
others fairly and without regard to their
influence, personality, appearance, or level
of success in life.
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
1st Term – Midterms

- The quote, "Right and wrong are cards that

- A golden pair scale, which is mentioned in
can be shuffled like a pile of money bills," is
the poem, is used to assess the validity of
like a mixture of the truth and lies. When
proofs and claims. It is therefore balanced,
money is involved, the lies can be bought to
as justice should be. The double-edged
become the truth, and the judgement would
sword, meanwhile, represents power and
be all in favor of lies.
authority that may be both advantageous
and damaging to both sides. As was
- This poem also made an allusion to Chief
previously stated, it cuts through lies, yet
Justice Renato Corona's impeachment. This
getting to the truth can be dangerous and
was ironically a case of injustice, as the
have harmful consequences.
Chief Justice was exonerated later on. It
was political machinations that led to his
- The author also utilized Thot's feather as a conviction and eventual demise. "Face the
literary expression to explain how the music of derision" is a judgment given by
judicial system functions in every nation, the judge, which means that it is simply
including weighing the defendant's actions facing or accepting the cruel and
and the truth—which may be compared to a contemptuous reality of the world of
Thot's feather—to decide whether they are imprisonment.
worth defending and saving.
“Overall, justice is supposed to have no biases and
Is this Philippine Justice? The figure
measure the evidence regardless of whether it is
of the Roman goddess Justitia slowly fades
pro or against. It is this evidence that will eliminate
Into thin air, swallowed by pigments
all lies and find out if the defendant is guilty or not
guilty. However, in the Philippines, it is the
cloudy as doubts. In my uncertain country
opposite. It’s similar to a game of cards where
where right and wrong are cards
money is involved, and even the Chief Magistrate is
that can be shuffled like a pile of money
not immune to the faults of the system.”
bills,
VOCABULARY
even the land’s chief magistrate
Is not immune from culpability; found guilty 1. IMPARTIALITY – fairness/equal treatment
He has to face the music of derision. 2. DERISION – disrespectful, ridicule or mockery

“The oil painting by J. Elizalde Navarro was 3. CULPABILITY - accountability

used as a representation of the current state 4. UNCERTAIN – not able to be relied on
of the justice system in the Philippines and it
is entitled "Is this Philippine Justice." 5. JUSTICE – quality of being fair and reasonable;
just behavior or treatment
- The painting shows the Roman goddess
6. JUSTITIA – roman goddess of justice
Justitia with the metaphor "slowly fades into
thin air, swallowed by pigment cloudy as 7. ACCOUTREMENTS – additional items,
doubts." The meaning behind this is that
justice will not prevail if people find it easy to equipment, dress, and items carried or worn by a
manipulate through the use of power, and person
when the justice system fails to protect the 8. MAGISTRATE – official entrusted with the
people, all of us will lead to a life where administration of the laws
there are uncertainties and doubts as to
how we will protect our rights.
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
1st Term – Midterms

Why should we stand up for what is just and right CHARACTERS

in human and organizational relationships?
1. VINCE DE LOS REYES
-
- young gay Filipino-born American that is currently
Why should a government official declare his/her living in Honolulu, Hawaii
Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth?
- observing people around him at the Honolulu
- Avoid corruption International Airport. He seemed to have eyed at
- Transparency his “kababayan” or fellow Filipinos with their
balikbayan boxes
2. JING DE LOS REYES
TURBAN LEGEND
- older sister of Vince
By: R. Zamora Linmark
- one who told Vince about the story of a man that
About the Author
is an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Dubai that
• Born on April 7, 1968, city of Manila can’t afford to have a flight and died on the way
• Filipino-American poet, novelist, and back to the Philippines.
playwright 3. THE MAN
• Bachelor’s degree from the University of
Hawaii in Honolulu - He is the man in the story of Jing who is an
• The National Endowment for the Arts (2001) engineer in Dubai wherein, he checked himself in
• The Fulbright Foundation Senior lecturer / an excess baggage of his roommate which was
researcher in the Philippines (2005-2006) cheaper that the round-trip fare because he can’t
• Recipient of a Japan-United States afford a ticket back to the Philippines. En route to
Friendship Commission Manila, he died from hypothermia.
• Visiting professor in Creative Writing at
University of Hawaii and University of Miami
VOCABULARY
1. SQUEAKY – utter / make a short cry or noise
2. GLEANED – pick over in search of relevant
material
3. CRYPT – chamber (such as a vault) wholly /
partly underground
4. GARGANTUAN – tremendous in size, volume,
or degree
5. HYPOTHERMIA – potentially dangerous drop in
body temperature, usually caused by prolonged
exposure to cold temperatures
6. TURBAN – type of headwear based on cloth
winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as
customary headwear.
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
1st Term – Midterms
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
1st Term – Midterms