MODULE IN ENGLISH 13:

ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE

CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

MODULE VIII-XIII
SELECTED WORKS OF UNDER THE AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD

MODULE DESCRIPTOR:
This module covers the selected works under the american colonial period. It
includes different activities that will enhance the student’s knowledge after the
discussions.
NOMINAL DURATION:
This module’s timeframe is from October 12-November 18, 2020.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of this module you MUST be able to:
1. Distinguish the selected literary piece under the american colonial
period.
2. Analyze the different examples of selected literary piece under the
american colonial period.
3. Acknowledge the importance of each of the selected literary piece
under the american colonial period.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
1. Distinguished the selected literary piece under the american colonial
period.
2. Different examples of selected literary piece under the american
colonial period are explored.
3. Acknowledged the importance of each of the selected literary piece
under the american colonial period.
4. Listed some examples of the selected literary piece under the american
colonial period.
5. Searched the books, and other resources for examples of the selected
literary piece under the american colonial period.

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 MODULE IN ENGLISH 13:
ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

LEARNING OUTCOME # 1 DISTINGUISH THE SELECTED WORKS

UNDER THE AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD.

CONTENTS:
 Selected Works under the american colonial period.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
1. Distinguished the selected literary piece under the american colonial
period.
2. Different examples of selected literary piece under the american
colonial period.
3. Acknowledged the importance of each of the selected literary piece
under the american colonial period.
4. Listed some examples of the selected literary piece under the american
colonial period.
5. Searched the books, and other resources for examples of the selected
literary piece under the american colonial period.

CONDITIONS:
Learners must be provided with the following:
1. WORKPLACE LOCATION
2. EQUIPMENT
- Computer/ Cellphone (with Internet Connection)
3. TOOLS, ACCESSORIES AND SUPPLIES
- Notebook
- Paper
- Pen
4. LEARNING RESOURCES
- Internet Connection or Book Suggested by the Teacher
- Module in Language and Literature Assessment

ASSESSMENT METHODS:
1. Written Test
2. Portfolio
3. Performance Test

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 MODULE IN ENGLISH 13:
ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Learning Outcome 1
DISTINGUISH THE SELECTED WORKS UNDER THE AMERICAN
COLONIAL PERIOD.

Learning Activities Special Instructions

Read Information Sheet no. 8-9.1 After reading the Information Sheet,
SELECTED WORKS UNDER THE answer Self Check no. 8-9.1 to
AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD ensure knowledge in Key Concepts
Compare the answers to the answer
Answer Self Check no. 8-9.1
key.
After the Self-Check, reflect on the
topic studied by accomplishing the
Task Sheet: Practice. This task will
exhibit your understanding on the
Accomplish Task Sheet no. 8-9.1 topics studied.

The teacher will use Performance

Criteria Checklist 8-9.1 to assess
your output.

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 MODULE IN ENGLISH 13:
ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

INFORMATION SHEET 8-9.1

Learning Objectives
After reading this information sheet, you must be able to:
1. Distinguish the selected literary piece under the american colonial
period.
2. Analyze the different examples of selected literary piece under the
american colonial period.
3. Acknowledge the importance of each of the selected literary piece
under the american colonial period.

LITERATURE UNDER THE AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD

Philippine literary production during the American Period in the Philippines

was spurred by two significant developments in education and culture. One is
the introduction of free public instruction for all children of school age and two,
the use of English as medium of instruction in all levels of education in public
schools.

        Free public education made knowledge and information accessible to a

greater number of Filipinos. Those who availed of this education through
college were able to improve their social status and joined a good number of
educated masses who became part of the country’s middle class.

        The use of English as medium of instruction introduced Filipinos to

Anglo-American modes of thought, culture and life ways that would be
embedded not only in the literature produced but also in the psyche of the
country’s educated class. It was this educated class that would be the
wellspring of a vibrant Philippine Literature in English.

        Philippine literature in English, as a direct result of American colonization

of the country, could not escape being imitative of American models of writing
especially during its period of apprenticeship. The poetry written by early
poets manifested studied attempts at versification as in the following poem
which is proof of the poet’s rather elementary exercise in the English
language:

Vacation days at last are here,

And we have time for fun so dear,
All boys and girls do gladly cheer,
This welcomed season of the year.
In early June in school we’ll meet;

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 MODULE IN ENGLISH 13:
ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

A harder task shall we complete

And if we fail we must repeat
That self same task without retreat.
We simply rest to come again
To school where boys and girls obtain
The Creator’s gift to men
Whose sanguine hopes in us remain.
Vacation means a time for play
For young and old in night and day
My wish for all is to be gay,
And evil none lead you astray

                        – Juan F. Salazar   

Philippines Free Press, May 9, 1909

        The poem was anthologized in the first collection of poetry in

English, Filipino Poetry, edited by Rodolfo Dato (1909 – 1924). Among the
poets featured in this anthology were Proceso Sebastian Maximo Kalaw,
Fernando Maramag, Leopoldo Uichanco, Jose Ledesma, Vicente Callao,
Santiago Sevilla, Bernardo Garcia, Francisco Africa, Pablo Anzures, Carlos P.
Romulo, Francisco Tonogbanua, Juan Pastrana, Maria Agoncillo, Paz
Marquez Benitez, Luis Dato and many others. Another anthology, The
English German Anthology of Poetsedited by Pablo Laslo was published
and covered poets published from 1924-1934 among whom were Teofilo D.
Agcaoili, Aurelio Alvero, Horacio de la Costa, Amador T. Daguio, Salvador P.
Lopez, Angela Manalang Gloria, Trinidad Tarrosa, Abelardo Subido and Jose
Garcia Villa, among others. A third pre-war collection of poetry was edited by
Carlos Bulosan, Chorus for America: Six Philippine Poets. The six poets in
this collection were Jose Garcia Villa, Rafael Zulueta da Costa, Rodrigo T.
Feria, C.B. Rigor, Cecilio Baroga and Carlos Bulosan.

        In fiction, the period of apprenticeship in literary writing in English is

marked by imitation of the style of storytelling and strict adherence to the craft
of the short story as practiced by popular American fictionists. Early short
story writers in English were often dubbed as the Andersons or Saroyans or
the Hemingways of Philippine letters. Leopoldo Yabes in his study of the
Philippine short story in English from 1925 to 1955 points to these models of
American fiction exerting profound influence on the early writings of story
writers like Francisco Arcellana, A.E. Litiatco, Paz Latorena. .

        When the University of the Philippines was founded in 1908, an elite
group of writers in English began to exert influence among the culturati. The
U.P. Writers Club founded in 1926, had stated that one of its aims was to
enhance and propagate the “language of Shakespeare.” In 1925, Paz
Marquez Benitez short story, “Dead Stars” was published and was made the
landmark of the maturity of the Filipino writer in English. Soon after Benitez,

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ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

short story writers began publishing stories no longer imitative of American

models. Thus, story writers like Icasiano Calalang, A.E. Litiatco, Arturo Rotor,
Lydia Villanueva, Paz Latorena , Manuel Arguilla began publishing stories
manifesting both skilled use of the language and a keen Filipino sensibility.

        This combination of writing in a borrowed tongue while dwelling on

Filipino customs and traditions earmarked the literary output of major Filipino
fictionists in English during the American period. Thus, the major novels of the
period, such as the Filipino Rebel, by Maximo Kalaw, and His Native Soil by
Juan C. Laya, are discourses on cultural identity, nationhood and being
Filipino done in the English language. Stories such as “How My Brother
Leon Brought Home a Wife” by Manuel Arguilla scanned the scenery as
well as the folkways of Ilocandia while N.V. M. Gonzales’s novels and stories
such as “Children of the Ash Covered Loam,” present the panorama of
Mindoro, in all its customs and traditions while configuring its characters in the
human dilemma of nostalgia and poverty. Apart from Arguilla and Gonzales,
noted fictionists during the period included Francisco Arcellana, whom Jose
Garcia Villa lauded as a “genius” storyteller, Consorcio Borje, Aida Rivera,
Conrado Pedroche, Amador Daguio, Sinai Hamada, Hernando Ocampo,
Fernando Maria Guerrero. Jose Garcia Villa himself wrote several short
stories but devoted most of his time to poetry.

        In 1936, when the Philippine Writers League was organized, Filipino
writers in English began discussing the value of literature in society. Initiated
and led by Salvador P. Lopez, whose essays on Literature and
Societyprovoked debates, the discussion centered on proletarian literature,
i.e., engaged or committed literature versus the art for art’s sake literary
orientation. But this discussion curiously left out the issue of colonialism and
colonial literature and the whole place of literary writing in English under a
colonial set-up that was the Philippines then.

        With Salvador P. Lopez, the essay in English gained the upper hand in
day to day discourse on politics and governance. Polemicists who used to
write in Spanish like Claro M. Recto, slowly started using English in the
discussion of current events even as newspaper dailies moved away from
Spanish reporting into English. Among the essayists, Federico Mangahas had
an easy facility with the language and the essay as genre. Other noted
essayists during the period were Fernando Maramag, Carlos P. Romulo ,
Conrado Ramirez.

        On the other hand, the flowering of a vibrant literary tradition due to
historical events did not altogether hamper literary production in the native or
indigenous languages. In fact, the early period of the 20th century was
remarkable for the significant literary output of all major languages in the
various literary genre.

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ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

        It was during the early American period that seditious plays, using the
form of the zarsuwela, were mounted. Zarsuwelistas Juan Abad, Aurelio
Tolentino ,Juan Matapang Cruz. Juan Crisostomo Sotto mounted the classics
like Tanikalang Ginto, Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas and Hindi Ako
Patay, all directed against the American imperialists. Patricio Mariano’s Anak
ng Dagat and Severino Reyes’s Walang Sugat are equally remarkable
zarsuwelas staged during the period.

        On the eve of World War II, Wilfredo Maria Guerrero would gain
dominance in theatre through his one-act plays which he toured through his
“mobile theatre”. Thus, Wanted a Chaperone and The Forsaken
Housebecame very popular in campuses throughout the archipelago.

        The novel in Tagalog, Iloko, Hiligaynon and Sugbuanon also developed
during the period aided largely by the steady publication of weekly magazines
like the Liwayway, Bannawag and Bisaya which serialized the novels.

        Among the early Tagalog novelists of the 20 th century were Ishmael
Amado, Valeriano Hernandez Peña, Faustino Aguilar, Lope K. Santos and
Lazaro Francisco.

        Ishmael Amado’s Bulalakaw ng Pag-asa published in 1909 was one of

the earliest novels that dealt with the theme of American imperialism in the
Philippines. The novel, however, was not released from the printing press until
1916, at which time, the author, by his own admission and after having been
sent as a pensionado to the U.S., had other ideas apart from those he wrote
in the novel.

        Valeriano Hernandez Peña’s Nena at Neneng narrates the story of two

women who happened to be best of friends as they cope with their
relationships with the men in their lives. Nena succeeds in her married life
while Neneng suffers from a stormy marriage because of her jealous
husband.

        Faustino Aguilar published Pinaglahuan, a love triangle set in the early

years of the century when the worker’s movement was being formed. The
novel’s hero, Luis Gatbuhay, is a worker in a printery who isimprisoned for a
false accusation and loses his love, Danding, to his rival Rojalde, son of a
wealthy capitalist. Lope K. Santos, Banaag at Sikat has almost the same
theme and motif as the hero of the novel, Delfin, also falls in love with a rich
woman, daughter of a wealthy landlord. The love story of course is set also
within the background of development of the worker’s trade union movement
and throughout the novel, Santos engages the readers in lengthy treatises
and discourses on socialism and capitalism. Many other Tagalog novelists
wrote on variations of the same theme, i.e., the interplay of fate, love and
social justice. Among these writers are Inigo Ed Regalado, Roman Reyes,
Fausto J. Galauran, Susana de Guzman, Rosario de Guzman-Lingat, Lazaro

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ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

Francisco, Hilaria Labog, Rosalia Aguinaldo, Amado V. Hernandez. Many of

these writers were able to produce three or more novels as Soledad Reyes
would bear out in her book which is the result of her dissertation, Ang
Nobelang Tagalog (1979).

        Among the Iloko writers, noted novelists were Leon Pichay, who was
also the region’s poet laureate then, Hermogenes Belen, and Mena Pecson
Crisologo whose Mining wenno Ayat ti Kararwa is considered to be the
Iloko version of a Noli me Tangere.

        In the Visayas, Magdalena Jalandoni and Ramon Muzones would lead
most writers in writing the novels that dwelt on the themes of love, courtship,
life in the farmlands, and other social upheavals of the period. Marcel Navarra
wrote stories and novels in Sugbuhanon.

        Poetry in all languages continued to flourish in all regions of the country
during the American period. The Tagalogs, hailing Francisco F. Balagtas as
the nation’s foremost poet invented the balagtasan in his honor.
Thebalagtasan is a debate in verse, a poetical joust done almost
spontaneously between protagonists who debate over the pros and cons of
an issue.

        The first balagtasan was held in March 1924 at the Instituto de Mujeres,

with Jose Corazon de Jesus and Florentino Collantes as rivals, bubuyog (bee)
and paru-paro (butterfly) aiming for the love of kampupot (jasmine). It was
during this balagtasan that Jose Corazon de Jesus, known as Huseng Batute,
emerged triumphant to become the first king of the Balagtasan. Jose Corazon
de Jesus was the finest master of the genre. He was later followed
by balagtasistas, Emilio Mar Antonio and Crescenciano Marquez, who also
became King of the Balagtasan in their own time.

        As Huseng Batute, de Jesus also produced the finest poems and lyrics
during the period. His debates with Amado V. Hernandez on the political issue
of independence from America and nationhood were mostly done in verse
and are testament to the vitality of Tagalog poetry during the era. Lope K.
Santos, epic poem, Ang Panggingera is also proof of how poets of the
period have come to master the language to be able to translate it into
effective poetry.

        The balagtasan would be echoed as a poetical fiesta and would be

duplicated in the Ilocos as thebukanegan, in honor of Pedro Bukaneg, the
supposed transcriber of the epic, Biag ni Lam-ang; and theCrissottan, in
Pampanga, in honor of the esteemed poet of the Pampango, Juan
Crisostomo Sotto.

        In 1932, Alejandro G. Abadilla , armed with new criticism and an

orientation on modernist poetry would taunt traditional Tagalog poetics with

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ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

the publication of his poem, “Ako ang Daigdig.” Abadilla’s poetry began the
era of modernism in Tagalog poetry, a departure from the traditional rhymed,
measured and orally recited poems. Modernist poetry which utilized free or
blank verses was intended more for silent reading than oral delivery.

        Noted poets in Tagalog during the American period were Julian Cruz
Balmaceda, Florentino Collantes, Pedro Gatmaitan, Jose Corazon de Jesus,
Benigno Ramos, Inigo Ed. Regalado, Ildefonso Santos, Lope K. Santos,
Aniceto Silvestre, Emilio Mar. Antonio , Alejandro Abadilla and Teodoro
Agoncillo.

        Like the writers in English who formed themselves into organizations,
Tagalog writers also formed the Ilaw at Panitik, and held discussions and
workshops on the value of literature in society. Benigno Ramos, was one of
the most politicized poets of the period as he aligned himself with the
peasants of the Sakdal Movement.

        Fiction in Tagalog as well as in the other languages of the regions

developed alongside the novel. Most fictionists are also novelists. Brigido
Batungbakal , Macario Pineda and other writers chose to dwell on the
vicissitudes of life in a changing rural landscape. Deogracias Del Rosario on
the other hand, chose the city and the emerging social elite as subjects of his
stories. He is considered the father of the modern short story in Tagalog

        Among the more popular fictionists who emerged during the period are
two women writers, Liwayway Arceo and Genoveva Edroza Matute,
considered forerunners in the use of “light” fiction, a kind of story telling that
uses language through poignant rendition. Genoveva Edroza
Matute’s “Ako’y Isang Tinig” and Liwayway Arceo’s “Uhaw ang Tigang na
Lupa” have been used as models of fine writing in Filipino by teachers of
composition throughout the school system.

        Teodoro Agoncillo’s anthology 25 Pinakamahusay na Maiikling

Kuwento (1945) included the foremost writers of fiction in the pre-war era.

        The separate, yet parallel developments of Philippine literature in English

and those in Tagalog and other languages of the archipelago during the
American period only prove that literature and writing in whatever language
and in whatever climate are able to survive mainly through the active
imagination of writers. Apparently, what was lacking during the period was for
the writers in the various languages to come together, share experiences and
come to a conclusion on the elements that constitute good writing in the
Philippines.

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 MODULE IN ENGLISH 13:
ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

Task Sheet 8-9.1

Title: Analysis of Literary Piece

Performance Objectives:
Now that you learned a lot from the topics discussed you should be
able to write a reflective essay discussing about your own belief on the topic
stated. You should be able to impart own experiences as examples to
support your opinion. While you’re on it, include on your reflection the its
significance to your life and others.

Supplies: Notebook/ Paper, Pen

Equipment: PC and Printer (optional)

Steps/Procedure:

1. Search for the information of literary piece written under the american
colonial period

2. After gathering data, be guided by the following questions:

Choose at least two (2) of the literary pieces and criticize your selected
literary piece (s) by following the steps and procedure that your instructor
asked you to do.
Footnote to youth by Jose Garcia Villa
Anabella by Magdalena Jalandoni
To a Lost One by Angela Manalang-gloria
What Is an educated Filipino by Francisco Benitex
The Beginning of Philippine Literature in English

3. Write your reflection about the selected literary pieces.

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 MODULE IN ENGLISH 13:
ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

Assessment Method:
Performance Criteria Checklist

Performance Criteria Checklist 8-9.1

Criteria 5 4 3 2 1
To what extent did your output satisfy the
following?
The response/solution is complete and appropriate.
Ideas are presented accurately and orderly.
Supporting details and examples are sufficient.
Highly influential and realistic due to the use of factual
details.
Grammar and word choice are correct and
appropriate.
The output presented is original and free of
plagiarism.
TOTAL (Highest= 30 pts.)

5 pts. 4 pts. 3 pts. 2 pts. 1 pt.

Needs
Very Good Good Average Improvement
Repeat
The The The The expected The
expected expected expected output is expected
output is output is output is accomplished output is not
accomplishe accomplishe accomplishe but some of accomplishe
d and the d and the d and the the objectives d and/or
objectives objectives objectives are not none of the
are satisfied are satisfied are satisfied. satisfied. The objectives
well. The well. The The output output also are fulfilled.
output also output also also satisfied doesn’t The output
satisfied all satisfied well some of satisfy well also doesn’t
of the criteria most of the the criteria the criteria satisfy
enumerated. criteria enumerated. enumerated. enough the
enumerated. criteria
Well done! Extra effort No need to enumerated.
Continue Continue is needed. repeat.
doing a doing a Try to Improvemen Need to
great job. good job. improve t is expected repeat the
Challenge Improve other skills on the next activity or

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ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
CALAPAN CITY, INC. LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

other skills
yourself by on the
on the accomplish
doing much criteria outputs.
criteria equal task.
greater. enumerated.
enumerated.

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