INSTRUCTIONAL MODULES IN PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND EDUCATION

LESSON 1
MODULE 1: THE MEANING OF LITERATURE
Instructor:
Allotted time:
Overview

This module is designed to help you use the following functions:

1.Expressing emotions, beliefs and aspirations and sentiments

2.Reflects on the ideologies and philosophies of life
3.Appreciate literary masterpieces and value the meaning of life
4.Discover oneself and grow through the exposure to the beliefs, attitudes, values, customs and traditions of the
people.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:

1.Define literature
2.Realize the importance of literature in your lives
3.Appreciate the importance of literature by reading relevant literary pieces
4.Classify literary pieces as to genre or forms
5.Improve both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of your lives by deepening your knowledge of yourselves
as well as other people.
6.Appreciate better our literary heritage as a people and nation.

Pretest
Name: Score:
Course/Year/ Section: Date:

Direction: Answer the following guide questions completely by providing ample explanation, example or illustration.

1.What is your idea of literature?

2.What is the importance of studying literature?
3.Identify the two general types of literature, its divisions and classifications (genres)?
4.What could be used as subjects of literature? Why?
5.What are the criteria or standards used by literary critics to evaluate a literary piece?

Learning Focus

What is Literature?

It is derived from the Latin word "litera" or anything written. This includes everything from a market list to the
study of Shakespeare's and/or Nick Joaquin's works. However, a market list should be excluded as
"Literature" because it does not do those things that we expect from literature- to entertain, stimulate
interest, broaden, or ennoble the reader. Literature invites emotional and intellectual engagement.

The majority say that it is the deepest thoughts and feelings of man expressed through the beauty of
language as he relates himself to his fellowmen, his environment and his God.

Therefore, literature does not always apply to every piece of writing. True literature is a faithful reproduction
of life executed in an artistic fashion.

It is the record of expression of the best thoughts, ideas, and feelings of man through the medium of
dignified, artistic, and beautiful language.

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COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND EDUCATION

Generally speaking, it is a vital record of:

a. what man has seen in life
b. what they have experienced of it- the SHE- Significant Human Experiences. It is fundamentally an
expression of life through the medium of beautiful, dignified, artistic language.

Other Meaning of Literature

Literature is defined as written works which deal with themes of permanent and universal interest,
characterized by creativeness and grace of expression such as poetry, fiction, essay, etc; distinguished from
works of scientific, technical or journalistic nature. It can also be defined as an expression of the emotions,
thoughts, beliefs, aspirations, dreams, and goals of humanity in general and of man in particular. We can
say that it is life itself. In many ways, it can teach as the unknown and undiscovered things about ourselves,
what Saint Agustine many centuries ago called "the dark corners of the heart." And according to Thomas
Moore, literature means "to appreciate life" and "to make us see beauty."

Importance of the Study of Literature

These are varied reasons why the study of literature is of great importance. These are:
1. It expresses our emotions, beliefs and aspirations and sentiments.
2. It reflects the ideologies and philosophies of life.
3. It informs, entertains and teaches a lesson.
4. It allows one to discover himself and grow through the exposure to the beliefs.
5. It enables the reader to appreciate literary masterpieces and value the meaning of life.
6. It allows us to understand literary trends and techniques.
7. It gives the distinctive qualities of literary works and ideas peculiar to a certain group of people or
nation.
8. It makes us realize the universality of events in human life which we need to understand and accept.
9. it enables students to understand the values of other people of the world.

Two General Types of Literature

1. Oral literature- stories told from mouth through oral tradition and handed down from generation to
generation.
2. Written literature- all those works found in books, newspapers, magazines and other manuscripts we read.

General Subject Matter of Literature

These are the subjects, topics or issues which literature deals with.

1. Personal experiences of an individual as an individual- These are the things that make up the sum
total of the private's life both inner and outer that which makes him unique with other individuals.
2. The experiences of man as man- These include the great common questions of life and death, sin,
destiny, love, hope, relation with God, life here and in the hereafter. It is the sum total of the
experience of the human race.
3. The relation of the individual with his fellows- deals with the entire experience of man in the entire
social world with all his activities and problems. (It involves the social values of man.)
4. The relation of man with the external world of nature. (environment)
5. Man's own effort to create and express under the various forms of literature and art.

Elements of Literature
These are the important things (like ingredients) that the author puts into his literary work to enhance the
fulfillment of his objective in writing the literary piece.

1. intellectual element- it involves the thoughts, ideas, philosophy that the author uses to bare upon his
subject.

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2. emotional element- involves the kind of feelings, emotions and sentiments which the author involves in
expressing his vision of life. These feelings maybe of any kind ranging from love, hatred, jealousy ,
despair and others.
3. element of imagination (fancy)- it involves the imaginative and keen perception of the author which he
utilizes to inject some incidents or characters in the story purely from his own imagination and fancy. It
foresees a different reaction from the readers. They maybe awed, wonder or surprised or even
inspired.
4. technical elements/style or manneu of composition- it is the manner or style by which the author puts
together his thoughts in his literary work. The author molds, fashion, or forms the raw materials and
his thoughts, feelings, and imagination into order, symmetry, beauty, and effectiveness.

Literary Standards
How can we tell if a literary work is great? Literature, like all other arts, has certain standards by which all
selections can be measured for evaluation. Great literature is distinguished by the following qualities:
1. Artistry. This is the quality which appeals to our sense of beauty.
2. Intellectual Value. A literary work stimulates thought. It enriches our mental life by making us
realize fundamental truths about life and human nature.
3. Suggestiveness. This is the quality associated with the emotional power of literature. Great
literature moves us deeply and stirs our feeling and imagination, giving and evoking visions above
and beyond the plan of ordinary life and experiences.
4. Spiritual Value. Literature elevates the spirit by bringing out moral values which make us better
persons. The capacity to inspire is part of the spiritual value of literature.
5. Permanence. A great work of literature endures. It can be read again and again as each gives
fresh delight and new insights and opens new worlds of meaning and experience. It appeals is
lasting.
6. Universality. Great literature is timeless and timely. Forever relevant, it appeals to one and all,
anytime, anywhere because it deals with elemental feelings, fundamental truths, and universal
conditions.
7. Style. This is peculiar way in which a writer sees life, forms his ideas and expresses them. Great
works are marked as much by their memorable substance as by their distinctive style. Style should
suit content.
Two Divisions of Literature and their Classifications
All literature falls under two main categories: Poetry and Prose

In literary development of man, poetry developed first, perhaps because emotions are more elemental than reason,
and man feels before he thinks. Let us now consider Poetry, its characteristics, and its divisions.

1. POETRY
a. It is the imaginative expression of strong feeling usually rhythmical. The spontaneous overflow of
powerful emotions (feelings) recollected in tranquility. (by William Wordsworth)
b. Poetry is rhythmical imaginative language expressing the intention, taste, thought passion and insight of
human soul.
c. It is the record of the best and happiest moments of the mind. (Percy Byshhey Shelley)
d. A criticism of life under the condition fixed for such a criticism by the laws of poetic truth and beauty.
(Mathew Arnold)
e. Poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of reality.(Edgar Allan Poe)

CHARACTERISTICS OF POETRY

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COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND EDUCATION
Critics, writers, teachers, and poets themselves have tried often and long to define poetry and to
distinguish it from prose. Perhaps the best ways to differentiate these two major literary types is to
speak of the unique features of poetry which set it from prose: rhythm, imagery, and sense of meaning.

THREE KINDS OF POETRY

a. Narrative- a poem or a song that narrates a story or man's encounters and adventures in life. It is also
tells about heroic deeds and exploits of man.
b. Dramatic- a term properly restricted to poetic plays written to be acted. It employs dramatic forms of
some elements of dramatic technique as a means of achieving poetic ends.
c. Lyric- a brief subjective poem strongly marked by imagination, melody or emotion and creating for the
reader a single, unified impression. It can be sung too.

NARRATIVE POETRY- tells a story in richly imaginative and rhythmical language

1. Epic- a long narrative serious poem about hero and heroic companions set in a past that is
imagined as greater than the present.
2. Ballad- a narrative poem or song of communal origin transmitted by a process of oral tradition
among people usually free from literary influence.
3. Metrical Tale- a simple narrative without complicated plot told in a simple but realistic manner. It
exposes common practices and vices in life.
4. Metrical Romance- a romantic tale in verse and is applied to both such medieval romances as
Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight and to the type of verse romances produced by Sir Walter
Scott and Lord Byron. It tells about the romances and heroic deeds of early figures.

LYRIC POETRY- expresses a personal thoughts and feelings.

1. Song- a lyric poem adapted to musical expression. Song lyrics are usually short, simple,
sensuous, emotional and perhaps the most spontaneous lyric poem.
2. Ode- a serious lyric poem expressing the speaker's passion, often admiration and wonder. It
has considerable length characterized by lofty feeling.
3. Elegy- in Greek and Latin verse, a poem in alternative lines of dactylic hexameters and dactylic
pentameters. It is a poem written for lamentation of the dead.
4. Simple Lyric- a short poem wherein the speaker primarily expresses his emotion or records a
meditation rather than narrates a tale.
5. Sonnet- a poem consisting of 14 lines with rhymes arranged according to one or other certain
definite schemes of which the Petrarchan and the Elizabethan are the principal.

DRAMATIC POETRY- portrays life and character through action in powerful, emotion-packed lines such
as those in Shakespeare's plays. Drama is a short story of conflict told entirely in dialogue and
in dramatic writing.
The elements of drama are: plot, characters, theme and dialogue action and situations.
1. Poetic Plays
2. Masque
3. Dramatic monologue

2. PROSE- is discourse which uses sentences usually forming paragraphs to express ideas, feelings and actions.
In subject matter, prose generally concentrates on the familiar and the ordinary. A rigid dividing
line in the contents of poetry and prose no longer exists. Prose is mainly concerned with the
ordinary, but it may deal with subjects such as heroism, beauty, love and nobility of spirit which
usually find the most eloquent expressions in poetry. On the other hand, poetry maybe inspired
by the common place and ordinary as in many poems by Wordsworth, Robert Burns, John G.
Whittler, Carl Sandburg and countless other poets who have sought and discovered beauty
and meaning in simple, everyday existence.

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COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND EDUCATION
Characteristics of Prose
a. It is the most common form of discourse in man's daily affairs.
b. It is also the most common form of writing used in essays, newspapers, magazine articles, novels, short
stories, biographies, autobiographies, sermons, speeches, and diaries.
c. It is not bound by metrical patterns, rhymes, and rhythm (limitless).
d. It presents its meaning simply directly.

KINDS OF PROSE
1. Essay- is short literary composition dealing with a single matter usually from a personal point of view.
Thus, it is revelatory of the author's taste, opinions, prejudices, moods, and, in general, his personality.
Essays may either be formal or informal but there are more specific subdivisions namely:
a. Reflective essay
b. Narrative or Short essay
c. Descriptive essay
d. Biographical essay
e. Nature Essay
f. Critical Essay
g. Periodical Essay
h. Didactic Essay
The essay 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.

2. Fiction- is the literary production of man's imagination finding shape in stories of people or events.
Elements of fiction include characters the people in the story, theme a universal truth, setting time and
place of the story, and point of view the angle of narration.

a. Prose allegory
b. Prose romances

Three types of Fiction:

a. short story-is a brief imaginative narrative unfolding a single predominant incident and a single
chief character.
b. novel- is a long fictitious prose narrative with types: epistolary, gothic, historical, and the
picaresque novel.
c. novelette- is a short novel. It is too short to be a novel and too long to be a short story.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

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 INSTRUCTIONAL MODULES IN PHILIPPINE LITERATURE
COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND EDUCATION

Read the selection above and answer the following:

A. WORD STUDY:

1. Prest-

2. Robins-

3. Bosom-

B. Search for the Biography of the author Joyce Kilmer and the background information of the poem and the
Singer who interpreted the poem in a song. (50pts)

C. EXERCISES

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INSTRUCTIONAL MODULES IN PHILIPPINE LITERATURE
COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND EDUCATION
Name: ___________________________________ Date:_____________

Process Questions: Explain/Discuss very well your answers (10pts each)

1. To what does the poet compare the tree?

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2. What does the poet mean when he wrote that the hungry mouth of tree is prest against the earth's
sweet flowing breast?

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3. How does a tree lift her leafy arms to pray?

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4. Why is it said that a tree "intimately lives with rain"?

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5. Why do you think the poet considers himself a "fool"?

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