Ocampo, Jessa L.

18-52888
Master of Arts in English Major in Language and Literature
LIT 503 Contemporary Trends in Literature

REFLECTIVE ESSAY
TOPIC:
TRENDS IN FICTION
DISCUSSANT:
MS. JAYCEL H. PANGANIBAN

This topic covers trends in fiction such as crime fiction trends, historical

romance trends, middle grade trends, and teen and young adult trends. Upon

seeing this term “fiction” I couldn’t help my self but to compare it to non-fiction

literature. I actually don’t understand why some people are very interested with

fictional literature rather than to non-fictional literature. In its broader sense,

fiction is created from imagination, that is, it is all the imagination that creates the

literature as it is more on mysteries, romance, fantasy, crime thrillers and many

more. It is fabricated, however though fabricated and made from imagination we

can get the same pleasure and lessons as what we can get in non-fictional

literature. The idea is that, most of the people are into fictional literature even

they are aware that it is coming from an imagination rather than to non-fictional

literature that created from facts. In fact, they found reading fiction more

beneficial for them. According to Seiter (n.d.), multiple studies shown that fiction

helps activated the regions of our brain which is responsible for better

understanding and seeing the world from a new perspective. Furthermore, the

psychologist Raymond Mar saw substantial overlap in the brain networks used to

understand stories and the network used to navigate interactions with other

individuals and states “In particular, interactions in which we’re trying to figure
out the thoughts and feelings of others. Scientists call this capacity of the brain to

construct a map other people’s intention “theory of mind”. Narratives offer a

unique opportunity to engage this capacity, as we identify with characters’

longings and frustrations, guess at their hidden motives and track their

encounters with friends and enemies, neighbors and lovers”. This is just one of

the reasons why some people are in to reading fiction. Non-fictional literature on

the other hand, is exactly different from fictional literature because it is a factual

story from actual events. Definitely, it is based on fact, but some people still

found it bored but somehow interesting to read. For some readers and writers,

they found it difficult to tell the difference between these two because it

sometimes blurred and often intersect. According to Grant (2017), as cited in

Salvatore (n.d.), “I teach a course on the craft, theory, and practice of fiction

writing, and in it, we discuss this topic all the time. Although all of the ideas and

theories are disputed and challenged by writers and critics alike (not only as to

what fiction is but as to what it is in relation to other genres, e.g., creative

nonfiction), I’d say there are some basic components of fiction.” But, as what I

have said before, they have both the pleasures and lessons to offer even the

literature is created from imaginations or created from facts. In reading between

non-fiction and fiction, I am in the middle. I love fiction because it widened my

imagination and I love non-fiction because it brings me to reality and for me, they

have both best things to offer.

Referring to the trends of fiction nowadays, teen and young adult trends is

in its finest. Books speaking to the concerns of teenager and characters typically

between 15 and 18 years old are very popular nowadays. Wattpad in particular,

covers most of the teenager’s time in reading. However, the story mostly deals

with fictional romance and it challenge the content of teen and young adult fiction

of the past. The rise in self-publishing, digital folk culture and social media

participation, have revolutionized reading and writing practices. As a result,

and traditional publishers are no longer the sole gatekeepers of culture. Because

of that, a new social writing platform started to enter the publishing arena and

Wattpad successfully invade the reading practices of the youth, as well as the

content of the traditional teen and young adult books. Though, the content of this

book is mostly fiction, it still creates influence to the youth, as it sometimes offers

malicious content that are not suitable for the age of the readers. I experienced

reading this book because I heard it offers fiction, but then my experience in

reading brings me to disappointment. The content is too vulgar and brings the

youth to deep curiousness. Yes, it is fictional, but youth don’t have the ability to

weigh their emotions and thinking. Social Media platforms should control the

publication of such books and help the traditional book contents to gain what they

had lost.

Overall, whatever the trends in fiction, fiction always arouse readers’ expectation

because of the character’s desire, speculation, motivation, textual weight, and

genre. Say for example, if a writer put a desire into character’s mind, words, or

actions, readers expect the story to resolve the desire. If there are speculations

in the character about some future event or condition, readers, of course expect

the story to resolve the speculation especially if the character feels some emotion

about the speculation. Readers expect that characters have reasons for their

actions, sometimes readers can readily imagine the reasons, either from their

own experience or from something earlier in the story. However, if the readers

can’t readily understand the reasons, that opens a question, which they expect

the story to answer. If the readers focused on the text, the readers expect it to

matter, this is especially true in short fiction, where the mere mention of a thing

must justify its presence in the story. In terms of its genre, each genre brings its

own set of expectations. In a mystery, the crime will be resolved in the end while
in romance, the lovers will get together in the end. These are the magic of fiction,

upon imagining, you are expecting something.

Ocampo, Jessa L. 18-52888

REFLECTIVE ESSAY
TOPIC:
TRENDS IN POETRY
DISCUSSANT:
MR. DARELL A. BAUTISTA

This topic covers the following contents: english versification, comparative

metrics, analysis of verse forms and verse system, and rhythmical prose. Poetry,

for me is a type of literature having complicated meaning in each text line that

caused difficulty in understanding. According to Narsaria (2019), poetry is difficult

because it consists of the serious compression of information in very few words

and one must know the structure, form, and literary devices to fully appreciate

the work. While readers are struggling to understand the hidden meanings inside

the text in poetry, writers also trying to compose powerful line and pull than whole

reams of prose. As what the late Robert Frost said, “Poetry begins with a lump in

the throat”. Frost referring to the poet’s writing process and poetry’s ability to

strike a chord. In analyzing a poem, it is very important to look outward the

appearance and structure of the poem and since analyzing a poem is indeed

complicated, we have to be acquainted with its rhyme, meter, and various literary

devices.
Versification was also discussed along with poetry and they are generally

associated with each other but with subtle differences. Verse is said to be writing

that is divided into lines while in poetry, we don’t need to follow that format

because poetry has certain formal structural features and to be classified as a

poem, it must have its poetic qualities. And when we are referring to versification,

we are generally dealing with technical characteristics of a poem. And I can say

that among the technical characteristics of poem, the most important is the meter

because it creates sound and sense of the verse. According to Tucker (n.d.),

meter is an important part of poetry because it helps readers understand rhythm

as it related to words and lines in a poem. In writers, it helps them create poetry

with clearly defined structural elements and strong melodic undertones.

Furthermore, it is highly significant in reading poetry loudly because it guides

desired voice fluctuations and also, we have to be consistent in meter. Without

consistent meter, it is difficult to maintain as smooth, steady flow throughout the

poem unless it follows a free-verse style (Tucker, n.d.). Referring to free-verse

style poem, spoken poetry is very popular nowadays. There are some aspects in

poetry that couldn’t shown in this kind of piece but it awakens the real purpose of

poetry which is poetry is meant to be read out loud. It is written on a page but

performed for an audience. It contains heavy use of rhythm, improvisation,

rhymes, word play, and slang. Some argues that there are no differenced

between poem and spoken word but there are distinctions specifically, poetry is

base on word flow and rhyme alone wile spoken word is not based on rhyme and

it is considered as one of the most uninhibited word-based art forms. Overall, I

found all these topics mentioned above highly technical as it pertains to the

composition and analysis of poem. As an English teacher these are significant for

the students to really appreciate the essence of poem and for them to be guided

in dealing with the comprehension of literary texts.

Master of Arts in English Major in Language and Literature

LIT 503 Contemporary Trends in Literature

REFLECTIVE ESSAY
TOPIC:
TRENDS IN FICTION
DISCUSSANT:
MS. CLAREN C. OPENA

Both writers and readers are becoming more sophisticated in terms of

concept of tone and understanding what genre entails. As a result, there exists

this cycle in which writers are challenging reader’s preconceived notions of what

fiction is and readers are in turn expecting more from the writers and the book

itself. And as we are facing new generation, trends in fiction also taking place

across the publishing industry. Some other trends signal change and evolution

while others, harken back to the genesis of our relationship with written and

spoken language. Talking about the trends in fiction, the discussant presented

some trends in fiction that we often encounter such as cozy mystery, LGBT

trends, chik lit, historical trends, and thriller trends. If I would to choose among

these trends, I will choose LGBT trends since it is somehow controversial

nowadays. Lauren Guy speaks to LGBT authors Michael Cunningham and Mary
Dorcey about the enduring appeal of LGBT books in the society that is more

accepted than ever (Loiez, 2016). These two authors are both linked by one

attribute which is their identity as LGBT. According to Loiez (2016), though our

liberal society is growing, fiction and representations of queer communities are

now becoming mainstream but being an out member of the LGBT community is a

long way from a safe position to hold. LGBT literature, including fiction, is widely

available and accessible to readers of all ages and sexual orientation. Authors

are also introducing LGBT characters to generations of young adults and children

to allow them exploring their own space to understand their fledging identities.

The introduction of LGBT literature, specifically fiction, in the society especially to

the youth, must be very careful, for me. One of the reasons for its introduction is

for the youth to explore their identities but then, youth tend to embrace what they

are reading because their emotions are not strong enough to balance what they

feel and who they are. As a result, instead of knowing themselves, they become

attached to the characters that mislead their identities.

Therefore, in the introduction of LGBT fiction and other literature to the public,

especially to the youth, authors and publishers must work hand in hand to deliver

the best purpose of a particular written literature.

Chapman, E. (2015 March). Provision of LGBT- related fiction to children and

young people in English public libraries: a mixed methods study.

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Narsaria, A. ( 2019 September 1). Why is poetry difficult to understand?.

Retrieved

from https://www.scienceabc.com/social-science/poetry-difficult-

understand.html

Seattle Media. (2020). The significance of meter in poems. Retrieved from

https://education.seattlepi.com/significance-meter-poems-4975.html

Wordup. (2017 September 1). What is the difference spoken word, poetry, rap

and

poetry?. Retrieved from https://wordup411ng.com/what-is-the-difference-

between-spoken-word-poetry-rap-and-poetry/

Submittable. (2019 December 9). A decade of change: Publishing industry

trends
in 7 charts. Retrieved from https://blog.submittable.com/publishing-

industry-trends/