1. QUARTER 2 .pptx1. QUARTER 2 .pptx1. QUARTER 2 .pptx

21st Century Literature from the
Philippines and the World
Contextual Reading Approaches vis-à-vis World
Literature

Directions: Read the statements carefully, then write the letter of your chosen answer on
your answer sheet (15 points).
1. Reading approaches are defined as _________________.
A. ways of analyzing a text C. skills in extracting information
B. methods of writing a story D. tools in defining a concept
2. Reading approaches are useful because they serve as a guide in __________________.
A. promoting literary trends C. communicating with the
author
B. understanding works of literature. D. creating sources of entertainment
3. This term indicates the literary writings of a particular author, which are considered by
scholars and critics in general to be his/her genuine creations.
A. Essay B. Canon C. Novel
D. Diary
4. This reading approach suggests that there is no single correct interpretation of a literary
work. Instead, it is based on the personal impressions made by the critic.
A. sociological B. Formalism C. feminism D.
reader-response
5. This reading approach explores the relationships between the text and society.
A. sociological B. formalism C. feminism D.

6. What reading approach is used in the analysis below?
'Buyayang, buyayang', a folk song from Butuan, a city in Mindanao, illustrates the impact of
violent conflict on Mindanao communities, in particular, the lumad communities.
A. sociological B. Formalism C. Feminism D. reader-response
7. "What is your overall reaction to the text?" This question will most likely be asked in which reading
approach?
A. sociological approach C. formalist approach
B. feminist approach D. reader-response approach
8. What literary approach is used in the analysis below?
In Dead Stars, I like how the author, Paz Marquez Benitez wrote the flow of the story giving the readers’
questions on what will happen next, making them interesting and inspiring at the same time.
A. sociological B. formalism C. feminism D. reader-response
9. In which reading approach will you most likely answer this question?
"How are these characters affected by the society?"
A. sociological B. formalism C. feminism D. reader-response
10. This element of literature includes the place and time of the actions that transpire in a story.
A. character B. setting C. symbols D. plot

11. All of the following authors are considered Philippine representative authors EXCEPT,
A. Nick Joaquin C. N.V.M. Gonzalez
B. Shirley Siaton D. Fedirico Garcia Lorca
12. In reading the parable of the prodigal son in the New Testament, different readers are likely
to have different responses. What kind of critical approach is used?
A. Feminism B. Formalist C. Sociological D. Reader-Response
13. This is an element of fiction that tells a significant truth about which a story attempts to
communicate to its readers.
A. Conflict B. point-of-view C. theme D. genre
14. It is an approach in reading that distinguishes the social stratification between the capitalist
and the working class, the ruler and its members, the rich and poor.
A. Feminism B. Formalism C. Sociological D. Reader-Response
15. This is an element in fiction which refers to the opposition of forces that may set forth the
problems, issues, and challenges of various forms and sources that the main character needs to
face and to deal with.
A. Conflict B. point-of-view C. theme D. genre

Sociological
Approach vis-à-vis
Asian Literature

Describe Me!
Directions: Write a one-sentence description for each picture below on your answer
sheet. Relate the picture on the left to Philippine literature and the picture on the right
to world literature (5 points each=10 points).
PHILIPPINE LITERATURE WORLD LITERATURE

Reading literature exercises the imagination. It
transports us out of our current context and into
other ages and places. It enables us to see the world
through the eyes of others. It fosters reflection and
improves our facility with language and vocabulary.
There are times, however, that we interpret and
study literature differently. Some readers interpret
literature through their own experiences, some
through the society’s point of view, and even some
in connection with the author. In interpreting
literature, we may use different reading approaches.

Reading approaches (or literary criticisms, critical
reading lenses, critical approaches, critical theories, or
literary theories) are ways to analyze, interpret, or
evaluate works of literature. A reading approach or
literary criticism is essentially an opinion, supported by
evidence, relating to theme, style, setting or historical or
political context. It usually includes discussion of the
work’s content and integrates your ideas with other
insights gained from research. Literary criticism may have
a positive or a negative bias and may be a study of an
individual piece of literature or an author’s body of work.
Although criticism may include some of the following
elements in order to support an idea, literary criticism is
NOT a plot summary, a biography of the author, or simply
finding fault with the literature. Researching, reading, and
writing works of literary criticism will help you to make
better sense of the work, form judgments about literature,
study ideas from different points of view, and determine
on an individual level whether a literary work is worth
reading.
WHAT ARE READING APPROACHES?

HOW WILL READING
APPROACHES HELP
YOU?
Reading approaches or
literary criticisms will serve as
your guide in understanding
and analyzing works of
literature. You may analyze
any work of literature
depending on the approach
(sociological, reader-
response, feminist, or
formalist) you have chosen or
asked of you.

SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH
Sociological approach examines literature in the
cultural, economic, and political context in which it is
written or received, exploring the relationships
between the text and society. It examines the artist's
society to better understand the author's literary works.
One influential type of sociological criticism is Marxist
criticism, founded by Karl Marx with Friedrich Engels,
which focuses on the economic and political elements
of literature. Sociological or Marxist readings often
focus on exposing how the works depict the class
struggle of the societies in which they were written.

EXAMPLE OF
SOCIOLOGICAL
APPROACH IN
READING
LITERATURE

Below is a sample format for writing an analysis using the sociological
approach.
I. Introduction
A. What is the title of the literary work?
B. What is it about? (in 1-2 sentences only)
C. Who is the author?
D. What is your main thesis statement or the main idea of
your analysis?
II. Body A. What is the setting of the story? What
is the kind of society where the story was set? B. Who are
the characters and what are their characteristics? C. How
are these characters affected by the society? Use lines
from the story to support your answer. D. What societal
issue/s is/are evident in the story? Give examples to
elaborate these issues.
E. Are there class struggles and power struggles in the
story? Use quotes from the story to illustrate.

III. Conclusion
A. How do you restate your main
thesis statement?
B. What is the possible solution to
the societal issue/s presented?
C. What is your challenge to the
readers in relation to the issue/s?

As you can see from the format
above, sociological or Marxist critics
are concerned with examining the
literary work as a product of its time
and place, and are not easily tricked
into ignoring that context in exchange
for the one depicted in the work.

Study the given
analysis of Dead Stars
by Paz Marquez-
Benitez which uses the
sociological approach,
then reflect on the
questions that follow.

Dead Stars by Paz Marquez-Benitez shows the complicated circumstances that
Alfredo Salazar has to go through in life as he was engaged to Esperanza when he fell for
another woman named Julia. This situation led to Alfredo committing infidelity but, in the end,
realizing that his love for Julia was just infatuation. Indeed, love should be a commitment, not
an obligation.
Written in 1925 during the American Period in the Philippines, Dead Stars was set during
a time when education was considered very important as seen in Alfredo being a lawyer.
With education, Alfredo was regarded as superior to those without education and even to
women. This is evident in Alfredo’s infidelity to Esperanza. However, Dead Stars was not only a
story about love and affection but also a reflection of the customs and practices of the
people during the American Period. We understand how courtship, marriage, and fidelity
were considered by those in the upper class. Love was not regarded as commitment but as
part of one’s obligation to the family. With this, we can see that women were regarded lesser
than their true worth. There is tension between men and women during the American Period
as women did not have the voice yet to stand up for themselves.
As seen in the society during Alfredo’s time, love should have been regarded as a
commitment rather than a duty to fulfill. Two people in love should devote themselves to
each other for life instead of being influenced by the society. Love deeply and love truthfully.
No pretensions.

Reflect on these questions in writing an analysis
using the sociological approach (No need to
answer these questions on paper).
REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS:
1. How did the introduction begin?
2. How did the body develop?
3. How was the setting introduced in the body?
4. How were the characters presented in the
body?
5. What content/s comprised the body?
6. How did the analysis end?

Thumbs Up or Down!
Part 1. Directions: Identify whether the statements are true or false. Draw a
thumbs up( )
if the statement is true; if false, draw a thumbs down ( ) on your answer sheet
(10 points).
1. A reading approach is also known as literary criticism.
2. Reading approaches are methods of interpreting a text.
3. To better understand a story, you can use a reading approach.
4. Literary criticism means finding faults from a work of literature.
5. Literary criticisms are purely based on opinion.
6. Reading approaches are plot summaries.
7. Sociological approach to reading examines the relationship between the text and the
author’s life.
8. To better understand a story using the sociological approach, relate the text to the time
when it was written.
9. Marxist criticism shows the class struggles of the period of a certain work of literature.
10. Sociological approach believes that a literary work is a product of its time.

Complete Me!
Part 2. Directions: Read the literary text The
Taximan’s Story and the notes in the boxes.
Analyze it using the sociological approach
by filling out the table with the needed
information. Copy the table and write your
answers on your answer sheet (5 points
each=60 points).

The Taximan’s Story
A short story by Catherine Lim (Singapore)
Very good, Madam. Sure, will take you there
in plenty good time for your meeting, Madam. This
way better, less traffic, less car jams. Half hour should
make it, Madam, so not to worry. What is it you say,
Madam? Yes, yes, ha, ha, been taximan for twenty
years now, Madam. Long time ago, Singapore not
like this–so crowded so busy. Last time more
peaceful, not so much taximen, or so much cars and
buses. Yes, Madam, can make a living. So so. What
to do. Must work hard if wants to success in
Singapore. People like us, no education, no capital
for business, we must sweat to earn money for wife
and children. Yes. Madam, quite big family–eight
children, six sons, two daughters. Big family! Ha! ha!
No good, Madam. In those days, where got Family
Planning in Singapore? People born many, many
children, every year, one childs. Is no good at all.
Today is much better. Two children, three children,
enough, stop. Our government say stop.

Lucky for me, all my children big now. Four of my
sons working–one a businessman, two clerks, one a
teacher in Primary school, one in National Service, one still
schooling, in Secondary Two. My eldest daughter, she is
twenty plus, stay at home, help the mother. No, not
married yet–very shy, and her health not so good, but a
good, obedient girl. My other girl–Oh, Madam! very hard
for father when daughter is no good and go against her
parents. Very sad, like punishment from God. Today, young
people not like us when we are young. We obey. Our
parents say don’t do this, we never do. Otherwise, the
cane. My father cane me, I was big enough to be married,
and still, got caning. My father he was very strict, and that
is good thing for parents to be strict. If not, young boys and
girls become very useless. Do not want to study, but run
away, and go to night clubs and take drugs and make
love. You agree with me. Madam? Today, young people
they are very trouble to their parents. Madam, you see this
young people over there, outside the coffee-house? See
what I mean, Madam? They are only schoolboys and
schoolgirls, but they act like big shots, spending money,
smoking, wearing latest fashion, and making love.

Ah Madam, I know, I know! As taximan, I
know them and their habits. Madam, you are a
teacher, you say? You know or not that young
schoolgirls, fifteen, sixteen years old, they go to
school in the morning in their uniforms and then
after school, they don’t go home, they have
clothes in their schoolbag, and they go to
public lavatory or hotel and change into these
clothes, and they put make-up on their face.
Their parents never know. They tell their Mum
got school meeting, got sports and games, this,
that, but they really come out and play the fool.
Ah, Madam, I see you surprise, but I know, I
know all their tricks. I take them about in my taxi.
They usual is wait in bowling alley or coffee
house or hotel, and they walk up, and friend,
friend, the European and American tourists, and
this is how they make fun and also

extra money. Madam, you believe or not when I tell you how
much money they got? I say! Last night, Madam, this young
girl, very pretty and made-up, and wear sexy dress, she told me
take her to Orchid Mansions–this place famous, Madam, fourth
floor flat–and she open her purse to pay me, and I say! all
American notes–ten dollar notes all, and she pull one out and
say keep change! As she has no time already. Madam, I tell
you this, every month, I got more money from these young girls
and their American and European boyfriends in my taxi, more
than I get from other people who bargain and say don’t want
go by meter and wait even for ten cents change. Phui!! Some
of them really make me mad. But these young girls and their
boyfriends don’t bargain, they just pay, pay, and they make
love in taxi so much they don’t know if you go round and round
and charge them by meter! I tell you, Madam, some of them
don’t care how much they spend on taxi. It is like this: after
1p.m. taxi fare double, and I prefer working this time, because
naturally, much more money. I go and wait outside Elroy Hotel
or Tung Court or Orchid Mansions, and such enough, Madam,
will have plenty business. Last Saturday, Madam, no joking, on
one day alone I make nearly one hundred and fifty dollars!
Some of it for services. Some of tourists don’t know where, so I
tell them and take them there, and that’s extra money.

Ah Madam, if I tell you all, no end to the story. But I
will tell you this, Madam. If you have young daughter and
she say Mummy I got meeting today in school and will
not come home, you must not say, Yes, yes, but you must
go and ask her where and why and who, and you find
out. Today young people not to trust, like young people
in many years ago.Oh, Madam, I tell you because I
myself have a daughter–oh, Madam, a daughter I love
very much, and she is so good and study hard. And I see
her report cards and her teacher write ‘Good work’ and
‘Excellent’ so on, so on. Oh, Madam, she my favourite
child, and I ask her what she want to be after left school,
and she says go to University. None of my other children
could go to University, but this one, she is very smart and
intelligent–no boasting, Madam–her teachers write
‘Good ‘and ‘Excellent’, and so on, so on, in her report
cards. She study at home, and help the mother, but
sometimes a little lazy, and she say teacher want her to
go back to school to do extra work, extra coaching, in
her weak subject, which is maths, Madam.

So I let her stay back in school and day after day
she come home in evening, then she do her studies and
go to sleep. Then one day, oh Madam, it make me so
angry even now–one day, I in my taxi driving, driving
along and hey! I see a girl looking like my Lay Choo, with
other girls and some Europeans outside a coffee-house
but I think, it cannot be Lay Choo, how can, Lay Choo is
in school, and this girl is all dressed up and make-up, and
very bold in her behaviour, and this is not like my
daughter at all. Then they go inside the coffee-house,
and my heart is very, very–how you describe it, Madam,
My heart is very ‘susah hati’ and I say to myself, I will
watch that Lay Choo and see her monkey tricks. The
very next day she is there again I stop my taxi, Madam,
and I am so angry. I rush up to this wicked daughter and
I catch her by the shoulders and neck, and slap her and
she scream, but I don’t care. Then I drag her to my taxi
and drive all the way home, and at home I thrash the
stupid food and I beat her and slap her till like hell. My
wife and some neighbours they pull me away,

and I think if they not pull me away, I sure to kill
that girl. I lock her up in her room for three days, and I
ashamed to tell her teacher, so I just tell the teacher
that Lay Choo is sick, so please to excuse her. Oh,
Madam, how you feel in my place? Make herself so
cheap, when her father drive taxi all day to save
money for her University. What is it, Madam? Yes, yes,
everything okay now, thank you. She cannot leave
the house except to go to school, and I tell her
mother always check, check in everything she do,
and her friends–what sort of people they are…
What, Madam? Oh, so sorry, Madam, cannot
wait for you to finish your meeting. Must go off, please
to excuse me. In a hurry, Madam. Must go off to Hotel
Elroy–there plenty people to pick up. So very sorry,
Madam, and thank you very much.

About the Story
The Taximan’s Story was published in "Little Ironies: Stories of Singapore" in
1978. It is a first-person narrative written in the form of a monologue centered on the
taxi driver as the main character and the story is told from his perspective.
Singapore emerged as a nation after 1965. For nearly one hundred fifty years, it had
been a British colony that was intimately linked to the whole Malay peninsula. From
1945 until the early 1970s, the island had severe housing shortages and a poor
infrastructure, high criminality and unemployment, racial riots, and communist
uprisings. The "survival policy" was based on the attraction of foreign investment
through low taxes, the development of an efficient infrastructure, a disciplined
workforce, and strict political control. In thirty years, Singapore changed from a
rough trading port to a rich, orderly, industrialized society. The remembrance of social
and economic difficulties influenced the development of a national culture with a
focus on wealth and stability and the idea of multiculturalism. There are wide income
and wealth differences, but the country is more differentiated by ethnicity than by
class. All the ethnic groups have experienced upward occupational mobility. There is
an intense focus on education. Good marks are a sure path to good positions with
good wages. In this respect, Singapore is a meritocracy.
Generally, children are expected to be quiet and obedient and may be
physically punished for misbehaving.

Rearrange to Reflect!
Directions: Reflect on the use of the sociological approach to
reading a text by rearranging the words in the box to form a
sentence. Write your answer on your answer sheet (10 points).
society affected be literature
may by

Madam Says!
Taximan’s Story was written in the perspective of the taximan
while talking to his passenger, a teacher, who was constantly
referred to as Madam in the story. Suppose Madam’s
responses were heard in the story, what would they be?
Directions: Write a one- sentence response to complete the
dialogue between the taximan and Madam on your answer
sheet. Consider the situation of Madam as a teacher in
making the responses (2 points each=20 points).

1) Madam: ________________________________________________________________
Taximan: Very good, Madam. Sure, will take you there in plenty good time for your
meeting, Madam.
2) Madam: ________________________________________________________________
Taximan: Yes, yes, ha, ha, been taximan for twenty years now, Madam.
3) Madam: ________________________________________________________________
Taximan: Yes. Madam, quite big family–eight children, six sons, two daughters. Big
family! Ha! Ha!
4) Madam: ________________________________________________________________
Taximan: Oh, Madam! very hard for father when daughter is no good and go
against her parents.
5) Madam: ________________________________________________________________
Taximan: Ah Madam, I know, I know! As taximan, I know them and their habits.

Taximan: Ah, Madam, I see you surprise, but I know, I know all their tricks. I take them about in my
taxi.
6) Madam: ________________________________________________________________
Taximan: But I will tell you this, Madam. If you have young daughter and she say Mummy I got
meeting today in school and will not come home, you must not say, Yes, yes, but you must go
and ask her where and why and who, and you find out.
7) Madam: ________________________________________________________________
Taximan: Then one day, oh Madam, it make me so angry even now–one day, I in my taxi driving, driving
along and hey! I see a girl looking like my Lay Choo, with other girls and some Europeans outside a coffee-
house but I think, it cannot be Lay Choo, how can, Lay Choo is in school, and this girl is all dressed up and
make-up, and very bold in her behaviour, and this is not like my daughter at all.
8) Madam: ________________________________________________________________
Taximan: Oh, Madam, how you feel in my place? Make herself so cheap, when her father drive taxi all day
to save money for her University.
9) Madam: ________________________________________________________________
Taximan: What, Madam? Oh, so sorry, Madam, cannot wait for you to finish your meeting.
10) Madam: _______________________________________________________________

Feminism Approach vis-à-vis African
Literature

MyHashTag
Directions: Recall what you learned about Asian Literature and the Sociological
Approach in analyzing a sample literary text. Create a # Hashtag to express what you
know and in three sentences explain your hashtag. Write your answer on your answer
sheet. (5 points)
Hashtag: _________________________________
Explanation:
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Task 2
Getting to Know Africa!
Directions: Write T if the statement is True and F if it’s False. Write the
answers on your answer sheet. (5 points)
1. Nadine Gordimer helped Nelson Mandela edit his famous speech “I
Am Prepared to Die” during Mandela’s trial for treason in 1962.
2. J.M. Cooetzee has not won a Nobel Prize for Literature.
3. Feminism works towards equality, not female superiority.
4. The goal of structuralism is to challenge the systemic inequalities
women face on a daily basis.
5. Out of Africa is a well-known book on Africa that was written by an
African author.
What’s New

In Lesson One, you were introduced to the
ways or approaches in analyzing literary texts.
These various approaches offer a range of
perspective which can be utilized to engage in
critical analysis of numerous texts. Aside from the
Sociological Approach, Feminist criticism or
feminism, can also be used to analyze a text.

I. FEMINISM
APPROACH IN
READING

 Feminist criticism or feminism, examines the role of women in
literature. It looks into how the female character may be
empowered or discriminated against. Feminist criticism has, in many
ways, followed what some theorists call the waves of feminism: 1. The
first comprised women's suffrage movements of the 19th and early-
20th centuries, promoting women's right to vote. Notable women in
this period include writer Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the
Rights of Women, 1792), activists like Susan B. Anthony and Victoria
Woodhull. 2. The second wave, the women's liberation movement,
began in the 1960s and campaigned for legal and social equality for
women. Writers like Simone de Beauvoir (Le Deuxième Sexe, 1949)
and Elaine Showalter established the groundwork for the
dissemination of feminist theories dove-tailed with the American Civil
Rights movement. 3. In or around 1992, a third wave was identified,
characterized by a focus on individuality and diversity. The term third
wave is credited to Rebecca Walker. 4. The fourth wave, from
around 2012, used social media to combat sexual harassment,
violence against women and rape culture; it is best known for the
Me Too Movement.

Feminism literary criticism
may use any of the
following methods:

• interpreting the way that women characters are
described in novels, stories, plays, biographies, and
histories, especially if the author is male
• decoding how the readers own gender influences the
reading and interpretation of a text.
• unravelling how women autobiographers and
biographers of women treat their subjects, and how
women are treated as secondary to the main subject
• describing relationships between the literary text and
ideas about power, sexuality, and gender
• critiquing of patriarchal or woman-marginalizing
language, such as a "universal" use of the masculine
pronouns "he" and "him“
• noticing and unpacking differences in how men and
women write: a style, for instance, where women use more
reflexive language and men use more direct language
(example: "she let herself in" versus "he opened the door")

• reclaiming women writers who are little known or have been
marginalized or undervalued, sometimes referred to as expanding or
criticizing the canon—the usual list of "important" authors and works
(e.g. include raising up the contributions of early playwright
AphraBehn and showing how she was treated differently than male
writers from her own time forward, and the retrieval of Zora Neale
Hurston's writing by Alice Walker.)
• reclaiming the "female voice" as a valuable contribution to literature,
even if formerly marginalized or ignored
• analyzing multiple works in a genre as an overview of a feminist
approach to that genre: for example, science fiction or detective
fiction
• analyzing multiple works by a single author (often female)
• examining how relationships between men and women and those
assuming male and female roles are depicted in the text, including
power relations
• examining the text to find ways in which patriarchy is resisted or
could have been resisted

II. TIPS IN
USING
FEMINISM
CRITICISM IN
READING

Here are some tips in analyzing some of
the feminism issues which are represented
in a given literary sample, with attention
on the female characters and the roles
they played. The following aspects should
be given attention when examining and
analyzing the work. They are as follows:

• Get to know the characters. The characters background,
work, sexuality, childhood, and outlook on life should be taken
into consideration in order for you to draw conclusion.
• Get to know their roles in the literary text. Determine the
specific role the main female character in the text.
• Determine their relationship with each other. Explore the
relationship of the lead female character with other
characters, particularly with the male counterpart in the text.
• Evaluate their characters. Assess the characters’ attitudes
and determine their strengths and weaknesses.
• Time to write. Organize all the information you gathered and
use them as the basis in writing your analysis.

EXAMPLE OF
FEMINISM
APPROACH IN
LITERATURE

Below is a sample format in writing an analysis using the feminism approach.
I. Introduction
A. What is the title of the literary work?
B. What is it about? (1-2 sentences only)
C. Who is the author?
D. What is your main thesis statement or the main idea of your analysis?
II. Body
A. Who is the lead female character? Describe her background, childhood, sexuality, work,
and outlook on the world?
B. What is the setting of the sample literary piece? How is the relationship between men and
women portrayed? Is it typical for that time or not? Why or Why not?
C. How do the men interact with women? Women with men?
D. What roles/work/responsibilities do characters of either gender have?
E. What is considered socially acceptable behavior for each gender?
F. Is there evidence of characters being fundamentally shaped by gender expectations?
G. Do the men and women use language differently?
III. Conclusion
A. How do you restate your main thesis statement?
B. What is the possible solution to the women issue/s presented?
C. What is your challenge to the readers in relation to the issue/s?

As you can see from the
format above, feminism critics
are focused on the efforts to
change that include fighting
against gender stereotypes
and establishing educational,
professional, and interpersonal
opportunities and outcomes for
women that are equal to those
for men

Study the given analysis
of The Story of an Hour by
Kate Chopin which uses
the feminism approach,
and then reflect on the
questions that follow.

In "The Story of an Hour" we are told that the protagonist
suffers from a heart condition and she was carefully informed
of her husband Brently's death. In the course of an hour we
see the protagonist named Louise as a weak person become
into a stronger woman. She contemplates her newly found
independence and is delighted over thought of being free.
This surprising reaction reflects the feeling women had in the
late 19th century had towards marriage. Through this, Chopin
voices that marriage meant men had total control over
women. The women were not allowed to have their own
identity, thoughts or purpose. In Louise's case, her husband’s
death frees her from the restraint of marriage. Her once
forbidden pleasure of independence will no longer hold her
back. For just an hour, Louise experiences and praises her
freedom that is no longer chained to her husband's control. As
she looks out the window we realize how marriage made her
into someone who did not have an identity.

She has lived a life that has given her limitations that she
was only her husband's wife and nothing more. She believed for
a brief moment that she no longer have a man that will "[bend
her] in that blind persistence with which men and women
believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-
creature." This demonstrates that patriarchal ideology that was
the norm in the late 19th century. Louise was an example of an
average housewife who was not allowed her own identity and
freedom. I believe Kate had connection with the story and the
main character. When Louise felt a brief moment of sadness of
her husband’s death and then have it replaced with happiness,
this reveals how truly Kate felt when she heard the news of her
husband’s death. Kate felt restrained in her marriage, even
though she truly loved her husband, she was not happy. Even
though, "The Story of an Hour" is a fiction story, it speaks loud
about the life of women in the late 19th century.

Reflect on these questions in writing an analysis using the
feminism approach (No need to answer these questions on
paper).
REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS: 1. How did the introduction
begin?
3. How was the setting introduced in the body?
4. How were the characters presented in the body?

Part I. Directions: Answer the following items
based on what you learned about Feminism
Criticism. Write the answers on your answer sheet.
(10 points)
1. Explain the feminism criticism as a reading
approach.
2. Give three methods/ways in using this reading
approach.
3. Present the significance of using feminism
criticism in analyzing a sample 21st Century literary
work.

Part II. Directions: Read the
autobiography Desert Flower: The
Extraordinary Journey of a Desert
Nomad by Waris Dirie and
Cathleen Miller from Somalia. Read
the notes in the boxes as well.

Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad
By Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller
Waris Dirie (the name means desert
flower) lives a double life – by day she is a
famous model and UN spokeswoman on
women’s rights in Africa, at night she dreams
of her native Somalia. Waris, one of the 12
children, was born into a traditional family of
desert nomads in East Africa. She remembers
her early childhood as carefree-racing camels
and moving on with her family to the next
grazing spot – until it came her turn to meet
the old woman who administered the ancient
custom imposed on most Somalian girls:
circumcision (Female Genital Mutilation). Waris
suffered this torture when she was just five
years old.

Then, aged 12, when her father
attempted to arrange a marriage with
a 60 year old stranger in exchange for
five camels – she took flight. After an
extraordinary escape through the
dangerous desert she made her way to
London and worked as a maid for the
Somalian ambassador until that family
returned home, Penniless and speaking
little English, she became a janitor in
McDonalds where she was famously
discovered by a fashion photographer,
Terence Donovan. Her story is a truly
inspirational and extraordinary self-
portrait of a remarkable woman whose
spirit is as breathtaking as her beauty.

Africa and its Literature
Africa is considered as the second largest continent in
the world and also having the oldest civilization. It
boasts of products like gold and diamond, yet up to
now, there are still many underdeveloped countries
that suffer from poverty and diseases.
Most African literature riot against discrimination,
injustice, and poverty while at the same time scream of
their pride and celebrate being a nation that is the
land of the oldest, the wisest, and the strongest people
in the world.
African literature produces writers who have made an
impact in the literary world. These writers created a
body of literature that reflects the reality of these
countries from a narrative, rather than a Western or
colonial perspective. By articulating their own
experience of oppression and liberation, they were
able to decolonize the African past, and place to the
fore the Africa that they themselves have imagined
and mapped onto the world.

About the Author Waris Dirie (Somali:
Waris Diiriye) (born 1965) is a Somali
model, author, actress and human
rights activist in the fight against Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM). From 1997 to
2003, she was a UN special ambassador
against female genital mutilation. In
2002 she founded her own organization
in Vienna, the Desert Flower Foundation.

About the Story Desert Flower: The
Extraordinary Journey of a Desert
Nomad is an autobiographical
book written by Waris Dirie and
Cathleen Miller, published in 1998
about the life of Somali model,
Waris Dirie. In 2009, the book was
adapted into a film of the same
name. Produced by Peter
Herrmann and Benjamin Herrmann,
the Ethiopian supermodel Liya
Kebede plays Waris in the title role.

Check It Out!
Directions: After reading the text, answer the following questions.
Write the answers on your answer sheet. (20 points)
1. Describe the qualities/attributes of the female lead character in
the story.
2. What was the conflict shown? How does the conflict affect the
transformation of the lead character in the story?
3. What aspect of African culture towards women does the story
show?
4. What do you think motivated the author to share her life story?
How did you respond to the authors’ “voice”?
5. Generate a new title for the story. Explain your new title.

Represent Me!
Directions: Complete the statement below by
choosing one object found in your home that
represents a strong and an empowered woman.
Relate this object to the lesson learned in this topic.
Write the answers on your answer sheet. (5 points)

I chose _________ (object) to relate my
learning on ________ because_____.

Character in Focus!
Directions: Answer the questions in the boxes
below based on the sample literary text Desert
Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert
Nomad. Write at least 5 sentences to answer
each question. Write the answers on the answer
sheet. (5 points each)

FEMALE LEAD CHARACTER
How does the author describe the
character?
How will you describe the
character based on her
words/dialogue?
character based on her actions?
character based on the
perceptions of other people?

Reader-Response
Approach vis-à-vis
European Literature

In Lesson Two, we learned about the Feminist Approach vis-à-vis
African Literature. This lesson will help us understand another reading
approach, the Reader-Response Approach vis-à-vis European
Literature.

Directions: Suppose you were to update your Facebook status and
share what you learned about the Feminist Approach and what you
know about the Reader-Response Approach, what would you share?
Write one sentence for Feminist Approach and one sentence for
Reader-Response Approach on your answer sheet (5 points each=10
points).

The reader-response approach believes that
literature does not exist as an artifact upon a
printed page but as a transaction between the
physical text and the mind of a reader. It attempts
to describe what happens in the reader's mind
while interpreting a text and reflects that reading,
like writing, is a creative process. Reader-response
approach suggests that the role of the reader is
essential to the meaning of a text, for only in the
reading experience does the literary work come
alive. According to reader-response critics, literary
texts do not contain a meaning; meanings derive
only from the act of individual readings. Hence,
two different readers may derive completely
different interpretations of the same literary text;
likewise, a reader who re-reads a work years later
may find the work different. There is no single
"correct" interpretation for a literary work.

HOW DO YOU DO THE
READER-RESPONSE
APPROACH?

The purpose of a reader-response approach is
examining, explaining, and defending your personal
reaction to a text. Your critical reading of a text asks
you to explore:
• why you like or dislike the text;
• explain whether you agree or disagree with the
author;
• identify the text’s purpose; and
• critique the text. There is no right or wrong answer
to a reading response. Nevertheless, it is important
that you demonstrate an understanding of the
reading and clearly explain and support your
reactions. Do not use the standard approach of just
writing: “I liked this text because it is so cool and the
ending made me feel happy,” or “I hated it because
it was stupid, and had nothing at all to do with my life,
and was too negative and boring.”

In writing a response,
you may assume the
reader has already
read the text. Thus, do
not summarize the
contents of the text at
length. Instead, take a
systematic, analytical
approach to the text
and give examples.

If you did not like a text, that is fine, but criticize it either from:
• principle, for example:
o Is the text racist?
o Does the text unreasonably puts down things, such as religion, or
groups of people, such as women or adolescents, conservatives or
democrats, etc?
o Does the text include factual errors or outright lies? It is too dark and
despairing? Is it falsely positive?
• form, for example:
o Is the text poorly written?
o Does it contain too much verbal “fat”?
o Is it too emotional or too childish?
o Does it have too many facts and figures?
o Are there typos or other errors in the text?
o Do the ideas wander around without making a point?

EXAMPLE
OF READER-
RESPONSE
APPROACH
IN LITERATURE

Below is a sample format for
writing an analysis using the reader-
response approach.
I. Introduction
A. What is the title of the literary
work you are responding?
B. What is it about? (in 1-2
sentences only)
C. Who is the author?

II. Body
A. What does the text have to do with you, personally, and with your life (past,
present or future)?
B. How much does the text agree or clash with your view of the world, and what you
consider right and wrong? Use several quotes as examples of how it agrees with and
supports what you think about the world, about right and wrong, and about what you
think it is to be human.
C. What did you learn, and how much were your views and opinions challenged or
changed by this text, if at all? Did the text communicate with you? Why or why not?
Give examples of how your views might have changed or been strengthened (or
perhaps, of why the text failed to convince you, the way it is).
D. How well does the text address things that you personally care about and consider
important to the world? How does it address things that are important to your family,
your community, to people of your economic or social class or background, or your
faith tradition? Use quotes from the text to illustrate.
E. What can you praise about the text? What problems did you have with it? Include
positive things about the text as well as pointing out problems, disagreements, and
shortcomings.
F. How well did you enjoy the text (or not) as entertainment or as a work of art? Use
quotes or examples to illustrate the quality of the text as art or entertainment.

III. Conclusion
A. What is your overall reaction to the
text?
B. Would you read something else like
this in the future?
C. Would you read something else by
this author?
D. Would you recommend this text to
someone else and why?

Study the given analysis of
Balaki Ko ‘Day Samtang
Gasakay Ta’g Habal-Habal
by Adonis Durado which
uses the reader-response
approach, then reflect on
the questions that follow.

 Written by Adonis Durado, Balaki Ko ‘Day Samtang Gasakay
Ta’g Habal-Habal describes a very common situation in the provincial
areas – a habal-habal ride – but the unique thing about this habal-
habal ride is that it has a romantic and somehow sensual feel to it as
the driver tells his passenger, a woman who is most probably his lover,
to hold on to him tighter for him to feel her heartbeat more clearly
against his back.
 As a young woman who rides habal-habal for transportation,
it seems weird for me how the woman in the poem is portrayed as
someone who is sensual with the driver. Unless she is his lover, the
poem would totally be uncomfortable. The driver’s want for the
woman to cling to him tight can be interpreted as an expression of
love. This craving of physical intimacy between the characters
suggests of young love, as young couples usually act as if they cannot
get enough of each other and has to have their hands on each other
constantly. I have nothing against young love; however, I would
rather call it infatuation than young love because love is more than
physical intimacy.

Love is a commitment whether or not couples are
together or not, love does not change. Despite the
conflict of the poem’s meaning to my preference, I do
like its lighthearted emotion as seen in the lines “Dayon
samtang nagakatulin kining atong dagan,mamiyong
tag maghangad ngadto sa kawanangan aron
sugaton ang taligsik sa uwan, dahon, ug bulak.” It was
somewhat refreshing while reading the poem.
Somehow, I enjoyed it.
The poem was a good read because it was not
the usual poem. I am interested to read other works of
Adonis Durado to explore more creative ways of writing
literary pieces. My friends would probably like this poem
because most of them have very creative sides as well.
They will definitely enjoy this poem.

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS:
1. How did the introduction begin?
3. How was the reader’s personal experience
introduced in the body?
4. How were the reader’s personal views and
opinions presented in the body?

Truth or Change?
Part 1. Directions: Write TRUE if the statement is true; if NOT, change
the underlined word/phrase to make the statement true. Write the most
appropriate answer on your answer sheet (5 points).
1. In reader-response approach, two readers may have different
interpretations.
2. According to reader-response critics, meanings come from group
sharing.
3. If you do not like a text, you may criticize the text using reader-
response approach through principle and biography. 4. Reader-
response approach suggests that the role of the writer is essential to the
meaning of a text. 5. The reading experience makes the literary work
come alive.

Part 2. Directions:
Read the summary of
Me Before You by Jojo
Moyes from United
Kingdom. Read the
notes in the boxes as
well.

Twenty-six-year-old Louisa Clark lives with her working-
class family. Unambitious and with few qualifications, she
feels constantly outshone by her younger sister, Treena, an
outgoing single mother. Louisa, who helps support her family,
loses her job at a local café when the café closes. She goes
to the Job Centre and, after several failed attempts, is
offered a unique employment opportunity: help care for Will
Traynor, a successful, wealthy, and once-active young man
who developed quadriplegia, the paralysis of the body from
at least the shoulders down, from a pedestrian-motorcycle
accident two years earlier. Will's mother, Camilla, hires Louisa
despite her lack of experience, believing Louisa can
brighten his spirit. Louisa meets Nathan, who cares for Will's
medical needs, and Will's father, Steven, a friendly upper-
class businessman whose marriage to Camilla is strained.
Me Before You
(A Summary)
A novel by Jojo Moyes (United Kingdom)

Louisa and Will's relationship starts out rocky due to his
bitterness and resentment over being disabled. Things worsen
after Will's ex-girlfriend, Alicia, and best friend Rupert reveal
that they are getting married. Under Louisa's care, Will
gradually becomes more communicative and open-minded
as they share experiences together. Louisa notices Will's
scarred wrists and later overhears his mother and father
discussing how he attempted suicide shortly after Camilla
refused his request to end his life through Dignitas, a Swiss-
based assisted suicide organisation. Horrified by his attempt,
Camilla promised to honour her son's wish, but only if he
agreed to live six more months. Camilla intends to prove that,
in time, he will believe his life's worth living.

Louisa conceals knowing about Will
and Camilla's agreement. However, she
tells Treena, and together they devise
ways that will help convince Will to
abandon his death wish. Over the next
few weeks, Will loosens up and Louisa
begins taking him on outings and the
two grow closer.

Through their frequent talks, Louisa learns that Will
has travelled extensively; his favourite place is a café in
Paris. Noticing how limited her life is and that she has
few ambitions, Will tries to motivate Louisa to change.
Louisa continues seeing her longtime boyfriend of 7
years, Patrick, though they eventually break up due to
her relationship with Will. Meanwhile, Louisa's father loses
his job, causing more financial difficulties. Steven
Traynor offers Mr. Clark a position. Louisa realises that Will
is trying to help her secure her freedom from her family.
The two attend Alicia and Rupert's wedding where they
dance and flirt. Will tells Louisa that she is the only
reason he wakes in the morning.

Louisa convinces Will to go on a holiday with her, but
before they can leave, Will contracts near-fatal
pneumonia. Louisa cancels the plans for a whirlwind trip.
Instead, she takes Will to the island of Mauritius. The night
before returning home, Louisa tells Will that she loves him.
Will says he wants to confide something, but she admits
that she already knows about his plans with Dignitas. Will
says their time together has been special, but he cannot
bear to live in a wheelchair. He will be following through
with his plans. Angry and hurt, Louisa storms off and does
not speak to him for the remainder of the trip. When they
return home, Will's parents are pleasantly surprised by his
good physical condition. Louisa, however, resigns as his
caretaker, and they understand that Will intends to end his
life.

On the night of Will's flight to Switzerland,
Louisa visits him one last time. They agree
that the past six months have been the best
in their lives. He dies shortly after in the clinic,
and it is revealed that he left Louisa a
considerable inheritance, meant to continue
her education and to fully experience life.
The novel ends with Louisa at a café in Paris,
reading Will's last words to her in a letter, that
tell her to 'live well'.

Explain Me!
Directions: Read the questions and answer in 2-3 sentences on your answer
sheet (5 points each=60 points).
1. What is the meaning of the novel’s title “Me Before You”? To whom do the
“me” and “you” refer to? Explain.
___________________________________________________________________
2. If you were Camilla, Will’s mom, would you agree with Will’s death wish? Justify
your answer.
__________________________________________________________________
3. If you were Louisa, would you have quit working for the Traynors? Why or not?
__________________________________________________________________

4. What do you like most about the story? Elaborate.
_____________________________________________________________
5. What do you dislike most about the story? Give details.
_____________________________________________________________
6. Would you change the ending of the story? Explain your
answer.
_____________________________________________________________

This is What I Need!
Directions: Complete the sentence below with what
you learned about Reader-Response Approach on
your answer sheet (5 points).
I have learned that in Reader-Response approach, I
need to _______________________.

Ending!
Directions: If you were to make an alternate ending for Me Before You, how
would you end it? Write your own ending in five sentences (20 points).
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Directions: Create your own collage. Cut out photos that you
can personally relate to the story Me Before You from unused
magazines, newspapers, or other resources available that you
can recycle. Use these cut outs to form a shape that would
best represent the life of Will Traynor. Then write a one-
sentence explanation of your collage. Refer to the sample
collages and rubric for scoring below (30 points).
Task 2 Unleash your Creative Soul!

The face of a woman
represents Will’s life in his
wonderful moments with
Louisa.
Will’s life is like a crescent moon – the
light may seem dim, but it is bright
enough to light up a dark sky.

Formalism Approach vis-à-vis North and South
American Literature

Let’s Recall!
Directions: Write a single-
sentence definition of what
you know about each of the
reading approaches in the
boxes below. Write the answers
on your answer sheet. (6
points)

The Formalism Approach
in Analyzing Literature

Formalism regards literature as “a unique form
of human knowledge that needs to be examined on its
own terms.” All the elements necessary for understanding
the work are contained within the work itself. Of particular
interest to the formalist critic are the elements of form—
style, structure, tone, imagery, etc.—that are found within
the text. A primary goal for formalist critics is to determine
how such elements work together with the text’s content
to shape its effects upon readers. Formalism critics use
individual parts of the text, the characters, the setting, the
tone, the point of view, the diction, and all other elements
of the text to give meaning to the text in a more literal
way.

This reading approach is also called
Russian Formalism, Russian Russky
Formalism, innovative 20th-century Russian
school of literary criticism. It began in two
groups: OPOYAZ, an acronym for Russian
words meaning Society for the Study of
Poetic Language, founded in 1916 at St.
Petersburg (later Leningrad) and led by
Viktor Shklovsky; and the Moscow Linguistic
Circle, founded in 1915. Other members of
the groups included Osip Brik, Boris
Eikhenbaum, Yury Tynianov, and Boris
Tomashevsky.

The following aspects/elements of the different literary genres are taken into
consideration when using the formalist approach/perspective in analyzing a text:
I. Poetry: Author, title of the poem, persona, addressee, tone, attitude,
motifs, conditions, imagery, symbolisms, genre, structure, theme, and appeal.
II. Fiction: setting, characters (protagonist, antagonist, static/flat,
dynamic, round, antihero, and foil), plot (en medias res, flashback, prolepsis or
flash-forward, foreshadowing, and frame story), point-of-view (participant
narrator/first person, second person, and non-participant narrator/third person),
conflict (man vs. himself, man vs. man, man vs. society, man vs. culture, and man
vs. nature), symbols, theme
III. Drama: Setting, characters, plot, dialogue, movements, music, and
theme

EXAMPLE OF THE
FORMALISM
APPROACH IN
LITERATURE

Below is a sample format for writing an analysis using the formalism
approach.
I. Introduction
A. What is the title of the literary work?
B. What is it about? (1-2 sentences only)
C. Who is the author?
D. What is your main thesis statement or the main idea of your analysis?
II. Body
B. How does the author's choice of point of view affect the reader's
understanding and feelings about the story?
C. What influence does the setting have on the characters or their
actions? D. How do the rhythms and/or rhyme schemes of a poem
contribute to the meaning or effect of the piece?
D. How do the rhythms and/or rhyme schemes of a poem contribute to the
meaning or effect of the piece?
E. Is there a central or focal passage that can be said to sum up the entirety of
the work?
F. How are the various parts of the work interconnected?

III. Conclusion
A. How do you restate your main thesis statement?
B. What lesson does the author want me (the reader) to
learn about life?
C. What is your challenge to the readers in relation to
the issue/s?

As you can see from the format above,
formalism critics examine the form of the
work as a whole, the form of each individual
part of the text (the individual scenes and
chapters), the characters, the settings, the
tone, the point of view, the diction, and all
other elements of the text which join to make
it a single text. After analyzing each part, the
critic then describes how they work together
to make give meaning (theme) to the text.

Study the given
analysis of Tonight I
Can Write the
Saddest Lines by
Pablo Neruda which
uses the formalism
approach on the
next page.

The speaker of the poem recently lost the love of his life. We can tell though that
some time passed since the separation from the first sentence. He says ‘tonight I can
write’ implying that till that day he couldn’t. Maybe the emotions and pain he felt were
still too raw to put it down to words. In that case this line implies that he is slowly healing
from the separation. Poets generally describe a broken heart using metaphors and
imagery. Pablo Neruda’s style is simple and concise. But the speaker says he can write
flowery language too in the second paragraph. That is how heart-broken he is. The
speaker says that he loved her and she sometimes loved him back too. This puts us in a
state of thinking that the one who was primarily responsible for the separation was the
woman. The night he was sitting under was like the nights he used to hold her and kissed
her. He describes the sky as endless. Maybe he felt his love would be like the sky too but
sadly, it had ended. He says ‘kissed her again and again’. This type of eroticism was
shocking to the general public at the time, especially when the poet was only 18 years
old. Sentences like this earned the poem collection censorship. The speaker continues by
putting emphasis on his loss and sadness. He uses repetition and some imagery to pull at
the heart string of the reader.

One feels sympathy for the speaker as he repeats again that she
loved him sometimes. The night which was described as endless before
felt much more so after the separation. And this makes him feel verse of
poetry flow as naturally into his soul as dew falls onto the pasture. This
makes the reader feel that it was indeed true that the most beautiful
poetry flows from a broken heart. ‘The same night whitening the same
trees’. He repeats ‘same’ twice to show that while they both changed the
world remained the same. Now he says that he no longer loved her as he
used to. He thinks that soon she will be another’s. ‘Like my kisses before.’
This line can have either of the two following meanings. The speaker of the
poem is now together with another girl and he kissed her recently. In this
case, he says that like how his kisses belonged to another now, hers will be
too. Or he simply says that she will be kissed by another man like how he
used to kiss her. The meaning is closer to the latter one when the whole
poem is considered. The speaker now contradicts himself saying that he
no longer loves her for sure and then immediately saying that maybe he
loves her.

This shows the conflict within in the speaker. He loved her so deep that
he finds it hard not to. This conflict is spoken of throughout the poem, albeit in
allusions. He says love is so short but forgetting is so long. This is one of the best
remembered quotes from the poem. And the nights aren’t helping his forgetting
process. Nights like the one that day particularly remind him of the time when he
held her. And when these thoughts crossed his mind, his soul becomes dissatisfied
with the fact that he lost her. The conflict is shown deeply in these two lines. The
speaker ends the poem saying that this, that particular night would be the last
night he suffers pain because of her and this poem will be the last one he will
write for her. This shows that the speaker has now finally resolved to completely
move on.

Reflect on these questions in writing an analysis
using the formalist approach (No need to answer
these questions on paper).
REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS: 1. How did the introduction
begin?
3. How are the literary elements (character, point
of view, etc.) introduced in the body?
4. How are the parts related to one another in the
body?
5. How did the analysis conclude/end?

Other Approaches in
Analyzing a Text

Biographical is a form of literary criticism which
analyzes a writer's biography to show the relationship
between the author's life and their works of literature.

Historical is literary criticism in the light of historical
evidence or based on the context in which a work
was written, including facts about the author’s life
and the historical and social circumstances of the
time.

Gender is an approach that
“examines how sexual identity influences
the creation and reception of literary
works.”

Psychological reflects on the effect that modern
psychology has had upon both literature and literary
criticism. Fundamental figures in psychological
criticism include Sigmund Freud, whose
“psychoanalytic theories changed our notions of
human behavior by exploring new or controversial
areas like wish-fulfillment, sexuality, the unconscious,
and repression” as well as expanding our
understanding of how “language and symbols
operate by demonstrating their ability to reflect
unconscious fears or desires.”

Mythological emphasizes “the recurrent universal
patterns underlying most literary works.” Combining the
insights from anthropology, psychology, history, and
comparative religion, mythological criticism “explores the
artist’s common humanity by tracing how the individual
imagination uses myths and symbols common to different
cultures and epochs.” One key concept in mythological
criticism is the archetype, “a symbol, character, situation, or
image that evokes a deep universal response.”

Deconstructionist is an approach that “rejects the
traditional assumption that language can accurately
represent reality.” Deconstructionist critics regard language
as a fundamentally unstable medium—the words “tree” or
“dog,” for instance, undoubtedly conjure up different
mental images for different people—and therefore,
because literature is made up of words, literature possesses
no fixed, single meaning.

The goal of literary criticism is always to
help us understand and appreciate a
work more fully, no matter what
approach(es) we use.

Task 1
Connecting Ideas
Directions: Study the illustration below and
write your insights about the formalism
approach in reading. Write your responses
inside the boxes. Write the answers on your
answer sheet. (10 points)

Directions: Read the summary of A
Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel
Garcia Marquez from Colombia. Read
the notes in the boxes as well.

Latin America and Its Literature
South America is the fourth largest continent in size and the fifth
largest when we consider population. The continent is located in the
western hemisphere and mainly in the southern hemisphere.
South American Literature consists of the oral and written
literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish,
Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of the Americas as well as
literature of the United States written in the Spanish language. It rose to
particular prominence globally during the second half of the 20th
century, largely due to the international success of the style known as
magical realism. As such, the region's literature is often associated solely
with this style, with the 20th Century literary movement known as Latin
American Boom, and with its most famous exponent, Gabriel García
Márquez. Latin American literature has a rich and complex tradition of
literary production that dates back many centuries

A Hundred Years of Solitude
(Summary)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Colombia
(For the full text, visit
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/solitude/section9/page/2/)

One Hundred Years of Solitude is the story of seven
generations of the Buendía Family in the town of Macondo.
The founding patriarch of Macondo, José Arcadio Buendía,
and Úrsula Iguarán, his wife (and first cousin), leave
Riohacha, Colombia, after José Arcadio kills Prudencio
Aguilar after a cockfight for suggesting José Arcadio was
impotent. One night of their emigration journey, while
camping on a riverbank, José Arcadio dreams of
"Macondo", a city of mirrors that reflected the world in and
about it. Upon awakening, he decides to establish
Macondo at the riverside; after days of wandering the
jungle, his founding of Macondo is utopic.

J osé Arcadio Buendía believes Macondo to be surrounded
by water, and from that island, he invents the world according to
his perceptions. Soon after its foundation, Macondo becomes a
town frequented by unusual and extraordinary events that involve
the generations of the Buendía family, who are unable or unwilling
to escape their periodic (mostly self-inflicted) misfortunes. For years
the town is solitary and unconnected to the outside world, with
the exception of the annual visit of a band of gypsies, who show
the townspeople technology such as magnets, telescopes, and
ice. The leader of the gypsies, a man named Melquíades,
maintains a close friendship with José Arcadio, who becomes
increasingly withdrawn, obsessed with investigating the mysteries
of the universe presented to him by the gypsies. Ultimately he is
driven insane, speaking only in Latin, and is tied to a chestnut tree
by his family for many years until his death.

Eventually Macondo becomes exposed to the outside
world and the government of newly independent Colombia. A
rigged election between the Conservative and Liberal parties
is held in town, inspiring Aureliano Buendía to join a civil war
against the Conservative government. He becomes an iconic
revolutionary leader, fighting for many years and surviving
multiple attempts on his life, but ultimately tires of war and signs
a peace treaty with the Conservatives. Disillusioned, he returns
to Macondo and spends the rest of his life making tiny gold fish
in his workshop. The railroad comes to Macondo, bringing in
new technology and many foreign settlers. An American fruit
company establishes a banana plantation outside the town,
and builds its own segregated village across the river. This
ushers in a period of prosperity that ends in tragedy as the
Colombian army massacres thousands of striking plantation
workers, an incident based on

the Banana Massacre of 1928. José Arcadio Segundo, the only
survivor of the massacre, finds no evidence of the massacre, and
the surviving townspeople refuse to believe it happened. By the
novel's end, Macondo has fallen into a decrepit and near-
abandoned state, with the only remaining Buendías being
Amaranta Úrsula and her nephew Aureliano, whose parentage is
hidden by his grandmother Fernanda, and he and Amaranta
Úrsula unknowingly begin an incestuous relationship. They have a
child who bears the tail of a pig, fulfilling the lifelong fear of the
long-dead matriarch Úrsula. Amaranta Úrsula dies in childbirth
and the child is devoured by ants, leaving Aureliano as the last
member of the family. He decodes an encryption Melquíades
had left behind in a manuscript generations ago. The secret
message informs the recipient of every fortune and misfortune
that the Buendía family's generations lived through. As Aureliano
reads the manuscript, a wind destroys all traces of Macondo's
existence.

About the Story One Hundred Years of Solitude (Spanish: Cien
años de soledad, American Spanish: [sjen a os ðe sole ðað]) is a
ˈ ɲ ˈ
landmark 1967 novel by Colombian author Gabriel García
Márquez that tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía
family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founded the
(fictitious) town of Macondo. The novel is often cited as one of
the supreme achievements in literature. The magical realist style
and thematic substance of One Hundred Years of Solitude
established it as an important representative novel of the literary
Latin American Boom of the 1960s and 1970s, which was
stylistically influenced by Modernism (European and North
American) and the Cuban Vanguardia (Avant-Garde) literary
movement. Since it was first published in May 1967 in Buenos Aires
by Editorial Sudamericana, One Hundred Years of Solitude has
been translated into 46 languages and sold more than 50 million
copies. The novel, considered García Márquez's magnum opus,
remains widely acclaimed and is recognized as one of the most
significant works both in the Hispanic literary canon and in world
literature.

Task 2 Challenge My Mind!
Directions: Answer the following questions based
on the text read. Write your answers in one to two
sentences. Support your answer with instances
from the text. Write the answers on your answer
sheet. (15 points) 1. What is the context/setting of
the story? 2. Are the characters believable? Why
or why not? 3. What images does the author
present in the narrative? 4. What is the author’s
message? 5. What lesson does this story teach
about life?

Directions: Read the poem of The
Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
from United States of America.
Read the notes in the boxes as well.

North America and Its Contemporary Literature North America is the third largest
continent in size and the fourth largest when we consider population. The North American
continent houses 23 countries. The continent is located in the Northern Hemisphere and the
Western Hemisphere. North American Literature was shaped by the history of the country that
produced it. For almost a century and a half, America was merely a group of colonies scattered
along the eastern seaboard of the North American continent—colonies from which a few hardy
souls tentatively ventured westward. After a successful rebellion against the motherland, America
became the United States, a nation. By the end of the 19th century this nation extended
southward to the Gulf of Mexico, northward to the 49th parallel, and westward to the Pacific. By
the end of the 19th century, too, it had taken its place among the powers of the world—its
fortunes so interrelated with those of other nations that inevitably it became involved in two world
wars and, following these conflicts, with the problems of Europe and East Asia. Meanwhile, the
rise of science and industry, as well as changes in ways of thinking and feeling, wrought many
modifications in people’s lives. All these factors in the development of the United States molded
the literature of the country.

The Road Not Taken BY ROBERT FROST
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not
travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked
down one as far as I could To where it bent in the
undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having
perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted
wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them
really about the same, And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

About the Poem
"The Road Not Taken" is a narrative poem by Robert Frost,
published in 1916 as the first poem in the collection
Mountain Interval. Its central theme is the divergence of
paths, both literally and figuratively, although its
interpretation is noted for being complex and potentially
divergent. Frost spent the years 1912 to 1915 in England,
where among his acquaintances was the writer Edward
Thomas.[2] Thomas and Frost became close friends and
took many walks together. After Frost returned to New
Hampshire in 1915, he sent Thomas an advance copy of
"The Road Not Taken". Thomas took the poem seriously and
personally, and it may have been significant in Thomas'
decision to enlist in World War I. Thomas was killed two years
later in the Battle of Arras.

About the Author Robert Lee Frost (March 26,
1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. His
work was initially published in England before it was
published in the United States. Known for his realistic
depictions of rural life and his command of American
colloquial speech,[2] Frost frequently wrote about
settings from rural life in New England in the early
twentieth century, using them to examine complex
social and philosophical themes. Frost was honored
frequently during his lifetime and is the only poet to
receive four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He became one
of America's rare "public literary figures, almost an
artistic institution."[3] He was awarded the
Congressional Gold Medal in 1960 for his poetic
works. On July 22, 1961, Frost was named poet
laureate of Vermont.

Task 3 Walk the Talk!
Directions: Answer the following questions based on
the poem read. Write your answers in one to two
sentences. Support your answer with instances from
the text. Write the answers on your answer sheet. (25
points) 1. Where is the poem set? 2. Describe the two
paths that the persona encountered. Which path did
he/she take? Was he/she happy about his/her
choice? How can you tell? 3. Compare the first line in
stanza 1 and the third line in stanza 3. Why is this line
repeated? What does it mean? 4. What do you think
the speaker means in the last line of the poem? 5.
What are some of the major decisions that a person
makes in his/her life?

Directions: Fill in the boxes with your learning/insights about the topic. Write
the answers on your answer sheet. (9 points)
PMI MATRIX
PLUS MINUS INTERESTING
What’s best about the
topic?
What is quite difficult? What struck you most?

Write It Up!
Directions: Using another sheet of paper, choose one literary text
from the samples given in Lessons 1- 4 and write a critical analysis of
it using an appropriate reading approach. Follow the suggested
structure/format indicated for that specific reading approach and
be guided by the scoring rubric indicated below (35 points).
Note: The template or format for the reading approaches is given in
the discussion part of each lesson (What’s New). You may review this
part as your reference before writing your analysis.

Directions: Using your answer sheet,
write the letter of your chosen
answer (15 points).

1. A reading approach we can use to distinguish the roles of marginalized women in the society.
A. Feminism B. Formalist C. Sociological D. Reader-Response
2. The sociological approach to reading is done by analyzing the work in relation to its _________.
A. female characters B. reader C. society D. Structure
3. The following 21st century writers originate from Latin America. Which does not belong to the Latin
American Canon of writers?
A. Isabel Allende C. Mario Vargas Llosa
B. Jorge Volpi D. Albert Camus
4. What is the reader-response approach to reading?
I. It describes the transaction between the text and the reader.
II. It supports one correct analysis from a reader.
III. It provides meaning from individual readings.
A. I only B. I and II only C. I and III only D. I, II, and III
5. What reading approach is used in the text below?
As an only female child with a strong bond to my father, I empathize with the taximanin disciplining
Lay Choo in his desire to give her a brighter future. Fathers may be hard on the outside, but they
indeed have a soft spot inside.
A. sociological approach C. feminist approach
B. reader-response approach D. formalist approach

6. In the reader-response approach, responding to
the text is very important because this approach
focuses on how the reader’s ____________
A. response match with other readers C. mind
interacts with the author
B. reaction connects with the audience D.
experience affects the text
7. Which is an example of a sociological approach
to reading?
A. If I were Will in Me Before You, I would rather keep
my life and allow God to take it
at His perfect time.
B. If I had a son like Will, I would give him all the love
he needs to live life more
comfortably.
C. Me Before You encourages me to value life and
appreciate the little things in life
because life is a gift.
D. Me Before You shows us the more liberated
Western culture as they support the
granting of a death wish through assisted suicide.

8. What Asian ideology is evident in The Taximan’s
Story?
A. nationalism C. family
B. spirituality D. social structure
9. In analyzing Art Spiegelman’s “Prisoner on the Hell
Planet,” you take a more traditional approach and
discuss the setting, conflict, characters, tone, theme,
and other elements of the story. You assert that
“Prisoner on the Hell Planet” is not a legitimate form
of literature because it fails to meet our expectations
of what a story should be. What kind of critical
approach are you using?
A. Feminist B. Formalist C. Sociological D.. Reader-
Response
10. How is contemporary European literature
portrayed in Me Before You?
A. The ending is unexpected. C. The plot is confusing.
B. The structure is fragmented. D. The characters are
questionable.

11. The following writers originate from North
America. Which does not belong to the North
American Canon of writers?
A. Emily Dickinson C. T.S. Eliot
B. Samuel Johnson D. William Faulkner
12. In criticizing Pam Houston’s “How to Talk to a
Hunter,” you discuss the stereotypical views on
women, men, and relationships expressed by the
characters, focusing on the advice of both female
and male friends in particular. You assert that the
author is highly critical of these stereotypes. What
kind of critical approach are you using?
A. Feminism B. Formalist C. Sociological D. Reader-
Response
13. In discussing T.B. Wood’s “A Loaf of Bread,” you
focus on you focus on symbols, characters, and
theme and how these various elements help to
create a unity in the work. You do not discuss the
author, the reader, or any considerations outside the
text itself. What kind of critical approach are you
using?
A. Feminist B. Formalist C. Sociological D. Reader-
Response

14. Gabriel Garcia Marquez was one of the best-
known contemporary writers of Latin America.
Which of the following works did he author?
A. Wasted in Love C. The Stone Thrower
B. The Beautiful Indifference D. A Very Old Man with
Enormous Wings
15. In the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert
Frost, which of the following road signs tells the
motorists to expect the road to “diverge?
A. B. C. D.

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