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Module English2

This document provides an introduction to the module on literature. It begins by defining literature as the artistic expression of significant human experience through language. Literature allows us to understand human nature and different cultures by experiencing the thoughts and emotions of others through their writing. Reading literature entertains, stimulates imagination, and enriches our lives by allowing reflection on life's ideas. Great literature is distinguished by its artistry, intellectual and spiritual value, ability to evoke emotion, enduring relevance, and universal themes. The document also differentiates between prose, which is written in paragraphs to inform, and poetry, which uses rhythmic language to stir imagination.

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Tristan Michael G. Pancho

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)

190 views

Module English2

Uploaded by

Tristan Michael G. Pancho

Available Formats

Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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WESTERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

ENGLISH 2

Introduction to Literature
A Modular Approach
General Education

Irene J. Sodoysodoy

Instructor

Introduction toHello
Literature Page 1 This is your instructor speaking.
everyone! Welcome to this module.

Are you ready to face your first challenge? Kindly read what I have prepared for you.
Follow the instructions and you’ll find yourself more learned than before. Don’t worry, I’ll
WESTERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. define literature; 13. name the elements and types of essay;

2. determine the important concepts about 14. write an essay
literature; 15. read essays
3. differentiate the main man division of 16. scan important information
literature; 17. identify and Classify the marks of an
4. define poetry; educated man;
5. identify elements of poetry; 18. define fiction;
6. distinguish types of poetry; 19. give the elements and types of fiction;
7. read the selections; 20. list types of characters;
8. identify elements of poetry present in the 21. recognize types of conflict and plot;
selection; 22. distinguish points of view;
9. identify the type of poetry the selection
belongs to; 23. plot diagram the selection;
10. reflect on the message of the selection; 24. define drama; and
11. explain essay as a type of literature 25. enumerate types of drama.
12. recognize parts of an essay;

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this module you should have:

1. defined literature; 9. identified the type of poetry the selection

2. determined the important concepts about belongs;
literature; 10. reflected on the message of the selection
3. differentiated the two man division of 11. explained essay as a type of literature;
literature; and
4. defined poetry; 12. recognized parts of an essay;
5. identified elements of poetry; 13. named the elements and types of essay;
6. distinguished types of poetry; 14. written an essay;
7. read the selections; 15. read essays;
8. identified elements of poetry present in the 16. scanned important information
selection; 17. identified and Classified the marks of an
educated man;

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18. defined fiction; 22. distinguished points of view;

19. given the elements and types of fiction;
20. listed types of characters; 23. plotted diagram the selection;
21. recognized types of conflict and plot; 24. defined drama; and
25. enumerated types of drama.

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

For this module, you are provided with the following;

1. A handout to read from which you are expected to take notes of the salient points of discussion

2. Additional lecture material found in the Google Classroom classwork.

To accomplish the following activity for this module, you need the following:

1. Internet
2. Book references
3. Dictionary

LIST OF LEARNING SUPPORT AND REFERENCES

1. Web References

a. shorturl.at/BOR37 i. shorturl.at/doACK
b. shorturl.at/hkqzQ j. shorturl.at/bpGIQ
c. shorturl.at/fuzGH
d. shorturl.at/ceLP8
e. shorturl.at/cDFIW
f. shorturl.at/vBNS8
g. shorturl.at/gkIQT
h. shorturl.at/elEN4

DISCUSSION

Module 1
An Introduction to Literature
I know you are excited to
learn new knowledge but hold
your horses for now. Let us start
Introduction to Literature This will
with the-“must-know”. Page 3
give you better understanding on
the background of literature.
WESTERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Welcome to the world of literature. In this world, we will read varied selections and experience a
multitudinous variety of characters, thoughts and ideas, feelings and emotions, and life experiences as we
travel through time and space to different places, eras, cultures and societies.

But before reading the literary texts that we have in store for you, we need to know some basic things about
this literary world and experience what we are about to enter. What kind of world is it? Is it similar to or any
different from the real world we live in? How different? Why do we read literature? What do we get from it?

Is our life made any better for reading literature? Are we any better for it? How and why are we and our lives
enriched by our experience of literature?

Let us begin with among the best definitions of literature.

Literature (origin of term- litera which means letter) deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of man- thus it
can be said that literature is the story of man. (Kahayon, 1998, p 5-7); Literature comes from the French phase
“belles-letters” which means beautiful writing. (Baritugo, et al. 2004). Literature refers to artistic expression
of significant human experience using the medium of language.

Literature, in its broadest sense, is everything that has ever been written. According to Garcia, the best way to
understand human nature fully and to know a nation
completely is to study it. In this way, we learn the
innermost feelings and thoughts of people- the most real
part of themselves, thus we gain understanding not only of
others, but more importantly of ourselves and life itself.
Literature appeals to man’s higher nature and its needs-
emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and creative. Like all
other forms of art (i.e., music, dance, painting, sculpture,
theatre and architecture), literature entertains and gives
pleasure; it fires the imagination and arouses noble
emotions and it enriches man by enabling him to reflect on life and by filling him with new ideas. It offers us
an experience in which we should participate as we read and test what we read by our own experience. It does
not yield much unless we bring something of ourselves to it.

Why do people read literature? We read for various reasons which may be for information, for amusement,
for higher and keener pleasure, for cultural upliftment and for discovery of broader dimensions in life.

The ability to judge good literature is based on the application of certain recognizable standards of good
literature. Great literature is distinguishable by the following qualities: (Garcia, 1993, p.3)

a. Artistry – when a literary work appeals to our sense of beauty;

b. Intellectual value- when it stimulates thought and enriches our mental life by making us realize the
fundamental truths about life and human nature;
c. Suggestiveness- the quality associated with the emotional power of literature, such that it should
move us deeply and stir our creative imagination, giving and evoking vision above and beyond the
plane of ordinary life and experience;
d. Spiritual value- when a literary piece elevates the spirit by bringing out moral values which make us
better persons

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e. Permanence- when a great literary work endures- it can be read again and again as each reading gives
fresh delight and new insights and open new worlds of meaning and experience; and
f. Universality- when a great literature is timeless and timely- forever relevant in terms of its theme and
conditions.

Prose Poetry
Form Written in paragraph form Witten in stanza form

Language Expressed in ordinary language Expressed in metrical,

rhythmical and figurative
language
Appeal To the intellect To the emotion

Aim To convince, inform, instruct, imitate Stir the imagination and set
and reflect an ideal of how life should be
All literature falls under two main divisions:

ASSESSMENT

In the activity, you will be made to visit the internet or consult a book.
Familiarize yourselves with the data because most of these will be coming
out in your major exam.

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A. Below are the common examples of prose. Give a short definition and example title for each.
1. Anecdote_____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
2. Autobiography-_____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Biography-__________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Character Sketch-___________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Diary-_______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Essay-_______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Eulogy-______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Journal-_____________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Letter-______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Novel-______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Parable- ____________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
12. Parody- ____________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
13. Philosophy- _________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
14. Prose Drama- _______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
15. Short Story- _________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

B. Differentiate the following:

1. Novel vs Short Story

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C. Direction: Answer the following questions about poetry.

1. What is your favorite nursery rhyme? Do you still recall the lyrics?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Cite lines of your favorite nursery rhyme.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. Why do you like that song?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. Give three titles of poems and the author that you are familiar of.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY
Direction: Answer the following in handwritten form on a short bond paper. The date of submission will be
announced by your teacher. (34 pts.) (Recorded)

1. In not less than 300 words, explain the importance of literature in your daily life.
(20 pts.) Criteria: Content- 10 Grammar- 5 Organization-5

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2. In your opinion, which is better to read: prose or poetry? Answer in not less than five sentences. (10
pts)
Criteria: Content- 5 Grammar- 3 Organization-2
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Identify each of the following literary work as either prose or poetry. (4 pts)

a. HarryPotter by J.K. Rowling _________________________

b. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare _________________________
c. Ibong Adarna byJose dela Cruz _________________________
d. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves _________________________

That’s a quick preview of literature

but that’s only the tip of the Module 2
iceberg. I know some of you like
to read during your spare time
while some do not. I hope what
you’ve read gave you knowledge Poetry
on literature in general.
But there’s more! In this module, Emily Dickinson, an American poet, once wrote:
you will be introduced to one genre
of literature which
Introduction is poetry. Are
to Literature Page 8
you ready to discover additional
and interesting information? Let’s
go!
WESTERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

This is my letter to the world,

That never wrote to me,-

She wrote many letters to the world- her poems. Through these poems, she chose to share with her many
readers her intimate thoughts and feelings and her day-to-day observations.

To start with, among the oldest literatures were in the form of songs, chants and prayers. Poetry is derived
from the Greek word “poesis” meaning “making or creating”. Poetry is a kind of language that says it more
intensely than ordinary language does. Apparently, we have to remember the following things about poetry:

 Poetry is a concentrated thought.

 Poetry is a kind of word-music.
 Poetry answers our demands for music.
 Poetry is observation plus imagination.
 Poetry is as varied as the nature of man- unique in some sense along with man’s eccentricities yet
clings if appreciated or if deeply imbibed by the reader.

Some of the best definitions of poetry:

 Gemino Abad contends that “A poem is a meaningful organization of words.”

 T.S. Eliot categorized poetry as “The fusion of two poles of mind, emotion and thought.”
 Manuel Viray states that “Poetry is the union of thoughts and feelings.”
 William Wadsworth says, “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recorded in
tranquility.”
 Edgar Allan Poe thinks, “It is the rhythmic creation of beauty.”
 Percy B. Shelly thinks, “It is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best
minds.”
 Jaime G. Ang posits, “Poetry is the ‘essence’ of the creative imagination of man.”

A poet is someone who sees something extraordinary even in the most common things and who shares this
perception with the reader. The poet may employ rhyme or rhythm or choose to write in free verse. Her poem
may tell a story (narrative) or express a feeling (lyric).

Elements of Poetry

1. Sense- is revealed through the meaning of words, images and symbols.

a. Diction- denotative and connotative meanings/symbols.
b. Images and sense impression-sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, motion, and emotion.
c. Figure of speech- simile, metaphor, personification, apostrophe, metonymy, etc.
2. Sound- is the result of combination of elements.
a. Tone color- alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme, repetition, anaphora.
b. Rhythm- ordered recurrent alteration of strong and weak elements in the flow of the sound and
silence: duple, triple, running or common rhyme.
c. Meter- stress, duration or number of syllables per line, fixed metrical pattern or a verse form.
d. Rhyme scheme- formal arrangement of rhymes In stanza or the whole poem.

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3. Structure- refers to arrangement of words, and lines to fit together and the organization of parts to
form a whole.
a. Word order- natural and natural arrangement of words.
b. Ellipsis- omitting some words for economy and effect.
c. Punctuation- abundance and lack of punctuation marks.
d. Shape- contextual and visual designs: jumps, omission of spaces, capitalization, lower case.

ASSESSMENT

In this part, you will be made to visit the internet or consult a book as what you
did in the previous module. Again, take note and remember the data because most of these
will be coming out in your major exam.

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A. There are two major types of poetry: Narrative and Lyric Poetry. Define the sub-types of poetry.
1. Differentiate Narrative Poetry from Lyric Poetry
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Narrative Poetry
a. Epic-______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________+____
b. Metrical Romance-_________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
c. Metrical Tale-_______________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
d. Ballad-_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
e. Popular Ballad-_____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
f. Modern or Artistic-__________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
g. Metrical Allegory-___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Lyric Poetry
a. Ode-_______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
b. Elegy-______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
c. Song-_______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
d. Corridos-____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
e. Sonnet- ____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Lesson 1

Connotation and Denotation are two principal methods of describing the meanings of words. Connotation
refers to the wide array of positive and negative associations that most words naturally carry with them,
whereas denotation is the precise, literal definition of a word that might be found in a dictionary.

Connotation and denotation are not two separate things/signs. They are two aspects/ elements of a
sign, and the connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings -
Connotation represents the various social overtones, cultural implications, or emotional meanings
associated with a sign. − Denotation represents the explicit or referential meaning of a sign.
Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word, the ‘dictionary definition.’

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For example, the name ‘Hollywood’ connotes such things as glitz, glamour, tinsel, celebrity, and
dreams of stardom. At the same time, the name ‘Hollywood’ denotes an area of Los Angeles
known worldwide as the center of the American movie industry.

ASSESSMENT
Direction: Provide the denotation and connotation of the words below.

Denotation Connotation
1. Ant

2. Confident

3. Dove

4. Flower

5. Green
6. Light
7. Mirror

8. Rainbow

9. Relaxed

10. Shadow

ASSESSMENT
The Arrow and the Song

BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

I shot an arrow into the air, For who has sight so keen and strong That
It fell to earth, I knew not where; it can follow the flight of song?
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight. Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
I breathed a song into the air, And the song, from beginning to end,
It fell to earth, I knew not where; I found again in the heart of a friend.

Now, let’s test your comprehension skill on this poem. You may visit the internet to
answer the set of questions. Have fun!

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Directions: Read and understand the message of the poem. Answer the questions that follow.

1. How many stanzas are there in the selection?

3. What do you call a stanza of two lines? Three? Four and five?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the end rhyme scheme of the selection? (further readings on https://literarydevices.net/rhyme-
scheme/)
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. What type of poetry does the selection belong to?
_________________________________________________________________________________
6. Give the denotation and connation of the term “arrow” in the first stanza.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

7. Give the denotation and connation of the term “song” in the second stanza.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
8. What is the message of the poem?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

Lesson 2

Figures of Speech

A figure of speech is a word or phrase that possesses a separate meaning from its literal definition.

In truth, there is wealth in these literary tools of the English language. Figures of speech lend themselves
particularly well to literature and poetry. They also pack a punch in speeches and movie lines. Indeed, these
tools abound in nearly every corner of life. But, let's start out by exploring some of the most common figures
of speech.

1. Alliteration- is the repetition of the beginning sounds of neighboring words.

Example: She sells seashells.

2. Anaphora- is a technique where several phrases or verses begin with the same word or words.
Example: I came, I saw, I conquered. - Julius Caesar

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3. Assonance- is the repetition of vowel sounds (not just letters) in words that are close together. The
sounds don't have to be at the beginning of the word.
Examples:
A - For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore. (Poe)
E - Therefore, all seasons shall be sweet to thee. (Coleridge)

4. Hyperbole- uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect.

Examples
I've told you to stop a thousand times.
That must have cost a billion dollars.

5. Personification -gives human qualities to non-living things or ideas.

Examples
The flowers nodded.
The snowflakes danced.

6. Simile -a comparison between two unlike things using the words "like" or "as."
Examples:
As slippery as an eel.
Like peas in a pod
As blind as a bat

7. Irony- use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. Also, a statement or situation
where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.

Example: "Oh, I love spending big bucks," said my dad, a notorious penny pincher.

8. Onomatopoeia- The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they
refer to.
Example: The clap of thunder went bang and scared my poor dog.

9. Oxymoron- A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.
Example: silent scream, living dead

10. Paradox- statement that appears to contradict itself.

Example: "This is the beginning of the end," said Eeyore, always the pessimist.

ASSESSMENT
Direction: Name the figure of speech is used in each of the following statements. Write your answer before
the number. (Recorded 15pts)

________1. Nick needed new notebooks.

________2. Fred fried frogs' legs on Friday.
________3. We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end... we shall never surrender.
- Winston Churchill
________4. Uncertain rustling of each purple curtain.
________5. I could do this forever.
________6. She's older than dirt.
________7. "My love is like a red rose..."

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________8. He is a lion.
________9. The wind wrapped its icy fingers around my body.
________10. The boat was tossed like a cork on the waves.
________11. The clang of the bell woke the sleeping dog.
________12. Life is a roller coaster.
________13. Ker-blam went the door as the wind blew it closed.
________14. I must be cruel only to be kind.
________15. I close my eyes so I can see.

ACTIVITY

Direction: Compose a poem of three stanzas with four lines each. The poem should revolve around the theme
on “Surviving Life Amidst the Pandemic”. The following elements of poetry should be present in the poem
you are about to compose: Rhyme Scheme, ellipses, punctuation and figures of speech. Then, explain your
poem in not less than three sentences. (Recorded)

Criteria: (30pts) Title-2 Relevance- 10 Elements of Poetry- 8 Creativity-5 Explanation-5

_____________________________________________________ Explanation here:

________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

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Lesson 3

Reading Journey

ON WORK

Kahlil Gibran - 1883-1931

Kahlil Gibran, known in Arabic as Gibran Khalil Gibran, was born January 6, 1883, in Bsharri, Lebanon,
which at the time was part of Syria and part of the Ottoman Empire. He was the youngest son of Khalil Sa’d
Jubran, a tax collector eventually imprisoned for embezzlement, and Kamila Jubran, whose father was a
clergyman in the Maronite Christian Church.
In 1885 Gibran immigrated with his mother and siblings to the United States, where they settled in the large
Syrian and Lebanese community in Boston, Massachusetts. It was there that Gibran learned English and
enrolled in art classes. His mother supported the family as a seamstress and by peddling linens.
Gibran was active in a New York-based Arab-American
literary group called the Pen League, whose members
promoted writing in Arabic and English. Throughout his
life he would publish nine books in Arabic and eight in
English, which ruminate on love, longing, and death, and
explore religious themes.
He died of cirrhosis of the liver on April 10, 1931, in
New York City.

Then a ploughman said, Speak to us of Work.

And he answered, saying:
You work that you may keep pace with the earth
and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life’s procession, that
marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.

When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?

Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.
But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when
the dream was born,
And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life,

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And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.

But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your
brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.

You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the
weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.

And what is it to work with love?

It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that
cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the
fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.

Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, “He who works in marble, and finds the shape of
his own soul in the stone, is nobler than he who ploughs the soil.
And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes
the sandals for our feet.”
But I say, not in sleep but in the overwakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly
to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.

Work is love made visible.

And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work
and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears to the voices of the
day and the voices of the night.

ASSESSMENT

Direction: Answer the following comprehension questions.

1. How do you perceive work? A responsibility or freedom? Why

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2. What is your understanding of “For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons”?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

3. Do you agree with the author that work is love made visible? Why?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

4. Cite your favorite line in the poem and explain your understanding of it.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

5. What has the poem taught you about work?

6. What is your message to your fellow students who, like you, will most probably land themselves on a
job in the future?

Lesson 4

This poem, nominated for Best Poem of 2006, was written by an African Kid

When I Born, I Black

When I grow up, I Black
When I go in sun, I Black
When I sick, I Black, and

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When I die, I still Black

And U White fella,
When u born, u pink
When u grow up, u white
When u go in sun, u red
When u cold, u blue
When u Scared, u yellow
When u sick, u green, and
When u die, u gray
And
You calling me colored??

ASSESSMENT
A. Directions: Answer the following comprehension questions.

1. Who is the speaker in the poem?

_________________________________________________________________________________
2. What elements of poetry are used in the selection?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the speaker trying to convey?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the message of the poem?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. As an individual, have you experienced being in the situation just like the speaker?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
A. In the space provided, illustrate/draw your understanding of the poem. Write a short explanation.
(Recorded)

Criteria: (25pts) Creativty-10 Originality-5 Neatness-5 Explanation-5

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Explanation:

Welcome to the third module which

deals with the most common literary Module 3
genre the essay! I’m glad you reached
this stage.

In the previous lessons, you learned ESSAY

about poetry and read examples of
poem. You were also made to write
your original poem and you nailed it.
We are here for another literary genre of ) called the Essay. How
I’m sure you’ll do good here, too. is this genre different from short story or a poem? Do you recall
Let’s keep going! the essays that you’ve read that made an impact in your life?

An essay is a prose composition of moderate length usually

expository in nature, which aims to explain or clear up an idea, a
theory, an expression or point of view. It is the most popular
form of literature.

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It is often considered synonymous with a story or a paper or an article. Essays can be formal as well as
informal. Formal essays are generally academic in nature and tackle serious topics. You will be focusing on
informal essays which are more personal and often have humorous elements.

The essay has three elements such as:

1. Theme and Content- what is the main point of the essay.

 Trivial, common place, unusual, controversial
 Appraise, criticize, expand, comment, lament, celebrate
 Human nature, social conditions, manners, politics, attitudes, art
 Creating a single impression or producing a single effect with the work
 Present ideas, describe events, interpret experiences
2. From and Structure- how ideas ordered to achieve a single effect?
 Unity of expression, coherence and cohesion
 Orderly, systematic, logical manner
 Three basic parts: introduction, body, conclusion
 Two major patterns: inductive and deductive
3. Language and Style- what makes the essay literary?
 Mode or tone, attitude, sensibility of the essayist.
 Whimsical, humorous, matter-of-fact, satirical, serious, optimistic
 Diction of choice of topics, personal bias or attitude.

Types of Essays

The type of essay will depend on what the writer wants to convey to his reader. There are broadly four types
of essays namely:

1. Narrative Essays: This is when the writer is narrating an incident or story through the essay. So these
are in the first person. The aim when writing narrative essays is to involve the reader in them as if they
were right there when it was happening. So make them as vivid and real as possible. One way to make
this possible is to follow the principle of ‘show, don’t tell’. So you must involve the reader in the story.

2. Descriptive Essays: Here the writer will describe a place, an object, an event or maybe even a memory.
But it is not just plainly describing things. The writer must paint a picture through his words. One clever
way to do that is to evoke the senses of the reader. Do not only rely on sight but also involve the
other senses of smell, touch, sound etc. A descriptive essay when done well will make the reader feel the
emotions the writer was feeling at the moment.

3. Expository Essays: In such an essay a writer presents a balanced study of a topic. To write such an
essay, the writer must have real and extensive knowledge about the subject. There is no scope for the
writer’s feelings or emotions in an expository essay. It is completely based on facts, statistics, examples
etc. There are sub-types here like contrast essays, cause and effect essays etc.

4. Persuasive Essays: Here the purpose of the essay is to get the reader to your side of the argument. A
persuasive essay is not just a presentation of facts but an attempt to convince the reader of the writer’s
point of view. Both sides of the argument have to presented in these essays. But the ultimate aim is to
persuade the readers that the writer’s argument carries more weight.

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Format of an Essay

Now there is no rigid format of an essay. It is a creative process so it should not be confined within
boundaries. However, there is a basic structure that is generally followed while writing essays. So let us take a
look at the general structure of an essay.

Introduction

This is the first paragraph of your essay. This is where the writer introduces his topic for the very first time.
You can give a very brief synopsis of your essay in the introductory paragraph. Some paragraph writing
skills can be a help here. Generally, it is not very long, about 4-6 lines.

There is plenty of scopes to get creative in the introduction of essays. This will ensure that you hook the
reader, i.e. draw and keep his attention. So to do so you can start with a quote or a proverb. Sometimes you
can even start with a definition. Another interesting strategy to engage with your reader is to start with a
question.

Body

This is the main crux of your essays. The body is the meat of your essay sandwiched between the introduction
and the conclusion. So the most vital and important content of the essay will be here. This need not be
confined to one paragraph. It can extend to two or more paragraphs according to the content.

Usually, we have a lot of information to provide in the body. And the mistakes writers generally make is to go
about it in a haphazard manner which leaves the reader confused. So it is important to organize your thoughts
and content. Write the information in a systematic flow so that the reader can comprehend. So, for example,
you were narrating an incident. The best manner to do this would be to go in a chronological order.

Conclusion

This is the last paragraph of the essay. Sometimes a conclusion will just mirror the introductory paragraph but
make sure the words and syntax are different. A conclusion is also a great place to sum up a story or an
argument. You can round up your essay by providing some moral or wrapping up a story. Make sure you
complete your essays with the conclusion, leave no hanging threads.

Tips for Essay Writing

 Give your essays an interesting and appropriate title. It

will help draw the attention of the reader and pique
their curiosity
 Keep it between 300-500 words. This is the ideal
length, you can take creative license to increase or
decrease it

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 Keep your language simple and crisp. Unnecessary complicated and difficult words break the flow of the
sentence.
 Do not make grammar mistakes, use correct punctuation and spellings. If this is not done it will distract
the reader from the content
 Before beginning the essay organize your thought and plot a rough draft. This way you can ensure the
story will flow and not be an unorganized mess.

ASSESSMENT

Direction: Write a narrative essay about your first day in school at WIT. (Recorded)

Criteria: (30 pts) Title- 5pts Format- 5 pts Content-10pts Organization- 5pts Grammar- 5pts

____________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

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Lesson 1

READING JOURNEY

The Marks of an Educated Man

Nicholas Murray Butler (from the Columbia Spectator)

(April 2, 1862-December 7, 1947) He was an educator and university president; an adviser to seven
presidents and friend of statesmen in foreign nations; recipient of decorations from fifteen foreign
governments and of honorary degrees from thirty-seven colleges and universities; a member of more than
fifty learned societies and twenty clubs; the author of a small library of books, pamphlets, reports, and
speeches; an international traveler who crossed the Atlantic at least a hundred times; a national leader of the
Republican Party; an advocate of peace and the embodiment of the ‘international mind’ that he frequently
spoke about. He was called Nicholas Miraculous Butler by his good friend Theodore Roosevelt; the epithet
was so perfect that, once uttered, it could not be forgotten

five that should always stand out clearly enough

to be seen by men.
1. A question often asked is: “What are the marks
of an educated man?” it is plain that one may
gain no inconsiderable body of learning in some
special field of knowledge without at the same 3. The first of these is correctness and precision
time acquiring those habits and traits which are in the use of the mother tongue.
marks of an educated gentleman. A reasonable The quite shocking slovenliness and the
amount of learning must of course accompany vulgarity of much of the spoken English, as well
an education, but, after all, that amount need not as not a little of the written English, which one
be so very great in any field. An education will hears and sees proves beyond peradventure that
make its mark and find its evidences in certain years of attendance upon schools and colleges
traits, characteristics and capacities which have that are thought to be respectable have produced
to be acquired by patient endeavor, by following no impression. When one hears English well
good example, and by receiving discipline and spoken, with pure diction, correct pronunciation,
sound instruction. and an almost unconscious choice of the right
2. These traits or characteristics may be variously word, he recognizes it at once. How much easier
described and classified, but among them are he finds it to imitate English of the other sort!

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4. The second and indispensable trait of the increases, and his reflection becomes deeper and
educated man is refined and gentle manners, wider. It would appear to be true that not many
which are themselves the expression of fixed human beings, even those who have had a
habits of thought at action. “Manners maketh school and college education, continue to grow
man,” wrote William of Wykeham over his after they are twenty-four or twenty-five years
gates at Winchester and at Oxford. He pointed of age. By that time it is usual to settle down to
to a great truth. When manners are superficial, life on a level of more or less contented interest
artificial and forced, no matter what their form, and activity. The whole present-day movement
they had bad manners When, however, they are for adult education is a systematic and definite
the natural expression of fixed habits of thought attempt to keep human beings growing long
and action, and they reveal a refined and after they have left school and college, and
cultivated nature, they are good manners. There therefore, to help educate them.
are certain things that gentleman do not do them 7. A fifth trait of the educated man is his
simply because they are bad manners. The possession of efficiency, or the power to do.
gentleman instinctively knows the difference The mere visionary dreamer, however charming
between those things which he may and should or however wise, lacks something which an
do and those things which he may not and education requires. The power to do may be
should not do. exercised in any one of the thousand ways, but
5. The third trait of the educated man is the power when it clearly shows itself, that is evidence that
and habit of reflection. Human beings for the the period of discipline of study and of
most part live wholly on the surface of life. companionship with parents and teacher has not
They do not look beneath the surface or far been in vain.
beyond the present moment and that part of the 8. Given these five characteristics, one has the
future which is quickly to follow it. They do not outline of an educated man. The outline may be
read those works of prose of reflection and filled in by scholarship, by literary power, by
introduce that power and habit in others. When mechanical skills, by professional zeal and
one reflects long enough to ask the question capacity, b business competence, or by social
how?, he is on the way to knowing something and political leadership. So long as the
about science. When he reflects long enough to framework or outline is there, the content may
question why?, he may, if he persists, even be pretty much what you will, assuming, of
become a philosopher. course, that the fundamental elements of the
great tradition which is civilization, and is
6. A fourth trait of the educated man is the power outstanding records and achievements in human
of growth. He continues to grow and develop personality, in letters, in science, in the fine arts
from birth to his dying day. His interests and in human institutions, are all presen
expand, his contacts multiply, his knowledge

ASSESSMENT
Direction: Match the italicized word in each phrase in column A
with the correct dictionary meaning in column B.

A
B

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1. Patient endeavor a. A considerate idea, expressed in writing or speech

2. beyond peradventure b. earnest and industrious effort

3. cultivated nature c. competent and reliable

4. prose of reflection d. uncertainty or doubt

5. visionary dreamer e. acquired or developed skill

6. professional zeal f. great enthusiasm or energy for cause

7. sound instruction g. trained intellectually, morally and socially

8. educated man h. elegant and cultured

9. refined manner i. absolutely necessary

10. Indispensable trait j. thinking about or planning the future with

imagination or wisdom.

ACTIVITY

Scanning for Information

Direction: Find the paragraph that tells or shows the description of an educated man according to Nicholas
Murray Butller . The first one is done for you.

Paragraph 1 1. One’s habits and traits are the marks of an educated man.

________1. An educated man continues to develop and grow from birth to his dying
day.
________2. The choice of words of one person signifies the number of years of
attendance upon school and colleges
________3. Good manners simply show how refined and educated you are.
________4. An educated man has the power and habit of reflection.
________5. The gentleman instinctively knows the difference between good and bad
manners.
________6. An educated man has the power to do well and to think wisely.
________7. An educated man tries to expand his interests, multiply his contacts and
increase his knowledge.
________8. An educated man reflects long enough to ask question to know something.
________9. An educated man knows the superficial, artificial and forced manners.

ASSESSMENT

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A. Direction: Below is a table that enumerates the general qualities of an educated man according to Murray-
Butler. Fill in the second column with the specific and concrete acts of an educated man as espoused by
Murray-Burton in his essay “The Marks of an Educated Man”. (30 pts)

Characteristics of an Educated Man Description (4pts each)

a. Precise in the use of mother tongue

b. Refined and gentle in manners

c. Has the power and habit of reflection

d. Has the power of growth

e. Possesses efficiency or the power to

B. Briefly but adequately answer the following questions:

1. What is the significance of education to your life and to your community? (5pts)
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

2. In your own opinion, how would you describe an educated man?(5pts)

True Essence of Success

Shiela E. Mendoza

Once in our life we fantasize about having lots of

money, owning a big mansion, being the president of
the company, and running our own business. People,
indeed, have unsatisfied desires. We are not content
with just being extraordinary good looking, we want
something with the highest standard. We have
thousands of wishes, hopes, yearnings, cravings and
longings in life. We dream to become the richest…we
hope to become famous…we are thrilled with power
and successful life…

How would you define success? Is it when you have a

lucrative career, mansion, luxury car and lots of
money? What are you going to do if you have millions?

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Would you buy stuff to pamper yourself? Would you misbehaved with guest. Several members of his family
travel around the world? Would you enjoy the cuisine at the Narayanhity Royal Palace died including King
by famous chefs in exquisite restaurants? Well, would Birendra and Queen Aiswarya. After killing ten people
you really be content having those things in life? Would he shot himself in the head and died three days later.
you really be happy and satisfied? His death is the comeuppance of his wrongs and
violence.
Kurt Cobain could have anything he wanted. He was an
American songwriter and musician and the lead singer If we yearn for intelligence and wisdom, Bernard
and guitarist of the popular rock band Nirvana. It was Spilsbury possessed that. He was a famous English
truly imperceptible that a famous man was struggling pathologist and detective. He was also a master of
with heroin addiction and depression. On April 8, 1994, forensic science. He worked as a Home Office
Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle and pathologist. But his accomplishments never made him
believed to commit suicide by a self-inflicted wound in smug. It was found out that he was suffering from
the head. depression that led him to commit suicide by gas in his
laboratory in December 1947.
If we aspire for financial success and accomplishment
in life, then Alberto Santos Dumont had them. He was If we long to be known globally, then Freddie Mills
the heir of a prosperous coffee producer family in made it. He was the world light heavyweight boxing
Brazil and a pioneer I aviation. He built and flew the champion from 1948 to 1950. He finished his career
first practical and dirigible balloons and became famous with 76 wins, 18 losses and 7 draws. He might have had
when he won the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize on a sophisticated lifestyle until one day, he was found
October 19, 1901 on a flight that rounded the Eiffel dead- with a shot in the head in his car. It was found out
Tower. But his fame and success were never enough. that the angle of the bullet was consistent with a self-
He was believed to have committed suicide by hanging inflicted wound- he committed suicide. His brawn was
himself when he became ill and depressed due to his not really enough for him to be satisfied.
multiple sclerosis.
Brad Delp, an American musician, was a man to be
If we hope for a beautiful face, voice and fame, Yukiko envied. He obtained fame and recognition everyone
Okada had them all. She was a Japanese idol singer in wants. He was best known as the lead vocalist of the
the early 1980. She had millions of fans and was ranked rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that gained
as the 17th most important female in the history. She success and fame during the 1970s and 1980s. Boston
even won Star Tanjo and had a number of hit singles. sold over 31 million records in the United States alone.
Ahhh…We would probably dream to be like her. No Only a goofy would never appreciate his successful life
one could say she was unhappy and lonely with her and achievements. Until one day, he was found by his
socio-economic status because she maintained being fiancée Pamela Sullivan dead in his home in Atkinson,
stoical. But on April 8, 1986, she was found with a New Hampshire. He died from the smoke of two
slashed wrist in her gas-filled apartment while charcoal grills he lit inside his sealed bathroom. It was
crouching in a closet and crying. After two hours she found out that the real cause of his death was carbon
jumped to her death from the seven-story Sum Music monoxide poisoning. He left a suicide note pinned to
Agency Building. Her death has remained mind- his shirt that read “Mr. Brad Delp. Je uis une ame
boggling until now. No one could even give the reason solitaire.” – I am a lonely soul! (www.listzblog.com)
for what she did.
Success, indeed, is difficult to define. People have
If we wish to be the most influential, powerful man in different perceptions about it. It may refer to the
our country, then Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah obtained accomplishment of a specific thing or the attainment of
that. He was a member of the opulent Nepalese Royal fame, money or social status. Others may define
Family who briefly becomes the King of Nepal from success as an obtainment of their dreams and ambition.
June 1 to June 4, 2001. He shot and killed ten people But many of us fail to understand the true meaning of
and wounded five others when he drank heavily and success because we always compare ourselves to others

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who are better than us or who have more than we do till skills and abilities. Above all we should put God in our
we end up unhappy and unsatisfied. entire endeavor. It is through God that we will be
forever happy and satisfied.
The biggest mistake we people commit is to force
ourselves to get all our desires without reflecting about Thus, we can only feel the satisfaction if we will learn
our life. This is the reason why there is always a feeling to appreciate ourselves. Let us focus on our Being not
of poignant anxiety within us even if we already obtain on Having… we are still poor if we are unsatisfied. We
what we want in life. The best way for us to feel the are still miserable if we never feel content. And we are
true essence of success is through nurturing our inner still useless if we are wretched despite everything we
essence. We should give importance to our life, and our have.
values. From there, we will learn to be proud of our

ACTIVITY
Direction: Fill in the blanks with the correct meaning of the underlined words.

1. I admire my classmate who grew up and lived in America, He speaks impeccable English. How I
wish I could also ________ my grammar.
2. That poignant scene kills me a lot, It truly ___________ my feelings and emotions.
3. Will you please stop acting so goofy? You are educated. Don’t act like a ______________.
4. Her death has remained mind-bogging until now. The investigators are still ____________ about his
death.
5. He works so hard to have a brawn body. His _____ helps a lot in carrying all my baggage.
6. A person who has no self-confidence finds it difficult to be smug. You can only be __________ if
you will learn to believe in yourself.
7. He finally received his comeuppance for his misbehavior. Everything that we do here on earth has a
corresponding ___________.
8. People admire her a lot because she can still smile even if she’s mad. She’s truly stoical. We should
remain _____despite all the pains and sufferings we went through.
9. We all missed his imperceptible signal, the reason why we failed to win the game. It is truly hard to
________ him since there were so many people beside him.
10. She’s hoping to marry an opulent widow. Since she belongs to a poor family, she has dreamed of
giving comfort and _______ to her family.

ACTIVITY

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A. Direction: Fill in the grid with vital information you picked up from your reading of Mendoza’s essay. You
earn one point for each correct information. (10 pts)

Famous Personality Achievements Tragic Downfall

Kurt Cobain 1. Committed suicide by a
self-inflicted wound on his head.
2. Lead vocalist of a famous Boston 3.
Massachusetts
Freddie Mills 4. 5.

Yukiko Okada 6. Jumped to her death

from seven-story building.

Alberto Santos Dumont 7. Committed suicide

Dipendra Bir Bikram He became the King of Nepal 8.

Bernard Spilsbury 9. 10.

B. Direction: Briefly but adequately answer the questions below. (20 pts)

1. Describe man’s perception about success according to Mendoza.(5pts)

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3. What to you are the manifestations of a successful person? How do you tell whether a person is
successful or not? Provide concrete descriptions of these kinds of persons.
________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
4. Why does it seem difficult to define success?(5pts)
_________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
5. What makes you think these people, despite their successful lives, would still want to end it even to
the point of ending it by themselves?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

That’s it for the Essays! Congratulations for making it to this point. Are you ready
for yet another new learning? I hope you still have the energy for these. Just hang in there
because it will all be worth it.

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Module 4

Let’s now proceed to another literary

genre which is the Fiction. Have you Fiction
been waiting for this part? I know you like
reading short stories and novels. We’ll,
they belong in here. You will be reading Fiction is literature created from the imagination,
short stories that are very timely and not presented as fact, though it may be based on a
relevant even in our time. true story or situation. The types of literature in the
fiction genre include the novel and short story.
Mysteries, science fiction, romance, fantasy, chick
lit, crime thrillers are all fiction genres. Examples of
classic fiction include To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, 1984 by George Orwell and Pride and Prejudice by
Jane Austen. So, how does fiction differs from non-fiction? Nonfiction refers to literature based in on fact. It
is the broadest category of literature. The Nonfiction Department has books and videos in many categories
including biography, business, cooking, health and fitness, pets, crafts, home decorating, languages, travel,
home improvement, religion, art and music, history, self-help, true crime, science and humor. We also have a
section of popular and award-winning documentary DVDs.

As discussed in module 1, short story is a piece of prose fiction that can be read in one sitting and that it
focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a "single effect"
or mood. The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Novel on the other hand is a relatively long work
of narrative fiction, normally written in prose form, and which is typically published as a book.

Elements of Fiction

1. Setting- Setting is a description of where and when the story takes place. In a short story there are
fewer settings compared to a novel. The time is more limited. Ask yourself the following questions to
obtain a detailed description of a story’s setting:

 How is the setting created? Consider geography, weather, time of day, social conditions, etc.
 What role does setting play in the story? Is it an important part of the plot or theme? Or is it
just a backdrop against which the action takes place?
 Does the setting change? If so, how?
Study the time period, which is also part of the setting, and ask yourself the following:
 When was the story written?
 Does it take place in the present, the past, or the future?
 How does the time period affect the language, atmosphere or social circumstances of the short
story?

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2. Characters- refer to those involved, may they be persons or animals and objects personified that
make a story happen. As you probably know, the most important role in any story is the protagonist
(which we will discuss in the succeeding parts of this module). This means all other roles stem from
their relationship to the protagonist. Basically, these varying types of characters define how they
interact and affect one another.

Types of Characters
a. Dynamic or Developing Character
A dynamic character also known as “Round Character” is someone who changes throughout the story. This
may be a good change or a bad one, but their motivations, desires, or even their personality changes due to
something in the story. This is usually a permanent change and shows how the character has learned and
developed over time in the story.

b. Flat or Static Character

A flat character is the opposite of a dynamic character. A flat character doesn’t change much or doesn’t
change at all throughout the story. Their personality and/or background aren’t revealed well and we only
know a handful of traits about them.

Others:

1. Protagonist- the hero/heroine in a story

2. Antagonist- a foil to the protagonist
3. Deuteragonist- second in importance
4. Fringe- one who is destroyed by his inner conflict
5. Typical or minor characters
3. Conflict - also called tension is usually the heart of the short story and is related to the main
character. In a short story there is usually one main struggle.

Types of Conflict

 "Man vs. Self" is the only true version of internal conflict you will find in literature. In this mode,
the conflict takes place within the mind of the main character, and often involves the character
making a decision between right or wrong, or other mixed emotions. However, this struggle could
also exist in the form of a character battling mental illness.

 "Man vs. Man" is probably the most common form of external conflict, and is also known as
interpersonal conflict. This mode lies at the heart of all dramatic arts and places the struggle directly
between the protagonist and the antagonist -- otherwise known as the good guy and the bad guy. In a
man vs. man conflict, the protagonist wants something, and the antagonist obstructs the protagonist
from getting what he wants.

This mode of external conflict occurs when the protagonist is placed at odds with a government or
cultural tradition. This type of conflict applies to societal norms as well. For example, if a child gets

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in trouble with his parents for sneaking out of the house at night, he is in conflict with the societal
tradition that children are expected to obey their parents.

 "Man vs. Nature" pits the main character against the forces of nature -- in the form of a natural
disaster or a similarly dangerous situation -- and is often associated with literary naturalism, which
hinges on the idea that nature is indifferent to humanity. Stephen Crane's short story, "The Open
Boat," is a prime example, and demonstrates that the sea can cause shipwrecks easily and without
regard for humanity.

4. Plot- Plot is a sequence of events in a story that force a character to make increasingly difficult
decisions, driving the story toward a climactic event and resolution.
The 5 Elements of Plot

1. Exposition
This is introduction where characters are
introduced, the setting is established, and the
primary conflict is begun.
Often, the exposition of a story only lasts for a
few chapters because readers are eager to dive
into the conflict of the story.

2. Rising Action
The rising action normally begins with an inciting incident, or a moment that sets the story into
action. As it progresses, there will be multiple moments of conflict that escalate and create tension as
the story moves toward the climax.
Think of it as the portion of a roller coaster where you’re climbing up to the peak. You want the story
to continue building up until you, as the reader, is ready to reach the point where everything comes
crashing down.

3. Climax
The climax is the peak of tension, plot, and character in the story. It’s the moment the reader has been
waiting for.
Often, this is the point in the story that everything changes, or where the main character is forced to
make a life-altering decision. It should be the point where the reader is unsure where the story is
going to go next. To use our roller coaster analogy, imagine you’re at the top of the peak and
everything stops: what’s going to happen? A great climax will leave the readers with this feeling,
forcing them to keep reading until the end.

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4. Falling Action/Denouement
This is the time when conflicts and subplots are resolved This is also where any conflicts that arose as
a result of the climax can start being resolved.

5. Resolution
Finally, the resolution is the end the story where the final loose ends are tied up to bring the story to
its happy or tragic ending. Or, if the story is a series, this would be the time for a cliffhanger that will
leave readers eager for the next installment!

5. Point of View- Point of view (POV) is what

the character or narrator telling the story can see (his or
her perspective). The author chooses “who” is to tell the
story by determining the point of view. Depending on
who the narrator is, he/she will be standing at one point
and seeing the action. This viewpoint will give the
narrator a partial or whole view of events as they happen.
Many stories have the protagonist telling the story, while
in others, the narrator may be another character or an
outside viewer, a narrator who is not in the story at all. The narrator should not be confused with the author,
who is the writer of the story and whose opinions may not be those written into the narrative.

Types of Point of View

1. First person: This is the viewpoint where we are seeing events through the eyes of the character
telling the story.
2. Second person: In second person, the narrator is speaking to YOU. This isn’t very common in
fiction, unless the narrator is trying to talk to the reader personally. We see second-person point of
view mostly in poems, speeches, instructional writing, and persuasive articles.
3. Third person: With third-person point of view, the narrator is describing what’s seen, but as a
spectator. If the narrator is a character in the story, then we are reading what he or she observes as
the story unfolds. This narrator has three possible perspectives.
 Limited – In limited third-person, the narrator sees only what’s in front of him/her, a
spectator of events as they unfold and is unable to read any other character’s mind.
 Omniscient – An omniscient narrator sees all, much as an all knowing god of some kind. He
or she sees what each character is doing and can see into each character’s mind. This is
common with an external character, who is standing above, watching the action below (think
of a person with a crystal ball, peering in).

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 Limited Omniscient – The limited omniscient third-person narrator can only see into one
character’s mind. He/she might see other events happening, but only knows the reasons of
one character’s actions in the story.

6. Theme- the theme is the underlying message that the writer would like to get across. Maybe it's a theme of
bravery, perseverance, or undying love.

7. Mood- is the general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader. Mood is
produced most effectively through the use of setting, theme, voice and tone.

That’s it for the most basic information about fiction. Remember them as you
navigate your way through these succeeding Reading Journeys.

Lesson 1

Reading Journey

Footnote to Youth

by Jose Garcia Villa

The sun was salmon and hazy in the west. Dodong thought to foot, flinging the worm into the air. Dodong did not bother to
himself he would tell his father about Teang when he got look where it fell, but thought of his age, seventeen, and he
home, after he had unhitched the carabao from the plow, and said to himself he was not young any more. Dodong
let it to its shed and fed it. He was hesitant about saying it, unhitched the carabao leisurely and gave it a healthy tap on
but he wanted his father to know. What he had to say was of the hip. The beast turned its head to look at him with dumb
serious import as it would mark a climacteric in his life. faithful eyes. Dodong gave it a slight push and the animal
Dodong finally decided to tell it, at a thought came to him walked alongside him to its shed. He placed bundles of grass
his father might refuse to consider it. His father was silent before it land the carabao began to eat. Dodong looked at it
hard-working farmer who chewed areca nut, which he had without interests. Dodong started homeward, thinking how
learned to do from his mother, Dodong's grandmother. I will he would break his news to his father. He wanted to marry,
tell it to him. I will tell it to him. The ground was broken up Dodong did. He was seventeen, he had pimples on his face,
into many fresh wounds and fragrant with a sweetish earthy the down on his upper lip already was dark-these meant he
smell. Many slender soft worms emerged from the furrows was no longer a boy. He was growing into a man--he was a
and then burrowed again deeper into the soil. A short man. Dodong felt insolent and big at the thought of it
colorless worm marched blindly to Dodong's foot and although he was by nature low in statue. Thinking himself a
crawled calmly over it. Dodong go tickled and jerked his man grown Dodong felt he could do anything. He walked

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faster, prodded by the thought of his virility. A small angled said while his mother was out that he was going to marry
stone bled his foot, but he dismissed it cursorily. He lifted his Teang. There it was out, what he had to say, and over which
leg and looked at the hurt toe and then went on walking. In he had done so much thinking. He had said it without any
the cool sundown he thought wild you dreams of himself and effort at all and without self-consciousness. Dodong felt
Teang. Teang, his girl. She had a small brown face and small relieved and looked at his father expectantly. A decrescent
black eyes and straightglossy hair. How desirable she was to moon outside shed its feeble light into the window, graying
him. She made him dream even during the day. Dodong the still black temples of his father. His father looked old
tensed with desire and looked at the muscles of his arms. now. "I am going to marry Teang," Dodong said.His father
Dirty. This field work was healthy, invigorating but it looked at him silently and stopped sucking the broken tooth.
begrimed you, smudged you terribly. He turned back the way The silence became intense and cruel, and Dodong wished
he had come, then marched obliquely to a creek. Dodong his father would suck that troublous tooth again. Dodong was
stripped himself and laid his clothes, a gray undershirt and uncomfortable and then became angry because his father
red kundiman shorts, on the grass. The he went into the kept looking at him without uttering anything.
water, wet his body over, and rubbed at it vigorously. He was "I will marry Teang," Dodong repeated. "I will marry
not long in bathing, then he marched homeward again. The Teang." His father kept gazing at him in inflexible silence
bath made him feel cool. It was dusk when he reached home. and Dodong fidgeted on his seat. "I asked her last night to
The petroleum lamp on the ceiling already was lighted and marry me and she said...yes. I want your permission. I...
the low unvarnished square table was set for supper. His want... it...." There was impatient clamor in his voice, an
parents and he sat down on the floor around the table to eat. exacting protest at this coldness, this indifference. Dodong
They had fried fresh-water fish, rice, bananas, and caked looked at his father sourly. He cracked his knuckles one by
sugar. Dodong ate fish and rice, but didnot partake of the one, and the little sounds it made broke dully the night
fruit. The bananas were overripe and when one held them stillness. "Must you marry, Dodong?" Dodong resented his
they felt more fluid than solid. Dodong broke off a piece of father's questions; his father himself had married. Dodong
the cakes sugar, dipped it in his glass of water and ate it. He made a quick impassioned easy in his mind about
got another piece and wanted some more, but he thought of selfishness, but later he got confused. "You are very young,
leaving the remainder for his parents. Dodong's mother Dodong." "I'm... seventeen." "That's very young to get
removed the dishes when they were through and went out to married at." "I... I want to marry...Teang's good girl." "Tell
the batalan to wash them. She walked with slow careful steps your mother," his father said. "You tell her, tatay." "Dodong,
and Dodong wanted to help her carry the dishes out, but he you tell your inay." "You tell her." "All right, Dodong."
was tired and now felt lazy. He wished as he looked at her "You will let me marry Teang?"
that he had a sister who could help his mother in the "Son, if that is your wish... of course..." There was a strange
housework. He pitied her, doing all the housework alone. His helpless light in his father's eyes. Dodong did not read it, too
father remained in the room, sucking a diseased tooth. It was absorbed was he in himself. Dodong was immensely glad he
paining him again, Dodong knew. Dodong had told him had asserted himself. He lost his resentment for his father.
often and again to let the town dentist pull it out, but he was For a while he even felt sorry for him about the diseased
afraid, his father was. He did not tell that to Dodong, but tooth. Then he confined his mind to dreaming of Teang and
Dodong guessed it. Afterward Dodong himself thought that himself. Sweet young dream.... Dodong stood in the
if he had a decayed tooth he would be afraid to go to the sweltering noon heat, sweating profusely, so that his
dentist; he would not be any bolder than his father. Dodong camiseta was damp. He was still like a tree and his thoughts

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were confused. His mother had told him not to leave the yard. He wanted somebody to punish him. His father thrust
house, but he had left. He had wanted to get out of it without his hand in his and gripped it gently. "Son," his father said.
clear reason at all. He was afraid, he felt. Afraid of the house. And his mother: "Dodong..." How kind were their voices.
It had seemed to cage him, to compares his thoughts with They flowed into him, making him strong. "Teang?" Dodong
severe tyranny. Afraid also of Teang. Teang was giving birth said. "She's sleeping. But you go in..." His father led him into
in the house; she gave screams that chilled his blood. He did the small sawali room. Dodong saw Teang, his girl wife,
not want her to scream like that, he seemed to be rebuking asleep on the papag with her black hair soft around her face.
him. He began to wonder madly if the process of childbirth He did not want her to look that pale... Dodong wanted to
was really painful. Some women, when they gave birth, did touch her, to push away that stray wisp of hair that touched
not cry. In a few moments he would be a father. "Father, her lips, but again that feeling of embarrassment came over
father," he whispered the word with awe, with strangeness. him and before his parents he did not want to be
He was young, he realized now, contradicting himself of demonstrative. The hilot was wrapping the child, Dodong
nine months comfortable... "Your son," people would soon heart it cry. The thin voice pierced him queerly. He could not
be telling him. "Your son, Dodong." Dodong felt tired control the swelling of happiness in him. You give him to
standing. He sat down on a saw horse with his feet close me. You give him to me," Dodong said. * * * Blas was not
together. He looked at his callused toes. Suppose he had ten Dodong's child. Many more children came. For six
children... What made him think that? What was the matter successive years a new child came along. Dodong did not
with him? God! He heard his mother's voice from the house: want any more children, but they came. It seemed the
"Come up, Dodong. It is over." Of a sudden he felt terribly coming of children could not be helped. Dodong got angry
embarrassed as he looked at her. Somehow he was ashamed with himself sometimes. Teang did not complain, but the
to his mother of his youthful paternity. It made him feel bearing of children told on her. She was shapeless and thin
guilty, as if he had taken something no properly his. He now, even if she was young. There was interminable work to
dropped his eyes and pretended to dust dirt off his kundiman be done. Cooking. Laundering. The house. The children. She
shorts. "Dodong," his mother called again. "Dodong." He cried sometimes, wishing she had not married. She did not
turned to look again and this time saw his father beside his tell Dodong this, not wishing him to dislike her. Yet she
mother. "It is a boy," his father said. He beckoned Dodong to wished she had not married. Not even Dodong, whom she
come up. loved. There has been another suitor, Lucio, older than
Dodong felt more embarrassed and did not move. What a Dodong by nine years, and that was why she had chosen
moment for him. His parents' eyes seemed to pierce him Dodong. Young Dodong. Seventeen. Lucio had married
through and he felt limp. He wanted to hide from them, to another after her marriage to Dodong, but he was childless
run away. "Dodong, you come up. You come up," he mother until now. She wondered if she had married Lucio, would
said. Dodong did not want to come up and stayed in the sun. she have borne him children. Maybe not either. That was a
"Dodong. Dodong." "I'll... come up." Dodong traced better lot. But she loved Dodong... Dodong whom life had
tremulous steps on the dry parched yard. He ascended the made ugly. One night, as he lay beside his wife, he roe and
bamboo steps slowly. His heart pounded mercilessly in him. went out of the house. He stood in the moonlight, tired and
Within, he avoided his parents eyes. He walked ahead of querulous. He wanted to ask questions and somebody to
them so that they should not see his face. He felt guilty and answer him. He wanted to be wise about many things. One
untrue. He felt like crying. His eyes smarted and his chest of them was why life did not fulfill all of Youth's dreams.
wanted to burst. He wanted to turn back, to go back to the Why it must be so.

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Why one was forsaken... after Love. Dodong would not find without moving. "Itay, you think it over." Dodong lay silent.
the answer. Maybe the question was not to be answered. It "I love Tona and... I want her." Dodong rose from his mat
must be so to make Youth. Youth. Youth must be dreamfully and told Blas to follow him. They descended to the yard,
sweet. Dreamfully sweet. Dodong returned to the house where everything was still and quiet. The moonlight was
humiliated by himself. He had wanted to know a little cold and white. "You want to marry Tona," Dodong said. He
wisdom but was denied it. * * * When Blas was eighteen he did not want Blas to marry yet. Blas was very young. The
came home one night very flustered and happy. It was late at life that would follow marriage would be heard... "Yes."
night and Teang and the other children were asleep. Dodong "Must you marry?" Blas's voice stilled with resentment. "I
heard Blas's steps, for he could not sleep well for nights. He will marry Tona." Dodong kept silent, hurt. "You have
watched Blas undress in the dark and lie down softly. Blas objections, Itay?" Blas asked acridly. "Son... n-none..." (But
was restless on his mat and could not sleep. Dodong called truly, God, I don't want Blas to marry yet... not yet. I don't
his name and asked why he did not sleep. Blas said he could want Blas to marry yet....) But he was helpless. He could not
not sleep. "You better go to sleep. It is late," Dodong said. do anything. Youth must triumph... now. Love must
Blas raised himself on his elbow and muttered something in triumph... now. Afterwards... it will be life. As long ago
a low fluttering voice. Dodong did not answer and tried to Youth and Love did triumph for Dodong... and then Life.
sleep. "Itay ...," Blas called softly. Dodong stirred and asked Dodong looked wistfully at his young son in the moonlight.
him what it was. "I am going to marry Tona. He felt extremely sad and sorry for him.
She accepted me tonight." Dodong lay on the red pillow

ASSESSMENT

Direction: Answer the following:

1. Identify the setting of time and place in the selection.

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3. Identify the point of view applied in the selection.
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4. Identify the type of conflict.
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5. Give the theme of the selection.
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6. Summarize the story in not more than 8 sentences.
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ACTIVITY
Direction: Answer the questions based on your understanding of the story. You earn five points for
every item. (30 pts)

1. Find out the meaning of footnote. What could ‘a footnote to youth’ possibly mean? Do you think the title
is appropriate to the story? Would there be a better title for the story? What would that title be?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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2. Which part of the story do you like and which do you not like? Explain your answer.
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3. If you were Dodong at 17 years old, would you have done the same thing he had done? Eplain your
answer.
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4. If you were Dodong’s father, what would you have done best to prevent your son from marrying at a very
early age? Explain your answer.
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5. What do you think is the story trying to tell us?
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6. Now that you have determined the message of the story, what can you tell your fellow youths about love
and life in general?)
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Lesson 2

Reading Journey

Scent of Apples

Bienvenido N. Santos

When I arrived in Kalamazoo it was October and the war

was still on. Gold and silver stars hung on pennants
above silent windows of white and brick-red cottages. In
a backyard an old man burned leaves and twigs while a

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gray-haired woman sat on the porch, her red hands quiet While I was trying to explain away the fact that it was
on her lap, watching the smoke rising above the elms, not easy to make comparisons, a man rose from the rear
both of them thinking the same thought perhaps, about a of the hall, wanting to say something. In the distance, he
tall, grinning boy with his blue eyes and flying hair, who looked slight and old and very brown. Even before he
went out to war: where could he be now this month spoke, I knew that he was, like me, a Filipino.
when leaves were turning into gold and the fragrance of "I'm a Filipino," he began, loud and clear, in a voice that
gathered apples was in the wind? seemed used to wide open spaces, "I'm just a Filipino
It was a cold night when I left my room at the hotel for a farmer out in the country." He waved his hand toward
usual speaking engagement. I walked but a little way. A the door. "I left the Philippines more than twenty years
heavy wind coming up from Lake Michigan was icy on ago and have never been back. Never will perhaps. I
the face. If felt like winter straying early in the northern want to find out, sir, are our Filipino women the same
woodlands. Under the lampposts the leaves shone like like they were twenty years ago?"
bronze. And they rolled on the pavements like the ghost As he sat down, the hall filled with voices, hushed and
feet of a thousand autumns long dead, long before the intrigued. I weighed my answer carefully. I did not want
boys left for faraway lands without great icy winds and to tell a lie yet I did not want to say anything that would
promise of winter early in the air, lands without apple seem platitudinous, insincere. But more important than
trees, the singing and the gold! these considerations, it seemed to me that moment as I
It was the same night I met Celestino Fabia, "just a looked towards my countryman, I must give him an
Filipino farmer" as he called himself, who had a farm answer that would not make him so unhappy. Surely, all
about thirty miles east of Kalamazoo. these years, he must have held on to certain ideals,
"You came all that way on a night like this just to hear certain beliefs, even illusions peculiar to the exile.
me talk?" "First," I said as the voices gradually died down and
"I've seen no Filipino for so many years now," he every eye seemed upon me, "First, tell me what our
answered quickly. "So when I saw your name in the women were like twenty years ago."
papers where it says you come from the Islands and that The man stood to answer. "Yes," he said, "you're too
you're going to talk, I come right away." young . . . Twenty years ago our women were nice, they
Earlier that night I had addressed a college crowd, were modest, they wore their hair long, they dressed
mostly women. It appeared they wanted me to talk about proper and went for no monkey business. They were
my country, they wanted me to tell them things about it natural, they went to church regular, and they were
because my country had become a lost country. faithful." He had spoken slowly, and now in what
Everywhere in the land the enemy stalked. Over it a seemed like an afterthought, added, "It's the men who
great silence hung, and their boys were there, unheard ain't."
from, or they were on their way to some little known Now I knew what I was going to say.
island on the Pacific, young boys all, hardly men, "Well," I began, "it will interest you to know that our
thinking of harvest moons and the smell of forest fire. women have changed--but definitely! The change,
It was not hard talking about our own people. I knew however, has been on the outside only. Inside, here,"
them well and I loved them. And they seemed so far pointing to the heart, "they are the same as they were
away during those terrible years that I must have spoken twenty years ago. God-fearing, faithful, modest, and
of them with a little fervor, a little nostalgia. nice."
In the open forum that followed, the audience wanted to The man was visibly moved. "I'm very happy, sir," he
know whether there was much difference between our said, in the manner of one who, having stakes on the
women and the American women. I tried to answer the land, had found no cause to regret one's sentimental
question as best I could, saying, among other things, that investment.
I did not know that much about American women, After this, everything that was said and done in that hall
except that they looked friendly, but differences or that night seemed like an anti-climax, and later, as we
similarities in inner qualities such as naturally belonged walked outside, he gave me his name and told me of his
to the heart or to the mind, I could only speak about with farm thirty miles east of the city.
vagueness.

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We had stopped at the main entrance to the hotel lobby. away, quit kidding, there's no such thing as first class
We had not talked very much on the way. As a matter of Filipino. But Roger, that's my boy, he believed me
fact, we were never alone. Kindly American friends immediately. What's he like, daddy, he asks. Oh, you
talked to us, asked us questions, said goodnight. So now will see, I says, he's first class. Like you daddy? No, no,
I asked him whether he cared to step into the lobby with I laugh at him, your daddy ain't first class. Aw, but you
me and talk. are, daddy, he says. So you can see what a nice boy he
"No, thank you," he said, "you are tired. And I don't is, so innocent. Then Ruth starts griping about the house,
want to stay out too late." but the house is a mess, she says. True it's a mess, it's
"Yes, you live very far." always a mess, but you don't mind, do you? We're poor
"I got a car," he said, "besides . . . " folks, you know.
Now he smiled, he truly smiled. All night I had been The trip seemed interminable. We passed through
watching his face and I wondered when he was going to narrow lanes and disappeared into thickets, and came out
smile. on barren land overgrown with weeds in places. All
"Will you do me a favor, please," he continued smiling around were dead leaves and dry earth. In the distance
almost sweetly. "I want you to have dinner with my were apple trees.
family out in the country. I'd call for you tomorrow "Aren't those apple trees?" I asked wanting to be sure.
afternoon, then drive you back. Will that be alright?" "Yes, those are apple trees," he replied. "Do you like
"Of course," I said. "I'd love to meet your family." I was apples? I got lots of 'em. I got an apple orchard, I'll show
leaving Kalamazoo for Muncie, Indiana, in two days. you."
There was plenty of time. All the beauty of the afternoon seemed in the distance,
"You will make my wife very happy," he said. on the hills, in the dull soft sky.
"You flatter me." "Those trees are beautiful on the hills," I said.
"Honest. She'll be very happy. Ruth is a country girl and "Autumn's a lovely season. The trees are getting ready to
hasn't met many Filipinos. I mean Filipinos younger than die, and they show their colors, proud-like."
I, cleaner looking. We're just poor farmer folk, you "No such thing in our own country," I said.
know, and we don't get to town very often. Roger, that's That remark seemed unkind, I realized later. It touched
my boy, he goes to school in town. A bus takes him early him off on a long deserted tangent, but ever there
in the morning and he's back in the afternoon. He's nice perhaps. How many times did lonely mind take
boy." unpleasant detours away from the familiar winding lanes
"I bet he is," I agreed. "I've seen the children of some of towards home for fear of this, the remembered hurt, the
the boys by their American wives and the boys are tall, long lost youth, the grim shadows of the years; how
taller than their father, and very good looking." many times indeed, only the exile knows.
"Roger, he'd be tall. You'll like him." It was a rugged road we were traveling and the car made
Then he said goodbye and I waved to him as he so much noise that I could not hear everything he said,
disappeared in the darkness. but I understood him. He was telling his story for the
The next day he came, at about three in the afternoon. first time in many years. He was remembering his own
There was a mild, ineffectual sun shining, and it was not youth. He was thinking of home. In these odd moments
too cold. He was wearing an old brown tweed jacket and there seemed no cause for fear no cause at all, no pain.
worsted trousers to match. His shoes were polished, and That would come later. In the night perhaps. Or lonely
although the green of his tie seemed faded, a colored on the farm under the apple trees.
shirt hardly accentuated it. He looked younger than he In this old Visayan town, the streets are narrow and dirty
appeared the night before now that he was clean shaven and strewn with coral shells. You have been there? You
and seemed ready to go to a party. He was grinning as could not have missed our house, it was the biggest in
we met. town, one of the oldest, ours was a big family. The house
"Oh, Ruth can't believe it," he kept repeating as he led stood right on the edge of the street. A door opened
me to his car--a nondescript thing in faded black that had heavily and you enter a dark hall leading to the stairs.
known better days and many hands. "I says to her, I'm There is the smell of chickens roosting on the low-
bringing you a first class Filipino, and she says, aw, go topped walls, there is the familiar sound they make and

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you grope your way up a massive staircase, the As we stepped inside and the door closed behind us,
bannisters smooth upon the trembling hand. Such nights, immediately I was aware of the familiar scent of apples.
they are no better than the days, windows are closed The room was bare except for a few ancient pieces of
against the sun; they close heavily. second-hand furniture. In the middle of the room stood a
Mother sits in her corner looking very white and sick. stove to keep the family warm in winter. The walls were
This was her world, her domain. In all these years, I bare. Over the dining table hung a lamp yet unlighted.
cannot remember the sound of her voice. Father was Ruth got busy with the drinks. She kept coming in and
different. He moved about. He shouted. He ranted. He out of a rear room that must have been the kitchen and
lived in the past and talked of honor as though it were soon the table was heavy with food, fried chicken legs
the only thing. and rice, and green peas and corn on the ear. Even as we
I was born in that house. I grew up there into a pampered ate, Ruth kept standing, and going to the kitchen for
brat. I was mean. One day I broke their hearts. I saw more food. Roger ate like a little gentleman.
mother cry wordlessly as father heaped his curses upon "Isn't he nice looking?" his father asked.
me and drove me out of the house, the gate closing "You are a handsome boy, Roger," I said.
heavily after me. And my brothers and sisters took up The boy smiled at me. You look like Daddy," he said.
my father's hate for me and multiplied it numberless Afterwards I noticed an old picture leaning on the top of
times in their own broken hearts. I was no good. a dresser and stood to pick it up. It was yellow and soiled
But sometimes, you know, I miss that house, the roosting with many fingerings. The faded figure of a woman in
chickens on the low-topped walls. I miss my brothers Philippine dress could yet be distinguished although the
and sisters, Mother sitting in her chair, looking like a face had become a blur.
pale ghost in a corner of the room. I would remember the "Your . . . " I began.
great live posts, massive tree trunks from the forests. "I don't know who she is," Fabia hastened to say. "I
Leafy plants grew on the sides, buds pointing picked that picture many years ago in a room on La Salle
downwards, wilted and died before they could become street in Chicago. I have often wondered who she is."
flowers. As they fell on the floor, father bent to pick "The face wasn't a blur in the beginning?"
them and throw them out into the coral streets. His hands "Oh, no. It was a young face and good."
were strong. I have kissed these hands . . . many times, Ruth came with a plate full of apples.
many times. "Ah," I cried, picking out a ripe one. "I've been thinking
Finally we rounded a deep curve and suddenly came where all the scent of apples came from. The room is full
upon a shanty, all but ready to crumble in a heap on the of it."
ground, its plastered walls were rotting away, the floor "I'll show you," said Fabia.
was hardly a foot from the ground. I thought of the He showed me a backroom, not very big. It was half-full
cottages of the poor colored folk in the south, the hovels of apples.
of the poor everywhere in the land. This one stood all by "Every day," he explained, "I take some of them to town
itself as though by common consent all the folk that used to sell to the groceries. Prices have been low. I've been
to live here had decided to say away, despising it, losing on the trips."
ashamed of it. Even the lovely season could not color it "These apples will spoil," I said.
with beauty. "We'll feed them to the pigs."
A dog barked loudly as we approached. A fat blonde Then he showed me around the farm. It was twilight now
woman stood at the door with a little boy by her side. and the apple trees stood bare against a glowing western
Roger seemed newly scrubbed. He hardly took his eyes sky. In apple blossom time it must be lovely here. But
off me. Ruth had a clean apron around her shapeless what about wintertime?
waist. Now as she shook my hands in sincere delight I One day, according to Fabia, a few years ago, before
noticed shamefacedly (that I should notice) how rough Roger was born, he had an attack of acute appendicitis. It
her hands were, how coarse and red with labor, how was deep winter. The snow lay heavy everywhere. Ruth
ugly! She was no longer young and her smile was was pregnant and none too well herself. At first she did
pathetic. not know what to do. She bundled him in warm clothing
and put him on a cot near the stove. She shoveled the

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snow from their front door and practically carried the finally, we could not hear it anymore, and all was
suffering man on her shoulders, dragging him through darkness around us, except where the headlamps
the newly made path towards the road where they waited revealed a stretch of road leading somewhere.
for the U.S. Mail car to pass. Meanwhile snowflakes Fabia did not talk this time. I didn't seem to have
poured all over them and she kept rubbing the man's anything to say myself. But when finally we came to the
arms and legs as she herself nearly froze to death. hotel and I got down, Fabia said, "Well, I guess I won't
"Go back to the house, Ruth!" her husband cried, "you'll be seeing you again."
freeze to death." It was dimly lighted in front of the hotel and I could
But she clung to him wordlessly. Even as she massaged hardly see Fabia's face. Without getting off the car, he
his arms and legs, her tears rolled down her cheeks. "I moved to where I had sat, and I saw him extend his
won't leave you," she repeated. hand. I gripped it.
Finally the U.S. Mail car arrived. The mailman, who "Tell Ruth and Roger," I said, "I love them."
knew them well, helped them board the car, and, without He dropped my hand quickly. "They'll be waiting for me
stopping on his usual route, took the sick man and his now," he said.
wife direct to the nearest hospital. "Look," I said, not knowing why I said it, "one of these
Ruth stayed in the hospital with Fabia. She slept in a days, very soon, I hope, I'll be going home. I could go to
corridor outside the patients' ward and in the day time your town."
helped in scrubbing the floor and washing the dishes and "No," he said softly, sounding very much defeated but
cleaning the men's things. They didn't have enough brave, "Thanks a lot. But, you see, nobody would
money and Ruth was willing to work like a slave. remember me now."
"Ruth's a nice girl," said Fabia, "like our own Filipino Then he started the car, and as it moved away, he waved
women." his hand.
Before nightfall, he took me back to the hotel. Ruth and "Goodbye," I said, waving back into the darkness. And
Roger stood at the door holding hands and smiling at me. suddenly the night was cold like winter straying early in
From inside the room of the shanty, a low light flickered. these northern woodlands.
I had a last glimpse of the apple trees in the orchard I hurried inside. There was a train the next morning that
under the darkened sky as Fabia backed up the car. And left for Muncie, Indiana, at a quarter after eight.
soon we were on our way back to town. The dog had
started barking. We could hear it for some time, until

ACTIVITY
Direction: Express your answers briefly.

1. Who is the speaker in the selection?

2. In two to three sentences, what is the selection all about?

___________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction to Literature Page 45

WESTERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

3. Why do you think is the selection titled Scent of Apples? Could the scent of apples have any symbolic
representation to any of the characters or the events that transpired in the story? Discuss your answer.
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

4. What do you think is the theme of the selection? Why do you think so?
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY

Direction: Identify the elements of plot in the story of Scent of Apples by writing briefly the significant events
in the box that corresponds to the element of the plot. (25 pts)

Introduction to Literature Page 46

WESTERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Lesson 3

Drama

In literature, a drama is the portrayal of fictional or non-fictional events through the performance of written
dialog (either prose or poetry). Dramas can be performed on stage, on film, or the radio. Dramas are typically
called plays, and their creators are known as “playwrights” or “dramatists.”

Types of Drama

Dramatic performances are generally classified into specific categories according to the mood, tone,
and actions depicted in the plot. Some popular types of drama include:

 Comedy: Lighter in tone, comedies are intended to make the audience laugh and usually come to a happy
ending. Comedies place offbeat characters in unusual situations causing them to do and say funny things.

Introduction to Literature Page 47

WESTERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Comedy can also be sarcastic in nature, poking fun at serious topics. There are also several sub-genres of
comedy, including romantic comedy, sentimental comedy, a comedy of manners, and tragic comedy—
plays in which the characters take on tragedy with humor in bringing serious situations to happy endings.
 Tragedy: Based on darker themes, tragedies portray serious subjects like death, disaster, and human
suffering in a dignified and thought-provoking way. Rarely enjoying happy endings, characters in
tragedies, like Shakespeare's Hamlet, are often burdened by tragic character flaws that ultimately lead to
their demise.
 Farce: Featuring exaggerated or absurd forms of comedy, a farce is a nonsensical genre of drama in which
characters intentionally overact and engage in slapstick or physical humor. Examples of farce include the
play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and the hit 1980 movie Airplane!, written by Jim Abrahams.
 Melodrama: An exaggerated form of drama, melodramas depict classic one-dimensional characters such
as heroes, heroines, and villains dealing with sensational, romantic, and often perilous situations.
Sometimes called “tearjerkers,” examples of melodramas include the play The Glass Menagerie by
Tennessee Williams and the classic movie of love during the Civil War, Gone With the Wind, based on
Margaret Mitchell’s novel.
 Opera: This versatile genre of drama combines theater, dialogue, music, and dance to tell grand stories of
tragedy or comedy. Since characters express their feelings and intentions through song rather than
dialogue, performers must be both skilled actors and singers. The decidedly tragic La Bohème, by
Giacomo Puccini, and the bawdy comedy Falstaff, by Giuseppe Verdi are classic examples of opera.
 Docudrama: A relatively new genre, docudramas are dramatic portrayals of historic events or non-
fictional situations. More often presented in movies and television than in live theater, popular examples of
docudramas include the movies Apollo 13 and 12 Years a Slave, based on the autobiography written by
Solomon Northup.

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