21st Module 6
21st Module 6
21st Module 6
Page | 1
BASIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT-SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
21st CENTURY LITERATURE FROM THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD
This module explores 21st century literature and is made up of two main parts: 21st Century Philippine
Literature and 21st Century World Literature. The literature is timeless in the sense that it stands on the shoulders of
the literature of past centuries, and there is an ongoing conversation with texts and authors of the past. It is timely in
the sense that the preoccupation or ideologies are quintessentially modern; these are texts that seem to speak to the
modern reader’s preoccupations and ideology.
Philippine literature withstood time and periods and has evolved through generations. For every period that
passed, different genres appeared, and these literary works rooted from all regions reflecting their culture, society
and culture.
21st century literature per se, is anything that was written and published in the year 2000s. It is a bit too early
to give a definite and elaborate description of the 21st century literature from the Philippines and the world. It is
possible however, to approach contemporary literature as a reaction to and dialogue with existing forms of expressive
culture. As we engage in technology more and more, we create and more existing forms of expressive culture as well.
We have a wide range of resources through the internet and this gave opportunities to people, especially the youth, to
begin writing and expressing their thoughts, ideas, and feelings.
The literary texts chosen for this material truly reflect the creative imagination of the writers-in-residence as
interpreted through a range of learning and learner-centered activities exclusively design to suit the young adult
learners.
It teaches us about life by exposing us to the lives of different people through their stories, and from these
vicarious experiences, we learn important lesson and values. Above all, literature teaches us language and the power
of communication, a skill we cannot do without in the 21st century.
There is hope that in reading today’s Philippine literature in English, the reader will find a reflection of
oneself and a reflection of Philippine society. It is composed of novel excerpts, short stories, essays, and poems that
are organized in a thematic manner.
There is pleasure in reading and analyzing literature that is slowly being forgotten, what with the instant
gratification felt when faced with the internet. This pleasure in analyzing texts is something that teacher can help you
understand and appreciate as there is a discipline that the close reading of literature involves. The questions and
activities provided in this module aim to help the reader and the teacher appreciate how this can be done. This is a
skill which, when mastered, can be used to study any other discipline that one may wish to pursue in the future.
Welcome. You are now part of the class taking up 21st century literature from the Philippines and the world.
As a student, you must be eager to try out what you have learned as you engage yourself in the field of holistic
learning becoming a better future citizen of the country and the world.
Directions: Read and identify the following statements. Write Asian if the authors and literary works are pertaining
to Asian Literature and European if it is European Literature. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
___________________________1. Mo Zi
___________________________9. Zhuang Zi
___________________________13. Homer
___________________________17. Ajax
___________________________18. Decameron
Literature is life itself. It is the expression of life which covers all ideas, emotions, thoughts, experiences,
observations, fictions or non-fictions. It lives among us, it has affected our lives and beliefs. It has been our companion
in everyday life. It can be simple or complex yet it never dies. It will be passed generation through generation. It can
be changed and even dynamic and will always be with us.
World literature is the totality of all national literatures. The formation of literature in different countries
happened not at the same time, which is connected with the emergence of writing and artistic creativity.
Each nation`s literature has its own artistic and national features. World literature is very important for the
studying, still the literature of one country develops together with other national literatures. They enrich each other
borrowing certain literary elements. There are a lot of scientific works on world literature, which explain the
peculiarities of this phenomenon.
This module discusses the different literatures produced by the famous writers/authors of the world. It also
covers how leaners will enhance their critical thinking skill and creativity.
Objectives
At the end of this module, you are expected to:
1. Identify representative texts and authors from North America and Latin America literature.
2. Compare and contrast the various 21st century literary genres and their elements, structures, and traditions
from across the globe.
3. Write a close analysis and critical interpretation of literary text by applying a reading approach.
This module is self-instructional. You can read, analyze concepts and ideas presented, and reflect on them. The
activities and self-check questions will help you assess how you progress as you go through the module.
Your answers to the Self-Check Questions and Activities will be evaluated by your teacher. These will be part of
your formative evaluation. The post test will be given in a separate booklet upon completion of this module. It will
serve as the summative evaluation of your performance.
Work on this module independently. Your teacher will not be around to supervise you as you go through this
module. It is expected that you will make the most of it.
This module will be collected upon distribution of the new set of modules. Have fun exploring literatures of the
world! Good luck and God bless 21st century learners!
___________2. Why the Caged Bird Sings ___________12. Stanley Martin Lieber
Borges was a precursor of the Boom. He’s considered the godfather of Latin American authors and is arguably
the 20th century’s most important writer. His literature of mirrors, reflections, and labyrinths is unique and
unclassifiable. Even though he was a recognized author in his time, he never won the Nobel Prize in Literature, which
says more about the Nobel Foundation than Borges.
Borges once wrote, “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” Fittingly, he went on to
become the director of Argentina’s National Library.
Octavio Paz was a poet and essayist who expressed the Mexican soul through his writings like nobody before
him. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1990. His book of essays, The Labyrinth of Solitude, is the deepest
exploration of the Mexican identity ever written.
The literary career of Paz “helped to define modern poetry and the Mexican personality,” according to one of
his obituaries.
The “Poet of Love” was born Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto in southern Chile. He changed his name to
avoid problems with his family, who disapproved of him becoming a poet. Neruda went on to win the Nobel Prize in
Literature in 1971 and held several diplomatic posts throughout the world.
Born Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, Gabriela Mistral was the pseudonym of this Chilean poet. She became the first
Latin American author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. According to the Nobel Prize organization, Mistral’s poetry
expresses the aspirations of Latin America.
“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant
afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” That’s the opening line of García Márquez most celebrated book,
One Hundred Years of Solitude. That line changed his life and Latin American literature forever and would win him
the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982.
Books: One Hundred Years of Solitude, No One Writes to the Colonel, Love in the Times of Cholera
Cortázar is one of the Boom’s biggest names and is widely recognized as one of the greatest Latin American
authors of the 20th century. His famous book Rayuela (“Hopscotch”) was the first hypertext novel. It can be read in
different orders, in the style of modern films by Quentin Tarantino and Alejandro González Iñárritu.
Isabel Allende’s godfather, Salvador Allende, was the first socialist president of Chile. He was killed in the
coup d’etat that brought General Augusto Pinochet to power. As a result of the coup, Isabel had to go into exile. This
inspired her early works, and she has now sold nearly 70 million books, which have been translated into 35
languages.
Books: The House of the Spirits, Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna
No list of Latin American authors could be complete without Juan Rulfo, father of the “Magic Realism”
movement. With just two books published, Rulfo opened the floodgates. Many subsequent Latin American writers
found inspiration in this movement.
Maya Angelou was an American poet, civil rights activist, and writer. She is
known for publishing seven autobiographies that chronicle her childhood and
teenage experiences. Maya faced a lot of domestic crises as a child. At the young age of eight, she was sexually abused
by her mother's boyfriend. While growing up, she did not have a place to settle down and had to travel to many places
along with her older brother. Despite having a difficult childhood and adolescence, she did not let her spirit to be
broken. She started working as a cab driver, and then became a dancer and singer. Soon, she learnt several languages
while on a tour to Europe, and showed keen interest in English literature. Maya published her first autobiography. I
Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, at the age of 41. The book received favorable reviews and she gradually became an
established writer. She is also known for her feminist thoughts, as mentioned in her famous poem 'Phenomenal
Woman.'
Birthplace: Bayonne
David Foster Wallace was a noted American author and university instructor.
Wallace was a cheerful and funny child and good student. He also played tennis,
participating in several tournaments across the state. But at some point in his middle school, he started developing an
anxiety disorder and started taking drugs. By the time Wallace entered college, he had become a full-blown addict and
began to suffer from depression, missing two full semesters because of it, but excelling academically between the
attacks. His first novel was published while he was still a student of creative writing in Arizona. But while working on
his doctoral thesis at Harvard, he had a breakdown, having to spend some time at a halfway house. He wrote an
encyclopedic novel, ‘Infinite Jest’, after being released from there. The 1996 novel is one of the most celebrated
English-language books of our times. Concurrently, he also started teaching and by the time he committed suicide at
the age of 46, he had several books to his credit.
Famous As: Creator of Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, X-Men
Stanley Martin Lieber, popularly known as Stan Lee, was an American comic book
writer, editor, publisher, media producer, television host, actor, and voice actor. He started out his career working as
an office boy for the Marvel Comics––which meant fetching lunch, proof reading and refilling artist's ink jars,
eventually proving his creative talent, escalated from the position of interim editor to the president of the entire
company. He is known for creating superheroes like ‘Spider-Man’, ‘The Hulk’, ‘X-men’, ‘Iron Man’, ‘Thor’, ‘Doctor
Strange’, etc. and gained nationwide popularity when he created the superhero series ‘The Fantastic Four’ in which he
made his superheroes imperfect rather than selling the idea of a perfectly capable superhero. He created these
superheroes in collaboration with his colleagues, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. He is said to have brought in revolution
in the comic world through his satirical writing and bringing in the elements of the real world into the world of these
superheroes, which is how he used to make these superheroes viable and responsible. It was Lee who made Marvel
Comics a multimedia corporation from just a small division of a publishing house.
Criminal lawyer-turned-author John Grisham is known for his bestselling legal thrillers The Firm, The
Pelican Brief, The Client, The Rainmaker, and A Time to Kill. Nine of his novels have been made into films. He is
one of three authors to have sold 2 million copies in his first printing.
Dan Brown is an American author best known for writing a series of Robert Langdon novels; three such
novels, namely The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and Inferno, have been made into films, with Tom Hanks
portraying Robert Langdon in all three movies. Also known for his charity work, Dan Brown donates money to several
charitable causes.
Tracy Letts is a highly acclaimed American actor, screenwriter, and playwright. Letts has received several
prestigious awards, including the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a couple of Tony Awards. Tracy Letts is credited
with popularizing Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which he revived in 2012.
Philip Roth was a novelist and short-story writer best remembered for creating the fictional character Nathan
Zuckerman, who featured in many of his novels. The recipient of the 1997 Pulitzer Prize, he also received the
inaugural Franz Kafka Prize. Roth was one of the most awarded American writers of his generation. Born a Jew, he
became an atheist later on.
Robert A. Heinlein was an American author, naval officer, and aeronautical engineer. Heinlein is credited with
pioneering a literary subgenre called hard science fiction as he was among the first to stress the importance of
scientific accuracy in fiction. Robert A. Heinlein is one of the most influential science-fiction writers of all time.
A B C
A. North American
Literature
B. Latin American
Literature
Self-Check 1.2
Directions: Read and identify the following. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
__________________________1. He was a novelist and short-story writer best remembered for creating the fictional character
Nathan Zuckerman, who featured in many of his novels.
__________________________2. Criminal lawyer-turned-author who was known for his bestselling legal thrillers The
Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Rainmaker, and A Time to Kill.
__________________________4. He is an American linguist, political theorist, and activist, often referred to as "the father of
modern linguistics."
__________________________5. He was a poet and essayist who expressed the Mexican soul through his writings like nobody
before him. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1990.
__________________________7. He is one of the Boom’s biggest names and is widely recognized as one of the greatest Latin
American authors of the 20th century.
__________________________8. It was the 1996 novel that is one of the most celebrated English-language books of our times
written by Dave Foster Wallace.
__________________________9. It is an epic fantasy novel series written by George R. Martin which has been adapted into
the hugely successful HBO series, 'Game of Thrones'.
_________________________10. He was popularly known as Stan Lee, was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher,
media producer, television host, actor, and voice actor.
Activity 1.2
Directions: Write an INFORMATIVE ESSAY about the North American and/or Latin American Literature by including
their authors and literary works. Choose only one between the two. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
The rubric is hereby presented.
5 4 2
AWESOME ESSAYIST CREATIVE ESSAYIST CAREFREE ESSAYIST
CLEAR CLAIM WITH Claim is clearly stated and Claim and reasons are Claim is unclear. No clear
REASONS the reasons are strong. clearly stated. reasons are given.
EVIDENCE Supports the central claim Supports the central claim Central claim is not
and reasons with strong and reasons with facts, supported. No evidence
facts, through details. necessary details and provided.
citations.
EXPLANATION Clearly, concisely claim Clearly explains and Contains little to no
and thoroughly explains analyzes most of the explanation or analysis of
and analyzes the information presented the information presented.
information presented.
CONCLUSIONS Ends with strong or Ends with concluding Abrupt or absent ending.
compelling concluding statement about the No concluding statement.
statement that clearly central idea.
relates to the central idea.
TOTAL: 20
Gutierrez, Jaime Ang, 2016. 21st Century Philippine and World Literature for Senior High School Rm. 108,
Intramuros Corporate Plaza Bldg., Recoletos St., Manila. MINDSHAPERS CO., INC.
https://www.spanish.academy/blog/top-10-most-remarkable-latin-american-authors-of-all-time/
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/21st-century-american-writers.php
NERISSA S. DELOS REYES, MAEd, SMRIEdr Dr. RAMON E WOO, Jr., CPA, DFRIEdr
VP, Basic Education Principal Dean of Studies
Noted by: