21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

CONTEXT AND
TEXT’S MEANING
Mrs. Clarizze Jaine M. Nicolas
 OBJECTIVES
1. identify words, ideas, structure, and
purpose of the text;
2. explore the different social and socio-cultural
contexts to enhance and
enrich the understanding of the text; and
3. appreciate the importance of
understanding the literary context and its
meaning to one’s own life experiences.
 ANG HULING EL BIMBO
Kamukha mo si Paraluman
No'ng tayo ay bata pa
At ang galing-galing mong sumayaw
Mapa-boogie man o cha-cha

Ngunit ang paborito

Ay pagsayaw mo ng El Bimbo
Nakakaindak, nakakaaliw
Nakakatindig-balahibo
 UPUAN
Kayo po na naka upo
Subukan nyo namang tumayo
At baka matanaw at baka matanaw ninyo
Ang tunay na kalagayan ko
 ANAK
Noong isilang ka sa mundong ito
Laking tuwa ng magulang mo
At ang kamay nila ang iyong ilaw
At ang nanay at tatay mo'y
Di malaman ang gagawin
Minamasdan pati pagtulog mo

At sa gabi'y napupuyat ang iyong nanay

Sa pagtimpla ng gatas mo
At sa umaga nama'y kalong ka
Ng iyong amang tuwang-tuwa sa iyo
MEANINGFUL LYRIC

RELATABLE
 WHAT INFLUENCED THE
COMPOSERS IN WRITING
THE LYRICS?
 WHAT IS YOUR
FAVORITE BOOK
AND WHY?
WHAT ARE THE WRITERS'
INSPIRATIONS IN
WRITING?
 TRIVIA

Noli Me
Tanger Uncle Tom's
e Cabin
Jose Riz
al Harriet Beec
her Stowe
 WHAT IS CONTEXT?
BACKGROUND
environment surrounding
setting of events
occurrences
Understanding Getting out of the
the text text itself
Deeper
understanding

CONTEXT Appreciation
of the text
 PURPOSE

a way to enable readers to

understand the narrative
or a literary piece MORE
 PURPOSE

necessary in writing to
provide information,
new concepts, and words
to develop thoughts
LITERARY
CONTEXT
 BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT
Can be the author’s background.
Through studying the author, you may be able to
connect the characters and their morals to the
author’s life, and analyse the patterns of
behaviour shown between and among the
characters, the author, and you as a reader.
 BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT
Also, it includes the year the text was
written or published, and characters
and situations in the text that could be
representative of or are similar to the
ones in the author’s life.
 BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT
For some readers, they tend to do a research
about the author in order for them to be able
to fully understand a literary text. Reading the
author’s biography or autobiography helps you
see how much his experiences shape his work
directly and indirectly.
 BIOGRAPHY VS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Biography - is simply an account or detailed
description about the life of a person. It entails
basic facts, such as childhood, education, career,
relationships, family and death.
Autobiography - is a self-written life story. It is
different from a biography, which is the life
story of a person written by someone else.
 NOTE:
You should not assume that all works are
confessional, biographical, or even
“true to life.” A literary text is according to
the author’s perspective and will be heavily
influenced by him or her, but it is not the only
way of studying literature.
 “Under My
Invisible Umbrella”
by
Laurel Fantauzzo
“Under My Invisible Umbrella” by Laurel Fantauzzo is a
literary essay that talks about a Filipino-Italian who
was born in the United States. Because her features
are more Italian than Filipina, she had encountered
problems with people treating her as “extra special” in
the Philippines, but she finds it more isolating than
welcoming. Fantauzzo’s way of writing reflects a lot
about her personal encounters within the Philippines. To
understand her essays better, the reader must know
her background first so that they may know the
reasons behind her dilemmas
 "Catch a
Falling Star "
by
Cristina Pantoja
Hidalgo
 Catch a Falling Star by Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo is a
collection of realistic short stories that revolve around
a child character named Trissy or Patriciang Payatot.
In the narratives, you would find out that Trissy is not
much involved in outdoor games; she was more inclined
to writing, paper doll making, and other simple crafts.
If one tries to research about the author, she may be
classified as a female Filipino writer who belongs to the
intellectual elite; that’s why her writings are influenced
by uppermiddle class situations.
 LINGUISTIC CONTEXT
According to David Richter, “Practically
everything we do that is specifically human is
expressed in language.” A Linguistic Context is
mainly about the language or the choice of words
of the author. This also includes sentences,
patterns, imagery, etc. of the text.
 LINGUISTIC CONTEXT
Most of the readers use some strategies related
to linguistics to get to know more the meaning
of a literary piece.
1.Analyze the diction or choice of words in the text.
2. Examine the texts’ syntax or use of sentences,
clauses, phrases, line cuts, etc
 SYNTAX
is a grammatical structure of words and
phrases to create sentences. -The format in which
words and phrases are arranged to create sentences.
CLAUSES
a group of words that includes a subject
and a verb
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE

one that can stand alone as a sentence

DEPENDENT CLAUSE

one that cannot stand alone as a sentence

 PHRASE

is one or more words that form a meaningful

grammatical unit within a clause
 LINGUISTIC CONTEXT
3. Observe the use of figurative language.
Here are some examples of Figurative Language:
Simile
compares two unlike things
and uses the words “like” or “as
Simile
 Metaphor
compares two things that are not alike.
Unlike simile, metaphor does not use
“like” or “as”

Hyperbole
an exaggeration that is created to
emphasize a point or bring out a sense
of humor
Simile
 Alliteration
repetition of same first consonants
sound in two or more words

Personification
a thing is given a human attribute
Simile
 LINGUISTIC CONTEXT
4. Analyze the mood and tone of the text.
MOOD
The feeling you get while reading a literary text.
An atmosphere of the story
TONE
The author’s attitude toward a subject
 LINGUISTIC CONTEXT
5. Observe the text’s
overall structure.
6. Analyze the contents
of the text.
SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT
Mostly about the social,
economic, political, and
cultural forces affecting
the work that you are
reading.
 SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT
This also includes the following:
✓ relationship between the
characters or the speakers in the
✓
text and their society
issues of gender, race, or class
SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT
✓ economic or social power
✓ social order (lower
✓ literary theories/
class/middle class/upper class)

approaches/perspective
 FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION, STUDY THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF
PERSPECTIVES OR LITERARY THEORIES AND THEIR EXPLANATIONS.
MARXISM
FEMINISM
QUEER THEORY
HISTORICISM
POSTCOLONIALISM
NEW HISTORICM
 MARXISM
literature shows class
struggle and materialism
looks into the social classes
portrayed in the work
 MARXISM
examines oppression, social
conflicts and solution to these
stuggles as shown in the literary
work.
looks into how the text serves as
propaganda material
MARXISM
Explores themes of race
and identity; what it means
to be free and civilized; and
the ideas of humanity and
social responsibility ...
 MARXISM
The nation of Panem is divided
into 12 districts, ruled from the
Capitol. As punishment for a
failed revolt, each district is
forced to select two tributes,
one boy and one girl between
the ages of 12 and 18, to fight to
the death in the annual Hunger
Suzanne Collins
Games until there is only one
survivor.
 FEMINISM
The feminist perspective examines
the role of the women in literature.
It looks into how the female
character may be empowered or
discriminated against.
FEMINISM
The work argues for
the empowerment of
women in education,
politics, society, and
marriage.
 QUEER THEORY
Connected with the queer or the third
gender. It was named in 1991. Under this
perspective the, third gender, meaning
the gay, lesbians and other characters or
persona in literature that may fall under
queer are being examined.
QUEER THEORY
She achieves this by asking
questions about sex, gender and
sexuality, which define people’s
identities. Her revolutionary
ideas regarding gender identity
have come to be seen as
foundational to queer theory.
QUEER THEORY
Gender Trouble is a book that
questions the relationship between
sex, gender and sexuality. It is
considered groundbreaking in
feminism, women’s studies and lesbian
and gay studies. The author argues
for society to rethink the most basic
categories of human identity.
 HISTORICISM
Historicism or traditional
historical criticism is a
perspective dealing with the
history that influenced the
writing of literature.
HISTORICISM
Ruth Stone’s poem focuses
on the stock market crash
of 1929, but it moves all the
way forward to the
present. Nothing has changed
much, the poem says.
 POSTCOLONIALISM
Looks into the changes in the attitude
of the post colonies after the colonial
period. Through this perspective , the
dependence or independence of
decolonized countries or people are
being examined.
POSTCOLONIALISM
A loose allegory for events
in 1947 British Raj India and
after the partition of India.
The protagonist and
narrator of the story is
Saleem Sinai, born at the
exact moment when India
 NEW HISTORICISM
It focuses not only on the history when
the literary text was written, but also
how the history happened. In the New
Historicism, the above mentioned
perspectives can be integrated with
each other.
NEW HISTORICISM
Portrays the enslavement
of married women and
depicts death as the only
way for women to regain
their freedom.
PERFORMANCE TASK : WRITE A POEM
Compose your own poem inspired by the happenings
during the pandemic. Use the literary context as a
guide in doing so. After that, cite the literary
theory/ies that you used in your poem. Also, explain
how unique your work is from others by explaining
the different contexts that you used. You can have
it printed or handwritten on a long bond paper.
Please separate your poem from your explanation.
 CRITERIA CRITERIA
(POEM) (EXPLANATION)
Use of Context/theory – 40 pts explanation – 40 pts
Content – 40 pts uniqueness – 40 pts
Creativity/Style – 10 pts mechanics – 10 pts
Language Structure – 10 pts Total – 100 pts
Total – 100 pts