1: Philippine Literature overcome them.

Above all, as Filipinos, who truly love

What is Literature? and take pride in our own culture, we have to manifest
 Is literature associated with the Philippines from our deep concern for our own literature and this we can
prehistory, through its colonial legacies, and on to the do by studying the literature of our country.
present. Pre-hispanic Philippine Literature was actually
epics passed on from generation to generation, originally
through an oral tradition.
 The word literature is derived from the Latin term
“litera” which means “letter”. It has been defined
differently by various writers.
 As a faithful reproduction of man’s manifold experiences
blended into one harmonious expression. Because
literature deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of
man, literature can be said to be the story of man. Man’s
loves, griefs, thoughts, dreams and aspirations coached Novel
in beautiful language is literature.  This is a long narrative divided into chapters
 The events are taken from true-to-life stories and spans
Literary Approaches a long period of time.
 Sociological Approach Literature Viewed as the  There are many characters involved.
expression of man within a given social situation which is o Examples:
reduced to discussions on economy which will   Without Seeing the Dawn by Stevan Javellana
underscore the conflict between the two classes- the Dekada 70 by Lualhati Bautista
rich and the poor.
o Cultural Approach Short story
 Literature is seen as one of themanifestations  This is a narrative involving one or more characters, one
and vehicles of a nation’s or race’s culture and plot and one single impression.
tradition. It includes the entire compels of what o Examples:
goes under “culture”  The laughter of My Father by Carlos
o Psychological Approach  Bulosan Dead Stars by Paz Marquez-Benitez
 Literature is viewed as the expression of  How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife by
“personality,” of “inner drives” or “neurosis”. It Manuel E. Arguilla
includes the psychology of the author, of the
characters, and even the psychology of Plays 
creation.  This is presented on stage, is divided into acts and each
 It has resulted in an almost exhausting and act have many scenes
exhaustive “psychological analysis” of o Examples:
characters, of symbols and images, of recurrent o Three Rats by Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero
themes, and others. o Cadaver by Alberto S. Florentino
o Impressionistic Approach o Sa Pula, Sa Puti by Rodrigo Franscisco
 Literature is viewed to elucidate “reacting
response” which is considered as something Legend
very personal, relative and fruitful.  These are fictitious narratives usually about origins
Unconditioned by explanations and often taking o Example:
the impact of the piece as a whole, it seeks to  Legend of the Mermaid Legend of Tagaytay
see how the piece has communicated.
Fable
Why We Need to Study Philippine Literature?  These are fictitious narratives which deal with animals
 We study literature so that we can better appreciate our and inanimate things who speak and act like people have
literary heritage. morals and lessons
 We cannot appreciate something that we do not o Examples:
understand. Through a study of our literature, we can  The Monkey and the Turtle
trace the rich heritage of ideas handed down to us from  The Two Cats and the Monkey
our forefathers.
 Then we can understand ourselves better and take pride Anecdote
in being a Filipino.    This is a short entertaining account about an amusing or
 we need to understand that we have a great and noble interesting event or person.
tradition which can serve as the means to assimilate  Its main aim is to bring out lessons to the reader
other cultures. o Example:
 we will realize our literary limitations conditioned by o The Moth and the Lamp
certain historical factors and we can take steps to
Essay o It is most majestic of the lyric poems
 A short literary composition which is expository in nature o It is written in a spirit of praise of some persons or
 The author shares some of his thoughts, feelings, things
experiences or observation on some aspects of life that  Elegy
has interested him o A lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief and
melancholy, and whose them is death
Biography  Sonnet
 This is an account of a certain person’s life written by o A lyric poem of 14 lines dealing with an emotion, a
another feeling or an idea
 Autobiography - a written account of man’s life written  Folk songs (Awiting Bayan)
by himself o These are short poems intended to be sung
o The common theme is love, despair, grief, doubt,
News joy, hope and sorrow
 This is a report of everyday events in society,  Awit (Song)
government, science and industry (local, national, o Have measures of 12 syllables (dodecasyllabic) and
international) slowly sung to the accompaniment or a guitar or
banduria
Oration  Example:
 This is a formal treatment of a subject and is intended to  Florante at Laura
be spoken in public  Corridos (Kuridos)
 It appeals to the intellect, to the will or to the emotions o Have measures of 8 syllables (octosyllabic) and
of the audience recited to a martial beat
 Example:
Types of Poetry  Ibong Adarna
 Narrative Poetry  Dalit
o A form of poetry which describes important events o A song praising God or the Virgin Mary and
in life, either real or imaginary containing a philosophy of life
o A poem that tells a story
 Epic Dramatic Poetry
o This is an extended narrative poem about heroic  Comedy
exploits often under supernatural control o Comes from the Greek term “Komos” meaning
o It may deal with heroes and gods “festivity” or “revelry”
 Two kinds: o This form is usually light and written with the
 Ancient/Popular Epic - often without a purpose of amusing and usually has a happy ending
definite author and is of slow growth  Melodrama
 Literary/Modern Epic - with a definite o This is usually used in musical plays with the opera
author o This is related to tragedy just as the farce is to
 Metrical tale comedy
o A narrative poem consisting usually of a single series o It arouses immediate and intense emotion and is
of connective events that are simple and generally usually sad, but there is a happy ending for the
do not form a plot principal character
o Example of these are simple idylls or home tales,  Tragedy
love tales, tales of the supernatural or tales written o This involves the hero struggling mightily against
for a strong moral purpose in verse form dynamic forces, he meets death or ruin without the
 Ballad success and satisfaction
o Considered the shortest and simplest type of  Farce
narrative poetry o This is an exaggerated comedy
o It has a simple structure and tells of a single incident o It seeks to arouse mirth by laughable linesl situations
o It is intended to be sung are too ridiculous to be true, the characters seem to
 Lyric Poetry be caricatures and the motives undignified and
o Originally refers to that kind of poetry meant to be absurd
sung to the accompaniment of a lyre  Social Poems
o Now, it applies to any type of poetry that expresses o This form is either purely comic or tragic and it
emotions and feelings of the poet pictures the life of today
o It is usually short, simple and easy to understand o It may aim to bring the changes in the social
 Ode conditions
o A lyric poem of some length (no definite number of
syllables or of lines in a stanza), serious in subjects
and dignified in style