The Americans entered the history of Philippine literature after they defeated the Spaniards in the Spanish-American War,

which resulted in the Treaty of Paris, in which Spain ceded the Philippines to the US. The Americans, the next colonizers, introduced
the public school system and the English language. It established the Philippine Normal School in 1901 and the University of the
Philippines in 1908, both of which were run by the American government. With the coming of the Thomasites, the first English
teachers, the Filipinos learned the language and used it in their writings. Thus, during the earliest part of the Americans’ stay in the
Philippines, the writers made use of Tagalog, Spanish, and English. Consequently, Philippine literature was born.
4.2 Delivery
Below is the list of periods of Philippine literature in Comparatively, the list shows some
English: similarities and some differences with the list of
periods of Philippine literature in general:
1. Period of Orientation (1900-1910)
2. Period of Apprenticeship (1910-1920) 1. Period of Re-orientation (1898-1910)
3. Period of Experimentation (1920-1940) 2. Period of Imitation (1910-1925)
4. Period of Discontent (1941-1944) 3. Period of Self-Discovery (1925-1941)
5. Post-War Period (1945-1950) 4. Postwar Re-orientation ( 1945)
6. Modern Period (1951-1971) 5. The Rebirth of Freedom( 1946-1970)
7. Martial Law Era (1972-1986) 6. Period of Activism (1970-1972)
8. Post-Martial Law Era/Contemporary Period 7. Period of the New Society (1972-1981)
(1986-Present) 8. Period of the Third Republic (1981-1985)
9. Contemporary Period (1986-Present)

The writers increased in number during the middle part of the American Occupation of the Philippines. This
increase can be attributed to the following factors:
 Freedom of expression
 Freedom of the press
 Establishment of the writers’ guilds or organizations (PEN – Poets, Essayists, and Novelists)
 Giving of incentives in the form of awards to outstanding writers in the different genres
 Non-material rewards (honor & praises received for their well-written works)
The Period of American Occupation was the most productive period in Philippine literature due to the number of
publishing companies involved in this field of human interest and of the quality products (literary works in the various genres
considered to be “world-class”). Interestingly, two clashing schools of thought emerged: the art for art’s sake dictum, which treats
literary pieces as art objects subject to aesthetic appreciation, and the art for society’s sake dictum, which treats literary pieces as art
instruments to effect social change and thereby having social functions. Jose Garcia Villa was the leading proponent of the former,
while Salvador Lopez was the leading proponent of the latter. The controversy between the two schools of thought had continued
over the years until the World War II broke out.
The writing activities of the Filipino artists came to a halt with the coming of the Japanese. The invaders attacked not only
the soldiers but also the civilians. For this reason, the writers stopped wielding pens and started wielding guns. The Japanese
introduced Nippongo or Nihongo (Japanese language), as well as their arts & literary forms. Thus, the Filipinos got acquainted with:

 ikebana (the art of arranging flowers)

 origami (the art of folding papers)
 tempura & sushi (their cuisine)
 haiku, tanka, and senryu (poetic forms)
A haiku is a short descriptive poem about nature consisting of 17 syllables distributed as follows: 5 syllables in the first line,
7 syllables in the second line and 5 syllables in the third line. A 3-line senryu is similar to a haiku in structure (5-7-5), but differs from
the latter in rhyme (unrhymed), subject (human nature) and tone (usually satirical or ironical). The longer tanka has 5 lines and 31
syllables (5-7-5-7-7).

Write a short essay entitled “Readers & Society Today”. Try to answer the following questions in your essay:
 Is reading still an important activity today?
 Is the experience of reading literature more important than googling information on the Internet? Why or Why not?