SHS

IMUS UNIDA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Quality. Christian. Education.

21st Century Literature from

the Philippines and the World

Quarter 1 Module 2: Lesson 3

Elements, Structures, and
Traditions of Literary Texts

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21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Q1 Module 2: Lesson 3

MELC 2: Scrutinize the elements, structures, and traditions of literary texts

Specific Objectives:
1.) Describe reader response as an approach to scrutinize a literary text in
terms of elements, structure and tradition.
2.) Scrutinize a literary text from a reader’s perspective.
3.) Recognize the importance of the Reader-Response Theory in producing
meaning of a literary work.

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work of the
Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office
wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such
agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names, trademarks,
etc.) included in this book are owned by their respective copyright holders. Every effort has
been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from their respective
copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education Regional

Director: Gilbert T. Sadsad
Assistant Regional Director: Jessie L. Amin

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 I. Introduction

You, as a twenty-first-century learner, exposed to different gadgets and most probably

read stories on social media can fully understand a particular text by simply analyzing the story.
In literature, students like you must be familiar with the different elements and structures of a
text for you to have a better analysis of its content.

The knowledge and the lessons that you’ve acquired from analyzing a story can be
applied in your everyday life. With different stories that are available and can be read in books
and on social media, you may have to take time for a close analysis of a story.

This module provides various activities and discussions for you to:

1. describe reader response as an approach to scrutinize a literary text in terms

of elements, structures and traditions;

2. scrutinize a literary text from a reader’s perspective; and

3. recognize the importance of the Reader-Response Theory in producing

meaning of a literary work.

II. Pre-Test

Before going through your new learning, please have a try to finish the task below. This
task will give you a general outlook of what you will learn in this module. Make sure to finish this
task. Write your answer in a separate sheet. Enjoy!

Activity 1.

1. Which of these literary lenses think the READER is most important?

a.) Reader-Response b.) Formalism c.) Feminist d.) Marxist

2. What is reader-response criticism?

a.) a branch of literary theory that measures the value of a book by how many people
read it
b.) a theory that measures the responses of the reader as a manifestation of the
reader’s emotional state
c.) a way of considering readers’ reactions to literature as vital to interpreting the
meaning of the text.
d.) a type of literary critic who reads but does not write literature and therefore only
interpret it as a reader

3. What does the Reader-Response Theory require the reader of literature to do?
a.) concentrate exclusively on the work alone

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 b.) fit the literary work into a larger category of genre
c.) identify wordplay in the literary work
d.) recognize how his or her works influenced by personal biases

4. Which would Reader-Response Theory NOT consider an influence on the reader’s

interpretation of the work?
a.) having previously seen a movie version of the work
b.) the reader’s knowledge of the author’s life
c.) the author’s age when the work was written
d.) the reader’s experience with close reading of literature

5. Which is NOT true of Reader-Response Theory?

a.) anything the reader believes about the literary work is correct
b.) works will always mean more or less the same thing to readers
everywhere
c.) the reader’s background influences his or her understanding of literary
work
d.) the literary work is communicated by the author and the reader has to
decipher the message

Score: 4-5 – Great job! You have a critical mind and you comprehend the story well.
2-3 – You did an awesome job but there are more to learn.

Now let us begin our learning journey.

III. Lesson Proper

Can you still remember the different elements of a story that you have learned from the
previous lesson? Let us find out how well you remember them by answering the activity below.

Activity 2:
Match the definition in column A to the words found in column B. Write only the letter of
your answer in a separate answer sheet.

COLUMN A COLUMN B

______ 1. It represents the physical location, a.) Plot

and the social and cultural conditions in which the b.) Point of View
character exist.
______ 2. The events that happen in a story c.) Theme

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______ 3. The angle from which the story is told d.) Conflict
______ 4. It is the opposition of forces which ties one e.) Setting
incident to another and makes plot move.
______ 5. It is the author’s underlying meaning or main f.) Character
idea that he is trying to convey.

Building Your Vocabulary

Welcome to the world of vocabulary. Your next task is to read an essay. But before that,
let us first define some of the difficult words that you will encounter in the text.

Activity 3.
Give the meaning of the italicized words by choosing the letter of your answer in the box
that follow. Write your answer in a separate answer sheet.

____________1. Assiduous a. Revolve

b. To obstruct the progress of
____________2. Derail
c. Psychologically or emotionally stressful
____________3. Gyrate d. To move with a violent twist
e. Showing great care, attention and effort
____________4. Traumatic
____________5. Wrench

Did you find the meaning of the words? If yes, you did a great job.

Score: 3-5 – Awesome! You were able to give the answers.

2-below—It is okay! You just need more practice.

I think you are now ready to read and analyze a text. You are allowed to check your
dictionary if you encounter some words that are still unfamiliar to you as you read the essay.

Study These

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 Do you like reading a story? What do you get excited about when you read, is it the
character, the theme, the setting or the issue being discussed in the text? One issue which is
extensively discussed nowadays is the gender issue. The essay that you are about to read
tackles the Filipino’s perceived roles of father and mother in the upbringing of their children,
which may result in childhood deprivation. In this lesson, we will carefully examine how to
analyze a text using reader-response criticism. Enjoy reading!

About the Author. Gilda Cordero Fernando writes

different literary text types. She received the Patnubay ng
Sining award for literature in 1993 in the Araw ng Maynila
celebration and in the following year was given the
Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Gawad award for
literature and for publishing. The following essay was
originally published in the Sunday Inquirer Magazine, and
it was later included in a book entitled Telling Lives:
Essays by the Filipino Women (1998) compiled and https://images.summitmediadigit
al.com/spotph/images/2017/03/
edited by Elizabeth Lolarga and Anna Leah Sarabia. 08/gilda3.jpg

Motherhood Statements
By Gilda Cordero Fernando

My granddaughter Chi-chin got for her birthday a play stove and a sink that pumps water
for her toy dishes. Her sister Mahal took some real vegetables and cut them up with the plastic
knife, then put them in the pan “to cook.” And guess who insisted on cooking them-their two-
year old cousin Lo. And he was a more intense and assiduous cook than the girls, seriously
ladling vegetables and stirring pan and all. His mother was flustered, she brought out Lo’s new
helicopter to distract him. But he was not to be derailed, so completely engrossed was he
“frying” and “pouring coffee.” Until I guess she realized that Lo sometimes sees his father
cooking breakfast, too. It’s okay by all of us.
My friend Peng used to own a record of feminist children’s song entitled “Michael Wants
a Doll.” Michael wanted a doll, so his father bought him a baseball bat. So, he played baseball,
and he was so good at it he became the pitcher of the team. But Michael still wanted a doll. His
father and mother explained why he could not have a doll. Finally, his grandmother bought
Michael the doll he wanted because, she explained, Michael will be a father someday.
Lots of Filipino father renege on their job because they believe that fathering is sissy. It’s
a mother job. (When boys ask permission for anything at all, they say “Ask your mother.” That’s
more like what produces gays.) Of course, it is very easy to be smug when it is not your own
son you’re talking about. For instance, I have this eight-year-old friend (practically my best) who

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wanted to take up ballet. Bingo used to advance Madonna stuff when he was four, but after he
had seen the real thing, he wanted to try some ballet. He told his mother, and she got scared.
She told his father and he put Bingo in the football team.
Once, we watched ballet classes at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the dance
director said, “Put Bingo in, and we’ll give him scholarship; we’re desperate for danseurs.” So I
asked his mother. I really can’t understand why they would rather see Bingo gyrate like a
second-rate Madonna in their sala when he can express his body classically and gracefully in
some genuine art. You don’t become a gay because you like to dance ballet.
(Although you indeed may be a potential gay who wants to dance ballet. But that’s not
ballet’s fault anymore. Look elsewhere.)
Finally, Bingo got to be First Honors in his class, and he asked me anxiously, “You think my
dad will not allow me to dance ballet?” Poor Bingo. Apparently, it’s non-negotiable.
I didn’t see him for some time, and I heard that in between soccer Bingo had managed
to join the school’s dramatic club. Last December the Third Grade had a Christmas tableau.
None of the boys wanted to be the Virgin Mary. That really wrenched Bingo’s heart-so
he told his dad and mom how bad he felt about no one wanting to be poor
Mary. And that’s how Bingo got to be the Blessed Virgin in Christmas tableau. I hope things are
really changing with us. I see how many young daddies preparing formulas or burping babies
and that’s hopeful. Too many macho men and macho women create a weird society. Each
human being contains male and female elements, and the best people are those who can
manage a balance of both. If one can’t, anyway eight sexes are now recognized in the rest of
the world.
I thought I took care of my sons’ egos, but no, they take it for granted that they’re not so
neurotic not so cuckoo, that’s not important. “What’s traumatic,” said my Youngest Son (now a
bank executive) remembers it, he says. It was embarrassing.
So now this son of mine has a one-year-old son who’s like the smartest dressed kid on
the block. His imported pants will never experience a tear. He will not feel deprived about
clothes; his parents will see that. But you can’t cover all the ground. Somewhere else they’ll slip,
and the kid will feel his insecurity in some other area.
My mother remembers being very small and shivering with cold with no one to cover her
with a blanket. (Her mother died when she was born.) So, she sheathed us in growing years
with shawls and stoles and jackets and blankets. I was the warmest kid around. When I felt
deprived about was not clothes, it was books. All through the Japanese occupation period (until
I learned to borrow), all I had to read was a lousy novel called Ismael. Our one shelf books of
miniatures, including a frog orchestra carved in wood.
When I mentioned it once to my mother, she said. “What books? What do I know about
books when I was running my father’s pawnshop at eight years old? I could look at any piece of
jewelry and tell if it wasn’t glass. Your father should have taken you to the library.” I guess they
didn’t believe in buying books even then. Filipinos hate buying books; I had to make my own.

Did you find the story interesting? If yes, that is great. This time answer the following questions.
Write your answers in a separate sheet of paper.

Activity 4.
Answer the following questions.

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 1. What kind of deprivation did the speaker of the text experience?

2. Do you think a parent’s own past experience of deprivation when he or she was young
affects his or her attitudes concerning the gender of their children? Prove your answer.

3. What point is the author trying to make in this essay? To whom is it addressed?

4. What is the issue described in the story? How do you feel about it?

5. Copy a short passage that you found interesting.

To examine or scrutinize a given literary text, let me introduce the idea of a Readers-
Response Theory as one of the many lenses used to dissect and analyze literature.

What is reader response criticism?

As a literary criticism, reader response criticism considers readers’ reactions to literature as vital
to interpreting the meaning of the text. However, reader-response criticism can take a number
of different approaches. A critic deploying reader response theory can use a psychoanalytic
lens, a feminist lens, or even a structuralist lens. What these different lenses have in common
when using a reader response approach is they maintain “…that what a text is cannot be
separated from what it does” (Tyson 154).

Tyson explains that “…reader-response theorists share two beliefs:

1. that the role of the reader cannot be omitted from our understanding of literature, and
2. that readers do not passively consume the meaning presented to them by an objective
literary text; rather they actively make the meaning they find in literature” (154)

In this way, reader-response theory shares common ground with some of the deconstructionists
discussed in the Post-structural area when they talk about “the death of the author,” or her
displacement as the (author) itarianfigure in the text.

Characteristics of Reader-Response Criticism

1. Reader response criticism places strong emphasis on the reader’s role in producing the
meaning of a literary work.
2. It is in some senses an opposite approach from that of formalism.
3. Whereas formalists treat meaning as objectively inherent in the text, in reader response
criticism, the text has no meaning until it is read by a reader who creates the meaning.
4. Unlike the formalist critical approach, this type of literary criticism insists that works are
not universal, that is, that they will not always mean more or less the same thing to
readers everywhere.

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 Typical Questions to be Asked when Reading as Reader-Response Critic
 How does the interaction of text and reader create meaning?
 What does a phrase-by-phrase analysis of a short literary text, or a key portion of a
longer text, tell us about the reading experience pre-structured by (built into) that text?
 Do the sounds/shapes of the words as they appear on the page or how they are spoken
by the reader enhance or change the meaning of the word/work? ▪ How might
we interpret a literary text to show that the reader’s response is, or is analogous to, the
topic of the story?
 What does the body of criticism published about a literary text suggest about the critics
who interpreted that text and/or about the reading experience produced by that text?
(Tyson 191)

How to write a Reader-Response Criticism?

When using reader response criticism as a tool of analysis, you may:

1. write about how the author evokes a particular reaction in you as the reader.
2. what features of your own identity influence you in creating your interpretation; and
3. how another reader in a different situation might interpret the work differently.
Sample illustration of a reader-response criticism:
In reading The Parable of the Prodigal Son in the New Testament, different readers are likely to
have different responses.

Someone who has lived a fairly straight and narrow life and who does not feel like he has been
rewarded for it is likely to associate with the older brother of the parable and sympathize with
his opposition to the celebration over the prodigal son’s return.

Someone with a more checkered past would probably approach the parable with more
sympathy for the younger brother.

As a parent who had had difficulties with a rebellious child would probably focus on the father,
and, depending on his or her experience, might see the father’s unconditional acceptance of
the prodigal as either good and merciful or as unwise and overindulgent.

While the parable might disturb some, it could elicit a feeling of relief from others.

This approach is best described in a quote by Norman Holland, a literary critic. He said, “The
reader, to a large extent, recreates the text in his image.”

Enrichment Activities

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Activity 5.
Connect yourself with the short story below and make an analysis using reader-
response criticism by answering the given questions. Write your answer in a separates sheet of
paper.

A Night in the Hills

By Paz Marquez Benitez

Gerardo Luna, a jewelry store salesman in his 30’s, has always dreamed to go to the
forest which he regards as a beautiful place. One day, when Ambo, an orchid gatherer who
buys some jewelry for his wife’s store, tells Gerardo about living in the forest for weeks at a
time, the latter gets more interested, and tells his wife about it. However, his wife is eyeing only
the business aspect of such idea. Hence, he never mentions his dream again.

Then Gerardo’s wife dies. At last, he can fulfil his long-time dream, especially that Ambo
has come again, with stories regarding newly opened public land on a forest plateau. So, the
two of them plan to go to the forest.

Before actually going to the planned trip, Gerardo’s Ate Tere is not so keen on the idea.
She wants him to marry Peregrina who will surely take him the minute he proposes.

Ambo and Gerardo go to the hills, and it is among the foothills where they spend
noontime. Gerardo is tired and sweaty, and he asks for water, which, according to Ambo is ten
minutes away. They walk and walk, and along the way Gerardo experiences nature in a manner
that is not that wonderful for him.

Finally, they enter the dim forest. Gerardo is uncomfortable on his bed of small branches
and twigs. He cannot sleep that night; he thinks of his wife, not fondly, though. He also thinks of
God. He is oppressed by nostalgia.

There is an eerie light in the forest, and Gerardo hears strange sounds that are caused
by tree worms. Then he hears water from afar. All in all, he feels that he will never understand
the forest.

Gerardo goes home, first getting his house’s key from his Ate Tere. There he meets
Peregrina whom he tells “Pereg, as soon as I get these clothes off I shall come to ask you a
question that is very—very important to me.”

As she smiled eagerly but uncertainty into his face, he heard a jangling in his hand. He
felt, queerly, that something was closing above his hand, and that whoever was closing it, was
rattling the keys.

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 1. What 2 personal characteristics that influenced or helped you understand or view the
text?
2. What is the narrative point of view that was used in the story?
3. What is the conflict in the story? What kind of conflict is taking place? Is it external or
internal type of conflict? Prove your answer.
4. What did Gerardo realize after going to the forest?
5. As a reader, do you share the same characteristic with Gerardo?
6. Express what you think or feel about a certain part in the story and why. Be specific.

Activity 6.
As you read another short story, make a text analysis using reader-response criticism by
answering the questions below. Write your answer in a separate sheet of paper.

The Small Key

By Paz Latorena

Soledad, a woman in her mid-twenties is married to a man named Pedro

Buhay. They lived in a hut within a prosperous farm away from neighbors. Soledad
looked at the beginnings of an abundant harvest with familiarity and discontent.
She planned to mend some of her husband's shirts, which were in a locked
trunk. Pedro took out from his pocket a string which held two keys: one large and
shiny, the other small and rusty. He gave Soledad the large key to his trunk and
put the small key back in his jacket pocket. Soledad was pained at the look of his
face as he held the small key.
It was hot that morning, and he absently removed his jacket before leaving
to work in the field. When he was gone, Soledad began to fold the jacket and the
small key fell to the floor.
Soledad knew that the small key opened another trunk: a small one that lay
half-concealed and untouched, which contained the clothes of Pedro’s first wife
who passed away long ago. She kept busy to distract herself from thoughts of how
it threatens to destroy her relationship with her husband but ended up opening it in
the end.
Pedro returned home to find Soledad in bed supposedly with a fever. He
watched over her all evening until the doctor arrived and told him that she was not
sick.
The next morning Pedro discovered a pile of ashes and half burnt clothing
in the backyard. He realized what Soledad had done and rushed to look in the
trunk to confirm it. Soledad has indeed burned his first wife's clothing.

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 Pedro tried to not get angry. He hoped that the incident can be recalled
without bitterness. He knew that the time would come that she would explain and
apologize, and that he would forgive her because he was young, and he loved her.
But he knew he would always resent her for it.

1. What 2 personal characteristics that influenced or helped you understand or view the
text?

2. What is the narrative point of view that was used in the story?
3. What kind of profile do you have for Pedro? Is he a good husband? Describe Soledad.
Does the story justify her actions?

4. As a reader, do you like Pedro? How about Soledad, do you find yourself understanding
what she did?

5. Express what you think or feel about a certain part in the story and why. Be specific.
6. Ask one basic question about something you don’t understand in the text, or a larger
question (about life, literature, or anything) that the text made you consider.

Generalization

Activity 7.
You did an awesome job in keeping up with our lesson and analyzing our literary
selection. Now let’s just summarize what you have learned by answering the questions below.
Write your answer in a separate sheet of paper.

1. What elements did you examine to better understand the literary text?
2. How did analyzing a text help you to appreciate a literary piece?
3. How did analyzing a text using reader-response criticism help you as a 21st century learner?

Excellent, you have come a long way in your learning journey. I believe that you are
ready to analyze literary text on your own. To show the skills that you have acquired please do
the task that follow.

Activity 8.
Choose one story that you read and analyze three characters there by completing the
character chart below. Write your answer in a separate sheet of paper. (2 Point Each)

Name of Characters Description (personality based on

the story)
1.

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 2.
3.

Did you have a better understanding of the lesson after doing series of exercises? If yes, you
have learned well from this module. Congratulations!
IV. Assessment

Activity 9.

Choose one Covid-19 patient story where he or she recalled his or her personal
experience with corona virus and the care he or she received from his or her loved ones.
Summarize it and share what is your favorite part of the story? Why? What would you change in
the story? Why would you make that change?

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Key to Correction

ACTIVITY 1 ACTIVITY 2 ACTIVITY 3

1. a 1. e 1. e
2. c 2. a 2. b
3. d 3. b 3. a
4. c 4. d 4. c
5. b 5. c 5. d

ACTIVITY 4
1. The speaker felt deprived about books.
2. Answer may vary.
3. The author discusses about the important roles of the parents in the upbringing of their
children.
4. Answer may vary

ACTIVITY 5

1. The story is about the secret-long dream of going to the forest of the character
Gerardo.
2. The Point of View used in this short story is the Omniscient Limited - The author tells
the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc). We know only what
the character knows and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the
thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us.
3. The conflict here is Internal, that of Man vs. Himself. Gerardo has always dreamed of
going to the forest, and he has kept this within himself. –ARV
4. Gerardo realizes that the forest is not exactly what he has always dreamed.
5. Answer may vary.
6. Answer may vary

ACTIVITY 6
Answers may vary.

ACTIVITY 7
Answers may vary.

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ACTIVITY 8
Answers may vary.
ACTIVITY 9
Answers may vary.
Bibliography

Book
Tayao, Ma. Lourdes G. et.al..21st- Century Literature from the Philippines and the
World. 839Edsa South Triangle Quezon City, Philippines: C & E Publishing, Inc.,2017.

Websites
Andres, Salirick. Reader-Response Criticism. Last modified. July 12, 2016
https://salirickandres.altervista.org/reader-response-criticism.

Benitez, Marquez Paz. “A Night in The Hills”. “The Small Key”. The Best Philippine Short Stories
Index.
https://www.sushidog.com/bpss/appendix.htm.

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