LESSON 3:

GEOGRAPHIC, LINGUISTIC,
AND ETHNIC DIMENSIONS
OF PHILIPPINE LITERARY
HISTORY
STUDY THE PICTURES AND COME UP
WITH A WORD THAT FITS WITH THE
THEME OF THE FOUR PHOTOS SHOWN.
YOU CAN DO THIS BY ELIMINATING THE
UNNECESSARY LETTERS AND FIGURING
OUT THE WORD THAT CORRESPONDS TO
THE PHOTOS AND NUMBER OF BOXES.
The following items are puzzles that consist
of a series of picture clues. Each picture
represents a word. Combine all the pictures
and words to form the correct answer. The
language of the answer is given as your
guide. An example is provided for you.
 MARIACACAO
VISAYAN FOLKTALE
On the highest mountain of Argao (Cebu), in
the cave of Lantoy, there lived a very
beautiful woman called Maria Cacao.
According to the old folks, she was a fairy
who would sometimes come down and show
herself to the townspeople when the moon
was full. She was called Maria Cacao after
her huge cacao plantation on the mountain.
In fact, she sometimes traveled to America
to sell her cacao.
From her travels, Maria Cacao usually brought home new
utensils, silverware, and chinaware. The townspeople used to
borrow these items for weddings, baptisms, and other feasts. It
is said that anyone who wishes to use Maria Cacao's things
simply asked for them at the mouth of the cave. Next day,
without fail, these things would be delivered to his door.
for her trips, Maria Cacao used a huge golden ship. Because
of its size, sometimes its mast would snag on the bridge of
Argao and the bridge would collapse. When the Americans
were about to build a concrete bridge in Argao, the people said
to one another: "The new bridge will have to be very high so
that the golden ship of Maria Cacao cannot touch it."
One day, an engineer went to Maria Cacao's cave and begged
her not to pass by the Argao river so the bridge would not be
destroyed. Maria Cacao is said to have agreed. Hence, nothing
has happened to the bridge of Argao since then.
However, the people cannot borrow utensils for their feasts
anymore. Nor have they seen Maria Cacao again. It is said that
Maria Cacao has learned a lesson. Some townspeople failed to
return things borrowed from her; thus she no longer appeared
to them. Sometimes, when the towns-people hear that the
bridge of Dalaguete, Manipis, or Mananga is destroyed, they
say: "It may be due to the golden ship of Maria Cacao. She has
probably moved to another place and had to pass by the river."
LITERARY SHOP
Couplet— is a pair of rhymed lines.
Rhyme— is a repetition of words or syllables with similar sounds.
This repetition occurs at specific places in a poem, usually at the
end of lines (end rhyme). Rhyming usually follows a consistent
pattern within a poem. Sometimes within a line there is internal
rhyme.
Metaphor— is a type of figurative language used to suggest or
imply comparison between two unlike things. It suggests that
something is something else.
Simile— is a figure of speech using a word such as like or as to
compare seemingly un-like things.
It’s riddle time! Recall two riddles you
have learned from home or from other
people. It can be in Cebuano, Filipino or
English. Write in on your lecture
notebook.
After reading the story of Maria Cacao,
you may have remembered similar stories
like this one. Write a summary of a
folktale or kwentong bayan that you have
heard from your place while growing up.
You can ask help from your elders to
accomplish this task. Enjoy listening and
writing the story! (LONG BONDPAPER)
LITERARY SHOP

• EPISTOLARY NOVEL— EPISTOLARY COMES FROM A GREEK WORD,

EPISTOLĒ, WHICH MEANS “LETTER.” IT IS A LITERARY GENRE
PERTAINING TO LETTERS, IN WHICH WRITERS USE LETTERS, JOURNALS,
AND DIARY ENTRIES IN THEIR WORKS, OR THEY TELL THEIR STORIES
OR DELIVER MESSAGES THROUGH A SERIES OF LETTERS. THE
NARRATIVE IS CONVEYED ENTIRELY BY AN EXCHANGE OF LETTERS.
• DIDACTICISM—DESCRIBES A TYPE OF LITERATURE THAT IS WRITTEN
TO INFORM OR INSTRUCT THE READER, ESPECIALLY IN MORAL OR
POLITICAL LESSONS. WHILE THEY ARE ALSO MEANT TO ENTERTAIN THE
AUDIENCE, THE AESTHETICS IN A DIDACTIC WORK OF LITERATURE ARE
SUBORDINATE TO THE MESSAGE IT IMPARTS.
LITERARY SHOP
Excerpt—a short piece taken from a book, poem, piece of music, etc.
Quatrain—is a verse with four lines, or even a full poem containing four lines,
having an independent and separate theme.
Free Verse— is poetry that has no fixed pattern of meter, rhyme, line length, or
stanza arrangement. When writing free verse, a poet is free to vary these poetic
elements to emphasize an idea or create a tone. A poet may choose to use repetition
or similar grammatical structures to emphasize and unify the ideas in the poem.
Allusion—is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of
historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail
the person or thing to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the writer
expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its
importance in a text.
Letter To Pedro, U.S. Citizen, Also
Called Pete
Rene Estella Amper
Pete, old friend; there isn't really much change in our hometown
since you left.
This morning I couldn't find anymore the grave of Simeona, the
cat we buried at the foot of Miguel's mango tree, when we were in
grade four, after she was hit by a truck while crossing the street.
The bulldozer has messed it up while making the feeder road into
the mountains to reach the hearts of the farmers. The farmers
come down every Sunday to sell their agony and their sweat for a
few pesos, lose in the cockpit or get drunk on the way home.
A steel bridge named after the congressman's wife now spans the
gray river where Tasyo, the old goat, had split the skin of our
young lizards to make us a man many years ago.
The long blue hills where we used to shoot birds with
slingshot or spend the summer afternoons we loved so much
doing nothing in the tall grass have been bought by the
mayor's son. Now there's a barbed wire fence about them; the
birds have gone away.

The mayor owns a big sugar plantation, three new cars, and a
mansion with the gate overhung with sampaguita. Inside the
gate are guys who carry a rifle and a pistol. We still go to
Konga's store for rice and sardines and sugar and nails for the
coffin.
Still only a handful go to mass on Sundays. In the church
the men talk, sleep; the children play. The priest is sad.

Last night the storm came and blew away the cornflowers.
The cornfields are full of cries.

Your cousin, Julia, has just become a whore. She liked

good clothes, good food, big money. That's why she
became a whore. Now our hometown has seven whores.
Pete, old friend, every time we have good reason to get drunk
and be carried home in a wheelbarrow we always remember
you. Oh, we miss both Pete and Pedro.

Remember us to your American wife, you lucky bastard. Islaw,

your cock-eyed uncle, now calls himself Stanley after he began
wearing the clothes you sent him last Christmas.

P.S. Tasyo, the old goat, Sends your lizard his warmest
congratulations.
 Write your answer on your
notebook.

1. What main literary genre is the text “Letter to Pedro, US

Citizen, Also Called Pete”?
a. story b. epistolary c. poem d. drama
2. What does the first stanza mean?
a. Nothing has changed. c. Only a few things have changed.
b. There have been a lot of changes. d. Everything has changed.
3. The heart of the farmers means ---______________.
a. the feelings of the farmers c. the lovers of the farmers
b. the place of the farmers d. the houses of the farmers
4. To sell their agony and their sweat is ___________________.
a. to sell what they have worked for c. to sell their sufferings and industry
b. to sell corns and flowers d. to sell their treasure
5. The long blue hills means ______________.
a. blue-colored hills c. water-surrounded hills
b. rich, green, and distant forest d. high, rugged, and green hills
6. Only a handful go to Mass on Sunday signifies______________.
a. only children go to Mass on Sunday
b. only the old go to Mass on Sunday
c. only a few go to Mass on Sunday
d. only countable by the hand go to Mass
7. The cornfields are full of cries. This line means __________________.
a. The cornfields are crying. c. The cornfields are destroyed.
b. The farmers are crying. d. The farmers are lonely.
[Link], our hometown has seven whores means ________________.
a. The place has seven prostitutes.
b. The place has seven beautiful ladies.
c. The place has seven professionals.. d. The place has seven materialistic
girls.
9. You lucky bastard. Bastard in this line means ________________.
a. a strange man c. a person/man
b. an illegitimate child d. a legitimate child
10. Tasyo, the old goat refers to _________________.
a. an old man with a goat-like beard c. a man with many goats
b. a man who looks like a goat . d. an old man who owns an old goat
11. What particular life experience is the line “had split the skin of our
young lizards to make us a man” being compared with?
a. Menstruation b. Incision c. Circumcision d. Baptism
12. What is the context or background of the poem?
a. social realities d. political changes
b. economic development c. historical events

13. Are these things/events mentioned in the selection true to your

community?
Defend your answer. (4 points)
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
14. What are the realities in your society that are present in the poem?
[Pick three (3) lines from the poem? (3 points)___________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
 Dawn Breaking
Macario Pineda, 1943
An Excerpt
This is a nightmare. But I will wake up. I have merely fallen asleep. And I am
having a night-mare. (The soldier gently rubs his forehead. He raises his head with
its sunken cheeks, and lifts his eyes to the Moon. He gazes intently at the roundness
of a full Moon.)
This is nightmare. A monstrous lie. A horrible lie the likes of which I have not seen
in my life. (The soldier is startled by the sound of his own voice. He is now all of
twenty-four years. He has long passed the age when as a child, he spoke even when
no one was around. He turns his head this way, that way, his eyes probing, searching
for anything. Nothing stirs to break the silence around him. The Moon is radiant, the
rays of its light like a mantle draped around the world in such breathtaking
loveliness only a creature, on the brink of dying, has the good fortune to feast his
eyes on.)
The light of the Moon radiates beauty (the soldier mutters to
himself). (He is no longer surprised to hear his own voice. And
an immense sense of well-being fills him as he speaks aloud. It is
as if he was conversing with someone staying close to him in the
dark hole where he has taken refuge.)
Whenever I find myself in our village…how happy our village is.
(He gently strokes his forehead again, now drenched with sweat.
He touches the bandaged wound on his chest. Blood continues to
ooze heavi-ly. The blood has spread and clotted, sticking stub-
bornly to his shirt. He suddenly feels a gush of cold wind
thrusting itself against his body. The soldier rests his head on the
clump of earth in the hole where he is hiding.)
I am hungry. I am hungry.
(A shot pierces the silence. The soldier looks up. No more shots follow
and the soldier once again leans on the wall of this hell hole. After a few
moments, he kneels down and touches the faces of his comrades lying at
his feet. In the dim light of the Moon, he tries to make out the bodies. His
fingers gently probe the chest of each of his comrades. He stands up and
once more surveys the surroundings. Letting out a deep sigh, he pulls
himself down once more.
If you only knew how lovely the night is, you would not leave me to
stand guard by myself. How radiant the Moon is! how full of splendor
the light is.
(The soldier has a coughing fit. He presses his hand against his chest
once more. Then he coughs again, expelling his saliva onto his hand. He
stares at it in the dim light. He shakes his head. And takes a deep breath.)
How lovely the Moon is … on this night of one’s impending death!
(The soldier finds himself sighing deeply as his eyes take in the scenes in his
surroundings. He speaks in a gentle voice as if everything his lips utter is meant to
disclose a pleasure-inducing, deli-cious secret.)
***
Wake up. Berto, Karding, Ponsoy. Look up the sky. How lovely it is. there the
Moon glows like a brilliant orb. Didn’t we use to play tubigan when the Moon
shone brightly? We played hid-and-seek. You, Ponsoy? Do you recall how skillful
you were at hiding? And you, Berto, you were our unrivalled tubigan player as we
competed with other groups. How lightning-fast you were as you parried the op-
ponent’s blow. Karding, come over here, and savor the beauty of this glorious scene
in the light of the beaming Moon. Isn’t it truly lovely?
***
Do you recall, Karding, there was a full Moon, just about this time, when Nene
rewarded you with a sweet Yes? How recent was that? Two seasons past?
 ***
Have you forgotten … Iro? Sinziro, the son of Osima, who made charcoal at the
edge of the woods.
Where could Sinziro be? We called him Iro, a name he liked very much. When we
called him Sinziro, he did not feel he was one of us.
In the past, you and he were rivals, Ponsoy. Do you remember? Iro, unbeknownst to
us, had fallen for Taling. But you, Ponsoy, had already begun to court Taling. The
awkward part was when you, Ponsoy, discovered that you were both smitten with
Taling, and you got mad, yes? You looked for Iro. You said: “Iro, I did not know
you were a traitor. I’m wooing Taling, and you’re doing the same.”
***
Iro and his father left for their country when we were all about to turn eighteen.
***
We were naïve then. Eighteen-year-old men oblivious to the truths about life,
unaware of how life really worked.
And we turned our backs, nursing broken hearts. Sinziro was a good
friend… (There is a flash in the distance, a bullet whizzes by, followed by
a shot. The soldier wheels his machine gun to face the direction where the
bullet was fired. The sound of rapid firing breaks the still-ness of the night.
No shot comes from the opposite direction. The hillside reverberates with
the sound of gunfire. In a few minutes, silence once more reigns. And the
Moon continues to bathe those woods, mute witness to the drama of life
and death being played out. If only the stones strewn about, the leaves of
grass wilting in the heat, the gaping holes formed by the bombs falling
from the sky with their message of death could find their voice.)
***
Karding, come here. See the children playing lusong tinik. Aren’t they
enjoying themselves hugely?
Isyang is somewhere there, Karding. Run after her. Please tell her I
cannot leave now. Please tell her that I wish to say something, but I am
afraid that she might not understand … Karding, I have, for a long time,
wanted to tell Isyang how much I have loved her. Karding, do you think
Isyang will understand?
(Another slight movement in front of the shelter escapes the soldier’s
attention. Another shadow appears to make a surreptitious move. But in
the light of the Moon, the sole possessor of the knowledge of a death that
is to come, one wonders if a human life is an utterly insignificant thing to
be tragically snuffed out in the midst of such bountiful nature, whose
only purpose is to bestow her bless-ings on mankind?)
Isyang, it is with trepidation that I come to you to open a long suffering
heart. Please do not get angry, Isyang ….
LITERARY SHOP
Flashback—is a literary device in which an earlier episode, conversation, or event
is inserted into the chronological sequence of a narrative. Information revealed in a
flashback helps readers understand a character’s situation.
Symbol— is an object, a person, a place, or an experience that represents
something else, usually something abstract. A symbol may have more than one
meaning, or its meaning may change from the beginning to the end of a literary
work.
Imagery—is the “word pictures” that writers use to recreate vivid experiences and
evoke an emotional response in readers. Writers use descriptions that appeal to the
senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell.
Monologue—is a literary device that is the speech or verbal presentation given by
a single char-acter in order to express his or her collection of thoughts and ideas
aloud.
LITERARY SHOP
Dramatic Situation—is the combination of setting, characters, and
action in a poem which is supposed to engage the reader.
Persona—is the speaker, or teller, of the poem; rarely the poet himself
or herself.
Allegorical/Allegory—refers to symbolic representations of truths or
generalizations about human experience.
Canon—refers to the collection of works determined by a society to
have significant value and importance.
Personification— is a figure of speech where a non-human object is
given human qualities.
THAT’S ALL
FOLKS…