Senior High School Department

LEARNING MODULES
School Year 2020-2021
ST
Subject/Course: 21 CENTURY LITERATURE FROM PHILIPPINES AND THE
WORLD

Title North American Literature

Module No 7
Date Date covered by the module (Nov 23- Dec 4)
Topics 1. American Literature
2. The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan
Learning At the end of the lesson the students are expected to:
Outcomes  Identify what is North American Literature
3. Understand the history of North American Literature
 Examine the relationship of the text and history
 Analyze representative text from different continents
Preparatory Let’s get ready!
Activities
“A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.”
― Italo Calvino, The Uses of Literature

Activity 1: Identity
Conduct a short interview about self-confidence. Interview your parents
and discuss the time when people were more confident and sure of their
identities—was it during childhood or during adulthood? Write the
reasons they think it might be either.

Content Although American literature has a rather short history, compared with
the European literary tradition, it nevertheless captures the spirit of the
American nation and goes along with the significant evolution that
America has known.

Lesson 1: What is North American Literature?

American literature encompasses a variety of writing styles and
periods specific to the United States, including African-American
literature and the South.
North America consist of large territories of Canada and United States
of America. As colonies, the US and Canada have relatively young
literature, but reconsideration are done today to include the oral narratives
from the indigenous communities. Their literature deal with issues of
individualism, racism, slavery, migration, among others.

When did American Literature begin?

Literature has existed in the Americas for as long as the people who
lived there have been telling stories. Native American cultures have a
 rich history of oral literature. Mayan books from as far back as the 5th
century are known, and it is believed that theSenior
Maya started writing things
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down centuries before that. As a specific discipline viewed through the
lens of European literature, American literature began in the early 17th
century with the arrival of English-speaking Europeans in what would
become the United States.

Who are some of the most notable authors of American Literature?

1. John Smith- English explorer and early leader of the Jamestown

Colony, the first permanent English settlement in North America.
Smith played an equally important role as a cartographer and a
prolific writer who vividly depicted the natural abundance of the
New World, whetting the colonizing appetite of prospective
English settlers.
2. Edgar Allan Poe- American short-story writer, poet, critic, and
editor who is famous for his cultivation of mystery and the
macabre. His tale “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
initiated the modern detective story, and the atmosphere in his tales
of horror is unrivaled in American fiction. His “The Raven” (1845)
numbers among the best-known poems in the national literature.
3. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow- the most popular American poet
in the 19th century, known for such works as The Song of
Hiawatha (1855) and “Paul Revere’s Ride” (1863).
4. Emily Dickinson- American lyric poet who lived in seclusion and
commanded a singular brilliance of style and integrity of vision.
With Walt Whitman, Dickinson is widely considered to be one of
the two leading 19th-century American poets. A woman who wrote
poetry at a time when the field was largely dominated by men.
5. Mark Twain- A master of humour and realism. American
humorist, journalist, lecturer, and novelist who acquired
international fame for his travel narratives, especially The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
6. Ernest Hemingway- A novelist who articulated the
disillusionment of the Lost Generation. He was noted both for the
intense masculinity of his writing and for his adventurous and
widely publicized life. His succinct and lucid prose style exerted a
powerful influence on American and British fiction in the 20th
century.

Background Knowledge!
The excerpt below is written from the perspective of Lulu, an American
woman, who will eventually own and operate a courtesan house in China,
made up of Chinese and Western courtesans. In former times, a courtesan
was a woman who had sexual relationships with rich and powerful men
for money.

Learning Activity 1
Activities Let’s explore more!
Directions: Read the story entitled, “The Valley of Amazement by
Amy Tan”, and answer the guide questions below.
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The Valley of Amazement [Excerpt]
by Amy Tan (USA)

At the age of eight, I was determined to be true to My Self. Of course,

that made it essential to know what My Self consisted of. My manifesto
began the day I discovered I had once possessed an extra finger in each
hand, twins to my pinkies. My grandmother had recommended that the
surplus be amputated before leaving the hospital, lest people think there
was a familial tendency toward giving birth to octopuses.

Mother and Father were Freethinkers, whose opinions were based on

reason, logic, deduction, and their own opinions. Mother, who
disagreed with any advice my grandmother had to give, said: “Should
the extra fingers be removed simply to enable her to wear gloves from
a dry goods store?” They took me home with all my fingers in place.
But then an old family friend of my father’s, Mr. Maubert, who was
also my piano teacher, convinced them to turn my unusual hands into
ordinary ones. He was a former concert pianist, who, early in his
promising career, lost his right arm during the siege of Paris by the
Prussians. “There are only a few piano compositions for one hand,” he
said to my parents, “and none for six fingers. If you intend for her to
have musical training, it would be a pity if she had to take up the
tambourine due to lack of suitable instruments.” Mr. Maubert was the
one who proudly informed me when I was eight that he had influenced
the decision.

Few can understand the shock of a little girl learning that part of her
was considered undesirable and thus needed to be completely removed.
It made me fearful that people could change parts of me, without my
knowledge and permission. And thus began my quest to know which of
my many attributes I needed to protect, the whole of which I named
scientifically “My Pure Self-Being.”

In the beginning, the complete list comprised my preferences and

dislikes, my strong feelings for animals, my animosity toward anyone
who laughed at me, my aversion to stickiness, and several more things I
have now forgotten. I also collected secrets about myself, mostly what
had wounded my heart, and the very fact that they needed to be kept
private was proof of My Pure Self-Being. I later added to my list my
intelligence, opinions of others, fears and revulsions, and certain
nagging discomforts, which I later knew as worries. A few years later,
after I stained my undergarments, Mother explained to me “the biology
that led to your existence”— the gist of which was my beginning as an
egg slipping down a fallopian tube. She made it sound as if I had been a
mindless blob and that upon entry into the world I took on a personality
shaped through my parents’ guidance.

Activity 2
Directions: Answer the guide questions below. Elaborate your answer by
relating if to your personal experiences. Use Senior
another sheet of paper to
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answer these questions.

1. What was Lulu’s reaction when she found out about the operation?
Do you think her reaction is normal? Why?
Lulu was appalled in learning that part of her was considered
undesirable. It also shocked her to the point that she began her quest to
know which of her many attributes she needed to protect. Her reaction
is normal because she was an innocent child who had undergone an
operation without her knowledge. Anyone would be afraid if other
people would have the right to change anything to their body, and they
would feel violated and deprived of their rights on their body.

2. Why did the narrator dislike the way her mother described
reproduction?

She did not like it because her mother made it sound like she would not
be in this world without her parents. Her mother made her feel like a
mindless blob that couldn’t do anything without their guidance. She
made her feel that she is useless without them. It seemed like her
mother didn’t trust her that she can do anything independently.

3. What do you think will be the effect of the situation to the narrator
in the future?
I think the narrator got offended when her mother said those things.
Her mother made her feel that she is worthless without them. Her
mother’s words stung. It will greatly affect the behavior of the narrator.
Her perception on her parents will change. I think that she will have a
mindset wherein she can imagine living her life without depending on
anyone even her parents.

4. Do you think childhood experiences has an impact to one’s life?

Childhood revelations have lasting impact on one’s life. Our childhood
experiences shape who we are today. Our earliest experiences may stick
with us for years and continue to influence us. These childhood
revelations or experiences help us truly understand ourselves because
these serve as a connection of who we are from the past to the present.

5. If you were in the situation, will you feel the same?

Yes, because nobody would want something like that to happen to them.
Assessment Let’s see what you learned! Senior High School Department

Written Work # 2: Close Analysis Using Readers-Response

Approach

Goal: The student should comprehend and scrutinize a literary piece,

entitled “The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan”.

Role: Students will act as literary experts.

Audience: The “book worms” which are the teacher and other students
that should be able to apprehend and appreciate the work.

Situation: In a convention for the different works of literary artists, there

are group of literary experts who want to share their insights of the work.
They will share their analysis on the said work to those “book worms”
who are present in the convention center.

Product/Performance and Purpose: The student will read and do some

analysis on one of the works of Amy Tan.

Standards and Criteria for Success: The presentation and output will be
assessed by the teacher using the attached rubric.

Guide Questions:
Introduction
1. Write a short description of the text or summary
2. What is the highest point of the text?
3. What is your initial reaction?
Body
1. What is the cause of your initial reaction?
2. What is the writer’s intention? Do you agree with it? Why or why
not?
Conclusion
1. What us the relation of the text to real-life events?
2. What is the relevance of the text?
3. What is your realization?

See attached rubrics for grading.

Values Self-actualization refers to the need for personal growth and development
Integration that exists throughout your life. If you are self-actualized, you work hard
to grow and become who you want to be in life and reach your full
potential. Self-actualized people not only draw happiness from personal
growth, but they are also intrinsically motivated to develop their
potential. Our relationship with the people around us helps us build our
self-actualization. Enriching our relationship and understanding of other
people broadens development of our self-actualization.
Direction: Answer the question below by writing a short essay. The
Assignment essay should have insights and examples to prove one’s point.
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What does it mean to be true to oneself?

 https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/courtesan
References  REX Publication, 21st Century Literature, Uychoco 2016
 https://www.britannica.com/art/American-literature

Prepared MS. ANNA

MARIZTELA
SANTOS
Checked MS. ROMELIA
PEREZ
Noted MS. MA SOCORRO
ARCILLAS
 Senior High School Department

21st Century Literature from Philippines and the World

2nd Quarter: Performance Task
PT # 2 CLOSE ANALYSIS

CRITERIA 10 POINTS 7 POINTS 3 POINT Score EVALUATOR’S

NAME AND
SIGNATURE
The necessary contents Some of the contents for Less than three 3X
for the three parts are the introduction, body and ideas/main points are
complete and well- conclusion are missing. explained, and/or they are
developed. The paper Three or more main points poorly developed. There ______
CONTENT presents supporting relate to the discussion, are lacking contents for
(INTRODUCTION, examples and evidences but some may lack details. every part of the close
BODY AND are concrete and The analysis shows in- analysis.
CONCLUSION) detailed. depth understanding of
the character’s
developmental
challenges.

Logical Progression of Logical progression of Writing is not organized. 2X

ideas with a clear ideas. Transitions are The transitions between
structure that enhances present throughout the ideas are unclear or non-
the analysis. Transitions essay but lacks variety. existent ______
are effective and vary Writing is clear but could Writing is confusing and
STRUCTURE AND
throughout the use a little more sentence hard to follow. Contains
TRANSITION
paragraph, not just in the variety to make the writing fragments and/or run-on
topic sentences. more interesting. sentences.
Writing is smooth, skillful,
and coherent. Sentences
are strong and
expressive with varied
structure.
DEPTH OF Response, demonstrates Response, demonstrates Response, demonstrates 2X
REFLECTION an in-depth reflection on, a general reflection on a minimal reflection on
and personalization of, and personalization of, the and personalization of, the
the theories, concepts theories, concepts theories, concepts ______
presented in the close presented in the close presented in the close
analysis. Viewpoints and analysis. Viewpoints and analysis. Viewpoints and
interpretations are interpretations are interpretations are
insightful and well- supported. Appropriate unsupported with flawed
supported. Clear, examples are provided. arguments. Examples,
detailed examples are when applicable, are not
provided, as applicable. provided or are irrelevant
to the analysis.
TOTAL SCORE: /70
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