Department of Education

SCHOOLS DIVISION OF CITY OF MEYCAUAYAN

Pag-asa St., Malhacan, City of Meycauayan, Bulacan

Senior High School

Module 7
in 12
ENGLISH
21st Century Literature from the
Philippines and the World-
Quarter 1:
Identify the way one may evaluate a
literary text, specifically by examining its
sociocultural context
(EN12Lit-la-21.1)
 IDENTIFY THE WAY ONE MAY
EVALUATE A LITERARY TEXT,
SPECIFICALLY BY EXAMINING ITS
SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT

Introduction

In this module, the learners will be able to discuss the significance of cultural
context in interpreting works of literature. Books are written by individuals, but
they are also influenced by that individual's society. Therefore, it is important to
consider a work's cultural context. Works of literature are particularly good indexes
of these values, in that they often engage the culture in depth. The learners may
also use several sociological, economic, and cultural perspectives when reading
using the
sociocultural
“Art is not created in a
vacuum; it is the work context.
not simply of a person,
but of an author fixed in
time and space,
answering a community
of which he is an
important, articulate
part.” – Wilbur Scott

LESSON 7: Literary Reading through a Sociocultural Context

(WEEK 7)
 ? Essential Question

Why would a particular

event or an outside
situation affect a literary
piece?
Fig. 1: Sociocultural Awareness
https://teachingenglish.org.uk

Let’s Begin!

Aside from understanding a literary text through a biographical

perspective, in this lesson, the learners will be able to note the year or period it was
written and identify the historical event that took place in that year. They will also
find out the roots of an event’s cause and the reasons behind the character’s
motives and interests.

Try This!

A. Direction: Fill in the blanks with the correct answer.

1.

____________________ is the perspective we can use to distinguish the roles of

marginalized women in the society.
2. ____________________ distinguishes the social stratification between the
capitalists and the working class, the ruler and its members, and the rich and
poor.
3. _____________________ highlights the occurrences that take place after a certain
period of outside influence in colonization.
4. _____________________is the perspective used in determining a “coming-of-age”
story where a character develops and unveils his desired identity.
5. _____________________ points out the effects of a government or political change
taking place in a certain area.

B. Direction: Write the type of literary perspective suitable for each Philippine
movie title.
______________________ 1. Jun Robles Lana’s Die Beautiful
______________________ 2. Artikulo Uno productions’ Heneral Luna
______________________ 3. Loy Arcenas’s Ang Larawan
______________________ 4. Mariluo Diaz-Abaya’s Muro-Ami
______________________ 5. Rony Quintos’s Anak

Do This!

Questions:
1. What are some popular movies we can watch and analyze
through the Marxist, feminist, or queer perspectives?
2. What are some historical or biographical narratives that we can
analyze through historicism, post colonialism, and New Historicism
perspectives?

Explore!

A. Directions: Watch or recall a movie or book that talk about a certain Philippine
historical event. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the historical situation taking place?

2. What do you think is the prevailing social order shown?
3. What is the main idea or theme of the story? Vocabulary

4. How do the people during those times act? How do they Literary theory- refers
to the different schools
differ from our generation? of thought and body of
5. How does the event affect the author and his ideas that can be used
as a tool in
perspectives about the situation? understanding literary
context.

Sociocultural- of,
relating to, or involving
Keep This in Mind! a combination of
cultural and social
factors.

According to the critic Wilbur Scott, “Art is not created in a vacuum; it is the work
not simply of a person, but of an author fixed in time and space, answering a
community of which he is an important, articulate part.” In reading using the
sociocultural context, you will examine the factors that affect the writing of the
literary text and how the work was received by the readers during the time it was
written.

The following are reasons to read literature through sociocultural context (Gioia
and Kennedy 2007):
Reading using the sociocultural context helps you understand the social,
economic, political, and cultural forces affecting the work that you are
reading.
Analyzing the sociocultural context of the text makes you examine the role of
the audience (readers) in shaping literature.

How can we analyze a text through a sociocultural context? Here are guide
questions that you
answer when you are reading literature through the sociocultural context:
What is the relationship between the characters or the speakers in the text
and their society?
Does the text explicitly address issues of gender, race, or class? How does
the text resolve these issues?
Who has the power? Who does not? What is the reason for this setup?
How does this story reflect the nation? What does this say about the
country and its inhabitants?
 Who has the economic or social power? Is there oppression or class
struggle? How do the characters overcome this? Does money or finances play
a large role in the narrative?
What is the prevailing social order? Does the story or poem accept or
challenge it?

Take note of the following before reading a text through the sociocultural context:

You may use several sociological, economic, and cultural perspectives when
reading using the sociocultural context. Marxism is one of the famous perspectives
used for this reading. Feminism, queer theory, historicism, post colonialism,
and New Historicism are also perspectives or literary theories that you may use.

Perspective Explanation
Marxism According to the Marxist perspective, literature shows
class struggle and materialism. Thus, it looks into the
social classes portrayed in the work. It also looks into how
the text serves as a propaganda material. It also examines
oppression, social conflicts, and solution to these struggles
as shown in the literary work.
Feminism The feminist perspective examines the role of the women in
the literature. It looks into how the female character may
be empowered or discriminated against.
Queer Theory The queer perspective is concerned with the queer or the
third gender. The perspective itself was named in 1991.
Under this perspective, the third gender, meaning the gay,
lesbians, and other characters or persona in literature that
may fall under queer are being examined.
Historicism Historicism or traditional historical criticism is a
perspective dealing with the history that influenced the
writing of literature.
Post colonialism Post colonialism is a literary perspective that looks into the
changes in the attitude of the post colonies after the
colonial period. Through this perspective, the dependence
or independence of decolonized countries or people are
being examined.
New Historicism New Historicism is another perspective in the sociocultural
context. It focuses not only on the history when the literary
text was written, but also how the history happened. In
New Historicism, the above mentioned perspectives can be
integrated with each other.

When you are reading a text or writing a critique through the sociocultural context,
set aside your personal political ideologies. Say for example, if you greatly
believe that boys should only like girls and vice versa, it should not hinder you
from analyzing a text using the queer theory in an objective way. Your personal
ideologies may lead you to over read the text according to what you believe in even
if the text is not related to your political inclinations. Do your best to be unbiased
in reading.

Application

A. Directions: On a piece of paper, recall a movie that you watched

in your previous history or literature classes. Write a short analysis
about the movie using an appropriate literary perspective.

Assessment

A. Direction: Fill in the blanks with the correct answer.

1. ____________________ relating to, or involving a combination of cultural and social

factors.
2. ____________________ refers to different schools of thought and body of ideas that
can be used as a tool in understanding literary context.
3. Analyzing the sociocultural context of the text makes you ______________ the role
of the audience (readers) in shaping literature.
4. In reading using the sociocultural context, you will examine the factors that
affect the writing of the _____________________ and how the work was received by
the readers during the time it was written.
5. _______________________ is important when you are reading a text or writing a
critique through the sociocultural context.

B. Direction: Read the questions carefully and choose the correct option.
6. It is a perspective dealing with the history that influenced the writing of
literature.
A. Queer Theory C. Historicism
B. Marxism D. New Historicism
7. This examines oppression, social conflicts, and solution to these struggles as
shown in the literary work.
A. Marxism C. Queer Theory
B. Feminism D. Post colonialism
8. Literary perspective that looks into the changes in the attitude of the post
colonies after the colonial period.
A. Queer Theory
C. Post colonialism
B. Marxism
D. New Historicism
9. Examines the role of the women in the
literature. It looks into how the female
character may be empowered or
discriminated against.
A. Feminism C. Queer Theory
B. Marxism D. Historicism
10. Concerned with the queer or the third gender. The perspective itself was named
in 1991.
A. Feminism C. New
Historicism
B. Marxism D. Queer Theory

Enrichment Activities

Quick Draws:

A. Directions: Recall the timeline of Philippine history. Reflect on some events that
1882 1972 2016
may have transpired during those periods of time by creating a visual image that
represents each of them.

What are some important events that took place in the following years?
868I 986I
Wrap Up
Contextual
Sociocultural Context Reading
Approach
This context requires
the reader to analyze the
social, economic,
political, and cultural
standpoint of the literary
text.

Self-Check: How Well Did I Learn?

Do a self-check on how well you learned the lesson. Place a checkmark in the
appropriate box.
I think I need I am familiar and I am confident
Skills more practice can perform well that I can perform
and assistance with minimal this on my own
assistance

I can identify the way

one may evaluate a
literary text,
specifically by
examining its
sociocultural context.

I can distinguish
various critical
reading strategies.
I can analyze literary
texts through context
using different critical
reading strategies.

References
(n.d.). Cuevas, R. (2018). 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World.
Davao Doctor College: Copyright 2018 Quipper limited.

“7 Critical Reading Strategies.” Salisbury University. Accessed May 3, 2018.

http://www. salisbury.edu/counseling/new/7_critical_reading_strategies.html.
Bautista, C. F. 2006. “Believe and Betray: New and Collected Poems.” Manila: De
La Salle
University Press.
 Bethge, Wolfgang. 2007. “Josephine Bracken - Her
Bonds of Love with Jose Rizal.” Josephine
Bracken - Her Bonds of Love with Jose Rizal. Accessed
January 03, 2017.
http://www.insightsphilippines.de/brackenengl.htm.

Brizee, Allen, J. Case Tompkins, Libby Chernouski,

and Elizabeth Boyle. “Literary Theory and
Schools of Criticism.” OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Accessed January 3, 2017.
https:// owl.
english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/1/.

Brooker, Peter, Raman Selden, and Peter Widdowson.

2005. A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary
Literary Theory. 5th ed. Great Britain: Pearson
Education.

Crockett, L. “10 Great Critical Thinking Activities That Engage Your Students.”
Accessed April
30, 2018. https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/10-great-critical-thinking-activities-that-
engage-your-students

Gioia, Dana and X.J. Kennedy. 2007. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction Poetry,
Drama, and
Writing, Compact Edition. 5th ed. New York: Allyn & Bacon/Longman.

Stockinger, Johann. “José Rizal.” University of Vienna. May 13, 1995. Accessed
May 9, 2018.
https://www.univie.ac.at/ksa/apsis/aufi/jorizal.htm.

Glossary
Literary theory- refers to the different schools of thought and body of ideas that can
be used as a tool in understanding literary context.
Sociocultural- of, relating to, or involving a combination of cultural and social
factors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JESSICA BARGUIN-BONGABONG

Graduated from Polytechnic College of the City of Meycauayan where she earned her degree in
Bachelor of Secondary of Education major in English. She passed the Licensure Examination for
Teachers in 2013. She earned 9 units in Master of Arts in Education (MAED) major in Educational
Management in Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela. She earned another 9 units in Master of Arts
in Education (MAED) major in English Language in Meycauayan College.
She taught different subjects 21 st Century Literature from the Philippines, Reading and Writing Skills,
English for Academic and Professional Purposes, Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions,
 Business Ethics, Organization and Management, and Introduction
to Philosophy of the Human Person in Meycauayan National High
School since 2017.

LAYOUT ARTIST

JESSICA BARGUIN-BONGABONG
Graduated from Polytechnic College of the City of Meycauayan
where she earned her degree in Bachelor of Secondary of Education
major in English. She passed the Licensure Examination for
Teachers in 2013. She earned 9 units in Master of Arts in
Education (MAED) major in Educational Management in
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela. She earned another 9 units in Master of Arts in Education
(MAED) major in English Language in Meycauayan College.
She taught different subjects 21 st Century Literature from the Philippines, Reading and Writing Skills,
English for Academic and Professional Purposes, Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions,
Business Ethics, Organization and Management, and Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person
in Meycauayan National High School since 2017.