GE 2/GE 3: Purposive Communication

WEEK 14
Learning Outcomes/Objectives:
a. Discuss the interconnection between communication and literature.

LESSON 6: LITERATURE AS COMMUNICATION

Discussion:

UNDERSTANDING LITERATURE

A society is believed to be more advanced if it has a long history of written literature. Through written
literature, many things about the history and culture of a society are revealed. The American novelist F Scott
Fitzgerald once wrote about the beauty of literature: “You discover that your longings are universal longings,
that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.” Literature connects people to each other
through ideas and concepts that are known to them. Because of this, literature is said to have a universal appeal.
One form of literature that is familiar to many is the short story. A writer crafts a short story to convey
an idea about the human experience. The crafting of this story involves the use of a set of fictional elements that
come together to create an imagined world. These elements are identified and described as follows.

 The setting of the story is the time and place in which the story unfolds.

 The story unfolds through a series or sequence of events, which make up the story's plot.

 The plot includes a conflict. This usually involves a ‘problem’ that needs to be resolved. The plot moves
towards the resolution of this problem.

 There are characters, or the ‘actors,’ in the story, Depending on the nature of the story, the characters
may come in the form of people or animals.

 Stories make use of images, which are objects in the story that appeal to the reader's senses (sight, smel,
taste, hearing, and touch). When these images recur, they may be interpreted as symbols with meanings
that go beyond the literal level.

 The theme is the main idea or message that the author intends to convey. All the elements unify to
support the story's theme.

Now that you have been introduced to the fictional elements, you will read a story about one summer day in
the lives of a group of Filipino girls. Note how the elements come together in the story to convey an idea about
human experience.
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UNLOCKING OF DIFFICULTIES:

Name: Date:

Instructions: Before you read the story, look up the meaning of the following words and phrases:

1. Macaroons –

2. To ogle –

3. To hover –

4. Fudge –

5. To zoom in –

6. Doberman –

7. To titter –

8. Pudgy –

9. To hunch up –
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SWEET SUMMER
By Cyan Abad Jugo (2004)

(1) The Candy Club were all twelve that summer, sitting every afternoon on the village's water tank, savoring
macaroons, Halls honey-lemon, and Cloud 9. The older boys had begun to hover about like bees, ogling them
like treats but only the two creamy long-legged eclairs, not the nut-brown fudge in a housedress melting in the
sun.
(2) One day, before the boys zoomed in, a younger boy approached with his Doberman, reaching for the faucet
(3)Think of worms, of diarrhea, Camilla said, nose addressing the still air.
(4) The boy looked up and considered the three girls, none of them looking. The dog ignored them, and lapped
at the water flowing into the boy's hand. The boy splashed some on his face and hair, then straightened up,
letting the water drip.
(5)Aachoo!" Faye winked at the bright sky.
(6) Sara could not bear it, and turned her raisin eyes upon the boy.
(7) His hand shot out at once, dirt under fingernails, but she bent and took it.
(8) Frederick," he said, "and Dolby." He indicated the dog.
(9) Camilla and Faye tittered, now regarding him. "That's Sara the Square you're shaking hands with."
(10) Sara hunched up. "You live here? she asked, and he nodded. "I’ll walk with you."
(11) Camilla and Faye snorted. The boy shrugged. The dog loped off.
(12) Laughter. High fives.
(13) Sara slid off the tank, cement scraping the back of her thighs. She ran to take her place beside the boy and
his dog.
(14) The nut-brown fudge regarded herself with surprise. A boy, even though he was only around eleven, was
talking, walking, with her! She offered Frederick a choice of sweets. He picked the honey-lemon. Good, since
she wanted the Cloud 9.
(15) Sara bounced, smearing her fingers with chocolate.
Her glee rubbed off on Dolby, who ran and pounced. She lay pinned to the sharp grass, blades pricking through
her housedress. Dolby started licking. She laughed and tried to shoo him, accidentally touching his nose. He
chased her fingers. Frederick whistled, and the weight that was Dolby left her. Frederick offered his hand the
second time that day, and for a while, she forgot the brown face, pudgy hands, and squarish body.
(16) “Don't walk alone at night,” Frederick warned. "People can jump at you like Dolby did.” Frederick sprang
and rolled on the grass, demonstrating. Dolby barked twice and followed. Sara watched both of them one, then
the other and wished it had been the boy who had jumped at her and not the dog.
(17) She offered him her hand. After all, he had given his. When he stood up, his lemony breath touched her
face, and her heart leapt as if she had been kissed. He didn't let go her hand either. He bowed and danced her
about in a jerky sort of dance, Dolby snapping at their heels. Then it ended, grins spreading on both their faces.
(18) “What was that shit?”
(19) They let go at once. Felix. Sara recognized him.
(20) "Nothing, Kuya," Frederick replied, choking. He cleared his throat and spat a sliver of honey-lemon. It
glistened gold on the pavement before Dolby licked it off.
(21) Felix laughed and cuffed his brother. You're a natural! I’m proud of you! Now let me introduce you to
some real yummies over there..."
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(22) Off they went the way Frederick and Sara had come, but forgetting Sara. Only the dog looked back, licking
his nose.
Are there other words and phrases in the story that are unfamiliar to you? Look them up, then re-read the
story.

SYNTHESIS
1. Literature is used as a vehicle for communicating ideas.
2. Fictional elements come together to deliver an author's message about the human experience.
3. The fictional elements include the setting, plot, conflict, character images, symbol, and theme.

REFERENCE:

Marilu Ranosa Madrunio, Isabel Pefianco Martin. Purposive Communication. Using English in Multilingual Contexts
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COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:

Name: Date:

Check your understanding of the literary elements discussed in the input, as well as the application of
these elements to the story, by answering the following questions:

1. How would you describe the following characters in the story? Support your description of the characters
with details from the story. You may use the table below as your guide.

SUPPORT (Identify the paragraph where

SARA

CAMILLA &
FAYE

FREDERICK

FELIX
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2. How do Camilla and Faye see Sara? Support your answer with details from the story.
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3. How do Camilla and Faye see Frederick? Support your answer with details from the story.
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4. There is a recurring image (or images) in the story that is associated with the character Sara. This recurring
image (or images) is a symbol that has meanings beyond the literal level. What are these symbolisms?
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5. What realities about the human experience does the story present?

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DEEPENING ACTIVITY

Name: Date:

Can you imagine our world without literature? It is a terrifying thought – a world without literature! What
would have happened to our country if Jose Rizal did not write the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo?
Would we be where we are now?
Many have written about literature and its invaluable place in history and culture. Some of these inspiring
quotes are found below.

“Ultimately, literature is nothing but carpentry. With both you are working with reality, a material
just as hard as wood.” (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

“Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the sense shuts me out from
the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or
awkwardness.” (Hellen Keller)

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that
daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already
become.” (C.S Lewis)
 GE 2/GE 3: Purposive Communication
What do these quotes tell us about literature? Use the space provided below to write your answer. (30 pts.)

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