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English
Quarter 1, Week 6 - Module 4
Explain How the Elements Specific to a Selection
Build Its Theme

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Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

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English - Grade 9
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1, Week 6 – Module 4: Explain How the Elements Specific to a Selection
Build Its Theme

First Edition, 2020

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Published by the Department of Education – Division of Iligan City

Schools Division Superintendent: Roy Angelo E. Gazo, PhD, CESO V

DEVELOPMENT TEAM OF THE MODULE

Writer/s: TESSIE P. LEGASPI

Content and Language Evaluators: DAISY B. GENTILES, MELCHORA B. LECTOR,
JAIME V. YBANEZ, HAIDEE P. CUIZON
Design and Lay-out Evaluators: LOUELLA A. VALENDEZ
Illustrator/Layout Artist: REZZEL MAE A. MONTECILLO
Management Team
Chairperson: Roy Angelo E. Gazo, PhD, CESO V
Schools Division Superintendent
Co-Chairpersons: Nimfa R. Lago, MSPh, PhD, CESE
Assistant Schools Division Superintendent
Members: Henry B. Abueva, EPS, OIC-CID Chief
Sherlita L. Daguisonan, LRMS Manager
John Ryan Dela Cruz – Division English Coordinator
Meriam S. Otarra, PDO II
Charlotte D. Quidlat, Librarian II

Printed in the Philippines by

Department of Education – Division of Iligan City
Office Address: General Aguinaldo, St., Iligan City
Telefax: (063)221-6069
E-mail Address: iligan.city@deped.gov.ph

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 9
English
Quarter 1, Week 6 - Module 4
Explain How the Elements Specific to a
Selection Build Its Theme

This instructional material was collaboratively developed and reviewed

by select teachers, school heads, Division English Coordinator of the
Department of Education - Division of Iligan City. We encourage teachers
and other education stakeholders to email their feedback, comments, and
recommendations to the Department of Education - Iligan City Division at
iligan.city@deped.gov.ph or Telefax: (063)221-6069.

We value your feedback and recommendations.

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Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

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 Table of Contents

What This Module is About.......................................................................................1

What I Need to Know................................................................................................1
How to Learn from this Module.................................................................................1
Icons of this Module..................................................................................................2

What I Know..............................................................................................................3

Lesson 1:
Observing Other’s Circumstances............................................................................4
What I Need to Know...........................................................................4
What’s New .......................................................................................6
What Is It..............................................................................................7
What’s More .......................................................................................11
What I Have Learned..........................................................................11
What I Can Do....................................................................................12

Summary………………………………………………………………………………….13
Assessment: (Post Test)………………………………………………………………13
Key to Answers.......................................................................................................15
References..............................................................................................................16

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What This Module is About

"Men are equal in the eyes of God" but we cannot ignore the fact that there

are people who are living in luxury while some are suffering from poverty. This

module will show you how the elements specific to a selection will develop its theme.

In working with the prepared activities you will be challenged to determine the factors

that would lead an individual to a certain situation or circumstance.

How to Learn from this Module

To achieve the objectives cited above, you are to do the following:

• Take your time reading the lessons carefully.

• Follow the directions and/or instructions in the activities and exercises

diligently.

• Answer all the given tests and exercises.

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Icons of this Module

What I Need to This part contains learning objectives that

Know are set for you to learn as you go along the

module

This is an assessment as to your level of

What I Know knowledge to the subject matter at hand
meant specifically to gauge prior related
knowledge.

What’s In This part connects previous lesson with

that of the current one.

What’s New An introduction of the new lesson through

various activities before it will be presented
to you.

These are discussions of the activities

What Is It as a way to deepen your discovery and
understanding of the concept.

These are follow-up activities that are

What’s More intended for you to practice further in
order to master the competencies.

What I Have Activities designed to process what you

Learned have learned from the lesson.

These are tasks that are designed to

What I Can Do showcase your gained skills and
knowledge and apply into real-life
concerns.

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 What I Know

Let us have a short review on what you had learned on elements of poetry.
Read each given definition then rearrange the scrambled letters inside the
parenthesis for your answer. Write the correct word on the blank provided for before
each number.

_____________ 1. A type of literature in which words are arranged and chosen to

create a certain effect. ( t r y p e o )
_____________ 2. The language that appeals to the readers’ sense of touch,
hearing, sight, smell and taste. ( m i g y a r e )
_____________ 3. The voice that talks to the readers. ( p e a s e r k )
_____________ 4. The lesson about life or human nature that the poet shares with
the speaker. ( m e e t h)
_____________ 5. It refers to the arrangement of stresses and unstressed sounds in
the regular pattern. ( m y t h r h )
_____________ 6. The repetition of consonant sounds found at the beginning of
words. ( a l t e r a t I o n i l )
_____________ 7. It refers to the repetition of vowel sounds. (o n c e a s s a n)
_____________ 8. It compares two unlike things without the use of “as” or “like.”
( m a t h e p o r)
_____________ 9. A person, place or thing that stands for something beyond itself.
(b o m s y l)
_____________ 10. A group of lines that forms a unit in poetry. (z a n a t s)

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 Observing Others’ Circumstances

Lesson

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What I Need to Know

Learning Objectives: At the end of this module, it is expected that you are going
to:

 recall the elements of poetry;

 explain how the elements specific to a selection build the theme;
 determine the theme of the poem based on details in the texts;
 interpret the words or phrases as they are used in the text;
 give personal views and reactions on a certain circumstance.

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 What’s In

Theme is the lesson about life or statement about human nature that the poem
expresses. Some common themes in literature are “love,” “war,” “revenge,”
“betrayal,” “patriotism,” “grace,” “isolation,” “motherhood,” ”forgiveness,” etc.

Directions: Read and identify the theme of the each given situations. Choose your
answers from the words inside the box. Write only the letter of your choice on the
blank provided for before the number.

A. fear C. happiness E. lonesomeness

B. cheerfulness D. pessimism F. gloom

Hint: (One word from the options is used twice.)

______ 1. When the astronaut landed on the moon, he felt the loneliness thinking
there
was no one else around. He became a little forlorn, though the view of the Earth was
stunningly beautiful.

______ 2. The space travelers were travelling to the moon when their spaceship
suddenly ran out of fuel. They were all frightened to learn that they would not be able
to return to Earth, and could only land on the moon.

______ 3. The bus was travelling at a great speed when it was stopped by a gang of
robbers. The passengers were ordered to get out, leaving their precious belongings
inside the bus.
______ 4. The father of the slow-witted student said he had no false hopes about his
son’s future.

______ 5. Their marriage ceremony was taking place in a grand hotel. All the
eminent
people of the city were invited, the reason why the celebration was excellent.
______ 6. All the family members were dressed in black and with somber faces.
They were attending the funeral ceremony of their deceased relative.

______ 7. The cricket match was reaching a highpoint. The fans of both teams were
screaming their support. It was an excellent game.

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 What’s New

The painting below talks a lot of things. Look closely at it and imagine what
kind of life the man has.

Artist: Jean-Francois Millet (1814-1875)

Task 1. Is farming an easy job? Why or why not?

______________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
______

Task 2. Write a short essay on “Life and Works of a Farmer.”

Task 3. Look at the picture carefully. Then answer the following questions:
a. What is he holding?
_____________________________________________
b. What can you say about the man based on his clothing? On his position?
On his facial expression?
___________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___

c. What have you noticed on the background?

___________________________________________________________

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 ___

d. What is the man doing in the picture?

_______________________________

e. What do you think is the man thinking about?

_________________________
___________________________________________________________
___

Points to Remember:
1. Knowing the theme of a text helps us to better understand what the text is about and what the
author is trying to tell us.
2. The theme is what the text is about.
3. When you are figuring out the theme of a text, particularly a poem, you should first look at the title.
Sometimes, that tells us what the theme is. If it doesn’t, you should read the text and then think
about what the author is saying and the feelings that the author is using.
4. You can also paraphrase when reading a poem to help you figure out what the author is saying.
5. After you have figured out the theme of the poem, you should go back and read it again.
6. Reading the author’s words once you know the theme helps you to focus on the feelings and
reflections that the author shares.
7. Knowing the theme of a text helps us to better understand what the text is about and what the
author is trying to tell us.
8. The theme is what the text is about.
9. When you are figuring out the theme of a text, particularly a poem, you should first look at the title.
Sometimes, that tells us what the theme is. If it doesn’t, you should read the text and then think
about what the author is saying and the feelings that the author is using.
10. You can also paraphrase when reading a poem to help you figure out what the author is saying.
11. After you have figured out the theme of the poem, you should go back and read it again.
12. Reading the author’s words once you know the theme helps you to focus on the feelings and
reflections that the author shares.

What Is It

A. Vocabulary. All the words in the box are used in the poem. Identify the words that
would fit in the given description. Write only the letter of your choice on the space
provided for before the number.

A. stolid D. stunned G. portent J. menace

B. seraphim E. Pleiades H. perfidy
C. infamies F. immemorial I. fraught

____ 1. Having or expressing little or no sensibility, unemotional

____ 2. To shock with noise
____ 3. Something that foreshadows a coming event
____ 4. Causing or characterized by emotional distress or tension 
____ 5. To show an intention to inflict harm
____ 6. An order of angels

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____ 7. A conspicuous cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus that includes
six stars in the form of a very small dipper
____ 8. Extending or existing since beyond the reach of memory, record, or
tradition
____ 9. Evil reputation brought about by something grossly criminal, shocking,
or brutal
____ 10. The quality or state of being disloyal, treachery

A. Reading of the Poem

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The Man with the Hoe
by Edwin Markham

Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans

Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
A thing that grieves not and that never hopes.
Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?
Who loosened and let down this brutal jaw?
Whose was the hand that slanted back this brow?
Whose breath blew out the light within this brain?

Is this the Thing the Lord God made and gave

To have dominion over sea and land;
To trace the stars and search the heavens for power;
To feel the passion of Eternity?
Is this the Dream He dreamed who shaped the suns
And marked their ways upon the ancient deep?
Down all the stretch of Hell to its last gulf
There is no shape more terrible than this —
More tongued with censure of the world's blind greed —
More filled with signs and portents for the soul —
More fraught with menace to the universe.

What gulfs between him and the seraphim!

Slave of the wheel of labor, what to him
Are Plato and the swing of Pleiades?
What the long reaches of the peaks of song,
The rift of dawn, the reddening of the rose?
Through this dread shape the suffering ages look;
Time's tragedy is in the aching stoop;
Through this dread shape humanity betrayed,
Plundered, profaned, and disinherited,
Cries protest to the Powers that made the world.
A protest that is also a prophecy.

O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,

Is this the handiwork you give to God,
This monstrous thing distorted and soul-quenched?
How will you ever straighten up this shape;
Touch it again with immortality;
Give back the upward looking and the light;
Rebuild in it the music and the dream,
Make right the immemorial infamies,
Perfidious wrongs, immedicable woes?
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A. How Much Do You Understand?
1. Who is the main character in the poem?
__________________________________________________________

2. How does the poet describe him?

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

3. What is meant by “What to him are Plato and the swing of Pleiades” ?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

4. Explain the meaning of “a brother to the ox.”

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

5. What two classes of people are mentioned in the poem?

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

6. Who is being addressed by the poet in “The Man with the Hoe”?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

7. Who are responsible on the situation of the man in the poem?

____________________________________________________________

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 ____________________________________________________________

8. What does the bent body of the man with the hoe signify?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

What’s More

1. If you were the man in the poem, how would you improve your present
condition?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
____

2. What agency/department in the government can give assistance to the

least fortunate individuals?
______________________________________________________________
__
______________________________________________________________
__

What I Have Learned

Directions: In 3-5 sentences, answer the following questions:

1. How do you view other people?

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2. How do circumstances affect man’s behavior?

What I Can Do

As a student, what can you do to help alleviate the lives of the people
especially those who are in the threshold level (janitors, farmers, fishermen,
and laborers)? Write your answer on the box below.

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Summary

Directions: Complete the following statements based on your understanding

of the poem “The Man with the Hoe.”

1. The first stanza tells us that the life of the farmer is

_________________ because
__________________________________________________

2. In the second stanza, God created man to

________________________
________________________________________________________
__

3. Third stanza explains that the farmer suffers because of

_____________
________________________________________________________
__

4. In the fourth stanza, the poet demands the masters, lords and rulers to
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
____

5. The poet in the last stanza mentions “Future.” It means that the cruel
masters will
________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
__

Assessment: (Post-Test)

Directions: Read and identify the theme of every given situation below.
Choose your answers from the words inside the box. Write the word of your
choice on the blank provided for before each number.

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 hopelessness felicitation war poverty gratefulness
despair peace irony authority self-reliant

_____________ 1. As soon as the clock struck 12 at noon, the jubilations

started. It travelled from East to West on the first day of the year.

____________ 2. The immigrant looked around to talk to somebody, but

could find no one who spoke his language. He felt claustrophobic and
desolate.

____________ 3. Only the laborers were working on Labor Day.

____________ 4. The politician was delivering his speech on the need for
peace between two neighboring states. He said that through peace, they
could achieve what is not possible through war.

_____________________ 5. The general commanded his troops to open fire at the

enemy
and kill each soldier of the combatants.

_____________ 6. “To have dominion over the seas and the land; to trace the
stars and search the heaven for power.”

_____________ 7.“Bowed by the weight of centuries he lean; Upon his hoe

and
gazes on the ground, The emptiness of ages in his face, And on his back the
burden of the world.”

_____________ 8. “I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my

supplications.”

_____________ 9. Children who live in the poorest urban communities

experience lack of decent housing, are exposed to dangers from disasters,
have limited access to clean water, and are more prone to neglect, abuse and
exploitation.

_____________ 10. As a young teen, Riz does not enjoy as much as other
teenagers would. Her weekends are spent on looking for work. On Saturdays,
she washes clothes of a relative and she volunteers weeding at a neighbor’s
garden.

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 Key to Answers

What I Know
1. poetry 4. theme 7. assonance 10. Stanza
2. imagery 5. rhythm 8. metaphor
3. speaker 6. alliteration 9. symbol

What’s In

1. E 3. A 5. C 7. B
2. A 4. D 6. F

What’s New

Task 1. No. It requires hard labor.

Task 2. (Writing)
Task 3.
a. a hoe
b. he is tired and exhausted, not happy, and wears clothe for farming
c. no trees, no plants, the soil is dry
d. resting by holding the hoe with two hands
e. thinking of his misfortune, how he could end his sufferings

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 What Is It
Vocabulary

1. A 4. I 7. E 10. H
2. D 5. J 8. F
3. G 6. B 9. C

How Much Do You Understand

1. the farmer
2. as the least fortunate person, having pitiful condition, not happy and
exhausted
3. Plato (Greek Mathematician and Philosopher) represents education.
Pleiades represents the seven ladies turned into stars in Greek methodology.
The farmer has no chance to have education nor to think on astronomy.
4. He has to work very hard, exploited by his masters like the ox being abused
by its master.
5. Class of the laborers or workers in the farm and class of the landlords or
masters who dehumanized the farmers.
6. The farm workers or the laborers
7. The landowners or his masters
8. The man exerts too much strength or does labor beyond his strength in
working at the farm.

What’s More
(Answers vary.)

What I Have Learned

(Answers vary.)

What I Can Do
(Paragraph)

Summary
(Answers vary.)

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Assessment

1. felicitation 4. peace 7. despair

2. irony 5. war 8. gratefulness
3. hopelessness 6. authority 9. poverty
10. self-reliant

References

Book

Almonte, Liza R.et.al. A Journey Through Anglo-American Literature English 9

Learner’s Material. Philippines: Vibal Group, Inc. 2014.

Internet

“Definition and Examples of Literary Terms.” June 27, 2019.

https://literarydevices.net/theme/

“Study Guide. The Man With the Hoe.” June 5, 2020.

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/topic/man-with-hoe

“Teacher Essentials.” https://www.educationworld.com/a-lesson/Theme-of-a-

poem

“The Man With the Hoe.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_with_the_Hoe

https://www.merriam-webster.com/

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 For inquiries and feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – Division of Iligan City

Office Address: General Aguinaldo, St., Iligan City
Telefax: (063)221-6069
E-mail Address: iligan.city@deped.gov.ph

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