Eng Ed 223

• Intended Learning Outcomes: At the end of this chapter, the students are expected to:
• Viktor Shklovsky (1917) claims in his essay ''Art as Technique'' that literature's main goal is to defamiliarize or make the familiar seem odd


  1. It makes the reader see reality from a different angle

  2. Readers may find this disconcerting as they are used to established worldviews

  3. Literature gives the reader a fresh perspective on the world by encouraging them to consider it weird

  4. Unfamiliarity produces fresh thoughts
• Literature allows a person to step back in time and learn about life on Earth from those who walked before us


  1. We can gather a better understanding of culture and have a greater appreciation of them

  2. We learn through the ways history is recorded, in the forms of manuscripts and through speech itself
• Defamiliarization


  A term used in literary analysis and criticism to explore differences between literature and reality
• Empathy and understanding are fostered by literature
• Reading literature enhances one's ability to read others' minds, or the theory of mind
• Philippine literature reflects a diverse group of works grounded on traditional folktales, socio-political histories, and real-life experiences
• Significant works in the Philippines are written in

  • Spanish
  • Tagalog
  • English
  • Other Philippine languages
• Literature


  Refers to writings that are specifically regarded as artistic genres, including prose fiction, drama, and poetry
• Literature can serve social, psychological, spiritual, or political purposes in addition to functioning as a means of conserving knowledge and providing amusement
• The story of Philippine English has its historical origins in the US intervention of 1898
• American teachers arrived in the Philippines toward the end of the Philippine-American War
• The first teachers in the Philippines were known as the 'Thomasites' and arrived as early as 1901
• By 1921, 91 percent of all teachers in the Philippines were native-born Filipinos
• US army transport ship Thomas arrived as early as 1901 and were soon dispersed throughout the islands
• Gonzalez: 'almost from the beginning, Filipinos learned English from Filipinos and the seeds of what we now call Philippine English began'
• The census report noted that around 47 percent of the population claimed to speak English, and 55.6 percent claimed the ability to read and write the language

  1918
• Official American involvement in the teaching of English persisted until the outbreak of war with the Japanese

  1941
• By 1941, around 27 percent of the population in the Philippines claimed to be able to speak English
• The rapid spread of the English language in the Philippines was unprecedented in colonial history
• In the post-independence era after 1946, English was retained as an official language in government and education, but was increasingly used alongside the national language
• Philippine English began to develop as a 'variety' of English in its own right, associated with a distinct accent, a localized vocabulary, and even a body of creative writing by Philippine writers in English
• Literature

  Derived from the Latin term “litera” which means letter
• True literature is a piece of written work which is undying. It expresses the feelings and emotions of people in response to his everyday efforts to live, to be happy in his environment and, after struggles, to reach his Creator
• Literature with a capital "L" is writing that is inventive, especially literature of recognized artistic value
• Literature with a lowercase "l" is everyday literature, literature not of lasting value
• Literature deemed creative literature even if it contains certain flaws as long as it substantially satisfies certain requirements
• Literature with a lowercase "l"

  Everyday literature, not of lasting value
• Examples of literature with a lowercase "l"

  • Cookbooks
  • Diet and travel magazines and books
  • Technical journals
  • TV or billboard ads
• Functions of lowercase "l" literary works

  • Amuse or distract
  • Inform about current events
  • Kill time
  • Present impersonal and objective facts about the universe
• Lowercase "l" literary works may be creative or artistically valuable, but they do not imaginatively communicate concepts of lasting and universal significance
• Characteristics of Literature

  • Enduring
  • Expression
  • Significant
  • Human
  • Experience
  • Words well-chosen and arranged
• Literature uses special words, structure, and characteristics
• The language of literature differs from ordinary language in three ways: concentrated and meaningful, gives a sense of pleasure, demands intense concentration from readers
• Literature suggests that the language used is original, of high quality, creative, and enjoyable
• History and literature

  Intertwined in important ways
• Literature is the written expression of thoughts, hopes, traditions, and practices of a people
• Literature may contain figments of the author's imagination or untrue stories
• Literature includes history, which can be written
• Literary compositions that have influenced the world

  • The Bible or the Sacred Writings
  • Koran
  • The Iliad and the Odyssey
  • The Mahabharata
  • Canterbury Tales
  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin
  • The Divine Comedy
  • El Cid Compeador
  • The Song of Roland
  • The Book of the Dead
  • The Book of the Days
  • One Thousand and One Nights or The Arabian Nights