LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET IN 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
FROM THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD
Worksheet No. 6, Quarter 1
Learner’s Name: ________________________________________________
Strand/Track/Section:________________________________________________
Date: ________________________________________________
I. LEARNING SKILLS
A. Most Essential Learning Competency
Discuss how different contexts enhance the text’s meaning and enrich the
readers’ understanding.
B. Objectives
1. Determine the steps in identifying literary theme.
2. Identify the theme of a literary piece; and
3. Reflect on a current issue.
II. LEARNING SKILLS
Literary works are used to entertain, to teach a moral lesson, to convey
meaning, or more importantly, to make the reader aware of some aspects of
the human conditions. Through literature, you may creatively share your ideas
and express themes that are timeless and universal.
21st century learners like you use literature to express lofty sentiments
and deep feelings but, in this activity, you will also use it to communicate
reactions to current issues.
The Literary Element of Theme
Theme is:
the central, underlying, and controlling idea or insight of a work of
literature.
the idea the writer wishes to convey about the subject—the writer’s
view of the world or a revelation about human nature.
Theme is NOT:
expressed in a single word
the purpose of a work
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the moral
the conflict
Identifying the Theme in Five Steps
To identify the theme, be sure that you’ve first identified the story’s plot,
the way the story uses characterization, and the primary conflict in the story.
Use these steps to determine the theme for a work:
1. Summarize the plot by writing a one-sentence description for the exposition,
the conflict, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution.
2. Identify the subject of the work.
3. Identify the insight or truth that was learned about the subject.
• How did the protagonist change?
• What lesson did the protagonist learn from the resolution of the conflict?
4. State how the plot presents the primary insight or truth about the subject.
5. Write one or more generalized, declarative sentences that state what was
learned and how it was learned.
(https://www.facebook.com/thoughtcodotcom, 2019)
(“Identifying Theme Examples,” 2020)
Example:
A fifteen-year-old boy in an American suburban high school, who has not
made the basketball team, knows the experience of disappointment, but so
does a seventy-year-old grandmother whose family does not come home for
the holidays. Each character’s story might detail the events of how they move
from disappointment to contentment. These stories have a similar theme. Even
though the details of the story are expressed differently, either scenario could
express the theme of overcoming disappointment and hurt – yet, each in a
unique way.
Could you connect with either of these characters? Why? Get into the
habit of asking how and why questions as you move through the details of a
literary selection.
Furthermore, certain themes can be understood by people regardless of
age, gender, geography, or culture. This commonality makes them universal.
Universal themes developed in a story, poem, or play ultimately expand the
reader’s knowledge of being human by the expression of experiences through
different perspectives.
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Common themes can include: loneliness, oppression, repression,
transformation, good versus evil, struggle and accomplishment, death, rebirth,
initiation, redemption, and free will.
With a specific purpose in mind, the author carefully crafts themes using
literary tools. By employing literary tools, the author embeds the theme or
meaning into separate elements that make up the totality of the literary piece.
Some of the most common tools of the author’s craft are: character
development, setting, mood, plot, point of view, figurative language,
allegory, symbolism, and irony.
A poet might additionally use: alliteration, metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia,
personification, rhyme, and repetition.
The careful examination of these tools is a part of literary analysis. You
have to observe how the tools are being used individually, and by critically
thinking about how they relate to one another to construct the expression of
theme, you have to push beneath the surface details to discover the literature’s
deeper meaning.
Just as a scientist examines a specimen to prove a hypothesis, the
literary analyst has a thesis to prove. Like a scientist who methodically
examines separate aspects of a specimen such as its appearance, movements,
and responses to environmental factors, you are expected to make careful
observations of the individual parts of a literary piece. This examination takes
time and concentrated effort.
To uncover themes and meanings, you have to begin the analysis by
making verifiable observations, like a scientist, through careful reading.
Observations that are verifiable are those that can be pointed out and agreed
upon by others. These observations are the raw data of literary analysis; they
are objective facts. Objective facts are the third person accounts that indicate
who is doing what in the story or poem. They establish the when; they confirm
the where. They recognize interesting key words and repetitions. They record
character dialogue, and they note specific devices used by the poet. Keep in
mind that the author made a decision about each of these objective elements.
Your role as a reader/analyst is to determine why these creative decisions were
specifically made.
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At the same time, it is very important that you pay attention to the
personal thoughts and emotional reactions that surface when you are reading
the details of the poem/story. This type of information is subjective. Subjective
information arises while experiencing the literature. Subjective information is
the thoughtful first person “I think, I feel, I know” responses that come from your
background of knowledge and personal experience as the reader. These
subjective responses are valuable for making initial critical connections to the
details within the author’s work.
Your probing “I wonder why” questions initiate from subjective
responses. Just like the tendency to focus only on surface details – don’t make
the mistake of only reporting your subjective impressions, reactions, and
opinions. To conduct a thorough analysis which results in the identification of
themes – surface details, subjective information, objective data, and inferences
must all be reintegrated to reveal the big picture of theme and deeper meaning.
Why are themes important?
Themes are the central focus of literary works. Themes express the
intended lesson, conclusion, message, or point of view of the author. Themes
connect all the parts of the story such as characters, plot, problem (conflict),
setting and events. A theme keeps the writer on point
Sources:
(n.d.). Identifying Themes and Literary Analysis. Retrieved from
https://www.bucks.edu/media/bcccmedialibrary/tutoring/documents/writingareahandoutrevision/literature
/Identifying-themes.pdf
(“(1) Why are themes important in a story? - Quora,” 2014)
III. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
A. Practice Tasks
Task 1
Read the poem originally written by a Bicolano writer, Marigrace D.
Carretero, Professor at Sorsogon State College, Sorsogon City.
DROWNED
by Marigrace D. Carretero
1The stone fell
2 Into the deep well
3 It gasped for breath
4 As its tough fall.
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5 Have you ever felt that?
6When you lost hope?
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Drowned in a spring that overflows
8 Beside the falls that’s really cold.
9 Don’t be sad
10 For though you’re in the situation,
11 Someone will draw water in a little while,
12 Someone will help you.
13 Hold on as the pail falls
14 So you can breathe after drowning in the deep.
Marigrace Despi Carretero is an Associate Professor at
Sorsogon State College, Sorsogon City.
She was awarded the Most Outstanding Teacher of
Sorsogon in 2016 during the search for Outstanding
Teachers by the Escudero Foundation. She published
research works and articles on sociolinguistics, poems and
stories. She is currently writing her Ph D. dissertations in
language Education at the University of the Philippines,
Diliman.
Comprehension Check
Please answer the questions below to test how you understood the poem.
You can go back to the important details or information you have highlighted while
reading it.
1. What object is being referred to in the poem? What happened to it?
2. What figure of speech is used in the poem?
3. What is meant by the lines:
“Drowned in a spring that overflows
Beside the falls that’s really cold”?
4. What feeling is evoked in the aforementioned lines?
5. How did the author give hope to the fallen stone?
6. Give the theme that encapsulates the poem.
7. What reality in life is being fostered by lines 10-12?
8. Compare yourself to the stone. Have you also had a tough fall? Share how you
were able to overcome it.
9. Have you been drowned or submerged into a thing or a situation? How were
you able to pull yourself?
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Tasks 2: Take the Steps
Though you already determined the theme of the poem “Drowned”, let us see
if you were able to use the steps in identifying the theme. Please apply the
following steps to the poem:
1. Summarize the plot by writing a one-sentence description for the
exposition, the conflict, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and
the resolution.
2. Identify the subject of the work.
3. Identify the insight or truth that was learned about the subject.
4. State how the plot presents the primary insight or truth about the subject.
5. Write one or more generalized, declarative sentences that state what was
learned.
B. Assessment
Read and understand each poem carefully and determine its theme.
BETWEEN ODDS
by Roy D. Frayna
(Translated by Justn Belleza)
1 Life indeed, as what they say
2 has gloomy and merry days
3 tiresome it is with all the blues
4 dreary it is with all the bliss
5 better
trace the center
6 where polarities pull each other
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one sees and feels both perspectives
8 comprehending the toppled and upside-down
9 at twilight
10 when light fades to darkness
11 during
deep sleep
12 where consciousness turns to slumber
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13 in the midst of the flow and the ebb
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the eyes rejoicingly watched
15 and the nose overwhelmed
16 the life behind is celebrated
17 in the time of departing
18 whilst being taken
19 to the next destination.
Poster Making
As a 21st century learner, you are inclined in expressing your thoughts not
only through words but also through arts. Your next task will highlight your skill
in poster making! You are to draw/illustrate through a poster the theme of the
poem “Drowned” connecting its message to the current situation we are
experiencing. I know you will enjoy it! Make sure you follow the following rubric:
40% Concept Relatedness
40% Creativity
20% Neatness
100% Total
Show Relationship
Your next task is to write a blog entry about the poem. In the blog entry,
include the following: why you liked the poem; how it made you feel; and relate
its theme to the current situation we are in amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
You may post your blog in your facebook account.
The following rubric for the blog entry should be the following:
50% Content
20% Language
20% Organization
10% Mechanics
100% Total
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IV. REFERENCES
Uychocho, Marikit Tara A. 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the
World. 2016.
Tayao, Ma. Lourdes G, et. al. 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and
the World. 2017
Unpublished Works:
Carretero, Marigarce. Kuskos Lapis: Mga Tula ni Marigrace Despi Carretero.
Jetomo, Frances Grace. Literary Merits Reflected in Sorsoganon Poetry:
Basis for Lesson Exemplars Development in Teaching 21st Century
Literature. Unpublished thesis. 2019
Detera, Rosalie D. “The Moon Tree Leaf”
Online Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/thoughtcodotcom. (2019). How to Identify the Theme in a Work
of Literature. Retrieved March 30, 2021, from ThoughtCo website:
https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-identify-book-theme-739101
Identifying Theme Examples. (2020). Retrieved March 30, 2021, from Softschools.com
website:
https://www.softschools.com/examples/literary_terms/identifying_theme_examples/42
5/
Why are themes important in a story? - Quora. (2014). Retrieved March 30, 2021, from
Quora.com website: https://www.quora.com/Why-are-themes-important-in-a-
story#:~:text=Themes%20are%20the%20%20%20%20%20%20central%20focus,%2C%20a
nd%20event(s).&text=A%20theme%20keeps%20the%20writer%20on%20point.
Prepared by:
KATHERINE G. FRIVALDO, Teacher III, Rizal IS, SDO Sorsogon City
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Quality Assured by:
ANNE E. MANCIA, Assistant Principal II, Sorsogon NHS, SDO Sorsogon City
CLEOFE D. ARIOLA, EPS, Sorsogon City
Reviewed by:
ANTHONY R. PARLERO PhD, Master I, Bula NHS, SDO Cam. Sur
EFREN C. BOGAYAN, Master Teacher I, Pili NHS, SDO Cam. Sur
Validated by:
FE F. PERALTA, Principal II, Bula NHS, SDO Cam. Sur
ANGUSTIA P. ORAA, Principal I, Visita de Salog HS, SDO Cam. Sur
PRECIOSA R. DELA VEGA, EPS-I, SDO Cam. Sur
Illustrator/Layout Artist:
MARY JANE S. SAN AGUSTIN, T-II, Fundado ES, SDO Cam. Sur
