21ST-WEEK1.docx PDF - Literature and Society

  Study the picture below, then answer the following question. Noli Me Tangere Facsimile 1\. Who is the author of the Novel? 2\. What are the issues tackled in the novel? 3\. What are the other famous novels do you know? 4\. Wha t is the importance...

  Study the picture below, then answer the following question. Noli Me Tangere Facsimile 1\. Who is the author of the Novel? 2\. What are the issues tackled in the novel? 3\. What are the other famous novels do you know? 4\. Wha t is the importance of novels in understanding the history of the society?  **LITERATURE AND SOCIETY** **According to Manal Ismail,** literature has a significant effect when it comes to society\'s development. The fact that reading literature takes more time and effort for the reader to understand is part of its advantage; this process creates empathy and helps students understand different perspectives and conflicts (Ismail, 2008). Ahlem Moledina, in an essay titled **\"Does Literature Change Anything?\"** quotes Roland Barthes, \"Literature is the question minus the answer.\" Discussing Barthes further, Moledina writes about how literature does not only capture reality, but also how literature can change reality (2018). **BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE** - **Dr. Jose Rizal** -- Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda. - Born June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna - Died December 30, 1896 - Patriot, Physician, and a man of letters who was an inspiration to the nationalist movement. - **El Filibusterismo (1891)** - a sequel of Noli Me Tangere. Published in Ghent, Belgium. - "The Reign of Greed" - **Noli Me Tangere -- *"Touch me not"*** Latin version phrase spoken. - Written in Spanish - The genre of the novel (picaresque, epistolatory, gothic, romantic, realist and historical.) - Fiction - **The Social Cancer --** Original Title of Noli Me Tangere - Published in Berlin, Germany in 1887. - A sweeping and passionate unmasking of the brutality and corruption of Spanish rule in the Philippines. (1565 -- 1898) **GINA APOSTOL** - Is a novelist who was born in Manila, grew up in Leyte, and lives in New York City. - Her third novel, *Gun Dealers' Daughter* won the 013 PEN/Open Book Award was shortlisted for the 2014 Saroyan International Prize. - Her first two novels, **Bibliolepsy** (University of the Philippines Press) and ***The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata***, both won the Philippine National Book Award for Fiction, also known as **Juan Laya Prize for the Best Novel** - In Gina Apostol\'s novel, \"The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata\", the \"revolutionary act of reading\" is explored through the eyes of a young man, a high school student from Ateneo. The novel actually highlights the difference between history and fiction. Reading makes you imagine what it would have been like to be alive during those heady days of revolution. In this novel, he reads the book \"Noli Me Tangere\" by Jose Rizal, which was given to him by his friend, Father Gaspar, a Filipino priest. To orient ourselves with the perspective of how fiction can influence history, please read the part where he reads the novel and describes the response of Philippine society, and then answer the **Guide Questions** on the next page. **THE REVOLUTION ACCORDING TO RAYMUNDO MATA** It was bolt- a thunder bolt. A rain of bricks, a lightning zap. A pummeling of mountains, a heaving, violent storm at sea- a whiplash. A typhoon, an earthquake. The end of the world. And I was in ruins. It struck me dumb. It changed my life and the world was new when I was done. And when I raised myself from bed two days later, I thought; it's only a novel. If I ever met him, what would my lie be? I lay back in bed. But what a novel! And I curse him, the writer- what was his name -- for doing what I hadn't done, for putting my world into words before I even had the sense to know what the world was. That was his triumph - he'd laid out a trail, and all we had to do was follow in his wake. Even then, I already felt the bitter envy, the acid retch of the latecomer artist, the one who will always be under the influence by mere chronology, always slightly suspect, a borrower, never lender be. After him, all Filipinos are tardy ingrates. What is the definition of art? Art is a reproach to those who receive it. That was his curse upon us all. I was weak, as if drugged. I realized: I hadn't eaten in two days. Then I got out of bed and boiled Barako for me. Later I was all the rage in the coffee shops, in the bazaars of Binondo. People did not even hide it- crowds of men, and not just students, not just boys, some women even, with their violent fans- gesticulating in public, throwing up their hands, putting up fists in debate. Put your knuckles where our mouth is. We were loud, obstreperous, heedless. We were literary critics. We were cantankerous: rude and raving. Ad no matter on which side you were, with the crown or with the infidels, Spain or spolarium, all of us, each one, seemed revitalized by spleen, hatched from the wombs of long, venomous silence. And yes, suddenly a world opened up to me, after the novel, to which before I had been blind. \*\*\* Still, I rushed into other debates, for instance with Benigno and Agapito, who had now moved into my rooms. Remembering Father Gaspar's cryptic injunction - "throw it away to someone else," so that in this manner the book traveled rapidly in those dark days of its first printing, now so nostalgically glorious, though then I had no clue that these were historic acts, the act of reading, or that the book would become such a collector's item, or otherwise I would have wrapped it in the parchment and sealed it for the highest bidder, what the hell, I only knew holding the book could ever likely constitute a glorious crime- in short, I lent it to Benigno. 1. Why did the Noli Me Tangere have such a big impression on the narrator? Could you relate to the narrator's experience of reading? Why or why not? 2. Have you ever felt the same about a book that you had heard? What book was it? Why did it leave such a huge impression on you? 3. What does the line "Art is a reproach to those who receive it" mean? Should art be a reproach? Should we relate art to society? Explain your views. 4. When you read about how so many people were affected by the Noli Me Tangere, what was your reaction? Do you think a book can ever elicit such a strong response from the Philippines? 5. When the narrator says that the act of reading was a historic act, what did he mean? Do you think this is true even today? **LITERARY THEORIES AND 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE** The novel, **\"The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata\"**, plays on postmodern theories about **metafiction** and **historiographical metafiction**. 1. **Metafiction** is when the reader is conscious of the craft of literature because the author makes the reader more aware of the way literature is written. Usually, literature is written in a way that the narrative is seamless, and the readers feel that they are in a closed world created by the author. Metafiction, on the other hand, is when the author deliberately sets out to disturb this closed world by reminding the reader that these characters are figments of the imagination, that these plot points can go one way or another and by using other similar strategies. It is fiction about the constructed nature of fiction. 2. **Historiographical Metafiction** is when the author makes the reader aware of the constructed nature of fiction, as well as, the constructed nature of history. In the same way that metafiction seeks to make the readers conscious of how the story they are reading is something that came from the author\'s imagination, historiographical metafiction seeks to make the reader understand what the narratives found in history, as well as those found in current events, are narratives that are constructed in the same way that fiction is constructed. Although based on an actual occurrence that happened in the real world, because history is a written (and therefore, constructed) narrative, it can cover up certain facts, silence certain perspectives, and give biased appreciations of the said event. Write a short essay entitled "Readers and Society Today." Try to answer the following questions. - Is reading still important activity today? Why or why not? - Is the experience of reading literature more important than googling information on the internet? Why or why not? **Reflection Paper** - Write a reflection paper about the novel and what it says about stories, histories, and patriots in the Philippines. Connect what you have read and discussed about the novel to current events and your appreciation of Philippine history. Use what was learned in the articles you have read, and ensure that there is correct accreditation and documentation. The reflection paper should be around two to three pages long, double-spaced, and written on a short bond paper. The font should either be Times New Roman or Arial, font 12, with a one-inch margin in all sides.  - In a short bond paper, create a poster showing the relationship between reading and revolution in the past and the importance of reading and society in the present day. In the accompanying text under the poster, write your insights about the importance of reading and nurturing a nation of readers. - Using a chart, compare the role of Noli Me Tangere during the Spanish time and the role of Noli Me Tangere in the present time. - Draw a conclusion about the significant/impact of literature through times.