THE CREATIVE WORK IN THE LITERARY AND/OR

SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT
By now, you must have learned that literature is multi-dimensional as it encompasses many
aspects of society such as its culture, beliefs, and ideology. This is so because its creator, the
creative person, writes from specific experiences and contexts.

It has been emphasized by our previous lessons that appreciating a creative work, most
especially works of literature, entails a skill that may be developed through repeated experience
and constant practice. Moreover, this regular savouring of the beauty of literary works can be
taken to another level when you want to partake in the enlightening critical conversations among
your teachers and fellow students about works of literature especially the ones that tackle issues
found in your society.

To develop this skill, you must learn a few critical approaches that you can use to interpret
literature. Some of these have been used in our previous analysis on poetry, fiction, and
drama/play. To make sure that you will be able to use these approaches in our succeeding
lessons, we will discuss some commonly used ones taken from the book of Habib (2008).

After each definition and description, sample questions are given as guide questions in
analyzing a piece of literature using a particular critical approach. Finally, sample literary pieces
that can be analyzed through the lens of the previously discussed critical approach are also
enumerated.

Common Critical Approaches in Analyzing Literary Pieces

A. Cultural Studies–Cultural Studies is a multi-disciplinary approach which includes the

perspectives of humanistic disciplines such as literature and art and the social and
behavioral sciences such as anthropology, economics, and psychology.

As a critical perspective, it contests the older definition of culture and looks not at the stable
coherences of a society or a civilization’s history but its dissensions and conflicts.

Sample Critical Question:

 What kinds of gender identify, behavior, and attitudes are reflected in the
work?
 Is there any overtly or covertly expressed view of same-sex unions or
relationships?

Literary pieces that can be studied using Cultural Studies include the following:
1. Blue Blood of the Big Astana by Ibrahim Jubaira
2. Surveyors of the Liguasan Marsh by Antonio Enriquez
3. We Filipinos Are Mild Drinkers by Alejandro Roces

B. New Historical Perspectives– New Historical Perspective is an approach in studying

literature which provides a context or background information on how literary works were
perceived in their time. This approach also shows how literary works reflect ideas and
attitudes of the time in which they were written. A newer approach, New Historicism, still
considers the contexts of literary works but this time emphasizes on analyzing historical
documents with the same amount of interest afforded to the literary works to be interpreted.

Sample Critical Question:

How do power relations reflected in the literary work manifest themselves in the
cultural practices and social institutions prevalent during the time the work was
written and published?
 Literary pieces that can be studied using the New Historical Perspectives/ New Historicism
include the following:

1. Samboangan: The Cult of Warby Antonio R. Enriquez

2. Spots on Their Wings by Antonio R. Enriquez
3. Cave and Shadows by Nick Joaquin

C. Marxist Perspective–Marxist Perspective is an approach that examines literature for its

reflections of how dominant elites exploit subordinate groups, how people become
“alienated” from each other, and how middle class values lead to the control and
suppression of the working classes. It sees literature’s value in promoting social and
economic revolution and considers the literary work as a “product” in relation to the actual
economic and social conditions that exist at the time of the work’s composition or the time
and place of the action it describes.

Sample Critical Question:

To what extent are the lives of the characters influenced or determined by

the social, political, and economic forces?

Literary pieces that can be studied using the Marxist Perspectives include the following:
1. Progress by F. Sionel Jose
2. Dhowli by Mahasweta Devi
3. Poor Folk by I.V. Mallari

D. Feminist Perspective–Feminist Perspective is an approach that typically sees literature as

an arena in which to contest for power and control and thus an agent for social
transformation. Like Historicism and Marxism, this approach also examines the social,
economic, and cultural aspects of literary works especially for what those works reveal
about the role, position, and influence of women.
Sample Critical Question:
Literary pieces that can be studied using the Feminist Perspectives include
How are the relations between men and women, or those between
the following:
members of the opposite sex, presented in the work? What roles do men and
women 1.assume and perform
“The Wedding Dance”and
bywith whatDaguio
Amador consequence?
2. “The Virgin” by KerimaTuvera
3. “I’m Wife” by Emily Dickinson

ORIENTATIONS OF CREATIVE WRITING

Creative writing is a different genre of writing. When writing under this genre, it is essential
that you learn its different orientations. To understand this topic better, recall the craft of a creative
writer. To give you a clearer idea, let us go back to our definition of creative writing first.

Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional,
journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on
narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes or with various traditions of
poetry and poetics.

The creative works that we have been analyzing in this subject are all products of this craft
that we will learn in this part of our lesson. Laminack (2007) and Ray (1999) who referred to craft
to it as the art of writing. Specifically, the writer’s intentional use of the following to create an
effect on the reader:
  Figurative language
 Snapshots/imagery/details
 Thoughtshots
 Word choice/word placement
 Sound/dialogue
 Sentence structure/stylistic devices
 Text features
 Text structure

The following are the categories of craft:

1. Word Craft –This category refers to the usage of words in a text such as the following:
 Language – Refers to the use of spoken and written words as a communication system
 Word choice – Refers to the use of words and expressions in appropriate contexts
 Vivid verbs – Refers to the use of action words that can be visually seen and
concretized by the readers such as saying “The man beamed” instead of saying “The
man was happy”
 Imagery – Refers to the use of figurative language in literature that appeals
to the human senses such “The starry night looked beautiful”
 Details – Refers to a particular item of information including descriptive and illustrative
ones that support an idea or contribute to an overall impression of a written work
2. Structural Craft –This category refers to the construction of sentences and paragraphs to
form a cohesive whole. Structural craft includes the following features:
 Text structure – Refers to the system of constructing a written work
 Paragraph type - Refers to how paragraphs are organized according to the writer’s
purpose such as narrative, expository, argumentative, and descriptive
 Transitional device – Refers to the use of words and phrases to show transition of ideas
in a paragraph to show contrast, addition, example, and comparison such as in addition
to, furthermore, on the other hand, and on the contrary
 Parallel structure – Refers to the use of words and phrases having the same
grammatical structure joined by a connector such as in the garden and in the backyard
 Repetition – Refers to the repetition of a word, phrase, or clause for emphasis such as
“and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep”
 Page lay-out – Refers to how a certain page is designed using graphics,
textual designs, and other visual appeal to create an effect to the reader
3. Audible Craft–This category refers to how sound devices are used in a text. This includes
the following:
 Alliteration – Refers to the use of similar consonant sound at the beginning of a word in
a literary work such as “whither wilt thou wander”
 Assonance – Refers to the repetition of vowel sounds such as “rise high in the bright
sky”
 Onomatopoeia – Refers to the formation or use of words that imitate the sound of
something such as “the bell buzzed, clanged, and tinkled”
 Rhythm – Refers to the pattern formed by stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry
 Cadence – Refers to the beat of measure of something that follows a set rhythm
 Hard and soft sounds – Refers to the texture of sounds that relates to the auditory
impact that it produces to the reader such as the sound of lightning compared to the
sound of a baby’s laughter
4. Visual Craft–This category refers to the use of visual features and includes the following:
 Print Features – Refers to the mechanics on how texts are printed such as setting texts
inbold and italics, choosing fontstyles and sizes, choice of color, and use of punctuation
marks
 Line breaks - Refers to the spacing of lines/paragraphs in a page
 White space – Refers to the area of a page where there are no texts or images
 Graphics - Refers to the use of pictures, illustrations, charts, maps, and other diagrams
in a page
 CRAFT ESSAY
Another genre of literature aside from poetry, drama, and short story are the essays. The
word essay came from the French word “essais” (Cantular, 2011). Have you written an
autobiography before? How about writing on your embarrassing or unforgettable experience? Or,
your new years’ resolution as soon you came back to school from the Christmas holiday?
An essay can be written by you on almost any subject reflecting your attempts to express
your experiences, ideas, and feelings about whatever topic you are writing on. An essay may be
written creatively especially the ones that are reflections of a writer’s personal experience,
feelings, and ideas. It uses ordinary, colloquial language and is conversational in tone and style. It
considers the following acronym to make it effective:

• Content • Format
• Role • Topic
• Audience
There are different kinds of essays. According to Cantular (2011), essays are classified into
its content and purpose. Here are the tyoes of essays:
1. Speculative – This type needs to explore ideas and feelings. It is less organized, less
authoritative, and less insistent in its presentation for it simply projects the mind of the
writer.
2. Argumentative – This essay presents claims and ideas in a straightforward manner. Its
main intent is to establish a point by supporting it with evidences, data, and information.
3. Narrative – This essay relates an incident as it happened. It is unlike fiction since its
intention is the conveyance of idea/insight based on an event.
4. Expository – This essay has the purpose of expounding and making something clear for
the readers.

Just like any other prose composition, essays can be organized in the following patterns or
methods of organization.
A. Chronological order – A chronological pattern of organization arranges information
according to a progression of time, either forward or backward. When a topic is best
understood in terms of different segments of time, a chronological format works well. For
example, topics of an historical nature are best organized using this pattern.
B. Order of importance – In this order, ideas or steps are prioritized by the writer or speaker
according to a hierarchy of value. When using the order of importance pattern of
organization, information can be structured from most important to least important or least
important to most important.
C. Sequential order - A sequential pattern of organization is similar to a chronological pattern,
but arranges information according to a step-by-step sequence that describes a particular
process. When one wishes to describe a process that follows specific series of steps in a
particular order, then a sequential pattern works well. For example, suppose a writer's
stated purpose is to explain how wine is made.
D. Spatial order - A spatial pattern of organization arranges information according to how
things fit together in physical space; i.e., where one thing exists in relation to another. This
pattern works well when a writer wishes to create a mental picture of something which has
various parts distinguished by physical location. Topics involving geography, for example,
are often best organized using a spatial pattern.
E. Comparison and contrast order - A compare and contrast pattern arranges information
according to how two or more things are similar to or different from one another (or both).
This is an effective pattern to use when the reader can better understand one subject when
it is described in relation to another. If the reader is familiar with one topic, the writer can
compare or contrast it with another topic to shed insight on it. For example, suppose a
writer's stated purpose is to help the reader make an informed decision about whether to
attend a two-year college or a four-year university.