SHS

21st Century Literature from the

Philippines and the World
Quarter 1 Module 3: Lesson 4
Point of View
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Quarter 1 Module 3 Lesson 4

MELC 3: Discuss how different contexts enhance the text’s meaning and enrich the
reader’s understanding
Specific Objectives:
1. Identify pieces of writing written in first, second and third person point of view;
2. Extract what type of persona and point of view is used in a text;
3. Construct a short literary piece in a specific persona and point of view.

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work
of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government
agency or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of
such work for profit. Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a
condition the payment of royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names,
trademarks, etc.) included in this book are owned by their respective copyright
holders. Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these
materials from their respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not
represent nor claim ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education

Regional Director: Gilbert T. Sadsad
Assistant Regional Director: Jessie L. Amin
:

Development Team
Sorsogon City Division
Author: Ma. Luisa C. Duran
Teacher III, Rizal Integrated School
Editors: Emily D. Dolot and Anne E. Mancia
MT II, SNHS Asst. Principal, SNHS Senior High School
Reviewers: Cleofe D. Ariola and Albay Division (headed by Mai Anne D.
Rondola)
EPS English
 I. Introduction

As twenty-first century learners, you live in an era wherein digital stories that
come in films are more patronized than printed books. People nowadays, including
you, prefer videos rather than texts because you understand the stories more
through what you see from the actors. Imagine the vast number of Filipinos watching
K-Dramas from NetFlix or Facebook compared to a little number of people reading in
e-books or wattpads. It seems like gone are the days when pocketbooks, novels and
magazines are what we insert in our notebooks and have a sneak-peak reading
them.

However, you still have to indulge with the beauty of cultivating and grappling
ideas that come out of what you read. In reading, you are able to widen your
imagination on what is actually happening inside the text and gain deeper
understanding of it. You will be able to do this if you identify the one who is talking in
it and on what perspective the story is written. This art and skill in reading is what
this module intends for you to learn.

Along the way this module provides activities and discussions for you to.
1. identify pieces of writing written in first, second and third person point of view;
2. extract what type of persona and point of view is used in a text;
3. construct a short literary piece in a specific persona and point of view.

II. Pre-Test
Before you start your learning adventure, answer first the initial task.
This task will give you an overview of the different activities that you will encounter.
Good luck!

Activity 1. TRUE or FALSE

Copy the table in your answer sheet. Read the statements and check the
column that corresponds to your response
True False
1. Point of view is closely linked to consider peple’s response and action.

2. First person point of view is when the narrator is the supporting

character.
3. In understanding the point of view, we have to identify the persona in
relation.
4. The author’s intention is often subject to our interpretation and need to
be recognized as a critical component in the reading and understanding
literary text.

5. Values and perspective is not the key of literary inquiry approach in

understanding literary text.

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Score: 3 – 5 – Amazing! You studied very well 2 below – Oh no! You need to
revisit your previous lesson.
You are now done with the Pre – Test! Are you now ready for an exciting
learning adventure? Let us now discover our lesson.

Building Your Vocabulary

Hi! Welcome to the world of vocabulary. Your next task is to read a

short story. But before that, let us first define some of the difficult words that you will
encounter in the text. Get meaning of the underlined words through context clue.
Write your answer in a separate sheet of paper.

Activity 2
1. The man heaved the ball to the ring as if it was his last shot.
2. Some barangay chairmen squandered all the money left intended for SAP
and bought their personal things.
3. People believe that witches prepare their own concoction of ingredients used
in hexing.
4. The dying man mumbled his last words to his wife and bid goodbye.
5. Punishing indigents over government officials who violate rules during this
pandemic is intolerable as it breaks the hearts of Filipino citizens.
6. Ben smirked at the silliness of her answer. Everything was pointless for him.
7. She hid the packet of dried leaves, encapsulated in an old worn out envelope.
8. The sound coming from the hall was not faint. It echoes around the four
corners of the house making her more irritated.
9. Never hold a grudge against your enemy as it only brings fort misery and
sourness in your life.
10. It was a short while. I only had a glimpse of his face now I totally don’t
remember.

Did you find the clue in every sentence? Can you now guess the meaning of
each underlined word?

Now, I think you are ready to read and understand a story. You can also
check your dictionary if you encountered some words, which are still unfamiliar to
you as you, read the selection.

Activity 3. Picture perfect!

Given the picture, guess what you think will be the reading text is about. Share your
answers with any member in your family.

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 Preludes
By Daryll Delga
A man died singing. He had sung a total of three songs before he heaved his last breath
and collapsed on a chair. It happened at the Municipal Hall. The time was three in the afternoon.
The sun was high. Heat seeped into people's bones. Tuba warned their blood evenmore.
Someone's ninth death anniversary was being celebrated. Another man's life in that partyended. It
ended on a high note.

At that very moment, Nenita the wife, was at home, picking leaves for
a medicinal brew.

Earlier that day, Nenita had been lying on the sofa, slipping in and out of an afternoon
sleep she shouldnot have heeded, embracing Willy Revillame in her dreams. She had had no
plans of taking anap. She had just wanted to catch a glimpse of Willy after she sent off her
grandson for the city, just before she resumed her cooking.

At the sala, she opened the window to let some breeze in. But the air was so
dry. Outside it wasvery quiet. Everyone was at the Hall, to attend the ninth death anniversary of
the juez. Most ofthem bore the judge a grudge, but they were all there anyway, eager to see what
kind of feasthis children had prepared. The children had all come home from America and Europe
for thisvery important occasion in the dead man's journey. Nenita herself did not mind the judge
really,even if she had always found him rather severe. It was the wife whom Nenita did not feel
verycomfortable with. There had been some very persistent rumors involving the judge's wife
thatNenita did not care so much for.

As soon as Nenita was certain that her grandson had left, she positioned the
electric fan in frontof her, sat on the sofa and turned on the TV to catch the last segment of her
favorite show. Thenext thing she knew, Willy Revillame was pulling her into his arms, soothing her
with words ofcondolences, before handing her some cash and offering his left cheek for a kiss.
There was ahuge applause from the studio audience, even if they were all weeping with Willie,
shaking theirheads in amazement.

Nenita forced herself out of the dream and the motion brought her entire body up and out
of thesofa. She found herself standing in the middle of the sala, face-to-face with a teary-eyed
Willy.Her heart was beating wildly. Her armpits were soaked in sweat. Her hair bun had
comeundone. She looked around guiltily, she thought she heard her husband swear at her. She
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felther husband's presence in the living room with her, even if she knew he was at the
deathanniversary parry. She quickly turned off the TV and made her way to the kitchen.

She should not have taken that nap, Nenita berated herself. There was an urgent order for
tendozens of suman she had to deliver the next day, for the judge's daughters who were
leavingright after the anniversary. There was already a pile of pandan leaves on the kitchen
table,waiting to be washed and warmed, for wrapping the sweet sticky rice rolls with.She had
spent all night until early morning boiling the sticky rice and mixing it with anise,caramel and
coconut milk, until her hands trembled and the veins swelled. By the time she wasalmost done,
she had to prepare breakfast and brew a special tea concoction for her grandsonwho had spent all
night drinking. Her grandson had very barely made it home-drunk as a fish,crying out a woman's
name like a foolearly that morning.

Nenita then remembered that she also had to prepare the medicinal tea her husband
needed totake with his dinner. She had yet to complete the five different kinds of leaves,
Ampalaya,Banaba, Bayabas, Dumero, Hierba Buena; the last one she purchases from a man
who onlycomes to town on Thursdays. She was getting ready to pick Ampalaya and Bayabas
leavesfrom her garden when she heard her husband's voice again his singing voice. She realized
thatthe sound was coming all the way from the Hall. The sound was very faint, but more
thanperceptible, and certainly unmistakable to her.
It was the only sound she could hear when she stepped out of the house and started
picking theleaves. Everything else around her was quiet and still.It seemed as though the entire
town-thedogs, the frogs, and the birds included-had gone silent for this very rare event her
husbandsinging again.
She had not heard her husband sing this way in a very long time, ever since he became ill-
whenthe sugar and alcohol in his blood burned the sides of his heart, almost getting to the core of
it.Since there he would get out of breath when he sang. And he also easily forgot the
lyrics,especially to the Italian classics, and some of the Tagalog Kundiman he used to be very
wellknown for.
Nenita herself never understood all the fuss about her husband's singing, and the fuss
hisbrothers and sisters made when he stopped singing. She could not even understand half of
thesongs he sang. They were mostly in ltalian; Spanish, and Tagalog. He rarely sang
Bisayasongs, the ones she could understand, and actually liked, even if she herself could not carry
atune to save her life. Thankfully, their grandson was there to indulge her husband in music
talk.She was happier listening to the two of them talk and sing, and strum guitar strings, from
thekitchen.
She used to feel slighted whenever her siblings-in-law recalled with such intense,
exaggeratedregret, the way their brilliant brother squandered his money and his talent and oh, all
the wrongdecisions he made along the way. Including, though they would never say directly, his
decisionto marry Nenita. They liked to remind their brothel, themselves, and anyone who cared to
listen,of what their brother used to be what he could have been, whom he could have been
married to.Nenita ceased to mind this, and them, a long time ago. She had forgiven all of them.
They wereall dead now save for one brother who lived in the city. She never stopped praying for
theirsouls, but she was not very sorry that they died.
Nenita knew that her husband was happy the way he was. She never heard him
complain. Hehad nothing to complain about. She took him back every time his affairs with other
womenturned sour. She took care of him when he started getting sick, when the part of his heart
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thatwas supposed to beat started merely murmuring and whistling. Thankfully, her friend,
theherbalista, had just the right concoction for this ailment. Even the doctors were delighted withher
husband's progress.
Nenita took her husband back again when, with the money her in-laws sent for his
medicationhe went away to be with one of his women. People say her husband went to Manila
with the judge's widow. Nenita never confirmed this. Nenita never asked- She
just took her husbandback. Nursed him back to health again. After that, though, Nenita noticed
that he spent more andmore time alone, in the toilet. And when she asked if he needed help with
anything, he would just mumble incoherently. So she let him be.
She could have prepared him then that other brew her herbalista friend had suggested at
thetime, the one that would make his balls shrink, give him hallucinations, make his blood boil
untilhis veins popped. But she didn't, of course.
She did buy and continued to keep the packet of dried purple leaves said to be from a rare
vinefound only in Mt. Banahaw. She didn't even know where Mt. Banahawwas, only that it was
upthere in the North. She did know that she would never use the herbs, even if she wanted
tokeep, see, touch, and feel the soft lump of leaves in her palm, every now and then. She
derivedsome sense of security, a very calming sense of power, in knowing that she had that
littlepacket hidden in one of the kitchen drawers.
She listened more closely to her husband's singing. She closed her eyes and trapped
herbreath in her throat, the way she did when she listened to the beats and murmurs of
herhusband's heart at night. Listening to the air that carried her husband's voice this way,
shealmost caught the sound of his labored breathing, and his heart's irregular beating.
He was singing a popular Spanish song now about kissing someone for the last time.
Nenitaremembered being told by her husband that that was what it was about. Kiss me more, kiss
memore, that was what the man wanted to tell the woman he loved. Nenita found that she
couldenjoy this one; the song was recognizable. She laughed lightly as she found herself swaying
inslow, heavy movements, to the music of her husband's voice.
She started imagining herself as a young woman, dancing with this beautiful dark man
whoeventually became her husband. And then she heard him choke, heave a breath before
hesang: Perderte. Long pause. Perderte.Another pause.Despues. And then there was
applause,in which Nenita joined, still laughing at her silliness.
After that, all was quiet again.
Nenita gathered the leaves and went back inside the house. Just as well, because it
wasstarting to be very, intolerably, hot outside. Certainly hot enough to boil an old man's blood
andpop his veins, she thought.

Activity 5: It’s time to read!

Directions: Answer the comprehension questions in a separate sheet of paper.
Guide Questions:

1. What is a prelude? Is the title appropriate? Why? Or Why not?

2. What does Nenita feel for her husband? Why do you think she feels that
way?

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 3. What does her balista friend feel about Nenita’s husband?
4. How do you think the man died in the story? What clues helped you in
your conclusion?
5. Who killed the man? Prove your answer by citing lines from the poem.
6. Do you think justice was served? Why or Why not?
7. Who is the main character in the story?
8. Who is telling the story? Is he also a character in the story?
9. Does the author see and feel every character’sactions and emotions?
10. In what angle did the author narrate the story?

Score: 6-10-Well done! You have read it very well!

5-below- It’s fine, you may need some time to read the text once more.

Which question is difficult for you to answer? Why?

. Read the following discussions on Persona and Point of View.

INPUT

Point of view (POV) is what the character or narrator telling

the story can see (his or her perspective). The author chooses “who” is to tell the
story by determining the point of view. Depending on who the narrator is, he/she will
be standing at one point and seeing the action. This viewpoint will give the narrator a
partial or whole view of events as they happen. Many stories have
the protagonist telling the story, while in others, the narrator may be
another character or an outside viewer, a narrator who is not in the story at all. The
narrator should not be confused with the author, who is the writer of the story and
whose opinions may not be those written into the narrative.

Different Types of Point of View

1. First Person Point of View – is used when the main character is telling
the story, this is the kind that uses the “I” narration. As a reader, you can
experience the story through this person’s I’s, so you won’t know anything
about the people and events that this character hasn’t personally
experienced.

First Person Peripheral – this is when the narrator is a supporting character

in the story, not the main character. It still uses the “I” narration, but since the
narrator is not the protagonist, there are events and scenes that will happen to
the protagonist that the narrator will have access to.

2. Second Person Point of View – is generally only used in instructional

writing. It is told from the perspective of “you”.

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 3. Third Person Point of View – The third person point of view is used
when your narrator is not a character in the story. The third person uses
the “He, she”. It is the most commonly used of point of view in writing.

 Limited – In limited third-person, the narrator sees only what’s in front of

him/her, a spectator of events as they unfold and unable to read any other
character’s mind.

 Omniscient – An omniscient narrator sees all, much as an all knowing god of

some kind. He or she sees what each character is doing and can see into each
character’s mind. This is common with an external character, who is standing
above, watching the action below (think of a person with a crystal ball, peering
in).

 Limited Omniscient – The limited omniscient third-person narrator can only

see into one character’s mind. He/she might see other events happening, but
only knows the reasons of one character’s actions in the story.

Persona

The term persona has been derived from the Latin word persona, which
means “the mask of an actor,” and is therefore etymologically linked to the dramatis
personae, which refers to the list of characters and cast in a play or a drama. It is
also known as a “theatrical mask.” It can be defined in a literary work as a voice or
an assumed role of a character, which represents the thoughts of a writer, or a
specific person the writer wants to present as his mouthpiece.

Most of the time, the dramatis personae are identified with the writer, though
sometimes a persona can be a character or an unknown narrator. Examples of
persona are found, not only in dramas, but in poems and novels too.

Example of Persona in Literature

Distillation
Jan L. Velasco

Watching the rain spilling down,

drowning the earth below,
reminds me of
life's perpetual change.

The storm that we dread,

is a sea of kindness
that lifts--the mask
of (world's) avarice and sufferings
and fills the thirst, up to the brim of our souls.

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 The speaker is a persona of Jan L. Velasco who takes on the character in the
poem and writes from his perspective using first-person point-of-view. Notice the me
in the first stanza of the poem. The writer himself shares his real-life experience or
feelings about distillation.

The Importance of Point of View

Point of view is important in a story because it helps the reader understand

characters’ feelings and actions. Each character will have his or her own
perspective, so whoever is telling the story will impact the reader’s opinion of other
characters and events.

Additionally, reading the story from a character in the story versus an external
character changes the amount of information a reader has as the story unfolds. With
an omniscient third-person, we can see everything before other characters do, which
gives us forewarning about other events. With a limited third-person, we are not
allowed to see other events until the narrator does so. This may leave us with more
surprises as we read.

The Importance of Point of View

Point of view is important in a story because it helps the reader understand

characters’ feelings and actions. Each character will have his or her own
perspective, so whoever is telling the story will impact the reader’s opinion of other
characters and events.

Additionally, reading the story from a character in the story versus an external
character changes the amount of information a reader has as the story unfolds. With
an omniscient third-person, we can see everything before other characters do, which
gives us forewarning about other events. With a limited third-person, we are not
allowed to see other events until the narrator does so. This may leave us with more
surprises as we read.

Enrichment Activities

Wow! You are towards a journey of your learning adventure. You have learned what
point of view and persona are and how they are used in literary texts.
Now, I think you are ready for a series of tasks, which will surely help develop
your new skill in reading, which is understanding point of view and persona.

Activity 6:
Read the following lines from different texts. Tell whether it is written in first,
second or third person point of view. Cite who is the persona in the text. Write
your answer inside the box provided.
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1. I hugged Roberto, and then we headed for the skytrain
with all the luggage and sat in front. While he and Miguel were looking outside
the window to see what Vancouver was like, I remember looking at my son,
then him, this man, my husband. The mole on his right cheek, his mustache,
his pointy ears --- I recognized all of these. But then I realized that there was
also a part of him I didn’t recognize anymore. And although I couldn’t put my
finger on it, I knew something had changed.
from: Waiting by Ron
Darvin

2. It is 1892. The girl who lives here does not care too
much for the people who visit. She is five. Two uncles and an aunt dropped by
the other day. Three aunts and two uncles slept over the night before. It is
impossible to remember all of them. There are too many names, too many
faces. And they all look the same --- too tall, too old, too serious, too many
names, too many, too serious.
from: The Safe House by Sandra Nicole Roldan

3. Friendship

Vener Santos

Days will pass,

And things will grow old.
Flowers will bloom,
And soon will decay.

But when friendship starts,

All of the year it will remain fresh.

Friends will grow old,

But friendship will never.
As long as we both care,
It will remain young forever.
Death will separate it on earth,
But it will reborn in heaven.

4. He brought the pistol up to the shoulder level, let his

right hand fingers wrap smoothly around it, put the palm of his left hand on the
butt for the support. The gun was light in his hand as he swung it from left to
right, clearing the perimeter while he zoomed to the grocery store.

From: FlickerFadeGone by Carljoe Javier

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 Generalization

You are almost done with your first learning journey, and I think you
enjoy your tasks. Answer the questions below for us to know if you could still
remember what you have learned in the first part of this learning adventure.

Activity 8. What I remember

1. What is a persona? What is its relation to point of view?

2. How do you know that a reading text is written in first, second, or third person
point of view?
3. Why is it important to learn how to identify the persona and point of view?

Application

Congratulations! You have come this far in your learning adventure.

And I think you are now ready for the real world! To prove this, can you please do
the task that follows.

Activity: Assume that you are the President of the Philippines, His Excellency
Rodrigo Roa Duterte.You are about to give a speech addressed to your fellow
Filipino people who are battling the Covid-19 Pandemic. Construct a short speech
that shows your love and care so as to ease the burden of the people. Include your
plans and proposed assistance to the Filipino people. Use the SECOND PERSON
POINT OF VIEW. Your PERSONA is being the president.
Be guided by the following criteria:
Content – 50 %
Structure and Organization – 30 %
Grammar and Mechanics - 20%

V. Enrichment/ Additional Tasks

What is my Family’s View on the Corona Virus Pandemic?

Through a survey, interview 5 members of your family

and ask them of their views on the following questions to understand what they think
of the Corona Virus Crisis. Present your data in a table and write a paragraph about
what these data say about your family.

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Scoring Rubric

Features 10 7 3
Excellent Good Poor
Content Content is Content is complete Content is not
comprehensive and and accurate The complete. The
accurate. The table table and paragraph table and
and paragraph reflect 3 views on paragraph reflect
reflect 5 views on the corona virus 1 view on the
the corona virus pandemic. corona virus
pandemic. pandemic.
Data Data presentation is Data presentation is Data
Presentation clear and easy to mostly clear and presentation is
follow. easy to follow. not easy to
follow.
Grammar and No spelling, Few spelling, Many spelling,
Mechanics punctuation or punctuation or punctuation or
grammar error. grammar error. grammar errors.

Key to Corrections
Pre- Test

Try out: True or False

1. True
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. False
Activity.2- Building your Vocabulary
1. Lift or haul
2. Waste
3. Mixture of various ingredients
4. Say something quietly
5. Unable to be endured
6. Lack of commonsense or judgement
7. A paper or card board container
8. Of sight ,smell or sound
9. A persistent feeling of ill will
10. A momentary or partial view
Activity. 3 - A picture Perfect

The picture shows a broken hearted woman crying inside with full of grievances,
and she can’t do anything but cried and hide her feeling, picture also show an
abused woman.

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Activity 5-Quide Questions
1. Prelude is an action on every serving as an introduction to something more
important.
The author give the prelude as a title of the story because it shows the
preliminary action of the wife Nenita to fight and get back her husband
everytime he is womanizing, without hesitation she took care of him in times
of illness of her husband.
2. She felt sad and disappointed for the situation she has now, especially that
her in laws shows regret for having her a wife of their brother, and despite of it
here she, is taking good care of her sickly husband, while before her husband
was fond of womanizing when he was strong and young,
3. Her valista friend is always there to help her to provide different herbal
medicine to cure her husband illness.
4. The man died, and the first line of the story give me a clue to this, as stated,
”A man died singing a total of 3 songs before he heaved his last breath and
collapsed on the chair”.
5. Nobody killed the man, he died with his ailment, as stated in the story.
6. I think yes, justice was served. On the part of Nenita who suffered emotionally
for a long time at the hand of her husband, the death of her husband serves
right for him and Nenita is free from chain of pain.
7. The main character was Nenita who was described well by the author in the
story.
8. The author Daryl Delgado was the one telling the story about Nenita’s
experienced on her husband and in laws.
9. Yes, the author sees and feels every emotions and actions of the character in
the story as mentioned and described well as it goes along in the story.
10. The author narrate the story in an angle of the wife, who suffered a lot
emotionally but then without hesitation took care of the husband without
complaining,and give the most of her to to regain the health of her husband
but in no availed, Henceforth it is an angle of the second person in point of
view.

Enrichment Activity
Activity 6
1. First Person
2. 3rd Person
3. 2nd Person
4. 3rd Person
5. 3rd Person

Generalization
1.Persona is the mask of an author, It refers to the list of Character.
It is related to the point of view in a sense that the character or narrator
is the one telling the story and can sees his or her perspective, the
point of view can give the narrator a partial or whole view of the events
as they happen in the story.

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2. The reading text is written in:
a.) First person point of view if the main character is telling the story and
most of the time uses “I”.
b.) The second Person point of view is generally used in instructional writing ,
it is told from the perspective of ”You”.
c.)The third person point of view is used when your narrator is not a character in the
story.
3. It is very important for me to learn how to identify and determine the
persona in point of view ,in order for me not to be confused in understanding point of
view and persona in relation to the literary text, with this it is easy for me to
determine, who is talking to the text, who is the main character and what authors
perspective implied in any literary text.

Bibliography

Books
Uychoco, MarikitTana, 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World,
The Child wish granted by George Parsons Lathrop.

Websites
https://www.literacyideas.com/point-of-view

https://literarydevices.net/persona/

https://www.google.com/search?q=point+of+view+and+persona&source=lnms&tbm=
isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjd8LnxsK3qAhXQc94KHVcICRgQ_AUoAXoECA0QAw&
biw=1366&bih=661#imgrc=KJrg2NWlkpeOcM

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-lost-important-elements-short-story-
379387

https://www.academia.edu/RegisterToDownload#BulkDownload

https://www.google.com/search?q=preludes+by+daryll+delgado&source=lnms&tbm=
isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiKz5vS463qAhVP_GEKHchIAm4Q_AUoAnoECA0QBA&
biw=1366&bih=661#imgrc=n8u2vjsOV9BEqM

http://10poemsthatwrittenbyfilipinos.blogspot.com/

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