SINDANGAN NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

Quarter 2/Module3/Week 2

Name: ________________________________________________ Score: ____________

Grade&Section: _______________________________ Date: _____________

Subject: 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Type of Activity: (Choose from below) ___________________________

Concept Notes Laboratory Report Formal Theme
Skills/Exercise/Drill Illustration Informal Theme

Activity Title: Asian/ Middle Eastern Literature

Learning Target(s): Distinguishes texts and authors from Middle Eastern Literature
Analyzes the texts in terms of literary elements (elements of a short story)
Reference: Grade 11 SHS 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World, Learner’s Module
Concept Notes:

Asian/ Middle Eastern Literature

The Middle East is the name given to the area of land between the Red Sea and the Gulf, from Israel in the west to Iran in the
east. Along with western Asia, much of this land is inhospitable, with dry desert in the Arabian Peninsula, and mountains in Iran and Iraq.
Turkey is dominated by a high plateau, but has plenty of fertile farmland. There are snow-capped mountains in north Lebanon and Israel,
which drop down to fertile plains along the coasts.
In the past, this area of land became the sprawling area of some of the greatest ancient civilizations in the world today, namely
the Mesopotamian civilization which is known for its rich and advance way of life. Today, the Middle East has become the world's most
militarized region and most arms sales head there. Suppressed people that see the world from a different perspective.

Arabic Literature refers to the body of written works produced in the Arabic language. The tradition of Arabic literature stretches back some
16 centuries to unrecorded beginnings in the Arabian Peninsula. The nature of “the modern” in the context of Arabic literary history
involves two processes: first, renewed contacts with the Western world, something that was considerably accelerated by European
imperial incursions during the 19th century, and, second, a renewed interest in the classical heritage of the Arabic language and Islam.

“Yunus On The Beach”

by Hassouna Mosbahi/ Arabic
Translated by William M. Hutchins

The world was still, and Yunus felt alone in existence. He walked along the shore beneath a sky studded with stars. It was his
birthday, and he was finally returning home, after his drinking buddies had departed one by one. What was the essence of his solitude? A
void and waiting… waiting for what? The end that no one can escape. All he could hope for was that the end be without pain or suffering,
as if he were sleeping, roaming the seashore, leafing through a book, listening to one of his favorite symphonies, lost in thought, or
recalling memories from his happy past.
The void was frightening, dark, and weighty. All his reading, writing, walks, conversations with friends, and all his other activities
and endeavors wouldn’t suffice to fill even a little of its alarming emptiness. When he had chosen to settle in Neapolis, he had thought that
writing might be more beneficial than at any previous time. Therefore, he had decided to devote himself to it seriously; perhaps it would
relieve him of his torments and pains and restore serenity, vitality, and hope to him. But whenever he picked up a pen and brought it
toward a white piece of paper, words fled from him like birds flying away from a hunter.
According to Kierkegaard, life makes sense only when a person looks backward, but the only way to live is to look forward all the
time—in other words, toward something that does not exist. The future also alarmed Yunus because all he could envision was a bleak,
desolate, thorny desert. The past, though, was an enjoyable, comforting expanse. There he was—sixty years ago—a baby. His mother
delivered him at dawn on a Thursday. It was the day of the weekly market in al-‘Alla. While screaming in labor, she was able to hear the
clamor of men exchanging their morning greetings and preparing to head to the market. Yunus’ father had hosted a magnificent banquet
for the village’s dignitaries to celebrate the new baby. His mother’s sister Salima, who was an expert cook, oversaw the preparations. The
guests ate couscous with mislan. They stayed up late that night, enjoying panegyric songs, Sufi chanting, and Qur’anic recitations. The
Qur’anic sura “Yunus” was recited more than once, because when his mother was pregnant with him, she had had an amazing dream: She
had seen herself swimming in the sea in her green wrap that she wore to feasts and weddings. Around her waist she had fastened a
brilliantly colored sash. She was as light as a butterfly, and the sea was calm, blue, and as vast as the sky above. Her dream was amazing
because she had never seen the sea and the tales she had heard about it would not have sufficed to create a clear image in her mind.
She told her dream to her friend Dhahabiya, who was renowned for her skill and expertise in deciphering the riddles of dreams.
Dhahabiya thought about it for a long time. When she failed to interpret it, she suggested his mother seek out Ammar, the teacher at the
Qur’anic primary school. He was a thin man who was said to resemble a scorched piece of firewood. Cross-eyed, he spoke extremely
slowly—as if the words were imprisoned inside his chest and could escape only with difficulty. He pondered her dream silently, his brow
furrowed, almost oblivious to her sitting before him covered with the green cloak she had worn in her dream. Her heart was pounding
quickly and powerfully. It was winter, and Kesra Mountain was covered with snow. A camel was wailing in the distance, because they had
slaughtered her calf to celebrate the ample olive harvest.
Then Master Ammar cleared his throat and—with the slow delivery for which he was renowned and loved by the people of the
village—began to tell her about a prophet called Yunus, who was a generous ascetic. “God sent him to his people, and he began to preach
to them, counsel them, and guide them to goodness, although none of them responded. When he gave up and left them, he was extremely
angry, promising them a painful punishment that would befall them in three days. When he reached the sea, determined to quit his people
for good, he boarded a ship that was sailing to a distant land. He did so without realizing that God was displeased with him because he
had not shown the patience it takes to deliver a divine message. Even so, despair and hopelessness quickly spread to his soul for not
properly performing the mission entrusted to him. Back in the village, God granted belief to the hearts of Yunus’s people before He
punished them. So they repented, and the men, women, and children wept.
Meanwhile a violent storm rocked the ship on which the Prophet Yunus was a passenger. The waves raged high around it and
began to toss it about, threatening to drown those on board. They considered this storm to be a sign that one of their fellow passengers
had sinned. For this reason they decided to throw the sinner into the sea; perhaps that would decrease God’s anger and He would save
them from imminent destruction. After discussing the matter, they drew arrows. Yunus drew the losing arrow, and they were all astonished,
because he was renowned for righteousness and veracity. Then they drew arrows twice more, but each time Yunus drew the losing one.
So he cast himself into the sea, where a whale swallowed him whole.
“God, however, commanded the whale not to harm His prophet. During the course of three nights, Yunus remained shaded by
three degrees of darkness: the darkness of the whale’s belly, the darkness of the sea, and the darkness of the night. This was a divine test
for him. After the third night, the whale spat him out. He stood naked and emaciated on the shore. Over his head grew a gourd plant with
large, tender leaves that shaded him and were unmolested by flies or other insects. Once the Prophet Yunus regained his health, God sent
him back to his people. All of this was part of God’s plan, may He be praised and exalted.
This strange story enthralled his mother, who continued to gaze at Master Ammar with fascination, as if she were in the presence
of an angel who had delivered her from darkness and shown her the light. Master Ammar spoke again; he admitted he had not understood
her dream well but advised her to name her baby Yunus, if it was a boy. Then he placed his hand on her belly and prayed for her and the
Muslim community, hoping they would enjoy goodness and blessings, health and happiness.
When she gave birth, his mother followed Master Ammar’s advice and named her son Yunus. Once he became conscious of the
world around him, his mother liked to entertain him from time to time with the unique tale of the Prophet Yunus. It was the most captivating
story he ever heard. When she finished, he would close his eyes to see himself first aboard a ship rocked by the waves, next in the whale’s
belly enveloped by the three darknesses, and finally standing stark naked on the beach with a blessed gourd plant over his head while his
people stared at him, fascinated and astonished. When he was five and had begun to memorize the Qur’an, he was in a hurry to reach the
sura “Yunus.” With a speed that astonished the schoolmaster, he memorized the short suras and then the long ones. Whenever he
finished one of the Qur’an’s sixty sections, he would parade through the village with the slate on which he had written the revelatory verses
with resin, decorating the center and margins with egg yolk. Then men and women would bless him, stroking his small head with their
hands while praying for his success and achievement, by the grace of God, of His Messenger, and of the righteous saints.
After he finished memorizing the sura of Yunus, his heart overflowed with all the rapture of a voyager who has reached a verdant
oasis where he hopes to rest after the hardships of a long journey. Whether he was alone on the footpaths, watching the sun set behind
the hill, or wandering through the fields, his eyes moist with tears, he would repeat in a whisper: “If only the town had believed and
benefited! Only the people of Yunus did. So, when they believed, We freed them from the punishment of ignominy in their worldly pursuits
and allowed them to enjoy their lives.’”
Two years before she died, he brought his mother to the capital. Accompanied by his wife and their daughter Maryam, he took his
mother to the seashore for the first time, at the harbor beach, early in the summer. They spent three hours there. When they were
preparing to return, he asked her, “What did you think of the sea?”
She smiled and replied, “Exactly like the sea I saw in the dream when I was pregnant with you!”
How he wished he might recall only happy memories. But his memories were constantly threatened with annihilation beneath the
weight of time. Rilke was wrong when he believed that old age could bring happiness. No, it was hideous and unfair. The satirist Swift, who
created incredible worlds—after he was placed in a care facility he himself had founded when he was younger—liked to stand before the
mirror, contemplating his face, and shout with self-loathing, “What a miserable old man you are!” Perhaps, before long, Yunus would do the
same thing. Then he would fall over dead amidst the heap of his defeats. The victories he had encouraged his soul to anticipate had never
been achieved, and his marriage had failed miserably.
Suddenly there was a commotion on the beach where Yunus was walking alone, and figures approached him rapidly. He stopped
walking only to find himself surrounded by a group of young men, all of them drunk. They were glowering, and sparks flew from their eyes.
“Didn’t I tell you?” one of them said in a harsh voice coarsened by rage and rancor.
“He’s one of those dogs!”
The others replied, “You’re right!”
“Son of a b****! He strolls along the beach in a fancy suit!”
“In fancy shoes too!”
“Yesterday he and his brothers were picking up cigarette butts and eating crumbs. Today they’ve become the lords of the
country!”
“They piss on us from dawn to dusk, and no one can punish them.”
“Bastards! Thieves!”
“Crooks!”
“Sicilian Mafia!”
“Their sister, the whore, protects them and spoils them!”
“How vile!”
“She’s become the mistress of the country. She gives speeches, she commands, she appoints government ministers.”
“Not to mention ambassadors, and she builds mansions and buys private planes!”
“Without any limits, as if buying children’s toys.”
“The hussy!”
“And her husband, the general, obeys her like a dog!”
“F*** them!” “This wretch—what shall we do to him?”
“We’ll f*** his mother and his sister.” Yunus broke his silence and shouted at them, “Listen, guys!”

But they attacked him and began kicking him. They shouted gruffly while cursing and insulting him, spitting at him. Then they
ripped his suit off and cast it into the sea. Blood began to flow, and he was about to pass out.

“Not so fast, fellows,” he heard one of the young men say. “This isn’t one of them!”
 “How can he not be one of them?”
“I know this man!”
“Who is he?”
“He’s that sad professor who sits in the Albatross and prowls alone on the beach.”
“Ah, true, true!”
“The poor man, you’ve treated him badly.”
“What shall we do now?”
“Let’s get out of here. He’s to blame for strolling on the beach in a fancy suit at this hour of the night!”

They departed. He remained where he had been dumped on the cold sand, unable to move. Bruises covered every part of his
body, and blood smeared his face. With difficulty he opened his eyes. The world was black: no sky, no sea. He was falling into a deep,
dark void. He remembered Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi’s words:
Life is short. The hours fly past. Motion is perpetual. Opportunities glitter brightly. When strings play music, they approach each
other and then separate. As souls expire, they dissolve and catch fire.

The text that you have just read is a short story. A short story is a short work of fiction. Fiction, as you know, is prose writing about
imagined events and characters. Prose writing differs from poetry in that it does not depend on verses, meters or rhymes for its
organization and presentation. Novels are another example of fictional prose and are much longer than short stories. Some short stories,
however, can be quite long. If a short story is a long one, say fifty to one hundred pages, we call it a novella.

Elements of Short Story

 Setting The time and location in which a story takes place is called the setting. For some stories the setting is very important,
while for others it is not. There are several aspects of a story's setting to consider when examining how setting contributes to a
story.
a) place - geographical location. Where is the action of the story taking place?
b) time - When is the story taking place? (historical period, time of day, year, etc)
c) weather conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc?
d) social conditions - What is the daily life of the characters like? Does the story contain local color (writing that focuses
on the speech, dress, mannerisms, customs, etc. of a particular place)?
e) mood or atmosphere - What feeling is created at the beginning of the story? Is it bright and cheerful or dark and
frightening?
 Plot The plot is how the author arranges events to develop his basic idea; It is the sequence of events in a story or play. The plot
is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and end. The short story usually has one plot so it can be read
in one sitting. There are five essential parts of plot:
a) Introduction - The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed.
b) Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed
(events between the introduction and climax).
c) Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story. The reader wonders what will happen
next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
d) Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The reader knows what has happened
next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and denouement).
e) Denouement - This is the final outcome or the untangling of events in the story.
 Conflict is essential to a plot. Without conflict there is no plot. It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and
makes the plot move. Conflict is not merely limited to open arguments; rather it is any form of opposition that faces the main
character. Within a short story there may be only one central struggle, or there may be one dominant struggle with many minor
ones.
 Character Can be defined as any person, animal, or figure represented in a literary work.
 Theme The theme in a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. It is the author's underlying meaning or main idea
that he is trying to convey. The theme may be the author's thoughts about a topic or view of human nature. The title of the short
story usually points to what the writer is saying and he may use various figures of speech to emphasize his theme, such as:
symbol, allusion, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or irony.

Activity 1. Instructions: Copy and fill the graphic organizer below with answers based on the short story "Yunus on the beach." Please use
a separate sheet of paper.
Activity 2: Identification: Give what is asked in each item by choosing from the pool of answers inside the box. Write only the letter of your
choice.

a. Denouement g. Hutchins
b. Climax h. 16
c. Theme i. 18
d. Time j. Setting
e. Short Story k. Middle East
f. Mosbahi l.not mentioned

1. An example of a short work of fiction

2. He famously wrote “Yunus On The Beach,” a contemporary short story.
3. In the plot of a short story, it is referred to as the final outcome or untangling of events in the story.
4. The most important element as it refers to the time and place which the story is taken
5. How many centuries does Arabic literature stretches back from its origin?
6. If the opposite of Rising Action is Falling Action, then what is the opposite of Plot?
7. This may be the author's thoughts about a topic or view of human nature.
8. It refers to the “time” or when the story happened.
9. A fifty to one hundred pages short story is called _______.
10. It is a name given to the area of land between the Red Sea and the Gulf, from Israel in the west to Iran in the east.