This document discusses how to analyze literary texts through their biographical and sociocultural contexts. It provides strategies for examining an author's life experiences and beliefs to better understand their work. Readers are also encouraged to consider the historical period a text was written in and how social, economic and political factors of that time may have influenced the work. Together, understanding an author's biography and the sociocultural climate a work was produced in can enhance a reader's interpretation and appreciation of the piece.

1. 21st Century Literature
from the Philippines
and the World

2. In this unit, you should be able to:
● identify the different ways one may evaluate
a literary text, specifically by examining
its biographical context, sociocultural context,
and linguistic context;
● distinguish various critical reading strategies;
and
● analyze different literary texts through
different contexts using different critical

3. While it is important to know the
characters in a literary text, it is
also essential for readers to
understand the author’s
background.

4. ….the life of Francisco Baltazar
before discussing Florante at Laura

5. There are reasons to read literature through the
biographical context (Gioia and Kennedy 2007):
● Understanding the author’s life can help you
understand his or her work thoroughly.
● Reading the author’s ​biography ​or
autobiography helps you see how much his
experiences shape his or her work directly
and indirectly.

6. Here are biographical strategies that you may use:
● Research on what the author believes in
and also what he or she does not.
● Analyze how the author’s belief system is
reflected in his or her work.
● Look at the author’s other works and
analyze if there is a pattern with regard to the
theme that is indicative of his or her life and
beliefs.

7. Ralph Waldo Emerson once
wrote: "Talent alone cannot
make the writer. There must be
a man behind the book."

8. When you are reading literature through a
biographical context:
● In what ​year​ was the text written and
published?
● Is there anything ​significant that happened
in the​ author’s life during this time? What
were the ​circumstances​ that happened to the
author before the writing of the text?

9. ● Were there several ​drafts of the text? What can
you say about the changes that the author made?
What aspects do you think the author struggled with
during the revision? What is the effect of the
revisions to the published text?
● Are there ​characters and situations in the text that
could be ​representative of or are similar to the ones
in the author’s life?
● How will knowing about the author amplify your
appreciation of the work?

10. Take note of the following before reading a
text through a biographical context:
● You should not assume that all works
are confessional, biographical, or even
“true to life.”
● A literary text is according to the
author’s perspective and will be heavily
influenced by him or her, but it is not the
only way of studying literature.

11. • An 1835 move to Pandacan, a district of
Manila, would prove to be very important for
Baltazar's life and his poetry. While in
Pandacan he met and fell in love with a
young lady named Maria Asuncion Rivera,
who would eventually become the muse of
all his future works.

12. Although Baltazar loved Maria, he was not able
to have her because another suitor named
Mariano Capule. Capule used his power and
money to have Baltazar imprisoned in 1835 so
that he could marry her instead of Baltazar.
While imprisoned, Baltazar wrote "Florante at
Laura," which was a poem based on his
personal circumstances regarding his love for
Maria and the deception of another male suitor.
Upon his release from prison in 1838, Baltazar
published "Florante at Laura," and it was
considered by many to be his best work.

13. There is irony to the success that Baltazar
achieved as a poet. Baltazar renounced his
gift for writing by stating on his deathbed
that he did not want his children to follow in
his footsteps and become poets, as it
caused him much suffering in his life and
the life of his family. He even went as far to
say that it would be better for them to cut
off their hands then to pursue a profession
as a writer.

14. Literary Reading
through a Sociocultural
Context

15. At the end of this lesson, the learner
should be able to:
● differentiate the various literary
theories; and
● analyze a literary text by examining
its sociocultural context.

16. Aside from understanding a literary
text through a biographical
perspective, it is also important to
note the year or period it was
written.

17. Readers would be able to identify
the historical events that took place
in that year. We would also find out
the roots of an event’s cause and
the reasons behind the character’s
motives and interests.

18. • Recall the timeline of
Philippine history.
• Reflect on some events
that may have
transpired during those
periods of time by
creating a visual image
that represents each of
them.
• Share the images
drawn and the ideas
behind to the class.

19. ● 1882 – Rizal, a well-known hero of today, leaves for
Spain to pursue his studies.
● 1898 – Americans introduced formal education in
the Philippines.
● 1972 – Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial law in
the Philippines.
● 1986 – People Power Revolution took place among
the Filipino people.
● 2016 – Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte was elected the
16​th president of the Philippine Republic.

20. According to the critic Wilbur
Scott,“Art is not created in a vacuum;
it is the work not simply of a person,
but of an author fixed in time and
space, answering a community of
which he is an important, articulate

21. The following are reasons to read literature
through sociocultural context (Gioia and
Kennedy 2007):
● Reading using the sociocultural context helps
you understand the social, economic, political,
and cultural forces affecting the work that you
are reading.
● Analyzing the sociocultural context of the text
makes you examine the role of the audience

22. • What is the relationship between the characters or the
speakers in the text and their society?
• Does the text explicitly address issues of gender, race, or
class? How does the text resolve these issues?
• Who has the power? Who does not? What is the reason for
this setup?
• How does this story reflect the nation? What does this say
about the country and its inhabitants?

25. To set its struggling passion free
From pride, and vainer ties
dissever,
And give herself to me for ever.
But passion sometimes would prevail,
Nor could to-night's gay feast
restrain
A sudden thought of one so pale
For love of her, and all in vain:
So, she was come through wind
and rain.
Be sure I looked up at her eyes
Happy and proud; at last I knew
Porphyria worshipped me; surprise
Made my heart swell, and still it
grew
While I debated what to do.
That moment she was mine,
mine, fair,
Perfectly pure and good: I
found
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string I
wound
Three times her little throat
around,
And strangled her. No pain felt

26. • English poet Robert Browning lived during the vast majority
of Queen Victoria’s reign, making him an exemplary writer of
the Victorian era and its ethos. One of the hallmarks of
Victorian culture was sexual restraint and an overarching
sobriety of conduct. The dark side of such repression was
an obsession with sex; Victorian London had more brothels
than schools and some 80,000 working prostitutes.
• “Porphyria’s Lover” is a poem that reveals the culture’s dark
view of sexuality. Porphyria, with her overt sexuality,
represents the kind of woman the Victorians shunned. All in
all, the sexual material in the poem would have been viewed
as taboo by Browning’s contemporaries.

27. How can knowledge of the
various contexts of a literary
work enhance our
understanding and appreciation
of the text?

28. At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
• Define sociocultural theory
• Discuss how sociocultural theory enhances
the text’s meaning and reader’s understanding
• Manifest understanding in a literary context
using sociocultural approach
• Produce and present output from the text
using a learning strategy

29. I. introduction
II. Theme of the story with the author
III. What do you think is the prevailing social order shown?
IV. How do the people during those times act? How do
they differ from our generation?
V. How does the event affect the author and his
perspectives about the situation?
VI. What perspective/s is/are present in the movie.
Expound.