This document provides an overview of Philippine literature from pre-colonial to modern times. It discusses oral traditions like riddles, proverbs, and folk tales that were common before colonization. When Spain colonized the Philippines from 1521-1898, new forms like epics, legends, and songs emerged. American colonization from 1898-1946 introduced poetry, sarswela, novels, and short stories. The document also lists influential literary works from other countries/cultures and defines common poetry terms.

1. SURVEY OF PHILIPPINE
LITERATURE
1.1. Why do we need to study
Philippine Literature?
-We need to study literature in order for
us to know the history of a nation’s
spirit, and also we study literature so
that we can better appreciate our
literary heritage.
Oral Lore or “oral tradition” is form of
human communication wherein
knowledge, art, ideas, and cultural
material is received, preserved, and
transmitted orally from one generation
to another.
Some of these pre- colonial literary
pieces showcased in traditional
narratives, speeches and songs are
“tigmo” in Cebuano, “bugtong” in
tagalog, “potototdon” in Bicol and
“paktakon” in Ilongo.
1. Riddles (Bugtong or Palaisipan)
- A riddle is a question, a puzzle, a
phrase, or a statement devised to get
unexpected or clever answers.
e.g., Wearing a crown, but not a queen,
Wearing scales but not a fish. (Pineapple)
2. PROVERBS (SALAWIKAIN)
- A proverb is a brief, simple, and
popular saying, or a phrase that gives
advice and effectively embodies a
commonplace truth based on practical
experience or common sense.
e.g., It is hard to wake up someone who is
pretending to be asleep.
- While it is easy to tell people something
they do not know; it is much harder if they are
willfully choosing not to see what is before
them.
3. SHORT POEMS
- A short poem may be a stylistic choice
or it may be that you have said what you
intended to say in a more concise way. Either
way, they differ stylistically from a long poem
in that there tends to be more care in word
choice.
4. MYTHS
- Myth is a legendary or a traditional
story that usually concerns an event or a hero,
with or without using factual or real
explanations.
5. FOLK TALES
- Folk tales are made up of stories about
life, adventure, love, horror and humor where
one can derive lessons about life.
6. LEGENDS
- The Medieval Latin word “legenda”
means “things for reading”. A legend is a set of
a specific place at a specific time; the subject is
often a heroic historical personage.
7. EPIC
- A long poem, typically derived from
ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and
adventures of the heroic or legendary figure or
the history of a nation.

2. LITERATURE
- Body of written works, it can be factual
and fictional
- One nation, one country but have
different cultures because we have several
regions.
- Expressions of human language,
emotions or feelings
HISTORY
- Study of the past, allow a person to step
back in time, it maybe oral or written
Literature and History is similar but
different because of 2F’s: FACT and
FICTION
FACTS
- are the pieces of information that can be
or have been proven as true.
FICTION
- It is based on imagination
LITERARY COMPOSITIONS THAT HAVE
INFLUENCED THE WORLD
1. The Bible or the Sacred Writings – for
Christians
2. Koran – for Muslims
MECCA AND MEDINA – holy city of Muslims
3. The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer –
Greeks
War between the Greeks and Trojans over the
capture of the Spartan Queen Helen by Trojan
Prince Paris. The Odyssey tells of the Greek
warrior Odysseus’s adventurous journey home
after the Trojan War.
4. The Mahabharata by Rishi Vyasa – longest
Indian epic
VALMIKI – author of Ramayana
5. Canterbury Tales (24 stories) by Geoffrey
Chaucer in England – collection of stories:
Pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket in
Canterbury, Kent.
ENGLAND’S ROSE – Elthon Jhon
6. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher
Stowe – book about SLAVERY in US
U.S President – Abraham Lincoln (HONEST ABE)
7. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri –
about purgatory and paradise
8. El Cid Compeador by Rodrigo Diaz de
Vivar (National Hero in Spain)
EL CID – a military leader who won several battles,
also called El Campeador (the champion)
9. The Songs of Roland by La Chanson de
Roland (FRANCE) – the story is about the
chivalric death of Roland and his companions,
and how he is betrayed by Ganelon.
Chanson means A FRENCH SONG.
10. The Book of the Dead by Orikuchi Shinobu
(EGYPT) – is an ancient Egyptian funerary text
generally written on papyrus
11. The Book of the Days (CHINA)
CONFUCIUS – the greatest sage of China
12. One Thousand and One Nights or The
Arabian Nights (Arabia & Persia)
Anonymous authorship because these stories
are by numerous authors
GENERAL TYPES OF LITERATURE
1. Prose
a. Novel – a long narrative in literary prose.
b. Short Story – prose narrative shorter than a novel
c. Plays – a work of drama
d. Legends – traditional story
e. Fables – a short story with animal characters
f. Anecdotes – a quick story about something of
interest
g. Essay – focused piece of writing, to inform or
persuade
h. Biography – story of a real person’s life
i. NEWS – information about current events
j. Oration – formal speech, given on a ceremonial
occasion
2. POETRY
a. Narrative Poetry
(Epic, Metrical Tales, Ballads)
b. Lyric Poetry
(Folksongs, Sonnets, Elegy, Ode, Psalms, Song (12
syllables), Corrido (8 syllables)
c. Dramatic Poetry
(Comedy, Melodrama, Tragedy, Farce, Social Poems)

3. TIMELINE OF PHILIPPINE COLONIZATION
1. Pre Colonization
Forms of Literature
- Folk speech
- Folk song
- Folk narratives (riddles, proverbs, myths,
legend, fables and hero tales)
2. Spanish – (1521-1898)
Forms of Literature
- Epics
- Legends
- Songs
- Riddles
- Proverbs
3. US – (1898- 1946)
Forms of Literature
- Poetry
- Sarswela
- Short Story
- Novel
4. Japanese (1941-1946)
5. Self-Rule (1946 - present)
FOOT IN POETRY- how to measure a poem
1. Iamb (Iambic) - /U, -/
2. Trochee (Trochaic) - /-, U/
3. Spondee (Spondaic) - /-, -/
4. Anapest (Anapestic) - /U, U, -/
5. Dactyl (Dactylic) - /-, U, U/
6. Amphibrach (Amphibraic) - /U, -, U/
7. Amphimacer - /-,U, -/
1- Monometer
2 - Dimeter
3 - Trimeter
4 - Tetrameter
5 - Pentameter
6 - Hexameter
7 - Heptameter
8 - Octameter
Example.
John Gil pin was a citizen of credit and renown.
- Iambic Tetrameter