Throwback 2015 after an actual teaching demo!

And yes, I meant to say "Lit" twice lol

Anyways, I love English. I love Linguistics and all that jazz, but I love LOVE Literature. Because of my degree, I tend to be much more accustomed to teaching, well, literature rather than writing literature (But of course, I've done it countless of times).

That's Lit 👏

Anyhow, I think it is a cool thing to write about what my future students will expect me to give them as readings--if everything I'll give them calls to be read, that is. Now, here are some lessons you might expect--and hopefully whatever institution will permit me to use--if you are going to be a future student of mine.


For Magic Realism: "The Iceman" by Haruki Murakami (Read Here)

Back when I was Frosh, I read this for my HUMALIT class. This was also one of the pieces used when the discussion was about Magic Realism. Besides the fact that this is probably one of my favorite works of Murakami, it is also the best example to introduce students to Magic Realism, a type of genre that is technically new but somewhat still hard to define not unless you read texts that are in this genre. Confusing, I know!

"The Iceman" talks about lady who marries an actual iceman, complete with frost and all.

One fond memory on this: I actually once reported about this short story in my LITEACH class. I recall the topic being about what literature would I want to teach to my future class someday and I spoke about this.

For Concrete Poetry: 40-Love by Roger McGough

Concrete poetry, or known as shape poetry, can be taught to any age. Look online for shape poems and you see shapes fit for the kids: dolphins, pandas, stars, etc. But if you're in MY class, expect that we go the more analytical and mature. First person that comes to mind when we talk about this is EE Cummings. Expect him to make an appearance or two in my class but for now, I'll settle with this one by Roger McGough which is my fave concrete poem to date.

Fun fact: I learned this poem not through any literature class of mine but through my Stylistics course. Stylistics is one of my--if not my top--fave fields in Linguistics because so much of it can be applied in analyzing literature. Just look at this piece: why is there a space between? Why are some of the words here separated that way? How exactly do you read this? We'll analyze this soon!

For Feminism: "The Summer Solstice" by Nick Joaquin (Read Here)

The feminism part of this story is very much debatable but the obvious binary can be found in this Nick Joaquin classic short. I've actually taught this story before once when I used to work briefly for a tutorial center and regardless of major, I believe everyone should learn this. It gives an insight on Filipino society back then such as how a patriarchal society frowned upon a pagan fertility festival and how the women eventually stood up. It's also said to be Nick Joaquin's favorite!

I do imagine myself holding a debate over this in class! What makes it feminist? What makes it not?


For Science Fiction: "The Nine  Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke (Read Here)

Science fiction need not to be a long and complicated novel unless we're given a separate class for the whole semester or term to finish the book! I chose this Arthur Clarke piece because it's an easy read yet still gives the usual air of mystery and also allows the student to question what actually DID happen toward the end. The story begins when a Tibetan monastery sought the help of technology to speed up their centuries-long activity of writing all possible names of God. What happens when they finally do?

It's a short read and it's the kind of read where I can imagine interacting with the class and asking them their thoughts on these types of rituals (they're actually real!) and if the end actually was expected from finishing performing that particular ritual.


For Filipino Lit: Tong by F. Sionil Jose (Read here)

I feel like no Literature syllabus will be complete with at least one reading by F. Sionil Jose. He's quite the controversial figure but some of his stories for me are actually great. My favorite story of his is actually "The Wall Between Us" which I can't find online and I have only read it in a short story anthology in the school library (It's such an underrated piece because it shows the wit and humor of Mr. Jose and it's really such a simple story between two brothers. Nothing bongga or anything).

Anyways, with "Tong", I'd like to teach this because I know many are familiar with the "Great Wall" aka that forbidden love between a Chinese and a Filipino. I love how this was illustrated well here in the story and of course, it has such a sad ending. Something to tug the emotions of my future pupils.


For a novel meant as a semester or term-long reading: "A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers "by Xiaolu Guo

This is one of my favorite books and I first read it for my African-Asian Literature class. I will tell you that I easily finished this book then and it won't take months to finish because the story is absolutely lovely. It's  about a Chinese girl's journey to learning English. My students will see as they progress with each chapter, it's not only her English skills that change. (Also, this is where POST-COLONIALISM came in when I first learned this book for class aka that dreaded familiar term English majors know lol)

I've always been grateful for my professor who introduced this to me because it's really a great novel with equal parts comedy, romance, and drama--and pretty much some slice of life moments. I'd love for my students not only to learn about the story but also identify and personalize themselves with every experience told by the heroine in the book. Trust me, you'll relate.


For the sake of it: "Love Team" by The Itchyworms 

Analyzing pop music in a class is nothing new: ask some Atenean students about a certain literature professor who analyzed Lady Gaga songs in class!

But, besides the fact I'm a huge fan of The Itchyworms, why did I choose this song? When there are probably other OPM songs with much more obscure lyrics with seemingly hidden messages? (Like a number of Eraserheads songs). I guess like the earlier pieces I mentioned here, I do want to talk about Filipino culture and what is more close to the Pinoy than the quintessential love team millions cement their hearts on? Besides the culture reference, it's also a great song to cross analyze its lyrics. I don't really believe in finding excessive symbolism especially when something is quite straight to the point (Because the lyrics do speak about an actor falling for his love team. Wow. Very new[sorry for the sarcasm]). What I do like talking about is how one thing also means another or can be portrayed in a different context.




Anyway, these are SOME pieces you'd expect in my class. Yes, this is not all! I can't show all my cards, right? Hehe. See you soon in class!