CONTENT STANDARD PERFORMANCE STANDARD LEARNING COMPETENCIES

 The learner understands the  The learner clearly and  Compare and contrast how
literary conventions that coherently uses a chosen the elements are used in the
govern the different genres. element conventionally different genres
identified with a genre for a
written output

CREATIVE
NONFICTION

PREPARED BY:

KAREN O. BABARAN HAMILTON V. BALAO ROWENA AKYATAN

WEST CAMPUS CENTRAL CAMPUS WEST CAMPUS

1
 MODULE
CREATIVE NONFICTION
2
Introduction to Literary Genres

Drama

For starters, you need to understand the different between drama and play; also, drama, dula, and teatro in
Filipino. The Western concept of drama, based on its equivalent, stage play, is a play with dialogue and performance by
actors for the stage. Theater is a performance or a place where actors perform. By today’s standards, drama is a play not
only performed on stage, but also on television, radio, and other platforms.
If you notice, stage is a key word here. A play has to be performed onstage. By Western standards for centuries,
a play that was not performed onstage is a debilitated play. To a greater extent, they dismiss that it is not a play at all.
In his El Teatro Tagalo (1889), Vicente Barrantes, the first Spaniard who wrote about plays in the country,
proclaimed that all Tagalog plays were only copied from Spanish plays. He even went so far as to say that it is useless
to search for proof of a “national literature” and a “respectable play” before his countrymen arrived. After scouring tons
of documents, it was expected that Spanish historiographer Wenceslao Retana would disagree. But in 1909, he sided
with Barrantes and said not a single Tagalog play existed before 1571, the year the Spanish conquistadors occupied and
declared Manila as their colonial capital.
These details, documented by literary essayist and food critic Doreen Fernandez in her book Palabas: Essays
on Philippine Theater History, are useful to you in your study of drama. For the two Spanish scholars, in order for play
to be considered genuine, it has to satisfy two demands: it has to be performed onstage and it has to be based on a script.
The second condition highlights the claim that a play should be written first before it is performed. There was a third
demand, according to them: the actors have elegant costumes like the ones that were used in the comedia and auto
sacramentales of the Spaniards.
The accepted traditional Philippine drama, according to essayist and National Artist for Literature Dr.
Bienvenido Lumbera, “comes in three Western forms introduced during the period of Spanish colonization. These are
the sinakulo and the komedya, which native playwrights writing between the 17th and the 19th centuries developed under
the auspices of parish priests and landholding native elites in Manila and the provinces. A third form, introduced during
the final decades of Spanish rule was the sarsuwela, which an emerging intelligentsia was to cultivate as a dramatic
form that best represented the interests and self-image of the Filipino after the Revolution of 1896. “However, we must
look at our traditional theater in the form of native rituals, ceremonies, chanting, and dances.

Big Idea
The Western concept of drama came during the Spanish colonization. This concept requires a
play with dialogue and performance by actors for the stage.

Elements of Drama

 Plot – is one element of drama. Try to recall how a narrative is divided using Freytag’s Pyramid ̶ from the
exposition, to the rising action, reaching the climax, then sliding down to the falling action, and to close the
story, the denouement. This formula is also used in drama. It is also called dramatic structure.

 Setting – is another element of drama. You already learned a few things about the milieu from the previous
lessons. As in a written narrative, the setting should be clear in your script. Your script must specify the details
of the place where the story is happening and the time when it is happening. Take, for example, the first part
from Nick Joaquin’s plays A Portrait of the Artist as a Filipino: An Elegy in Three Scenes.

2
 A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino
First Scene
Nick Joaquin
THE SCENES

FIRST SCENE: The sala of Marasigan house in Intramuros. An afternoon towards the beginning of October,
1941.

THE PEOPLE
Candida and Paula Marasigan, Cora, a news photographer
Spinster daughters of Don Lorenzo Susan & Violet, vaudeville artist
Pepang, their elder married sister Don Perico, a senator
Manolo, their eldest brother friends of the Marasigan
Doña Loleng, his wife
Bitoy Camacho, a friend of the family Patsy, their daughter
Tony Javier, a lodger at the Marasigan house Elsa Montes & Charlie Dacanay, friends
Pete, a Sunday Magazine editor of Doña Loleng
Eddie, a writer A Watchman
A Detective Policeman
Don Alvaro & Doña Upeng, his wife
Don Pepe
Don Miguel & Doña Irene, his wife
Don Aristeo

THE FIRST SCENE

(The curtains open on a second curtain depicting the ruins of Intramuros in the moonlight. The sides of the
stage are in shadow. Bitoy Camacho is standing at far left. He begins to speak unseen, just a voice in the
dark)
Bitoy: Intramuros! The old Manila. The original Manila. The Noble and Ever Loyal City…

When you write the script, you do not just say, for example, that the scene happens at a house. Keep in mind the
following:
1. Mention what part of the house the scene is taking place.
2. Mention where the house is located.
3. Mention the time of the day and the date.
Those pieces of information are needed because most of the time, the playwright is not the same person as the
director. Also, the playwright is not present during the brainstorming and the rehearsals all of the time. If you have
specified the setting in your script, you will not only help the director and the actors. The production staff who makes
the costumes, props, and backdrop will benefit from it as well. They will know what they have to produce, down to the
last detail.
 Characters – The set of characters is another element of drama. Go back to Joaquin’s play. Notice that a short
description of each character – what they are or how they are related to each other – is mentioned right away.
Again, this is a big help for the director and the actors. The actors will be able to “internalize” their role.
Remember that the “characters” in a play are not the “actors.” The actors are the ones who portray the role of
the characters in the story.

Other Forms of Theatrical Performance

 A skit ranges from a one-minute to a ten-minute performance. Skits can be performed anywhere; in-
between acts or at a cosplay (costume play) contest.

3
  A monologue does not have a specific length. Long form monologues can take as long as two hours to
perform. If an actor needs to perform a monologue for an audition, he or she may choose a script that
can be performed in three minutes, with words that will showcase his or her acting prowess in less than
a minute.

Two types of monologue

1. internal monologue – when the actor expresses his or her innermost thoughts and feelings
2. dramatic monologue – when the actor is talking to another individual, may it be an imaginary
character or a part of the audience
 The improv is another short form of theatrical performance. Palanca Hall-of-famer Dr. Reuel Aguila
said the improvisation method does not use a formal script; just an outline of the dramatic situation.
While in the usual setup, only the director interprets your script, the improv lets the actors participate in
the creation of the play. Essayist Dr. Apolonio Chua further explained improvisation as the creation of a
play based on the personal experience or observation of the people involved in the creation. It is a
collective process.

Literary Techniques in Drama

A literary technique that stems from drama or theater is called breaking the fourth wall. In a work of fiction,
breaking the fourth wall means the narrator or any of the characters suddenly “woke up,” realizes that he or she is in a
fictional work, and addresses the reader. In drama, it means one of the actors suddenly talks to the audience or responds
to the reaction of the audience. Or, the audience suddenly participates in the play itself!
The literary technique Chekhov’s gun was named after Russian playwright and fictionist Anton Chekhov. He
advised to “remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle
hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be
hanging there.”

Essay

The word essay was adapted from the French literary corpus when 16 th century philosopher Michel de
Montaigne described his writing as “attempts.” Montaigne began composing his essay in 1572 and published his two-
volume collection entitled Essais in 1580. From France, the essay form went to England, through 16 th century
philosopher Francis Bacon’s Essayes. However, the French word originated from the Latin verb exigere, which means
“to drive out.” And before Montaigne developed the genre, Japanese literature already had zuihitsu. Makura no Sōshi
(“The Pillow Book”) by Sei Shōnagon, court lady to Empress Consort Teishi, already had written a few of these
“essays.”
Tomas Pinpin who wrote the first essay by a Filipino in the country. His introductory essay served as a preface
to his book Librong Pagaaralan nang manga Tagalog nang Uicang Castila, published in 1610. When elite Filipinos
were educated with the Spanish language, they started writing memorias/apuntes (memoirs), reseñas (resumes),
informes (accounts), and memorials (complaint letters).

Types of essay

 Formal essays are characterized by philosophical, scientific, or historical treatise. They are impersonal
and didactic.
 Informal essays could be as imaginative as fictional works. Montaigne, who wrote “I confess myself in
public,” is considered the “Father of Informal Essay.”

In essay writing, you may get confused with the topic, theme, and thesis statement. The topic is the subject matter of
your essay. The theme narrows the topic. Your essay could have multiple themes–both major and minor–and may just
be implied. The major theme is the main or central idea. When you directly state your idea in a sentence, it is called
thesis statement.
4
Parts of essay

INTRODUCTION

BODY

CONCLUSION

 Introduction - the first paragraph in an essay. It contains two parts.

1. General Statements: a few sentences about your subject that catch the attention of your reader.
2. A Thesis Statement: one sentence that tells your reader the main points of your topic and states the
overall “plan” of your essay.
 Body - The body consists of one or more paragraphs following the introduction. Each paragraph supports the
main idea of your essay by breaking it down into smaller ideas or sub-topics. Each body paragraph consists of a
topic sentence and several supporting sentences. A conclusion sentence draws the paragraph together.
 Conclusion -  The conclusion paragraph is the last paragraph in the essay. It completes the essay by
summarizing or repeating the most important ideas. The conclusion can also include an opinion, a prediction, or
a solution to a problem.

Authorial Voice

The speaker is very important in an essay. While fiction has a narrator and poetry has a persona, your essay has
a speaker. It is the authorial voice that you set in your writing–your POV.

References:

 Angeles, M.A. (2017). Creative Nonfiction. Legaspi Village, Makati City Philippines: Diwa
 https://www.slideshare.net/yoyo2012/parts-of-an-essay-11572332