21st Century Literature from the

Philippines and the World

Quarter 2 Module 1: Lesson 1
MARXIST LITERARY CRITICISM
o ACTIVITY 2: Photo Analysis
Directions: Study the following photo which compares disparity between the rich and the
poor. Write your insights about it on a separate sheet of paper.

In the photo, I see a clear divide between the rich and the poor; the poor cohort resides in
the houses on the left, while the rich cohort resides in the houses on the right. The picture speaks
volumes on the reality of the economic disparity between the rich and the poor. The gap between
the rich and poor differs depending on the culture and ways people are educated. However, rich
people have access to more things than poor ones. For instance, a wealthy person has access to more
exceptional education, clothing, food, doctors, etc., while the poor person does not have access to
such things. The disparity has a very important function; it motivates the majority of people to
improve their lot in life. If it wasn’t for this disparity, we’d likely still be nomads roaming the lands
for whatever crossed our paths. This disparity is always the case. Most people work hard to apply
themselves & profit off their efforts and to improve, grow, gain valuable experience. This provides
those people a subsequent ability to make more money and to be in a position to take advantage of
the enormous opportunities that comes our way in life. Poor means you are often overlooked and
unnoticed. Most big cities have a growing homeless problem, and most working-class and above
citizens pretend as if the poor do not exist or will simply go away. Rich means you are envied or
targeted. You have more to lose and usually a reputation that can be damaged. People will blindly
blame you for a lot of their problems, including rising income inequality and ask you for money as if
you can solve their problems for them. You likely have to hire security and live in fear of being
stolen from as well. They both come with problems. Society treats people who are different badly
no matter what side of the spectrum you are on for different reasons, some of which are not just.

o ACTIVITY 3: COMPREHENSION CHECK

The rich have access to the affluent things in life, and the poor have nothing, which leads them with
low-quality experience and labor skills to succeed in life. Thus, being inferior leads to income
inequality and low status in society.
Directions: After reading the passage above, answer the following questions in
your answer sheet.
1. What is Marxist criticism?
 This approach tries to unfold how socioeconomic status affects hierarchy or
conflicts involving social classes in the masterpiece. A type of literary criticism
7. How are the key concepts of Marxism correlated with literature?
 In literary theory, a Marxist Interpretation reads the text as an expression of
contemporary class struggle. Literature is not simply a matter of personal
expression or taste. It somehow relates to the social and political conditions of
the time. To Marxism, literature belongs to the superstructure which is a
product of the base realities.

8. What are the basic parts of Marxist critical analysis?

o ACTIVITY 4: COMPREHENSION CHECK

The Dialogue of the Poor and Destitute

By Yomanoue no Okura

The title of the poem is “The Dialogue of the Poor and Destitute”, which treats the
sufferings of poverty in the form of an exchange between a poor man and a destitute man.

The Dialogue of the Poor and Destitute is written by Yomanoueno Okura. This is one
of his most famous poems containing the exchange of dialogue between the poor and the
destitute man. Okura was a Japanese poet who focused his works mainly on children and
commoners and his works were inspired by the teachings of Confucianism and Buddhism. 

The poem entitled "The Dialogue of the Poor and Destitute" talks about the feeling
of despair both the poor and destitute man feel. This feeling possessed by the man is
represented through setting the poem on winter. As it is winter and rainy, the sun does not
shine, neither do the moon, giving the man no hope for his life and his situation. The poem
represents the people from the lowest level of the social spectrum experiencing poverty,
starvation, and hopelessness.
Okura belonged to a family of lower-ranking nobles. His inclination to illness, death,
poverty, and social injustices was a product of the lessons that he had learned from the
teachings of Buddhism and Confucianism. His position in the society being a government
official did not hinder him to write poems about this awareness of social injustices. He
based his works on the people in the society who are weak and powerless. The poem revolves
around a central theme - the suffering and despair of the poor and destitute man for
possessing nothing in life. It is an expression of a great depression suffered by those who
were victims of the society's negligence.
Okura wrote this poem as a representation of those who belonged in the lower class
of the society, the people who are suffering from poverty, for he sought to change the way
on how the rich nobles looked at them. The setting in the poem, the cold winter night where
rain and snow covered the place, there was the man who is freezing to death. It doesn't
matter how many sleeveless coat he puts on, he will continue to be cold and he can never
leave that situation. This is a representation of the despair that man felt, and he could not
Though both characters in the poem, the poor and the destitute, belong to the same class,
there is also an implication of the existence of an upper class, who merely neglected these
unfortunate ones. The suffering and agony of the poor are drowned beneath the enjoyment
and lavish lives of the rich. This kind of situation is very relevant even in our society in the
present day. We are the creators of conflict. We tend to think that we are better than
anybody else and that we live thinking about ourselves alone and neglecting those around us.
We sometimes turn a blind eye to those who need our help and we don't even feel
sympathetic about it. This is the main conflict that was depicted in the poem.
o ACTIVITY 5: COMPREHENSION CHECK
Directions: Write the word that makes the most sense in the blank, using the words
below. Each word will be used only one time. Use a separate sheet of paper for your
answers.

1. We all look at the woman’s feet peeking underneath her long skirt.
2. She is wiggling her toes, purple from nail polish.
3. I can tell from the cord thingies at the side of her neck and the way she smacks her
big lips that whatever she is eating tastes really good.
4. I swallow with her, my throat tingling.
5. They just glance at us when we file past the shacks.
6. We cut through another bush, zip right along Hope Street for a while before we
cruise past the big stadium with the glimmering benches.
7. I keep expecting the clean streets to spit and tell us to go back where we come

o ACTIVITY
from. 6: COMPREHENSION CHECK
8. Budapest is big, big houses with satellite dishes on the roofs and neat graveled
yards or trimmed lawns.
Directions: Answer the following questions based on the story “Hitting
Budapest”. Use a separate sheet of paper for your answers.

1. Who are the characters in the story? Describe each one of them.
 The most important characters in the short story “Hitting Budapest” by
NoViolet Bulawayo are the six African children, Darling – the narrator, and the
2. What are the social status of the characters?
 The group of children belong to the lower class in accordance to their lifestyle.
The social setting or status in “Hitting Budapest” presents several aspects
related to African society and world society in general. The interactions and
conversations between the children show their lack of education as they have no
knowledge about human reproduction, but also the commonness of incest and
rape among poor Africans. The children also suffer from starvation and extreme
7. Would you say the main characters are extremely poor children? Explain your
answer?
 Yes, I can say that the main characters can be described as extremely poor
because in the story it tells that some of them have worn out and torn clothing,
while the other is missing a tooth, probably with poor hygiene. Most of them are
illiterate because as Stina said they do not get educated anymore. They can be
described as extremely poor because their basic needs are not met especially
specific scene from the story simply portrays the reality of being poor. Being poor
involves the scarcity of basic food, clean water, health, shelter, education and
information. Those who belong to absolute poverty tend to struggle to live and
experience a lot of child deaths from preventable diseases and water-contamination
related diseases. Poverty is usually uncommon in developed countries. Poverty
impacts education just as much as education impacts poverty; poverty has a direct
impact on a child’s ability to learn. Children’s ability to concentrate is affected by
poor nutrition and poor health. Many studies have shown that poverty and a lack of
o ACTIVITY 7: WRITING ACTIVITY
Directions: In one paragraph, discuss the key concepts of Marxism and explain
why it is a critical approach in analyzing and critiquing a certain material. Write
your answer on your answer sheet.

Marxist literary critique originated from notions of class conflict, politics, and
economics. Marxist critique holds that literary works are historical artifacts that may
be examined by looking at the social and material context in which they were created.
Most Marxist critics of the early phase of Marxist literary criticism belonged to
"Vulgar Marxism." Notably, literary writings are one register of the superstructure,
which is determined by a society's economic base. Because all social institutions, or,
more accurately, human connections, are defined by the economic base, literary works
are a mirror of the economic base rather than "the social institutions from which they
emanate."literary
Marxist In conjunction
criticismtoisthis, Marxists
founded believe that
on socialist literature is
and dialectical a social
theory. Itinstitution
generally
with aliterature
sees specific ideological function
as a reflection ofdependent
the socialon the author's
institutions it background
comes from.and ideology.
Karl Marx’s
ideas remain of crucial relevance, and in this short, student-friendly book, leading
expert Christian Fuchs introduces Marx to the reader by discussing 15 of his key
concepts and showing how they matter for understanding the digital and communicative
capitalism that shapes human life in twenty-first century society. Key concepts covered
include: the dialectic, materialism, commodities, capital, capitalism, labour, surplus-
o ACTIVITY 8: APPLICATION
Directions: Write a critical analysis of the story “Hitting Budapest” using
Marxist Criticism
Hitting Budapest
By NoViolet Bulawayo

NoViolet Bulawayo, a pen name for the promising author, Elizabeth Zandile
Tshele. She is a Zimbabwean author that currently resides in United States of
America. One of the excerpt from that story was the “Hitting Budapest” that has been
the reason why she won the Caine Prize for African Writing. With all of that awards
she got from the novel and the excerpt, it can be therefore concluded that it is such a
great piece to spend time reading. Since the author is from Zimbabwe, the readers
believe that the first setting on the story was from her birthplace. Through reading
the short story, a reader will be able to open new doors of realizations as you analyze
every scenes written by the great author. You will be able to realize that it is symbolic
where the true message might be hidden but the real situation has not been sugar-
coated by the author which makes it a remarkable one. With that, we can also say that
NoViolet Bulawayo is a strong person and brave enough to stand and speak for her
fellow Zimbabwean and show the world how difficult their situation is. Now you may
ask, what is this short story all about that people are hooked into it? It’s a story of a
six poor African children who stole as to survive their day to day basis. On that day,
they will hit Budapest, a paradise for a people like them to steal some guavas from the
trees. However, it is not a travel story. It is more focused on showing the gaps between
the life of a rich and the poor. The life here is like a circus show where the people who
can pay are the one who enjoys it and the people who can’t are oppressed. It’s the
immenseHitting Budapest
economic is a story
declination of a sixofpoor
as a result African
poverty but children who stole as to survive
who’s at fault.
their day to day basis. A group on children in a slummy neighborhood called Paradise
move around foraging for guavas in a previously affluent neighborhood of Budapest that
is almost fully deserted for abroad. The characters are young ordinary kids who make
life almost comically realistic. The sense of playful social morphing among children is
infectious. They do not carry their poverty on their sleeves, but the cheeky braveness
of conducting a house to house operation stealing guavas demonstrates their approach
love within the family but something is not clicking. Something is stopping you to attain
all of those. What is it? Who is it? Setting that aside, there is also a scene in the story
where the children are having a conversation about how a girl gets pregnant. They said
that a man put it in there which is somehow correct but there is still a deeper
explanation to that in which they were supposed to know at their age. It is one of the
lessons taught in school to give awareness to the children regarding this situation. So
with the ignorance of the children as shown in the story, we can therefore conclude
it is just nothing for the rich woman. That’s a simple scene from the story but it is
symbolic. Nonetheless, it’s not the rich people’s fault why poor people are poor but they
can still extend help to them. But who’s really at fault for the poverty? It’s the
government officials who have said that they will prioritize the rights and needs of the
people but they are just indulged by their own greed, their personal interest. They take
this opportunity to corrupt all the funds that were supposed to be given to those people
who are in need. They should be the one who will govern the country towards the
Let us normalize blaming the government why we are facing immense economic
declination if they can’t do their work cleanly and correctly. As long as there are
parasite in our government, the world remains divided into two. With all of that, I would
also like to recommend a series entitled “At a distance, Spring is Green” which also
depicts the difference between the life of a poor college guy and a rich college guy. If
I would be given a chance to rate the short story of NoViolet Bulawayo, it deserves a
100 stars over 10. It’s not an exaggeration, it’s the fruit of all the things I have