OHSP ONLINE LESSON TEMPLATE
ENGLISH I
MODULE NO. 1 : REFLECTIVE ESSAY
MODULE INTRODUCTION AND FOCUS QUESTION(S):
“Memories are forever” as a famous saying goes. But how can you keep all
those memories and remember what you have learned from them? What would
be the best way to record the memories? Why is reflecting on an experience
important? These are some of the questions that you will answer through this
module.
MODULE LESSONS AND COVERAGE:
In this module, you will examine these questions when you take the
following lessons:
Lesson 1 – The Structure and Features of Essays
Lesson 2 – Reflections through Journals and Essays
In these lessons, you will learn the following:
Lesson 1 – Explain the basic parts, structure, elements and features of Philippine
essays.
Lesson 2 – Use personal reflections, experiences and observations in writing
journal entries and personal/reflective essays.
Here is a simple illustration of the above lessons you will cover:
LESSONS LEARNED
PUBLISHING
MESSAGE AND THEME
DRAFTING, REVISING
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
PARTS AND STRUCTURE OF ESSAYS
PREWRITING
To do well in this module, you need to remember and do the following:
1. Read and reread the required texts.
2. Use a dictionary or thesaurus (could be online) to look up the meaning of
new words
3. Review your answers in all the assessments and activities.
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4. Make an outline.
5. Revise your drafts.
6. Prepare the materials, and finish all the tasks.
NEXT
PRE-ASSESSMENT:
Let’s find out how much you already know about this module. Click on the
letter that you think best answers the question. Please answer all items.
After taking this short test, you will see your score. Take note of the items
that you were not able to correctly answer and look for the right answer as
you go through this module.
1. Your pet dog for five years died. You want to share to the Philippine
Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) Magazine what happened and how you
felt. What will you do?
a. Compose a song
b. Craft a story set in space
c. Act it out on stage
d. Write a composition
2. Which describes a good beginning for a composition or theme writing?
a. It answers all the questions in the discussion guide.
b. It introduces the topic and encourages the reader to continue.
c. It explains all the important information of the composition.
d. It makes the reader remember all the details presented in the end.
3. A writer plans to write. She asks herself these questions: How old are
they? What level of education did they finish? Will they be reading as a
group or as individuals?
What is the writer trying to determine?
a. characters
b. audience
c. topic
d. ending
4. What is a diary?
a. proof of purchase
b. any information written
c. little notebook in your pocket
d. record of personal experiences
5. If the introduction opens the essay to the reader, what does the body of
the essay contain?
a. supporting details
b. topic sentences
c. catchy words and phrases
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d. summary of ideas
6. What do you call words or phrases that connect or lead one sentence to
another?
a. prepositions
b. punctuations
c. transitions
d. themes
For numbers 7 and 8, use the sentences below.
A. Some could be very excited while some are afraid of the unexpected.
B. Although I can't exactly remember how my first day at school was like,
I have some idea how it was as my parents recounted the events to
me.
C. The new school year begins next week and many students will come to
school with mixed feelings.
D. Of all their children I didn't seem to manifest fear typical to most kids.
7. Which is the correct order of sentences to form a clear paragraph?
a. C, A, B, D
b. D, B, C, A
c. B, C, D, A
d. A, B, C, D
8. Which is the topic sentence of the paragraph above?
a. Some could be very excited while some are afraid of the
unexpected.
b. Although I can't exactly remember how my first day at school was
like, I have some idea how it was as my parents recounted the
events to me.
c. The new school year begins next week and many students will
come to school with mixed feelings.
d. Of all their children I didn't seem to manifest fear typical to most
kids.
For numbers 9 and 10, use the passage below:
I never realized how important being an older brother was until I
saw my brother get hurt. When I was four and my brother two, we
decided to play a game of superheroes. I was sure I was superman and
my brother being very young didn’t really bother to be a specific
superhero. He just wanted to do what kuya did. When I wore a cape and
started running around the house, my brother followed. When I shouted,
“Superman!” he shouted too. Back then I didn’t notice how he copied
everything I did. I was busy with joy playing, running around, and jumping
up and down. And so when I climbed a mound of sand outside the house
I didn’t notice he was following me. When I jumped high in the air and
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landed, I didn’t notice that my brother jumped too until I saw my little
brother lying on the ground.
9. What important event was the narrator trying to remember?
a. When he played games with his younger brother
b. His childhood memories at home
c. How busy he was when he was young
d. How his younger brother had an accident
10. Which sentence show an important lesson that the narrator learned?
a. When I was four and my brother two, we decided to play a game of
superheroes.
b. I never realized how important being an older brother was until I
saw my brother get hurt.
c. Back then I didn’t notice how he copied everything I did.
d. When I wore a cape and started running around the house, my
brother followed.
NEXT
EXPLORE:
Let’s start the module by determining the difference of an essay from other
literary types. As you go through this part, keep on thinking about this
question: What makes an essay unique?
ACTIVITY 1: Distinguishing essays from other types
Read the excerpts below. Click whether the excerpt is an essay or not an essay.
EXCERPT
Brown and furry
Caterpillar in a hurry,
Take your walk
To the shady leaf, or stalk,
Or what not,
Which may be the chosen spot.
No toad spy you,
Hovering bird of prey pass by you;
Spin and die,
To live again a butterfly.
ESSAY
NOT AN
ESSAY
O
O
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When Jack woke the next morning there was a
strange green light in his room. All he could see
from the window was green leaves. A huge
beanstalk had shot up overnight. It grew higher
than he could see. Quickly Jack got dressed and
stepped out of the window right onto the beanstalk
and started to climb.
ESSAY
NOT AN
ESSAY
O
O
O
O
O
O
"The old man said the beans would grow
overnight," he thought. "They must indeed be very
special beans."
NARRATOR: THAT VERY NIGHT IN MAX'S
ROOM…
MAX:
A FOREST GREW, AND GREW,
AND GREW UNTIL THE CEILING
HUNG WITH VINES
CHILD 3:
AND THE WALLS BECAME THE
WORLD ALL AROUND
CHILD 4:
AND AN OCEAN TUMBLED BY
MAX:
'WITH A PRIVATE BOAT!'
NARRATOR: FOR MAX. AND HE SAILED OFF
THROUGH NIGHT AND DAY
CHILD 1:
AND IN AND OUT OF WEEKS
CHILD 2:
AND ALMOST OVER A YEAR
MAX:
TO WHERE THE WILD THINGS
ARE!
It is hard not to fear nor judge Manong Boy if
you had seen him. He looked like a typical goon
from an action movie. He had the ingredients in
him. He was dark-roasted by the sun, he had
receding hair, had gaps in his teeth and a
countenance that would bring in all possible
doubts. His language was typical of a thug and he
was loud like the true, tough Caviteno stereotype
that he fit in.
(The next page opens only after the student has answered.)
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Only the last excerpt is an example of an essay. The others are from different
genres or literary types. The first one is a poem, the second a short story or
short fiction, and the third a play or drama.
Let’s continue learning about the distinct features of an essay.
ACTIVITY 2: KWHL Chart
Below is a KWHL Chart. It will help you check your understanding of the lessons
in this unit. You will be asked to fill-in the information in different sections of this
module. For now you are supposed to complete the first row: what you know
about the topic.
Topic: Writing an Essay
What you KNOW
What you WANT
to know
HOW will you find
out
What you have
LEARNED
Answer these preliminary questions before we explore what makes an
essay:
1. Based on the example of an essay in Activity 1, can you describe what an
essay is?
2. What makes it different from other forms like poetry, fiction, and drama?
3. What purpose do writers have when they write essays?
4. What could be the special features of essays written by Filipinos?
End of EXPLORE:
On your own you tried to define and describe what an essay is by
answering the preliminary questions. Let’s now find out what the answer is
by doing the next part.
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NEXT
FIRM UP:
Your goal in this section is to learn and understand the parts, structure,
and features of an essay. You will read essay samples written by Filipinos.
As you go through this section, reflect on the message of the essays aside
from the way they are written. Reflect on the following questions:
How can you tell when a personal essay is written by a Filipino?
Why is identifying the message of an essay important?
An essay is a piece of writing that contains the personal views of the author on a
specific topic. It is oftentimes based on personal experience.
There are three basic parts:
1. Beginning or Introduction: The introduction is usually one paragraph. It should
present the topic and main idea and give the reader a preview of the rest of the
essay. The introduction will also include the thesis statement, either directly
stated or implied.
2. Middle or Body: The body is usually made up of two to three paragraphs. Each
paragraph supports and develops (adds detail to) the main idea. To guide the
reader, each body paragraph should begin with a clear topic sentence.
3. End or Conclusion: The conclusion is one paragraph. It summarizes the body
paragraphs and closes the essay.
ACTIVITY 3: Essay Parts and Noting Details
Read the excerpt below.
(Or the learning module can refer to the website with the hyperlink:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20101006-296220/Myteacher-my-hero)
As you read,
imagine that the
writer is
communicating
directly to you.
What questions
will you ask? Jot
them down.
MY TEACHER, my hero was not my classroom
teacher. Neither was she my class adviser, school
librarian or guidance counselor. She was my aunt, my
mother’s sister: Mrs. Amada D. Lagasca.
Why not my mother? Simple. She died when I
was 7 and the youngest in our brood of six was only 18
months old.
Like many Filipino families, ours quickly got
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offers of help, especially to take care of six orphaned children. One aunt from
Davao said she could bring three of us with her to raise as her own and the rest
could stay with my father. My mother’s two sisters couldn’t bear to let us siblings
be separated from one another and came up with a wise suggestion, which was
for my father to keep all the children and my two aunts to help in their rearing.
So, 63 Lopez Jaena St. in Laoag City became a home with three families:
my aunt Amada and her husband (it helped that they were childless); my second
aunt, Lola Liciang, a widow, whose only child was then residing in Quezon City;
and my father and his family.
It was around this time when Nana Ada began teaching me. Thus started
my love affair with teaching. For one thing, we had lived with teachers all our
lives. My mother was a teacher, my two aunts were teachers, my aunt’s husband
taught Spanish, even the house across the street had three unmarried women
who devoted their lives to teaching. It was not uncommon to have teachers in
many homes in my hometown. Until other new jobs assumed more
respectability—call center representatives, outsourcing agents or bank tellers—
teaching was the job worth aspiring for. Everywhere a teacher went, he’d hear
“Maestro” or “Maestra” (or its shortened version “Mestro,” “Mestra,” i.e., teacher).
Greetings, statements or questions were punctuated with “Mestro/Mestra,”
spoken with the tone of respect reserved for the teacher and selected
professions. At that time, teaching had dignity, honor and respect. The true noble
profession.
My aunt went about her teacherly duties quietly and relentlessly. I will
never forget how every night, when we were all in bed, she would sit at the small
round narra table beside my bed and begin writing. As a child, I never knew what
she wrote. It was only later that I realized she was preparing her daily lesson
plan. After making sure dinner was prepared and its corollary chores done, she
had to do her school work faithfully, carefully and assiduously.
If she did her tasks late into the night every single night, is there any doubt
that she went to school every single day without fail? And to school she walked
every morning. Laoag didn’t have those thousand and one tricycles at that time.
My teacher, my hero (an excerpt)
By Ching J. Chee Kee
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:25:00 10/06/2010
Noting Details. Click the best answer.
Who is the writer’s hero?
her mother
her class adviser
her aunt
a bank teller
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What is the hero’s job?
How did the hero influence the writer?
a teacher
a call center agent
she was hardworking
she was famous
she was always away
Let’s go back to the beginning or introduction of the essay. Here are the first two
sentences of the essay.
“My teacher, my hero was not my classroom teacher. Neither was she my class
adviser, school librarian or guidance counselor.”
Answer:
Why is it a good introduction
(recall the discussion on the
parts of an essay)?
When the writer mentioned: “It was around this time when Nana Ada began
teaching me. Thus started my love affair with teaching.”
The writer was showing how her aunt, Nana Ada influenced her to become a
teacher.
This is explained by her remembering her observations of her aunt:
“My aunt went about her teacherly duties quietly and relentlessly.”
and “After making sure dinner was prepared and its corollary chores done, she
had to do her school work faithfully, carefully and assiduously.”
In a diagram, the important parts of the essay will look like this:
My Teacher, My
Hero
Her aunt Ada, a
teacher
Faithful and
Hardworking
Answer:
How did the writer show that
Aunt Ada is worthy to be called a
heroic teacher?
Essays are written for various purposes. It can be to entertain, to share an
experience, to convince the reader, or to make the reader think of the essay’s
message.
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Questions to Answer:
1. What were your thoughts as you were reading the essay?
2. What did the essay make you feel?
Read the next sample essay. Before reading, look at the highlighted
words/phrases. If you can’t understand them, search the web for their meanings.
Remember to focus on these questions as you read: How can you tell when a
personal essay is written by a Filipino? Why is identifying the message of
an essay important?
My Home by Dr. Jose Rizal
I had nine sisters and one brother. My father, a model of fathers, had
given us an education in proportion to our modest means. By dint of frugality, he
was able to build a stone house, to buy another, and to raise a small nipa hut in
the midst of a grove we had, under the shade of banana and other trees.
There the delicious atis displayed its delicate fruit and lowered its
branches as if to save me the trouble of reaching out for them. The sweet santol,
the scented and mellow tampoy, the pink makopa vied for my favor. Farther
away, the plum tree, the harsh but flavorful casuy, and the beautiful tamarind
pleased the eye as much as they delighted the palate. Here the papaya
stretched out its broad leaves and tempted the birds with its enormous fruit; there
the nangka, the coffee, and the orange trees perfumed the air with the aroma of
their flowers. On this side the iba, the balimbing, the pomegranate with its
abundant foliage and its lovely flowers bewitched the senses; while here and
there rose elegant and majestic trees loaded with huge nuts, swaying their proud
tops and graceful branches, queens of the forests. I should never end were I to
number all our trees and amuse
myself in identifying them.
In the twilight innumerable
birds gathered from everywhere
and I, a child of three years at
most, amused myself watching
them with wonder and joy. The
yellow kuliawan, the maya in all the
varieties, the kulae, the maria
kapra, the martin, all the species of
pipit joined the pleasant harmony
and raised in varied chorus a
farewell hymn to the sun as it vanished behind the tall mountains of my town.
Then the clouds, through a caprice of nature, combined in a thousand
shapes, which would suddenly dissolve even as those charming days were also
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to dissolve, living me only the slightest recollections. Even now, when I look out
of the window of our house at the splendid panorama of twilight, thoughts that
are long since gone renew themselves with nostalgic eagerness.
Came then the night to unfold her mantle, somber at times, for all its stars,
when the chaste Diana failed to course trough the sky in pursuit of her brother
Apollo. But when she appeared, a vague brightness was to be discerned in the
clouds: then seemingly they would crumble; and little she was to be seen, lovely,
grave, and silent, rising like an immense globe which an invisible and omnipotent
hand drew through space.
At such times my mother gathered us all together to say the rosary.
Afterward we would go to the azotea or to some window from where the moon
could be seen, and my ayah would tell us stories, sometimes lugubrious and at
other times gay. In which skeletons and buried treasures and trees that bloomed
with diamonds were mingled in confusion, all of them born on an imagination
wholly Oriental. Sometimes she told us that men lived on the moon, or that the
markings which we could perceive on it were nothing else than a woman who
was forever weaving.
Questions to Answer:
1. Is there are a connection between the title and the contents of the essay?
Explain.
2. Which words/phrases paint images in your mind or are very descriptive?
What do you call words like here, there, came then, afterward, but then?
Why are they important?
3. What do you notice about the setting or place being described in the two
essays? What do they have in common?
4. How about the message of the two essays, what are their similarities?
ACTIVITY 4: Identifying the Message of an Essay
Fill-in the chart with the required information based on the essay “My Home”
Introduction or Beginning
1 detail that supports
the main idea
1 detail that supports
the main idea
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Main Idea or Conclusion
Did the chart or graphic organizer help you in determining the message of the
essay? You can use the same chart when you read other essays or
informational texts. Most essays follow the same structure of beginning, middle,
and end. Determining the main ideas from each part and establishing their
connections can give you a clearer idea of the essay’s message.
Essays are valued because of the message or idea they present.
Let’s go back to the questions raised before the activity:
How can you tell when a personal essay is written by a Filipino?
Why is identifying the message of an essay important?
Keep in mind or take note of your answer to these questions. Through them you
get to realize the whole point of reading essays most especially those written by
fellow Filipinos.
ACTVITY 5: Journal Writing— Recording one’s thoughts and feelings
Complete the sentence with a personal thought, feeling, idea, or realization
based on the message of the essay “My Teacher, My Hero” or “My Home”.
Choose one and write your sentence in the box.
I discovered that…
I am now aware of…
I remember…
It seems like…
I’m not sure…
I wonder…
I was surprised
End of FIRM UP:
In this section, the discussion was about identifying the parts and structure
of an essay and what makes Filipino essays distinct. You also learned how
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to identify the message and this process helps you realize the importance
of the essay.
Go back to the previous section and compare your initial ideas to what was
discussed in the last two activities. What have you realized?
Let’s go back to the KWHL chart. Now fill-out the second and third rows.
Topic: Writing an Essay
What you KNOW
What you WANT
to know
HOW will you find
out
What have you
LEARNED
Now that you know the important ideas about this topic, let’s go deeper by
moving on to the next section.
NEXT
DEEPEN:
Your goal in this section is to extend your understanding of essays,
specifically reflective essays and to write a short essay. Knowing the
importance of the message or theme of the essay will make it easier for you
to write your own essays.
Before you proceed to the next selection, let’s review your understanding
of essays.
Click the number of stars that refer to your understanding of essays;
Three stars mean you have excellent understanding,
Two stars mean you have a complete understanding, and
One star means you need to go back and review some more.
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Parts of an essay
Structure of an essay
Main Idea of an Essay
Characteristics of Phil. Essays
Purpose and Audience of Essays
Did you have more 3’s than 2’s and 1’s? If not, you might need to review
the previous activities. If so, you may proceed.
Essays that describe an event that is very important or memorable are called
Personal, Narrative or Reflective Essays. For this module we shall call them
Reflective Essays. They are not only a retelling of events but they also include
lessons learned from it or how the experience changed and affected the writer.
Like the first two, the selection below is an example of a Reflective Essay. For
you to be guided, keep in mind these questions:
What makes an effective Reflective Essay? If you were to write an essay,
how can you make the reader feel your own thoughts and feelings on the
subject?
Read it and find out the message or main idea that changed or affected the
writer. Again, you might need to check for the meaning of the highlighted words.
Tarlac Dike by Kerima Polotan
The Tarlac Dike that is reported to have cracked and sent was the dike of
my childhood. Many years ago I lived in Tarlac, in a house off Tañedo Street
whose kitchen over-looked that dike. It stretched from one end of town, from the
railroad station all the way to Agana Bridge, and the dike was what I took to
Tarlac High. People lived in crude little huts huddled close to the wall, on the land
side, and from the dike as I walked by I could look into their lives.
The dike curves ever so slightly in my memory, as though describing the
arc of a slow ball. It was made of cement and had steps on either side, ever so
often along the way. You could walk up to the ledge and walk into the river if you
wished, but the river was not the fearsome one reported today but a friendly,
familiar one in which the debris of living floated – old chairs, dead pigs, empty
sardine cans.
It never flooded in the years I lived there but the waters rose to the ledge
when it rained, lapping against the wall. In summer the river behind my house
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disappeared, and it as the unending puzzle of my young life where it went
because then in summer the riverbed dried up so completely that we could cross
it, my friend and I, balancing ourselves on huge stones that the June rains hid, on
our way to the barrios across, where the fruit trees waited our plunder. And such
plunder it was! Guavas, unripe mangoes, chicos, the fruits of childhood haunt the
periphery of the tongue no matter how far one has gone and what diverse tables
one has sat at.
I had a good friend then who would later become one of the richest
women in the province (or so I’m told): but I don’t suppose she cares to
remember the nipa hut she used to live in and the horse that pulled the rig which
was the source of their livelihood. I remember helping her walk their horse
occasionally – a privilege, I thought because it was a handsome animal. A
“calesa” ride was five centavos was all I had to live on everyday, I took the dike
instead, saving money for a slice of cake at recess.
It was a cool damp walk in the morning on the dike if all one thought was
getting in school, you could reach the back of the trade school building in ten
minutes, walk down the steps, cross Romulo Boulevard, and be in time for the
flag ceremony. But there were diversions to see- life stirring in the dark interiors
of the dike houses, breakfast being set, children hushed, a wife nagging, a
husband scratching himself in the window, clothes hung out dry, flower pots
watered, detours of the imagination that help the passerby and delayed him.
But the walk in the afternoon was the best part of all. We dragged our
wooden clogs and our school bags, taking our time, my friend and I, thinking of
home and supper. Along the dike the mothers called to their children; the houses
sprang alive with kerosene lamps. The smell of the rivers would come up to us
and we would look across it to the bank, talking of approaching summer,
planning forays to melon patches.
On clear nights the river would glisten, one huge sheet of dark glass from
our kitchen window. My friend has gone on to wealth and status, not too easily
accessible to people these days but I do enough remembering for the two of us. I
suppose we weather everything – I have survived her success without envy and
my reminiscences must leave her untouched. Only the wall two high school girls
had thought would last a hundred years has crumbled, a casualty of government
neglect of short-sightedness.
But my mind never lets go. The dike the papers say has give way, stands
stubbornly in my memory, a sweep of cement and sand and the paucity my
children’s lives includes the absence of such memory of their lives.
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Questions to Answer:
1. For the writer, the dike is a symbol of her childhood. What was her
reaction when she found out that the dike was damaged? Why do you
think she reacted that way?
2. Why is the friend important in the narrative essay? How is her friend now?
3. Which words or phrases show that the writer values the experience?
4. What sense or feeling do you notice as the writer recalls her experiences?
Why do you feel that way?
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ACTIVITY 6: A Personal Essay Map
Fill-in the information from the essay “Tarlac Dike” in the map below.
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Both “Tarlac Dike” and “My Home” contain elements that Reflective or Personal
Essays usually contain.
These elements are:
1. Good Description – what the writers saw, felt, tasted, heard, or smelled.
By including such facts, the narration of the experience becomes realistic.
Unique or special descriptions are important because they make the
experience memorable. Notice how both writers included the fruits, trees,
and surroundings as well as how they were absorbed by the senses.
2. Names of real people, places including dates (if possible) – to highlight the
importance that the experience is personal and that what transpired are
actual events. This is what distinguishes personal essays from short
stories or other narratives.
3. Personal thoughts and feelings – the experiences are special to writers of
reflective essays and that is why they chose to share them. The thoughts
and feelings are shared so readers get an idea of what was in the mind
and heart of the writer. By including emotions and ideas, the reflective
essay really captures a significant experience.
Knowing the importance of writing a good description, of including names
and places of real events, and of including personal thoughts and feelings
can guide you in doing the next activity.
ACTIVITY 7:
It’s Your Turn to Write!
Use the prompts or
questions below in writing
your first draft.
What is the most
unforgettable scenic
spot you have ever
visited?
What makes it such?
What did you learn from
that trip?
Write a three-paragraph
essay (introduction, body, and conclusion) about your personal experience.
Using one of the graphic organizers presented in this module might help you
think of a good subject to write about. After writing your draft, review your work
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by using the checklist below. The checklist will help you determine if your work
meets the requirements.
Write your draft in the box.
(The next page opens only after the student has submitted the first draft.)
After writing your draft, review your work by using the checklist below. The
checklist will help you determine if your work meets the requirements. You may
revise your work using the checklist as a guide.
Checklist: Review your draft using this checklist. Click Yes or No.
Yes
No
Guide Questions
1. Does the essay include an engaging introduction that
O
O
captures the reader’s attention?
O
O
O
O
2. Does it have a clear order of events that happened?
Does it contain transitions?
3. Does it have a body that contains enough details?
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O
O
O
O
O
O
4. Does it have an ending that connects the introduction
with the body?
5. Does the essay have a clear and understandable
message?
6. Does the essay follow correct grammar (s-v agreement,
punctuation)?
Having more No answers only means your work isn’t ready for publishing or
submitting yet. You still have a chance to improve it further. Even professional
writers rewrite or revise their written works a few times before they submit them.
End of DEEPEN:
In this section, the discussion was about the characteristics of Reflective
Essays and drafting a short essay on a specific topic.
What new realizations do you have about the topic? What new connections
have you made for yourself? Finish the KWHL Chart.
Topic: Writing an Essay
What you KNOW
What you WANT
to know
HOW will you find
out
What have you
LEARNED
Now that you have a deeper understanding of the topic, you are ready to do
the tasks in the next section.
NEXT
TRANSFER:
Before you begin this section, recall this question asked at the start of the
module: Why is reflecting on an experience important? The Transfer
section of the module will help guide you in determining the best answer to the
question.
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Your goal in this section is apply your learning to real life situations. You
will be given a practical task which will demonstrate your understanding.
What significant memories do you have of your hometown? How will you
communicate those memories in an effective and moving way?
A renowned photographer is launching a coffee table book that features the
different destinations in the Philippines. As a head of the local tourism council,
you are privileged to write the foreword that promotes your town as a tourist
destination. A successful foreword should be insightful, engaging and
descriptive.
Write your foreword below.
Now that you are done with the task, use the rubric below to check your
work. Your work should show the traits listed under MEETS THE
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STANDARD (3). If your work has these traits, you are ready to submit your
work.
If you wish to improve it even more, refer to the traits in EXCEEDS
STANDARD (4)
If your work does not have the traits under 3 or 4, you have to revise your
work before submitting it.
RUBRIC: Foreword for a Coffee Table Book
Categories
Exceeds Standard
Meets the Standard
(4)
(3)
The foreword
The words/sentences
Descriptive transports the reader create for the reader
to the world being
clear mental pictures.
illustrated.
The foreword
It provides more than presents enough
enough details to
details to support the
explain the theme.
theme.
Approaches the
Standard (2)
Some images are not
completely captured
into
words/sentences.
Engaging
The foreword
sustains the reader’s
interest and makes
the reader look
forward to viewing
the contents of the
book.
The foreword makes
the reader look
forward to viewing
the book.
The foreword in
certain parts attempts
to make the reader
view the text.
The foreword is
confusing and dry. It
does not sustain the
reader’s interest.
Insightful
The foreword
reveals in great detail
the writer’s personal
feelings and
philosophy about the
subject.
The foreword reveals
the writer’s personal
feelings about the
subject.
Some parts of the
foreword show the
writer’s personal
feelings about the
subject.
The foreword lacks
the writer’s personal
feelings.
The foreword needs
more details for the
theme to be fully
explained.
Needs Instruction (1)
The words/sentences
do not convey clear
images.
The foreword does
not have enough
details.
End of TRANSFER:
In this section, your task was to write a reflective essay in the form of a
Foreword. How did you find the task? How can you use the skills you
learned to your life? Why is it important to record and reflect on
experiences? Answer in the box below.
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What new realizations do you have about the topic? What new
connections have you made for yourself? Revise the KWHL Chart.
Topic: Writing an Essay
What you KNOW
What you WANT
to know
HOW will you find
out
What have you
LEARNED
You have completed this lesson. Before you go to the next lesson, you
have to answer the following post-assessment.
NEXT
POST-ASSESSMENT:
It’s now time to evaluate your learning. Click on the letter of the answer that
you think best answers the question. Your score will only appear after you
answer all items. If you do well, you may move on to the next module. If
your score is not at the expected level, you have to go back and take the
module again.
1. Which is a definition of an essay?
a. It is composed of verses or lines that describe places and things.
b. It is a form of writing that deals with explaining and answering
questions.
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c. It is oftentimes written by famous people and published in
magazines or even online.
d. It is a type of writing that contains the personal views of the author
on a specific topic.
2. Which explains why personal essays can also be called narrative essays?
a. Because they share the writer’s thoughts and feelings
b. Because they tell stories based on real-life experiences
c. Because they are based on real characters and places
d. Because they aim to inform readers about lessons learned
3. Your aunt wishes to document a very important experience. She asks
you to help her write it. How will you start?
a. by writing the first draft
b. by listing all possible titles of the essay
c. by getting all the details of the experience
d. by interviewing the people who were with her
For numbers 4 and 5 use the excerpt below.
“Farther away, the plum tree, the harsh but flavorful casuy, and the
beautiful tamarind pleased the eye as much as they delighted the palate.
Here the papaya stretched out its broad leaves and tempted the birds with
its enormous fruit; there the nangka, the coffee, and the orange trees
perfumed the air with the aroma of their flowers.”
4. Which element of a personal essay is being emphasized by the excerpt?
a. use of sensory details
b. real life places and things
c. words like beautiful, broad, and enormous
d. including personal thoughts and feelings
5. Which feeling can be associated with the excerpt?
a. exhaustion of living in the city
b. sadness of losing something
c. joy of experiencing nature
d. excitement of going home
6. Why are personal essays also called reflective essays?
a. because a person who reflects is one who remembers
b. because an experience is always worth remembering
c. because an experience can be a source of lessons or learning
d. because a person who remembers can write an essay
For numbers 7 to 10, use the excerpt from Carlos P. Romulo’s essay, “I
Walked with Heroes”
“For my own father I had intense admiration. He was always
handsomely groomed; his mustache, white as I remember it, was carefully
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trimmed, and even in hottest weather, when other men wore only a white
camisa or shirt, he wore not only his coat, but a vest, and carried a cane.
Despite his great dignity he was rapid is speech and movement,
characteristics I inherited from him.
He was openly affectionate, and when deeply moved, he would
weep. It annoyed him that he could not hide his emotions, and he greatly
admired my mother for her ability to control even her tears. Once when I
was older he said to me: “There is this difference between the civilized
man and the uncivilized: the cultured man can always control his
emotions. Emotions are for private use.”
He was not being fair to himself. He was cultured and the most
civilized man I have ever known. And when grief came and we would see
his tears, we loved him the more for them.”
7. What does the line “always handsomely groomed” suggest?
a. That his father was deeply moved.
b. That his father was an educated man.
c. That his father always controlled his emotions.
d. That his father always dressed with great dignity.
8. What did the father find annoying with himself?
a. He was not a cultured man.
b. He could not hide his emotions.
c. He spoke and moved rapidly.
d. He walked under the heat of the sun.
9. Which sentence captures the main idea of the excerpt?
a. Emotions are for private use.
b. It annoyed him that he could not hide his emotions.
c. He was cultured and the most civilized man I have ever known.
d. He was rapid is speech and movement, characteristics I inherited
from him.
10. What possible insight did the writer gain from his experience?
a. He admires his father’s honest emotions.
b. His father’s demeanor is worth everybody’s admiration.
c. He realizes his father’s humility.
d. His father teaches him through important sayings.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN THIS MODULE:
Body – refers to the middle of the essay where all the details that support the
topic are presented.
Conclusion – refers to the end of the essay that contains a summary or a
restatement of the main idea.
Essay – a piece of writing that contains the personal views of the author on a
specific topic. It is oftentimes based on personal experience.
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Introduction – it presents the topic and main idea and gives the reader a
preview of the rest of the essay.
Reflective – insightful, suggests realizing a lesson
Theme – the main idea or point of the story, it can be a learning or realization.
Writing Process – the steps that writers follow in producing a written work which
includes before writing activities, drafting, revising and editing
WEBSITE RESOURCES AND LINKS IN THIS MODULE:
The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Introductions
(Handout). Retrieved from http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handoutsdemos/writing-the-paper/introductions
Purdue Online Writing Lab (2011) The Narrative Essay. Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/04/
Teacher Created Resources. Five-Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer (pdf
document) Retrieved from
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/TCR/0743932080_075.pdf
Chee Kee, Ching J. (2010, October 6) My Teacher, my hero. Philippine Daily
Inquirer. Retrieved from
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20101006-296220/Myteacher-my-hero)
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