The Place of Literature in My Life

    In January of this year,  I wished and hoped for a good leap year. I left every bad memory of last year and motivated myself to do better. Every month there was a tragedy coming in and it did not stop which made me scared and worried that the world may not be in a better place.  It changed our lifestyles, practicing the “new normal” life. The first day this school year started on July 15th, I got so curious on how the online classes would work. 21st century literature is the first subject we encountered, our teacher Mrs. De Jesus, influenced us about how important literature is and many more. The part of the lesson that influenced us the most is where we reported our assigned authors.

    During the 1st quarter of the 1st semester, I am not going to lie, it was challenging but it was worth taking that challenge because it helps us to expand our knowledge and improve our critical thinking. After that quarter, I am proud of myself that I survived and ready to take another challenge. Suddenly, the 2nd quarter began and once Mrs. Fe announced the project we are about to do, I was not ready at all. Days of researching about the authors, those sleepless nights, was all worth it because I did my part and I know Mrs. Fe was not that impressed but I will improve more and continue to learn in the next chapters of life.

     After I reported my author, I was relieved that I was done but I was required to listen to the other authors that were reported by my classmates. They did better than me, but it is fine at least they know what to do and how it is supposed to be done. Time flies by, many authors were introduced but the author that got my attention was Pablo Neruda. It was reported by my classmate, Lyra Tan. I learned that he's styles of writing were from romantic to modernist style. I read the poem that he published which entitled "Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines," it talks about emotions associated with loss of love. He showed different ways of people who cope with heartbreaks. 

     Furthermore, the reason behind why Pablo Neruda's writing changed into modernist style was because he was dealing with the politics. My classmate mentioned that Neruda's marriage fell apart because he spends time on politics rather than spending time with his love. And, that was the reason why Neruda did not write anything about love anymore and he was more of a political man. Neruda was a man who changed his writing because of the environment he has been living in.

     21st century literature taught me how important literature is, not only me but each and every one of us in class. The works authors have left us reflecting to ourselves and realizing the lessons or the message in their works has a help to us in the future. I'm bad at writing especially when it comes to English, but as I learn and learn something each day, I think I'm doing great and I will continue to improve my english.  

Queenie Ledesma

Grade 12 - ABM

Philippine Institute of Quezon City, 2021