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AB Literary and Cultural Studies Course: Introduction to Literature and Literary Studies (Core Course) Topic: Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry) Theme: Self/Identity Text: “Ako ang Daigdig” by Alejandro G. Abadilla Method: Online learning: group discussion, close-reading, analysis, critical writing Prepared by: Mesandel V. Arguelles, De La Salle University Objectives: By the end of the lesson, the students should have:
- developed an understanding of the free verse form (in light of modernism in poetry);
- gained knowledge on the use of repetition in poetry; and
- learned more about the concept of the “self.” Module for Online Session Activity Teacher’s Procedure Online Tool Options Listening to a musical rendition of “Ako ang Daigdig”
- Ask the students if they know who Alejandro G. Abadilla is and if they know his famous poem “Ako ang Daigdig.” Tell them that they will listen to a musical rendition of this poem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO_mj eM27tE). Tell them that the song was performed by the band The Brockas whose members are also literary writers.
- Ask them to listen closely to the song and to take note of the important words in the poem/song.
- After listening, ask how they feel about the song through the following questions: While listening to the song, what do you feel? Does the song express (a) particular emotion/s? Does it evoke certain emotions in you too? Let them express their thoughts and feelings about the song.
- Ask them about the words they deem important in the song/poem. Ask them why they picked those words.
- Finally, on the basis of the song they have just heard, ask them if they can tell what the poem is about. Zoom Canvas Google Meet Facebook Group Discussion: Close reading of the poem Let the students discuss the poem in groups. Have at least five (5) groups. Ask the students to choose a representative who will report the group’s analysis to the class. Suggested Discussion Questions Give them the following questions to guide them in their discussion of the poem:
- What can you say about the form and structure (free verse) of the poem?
- Who is the persona—the “I,” “the self”—in the poem? Zoom Google Meet Canvas Facebook Messenger
- Who is the “I” addressing?
- Can you describe the tone of the persona?
- What is the “I” talking about?
- What is the relationship between/of the I/self and/to the world?
- What is the relationship between/of the I/self and/to the poem?
- What are the interweaving relationships among the I/self, world, and poem?
- What can you say about the primary use of repetition in the poem? Does it develop/advance the objectives of the poem?
- Is there any progression in the poem from the first to the last part?
- What idea/s about the “self” does the poem give you? Note: After the reporting of each group, the teacher will sum up/synthesize the groups answers and provide further discussion, adding emphasis on Abadilla’s modernism. Take-home writing task: critical essay Let the students write a short critical essay on the form of “Ako ang Daigdig” with particular emphasis on how the device of repetition was primarily used to develop/advance the objectives of the poem. The students must also discuss how the concept of the self/identity explored in the poem has affected/influenced/changed their own idea/s about the self. They may start by asking themselves the question “Who am I?” in relation to the “I” that is present in the poem. Further, they may also connect their concept of the self and the concept of the self in Abadilla’s poem to the “selfie” phenomenon in the time of digital technology and social media. Output: Group discussion/analysis, short critical essay Assessment:
- The students must be able to participate in a group close-reading of the poem
- The students must be able to write a short critical essay on the poem. The discussion in the essay must include the following: a. how repetition is used to develop/advance the objectives of the poem b. how the concept of the self/identity explored in the poem has affected/influenced/changed the student’s own idea/s about the self c. additional criteria may include: grammar, spelling, punctuation, organization, coherence
In the vernacular, Villa’s counterpart was Alejandro G. Abadilla. Almario states: “ Ngayo’y kinikilala si Alejandro G. Abadilla bilang pinakamagiting na tagapagtanggol at “ama ng makabagong panulaang Tagalog ” (139)” And: “ Higit na kinikilala ngayon si Abadilla sa kaniyang “Ako ang Daigdig” na nalathala noong 1940 at itinuturing na manipesto ng pagtulang Modernista dahil sa paggamit ng malayang taludturan, hindi tradisyonal na retorika’t balangkas ng pahayag, at kaisipang pribado’t indibidwalista (xxv).” Alejandro G. Abadillla, or AGA, was born on March 10, 1905 in Rosario, Cavite. According to writer and critic E. San Juan, Jr., Abadilla “belongs to the generation of Amado V. Hernandez which spearheaded the resurgence of Tagalog literature in the late 1930s and early 1940s. But unlike the socialist Hernandez and others like Benigno Ramos and Teodoro Agoncillo, Abadilla chose a liberal-individualist stance (78).” San Juan adds: “Abadilla is credited with having introduced “free verse,” more precisely a Coleridgean adjustment of content and form, into the Tagalog poetic tradition. His speculations about poetic form invoke the self—the complex of feelings, moods, visions which he conceives of as the “I”—as the fundamental justification for inventing new metrical forms, stanzaic patterns, surrealistic imagery, and various expressionistic experiments (78).” San Juan sums up Abadilla’s bio: “Abadilla began his career as a critic of poetry and the short story in 1932, with his popular column “Talaang Bughaw” (“Blue List”) in the Tagalog daily Mabuhay. After World War II, he continued this occupation in various newspapers while working as college teacher of literature, insurance salesman, magazine editor, and journalist at separate times. Abadilla contributed immensely to the important task of anthologizing works printed in the newspapers. Among his own books are: Ako ang Daigdig (1955), Tanagabadilla (1964), and Piniling Mga Tula ni AGA (1965). He also edited the avant-garde monthly Panitikan (1 962 - 67) (78). Self and Structure in “Ako ang Daigdig” The poem “Ako ang Daigdig” consists of four parts/sections. Each part has five stanzas. The lines are very sparse, in fact, the longest line only has five words (“ ang walang maliw na ako ”). On the surface, the poem looks extremely bare and simple. But as they say, looks are deceiving. Abadilla’s now iconic poem is, of course, despite its physical appearance on the page, far from being bare and simple. In fact, the apparent bareness and simplicity of “Ako ang Daigdig” can be seen as a direct and immediate response to the prevailing poems of the Balagtasistas (Almario’s term) who had a firm adherence to the principles of traditional poetry particularly its strict rules on rhyme and meter. According to critic Bienvenido Lumbera, Abadilla was “appalled by what he perceived to be the emptiness of much of the verse being written by his elders (185).” Thus, Lumbera continues, “[Abadilla’s] poem “signalled the outbreak of a revolt similar to [Jose Garcia] Villa’s in the 1920s. As a sign of protest against a hypocritical society that had made a virtue of conventionality, Abadilla stripped his verse of rime and meter and insisted on “sincerity” which shunned all artifice in poetic expression (185).” Clearly, by writing poems devoid of any poetic embellishments, Abadilla has embraced fully the form of free verse in his art. The foremost virtue of his poems lies in the insistent and forceful assertion of the individual self against its surroundings and the society. Again, Lumbera has this to say about him: The injuction to be true to the Self, the insistence on sincerity, is the recurrent theme of Abadilla’s poetry. It is what led the poet to reject mechanical form and, thus, to use free verse. In the con- text of the history of Tagalog poetry, Abadilla has something new to say. To utter it is to invent a new way of saying. In this, he is “modern.” He is a destroyer, a true literary rebel (qtd. in Almario, 141).
Repetition The most apparent poetic technique/rhetorical device employed in Abadilla’s poem is repetition. In poetry, sounds, syllables, words, phrases, stanzas, patterns, and even ideas can be repeated. Thus, repetition produces not only emphasis but also clarity, amplification, and emotional register. Words are commonly repeated ( conduplicatio ). In “Ako ang Dagdig,” the words “ ako ,” “ daigdig ,” and “ tula ” are repeated by Abadilla for emphasis. However, by employing various combinations of these words, he is also able to achieve a different expression each time. For instance, in the fourth stanza of the first section, Abadilla says: ako ang daigdig ng tula ang tula ng daigdig and we get the idea that the persona, the “I” in the poem, proclaims the self as the “world of the poem.” Therefore, the self is as large as the world of the poem—they are one. However, in the last two lines of the stanza, the persona also asserts that the self is indeed “the poem of the world”—suggesting, in effect, that the self and the world are two separate entities. It can be observed further that in this stanza, the meanings of the words “daigdig” and “tula” have significantly changed in the second instance they were used ( antanaclasis ). “Daigdig” in the first instance it was used means the “world/realm” (or the figurative world) of the poem while in the second instance, it becomes quite the literal “world.” Moreover, the word “ tula ,” which signifies “poetry in general” in the first usage, in turn, becomes the “particular poem” upon second mention. The repetition of the word “ ako ” in successive stanzas ( anaphora ) throughout the poem exhibits the poem’s movement. This is exemplary considering that the poem contains only a few words. Let us look at the first part: ako ang daigdig ako ang tula ako ang daigdig ang tula ako ang daigdig ng tula ang tula ng daigdig ako ang walang maliw na ako ang walang kamatayang ako ang tula ng daigdig Here, we see that, as the poem proceeds, the number of lines of each stanza gradually increases and the poem accumulates its many meanings as well, thus providing for a richer reading. Concept of Self According to Pedro Ricarte, although “Ako ang Daigdig” is about the personal beliefs, experiences, and poetics of Abadilla, it was written in a very impersonal, very detached manner, and as such, it would be
