Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Northern Mindanao – Region X
Division of Misamis Oriental
Medina North District
PORTULIN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
QUARTER II – ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES
LESSON 1: WRITING A POSITION PAPER OR MANIFESTO
A position paper presents the writer’s stand or viewpoint on a particular issue. Writing a position paper entails outlining
arguments and proposing the course of action. In the same manner, Munro (2019) defines manifesto as a document or letter
publicly declaring the position or program of its issuer. It advances, but it a set of ideas, opinions, or views can also lay out a
plan of action. It is posted or distributed to the public that announces information such as the motive, reasoning, or demands
of a person or group. Topics of position papers or manifestoes are: political, artistic, scientific and educational, professional,
and technology. The main objective of writing a position paper is to take part in a larger debate by stating your arguments
and proposed course of action.
A position paper has the following parts:
I. Introduction
• Introduces the issue, provides history or background of the issue on hand.
• Provides general statement of the writer’s stand through a thesis statement.
II. Body
• States the arguments on the writer’s stand about the issue.
• Provides strong evidence (statistics, interviews with experts, testimonies).
• Provides counterarguments against possible weaknesses of your arguments.
III. Conclusion
• Restates the claim or stand of an issue.
• Suggests a course of action.
• Ends with a powerful call for action (quotation, challenge or question).
Moreover, the parts of a position paper are best understood if you have background knowledge on the following terms which
are commonly used for this purpose.
• Issue – refers to the important topic or problem discussed in the paper.
• Argument – refers to the set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others.
• Evidence – refers to the facts or information indicating whether a belief is true or valid.
• Claim or stand – refers to a demand or request for something considered one’s due.
HOW TO WRITE A POSITION PAPER
I. CHOOSING YOUR POSITION
1. Make sure your topic is arguable. If you are choosing your own topic, then you will want to make sure that it has
multiple sides. The topic should be controversial, with at least 2 clear sides. Sometimes a topic might seem to have 2 sides,
but in actuality most people would agree on 1 side.
2. Research your topic and the alternative sides. You need to fully understand your issue in order to choose and
defend a position. Consider the background information, recent developments, and the reasons behind each side. Remember
to examine at least 2 sides of your issue.
3. Make a pros and cons list for at least 2 positions on your topic. Based on your research, write down the
reasons for and against each position that you are considering taking. This will help you choose a position that is easy to
defend using the evidence that you have collected.
4. Think about your views on the issue. You may have strong views on the topic, which could help guide your
choice. If you do have an opinion, make a list of the reasons behind it to see if they can help you build an argument.
5. Consider your audience's views on the topic. How your paper is received will depend on the audience and
their stance on the issue.
II. BUILDING YOUR ARGUMENT
1. Establish your claim. Your claim is your position on the topic, which is what you will defend in your paper. You
should base your claim on what you can prove with your evidence.
2. Identify your supporting reasons. Most position papers provide 2 or 3 supporting reasons for your claim, but a
longer paper may include more reasons. Your supporting reasons will come directly from your evidence, so choose
statements that you can prove.
3. Compile your supporting evidence. Identify which pieces of evidence you will use to support your argument,
and mark them in a way that is convenient for you.
4. Identify a counter-argument that you can easily dismiss. Using a counter-argument can help you strengthen
your claim because it shows the audience that you have considered other options. By introducing and then dismissing the
counter-argument, you are showing that your position is the correct one to take.
III. DRAFTING YOUR PAPER
1. Develop your thesis. Your thesis will control your paper, so you should write it first. For a position paper, you can
vary how you write your thesis. Since you are using a counter argument, you may only have two supporting points,
depending on the requirements of your paper.
2. Write your introduction. Provide your audience with background information on your topic, including the history
and recent developments. You should include information that is relevant for your stance, which will narrow what you tell the
reader.
3. Include at least 2 body paragraphs. A short position paper may only contain 2 body paragraphs - one for the
counter-argument and one for the supportive points. However, most position papers will have 3 or 4 body paragraphs, with 2
dedicated to supportive evidence. Depending on the length of your paper, you may decide to include more.
4. Use topic sentences that link back to your thesis. Each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence.
The topic sentence is like a mini-thesis that controls your whole paragraph.
5. Provide evidence to support your position. Each of your reasons needs at least 1 piece of evidence, though
using more evidence will strengthen your argument. Pull your evidence from your research, focusing on the following:
 Facts
 Statistics
 Quotes
 Documented stories
6. Provide commentary to explain your evidence. Commentary explains to the reader why your evidence
supports your reason and your position, so your commentary should clearly explain the link between your evidence and
thesis. In your own words, tell the reader what you want them to take away from this piece of evidence, and why it proves that
you are correct. You should include 2 to 5 sentences of commentary for each piece of evidence.
7. Conclude your essay by reasserting your position. A strong conclusion restates your position and the reasons
why it’s the correct viewpoint. You will summarize your argument and briefly dismiss your counter-argument. In a position
paper, you’ll also want to end with a call to action.
8. Cite your sources. Since your position paper will contain evidence, you need to include where you sourced that
information. Follow the preferred citation style of the recipient of your paper, whether that’s an instructor, organization,
journal, or other entity.
IV: REVISING AND EDITING YOUR PAPER
1. Use your spell check tool. The spell check tool is the easiest way to avoid misspellings, and it’s available on
most word processors.
2. Take a break from your paper. Go for a walk, eat a snack, take a nap, or participate in a relaxing hobby. Your
brain needs rest before you try to edit your paper. By stepping away, you’ll have more insight into gaps in your argument and
whether or not your sentences make sense.
3. Re-read your paper with fresh eyes. Read through your paper as a reader rather than the writer. Identify your
claim, counter-argument, and support. Look for areas that need development or additional evidence. Mark sentences that
need to be rewritten to streamline or provide more clarity.
4. Revise your paper. Start by making any additions, such as more evidence to support your argument or additional
commentary. Make sure that your argument is clear, supported by evidence, and restated in the conclusion. Then go back
through your paper and rewrite awkward sentences, as well as sentence fragments and run-ons.
5. Proofread your paper to make final edits. Check your final draft for typos, misspellings that the spell check tool
missed, and any remaining grammar issues.
6. Prepare your works cited page, bibliography, or references page. Since you will likely be using evidence, you
will need to include a page listing all your sources. You should prepare this page using the style manual preferred by your
instructor.
7. Format your paper to fit your instructor’s requirements. Consult your assignment sheet, syllabus, or the
parameters of the paper for how you should format your paper. Adjust the margins, font size, and spacing to match the format
requirements. Then add your heading and page numbers.
Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Northern Mindanao – Region X
Division of Misamis Oriental
Medina North District
PORTULIN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
QUARTER II – ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES
LESSON 2: THE REPORTS, SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE AND ADMINISTERING IT
Kinds of Reports in Various Disciplines
Reports are more likely needed for business, scientific and technical subjects, and in the workplace. They are of
different types and they differ in their aims and structures.
TYPES
DEFINITION/ DESCRIPTION
OBJECTIVES
1. Survey Report
It is written after getting data from a
survey.
To collect people’s responses or
answers about a particular issue or
topic
2. Laboratory or Scientific
Technical Report
It is commonly called lab report. It is
written in a formal and organized
manner.
To present results or findings from
experiments.
It is sometimes called trip report.
To describe and analyze a
systematic observation.
3. Field Report
Among those types of reports, survey is the most popularly and widely used as it is the easiest way to gather
information about any topic or issue from a big number of people or groups.
Survey Questionnaire
It is a data gathering tool having set of questions used in a survey and is utilized in various fields such as politics,
research, marketing, media and so on. It is intended to gather data, views, opinions and others from individuals or a
particular group of people (https://explorable.com/how-to-conduct-a-survey).
It is an important method used in order to collect the necessary information that will benefit the people and the
community.
Methods of Administering a Survey
1. Personal Approach - involves the person himself/ herself conducting the survey.
a. Face-to-face Structured Interview - the interview is set personally and the people involved face
each other in order to gather the necessary information. Questions on the survey are asked directly to the respondent
by the researcher.
b. Telephone Survey - is done using telephone or cellular phones. The calls are made to ask
individuals on particular questions. This method can be used for asking consequential questions.
2. Self-administered Approach - is administered by the researcher himself/herself.
a. Paper- and - pencil Survey - is a traditional method wherein the respondents who usually preferred
the manual method must be present in the administration of the survey.
b. Online Survey - also known as internet survey, is one of the most famous sources of data
collection, where a set of survey questions is sent out to respondents and the members of this sample can respond to
the questions over the internet. Respondents receive online surveys in various ways such as email, embedded over
website, social media or
forms.
c. Mail Survey - this popular tool requires an easy- administering of the survey where survey
questionnaires are mailed to individuals who are given enough time to read and ponder on the information asked.
Should and Not Should of a Survey Questionnaire
Successful survey largely depends on Concise and Easy understandable questions by the respondents. Thus, a well designed survey questionnaire will ensure an effective data and information gathering.
A survey questionnaire should be well – constructed so that the respondents could read carefully and understand
thoroughly and be motivated to complete it. Therefore, a questionnaire should:
1. Use words that have clear meaning. The questions should not be vague and difficult to comprehend so that the
questionnaire will not be left unanswered.
2. Cover all possible options. The respondents should just be given at most five ranking options and should cover all
so that they will not be tired of choosing a lot of options which do not give the choices they look for. If this will not be
observed, this will lead to an abandoned questionnaire.
3. Not ask two or more questions in one sentence. The question should focus on one topic or item at a time so that
the respondents will not be confused which to answer and what to choose.
4. Provide an out- option. The survey should give the respondents the option to choose “Does not apply “ or “None” for
questions they do not feel answering.
5. Consider appropriate time reference. Respondents could not easily recall past long experiences and be doubtful as
to the exact measurement or time they spent.
6. Have a clear question structure. Survey questionnaire should follow the three parts: the question stem, additional
instructions and response options so that the respondents will not be confused what to answer or choose. This will
result to unreliable gathered data.
7. Have open specific response options. The respondents should be guided on what to choose. So the survey should
provide specific options to choose from so that respondents will not be confused in answering.
8. Not have any bias or prejudice. Questions should be objective and lead to an honest answer. The respondents
should not be lead to a biased option that they may fail to give their truthful response.
9. Not include too personal or too embarrassing questions. Questions should be gender and culture sensitive so
that the respondents may not feel awkward or embarrassed in giving their responses.
10. Avoid double negative questions. Double negatives may occur when respondents are asked of their agreement
on a certain issue. This should be avoided so that the respondents ‘response will be clear and precise.
11. Outline instructions or directions clearly and understandably. Clear instructions will lead to positive, appropriate
and clear answers. If respondents are clearly asked and told what to do, they will also foster positive attitude towards
answering the questionnaire.
Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Northern Mindanao – Region X
Division of Misamis Oriental
Medina North District
PORTULIN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
QUARTER II – 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE IN THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD
LESSON 1: LITERARY GENRE IN THE PHILIPPINES
LITERARY GENRE IN THE PHILIPPINES
1. Riddles – These are mystifying statements or questions phrased and rhymed to require ingenuity in determining its
answer. These are presented as a game and considered as forms of entertainment during the earlier times.
2. Proverbs - These are called sawikain or salawikain in Tagalog or sarsarita in Ilocano. Philippine proverbs are wise sayings
that prescribe codes of behavior, mirror societal norms, traditions, and beliefs and impart lessons in brief, rhyming verse.
3. Songs – These are forms of folk lyric speak volumes of the typical rural lives and reflect people’s aspirations and lifestyles.
a. Folk Songs (Awit ng Bayan) – These are songs with lines often described as repetitive, didactic, and sonorous.
b. Lullaby (Oyayi) – These are soothing songs often sung to put babies to sleep.
c. Serenade (Harana) – These are courtship songs used by young men to capture the heart of the girl they love.
4. Chants (Bulong) – These are used to give respect, excuse, or apology to unseen or other elemental spirits our ancestors
believed in to deliver them from danger or harm. Moreover, these are utilized in enchantments and even in withcfraft.
5. Epics – These are long narrative accounts of heroic exploits. Examples of these are Darangen in Maranaw, Aliguyon at
Hudhud in Ifugao, Ibalon in Bicol.
6. Myths – These are symbolic narratives, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relate
actual events and are especially associated with religious belief.
7. Legends – These are stories that explain the origin of things and phenomena in the surrounding world. Some of the most
famous legends are: The Legend of Maria Makiling, The Legend of Mayon, and The Legend of Sampaguita.
8. Fables – These are brief stories for the children of the native Filipinos. These talk about supernatural or extraordinary
people and usually follow in the form of narration that demonstrates a useful truth. These stories use animals as characters to
represent a particular attribute or characteristic.
9. Folk tales (Kwentong Bayan) – these are stories that deal with the power of nature-personified, their submission to a
deity (Bathala), and how the deity is responsible for the blessings and the curses in the form of calamities. These are often
passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth.
10. Fiction. The word fiction is derived from the Latin word “fictus” which means “to form or make”. It became a part of
English to refer making or forming something in imagination. In a general sense, the word fiction refers to a deliberately
fabricated account of something, esp. an imagination-based literary work rather than a factual account. It is literature
developed from imagination.
TYPES OF LITERATURE IN FICTION
1. Novel – The novel refers to a type of prose narrative of considerable/enough length with more than 5000
words. It carries/contains such imaginative human experiences through a connected sequence of events involving a group of
persons in a specific setting.
2. Short story - A short story as a fiction genre refers to a brief prose narrative shorter (in the number of words)
than a novel. Contrary to a novel, it consists of only a few characters and episodes. Similarly, it is a concise narrative with a
reduced complex plot. The characters are seldom fully developed, they only appear in their action or encounters.
3. Novella. A novella is another narrative prose fiction with a length shorter than that of a novel and longer than a short story.
According to the dictionary, it is “a work of fiction intermediate in length and complexity between a short story and a novel”.
There is no fixed rule about the number of pages or words a novella should contain. However, according to some scholars, a
novella should contain 17,500 to 40, 000 words.
ELEMENTS OF FICTION
1. Character. One of the first elements of fiction most encounter. Characters are the people the reader follows through your
story. They’re the ones we watch grow and develop. We get attached to your characters, and even if you’ve got an interesting
premise and setting, a flat character can turn a reader off immediately.
a. Flat characters - are characters without dimension. They don’t have a strong personality. They might rely
too heavily on stereotype or one personality trait.
b. Round characters - have some dimension. They have diverse interests, an interesting backstory, and they
feel like real people.
2. Plot. A story needs a story. Learning to use this as one of the key elements of fiction, the plot of your novel is made up of
the events that take place. Everything that happens is a part of the plot! This is one of the most foundational of the elements
of fiction.
3. Point of View. The point of view in a novel is the vantage point from which we read. It’s the lens being used to convey
information to the reader.
a. First Person. First person means we’re inside the main character’s head using the pronoun “I.” This is the
closest possible point of view, as it means we can never leave the main character’s head for the entire story.
b. Second Person. Second person is the “you” point of view; in the second person, “you” is the main
character, not the addressee. There will be no mention of an “I,” since we’re reading from the perspective of
“you.”
c. Third Person Limited. Third person limited means we’re reading from the perspective of a specific
character, and we’re using he, she, or they. Because the perspective is limited, we can only see inside our
narrating character’s head, and we don’t get the thoughts or perspectives of other characters.
d. Third Person Omniscient. Third person omniscient is the only point of view where we get more than one
character’s perspective in a scene. This point of view also uses third person pronouns. Third person
omniscient isn’t the same as having alternating POV in a novel. You might have chapters of a book from
different characters’ perspectives, but in each of these chapters, we’re usually reading from that character’s
perspective. Because you’re able to see everyone’s perspective, motives, and thoughts, this perspective
can make it difficult to have meaningful conflict.
4. Setting. Where does your novel take place? The answer will dramatically alter your characters, plot, and even genre, so
it’s important to consider when you’re working on your outline.
5. Style. A style is the words, diction, syntax, and structure that a writer uses. Like everything else on this list, it’ll vary a lot by
genre. This one is a little tricky, out of all the elements of fiction this may be the most subjective.
6. Theme. When we talk about the themes of a story, we’re talking about what the story was ‘about.’ Theme is the recurring
issues brought up in a story. A theme of many superhero movies is sacrifice—-our hero has a new ability to stop evil, but at a
great personal cost.
ELEMENTS OF PLOT
1. Exposition. This is your book’s introduction, where you introduce your characters, establish the setting, and begin to
introduce the primary conflict of your story.
2. Rising Action. The rising action normally begins with an inciting incident, or a moment that sets your story into action. As
it progresses, you’ll have multiple moments of conflict that escalate and create tension as the story moves toward the climax.
3. Climax. The climax is the peak of tension, plot, and character in your story. It’s the moment that your reader has been
waiting for—so make it exciting!
4. Falling Action. This is the time to start resolving conflicts and subplots, so your story doesn’t feel rushed in the last few
chapters. This is also where any conflicts that arose because of the climax can start being resolved.
5. Resolution/Denouement. Finally, the resolution is the end of your story where you can tie up the final loose ends and
bring your story to its happy or tragic ending.
Poetry
It is derived from the Greek term “poesis” which means “to create” or “to make”. It is a form of literature represented by its
highly controlled manner of choosing and arranging language with the use of regulating devices such as sound and rhythm to
aesthetically convey meaning. (Baronda, 2016)
Poetry is used by most writers to share their life’s experiences. Thus, it could also mean as an experience pack in a capsule
form. A poem’s form is its appearance. Poems composed of lines and these lines are grouped into stanzas. Most poetic
works utilize few words and they are mainly arranged in lines and in stanzas.
The structure also varies depending on the style used by a writer as such, a haiku, a ballad and a sonnet have peculiar
framework.
Categories of Poetry
1. Narrative Poetry- includes all poems that tell a story. It has a variety of length and complexity. Examples of these are:
epics, metrical tales and romance, and ballads.
2. Lyric Poetry- this refers to all poems that express a writer’s profound thoughts or feelings. A traditional poetry that is
characterized by brevity, emotional intensity and musical quality. This is known for its melodic quality since it was first recited
with the accompaniment of a lyre. Examples: haikus, limericks, odes, elegies, epitaphs, epigrams, sonnets, pastorals, songs
and villanelles.
3. Dramatic Poetry - are long dramatic lyrics which tell the story through the speech of a character. Examples for this type
are: a monologue and a soliloquy.
Figures of Speech
Figures of speech, also referred to as figurative language, are words or phrases that express meanings in a nonliteral way.
These expressions are often used for comparison and for conveying emotion. Literary writers use figures of speech to
enhance the artistic quality of their works.
Figures of speech bring vividness and liveliness to the work, and they also emphasize the message that the writer wants to
convey. The use of these expressions also allows readers to feel a connection with the literary work by sparking their
imagination and arousing their emotions.
Figures of Relationship
1. A simile compares two unlike things with a common quality. The comparison is done using words such as like or as.
Example: My love is like a red rose. (love is being compared to a rose)
2. A metaphor is a comparison that is done by stating that one thing is another in order to suggest their similarity or shared
qualities. Example: The clouds are soft cottons in the sky. (clouds are compared to soft cottons)
3. Personification gives human qualities to objects and things. Example: The rain gently kissed my cheeks. (can rain kiss?
only persons can kiss)
4. Metonymy refers to using a thing or idea that is not referred to by its own name but by a different one, a name of
something with which it is closely associated. Example: “White House declared….” (Rather than “the president declared”)
5. Synecdoche uses a part of something to represent the whole or the whole to represent a part. Example: Ask for a hand.
(refers to asking for a woman to marry)
Figures of Emphasis
1. Hyperbole uses intentional exaggeration to achieve emphasis or produce a comic effect. Example: He’s running faster than
the wind.
2. An oxymoron is a word or a combination of words with contradictory meanings, as in bittersweet and open secret.
Example: Durian is disgustingly delicious.
3. Paradox is a statement that appears to hold contradictory ideas but may actually be true. Example: John is normally
abnormal.
Figures of Sound
1. Alliteration refers to the use of closely spaced words that have the same initial sounds. Example: Black bug bit a big black
bear…
2. Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate the sound of what they are referring to. Example: Machine noises-honk,
beep, vroom, clang, zap, bang