Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University South La Union Campus College of Computer Science Agoo La, Union TERM PAPER IN LITERATURE OF THE PHILIPPINES Submitted To: Ms. Marissa Fangon Instructor Submitted By: Jollibee L. Geneta III-A Biag Ni Lam-ang The story dates its origin during the pre-Spanish period of the Philipines. It is one of the greatest Ilocano epic of the pre-colonial literature of the country. It is originally written in the Ilocano language but as time goes it has been translated to different languages. The story is set in the Northern Provinces of the Philippines.
The story is a mix of adventure and romance with exciting and unpredictable outcomes. The story revolves around Lam-ang who is a very extraordinary guy. He started to talk at a very young age and was the one who choose his own name. His adventure began when his father, Don Juan, went to a battle but never came back. At the age of barely nine months he went to search for his father in the highlands where his father was said to go. Knowing that he is blessed with extraordinary well being, her mother, Namongan, allowed her to go. Lam-ang then went of to search for his father leaving his grieving mother.
When Lam-ang reached the place, he was enraged upon seeing his father’s head on top of a bamboo pole that was stuck in the ground which was a scene that he had dreamed before reaching the place. Lam-ang then demanded to know the reason why did that happen to his father but he did not receive an answer, instead he was demanded by the chieftain of the village to go or else he would receive the same faith like his father. Instead of running Lam-ang bravely fought with the chieftain and its tribesmen. Lam-ang won the fight with less effort that serves as his revenge for his father. The epic poem also presented some humorous points.
As Lam-ang was on his way home he passed by a river and then decided to have a dip. The dirt from his body caused the death of fishes, crabs, shrimps in the river. She was gladly attended by some of the women who saw him. Lam-ang upon reaching home decided to court his love interest, Ines. Despite his mother’s disapproval he followed his heart and set again another journey for her love. His adventures had never been that easy. He faced one of Ines’ suitor and monsters. But he won the battles with ease. Upon reaching the place, Lam-ang drew the attention of many and impressed Ines.
He was helped by his magical pets: a rooster, a hen and a dog. Lam-ang’s rooster flapped its wings and a house toppled. This amazed everybody, especially Ines. Then, Lam-ang’s dog barked and the house aroused. Being invited in the lunch of the family of Ines, Lam-ang impressed Ines’ parents with his wealth and upon returning he gave to the family two golden ships. Their wedding was held with a lot of feastings. However Lam-ang’s story never ended there. He was sent to catch a gigantic shell but unfortunately she was swallowed by a shark, which he had earlier premonitioned.
Her bones were recovered and Lam-ang was resurrected with the help of his magical pet. Ines was ordered by the rooster to wrap the bones with her tapis while the hen flaps its wings and the dog growling. In an instant Lam-ang happily rejoined his wife. Introduction Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly speaking, “literature” is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction.
Literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. But, literature is more important than just a historical or cultural artifact. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. We learn about books and literature; we enjoy the comedies and the tragedies of poems, stories, and plays; and we may even grow and evolve through our literary journey with books. Ultimately, we may discover meaning in literature by looking at what the author says and how he/she says it. We may interpret the author’s message.
In academic circles, this decoding of the text is often carried out through the use of literary theory, using a mythological, sociological, psychological, historical, or other approach. Whatever critical paradigm we use to discuss and analyze literature, there is still an artistic quality to the works. Literature is important to us because it speaks to us, it is universal, and it affects us. Even when it is ugly, literature is beautiful. I. Body Biag ni Lam-ang is such a fictitious story inherent from Ilocos Region.
A myth that widens and plays in the imagination of the readers and leaves moral lesson as well. It is such a fanciful one casting of supernatural characters namely Lam-Ang, Ines Konoyan his wife, Namongan his mother, Don Juan Panganiban his dad, and some animals like a giant fish, rooster and dog are also involved in the magical story. It opens the curiosity of the readers that nothing’s impossible with literature if you only use your creative juices appropriately. The story leaves a long-lasting expression of bravery, revenge, romance, magic, love for the family and even for friends.
The author makes use of peculiar animals to adds up more flavor in the story and to have some twist he even make use of old tribes and imaginary characters as well. Just like other mythology, which almost ends up in a happy-ending this one follows the rule of a fairy-tale that everybody lives happily ever after at the end of it. Yes, stereo-typical, but the difference of this with other magical story is, it is native’s masterpiece that we Filipinos should be proud of. The story of Lam-ang is very challenging and extraordinary story because when he was a child his father had to go to the mountains to punish an Igorot’s band.
It’s so very sad because his father is not around when his mother giving his birth. For his mother it’s so very hard to stand as a mother as well as a father to her son. The story is a mix of adventure and romance with exciting and unpredictable outcomes. The epic poem showed some of the earlier customs, culture, tradition and belief of the Ilocano people of the Philippines The story presented some of the qualities of the people of the Ilocos region- adventurous, hardy, and brave as strongly portrayed by Lam-ang. The epic poem presented the fact that life is full of trials and problems.
One must be strong and just accept the reality that it is already part of life. Lam-ang was an extraordinary being, manifesting in his early years when he started to speak, thus enabling him to choose his own name. His adventure began when his father, Don Juan, set out for a battle but never returned. At barely nine months, he went to search for Don Juan in the highlands where the latter was said to have gone. Aware that her child was a blessed, exceptional creature, his mother Namongan allowed him to go. Lam-ang then went off to search for his father, leaving his grieving mother behind.
Biag ni Lam-ang, although dominated by action and tragedy, nonetheless contained some comedic points. An example would be the scene where as Lam-ang was going home, he passed by a river (identified by some with the KLauz River, the biggest river in Ilocos) and then decided to have a dip. The dirt and blood that came off from his body caused the death of the river’s fish, crabs, and shrimp. As he was bathing, some of the maidens who were present at the river gladly attended to him. The lesson we can learn is that marriage can wait the right time, if we want to be in this stage of life, we must prepare ourselves against the risk of it.
We know we can all be in to it if we like too but not at the young age. The part – Lam-ang was nine months old and his father had not yet returned, he resolved to go after his father and travelled – is confusing as he was only nine months old, he was able to travel; The white rooster told Ines that if Lam-ang’s bones were recovered and gathered, he might be revived – is also confusing as if the white rooster was able to talk. The epic used simple words that makes it easy to understand. It is unrealistic in the ff. parts of the epic: Lam-ang was able to talk from the moment he was born.
So much dirt and so much evil was the smell taken of Lam-ang’s body, the fish in the river all died. The white rooster’s crow made a house in the neighborhood immediately collapsed. The dog’s growl made the collapsed house went up again as if nothing happened. With the recovered and gathered bones of Lam-ang, he lived again. The epic showed Filipino tradition in a way that: Ines’ parents would bestow the hands of their daughter to Lam-ang if he could equal their wealth. II. Conclusion The narrative is a mix of adventure and romance with exciting and unpredictable plot turns.
The epic poem details the customs, culture, traditions, and beliefs of the pre-Colonial Ilokano people. The story presents some of the qualities and values espoused by the ethno-linguistic group–adventurous, hardy, and brave–as personified by the hero, Lam-ang. The moral of the epic is that life is full of trials and problems; one must be strong and must accept this reality. Lam-ang is a great person because he has a supernatural power that he use to help other people around him. He do anything just to win the heart of the woman he loves. A very brave person who don’t think about his self whenever what could happen to him.
He just want to fight for his people, and for his self. And because of his courteousness to everyone, he live happy with his wife and friends. The lesson in the story was you must; love your family and your country. Fight for what you are. Fight to your enemies. Fight your neighbors. The theme of the epic revolves around the bravery and courage of the main character portrayed by Lam-ang, who was gifted with speech as early as his day of birth, who embarked on a series of adventures which culminated in his heroic death and subsequent resurrection.
