THE LITERATURE OF MYANMAR

The literature of Myanmar, formerly

Burma, has a long history. The Mayazedi
inscription (A.D. 1113) is the earliest
extant specimen of Burmese literature. It
narrates the dedication of the Golden
Buddha by a prince and the gift of slavevillages to the image, ending with a prayer
for the donor and his friends.

In the fifteenth century up to the

nineteenth century, palm-leaf (scratched
with a stylus) and folded-paper
literature became common.
The authors were monks, educated
courtiers, and court poetesses.
Prose works during this period were
few, mostly Buddhist scriptures and
chronicles of kings.

Poetry was varied:

there were
historical ballads, panegyric odes, the
pyo (Buddhist story in verse), and the yadu (poems of love or nature). The writers
also used the mixed style or prose and
poetry together. Examples of this are the
Yagan, a serio-comic epic, and the MyilTa-za, a letter of an abbot to the king.

Modern fiction began with the novel.

example is Tet-Pon-gyn, a classical novel.

An

With the founding of the University of

Rangoon in 1920 came an increase in output of
Burmese literature. Foreign literature, especially
English
works,
was
transplanted.
With
independence in 1948, Burmese has gradually
replaced English as the medium of instruction, and
literature has become nationalistic.//

ON THE THREE EVILS

Humanity has been led astray by three

evils greed, hatred and ignorance.
Whether we are Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims,
Christians, Animists, or Atheists, we cannot
escape the three inevitables: old age,
disease, and death.
Nobody can deny that the five sense
objects pretty sight, delightful sound,
fragrant smell, savory taste, and nice
touch are only fleeting phenomena. They are
neither lasting nor permanent.

1. Human society was split into two classes: Haves and Have-nots.
2. The Have-nots had to depend on the Haves for their living, and thus the
evil system of exploitation of one class by another emerged.
3. With class exploitation, the poor became poorer because they could not
get adequate returns for their work. They had to resort to evil ways like
stealing, looting, and prostitution.
4. The Lord Buddha has taught us that there are four causes of death:
kamma, frame of 1. mind, weather, and food. Under the system of class
exploitation, how can the Have-nots enjoy good food and protect
themselves from extremes of weather? Can there be any sense of
happiness or contentment for them? Can even a good kamma favor one
who is cheerless? Thus one who is born into the class of Have-nots is
handicapped in all the above four factors, and disease is the inevitable
result.

1.

2.

How can the Have-nots care for education with their hard struggle
for a bare living? Lack of education breeds an ever-increasing band
of ignoramuses and Mr. Zeros.
How can a country abounding in ignoramuses and Mr. Zeros ever
progress?

PROPAGANDA
publicly to promote something: information put out by an
organization or government to promote a policy, idea, or
cause
misleading publicity: deceptive or distorted information
that is systematically spread

 Bandwagon - persuading consumers by telling them that

others are doing the same thing.
Testimonial - when a product is sold by using words from
famous people or authority figures.
Transfer - when a product is sold by the name or picture of a
famous person or thing but no words from the said person or
thing
Repetition - when the products name is repeated at least
four times in the ad
Emotional Words - words that will make a consumer feel
strongly about someone or something are used.

1. Human society was split into two classes: Haves and Have-nots.
2. The Have-nots had to depend on the Haves for their living, and thus the
evil system of exploitation of one class by another emerged.
3. With class exploitation, the poor became poorer because they could not
get adequate returns for their work. They had to resort to evil ways like
stealing, looting, and prostitution.
4. The Lord Buddha has taught us that there are four causes of death:
kamma, frame of 1. mind, weather, and food. Under the system of class
exploitation, how can the Have-nots enjoy good food and protect
themselves from extremes of weather? Can there be any sense of
happiness or contentment for them? Can even a good kamma favor one
who is cheerless? Thus one who is born into the class of Have-nots is
handicapped in all the above four factors, and disease is the inevitable
result.

Adjectives and Complements

i.e. tough-whiskered yanks, heavy tanks, jaws as
smooth as guys

Adjectives

add to the meaning of a noun or a pronoun

can be articles like a an and the, or show possession
such as your, his, my, their, our, or its
tell us more about the noun or pronoun, for instance that,
what, those, or these, or be interrogative, what, where, or why
some modify by comparing, richer, whole or ideal impossible
others are indefinite and include all, many, few, some, or
several
also, some give physical descriptions like big, old or brown
others consist of beautiful, Burmese and advertising

Adjective Complement

Clause or phrase that adds to the meaning of an adjective or

modifies it, adjective complement always follows the
adjective it complements and it is a noun clause or a
prepositional phrase
a. Noun clause is simply two or more words that act like a noun, it can
be the subject of a sentence, an object of a verb or preposition, or they
can complement a subject or adjective
i.e. what you see, that he is happy, and where the Burmese went
b. Prepositional phrase starts with a preposition and modifies nouns
and verbs
i.e. It came with the ad, I need a ride to Myanmar

Subject Complement

Adjectives and adjective phrases function as subject

complements. A subject complement is a word, phrase,
or clause that follows a linking verb and describes the
subject.
i.e. Christmas cookies smell delicious.

Object Complement

Adjectives and adjective phrases function as object

complements. An object complement is a word, phrase,
or clause that directly follows and describes the direct
object.
i.e. Judeo-Christians consider Jerusalem holy.

EXERCISE 1.

Noun Clause and Prepositional Phrase:

1. She was hesitant to tell her parents.
2. The boss was anxious to promote sales.
3. Are you afraid of spiders?
4. We were shocked by the news.
5. I was delighted that she was chosen.
6. He is likely to be nominated.
7. The child was eager for Christmas to arrive.
8. I am curious what color it is.
9. It was wrong of her to go.
10. I am happy they got married.
11. We are all afraid that the storm will be severe.

EXERCISE 2.

Subject and Object Complement:

1. My puppy is very mischievous.
2. The patient appears dehydrated and feverish.
3. The apple pie you made tastes sour.
4. My grandmother was rather forward thinking.
5. The British are fond of fish and chips.
6. The little girl painted her bedroom bright pink.
7. The preschoolers are coloring the trees purple and blue.
8. The jury declared the defendant guilty.
9. We voted her entry most original.
10. Studying grammar makes me happy.