10

Creative Writing
Quarter 3 – Module 3a
Understanding Ethical Practices in the
Production of Literature

0
SPA Creative Writing– Grade 10
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 3 – Module 3a: Understanding Ethical Practices in the Production of
Literature
First Edition, 2021

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work of
the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency
or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work
for profit. Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the
payment of royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names,
trademarks, etc.) included in this module are owned by their respective copyright
holders. Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these
materials from their respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not
represent nor claim ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education

Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Kenneth B. Pael

Editors: Sheena Grace B. Alabata; Jaymar R. Kinkito; Maria Teresa S. Bernal
Reviewer: Jaymar R. Kinkito
Illustrator: Sheena Grace B. Alabata
Layout Artist:
Management Team: Senen Priscillo P. Paulin, CESO V Rosela A. Abiera
Fay C. Luarez, TM, Ed.D., Ph.D. Maricel R. Rasid
Nilita L. Ragay, EdD Elmar L. Cabrera
Jenith C. Cabajon

Printed in the Philippines by ________________________

Department of Education – Region VII Schools Division of Negros Oriental

Office Address: Kagawasan Ave., Daro, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

Tele #: (035) 225 2376 / 541 1117
E-mail Address: [email protected]

1
It is critically important the serious consideration of ethics in any
research or purposive writing is strictly observed. It is, therefore, important
that we understand the basics of ethical research and how this might affect
our writing in general.
Ethics is not just applied in our own daily lives but also in writing.
Guidelines must be followed so that we will not be critiqued professionally
and most especially, be penalized legally.
In this module, we will be talking about different ethical principles in
producing literary works which can be used in our future works.

LEARNING COMPETENCY:

• The learner compiles literary works that show experiences and/or issues
concerning ethical practices.

At the end of the module, you should be able to:

• identify the ethical practices in the publication of literary works;
• research and compile different Philippine literary works focusing on social
issues; and,
• comply with ethical practices in the publication of literary works.

2
What I Know

Direction: Read each item carefully and write your answers in your activity notebook.

1. This is defined as moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the

conduct of an activity.
A. Conciseness B. Ethics C. Plagiarism D. Professionalism
2. It refers to the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing
them off as one’s own.
A. Conciseness B. Ethics C. Plagiarism D. Professionalism
3. This is a law that helps to stamp out plagiarism and other unauthorized uses
of intellectual or creative property.
A. Conciseness B. Copyright C. Ethics D. Plagiarism
4. It is found within many organizations that give guidelines for ethical or proper
behavior.
A. Code of Conduct B. Copyright C. Ethics D. Plagiarism
5. It can also result from performance pressure, lapses in judgement, total
ignorance, or a plethora of other reasons.
A. Code of Conduct B. Copyright C. Ethics D. Plagiarism
6. They are among the most useful forms of intellectual property tools you will use
as a writer of workplace documents.
A. Code of Conduct C. Ethics
B. Copyright and creative commons D. Plagiarism
7. We aim to balance courtesy, professionalism, and conciseness.
A. Code of Conduct C. Ethics
B. Copyright and creative commons D. Writing respectfully
8. You will notice that in most workplace documents, ____________ is embedded
in the documents themselves
A. Code of Conduct C. Ethics
B. Courtesy D. Writing respectfully
9. This is described as “the competence or skill expected of a professional.”
A. Courtesy C. Professionalism
B. Ethics D. Writing respectfully
10. People don’t like to read any more than they have to.
A. Conciseness C. Ethics
B. Courtesy D. Professionalism

3
What’s In

Task 1. Direction: Based on your academic learning and experiences, provide an

original definition of the following words:

1. Plagiarism- __________________________________________________
2. Ethics- __________________________________________________
3. Professionalism- __________________________________________________
4. Courtesy- __________________________________________________
5. Copyright- __________________________________________________

What’s New

Task 2. Direction: Read the ethical situation and answer the question below.

The night before a short essay on The Walking Dead is due, you are still
struggling to come up with a thesis statement. You don’t think you would have trouble
writing the essay if you could only think of something to write about. You hop online
and find a discussion board where a few people are discussing the ethical dilemma
presented throughout the show’s portrayal of the “Walkers.” One person posits that
the show is posing the question of “what makes humans human?” Your mind races
with tons of great examples that could support a paper on this topic, so you write an
essay around this idea and turn it in the next day.
Source: https://www.mtsu.edu/writing-center/workshops/16.Writing.Responsibly.pdf

1. Does the situation above shows ethical and responsible writing? Support your
answer by writing a 5- word essay in your notebook.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

4
What is It

Ethical Considerations in Publication of Literature

Ethical writing is writing with a level of inclusion, respect, and acknowledgement
of diversity. The importance of ethical writing, then, is based not only upon the
avoidance of plagiarism, but also avoiding the weaknesses of bias and exclusive
language (sexist, racist, homophobic, and more.) (Source: https://www.kent.edu/stark/ethical-
writing-reliable-sources)

Ethics is defined as “moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the

conducting of an activity” (Oxford
Dictionaries, n.d.). Ethical behaviour asks
you to be concerned about what is
inherently right or wrong in a given
situation. The right thing to do may not
always be obvious, and sometimes you
have an ethical dilemma when there’s no
clear answer (Dingwall et.al).
To help in situations when you are
http://successfulwritingatwork.blogspot.com/2015/ trying to behave and communicate
12/ethical-writing-in-workplace.html ethically, most organizations have
guidelines in place to help people act in a way that is considered more right than
wrong.
Plagiarism, “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing
them off as one’s own,” (Oxford Dictionaries, n.d.) is heavily frowned upon and
typically carries big penalties. Effectively using sources and giving credit where credit
is due is one way to avoid it (Dingwall et.al).
Copyright is a law that helps to
stamp out plagiarism and other
unauthorized uses of intellectual or creative
property. Creative Commons builds upon
copyright, enabling flexibility and openness
through attribution and sharing while
maintaining conditions that seek to prevent
unauthorized use (Dingwall et. Al).
Because organizations contain so https://www.dacast.com/blog/how-to-copyright-a-video/

much information, there are often protocols in place to govern who has access to
information and under what circumstances—unauthorized access is usually
considered unethical. Similarly, records management principles and guidelines are
also in place in most organizations, because employees need to take great care to
ensure records and other personal or private company information is kept safe.

5
Codes of conduct are found within many organizations that give guidelines for
ethical or proper behaviour.
Being able to balance the need for speed and clarity while staying ethically
sound means one must cultivate the skill of writing respectfully. Words are powerful,
especially in written documents. Respectful writing aims to balance courtesy,
professionalism, and conciseness in a way that is considerate of intended, secondary,
and hidden audiences (Dingwall, et.al, 2018).
https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/profcommsontario/chapter/ethical-guidelines-for-writing/

Plagiarism. Plagiarism can occur on purpose or be accidental. It can also result

from performance pressure,
lapses in judgement, total
ignorance e, or a plethora of
other reasons. This is why it is
important to be vigilant and aim
to be above reproach in your
quest to write and communicate
ethically (Dingwall et. al., 2018).

https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/free-online-plagiarism-checker/
The following are some keys to
remember to avoid passing off others work:
➢ give credit where credit is due.
➢ If you did not come up with the idea, saying, phrase, or thought yourself,
cite your source.
➢ make it clear where the words or ideas came from; this is a crucial first
step.
However, to stay on the right side of the law and be aligned with good ethical practice,
you often need to do more than just cite the source to avoid plagiarism.

Copyright and Creative Common. Copyright and creative commons are

among the most useful forms of intellectual property tools you will use as a writer of
workplace documents. Other forms of intellectual property protection include things
like patents, trademarks, and industrial designs (World Intellectual Property
Organization, n.d.).
A work enters the public domain when the creator’s intellectual property rights
have expired, been forfeited, or are inapplicable. We also learned that Creative
Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative
works available for others to build upon legally and to share; the organization has
released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons licenses free of
charge to the public (Dingwall et.al, 2018).

6
Writing Respectfully
When we write respectfully, we aim to balance courtesy, professionalism, and
conciseness. Writing respectfully makes your message more palatable to your various
audiences, professionalism ensures that ethics and competency are covered, and use
of plain language principles keeps things concise in an era of information overload.
Writing respectfully may seem like a relatively basic aim but is an important skill
to master as we aim to communicate in a way that is ethical.
Courtesy. You will notice that in most workplace documents, courtesy is
embedded in the documents themselves. Take the business letter, for example, which
begins with addressing the addressee as “Dear.” When you are courteous, it tells the
audience that you are considering them and aiming to respect them. When the
audience feels respected, they are usually more open to absorbing your message
(Dingwall et.al).
Being courteous means considering the needs and expectations of all potential
audiences. Aiming for courtesy as a means of respect is a time-honored tradition in
human communication, and its expression can vary from one environment to the next.
If you are writing for an audience or audiences outside your environment our culture,
it makes sense to consult with someone more familiar with the target environment to
ensure your courteous message can be received as intended.
Professionalism. Professionalism is described a s “the competence or skill
expected of a professional.” Included in this
competence and skill are qualities normally
found among ethical guidelines of various
professional organizations, such as
truthfulness, integrity, confidentiality,
respect, and social responsibility. To be
professional and write respectfully means
being mindful of all of these elements and
https://fairygodboss.com/career-topics/sample-letter-
even having them supercede the desire for
formats your own notions of personal expression.
Workplace documents are not the place to insert your opinion or invoke your right to
freedom of speech. Being a professional means understanding that there is a time and
place for all kinds of expression, and your workplace is the time and place to put your
organization front and center of your communications (Dingwall, et al, 2018).
Conciseness. Many people don’t like to read any more than they have to. This
does not mean they don’t enjoy novels or articles; it just means that they are more
likely to read workplace documents if they can identify that the information is useful,
timely, and relevant to their needs (Dingwall, et.al, 2018).

7
What’s More
Now, that we have discussed the ethical approaches in accessing information
with respect to writing, let us review a short case study.

Situation:
In writing an essay about wedding traditions, you describe how the practice of
throwing rice during the couple’s exit has slowly changed to blowing bubbles. You can
remember who told you, but you heard that the reason we don’t throw rice anymore is
because the practice has been made illegal since the rice swells in the bellies of birds
and then they explode. You do a quick search online but have no luck finding reliable
information to support this. You’ve always heard this, though, so you decide to include
on the basis of common knowledge.

(Source: https://www.mtsu.edu/writing-center/workshops/16.Writing.Responsibly.pdf)

Is the situation ethical, responsible writing? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

What I Have Learned

I have learned that ________________

_____________
_______________.

I have realized that ________________

_________________________
_____.

I will apply _____________

_________________
______________________.

What I Can Do

Research
Corruption, poverty, and human rights issues are three of the major social
issues facing the Philippines in 2017. Conduct a research on different Philippine
literary works that center on these three issues. Find five (5) literary works (short story,

8
screenplay, or novel) for each issue that were published between 1980 and 2020.
Compile the synopsis/summary of these literary works. Five points will be given per
complete entry, total of 75 points.

Format for each entry:

Title
Author
Year of Publication
Summary
Source/Link
Guidelines:
1. It could be handwritten.
2. If printed, follow this format:
3. Short bond paper
4. Garamond style, size 14 (heading), size 12 (body)
CHECKLIST (For the parent/s or guardian/s)
1. My child showed interest and enjoyment in performing the activity.
____Yes ____No
2. My child showed a positive attitude in doing the activity.
____Yes ____No
3. My child exhibited honesty in performing the task given to him/her.
___Yes ____No

NOTE TO PARENTS. Kindly guide your child, as much as possible, in performing

this activity. Encourage your child to perform his/her best in this activity.

Assessment

Direction: This post-test aims to measure the level of learning you have gained in
exploring this module. Write your answers in your notebook.
1. This is defined as “moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the
conduct of an activity.”
A. Conciseness B. Ethics C. Plagiarism D. Professionalism
2. This is “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them
off as one’s own.”
A. Conciseness B. Ethics C. Plagiarism D. Professionalism
3. This is a law that helps to stamp out plagiarism and other unauthorized uses
of intellectual or creative property.
A. Conciseness B. Copyright C. Ethics D. Plagiarism

9
4. It is found within many organizations that give guidelines for ethical or proper
behavior.
A. Code of Conduct B. Copyright C. Ethics D. Plagiarism
5. It can also result from performance pressure, lapses in judgement, total
ignorance, or a plethora of other reasons.
A. Code of Conduct B. Copyright C. Ethics D. Plagiarism
6. They are among the most useful forms of intellectual property tools you will use
as a writer of workplace documents.
A. Code of Conduct C. Ethics
B. Copyright and creative commons D. Plagiarism
7. We aim to balance courtesy, professionalism, and conciseness.
A. Code of Conduct C. Ethics
B. Copyright and creative commons D. Writing respectfully

8. You will notice that in most workplace documents, ____________ is embedded

in the documents themselves
A. Code of Conduct C. Ethics
B. Courtesy D. Writing respectfully
a. This is described as “the competence or skill expected of a professional.”
A. Courtesy C. Professionalism
B. Ethics D. Writing respectfully
b. People don’t like to read any more than they have to.
A. Conciseness C. Ethics
B. Courtesy D. Professionalism

Additional Activity

In your activity notebook, give the importance of considering the ethical

standards in writing any literature piece.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

10
Answer Key

clearly identifiable source to refer to.

without a credible, authentic, and
affected by including information
The credibility of your essay will be
be considered “common knowledge.”
able to find the information, it would not
else who tries to research it, will be
ungrounded. Since you, nor anyone
tradition seems flawed and Three points per literary work.
Apply what have you learned:
the information regarding the wedding Responses may vary to the learner’s comprehension skills.
Without reference to an outside source, Explore:
WHAT’S MORE Responses may vary to the learner’s knowledge.
10. D Do This:
9. C 10. D
8. C 9. C
7. D 8. C
6. B 7. D
5. D 6. B
4. D 5. D
3. B 4. D
2. C 3. B
1. B 2. C
ASSESSMENT 1. B
Try This:

REFERENCES
ImbaLife (2018) Government Solutions To The Philippine Economic Problems.
https://www.imbalife.com/government-solutions-to-the-philippine-economic-problems. Accessed on January 31,
2021

Open Library. Ethical Guidelines for Writing Understanding Ethical Guidelines for Writing.
https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/profcommsontario/chapter/ethical-guidelines-for-writing/. Accessed on
January 31, 2021

University Writing Center. Writing Responsibly. https://www.mtsu.edu/writing-

center/workshops/16.Writing.Responsibly.pdf. Accessed on January 31, 2021
https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/profcommsontario/chapter/ethical-guidelines-for-writing/

http://successfulwritingatwork.blogspot.com/2015/12/ethical-writing-in-workplace.html

https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/free-online-plagiarism-checker/

https://www.dacast.com/blog/how-to-copyright-a-video/

https://fairygodboss.com/career-topics/sample-letter-formats

https://www.mtsu.edu/writing-center/workshops/16.Writing.Responsibly.pdf

https://www.kent.edu/stark/ethical-writing-reliable-sources

11
For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – Schools Division of Negros Oriental

Kagawasan, Avenue, Daro, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

Tel #: (035) 225 2376 / 541 1117

Email Address: [email protected]
Website: lrmds.depednodis.net

12