Unit 1: Imaging the Filipino Man

Patriarchy
o Has institutionalized masculinity as the bedrock structure that defines power,
language & perception
o According to feminists, patriarchy acts as the mode of culture which dominates
and denigrates women
o Basing from psychologys definition, patriarchy creates caricatures which are
damaging to both men (perennial conquerors) & women (perpetually
conquered)
The selections clustered under this theme situate the multifarious domains the
Filipino man occupies
Mill of the Gods Estrella Alfon
Radical depiction of the Filipino man as an ignoble father and husband
Foregrounds the plenitude of literature in exploring how culture and politics
emblematize the patriarchal figure
Patriarchy (theme)
o Pio as the antagonistic husband, father and womanizer
o The man who left Martha for another woman
o The doctor who had a wife and secretly had an affair with Martha
Images/Symbols
o Pigtails: youth
o Knife/Gun: power, violence, bloodshed
o Window: freedom or lack thereof
o Flowers: beauty, gentleness, admiration or death
o Darkness: evil, ignorance, danger
o Saliva: disgust, hatred
o Mill of the Gods: retribution or punishment (slow but certain)
o Crucifix: justice
Figurative Speech
o Simile:
life must seem like a road given us to travel
life seems like an old-fashioned melodrama
o Hyperbole: both of them struggled and panted and had almost no breath left
for words.
o Irony: Even in play, there was some part of her that never managed to take too
great a partshe was so content if they always made her it in a game of tag, if
only they would let her play if only they would only include her in the
fascinating games she could not play alone.
Point of Views
o Omniscient
Point of view if the story is all-knowing
o Dramatic
Like a play; dialogues
Biblical allusion, Mythological allusion, Legendary allusion
Characters
o Engracia
Flat character
o Martha
Dramatic/ round character
Espeleta
o Community
12 years old
o Received a first scar from the gods
Mga tauhan
o Martha - Isang maganda at tahimik na babae na dati ay huli sa kanyang pag-
aaral. May matinding galit siya sa kanyang ama.
o Ina - Siya ang nanay ni Martha na mapagtimpi sa panlolokong ginagawa ng
kanyang asawa.
o Ama - Ang tatay ni Martha na may kabit. Namatay siya sa huli pagkatapos
barilin ng asawa ng kanyang kabit.
o Espeleta - Ito ang mga kapitbahay at ang lipunan na kinabibilangan ng pamilya
ni Martha. Sila ang nakasaksi sa bawat pangyayari ng buhay nila Martha.
Mga Paksa at Tema
o Patriarchal na lipunan - Hindi nabigyan ng parusa ang ama ni Martha kahit na
alam ng lahat ang pangangaliwa nito. Sa halip ay tinanggap pa rin siya ng
kanyang asawa.
o Paghihiganti - Piniling maging kabit si Martha upang mapunan ang galit niya sa
ginawa ng ama.
o Pambababae bilang madalas ngunit patagong gawain - Halos lahat ng lalaki sa
kuwento ay nangaliwa.
Buod
o Matha, the daughter of Pio and Engracia, was 12 years old and was lagged
behind others of her age, whether in study or in play. One night, she heard her
parents arguing and struggling in terrible fury with each other. Martha
immediately got out of her room when she heard her mothers voice and she
saw that they were struggling for the knife. Her father had commanded her to
take the knife away from her mothers hand and so she did and threw it out of
the window. Engracia wordlessly slapped her husband a couple of times as soon
as he released her. She clutched at Martha and told her words that were
unfamiliar to her; words that were only half-understood. But despite of this,
Martha was crying. Her father went out and was gone after her mother spat on
him, and Marthas mother directed her to find him but she could not. She went
back to the room and cried with her mother.
o When Martha was 18, she fully understood the night that had been a blur to her
when she was still 12. She fell in love with a guy not older than herself, and her
seriousness with love hindered things such as play or game. Martha asked him
about their marriage and he just laughed at her. She realized his excuses meant
that he did not want to marry her. He married another woman and Martha,
taking in reality, knew that she had learned her lesson. That night came back to
her and made her hate her father and regret about throwing the knife.
o Martha turned religious and Espeleta approved because they did not know what
she prayed for. Marthas parents are still together even after that night but
between them there was silence. After she had fallen in love, when she started
hating her father, she also started to hate her mother. Martha graduated with
high honors in high school at the age of 18 and everyone, including her mother
and father, was proud of her. Martha studied nursing and started to have
visitors this time they were doctors in the house again. But out of all the
other doctors, Martha chose someone slightly older than the rest. Between him
and her, there had been a quick lifting of the pulse and quickening of the
breath. But for the very first time they talked to each other, he told her he was
married and if ever hell have an affair with another woman, it should be
hidden. Martha found in herself the deep abiding secret against her father and
the laws of man and the church. It seemed like her mothers burden was passed
on to her unwilling shoulders.
o One day at the hospital, Martha was in the emergency room and saw a man who
had been shot. She imagined that the man was his father. The doctor she loved
was in charge and she was shocked when he returned her gaze with a look of
pain on his face. She then realized that the man who had been shot was really
his father, and as she walked out of the room she saw her mother crying. She
wanted to cry to ease the tightness in her chest but instead she felt the cruel
justness of things. When they got home, there was a crowd who waited for
them. There was also an unfamiliar group called Colon and they were the
witnesses to her fathers death. They told Martha that the one who shot her
father was the husband of the woman whom Marthas father had an affair with.
And after hearing all these, she went to her father, looking at his face that
seemed to be in peace and free from pain. She went to her room and there
hung a crucifix. She prayed and thanked that justice was repaid at last.
o Labindawalang taon pa lang si Martha nang masaksihan niya ang matinding
pag-aaway ng kaniyang mga magulang at malaman ang pambababae ng
kanyang ama. Noong labing-walong taong gulang na si Martha, naging
karelasyon niya ang isang lalaki ngunit niloko lamang siya nito at ipinagpalit sa
iba. Pagkatapos magluksa ni Martha, nasaksihan ng Espeleta ang pagiging
relihiyosa niya. Nagtapos si Martha ng high school at kumuha siya ng kursong
nursing. Marami siyang mga manliligaw na doktor ngunit ang pinili niya ay
isang doktor na may asawa. Isang araw sa kanyang trabaho, nakita niyang
duguan sa mga tama ng bala ang kaniyang ama. Namatay ang ama ni Martha at
nakita niyang umiyak ang kanyang ina nang makita ang katawan ng ama,
ngunit wala pa rin siyang maramdamang kalungkutan. Ikinuwento ng mga tiga-
Colon na binaril ang ama ni Martha ng asawa ng babae nito nang mahuli sila sa
bahay ng mag-asawa. Nagpasalamat si Martha sa Diyos sa nangyari.
Estrella Alfon
o Born on 1917 in Cebu City
o Died on December 28, 1983
o Storywriter, playwright & journalist
o Well-known author who wrote almost exclusively in English
o Most prolific Filipina writer prior to WWII
o Only female member of the Veronicans
o Associate of Arts degree (UP)
o Supposed to study Medicine buy was mistakenly diagnosed of Tuberculosis and
because of that, she stop from her medical course
o Died from heart attack (suffered on-stage during Awards night of the Manila
Film Festival) at the age of 66
o Writing, Literary Styles & Technique
Straight forward quality in her stories
Her characters are mostly part of the lower middle-class
Strongly expresses a sense of community in her writings
Her fictional world is defined by family relationships between:
Parents (especially the mother) and children
Wife and husband
Women and lovers
Women and their female friends
Draws inspiration from her real-life experiences
The protagonists in her stories are usually women portrayed as objects
and not as subjects. They are examples of a woman as damaged culture
The questions lurk within her stories, but she never allowed them to
surface
Pagkat Lalaki Ka Michael Coroza
Explores how historical and social institutions develop a masculinist unconscious
perspective of supremacy and suggests how this can be fundamentally effaced
Michael Coroza clearly depicts how culture is shaped to favor the masculine model in
his work, Pagkat Lalaki Ka
o Specifying concrete examples of how society fosters the patriarchal capitalist
culture & consequently exploit and pathologize the feminization of ideology
He claims that history may have determined to propagate masculinity as the
prototype
Nakasanayan na natin na ang lahat ng mga kalalakihan ang may hawak ng
kapangyarihan at ang mga kababaihan naman ay dapat manatili lang sa mga tahanan.
Ngunit pinapakita sa tula na hindi mali na ipakita ng mga kalalakihan ang kanilang
mga kahinaan.
Pinapakita sa unang bahagi ng tula na ayos lang umiyak at magsisi. Ang luha sa
unang bahagi ay sumisimbolo sa mga kamaliang nagawa ng isang tao. Ang lahat nga
mga naging kasalanan ay may kaakibat na pagsisisi. At para sa mga lalaki, mahirap
tumanggap ng pagkakamali. Subalit ayon sa tula, ang pagsisisi sa mga kamaliang
nagawa ay isang instrumento upang maging isang maka-tao.
Madaming nagawang mga imprasktraktura ang mga kalalakihan tulad ng Tore ng
Babel, Piramide, Koliseo at iba pa. Dahil dito, mas binigyan ng pansin ang kalakasan
ng mga kalalakihan kaysa sa mga kababaihan. Ngunit ang mga kalalakihan din ang
nag-umpisa ng paggamit ng karahasan sa pakikitungo at pamumuno sa kanilang
mga nasasakupan. Dito nagsimula ang mababang pagtingin sa mga kababaihan.
Ang salitang iluha ay ginamit naman bilang emosyon ng awa ng isang lalaki para sa
mga kababaihang nasaktan. Inako ng lalake sa tula ang pagsisisi sa mga nagawang
marahas ng mga kalalakihan ng sinaunang panahon sa mga kababaihan.
Ang babae ang nagluluwal ng bagong buhay sa mundo. Ang babae ay nagiging ina
kapag nagluwal siya ng buhay sa mundo. Inaalagaan, pinapalaki at minumulat ang
buhay na iyon sa mundo. Sa kanya nagsisimula at sa kanya rin nagtatapos. Ngunit,
dahil sa huwad na pananaw, nawalan ng lugar ang mga kababaihan sa libro ng
kasaysayan. Hindi binigyan pansin ng mga tao lalo na ng mga kalalakihan ang hirap
at pagsasakripisyo ng mga kababaihan.
Sa huling bahagi ng tula, pinapapatay, pinadudurog at pinapalibing ng awtor ang
huwad na pananaw na namamagitan sa mga kalalakihan at mga kababaihan. Dapat na
matanggal ang kinagisnang kultura, tradisyon o paniniwala na iyon sa ating mga sarili
upang mas maintindihan ang panig ng dalawang magkaibang grupo ng lipunan. Sa
pangyayaring mawala ang kamalayang ito sa lipunan, mababago ang pananaw ng
mga tao sa kanilang mga buhay na dapat bigyan ng halaga at respeto ang mga
kababaihan.
Michael M. Coroza
o A multi-awarded poet, essayist, translator, editor, and educator
o Though his parents were from Majayjay and Liliw, Laguna, he was born in
Ermita, Manila on August 26, 1969
o He spent his early childhood in San Pablo City, Laguna
o His family transferred to Parang, Marikina in 1978
o He married Jeanette M. Job, current principal of Maria Asuncion R. Tiga High
School, in 1994
o They have three children: Miko Idyanale, Jeanne Haraya and Miguel Bulawan
o They have been residents of Nangka, Marikina City since 2005
o He is an Associate Professor at the Department of Filipino, School of
Humanities, Ateneo de Manila University, handling graduate and undergraduate
courses in Filipino Literature (History and Criticism), Creative Writing (Poetry in
Filipino), Literary Translation (Theory and Practice), and Language Studies
o Michael M. Coroza finished his elementary education at Parang Elementary
School in 1982 and his secondary education at the Marikina Institute of Science
and Technology in 1986
o He obtained
His Bachelor of Arts (AB) Major in Philosophy from the University of Santo
Tomas in 1990
His Master of Arts (M.A.) in Filipino Literature from the Ateneo de Manila
University in 2001
His Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Filipino from the University of the
Philippines-Diliman in 2010
Male Myth in Mass Media: Masculinizing the Majority Model
Binary
o Are oppositions
Gender myths
o Generally influence lives as they stem from the differences between the
biological basis of sex and the cultural category of gender
o Sex
An individuals birthright
o Gender
An individuals construct in performing appropriate roles in society
Films, televisions and print media have been identified as forms of mass culture
Men
o Gaze (terrestrial beholders)
o Time: actualizing their desires
o Endeavors to be strong
Women
o Gazed upon (enchanting exemplars)
o Time: being object of desire
o Persists to be beautiful
Literary pieces that bolster the myriad possibilities of interpreting the Filipino man as text
and as a decentered object of desire: To the Man I Married & The Spouse
To the Man I Married Angela Manalang-Gloria
Romantic poem which delineates the man as the beloved
Romanticizes man as her love object in the poem
Presents a specific value judgment for a womans man lover, protector, provider,
elemental
Metaphor:
o You are my earth and all that earth implies
the land that stills my cries
o you are my provider
To The Man I Married is not wholly a poem regarding the love of a wife to his
husband. On the contrary, it describes more in detail the limitations placed by the
husband to his wife: the domestication of women. He gives everything she needs and
because of this, the wife became dependent on the husband ("The air I breathe...
whose orbit marks my way And sets my north and south...").
The poem depicts a woman, now accustomed and limited to the reality of marriage,
telling her husband how she loves him in the most realistic description as possible:
earthly and mortal. She tells him how, even when he has provided everything for her,
she still longs for the ambitions she needed to abandon and how, even when she
needs her dreams, this does not lessen her love for him.
Part I
o In the octave, the speaker makes the bold claim addressing the man she
married: You are my earth and all that earth implies. The speakers claim
alerts the reader to a metaphorical comparison: the addressee is her earth.
o And just what does earth imply? Because the person is her earth, he supplies
her necessities for life: gravity that ballasts me in space, air that she
breathes, the fertile soil where her food is grown. He gives her direction by his
orbit that marks [her] way / And sets [her] north and south, [her] east and
west.
o The speakers final point of comparison is both startling yet quite logical: her
husband is like the earth, in that he is the final, elemental clay / The driven
heart must turn to for its rest. While he acts as a force for life as the earth
does, he also provides a place for death also as the earth does.
o While the octave implies a very close and sustaining relationship between the
speaker and her husband, the sestet asserts that that closeness does not
completely satisfy all of the needs of the speaker as an individual: If in your
arms that hold me now so near / I lift my keening thoughts to another one.
o Even as she acknowledges her close, nurturing relationship with her husband,
she finds that she needs another one, because of her keening thoughts. And
then she metaphorically compares herself to a tree whose roots though long
rooted to the earth raise their leaves and flowers to the sun.
o She needs the earth, but she also needs the sky, just as the earth does, just as
trees need the sun. That does not diminish her love for and attachment to her
husband, who is her earth. The speaker wants to make that fact quite clear so
she repeats her claim: You who are earth, O never doubt that I / Need you no
less because I need the sky.
Part II
o Part II of To the Man I Married consists of two quatrains, in which the speaker
asserts that she does not want to overstate her case about her love for her
husband, and she even backtracks somewhat.
o Although he is metaphorically her earth, she really cannot compare her love for
him to the ocean, because no such love / And no such ocean can ever be. But
she can love him in a finite way, like the waves that keep crashing against the
shore; after all, those waves do reflect The blue of everlasting skies.
Angela Caridad Legaspi Manalang-Gloria
o Born on August 2, 1907 in Guagua, Pampanga
o She died in 1995
o Studied at St. Agnes Academy in Legaspi, where she graduated valedictorian in
elementary
o In her senior year, she moved to St. Scholastica's College in Malate,
Manila,where her writing started to get noticed
o Angela Manalang was among the first generation female students at the
University of the Philippines. Angela initiallyenrolled in law, as suggested by her
father. However, with the advice of her professor C.V. Wickers, who also
becameher mentor, she eventually transferred to literature.
o Is versatile; lyric poet, pianist and editor
o Poems
First and only pre-war anthology of poetry in English by a Filipino Woman
o Rival of Jose Garcia Villa
o An idealist turned pragmatist
o Her parents were Felipe Dizon-Manalang & Tomasa Tolosa-Legaspi
o They are from Pampanga but they settled in Albay, Bicol Region
o Angela Manalang was a graduate of the University of the Philippines, an
esteemed university known for shaping strong, critical and ambitious men and
women. As such, it is no wonder that she would describe her love for her
husband in a way that contradicts many poems depicting love for a man as a
perfect, everlasting concept; her love is imperfect and so is her relationship
with him ("I can not love you with a love That outcompares the boundless sea...
as no such love... can ever be."). Yes, she loves him, but as a woman and as a
person, she too has her own ambitions and dreams. However, she can no
longer reach these dreams as she is now committed and accustomed to her life
as a wife and mother; she can only look on and try to reach out ("If in your arms
that hold me now so near... As trees long rooted to the earth uprear..."). She
speaks of her love as limited, only going as far as the earth may provide ("As
finite as the wave that dies...") and tells the husband that his love is not the
only one she seeks but also her ambition for greater things, though it does not
hinder her love for him ("Need you no less because I need the sky!").
The Spouse Luis Dato
Explication of the young wife as the lover
Love
o Abstract in the view of the human
Her hair disheveled in the night of passion
o Manifestation of love
Oedipus
o The only one who was able to answer the mystery
Sender: To the Man I Married (The Spouse)
Addresser: Wife (observer)
Addressee: Husband (earth) (reader)
Characteristics of man: Provider & Hardworking
Characteristics of woman: Realistic & Dissatisfied
This poem is spoken by a third person. It is about a woman who is not satisfied with
her life. She is crying because after their night of passion, when she woke up her
husband is already gone plowing the fields. Isnt that makes you feel alone? Just when
you expect youll see his face the moment you open your eyes after a passionate
night, but you only see a rose a compromise. But she cannot do anything about it.
She is just a woman. And she believe she has no other life but other than this. In the
end, it questions: Will there ever be a change? Will she get the love she deserved?
Luis Guevarra Dato
o Date of Birth : July 4, 1906
o Place of Birth : Baao, Camarines Sur
o Parents :
Eugenio Dato y Esplana
Barbara Guevarra y Imperial
o Paternal Grandparents :
Damaso Dato
Nicolasa Esplana
o Maternal Grandparents :
Ludivico Guevara
Higina Imperial
o Brothers and Sisters :
Rodolfo Dato
Francisca D. Flores
Soledad H. Hidalgo
Pablo Dato (2nd Nuptials)
o Schools Attended :
Naga Central School, (1914 - 1917)
Tabuco Primary School, (1917 1918)
San Vicente de Paul Seminary (1918 1919)
Naga Elementary School, (1919 1920)
Camarines Sur High School, (1920 1923)
U.P. High School, (1923 1924)
U.P. College of Liberal Arts (1924 1928)
U.P. College of Law (1928 1933)
Southern Luzon College (1947 1949)
University of Nueva Caceres (1949 1951)
St. Anthony College (1971 1972)
o Degrees :
Associate in Arts, U.P., 1926
B.S.E., Southern Luzon College, 1949
Bachelor of Laws, University of Nueva Caceres, 1951
Master of Arts, (30 units) University of Nueva Caceres, St. Anthony
College
The Nature of Hermeneutics: Man as a Cultural Construct
Hermeneutics
o The study and the act of discovering meaning and interpretation
Interest are affixed as opinions and the values of the individuals who espouse them,
determine their own perceptions or world-view
Value Systems
o Determine our world-view
Nature of interpretation is measured by the nature of the interpreter himself,
determined by the culture he is part of
People construct their own social realities because they are a product of these
realities
Our projection of meaning is inflected by our own truths, prejudices and value
judgments




Unit 2: Imaging the Filipino Woman
Vanity, thy name is woman
Significant One or the inessential Other
Venus and Mariang Makiling
o The muse of love, nature and inspiration
Medusa and Mangkukulam
o Demonic entity casting evil spells and inflicting plagues on otherwise orderly
society
o Trademarks: mystery & ambiguity
Luna (the moon)
o Deliberately feminized as a result of her variegated phases
Typhoons & hurricanes
o Predominately carry female names, evidenced by their erratic shifting fluxions
Nature
o Characterized as an entity which can be preserved, cultivated, or destroyed
o Bears a mother label
Mater Dolorosa
o The silent, grieving mother whose agony and tears foreground her equally
agonizing Child
Femme fatale
o Whose sly and provocative schemes lure her men of prey to their doom
TungkungLangit and Alunsina adapted by F. Landa Jocano
Ang kwentong inyong maririnig ay nagmula sa mga Panay, sa isla ng Visayas. Ito y
isang kwentona naglalarawan kung pano nabuo ang mundo dahil sa pag-ibig
Panay Visayan Folktale
One of the most striking depictions of how early Filipino folk conjure hypothetical
answers to their seemingly problematic questions about the origin of sky, rain, and
thunder
Glosses over the dichotomy of gender politics, as represented by the two gods:
Tungkung Langit(active male) and Alunsina (passive female)
Tungkung Langit (Pillar of the Sky)
Alunsina (The Unmarried One)
Earth and sea
o trees and flowers
o necklace to star
o comb to moon
o crown to sun
Tungkung Langits tears = rain; his sobbing = thunder
F. Landa Jocano
o Born in Cabatuan Iloilo City, February 5, 1930, the son of a farmer Eusibio
Jocano and Anastacia Landa. Pepe as his family calls him is the 9th of eleven
children. In his childhood he attended local public school. He finished his
secondary education at Arellano High School, Manila. He then returned to Iloilo
to pursue his college studies at Central Philippine University, Iloilo City as a
work student, Dr. Jocano has engaged in field researches on various Philippine
linguistic groups. Dr. Jocano is married to Adria Payad and they have 2 children,
Felipe Jr. and Elizabeth.
o Dr.Jocanos experience as a writer, started in 1947,when he became a staff
member of Manila Chronicle. He was a columnist of Veritas (A Catholic weekly
paper)in 1955-58; a contributing editor of Philippine Geographical Journal
(Manila),1969; editorial representative(advisory council) Sociological Abstract
(New York),1968 and correspondent, International Social Science Journal(Paris,
UNESCO),1971.He has published numerous articles in professional journals and
among his books are: The Sulod Society, EPIC OF PANAY
HINILAWOD:ADVENTURES OF HUMADAPNON (TARANGBAN I)& THE EPIC OF
LABAW DONGGON, Filipino Cultural Heritage(ed.),Outline Philippine Mythology,
Growing Up in the Phil. Barrio and Our Living Past.
Myth as Metaphor, Symbol, and Archetype
Myths
o have always been regarded as significant prototypes in endorsing concrete
perspectives guided by customs and traditions
Carl Jungs archetype
o Pictured as an image, symbol, or metaphor bearing a universal understanding
from people regardless of time, place, and backgrounds
o Are inherently universal
o Bear effects on the collective unconscious
o Evoke a representation of our existing culture, no matter how invariably diverse
they are in scope and essence, from the affixed symbol
Northrop Frye Mythic Archetypes
o as realism is an act of implicit simile, myth is an act of metaphorical identity
Classical West: Pygmalion & Galatea and Samson & Delilah
Our own folk literature: Malakas & Maganda and Makusog and Daragang Magayon
Myths are frequently retold and revised in modern cultures and societies
o a living proof is their permanence and relevance
Myths variantly showcase super and supra-realities determined in such a way as to
highlight, appropriate or event distort universally-construed ideas and narratives
Ang Babaing Nangangarap nang Gising Virgilio Almario
The life of a typical Filipina who has experienced a lot of hardships in life. Despite the
challenges and struggles she's been through, she still hopes a better life with her
husband. She dreams of a peaceful and happy married life. She wants to escape these
disappointments and she does it by day-dreaming. She wishes a happy life; she
doesnt want to experience any more pain. Shes been hurt so many times. She wants
a perfect life, she may not achieve it in reality but through day dreaming, it gives her
the blissful feeling. Shes a strong Filipina who possesses the quality of being patient
and martyr.
"I think that the poem was written at a time when the country was still on the verge of
industrialization and living in the city was at its peak. The woman in the story
symbolizes a typical person living in the province that is blinded by the fast life and
possibly a better future in the city. This was her ambition. Simply put, to live in the
city means to live in prosperity. Now reality struck her, she got married to a drunkard
husband in a home with few to eat. Amidst all these, still she closes her eyes and
dreams a life with violins playing and with sweet care from her husband."
Para sa akin, ang ibig sabhin ng tulang ito ay, may isang babaeng mahirap at lumaki
sa malansa at bukid na basa sa isang liblib na nayon, siya'y nangarap na sanay
makatagpo sya ng isang prinsipe na maaaring makapagpaganda ng kanyang buhay at
mamuhay na parang prinsesa, kaya lunsod ay kanyang tinungo, subalit ang babaeng
ito ay bigo sapagkat nilamon sya sa tukso ng lungsod at kanyang natagpuan ay
lalaking lasenggero lamang, ang lahat ng kanyang pangarap ay naglaho at ang
kanyang mga nais na matupad sa buhay ay hanggang sa pangarap na lamang.
May isang babaeng probinsyana na nangarap umahon sa kahirapan. Siya ay
nakipagsapalaran sa lungsod ngunit sa hindi inaasahang pangyayari, siya ay nadala
ng tukso o makamundong pagnanasa. Dahil sa pangyayaring ito, naglaho ang
kanyang pangarap. Ngayon, siya na lamang ay nangangarap ng gising. Dahil sa
kahirapan at pagkaligaw ng landas, siya ay napilitang gumawa ng masama. Hindi rin
maganda ang naging buhay niya sa kanyang asawa. Sa tuwing ang lalaki ay darating,
siya ay pipikit at magpapanggap na siya ay sasalubong sa prinsipe niyang lasing at
mangangarap ng gising na ang bawat himas ng asaway kaginha-ginhawa. Lumalabas
na siya ay itinuturing na laruan lamang ng asawang lasing.
Virgilio Almario (Rio Alma)
o Isinilang si Almario sa Camias, San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulakan noong 9 Marso
1944. Lumaki siyang kasama ang mahihirap sa panahon ng pag-aalsa ng
Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (HUKBALAHAP) noong dekada singkuwenta.
Nagtapos siya ng A.B Political Science sa University of the East noong 1963 at
agad nagturo sa San Miguel High School at St. Paul College, Bulakan. Inilaan
niya ang kaniyang mga unang taon sa pagtatrabaho sa pagtuturo ng Araling
Panlipunan sa mga paaralang ito.
Babae Akong Namumuhay nang Mag-isa Joi Barrios
Deflects the tension afforded by the male gaze in constituting the woman, thereby
rescuing her from the commodification and stereotyping brought about by patriarchal
idioms
Reader encounters a different kind of woman beset with a different kind of
oppression
A woman not only denouncing the subjectivity ascribed to her by her biological
nature, but the multiple binds of being a Third World woman marginalized in terms of
her gender, race, and class
The poem speaks of the past of an old woman. Binansagan siya ng sari saring
pangalan. And the past still haunts her but that doesn't stop her from proving her
worth in the society. Lahat ng mga napagdaanan niya ay may mga dahilan na kapag
ibinahagi niya sa lipunan mali pa rin o masama para sa kanila. Maaaring sa hirap ng
buhay napilitan siyang pumasok sa isang trabahong kinailangang walang malisya o
pakikiapid sa iba. Gumamit ng tao para sa kanyang kaginhawahan. Hindi naging
maganda ang propesyon o ibang aspeto ng kanyang pamumuhay. Pinili niya ang
landas na ito maaari dahil sa kagipitan o kawalan na ng paraan. Inisip niya na
kinailangan niyang makasurvive sa hamon ng buhay. Pero kapalit nun ay ang tingin
ng tao sa kanya. Gusto niyang pabayaan na siya ng tao at wag ng pagisipan pa ng
ibang bagay dahil buhay naman niya ito at siya ang pangunahing aktor ng bawat
kabanata. Para sa kanya anong alam ng tao sa totoong istorya ng naging buhay niya.
Ipaliwanag man niya may posibilidad ba na mabago ang pagtingin sa kanya?Nakadikit
sa kanya ang kanyang prinsipyo. maaring ito ay ang prinsipyo ng pakikipagsapalaran
sa buhay na hindi malinaw ang direksyon.
Isang babaeng piniling mamuhay ng mag-isa. Sa pasyang ito, marami ang humusga
sa kanyang pagkatao. Marahil ay hindi naging maganda ang kinagisnang pamumuhay
o ang kanyang nakaraan kayat ganoon na lamang ang pagkutya sa kanyang
katauhan. Marami na siyang pagsubok na pinagdaanan na tumimbang at sumuri sa
kanyang katauhan. Ang pag-iisa o pagpili sa kalayaan ay bumuo ng paghuhusga sa
kanya ng lipunan. Hindi niya tinalikuran ang pag-ibig, pananagutan, pangarap at
pag-asa. Ninais niya lamng na magkaroon ng kalayaan na patakbuhin sa kanyang
sariling puso at isipan ang kanyang buhay. Ninais niyang mailayo ang katauhan sa
pangalang ikinabit sa kanya. Ninais niyang maging malaya at mamuhay ng walang
humuhusga sa kanya.
The character in this poem is bitter with her life. She doesnt want to blame anybody
with the life she has right now, its her choice, and its her decision. All that she is
asking is that she doesnt want to be judge and let her live her own life, a peaceful
and normal life. Shes been thru a lot of things but she keeps herself strong and she
continues the fight of her life. Maybe, in a way, shes also asking for forgiveness in all
her wrong actions of the past. She doesnt want to be alone, its not her decision but
being alone in life is the best thing she can think for herself.
It was about a girl who is not liked by the society because of her social status and the
kind of work she had. But then the poem gives us the message that sometimes, it's ok
to live alone, without anyone, away from everyone that to live with criticizing people
around you. The woman here proved that she is strong even if she failed a couple of
times before. That she can live away from all the negative reactions of the people. It's
not that she is weak that's why she opted to love alone, but because she just got tired
of the people around her who has nothing good to say about her. This time, she
wants to live her life on her own, without anybody free from the people.
Joi Barrios
o Maria Josephine Barrios, popularly known as Joi Barrios, is a poet, activist,
scriptwriter, actress, translator and teacher. Born in 1962, she completed her
Ph.D. in Philippine Literature at the University of the Philippines (UP). She taught
at the University and also served as an Associate for Fiction at the UP Likhaan:
Creative Writing Center. She has won various honors and awards, including the
Palanca Award, the most prestigious literary award in the Philippines. During
the Marcos dictatorship and the tumultuous years that followed, she became
well-known as a freedom activist and rally poet. She has taught in Korea, Japan,
and is currently working as a visiting Professor at the University of California,
Irvine.
o Virgilio Almario, one of the best recognized literary critics and a scholar of
Filipino poetry, has stated that Barrios is one of only four recognizable women
poets in Philippine literature.
Woman with Horns Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
"Woman With Horns is a short story written by Filipino writer Cecilia Manguerra
Brainard. The story was first published in Focus Philippines in 1984 and is part of the
author's first short story collection, Woman With Horns and Other Stories (New Day
Publishers, 1987). Woman With Horns is centered around two personalities, two
extremely opposite personalities: Agustina, the so called Woman with Horns and
Gerald, an American doctor in the Philippines at the turn of the century;
The title refers to a fictional character named Agustina Macaraig, an Ubecan widow,
rumored to have horns. Brainard's character was inspired by fanciful folklore from
Cebu, Philippines,where she grew up in and which inspired her to create the setting of
many of her stories - Ubec, which is Cebu backwards.
The story is set in 1903 a year after the tumultuous Philippine-American War. America
was busy sending American administrators to their newly acquired colony in the
Pacific. One of those who went to the "Islands" and who ended up in Ubec was a New
York doctor and widower, Gerald McAllister. As the Public Health Director of Ubec, he
carries on with his duties of establishing a vaccination program to stop a cholera
epidemic. His initial meeting of the beautiful and sensual widow, Agustina Macaraig,
disturbs and irritates the doctor. It is his assistant, Dr. Jaime Laurel, who reminds him
that life is more than work: "Friend, you don't know how to enjoy life. Look at the sun
turning red, getting ready to set spectacularly. It is a wonderful afternoon, you walk
with a friend, you talk about beautiful women, about life..."
It is Agustina Macaraig who eventually teaches Gerald McAllister to love and live once
more."

Gerald is losing his drive to life, he comes to the Philippines to forget the loss of his
wife to cancer; this loss is compounded by his transgression with the nurse who took
care of his sick wife, the wife discovers the affair before she dies - With loss and guilt,
Gerald is drying like a twig, losing his battle with depression... then comes this
Agustina, this woman full of life, a woman who was recently widowed herself, and her
appearance starts to rattle the guarded foundation of Gerald
Agustina is nobler than the rest, her every flirtation, every persistence, every way of
being radical and suggestive and aggressive towards Gerald was her natural way of
saving him; Agustina becomes the doctor and Gerald the patient.
So that, when she joins him in the river to fulfill their desires, she is not a woman with
horns but a goddess of love and compassion as she saves the man she loves.
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
o Cecilia Manguerra Brainard (born 1947) grew up Cebu City, Philippines, the
youngest of four children to Concepcion Cuenco Manguerra and Mariano F.
Manguerra. The death of her father when she was nine prompted her to start
writing, first in journals, then essays and fiction. She attended St. Theresa's
College and Maryknoll College in the Philippines; and she did graduate work at
UCLA.
Unit 3: Representing the Filipino Family
Mats Francisco Arcellana
SETTINGS:
o Place: Nana Emilias House
o Time: The time setting for the action is in the afternoon. This storyhappened
somewhat between 1950s up to the present time. There is no specific season
for the said story but the story evolves in the evening.
"The Mats" is set somewhere before World War II. It was in the time when
people did not sleep in beds but slept on mats. As the story opens Mr.
Angeles, head of a large family, has just returned from one of his periodic
inspection tours on the familys farm lands in the Marivales in the
province of Bataan. Students of WWII history will know of the Bataan
Death March.
CHARACTERS:
o Protagonist: Mr. Angeles
o Antagonist: Himself
PLOT:
o Exposition: The story is started by Mr. Angeles who is coming home for his
periodic inspection trip. Then he had written in Mariveles to Nana Emilia that he
has a surprise to him that he bought mats that are made by an artistic
craftsman at this area. These mats have colorful designs with their own
distinguish weaves, design, and colors. He is excited to give it to them all.
o Rising Action: The rising action is when Mr. Angeles is giving his surprised gift
to the whole family. And the siblings were very excited to get their gifts. And
one by one, on the lighted area of the house, he gave the mats with distinguish
names and symbolism on it.
o Climax: The highest part of the story is wherein they all get the mats but there
are 3 remaining mats that must be unfolded. And Mr. Angeles unfold it one by
one and he speaks in a loud voice that he offers this simple mats to his 3 dead
siblings which are Josefina, Victoria, and Concepcion.
o Falling Action: The falling action of the story is where Nana Emilia and Mr.
Angeles argues about this sensitive issue that they must forget already because
they are dead but Mr. Angeles is so stubborn that he emphasized that these
children must not be taken for granted
o Denouement: The denouement of this story is when the cihildren heard theword
exploding in the silence. They wanted to turn away and not to see the face of
their father and also when Nana Emila shivered once and twice, bowed her
head, gripped her clasped hands between her thighs.
o Ending: At the end of the story there was a total silence on the house. Then the
mats were unfolded and each name was slowly revealed. And the mats for the 3
dead siblings were described.
CONFLICT:
o Man vs. Himself
Because Mr. Angeles wants to commemorate his 3 siblings and he was so
emotional that this sensitive issue must not be talked about and also the
emotion was look before in himself and he find the way out to burst that
emotion by offering mats to the 3 siblings
THEME:
o We must not forget and take for granted the people whom passed away
because they contributed to our life and we must respect them bycommemorati
ng them.
Francisco Arcellana
o Francisco "Franz" Arcellana (Zacarias Eugene Francisco Quino Arcellana) was a
Filipino writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher. He was born in aka
Frank V. Sta. Cruz, Manila.
o He is the fourth of 18 children of Jose Arcellana y Cabaneiro and Epifanio
Quino. He was married to Emerenciana Yuvienco with whom he has six children,
one of whom, Juaniyo is an essayist, poet and fictionist. He received his first
schooling in Tondo. The idea of writing occurred to him at the Tondo
Intermediate School but it was at the Manila West High School (later Torres High
School) that he took up writing actively as staff member of The Torres Torch,
the school organ.
o In 1932 Arcellana entered the University of the Philippines (UP) as a pre-
medicine student and graduated in 1939 with a bachelor of philosophy in
degree. In his junior year, mainly because of the publication of his trilogy of
the turtles in the Literary Apprentice, Arcellana was invited to join the UP
Writers Club by Manuel Arguilla who at that time was already a campus
literary figure. In 1934, he edited and published Expression, a quarterly of
experimental writing. It caught the attention of Jose Garcia Villa who started a
correspondence with Arcellana. It also spawned the Veronicans, a group of 13
pre-WWII who rebelled against traditional forms and themes in Philippine
literature.
o Arcellana went on to medical school after receiving his bachelor's degree while
holding jobs in Herald Midweek Magazine, where his weekly column Art and
Life (later retitled Life and Letters) appeared, and in Philcross, the publication
of the Philippine Red Cross. The war stopped his schooling. After the war, he
continued working in media and publishing and began a career in the academe.
He was manager of the International News Service and the editor of This Week.
He joined the UP Department of English and Comparative Literature and served
as adviser of the Philippine Collegian and director of the UP Creative Writing
Center, 1979- 1982. Under a Rockefeller Foundation grant he became a fellow
in creative writing, 1956- 1957, at the University of Iowa and Breadloaf Writers'
Conference.
o In 1932 Arcellana published his first story. The Man Who Could Be Poe in
Graphic while still a student at Torres High School. The following year two of
his short stories, Death is a Factory and Lina, were included in Jose Garcia
Villa's honor roll. During the 1930's, which he calls his most productive period,
he wrote his most significant stories including, Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal
cited in 1938 by Villa as the year's best. He also began writing poetry at this
time, many of them appearing in Philippine Collegian, Graphic and Herald
Midweek Magazine.
o He is considered an important progenitor of the modern Filipino short story in
English. Arcellana pioneered the development of the short story as a lyrical
prose-poetic form within Filipino literature. His works are now often taught in
tertiary-level-syllabi in the Philippines.
o Some of his works have been translated into Tagalog, Malaysian, Italian,
German and Russian, and many have been anthologized. Two major collections
of his works are: Selected Stories, 1962, and The Francisco Arcellana Sampler,
1990. He also edited the Philippine PEN Anthology of Short Stories, 1962, and
Fifteen Stories: Story Masters 5, 1973. Arcellana credits Erskine Caldwell and
Whit Burnett as influences. From 1928 to 1939, 14 of his short stories were
included in Jose Garcia Villa's honor roll. His short story The Flowers of May
won second prize in 1951 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature.
Another short story, Wing of Madness, placed second in the Philippines Free
Press literary contest in 1953, He also received the first award in art criticism
from the Art Association of the Philippines in 1954, the Patnubay ng Sining at
Kalinangan award from the city government of Manila in 1981, and the Gawad
Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for English fiction from the Unyon ng mga
Manunulat sa Pilipino (UMPIL) in 1988. He was conferred a doctorate in humane
letters, honoris causa, by the UP in 1989. He was proclaimed National Artist in
Literature in 1990 L.R. Lacuesta and R.C. Lucero
The Sadness Collector Merlinda Bobis
Theme
o Dislocation
o Diaspora
o Displacement
Figures of Speech
o Apostrophe Big Lady
o Hyperbole So she can be saved from bursting
o Hyperbole and Metonymy She only comes to eat your sadness (sadness =
tears)
o Metaphor She likes sadness, its food.
o Simile Shes sad, like her meals
Symbolisms
o The sadness collector/ Bedtime Story
Our Source of Comfort
Separating reality from fantasy
o She cant take you away from me
Referring to custody
The story represents the importance of the specific roles played by each of the
members of a Filipino family. It is evident that a mother and a father in a Filipino
family tend to have a very distant role to perform in the household. The father should
be the bread-winner while the mother should stay at home taking care of the kids. In
the story The Sadness Collector they have seemed to break tradition. The mother
went to Paris to work and actually be the bread winner, while the father, although still
working, stayed at home with Rica. In the absence of the mother, the Filipino
perspective that the mother is the best person who can look out for the welfare of her
child/children was represented in the story seeing Rica as a confused and disturbed
child because her mom is not by her side. The father was so hard to connect with Rica
because of the reason that it was hard for him to accept the fact that he had to stay
with his child which, for him, is not his real role. Seeing this situation, I can say that a
Filipino family tends to be more patriarchal and breaking this tradition seemed to be,
for the many, ruining of the family. What is also evident here in this selection is the
perspective of the very big role played by the mother in the Filipino family; they keep
family ties and a child without a mother by his/her side tends to grow out of the way,
being an incomplete person inside.
At first glance "The Sadness Collector" seems to be your typical story of a Filipino
family, one of which we see on movies. The mother goes to a foreign country, leaving
her children behind, while taking care of a stranger's child with the intent to give a
comfortable living for the family. However, what seems to be the typical story may be
classified as a "daily tragedy", Merlinda Bobis depicted the corroding of what is said to
be the essence of a Filipino family, "Close Knitted Family Bonds". Young girls usually
steps within the shadows of their mother, but Rica not like most girls, lost the chance
in her growing years. Suffering a great loss from the physical distance of the mother
from Paris, to the eventual emotional distance of the father, who refuses to read her
mother's letter and answer the questions about the baby pictures. In this story it is
now obvious that the effects is focused on Rica, a model of every Filipino child that
never/forgot feeling of the loving touch of their mothers. In Merlinda Bobis' "poetic"
short story leaves an alarming message, a child who lost the joy of being her mother's
daughter, Filipino family seized of its very essence - what do we do now?
It is a common situation in many families today. Husband and child remain at home
while wife works as a domestic helper in a foreign country. Rica, now five years old,
was just three when her mother left. Her father works in a factory and attends to her
only in the evenings. Sometimes she watches TV and plays with the pretty little things
sent by her mother. Early this year a picture of her employer's baby was included in
the packages sent.
Father and daughter Rica are signs each distinct from the other. Sometimes Rica does
not like to eat supper and father resorts to scolding, cajoling or telling stories. She
likes especially the story of Big Lady who comes in the evenings to eat the sadness
she has gathered from the homes. Filled with images about the Big Lady, Rica whiles
away the time by drawing stick gures of her with a tummy that grows bigger every
day. She knows that it will eventually burst and she waits for that moment.
That evening her father comes home late as usual to avoid answering her questions
about the baby in the picture. But he is drunk and shouts. That whore! (In reference
to his wife who has decided to stay for another year in Paris) as he kicks the pots and
pans in the kitchen that fall cluttering on the floor. Rica screams and collapses as he
takes her in his arms. The father, both in anger and remorse tries to assuage and
comfort Rica who believes it is the Big Lady who has come back. For venting his anger
at his wife he realizes that the havoc he created has caused his daughters fears so he
assures her of his love without telling his real feelings; he even hides his closed fists
behind her back as she tells about the Big Lady while the father curses his wife. That
Rica does not understand her fathers pain is for her good.
Clearly, the father is the signier which means sadness, the signied. Rica, also a
signier, and the father have had enoughtwo years to suffer the absence of the
mother. Each tries hard to keep sane, each a paradigm complementing the other. It is
the fathers outburst that draws a syntagmatic whole and gives meaning to the
narrative.
o Actually, the notion of a Big Lady who comes at night to eat the uneaten food of
children who refuse to eat supper is a Bikol folk custom. I remember that as a
child, 1 used to be told about the Big Lady by the family help when I would
refuse to eat supper or even nish the food on my plate. l see this now as a
preconstructed articulation connected to hidden spirits which Bikols use to
threaten children who can be difcult at times
Merlinda Bobis
o (November 25, 1959 present)
o Her main interest was painting, but at age 10 she began writing poetry because
painting with words was cheaper
o Writer, performer, academic
o Born in Tabaco, Albay
o Completed her BA at Aquinas University (Legaspi City) [Summa cum Laude]
o Got her post-graduate degree in (Master of Arts in Literature) University of
Santo Tomas and (Doctorate of Creative Arts) University of Wollongong
(Australia)
o Senior lecturer at the University of Wollongong
Breaking Through Myrna Pea Reyes
Characters
o The Persona and its father.
Theme: Filial Love
The poem Breaking Through written by Myrna Pea-Reyes is very profound in terms
of its appeal to the reader. The poem is all about the filial relationship between a
son/daughter and a father.
The poem basically revolves around the father and his son/daughter. The plot of the
poem tells the reader that a certain persona in the first stanza receives a parcel that
came during that morning. The persona lamely opened the small box and it takes for
him/her a short labor to undo the tie. Although the box is just small, it is being tied
skillfully and very well. It is not stated in the first stanza where the package does
came from but lately, it is being mentioned that its from the personas father. The
package box came all the way across 10, 000 miles of ocean. While opening the box,
the persona can feel the love of his/her father that binds them together.
Breaking Through if examined could be the literal meaning of breaking through or the
undoing of the strong thread of two or three strands that are being twisted together
tied around the package box received by the persona from his/her father. The title
itself could be the connotation of the applied effort of a certain persona in the poem
in executing a little labor by untying the box. This effort of the persona in the poem is
very present from line 1 to 7 of the first stanza. It says that, Haltingly I undo the
knots around your parcel that came this morning. A small box should require little
labor, but youve always been thorough, tying things tight and well. The twine
lengthens, curls beside the box.
The title Breaking Through is the metaphorical representation of the filial devotion of
the persona to his/her father. The title could be the denotation of the persona in the
poem of the lessons that he/she had learned from his/her father. It could also mean
love as supported from the last two lines of the second stanza. The line says that
my father, this undoing is what binds us. Although its not directly mentioned that
love is the breaking through, it is showed indirectly through subliminal meaning of
the phrase this undoing is what binds us. What makes the father and the persona
bind? The clear and not vague answer is love, nothing more.
The author also used symbols in the poem. The first symbol is the box. As an
assertion, the box highly symbolizes the love of the father to the persona that is
being away from him. It is distant because the author mentioned in the last lines of
the first stanza. It says that the package box came across 10, 000 miles of ocean. The
box also represents the longing of the father to his son/daughter that is away from
him for a long time. Through the box, the father extends his warm filial love to his
son/daughter.
The knots around the parcel also represents that the fathers love is true and fair to
the persona. The love that is true and fair can be supported by lines from 6-7 of
stanza 1 that says but youve always been thorough, tying things tight and well. The
twine lengthens and lines from 11-12 of stanza 1 that says you hoped the package
would hold its shape across 10, 000 miles of ocean. In those lines, the father of the
persona tied the knots thoroughly to keep the package in its original shape from the
fathers home until it reaches the personas hand. It only signifies that he wanted that
his best regards and love would remain intact after journeying across 10, 000 miles
across the ocean. The knots also symbolized of how patient the personas father, it
definitely reflects he tied the box.
In the poem, there is a mention of belt in the 10th line of first stanza. It says, Once
your belt slapped sharply against my skin, it is being enclosed in the parenthesis for
further emphasis. The belt that the author projects in line 10 only symbolizes that the
personas father is a man of discipline. He slaps the persona sometime in his/her
childhood to discipline him/her. Through the belt, it shaped the persona for he/she
know through the fathers slapping, the persona learned things between bad and
good, and right or wrong. The belt also symbolizes display or the manifestation of
power. It only shows that during childhood of the persona, he/she exists in the
patriarchal world. Indeed, during the personas childhood, he/she exists in the
patriarchal society for he/she experienced being beaten by the father.
Not using the scissors in cutting could also mean a lot in the poem. As an assertion,
the persona did not use the scissors to unravel the tight knots of the box because the
persona wanted to savor the moment of unraveling with love. If the person uses the
scissors, it will project that the persona is non-appreciative of the love of the father.
Not using the scissors could also mean that the persona prolonged the excitement by
opening it very lamely. It also means that the persona had learned the craft of
patience from his/her father.
The author had also left its readers the dramatic impact by not revealing what is
inside the box. It poses questions of what is inside the box. Is it a food? Books?
Dress? Bag or anything that is liquid? The reader cant figure out for its not revealed.
A strong assertion is that, no matter whats inside the box, it surely resembles the
love of the father to the persona of the poem.
In a contemporary setting, if the author is mentioning about across 10, 000 miles of
oceans, the first that comes into the mind of the reader is that, the persona is
situated abroad or in states. If being assumed that the father is in Philippines, maybe
the persona is in West Asia, America, Europe, Australia and others. The reader does
not also know if the persona is working abroad, married, touring and etc. because its
not directly stated. What is very vivid in the context is that they are away from each
other and they havent seen each other for a long period of time.
The tone of the poem is about longing and sadness. In the first part of the poem, the
persona undoes the box haltingly. Haltingly in other words could mean lamely. In this
thought alone, an assertion came in that the persona is sad because it made him/her
feel home sick as the box arrives. The tone of longing could also be sensed. As the
persona is undoing the knots of the box, the persona reminisce his/her father-his
teaching, disciplinary actions and love. Through the presence of the box, the persona
can imagine his/her home that heightened his/her sadness and longing.
Characterization of the father in the poem is also very effective. In the context, the
father is portrayed as caring for he sends the persona a package box although its
very far. Unlike other father figure, the father in the poem is very mild-not ruthless
and cruel. Though there is a use of belt slapping in the poem, it is being done to
discipline his child. The father did do it for a good purpose, for the benefit of the
child when he/she grew up but not in the abusive manner. The father figure in here is
perhaps a gentle and amiable father.
The author also used strong images to convey the meaning of the poem. The delivery
is very suggestive images like the undoing of the box; the scene is very vivid and
understandable. Through this clear description, it brought the reader the catharsis of
emotions or eliminating its complexity, the author effectively carried out the essence
and meaning of the poem.
In terms of form and structure, the author unconsciously celebrated the form over the
content. Like T. S. Eliot, she has done it for she chose to write in free verse or blank
verse. She does not follow rhymes and meters, what she did is the total deviation of
the traditional metered poems. The style is very contemporary, or maybe it belongs to
the Romantics.
In general, the Breaking Through is a superb poem. It tackles a rarely touched theme
in poetry, filial love. Through this theme, it makes the poem unique and notable.
Myrna Pea Reyes
o She was born in the year 1938 to schoolteacher parents in Cagayan de Oro,
Misamis Oriental.
o Her family spent the WWII years in the jungles of Mindanao where her mother
passed away when she was only four years old.
o After the war, her family moved to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental where
she completed her elementary, high school, and college education.
o She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon where she
met her husband, poet William T. Sweet.
o For several years, she was on the faculty of the Department of English and
Literature at Silliman University and the Silliman National Writers Workshop.
o In Eugene, Oregon, where she and her husband now reside, she has taught
college classes; was co-owner of a grocery store and a bookstore; worked in an
office supply shop; and is presently a book buyer for a bookstore.[From River
Singing Stone]
o Two of her acclaimed works are The River Singing Stone, published in
1994,and Almost Home, published in 2004.
o Her style: free verse and contemporary
Bringing the Dolls Merlie Alunan
The poem Bringing the Dolls written by Merlie Alunan is about a mothers realization
that in ones moving on, one need not bring only those considered important.
The predominant image of the poem is the dolls. It can initially be found in the first 3
lines, which describe the dolls as mangled:
Two dolls in rags and tatters,
One missing an arm and a leg,
The other blind in one eye
The dolls image appears again in line 18, wherein the persona sees the deliberately
left dollsrags, tatters and all. In both appearances, the persona tries to reinforce
the idea that the dolls are unsightly, and as the lines move along to reveal the
dramatic situation, this reinforcement suggests the representation of the hideous past
which, like the ugly dolls set side by side against the neat trim packs (line 19), the
persona rule[s] to leave behind (line 20).
We can see that the poems dramatic situation is the struggle of the mother, as she
and daughter move to a new home, never to take/what must be left behind (lines
13-14): the past. The poems title vividly presents the dilemma that if the mother
concedes to her daughters bringing the dolls, the mother will be hounded by the
past; if the mother does pack only the barest need:/no room for sentiment or
memory (lines 8-9), she will most probably break her daughters heart. The dramatic
situation is very important because the persona detailing the dramatic situation soon
realizes a truth that her child has unwittingly taught her: to keep her faith, even if
things seem trivial. This she discovers only later because she denies herself the luxury
of being sentimental for a while: a smart wind blowing dry/the stealthy tears [she
can] not wipe (lines 16-17).
The persona in the poem is a mother who tries to escape from the past by leaving the
seemingly unimportant (and essentially harsh) reminders of it. She is the one putting
in detail the dramatic situation; thus, she is integral to the poems progress. It is
through her that the truth about keeping ones faith is revealed, amid her attempt to
have a stern resolve (line 11) to erase the past through the only way she knows: her
own way. The child, however, insisted in bringing the dolls along (lines 18-20), a
defiance: her clean white years unlived /and paid [her mothers] price (lines 24-
25).
In lines 21-23, the persona tries to tell us that the child understands what her mother
is going through. She feels empathy as supported by the following lines:
Her silence should have warned me
she knew her burdens
as I knew mine:
The mother now knows that her child is not oblivious of her problem. Ultimately, her
child teaches her a lesson. The main point of the poem unravels in the last four lines:
when whats at stake
is loyalty or love,
hers are the true rights.
Her own faith she must keep, not I.
The child has the discretion of what is most important to her, and the mother has no
right to insist upon what she deems vital for her child, in this case the childs bringing
the dolls, which the child loves and is loyal to. Her daughters keeping the faith
eventually teaches the mother that memories, even those one will rather forget, serve
a function or two, in her case a learning point as mother and child go on in life. This
realization of an old truth fulfills the promise of the material used in the poem, that
the daughter and her rag dolls have a lesson to tell to the too-practical mother, in
which case the poem succeeds in projecting the universal theme of keeping the faith.

Classified as one of the experience poems, Bringing the Dolls (for Anya) is a recount
of an actual experience of Alunan when they, as a family, had to move from Cebu to
Tacloban, her present residence.

While this first interpretation is a kind of inference by this researcher- the analyses of
the poem seem to agree with this inference.

Bringing the Dolls (For Anya)
First, the most striking feature or dramatic quality of this monologue is the persona
(who defines the poems speaking voice, its point of view). The basic storyline of the
poem is told through the persona (the mother) in the form of a monologue. The
mother has decided to move her family to another place, and tells her young daughter
to leave her two threadbare dolls behind. The mother thinks to herself that this is the
correct thing to do, since she wants to teach her daughter some lesson. On the boat
the mother tries to hold back her tears when she sees the dolls tucked away among
the packs; it is at this point that the mother realizes the reason behind her daughters
silence: the daughter knew all along what she needed to do, which was to keep her
own faiths and stay loyal to the dolls whom she loves.

Here we find that a good poem is more than its images or its theme; rather it is
mainly its words:
Bringing the Dolls Paraphrase
Each tight luggage - I was economical in my packing
I had packed - I didnt bring
Only for the barest need - unnecessary objects
No room for sentiment or Memory.
To clutter with loose ends

And so the boat turned seaward, - Then the boat sailed out to the sea
A smart wind blowing dry - the tears I didnt want to shed
The stealthy tears I could not wipe tears were blown away by the strong wind

The last three lines dramatize an emotion (one of sadness) in a painfully understated
way (a smart wind blowing dry/ the stealthy tears I could not wipe)
Paraphrased to mean; the wind wipes away the tears for her; in other words,
she cannot even admit to herself that she is crying.

While this poem of Alunan is distinctly clear in telling the theme, making it one easy
poem to teach-it contains its own set of ambivalence or even ambiguity; though its
purpose is intentional. Certain lines do invite ambivalent interpretations, like the
following five lines in the fourth stanza:

Her silence should have warned me
She knew her burdens
As I knew mine:
Her clean white years unlived-
And paid my price.

Whose burdens are referred here- the mother persona or the daughter character in
the poem? Moreover, is it correct to assume that her clean white years refer to the
daughters than it is, of the mothers- because she is younger and still has a long way
to go and several experiences likely to have. Finally, who is paying the mothers
price- the mother or the daughter? In all these, this particular syntax is definitely not
a random occurrence. The poet decided on it precisely to heighten the tragedy of her
personas realization- that she must respect her daughters choice too in bringing the
dolls. She knew all along what she needed to do, which was to keep her own faiths
and stay loyal to the dolls whom she loves.
Merlie Alunan
o Merlie M. Alunan (born December 14, 1943 Dingle, Iloilo is a Filipina poet. She
graduated Silliman University with an MA in Creative Writing in 1974. She
teaches at the Creative Writing Center, University of the Philippines Visayas
Tacloban College. She lives in Tacloban City.
Unit 4: Exploring Filipino Traditions
The God Stealer Francisco Sionil Jose
A short story by Filipino National Artist F. Sionil Jos. It is Jos's most anthologized
work of fiction. It is not just a tale about an Ifugao stealing a religious idol, but also
about the friendship that developed between a Filipino and an American, a
representation of the relationship that developed between the "colonized" and the
"colonizer". The story was a first prize winner during the 1959 awards in the
Philippines. It is included in the book by Jos with a similar title, The God Stealer and
Other Stories
Sam Christie and Philip Latak were best of friends and that was possible because they
worked in the same office. On one December dawn, Sam Christie was on his way to
Ifugao with his native assistant. It was his last month in the Philippines and in a
matter of days he would return to Boston for that leave which he had not had in years.
During their journey, they talked about the grandfather of Philip and the different
views in the Ifugao. Philip encountered an acquaintance that he did not want to
recognize because the latter called him by his native name. When they had arrived on
the village of Philip Latak, they met Sadek, Philips brother. From there, Philip told
Sam how his brother, as well as all the others in the village, disliked him. After staying
for quite some time in the house of Sadek, they went to Philips grandfather; but only
Philip went inside to meet and talk to the elder.
They visited the Mission the following day after having hiked to the villages. And
there Reverend Doone invited them for lunch. He told them how he reminisced San
Francisco and how he feels like home.
Going down the hill, Sam told Philip that he would not leave Ifugao without a god
because its more than a souvenir and it would remind him of Philip. Philip then told
Sam that he would steal a god for him since he made the vacation and the raise
possible.
They hiked to the village and this time it was not as difficult as it had been the
previous day. When they reached the village, they went to the grandfather of Philip.
Sam was pleased with the prospect of being inside a native Ifugao house for the first
time. He was able to see the Ifugao god for the first time, and he witnessed the rite
wherein the blood of the slaughtered pig was poured on the head of the idol, and was
returned to where it was kept.
The feast began. For some time, Sam Christie was entertained by the dances and the
songs, but soon he was bored. He told Philip that he would like to return to the
boarding house.
Philip Latak went to the boarding house past midnight carrying his grandfathers idol
and he handed it to Sam Christie. They argued if it was better that Philip returned the
bloodstained god back to his grandfather. When Sam Christie woke up it was already
daylight. It was Philip Latak who had stirred him, his voice shrill and grating. H told
Sam that his grandfather is dying. The next day, Sam was told by Sadek that their
grandfather is dead and that Philip would not return with Sam to Manila
Philip told Sam that he would not be going back to Manila and that he was the reason
his grandfather is dead. From that moment, their friendship was broken. Philip Latak
did not, even once, face Sam. He seemed completely absorbed in his work. Sam knew
then that Philip was determined to stay and break his bonds with Sam. Sam realized
that Philip was carving a new god to replace the one he stole from his grandfather.
Elements of the Short Story
o Characters
Philip Latak A lso known as Ip-pig, is an Ifugao who became a Christian
and lived in Manila. By becoming a city dweller, Philip became less
sentimental with his cultural identity, beliefs, and customs. His name was
derived from the word Philippines.
Sam Cristie Was an American who wanted to view the rice terraces of
the Mountain Province (also known as the Cordilleras). He was also
interested in purchasing an original figurine of an Ifugao god. His name
was derived from Uncle Sam, a representation of the United States.
Sadek Embraces his culture
Grandfather Symbolizes time, the old days, past story.
o Setting
After World War 2
Manila
Baguio
Rice Terraces
o Plot
Philip and Sam went to Baguio City. During a feast honoring Philip for his
return, Philip and Sam were because of the unwillingness of the Ifugao
people to sell any Ifugao statue. Philip plans to steal his grandfather's
god in return for the salary raise given to him by Sam. After finding out
that his god was missing, Philip's grandfather dies. Because of his
grandfather's death, Philip decides not to return to Manila with Sam as a
form of repentance. Philip transforms himself back into an Ifugao attired
in traditional clothing that was in the process of replacing the old Ifugao
idol by chiseling a new one.
o Theme
Lost Filipinos Culture and Identity
Colonial mentality of the Filipino people
Filipino is rich in cultural heritage
Francisco Sionil Jose
o F. Sionil Jos or in full Francisco Sionil Jos (born December 3, 1924) is one of
the most widely read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and
short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism
in Filipino society. Jos's works - written in English - have been translated into
22 languages, including Korean, Indonesian, Czech, Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian
and Dutch.
o Childhood
Jos was born in Rosales, Pangasinan, the setting of many of his stories.
He spent his childhood in Barrio Cabugawan, Rosales, where he first
began to write. Jos was of Ilocano descent whose family had migrated to
Pangasinan before his birth. Fleeing poverty, his forefathers traveled from
Ilocos towards Cagayan Valley through the Santa Fe Trail. Like many
migrant families, they brought their lifetime possessions with them,
including uprooted molave posts of their old houses and their alsong, a
stone mortar for pounding rice.
One of the greatest influences to Jos was his industrious mother who
went out of her way to get him the books he loved to read, while making
sure her family did not go hungry despite poverty and landlessness. Jos
started writing in grade school, at the time he started reading. In the fifth
grade, one of Joss teachers opened the school library to her students,
which is how Jos managed to read the novels of Jos Rizal, Willa Cathers
My Antonia, Faulkner and Steinbeck. Reading about Basilio and Crispin in
Rizals Noli Me Tangere made the young Jos cry, because injustice was
not an alien thing to him. When Jos was five years old, his grandfather
who was a soldier during the Philippine revolution, had once tearfully
showed him the land their family had once tilled but was taken away by
rich mestizo landlords who knew how to work the system against
illiterates like his grandfather.
o Life as a writer
Jos attended the University of Santo Tomas after World War II, but
dropped out and plunged into writing and journalism in Manila. In
subsequent years, he edited various literary and journalistic publications,
started a publishing house, and founded the Philippine branch of PEN, an
international organization for writers. Jos received numerous awards for
his work. The Pretenders is his most popular novel, which is the story of
one man's alienation from his poor background and the decadence of his
wife's wealthy family.
Jos Rizal's life and writings profoundly influenced Jos's work. The five
volume Rosales Saga, in particular, employs and interrogates themes and
characters from Rizal's work.
Throughout his career, Jos's writings espouse social justice and change
to better the lives of average Filipino families. He is one of the most
critically acclaimed Filipino authors internationally, although much
underrated in his own country because of his authentic Filipino English
and his anti-elite views.
"Authors like myself choose the city as a setting for their fiction
because the city itself illustrates the progress or the sophistication
that a particular country has achieved. Or, on the other hand, it
might also reflect the kind of decay, both social and perhaps moral,
that has come upon a particular people."-F. Sionil Jos, BBC.com,
July 30, 2003
Sionil Jos also owns Solidaridad Bookshop, which is on Padre Faura
Street in Ermita, Manila. The bookshop offers mostly hard-to-find books
and Filipiniana reading materials. It is said to be one of the favorite
haunts of many local writers.
In his regular column, Hindsight, in The Philippine Star, dated September
12, 2011, he wrote "Why we are shallow," blaming the decline of Filipino
intellectual and cultural standards on a variety of modern amenities,
including media, the education systemparticularly the loss of emphasis
on classic literature and the study of Greek and Latin--, and the
abundance and immediacy of information on the internet.
The Wedding Dance Amador T. Daguio
The Wedding Dance is a story of Lumnay and Awiyao, who as members of a tribe in
Cordillera, have to conform to the dictates of their culture. After seven harvests,
Lumnay and Awiyao are still childless. Not habing a child creates a problem with
them. Lumnay, as a woman is expected to be suspected as infertile. Awiyao has to
look for another wife even if he loves Lumnay so much. At the day of Awiyaos
wedding to Madulimay he paid visit to Lumnay for the last time and invited her to
come to his wedding. They are both wretched. Lumnay tried to fight for her husband.
She wanted to defy the unwritten law of the tribe, besides, they both love each other.
During the course of their conversation Awiyao explains his opposition to his
marriage to other woman but is defeated with cultural dictates. Awiyao called by the
load sound of the gongs goes back to the ceremony. Lumnay considered breaking
into the ceremony but ends up alone in the company of bean plants. The love for their
tribe reigned over Awiyao. Lumnay becomes the image of a woman whose qualities as
a good wife and the best dancer among all the other women in their tribe mean
nothing if she cannot bear a child.
SYNOPSIS/ SUMMARY
o Awiyao and Lumnay were husband and wife for seven years, but now the
husband has to marry another woman, Madulimay, because Lumnay was not
able to give him a child. (In their culture in the mountains during those times,
having a child to follow after the husbands name was a must.)
o On the night of the wedding, Awiyao goes to his and Lumnays house to
personally invite her to the traditional wedding dance. However, Lumnay, the
best dancer in the entire tribe, refuses to go. Then, during their conversation, it
is revealed that both of them still love each other, but because of their tribes
custom, they have to separate.
o Awiyao goes back to the wedding, to the wedding dance, after being fetched by
some friends. Lumnay wants to follow, partly because of the dance, and partly
because she wants to put a stop to their tribes tradition of having to marry
another partner just to have a child.
SHORT STORY ELEMENTS
o A. CHARACTERS
1. Lumnay a woman who was left by her husband because he had to
marry another woman/ Developing
2. Awiyao- the husband stated above / Flat
3. Madulimay Awiyaos new wife / Flat
o B. PLOT Linear
a) Introduction
The story opens with Awiyao entering his and Lumnays house.
b) Rising Action
Things start to heat up when Lumnay says she does not want any
other man.
c) Climax
There is more intensity when Awiyao says he does not want any
other woman.
d) Falling action
But they both have to follow their tribes tradition.
e) Denouement
Awiyao has to go back to the wedding dance.
o C. SETTING
a) place in the mountains somewhere in the Philippines
b) time- a long time ago
c) weather conditions- fine
d) social conditions- lower-class
e) mood or atmosphere- sad and tense
o D. POINT OF VIEW
The Point of View used in this short story is the Omniscient Limited - The
author tells the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it,
etc). We know only what the character knows and what the author allows
him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and feelings of characters if
the author chooses to reveal them to us.
o E. LITERARY DEVICES
For me, there is an extensive use of the literary device Symbolism. There
are many symbols here, and these are the darkness, the houses four
walls, the smoldering embers, and the beads. The darkness symbolizes
how the two lead characters feel. Meanwhile, the houses walls symbolize
the former couples imprisonment. The smoldering embers that become
glowing coals symbolize the love that both of them still feel towards each
other. Finally, the beads symbolize Awiyaos great love for Lumnay even if
she was not able to give him a child.
o F. THEME
In my opinion, the theme True love never dies is applicable to this story.
o G. CONFLICT
The conflict here is Man vs. Society. The lead characters have to follow
their tribes custom
Amador T. Daguio
o Amador T. Daguio was a poet, novelist and teacher during the pre-war. He was
best known for his fictions and poems. He had published two volumes of
poetry, "Bataan Harvest" and "The Flaming Lyre". He served as chief editor for
the Philippine House of Representatives before he died in 1966.
o Daguio was born 8 January 1912 in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, but grew up in
Lubuagan, Mountain Province, where his father, an officer in the Philippine
Constabulary, was assigned. He was class valedictorian in 1924 at the Lubuagan
Elementary School. Then he stayed with his uncle at Fort William McKinley to
study at Rizal High School in Pasig. Those four years in high school were,
according to Daguio, the most critical in his life. I spent them literally in
poverty, extreme loneliness, and adolescent pains In my loneliness, I began
to compose verses in earnest. He was in third year high when he broke into
print in a national weekly, The Sunday Tribune Magazine (11 July 1926), with a
poem, She Came to Me. He was going to be valedictorian or salutatorian, but
his teacher in utter lack of justice put down my marks in historymy favorite
subject. That just about broke my heart because then I would have had free
tuition at the U.P.
o Thus out of school for the first semester in 1928, he earned his tuition (P60.00)
by serving as houseboy, waiter, and caddy to officers at Fort McKinley. He
enrolled for the second semester with only P2.50 left for books and other
expenses. He commuted between the Fort and Padre Faura, Manila, walking
about two kilometers from Paco station twice daily. He would eat his lunch
alone on Dewey Blvd. and arrive at the Fort about 9 oclock in the evening. This
continued for three years. Then an uncle arrived from Honolulu who paid his
tuition during his third year; before this, he worked Saturday and Sunday as
printers devil at the U.P. and served as Philippine Collegian reporter. During all
this time, he learned the craft of writing from Tom Inglis Moore, an Australian
professor at U.P., and was especially grateful to A.V.H. Hartendorp of Philippine
Magazine. His stories and poems appeared in practically all the Manila papers.
o One of ten honor graduates at U.P. in 1932, he returned to teach at his
boyhood school in Lubuagan; in 1938, he taught at Zamboanga Normal School
where he met his wife Estela. They transferred to Normal Leyte School in 1941
before the Second World War. During the Japanese Occupation, he joined the
resistance and wrote poems in secret, later collected as Bataan Harvest. He was
a bosom-friend of another writer in the resistance, Manuel E. Arguilla.
o In 1952, he obtained his M.A. in English at Stanford U. as a Fulbright scholar.
His thesis was a study and translation of Hudhud hi Aliguyon (Ifugao Harvest
Song). In 1954, he obtained his Law degree from Romualdez Law College in
Leyte. Daguio was editor and public relations officer in various offices in
government and the military. He also taught for twenty-six years at the
University of the East, U.P., and Philippine Womens University. In 1973, six
years after his death, Daguio was conferred the Republic Cultural Heritage
Award.
The White Horse of Alih Mig Alvarez Enriquez
"The White Horse of Alih," the title story in this collection, talks of the exotic Moslem culture.
It is the story of two brothers, who in their attempt to regain the honor that they have lost,
decide to become juramentados. The story further shows the gap between the Moslems and
the Christians Filipinos and blood-brothers who are set apart by cultural and religious
differences. This dichotomy achieves concreteness in the river (The school was across the
river. The Moros were not allowed to set foot on the reservation.) In the end, their plans fail
and ironically, it is Alih who kills his brother Omar because of the formers obsession with
women ( Alih simply, did not love his white horse as he did his houri). The white horse
with wings they had envisioned as a reward for killing and which would transport them to
heaven, remains what it is an illusion ( conjured by fanatics in their attempt to give
reason to their behavior. The prophet never taught it. He was a man of peace.) They
adamantly refuse to heed the Imams wise words, and persist in their plan. Omars death at
the hands of Alih manifests the truth that to take the life of a fellow human being is to take
the life of your own brother.
The story happened on July 4th in a city with a parade of people. It was a happy day for
everybody because they are celebrating the big American Holiday. Among the crowd was Alih,
a Moro who was then looking for his brother, Omar. That day was intended for them to fulfill
their plan. Their plan is to kill these people.
So Alih waited for his brother, he went out of the crown and sat under the acacia tree. While
he was sitting and looking at the parade, he remembered his past, his childhood and his
growing years where he met the women whom he wished and longed for and he remembered
his mission. That is---to kill the people. But people can't notice them as Moros because they
were in disguise.
When he saw a man riding a horse and controlling the crowd, he remembered how much he
longed for a horse for himself. He recalled when his brother punished him because he spent
his earnings just to ride in a merry - go- round. He wanted to ride on a wooden horse
because he saw the girl whom he liked most and her name was Lucy. Lucy was the girl who
lived in the reservation area where the Americans live. Moros were not allowed to enter that
vicinity. But because he needs to go to school, he cross the river and reached the reservation
area. There he saw the first girl he liked. Though, they were not given the chance to see and
talk to each other since then.
When he grew up, Omar told him about how the American soldiers killed their father without
any reason. Their father was known and respected in their village. With these, Omar taught
him to be brave and be able to fight against these people because he believes that only by
killing could they wash away their shame. He taught him words to live by and beliefs to be
respected and attained.
As he grew into a mature individual, he met another woman named Fermina. Fermina was a
beautiful bar maid with a mole near her mouth. He likes her so much but the woman doesn't
like him because of his impertinent manner towards her. He was put to jail for six months
because of what he did.
Remembering all of these from his past, he thought of what Omar said about the promise of
their prophet to those who are faithful to him. That is to have a white horse ride to heaven
and as many hours as the number of infidel heads he could lay before Allah. But when he
thought of what their Imam said that white horse, as a reward for killing is an reference
conjured by fanatics in their attempt to give reason to their behavior. The prophet never
taught them about that because he was man of peace.
So back to reality, he continued searching for Omar into the crowd. Soon he saw a float with a
girl whom he thought of as Fermina. He went near the float and assisted the girl to go down
to the ground. As he was about to hold her completely, Omar came but to his surprise, he
was drunk and tipsy! All along, he realized that Omar had been drinking tuba. He knew that
Omar was afraid to kill that is why he drink tuba first before he go to the town.
Omar shouted and leap to the street, and then he gets his fatal blade from his pants.
The crowd screamed. Fear and panic seized everyone. Everyone is running and escaping from
Omar, even fermina jumped into the ground and run away but she got stuck from a bamboo
frame of the float because of her long flowing robe that hooked on the edge of the bamboo
frame. She tried to set herself free but she saw Omar coming to her swinging his blade.
Fermina screamed and screamed because of fear.
The screams struck Alih because he saw that Fermina the girl he was love is in danger and get
his blade from his leg immediately and then he leaped to his brother Omar and hit its back by
his sharp blade repeatedly. Omar died.
The town spoke out about the strange tragedy for many days after. But nobody had known
Alih, and nobody could figure out why he turned against his brother.
THE ISSUE INSIDE THE STORY
o Psychological effect of man's alienation from the society he is at
o Racial Discrimination
o Traditions in religion
o Psychological impact of an individuals experiences
o Quarrel between religions
o Discrimination based on religion
ELEMENTS OF STORY
o Setting
The story happened on July 4th in a city with a parade of people.
o Characters
Alih
A Moro who plans on killing the people celebrating the Filipino-
American Friendship Day
Omar
The older brother of Alih who dictates him on what to do in every
aspects of his life
Imam
The village priest who tried to dissuade the two brothers, he
explain to them that the prophets did not teach to do it
Lucy
Girl who lived in the reservation area where the Americans live
She is the first girl Alih liked
Fermina
A beautiful bar maid with a mole near her mouth
Alih likes her so much but the woman doesnt like him because of
his impertinent manner towards her.
o Plot
Conflict Alih did not want to kill but the fear he had for his brother
while he was growing urged him to the killings and also because his
brother taught him that killing will be their way to wash away their shame
and gain respect for their father who had died by the American soldiers
without any reason.
Complication When they decided to become merchants there were
rebels who stole their commodities
Rising Action He saw a float with a girl whom he thought of as Fermina.
He went near the float and assisted the girl to go down to the ground and
found out that it is Fermina when he saw the little black mole on the
corner of the girls mouth
Climax As he was about to hold her completely, Omar came but to his
surprise, he was drunk and tipsy! All along, he realized that Omar had
been drinking tuba. Omar was about to kill Fermina.
Falling Action Alih kills his brother despite their plans to gain the white
horse for him to protect Fermina.
Resolution After the incident, many speculations was made of what
happened. Some said Alih became insane that is why he killed his
brother. But the thing is Alih didnt want his white horse anymore.
o Theme- the short story tells about the tradition, beliefs and faith of the
Filipinos
o Point of View Third person limited
LITERARY APPROACHES USED
o Historical Approach
Since the author was born on 1925, this may influence his work on The
White Horse of Alih. The setting of the story happened on July 4th in a
city with a parade of people. The author might experience this big event
in the history wherein the July 4th is considered as Filipino- American
Friendship Day.
o Mimetic Approach
The text is can be related to the reality. It there were discrimination
among races, differences among religions and traditions. And the moral
aspect of killing is an issue of their faith.
o Freudian Approach
The main character tries to overcome his feelings on this text but Alih
shows his intention to Fermina in the middle of story when he ask for a
kiss to the lady.
VOCABULARY WORDS
o Houri - (h'r, hou') one of the beautiful maidens said by some Muslims to
dwell in paradise for the enjoyment of the faithful. The passages in the Qur'an
detailing the physical delights of heaven are considered by many Muslim critics
as allegorical.
o Imam- a leader of congregational prayer in a mosque, a religious teacher
o Jihad- A Muslim holy war or spiritual struggle against infidels.
o Qur'an or Koran- The sacred text of Islam, considered by Muslims to contain
the revelations of God to Muhammad.
o Shia or Shiites - A member of the branch of Islam that regards Ali and his
descendants as the legitimate successors to Muhammad and rejects the first
three caliphs.
o Juramentados - The term juramentado was derived from the Spanish verb
juramentar, meaning "to swear an oath." A rushing Moro warrior with shaven
hair, fiery eyes and plucked eyebrows, brandishing kris or kampilan to attack
infidels until he was slain. It was a person who had chosen to fight in the Way of
Allah in his individual capacity since. A sacred duty and when he died in the
course of his attack, he became shahid or "martyr" with paradise as his ultimate
reward. As with any real Muslim warrior, the juramentado loved martyrdom
more than life.
Mig Alvarez Enriquez
o Emigdio Alvarez Enriquez was born on the year 1925. He is a Filipino by birth.
He started writing at the age of 20. He is a novelist, story writer, and
playwright. Among his famous literary works are: Blood on the Moon, A Tale of
Two Houses, Cachil Kudarat (Sultan of Mindanao) or Cachil Corrala, and Labaw,
Donggon. All of this short stories won Palanca awards in the year
May Day Eve Nick Joaquin

Nick Joaquin
o Nick Joaquin, by name of Nicomedes Joaquin (born May 4, 1917, Paco, Manila,
Phil.died April 29, 2004, San Juan, Phil.), Filipino novelist, poet, playwright,
essayist, and biographer whose works present the diverse heritage of the
Filipino people.
o Joaquin was awarded a scholarship to the Dominican monastery in Hong Kong
after publication of his essay La Naval de Manila (1943), a description of
Manilas fabled resistance to 17th-century Dutch invaders. After World War II he
traveled to the United States, Mexico, and Spain, later serving as a cultural
representative of the Philippines to Taiwan, Cuba, and China.
o Starting as a proofreader for the Philippines Free Press, Joaquin rose to
contributing editor and essayist under the nom de plume Quijano de Manila
(Manila Old-Timer). He was well known as a historian of the brief Golden Age
of Spain in the Philippines, as a writer of short stories suffused with folk Roman
Catholicism, as a playwright, and as a novelist.
Carlos Bulosan
(November 2, 1913 September 11, 1956)
Carlos Bulosan was born in the Philippines in the rural farming village of Mangusmana, near the town of
Binalonan (Pangasinan province, Luzon island). He was the son of a farmer and spent most of his upbringing in the
countryside with his family. Like many families in the Philippines, Carloss family struggled to survive during times of
economic hardship. Many families were impoverished and many more would suffer because of the conditions in the
Philippines created by US colonization. Rural farming families like Carlos family experienced severe economic disparity
due to the growing concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the economic and political elite. Determined to help
support his family and further his education, Carlos decided to come to America with the dream to fulfill these goals.
Traveling by ship, Carlos arrived in Seattle on July 22, 1930 at the age of seventeen. With only three years of
education from the Philippines, Carlos spoke little English and had barely any money left. Desperate to survive, he soon
began working various low-paying jobs: servicing in hotels, harvesting in the fields, and even embarking to the Alaskan
canneries. During his hardships in finding employment, Carlos experienced much economic difficulty and racial brutality
that significantly damaged his health and eventually changed his perception of America.
From several years of racist attacks, starvation, and sickness, Carlos underwent surgery for tuberculosis in Los
Angeles. His health condition with tuberculosis forced him to undergo three operations where he lost most of the right side
of his ribs and the function of one lung. Yet, he recovered and stayed in the hospital for about two years where he spent
much of his time reading and writing.
The discrimination and unhealthy working conditions Carlos had experienced in many of his workplaces
encouraged him to participate in union organizing with other Filipinos and various workers. Carlos become a self-
educated and prolific writer determined to voice the struggles he had undergone as a Filipino coming to America and the
struggles he had witnessed of other people. Like many of his fellow Filipinos in his time, Carlos never had the opportunity
to return to the Philippines. After years of hardship and flight, he passed away in Seattle suffering from an advanced
stage of bronchopneumonia. He is buried at Queen Anne Hill in Seattle.
Jessica Zafra
Jessica Zafra (born 1965) is a fiction writer, columnist, editor, publisher, and former television and radio show
host. She is known for her sharp and witty writing style. Her most popular books are the Twisted series, a collection of her
essays as a columnist for newspaper Today (now Manila Standard Today), as well as from her time as editor and
publisher of the magazine Flip. She currently writes a weekly column for InterAksyon.com, the online news portal of TV5.
She resides in Metro Manila, Philippines, where she is working on her first novel. She also managed the Eraserheads
during the 90's.
Her work often are about current events (both Philippine and international), tennis, movies, music, cats, books,
technology, and her personal life. Her work has been the subject of academic study. The main ingredient to her work is
often fun cynicism and irony.
She went to St. Theresa's College, Quezon City, from prep school until 6th Grade. After which, she went to the
main campus of the Philippine Science High School then to the University of the Philippines and majored in Comparative
Literature
Alejandro R. Roces
Alejandro Reyes Roces (13 July 1924 23 May 2011) was a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist and a National
Artist of the Philippines for literature. He served as Secretary of Education from 1961 to 1965, during the term of
Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal.
Noted for his short stories, the Manila-born Roces was married to Irene Yorston Viola (granddaughter of Maximo
Viola), with whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth Roces-Pedrosa. Anding attended elementary and high school at the
Ateneo de Manila University, before moving to the Arizona State University for his tertiary education. He graduated with a
B.A. in Fine Arts and, not long after, attained his M.A. from Far Eastern University back in the Philippines. He has since
received honorary doctorates from Tokyo University, Baguio's St. Louis University, Polytechnic University of the
Philippines, and the Ateneo de Manila University. Roces was a captain in the Markings Guerilla during World War II and a
columnist in Philippine dailies such as the Manila Chronicle and the Manila Times. He was previously President of the
Manila Bulletin and of the CAP College Foundation.
In 2001, Roces was appointed as Chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
(MTRCB). Roces also became a member of the Board of Trustees of GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) and
maintained a column in the Philippine Star called Roses and Thorns.