My Father Goes to Court - Reflection

      Good day! Once again this is my reflection on another story entitled My Father Goes to Court by author Carlos Bulosan. This story is about a poor family and a rich family, where the poor family lives right next to the rich family, and how matters occur between them that eventually led them into court.

REFLECTION

       Father's house had been destroyed in 1918 by one of the sudden Philippine floods. They, as a family, lived in the town but Father preferred to live in the country. They had a neighbor who was a very rich man, although his children, sons and daughters, seldomly came out of the house. I could say that, the children of the poor family, were healthier than that of the rich kids. It is because they'd play out in the sun regularly as compared to the rich kids, who mostly stayed secluded indoors.

         The rich kids' house was tall, that they could even watch the poor family children play outside. Most of the time, their windows would remain closed. It came that the rich man's servants were frying and cooking something good, in which the aroma could be smelled from the outside. The poor family would then hang out and inhale all the good aroma of the food being cooked. The rich father accuses the poor father of stealing (their food's aroma) and takes the case to court. This was the result of the rich kids suddenly becoming thin, anemic, and malnourished. And eventually, even the rich couple would experience coughing and mild illness.

        One morning a policeman from the presidency came to the poor family’s house with a sealed paper and it is because the rich man complained that they have been stealing the spirit of the delicious food that belonged to the rich family. So the father went to the court. The rich man’s lawyer had thrown him some questions and he did responded to them all. The rich man did not stop complaining and he even let his children come in to the court for proof. Until the judge dismissed the case because the father paid the rich man by his collected coins and he made them produced a wonderful sound. It became fair, and they ended up laughing because of the nonsense case.

Moral: Make sure anything is well-proven before even being brought up as evidence. This can be applied in real-life courts.

And regardless of the situation, be happy, strong, and courageous! And be honest at all times.

The Rainy Day - Reflection

Once more, good day!

This poem is made by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American poet, and the author of The Rainy Day.

In this blog, I will write my short reflection with relation to the poem mentioned above.

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The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.

That part shows how gloomy the life of the narrator is, hence illustrated in the form of a gloomy weather.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

And now, his life seems to be literally cold, dark, and dreary. His thoughts still cling to what seems to be a bad past, and he may not have enjoyed his life.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;Thy fate is the common fate of all,Into each life some rain must fall,Some days must be dark and dreary.

The narrator sees better days ahead. He now seems to know the difference between a good and a bad day, and a bad or good season which could ruin or brighten up his day/mood.

MORAL: Behind every stormy cloud is a bright and shining sun; do not be afraid, do not be dismayed, and be of good courage. There certainly will be better days ahead, even in gloomy times in life!

Footnote to Youth Reflection

Good day, reader!

This here is my reflection of the story Footnote to Youth by Jose Garcia Villa. Footnote to Youth is a story that revolves on the life of Dodong, a 17 year-old boy who gets attracted to a girl and has desires to get married to her at such an age.

MAIN CHARACTERS:

• Dodong - The main character. He is a 17 year-old boy who falls in love and wants to get married, at the age of 17.
• Teang - Dodong's love interest. She loses shape after giving birth to so many children fathered by Dodong.

The story begins with Dodong, a 17 year-old boy who is impatiently awaiting the return of his father. He was longing to tell his father that he has a love on Teang and has desires to get married to her. At his age, he feels that 17 years is already criteria for being called a "grown man" and that he can already bear the responsibilities of life. He informs this to his father, but is looked down upon, which Dodong heavily resents. His father eventually gives in to Dodong's desires for his blessing to marry Teang. Since 17 is still a minor age, Dodong needed his parent's consent to get married.

9 months later, Dodong waits outside while Teang, now his wife, gives birth to their first son named Blas. He then felt the slap of reality; he was still young, and he really is, and he wanted to enjoy life furthermore. He wanted to stop having children with Teang, but they came anyway. 7 children came all in all.

It was nothing for Teang, although she became shapeless after giving birth to 1 week of children (7).

Then, the domino effect happened. Now even their children, especially with Blas wanting to marry at 18, with Dodong at 36 years old, did fairly the same thing as they did with their predecessors. Then it so happened that at a young age, they were battling between youth and love, and that they want to enjoy their youth first before entering such marriage.

MORAL: Enjoy youth! There is nothing worth rushing when it comes to lovelife and marriage. There is a specified time for that, and it will come eventually.

Dead Stars - Reflection

2018.01.01

Good day, reader!

This is my reflection for the short story Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez, for the course 21st Century Literature of the Philippines and the World.

The story revolves around a bachelor over thirty and two women, and how hearts may break as the story progresses.

(MAIN) CHARACTERS THAT COMPOSE THE STORY:

• Alfredo Salazar - a bachelor over 30 years old who is soon to be married.
• Esperanza - Salazar's fiancee.
• Julia Salas - Salazar's love interest whom he just met at a dinner party. Alfredo losing faith in Esperanza will be illustrated below.
• Don Julian - The father of Alfredo Salazar.
• Calixta - The note-carrier of Alfredo and Esperanza.

The story revolves around Alfredo Salazar, a bachelor over thirty, and two women: Esperanza, his fiancée of four years, and a young girl from out-of-town named Julia Salas.  As the story goes, the people take it for granted that Alfredo will marry Esperanza, wherein Salazar's taste for Esperanza was deteriorating little-by-little.

He eventually gets attracted to Julia Salas, a woman he just met at a dinner party. He knew that it would not be easy for the people he knows to accept the fact that he has a new interest, and that it would cause a heartbreak. 

It was 8 years later when Alfredo went on a business trip to the town where Julia lives. Julia still remained unmarried after those years. Alfredo paid a visit to Julia, whom he has never forgotten, but then realized that he lost all of his attraction for her as compared to 8 years back then. He compares his memory of his love for her to dead stars, whose glow is still visible to earth for years.

Moral: Decide properly and/or responsibly, and don't be fooled by whatever comes past.

I could recount that I knew girls whom I used to have a crush on, and recounting my memories to when I used to like them makes me remember of dead stars too. Even a bonfire put out with water still has embers glowing as the flame dies.

PORTRAIT OF A GREAT MAN - REFLECTION

Good day, reader!

This blog is a (short) reflection of Manuel A. Viray's piece Portrait of a Great Man. This is my first blog for the course 21st Century Literature of the Philippines and the World, under supervision of our instructor, Mr. Ezra Antonio.

We have our characters here, the people who make up the story.

DR. RUFINO T. VENTANILLA - the story's main character.

SERAFIN - he is Dr. Ventanilla's chauffeur.

ZABALA - Ventanilla's stenotypist.

DR. ADRIANO PEREZ

EDROSA

Now, let us move on to the vocabulary, or words that are seemingly difficult to understand.

Chauffeur - a person whose job is to drive people around.

Bundy Clock -  a time-keeping clock used to log in when an employee has timed in or out of work.

Protegee - a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person.

Stenotypist - a typist who records dictation in shorthand by the use of phonetic symbols.

Kaywoodie - a smoking pipe.

Schenley - a liquor brand.

The story is set on Ventanilla's workplace, which is located on a street leading to Mabini Avenue.

It starts with Dr. Ventanilla and his chauffeur, Serafin, driving to his place of work. They managed to avoid the snarled traffic of Avenida Rizal, which could have caused them a delay. He then checked in through the bundy clock which logged his time-in for work.

He (seemingly) hurriedly went into his place of work where he was told by a girl working in the office that there is still five (5) minutes to eight (8) in the morning, to which he shrugged off laughingly and said to himself "doesn't she know I am the Deputy Commissioner?". After that, he strode into his office where he'd find himself barricaded by a hill of papers on his desk (too much papers to deal with!). 

He then comes across with Zabala, his stenotypist, who types into the keyboard with machinegun precision (yes, he types that fast). Ventanilla also comes across with Dr. Adriano Perez 10 minutes apart, in which Perez asks Zabala where the Deputy Commissioner (Ventanilla) had been, and adds that if ever Ventanilla returns and wants him, he should be informed that Perez and Mr. Montalbo are at the restaurant.

Let us skip to the end part.

Two weeks into the story, Perez was eventually appointed Deputy Commissioner to succeed Ventanilla. However, he seems to be the bossy type, who takes bad notice of even the slightest mistakes. The story ends with a clerk who asks Perez to have his voucher signed for a partial salary since his wife is (terribly) sick, to which Perez shrugs the clerk off, citing that he does not want to be bothered.

Moral of the story: As much as possible, we must appreciate even the smallest good stuff. And we must try to not look at ourselves too high, high enough to be called "bossy" or "cocky".

That ends my review for the short story, Portrait of a Great Man, for now. And for the theme, the story is all about valuing even the smallest things in life, and not stretching your ego too far.

Thank you for reading!