The Necklace

Guy de Maupassant

Being unhappy and discontented are the product of man’s searching and desiring for
things that he never had. As the saying goes, happiness isn’t about getting what want but
being satisfied with what we have. The way to be happy is to grateful with the small
blessings we receive. In this story “The Necklace” the approaches were socialism and
feminism. The main character here who was Mme. Loisel is a woman who was always
dreaming of life she was never had. She was materialistic and always wanted to be pleased,
envied, fascinating and sought after.
Mme. Loisel was one of those attractive girls’ born by a freak of fortune in a lower-
middle-class family. She was married to a junior clerk in the Ministry of Public instruction.
She always had a sense of frustration, feeling herself born for all refinements and luxuries of
life. She spent whole days I tears, misery, regrets, hopeless caused her bitter distress. One
evening her husband, M. Loisel came home with a broad smile on his lips and a large
envelope in his hand. It was an invitation to the party at Ministry. Instead of being delighted
as her husband had hoped, she threw the invitation because according to her she doesn’t have
clothes to wear. Her husband promised her to give her money for a suitable frock. The date
of the party was approaching but Mme. Loisel seemed depressed and worried though her
dress was ready. Her husband noticed her attitude so he asked his wife what was that matter.
Mme. Loisel replied that she doesn’t have a piece of jewelry to wear. Her husband told her to
lend some of Mme. Forestier’s jewelry. Mme. Forestier was a friend of Mme. Loisel. Next
day Mme. Loisel went to her and explained her dilemma. Mme. Forestier lent her a
magnificent necklace which Mme. Loisel chooses.
The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel had a triumph. She was the prettiest woman
in the party, elegant, grateful, and smiling in the seventh heaven of happiness. All the men
looked at her, asked who she was and wanted to be introduced. All the private secretaries
wanted to dance her. When the husband and wife arrived in their house Mme. Loisel
discovered that Mme. Forestier’s necklace has gone. They search everywhere but they didn’t
find it. M. Loisel told his wife to write to her friend and say that she had broken the clasp on
the necklace and are getting it mended. After a week they had lost all hope so they took the
case which had contained the necklace to the jeweler whose name was in it in hope that they
would find replacement to the missing necklace but they failed. At last in the Royal Palais
they found a diamond necklace just like the one lost. Its price was expensive. M. and Mme.
Loisel took the necklace back to Mme. Forestier.
After ten years M. and Mme. Loisel had paid all their debts including the interest and
the accumulated compound interest. Mme. Loisel now looked an old woman. She had
become the strong, tough, coarse woman we find in the homes of poor. One Sunday, she had
gone for a stroll suddenly she saw a lady taking a child for a walk. It was Mme. Forestier,
still young, beautiful and attractive. She approached her friend but the woman didn’t
recognize her for she had changed so she told that she was Mathilde Loisel. Mme. Losiel
later found out that the necklace her friend has lent her was only paste and not worth more
than five hundred francs at most.
 The Farm for Sale
Jesse Stuart

It was man’s nature to long for a comfortable life but sometimes because of our desire
for modern conveniences we never realize that simple life is much better and what we have is
better than what we wanted. Many people think that city life is wonderful compared to farm
of province life. There are lots of attraction in the city that’s what most of us thought. City
life is modern and more progressive compared to farm or province life. The characters in this
story except Shan have this kind of thinking about city life. They are willing to sell their
farm and house to live in the city but through a person named Melvin Spencer they
discovered the true value of living in the farm behind those inconveniences. The approaches
used in this story are realism and socialism.
Shan’s uncle Dick wanted to sell their house because he was planning to buy the
beautiful Coswell house in Blakesburg. Is aunt Emma and his cousins Oliver, Olive, Little
Dick and Helen were all happy upon hearing that the farm will be sold. For them living in the
Coswell house means they can finally get out of their uncivilized place. They wouldn’t have
to wear galoshes all winter and they wouldn’t be in mud but on the street. They can now
have electricity and the things that the city people have. Shan’s uncle has a friend named
Melvin Spencer who will sell the farm for his uncle. Shan was the only one who was
unhappy to the decision of his uncle dick. He knew the reason why no one was living in the
Coswell house and that was because the water got on the first floor in the house every time
Big River rose to flood stage. He thought that selling the farm was not his business so he
never told what he knew about the Coswell house to his Uncle Dick. Melvin Spencer come
to look over the farm. Since he couldn’t drive his car all the way to Uncle Dick’s farm
because of the road. Uncle Dick brought an extra horse and on empty saddle with him for his
friend. on their way to the farm Uncle Dick showed to his friend the cornfield and the five
acres of tobacco where the broad leaves crossed the balks and a man couldn’t walk through.
Then they went down to the river. There is no bridge across the river that’s why they always
have to go down the river seven miles to red Hot, a stone and post office on the Tiber River.
When they reached Uncle Dick’s house Melvin Spencer stopped for a while and looked at
the house and yard because according to him when he sells a piece of property he wants to
look it over. Melvin Spencer looked over the big squat log house with plank doors, big stone
steps, small windows, the moss-covered roof. Then, Aunt Emma invited Melvin Spencer to a
table to eat. The table was loaded with foods which all came from their farm. The real state
agent thanks them for the best dinner he had since he was a young man. He asked Aunt
Emma for a picture of the house for he might put the picture in the paper.
Finally Melvin Spencer published the advertisement of the farm and house. Since
Uncle Dick didn’t read very well he asked Shan to read what Melvin had said about their
property. His friend two columns about their house and farm which made Uncle Dick
realized what they really have. Their farm life might be hard because of the inconveniences
they have there but farm life is more wonderful than the city life. He is richer than what he
thought because he discovered the true value of their farm through what Melvin had written.
Uncle Dick decided not to sell their farm and house anymore and he will just pay Melvin
Spencer for the advertisement and his effort.

Twilight Hugs
Genoveva Edroza Matute

Parents love for their children cannot be measured. They would do

and give them anything they need as long as they can. The bitter reality
is that sometimes their children forget all the sacrifices that they have
made done for them. Instead of being their guide when they grow old
their children neglect them. The two sons in this story were
inconsiderate. When their mother became old and on her senescent years
they argue on the responsibility of taking care of her. In this story
humanism and classicism which talks about love for parents, son and
daughter were the approaches used.
Mrs. Valli learned that Rey, her youngest son wanted to have her
to stay with them and because her grand daughter to Rey like to have a
grandmother. Her eldest son Ramon and her daughter-in-law wanted her
to stay with them especially that that their youngest child Lydia was
close to her. But the husband and wife didn’t want to hurt Rey’s family.
The poor old woman unfortunately doesn’t want to go with Rey but his
son decided already for her. Mrs. Valli remembered the time when her
husband was still alive and their two sons were still young. They put
Rey and Ramon through college and they gave their savings for their
chosen careers. After sometimes both of them married and their mother
stayed with Ramon. Rey married a heiress from the South so he left to
live there with his wife Tinay, Ramon and Carmen’s maid gave Mrs.
Valli her medicine foe her skin which became scaly because of getting
old. She told Mrs. Valli that her youngest son finally came to fetch her.
The two brothers talked about Mrs. Valli according to Ramon, Carmen
and he took care of her all through the years and now it was Rey’s turn
but the latter has many excuses. Mrs. Valli heard their conversation and
with her wheelchair she went into the terrace. It was Tinay who saw
Mrs. Valli in the terrace and she concluded that she was losing herself
and must be getting a child again as a proof Mrs. Valli denied that she
knew Rey she even talked to Tinay as if she was talking to her deceased
husband.

May Day Eve

Nick Joaquin

Youth are impulsive, whatever comes into their minds they will try it. The
sense of curiosity and the love for adventure are natural to them. There are times that
because of their age they do something which is an influence of their emotions. The
approach used in this story was romanticism because it discussed love and human
emotions.
After the party the young men and women went home. Anastacia, an old
woman said to the girls that during May witches were abroad in the night for it was a
night of divination, a night of lovers and those who cared might peer into a mirror and
would there behold the face of whoever it was there they were fated to marry. The
girls were frightened by what Anastacia had said but due to her curiosity to know
whom she will marry, Agueda courageously went outside. Anastacia tried to stop her
from going out because it was late at night by arning her that she might see a devil.
She told the girls to block Agueda but she already sliiped outside. She brought a
candle with her and she went to the sala where the mirror was. Agueda thought that
she had mistaken. When she was already in front of the mirror and whispering the
incantation she heard a step behind her. She instantly opened her eyes and she saw
Badoy Montiya, one of the young men in the party who was quite drunk. He asked her
to dance with him but Agueda refused. Badoy asked Agueda what is she doing in
front of the mirror in the middle of the night but the girl didn’t answer him. Agueda
attempted to run away from him but Badoy stopped her by grasping her by the wrist.
She gasped and burst into a tear that was when Badoy asked her to forgive him for
what he said because he was drunk. Badoy stopped her once again when she ried to
escape, he told her to forgive him first. To escape from him Agueda pulled his hand to
her mouth and bit it so sharply into the knuckles that he cried with pain. Agueda had
fled. Cruel thoughts then raced through Badoy’s head. He promised to himself that he
will have his revenge for what Agueda done to him that night. He later realized that he
had fallen madly inlove with Agueda. Time had passed and his heart forgotten his
promised. Don Badoy Montiya walked home through a May day midnight. He was
over sixty and a shriveled old man with white hair and mustaches. He saw a lad in the
dark standing before the mirror and he discovered that it was his grandson. He asked
the lad what he was doing there and he answered somebody told him, he would see
his wife if he look in the mirror. Don Badoy talked to his grandson and he told him
that wicked boy who played the game in the mirror wherein danger of seeing horrors.
The lad didn’t believe to what his grandpa said so Don Badoy shered his story to his
grandson. According to him he once bewitched by a witch that he saw in the mirror
when he was still young. To the amusement of the lad he told his grandpa that his
Mama once told him that his Grandma once saw the devil in the mirror.

The Dog and Her Five Puppies

Pedro S. Dandan

After missing for five months her husband suddenly came calling out
one night. When she opened the door she saw his with a huge dog. Their
three children Lauro, Into and Doming did not readily recognize their
father because his physical look had changed. Before the break of dawn the
man bade farewell. He asked his wife to take care of the dog which was a
gift to him by a close guerilla friend who was killed by the Japanese in one
of their encounters. He promised his family that he would come back. A
year had passed and the dog had become attached to the family, had
become a living reminder of the far away loved one and also the symbol
of times exigencies – the slow tightening of the clutch of hunger. The
woman had recognized with firmness the picture of like that passed before
her. Together with her children and the dog that gave birth to five puppies
they faced inevitable adversities. She and his eldest son Lauro, resell
vegetables which they sell while Into and Doming peddled peanuts or cut
roasted coconut meat in crowded corners. They lived this way everyday.
The dog got it share to what the family eats. The woman sold the dog
because of financial problem. She saved money to recover the dog but she
finally loses hope that she would recover the “reminder” left by his
husband. The orphaned five puppies become a problem to the family. On
the sixth day, after the dog disappeared three of the puppies died, one after
the other. Doming, the youngest suggested that they better cook the other
two left. After sometime the two left also died. The three children helped
their mother buried the five puppies under the stairs. The children dug with
their own hands until they were able to cover the five puppies with soil and
make a little grave. Doming was the last to go up. He hurled a last glance
at the grave of the five puppies before he finally closed the door. The
woman laid their mat early to forget the bitterness inside their stomach. In
the middle of the night she woke-up and looked for her youngest son. She
found him squatting under the stairs, scratching the soil. Doming
complained of hunger so his mother brought him up back into the hut and
sang the child to sleep to forget his starvation.

The Pearl
John Steinback

All of us want to be wealthy…to buy what we want…but it is wrong to be

voracious in something or someone. We need to work hard to reach our desires
in our life. We also need to be contented to what we have because there are
times that we are not yet satisfied to what we have like in this story. In this story
romanticism is the approached because it emphasis on the imagination and
emotions.
Kino, a simple fisherman, and his wife Juana live a humble built happy
life with their only child, Coyolito. One day, Coyolito is bitten by a scorpion but
the only doctor in town refuses to treat him because kinno cannot afford to pay
his fees. Kino, as usual, goes to the pearl beds with wife and son. He finds
extreme luck and excitement in his day’s find – the Pearl of the World!
Kino sees in the pearl the realization of his dreams: education for his boy,
a decent marriage to Juana, a fine house, clothes, and a gun for his protection.
He sees in the pearl his salvation, his “Paradise”, until the Great Pearl brings
him his damnation instead.
The doctor visits him to treat his sick Coyolito who gets worse after
medication, pearl buyers offer him incredibly low prices for his pearl; the priest,
preaches about a pearl finder who throws his treasure back to its source; and
intruders threaten his life at night. Juana appeals to him; “The pearl is like a
sin!” it will destroy us. Throw it away!”
Kino decides to sell his pearl in the capital town but he leaves his officer
in anger – their offers are too meager for his pearl. Intrudes continue to threaten
him after three attacks on him, he wounds one and kills another. He himself is
also wounded. After his first murder, he decides to escape. He finds his only
means of escape broken – he goes home and fined his hut afire. His brother Juan
Thomas tells him, “There is a devil in the pearl…perhaps you can still sell it and
buy peace for yourself,” They hide in his brother’s hut the whole day, and by
nightfall, they flee – darkness, their only cover – their old, peaceful life gone
instantly forever.
Three fully – armed men track them down in their cave in the mountains.
A fight ensues; he kills all three but a stray bullet also kills his son Coyolito.
 With heavy hearts and stony faces, Kino and Juana retrace their steps
back home to LA PAZ. Beside the lake, Kino vigorously flings the pearl back to
its bed in the deep, silent waters where it came from.

The Return of the Native

Thomas Hardy

Love is a strong feeling for someone or something, a passionate affection for another
person. If you love someone, you need to sacrifice all the trials that you encountered for the
sake of your happiness. But what if you and your partner are not comfortable with each
other? What will you do? We cannot say that love is always end happily, sometimes love
became misery but it is better if your love story end happily. When you love someone you
give everything without thinking twice, you ignore the truth, you believe in lies, and you cry
over things that hurts you.
Clym Yeobright returns home to Egdon Heath, England after studies in Paris. He
marries Eustacia Vye inspite of his mother’s disapproval. Their marriage becomes
complicated when Clym discovers that his wife is unhappy and unwilling to help in his plans
to educate the people of Egdon Heath. Eustacia also discovers that her husband is determined
to stay in the Heath instead of going back to Paris with her. Worts, Clym’s studies have
ruined his eyesight and suddenly he had to become an ordinary furge cutter. Eustacia then
finds comfort in the arms of her former lover, Wildeve, now married to Thomasin, Clym’s
cousin.
The final conclusion is hastened by the death of Mrs. Yeobright, Clym’s mother. She
had earlier attempted to visit her son and his wife to appease with them. Eustacia turns her
mother-in-law away from their cottage door because Wideve was inside the house with her.
In hastening across the Heath, Mrs. Yeobright is bitten by an adder and she dies.
Clym learns of his mother’s visit and his wife’s inhospitable action which somehow
caused his mother’s death. He accuses Eustacia of murder and drives her out of their house.
She goes to her grandfather’s house, but because of guilt and pressure, Eustacia plans to
leave with Wildeve and get out of Egdon Heath to Paris.
Thomasin and Eustacia’s go to Clym’s house and they discover the elopement plan.
They follow eustacia who, on her way to met Wildeve, jumps into a deep pond and drowns.
Clym and Wildeve try to save her but Wildeve also drowns in the dark ponds but Clym
survives.
Clyms goes back to live in his mother’s house – now a broken man. Thomasin
occupies the other wing of the house as she had always done before her marriage to Wildeve.
As was common in Egdon Heath, and after the period of sorrow, Clym the widower proposes
marriage to his widowed cousin; but before he could say a word about it, Thomasin ask his
permission to give her hand to her long-time suitor, Diggory Venn the Redman – now one of
the richest men in Egdon Heath. Clym remembers him as one rejected by the Yeobright’s
because of his lowly station in life.
The Maypole festival in Egdon Heath gives Clym a closer look at the real intentions
of Diggory. He finally give his consent to Thomasin to marry the Redman. Clym turns to his
books once more and occupies himself with preaching the Gospel and educating his
townsmen in quaint egdon Heath. Thomasin leaves the Yeobright home to live her Man –
Diggory Venn.

The Wisest
O. Henry

Introduction:
Sacrificing for others give us complete happiness as we also find happiness from their
face. We learned how to give up a precious thing in replace for another that may look very
special to our loved one. Giving a gift or present in a special day will leave a remarkable
memory in our minds. Never be true love seeks for material things, it just seeks comfort and
security.

Story:
It is the day before Christmas, Della has only one dollar and eighty-seven cents. She
feels desperate because she wants to give Mr. James Dellingham young, her husband, a
precious Christmas present. Almost like a beggar, Della and Jim have their two possessions
that they took a mighty pride, Della’s wonderful hair and Jim’s gold watch.
Della has no choice, she went down the street and sold her hair for twenty dollars.
Then, she looked for a store and bought a platinum fob chain that cannot be found anywhere
in town. It costed her twenty-one dollars and she went home. Della is all worried because her
husband might hate him for the reason that her hair was gone. She then cooked their dinner
while waiting for Jim.
Jima arrived at their house, thin and serious, as he looks at Della, there is something
in his mind. Della went towards him and apologized. Jim drew a package from his coat and
throw upon the table. Della opened it and was surprised with the things into it. There lays the
expensive combs, pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims. She shouted in glee and convinced
that her hair grows fast.
Della now wants to give her gift to Jim, and asked him to show his watch so that they
could see how the fob chain fits to it. Jim just put his hands under the back of his head. He
explained that he also sold his watch just to buy Della a set of combs.
At the end, they were still happy as they have the nice presents and the sacrifices they
have made just for the sake of each other.

Character Analysis;

Della and Jim, the two lovers who will do everything just for the sake of each other.
Though there are some idiocy in their decision, they are still the wisest because they show
how they can sacrifice a very special thing to give a gift.

Approach:
Romanticism because it talks about love and sacrifice for a special person.
 A Blessing through End
Bjornstjerne Bjornson

Introduction:
How does a father do for his son? What are the sacrifices he can make for him?
Bjornstjerne Bjornson is one of the author who have writings focused on the love for family.
This story can give us lessons on how to value our kinship. There will be no intimate bond
but the family as father loves his son. We can move without our father, but we can’t excel
without him.
Story:
There was one named Thord Overaas, the wealthiest and the most influential person
in his parish. He attended in a priest study one day and presented his son Finn, for his
baptism. The next week, they had valuable celebration. One day, sixteen years later, Thord
was on a priest’s study again, a man that was not changing, and came because he wanted his
son to be confirmed on the next day. And so he laid ten dollars for the priest. His son stood
number one. Eight years rolled by, and Thord on the priest’s study again, he now wanted to
publish the banns for his son’s wedding with Karen Storliden, the richest girl in the parish.
And Thord went away leaving three dollars.
A fortnight later, the father and son were rowing across the lake to Stroliden to make
arrangements for the wedding. Accidentally, because the thwart was not secure, the son
slipped and sank under the water together with the oar. Thord was all in agony. He was
rowing round and round the spot for three days and three nights for the body of his son. And
in the morning of the third he found it.
A year later, Thord went on the church, and the priest couldn’t recognize him because
of his weal appearance. Thord laid some money on the table, a big deal of money and wanted
to invest in as a legacy in his son’s name to be used by the poor. He explained that he sold
his gard for it. The priest thanked him as his son brought him a true blessing.

Character Analysis:
Thord as a very loving father to his son shows the value of being a good guardian.
Since from the start, he gave up all he that he could give and show his love purely for the
goodness of his son. As in the ending, it concluded that Thord has a good character traits and
valued people around him.

Approach:
Humanistic because of Thord’s goodness for his son and for the poor.
 God Reveals Truth
Leo Tolstoy
Introduction:
Truth cannot be hidden in the eyes of our God. We just cannot seek the truth at first, but it
comes unpredictably as God’s will for it. Faithfulness is such the most blissful thing to be made, as
our conscience speaks with high regards for moral obligations. God forever shows the truth.

Story:
In the town of Vladimir, there lived a young merchant named Aksenov. He was before used
to drink and get into brawls but was changed when he got married. One summer day, he had to travel
and bade goodbye to his family though his wife had a bad dream to his destination. He didn’t mind it
and went sleep with a merchant friend that he met. He did not sleep long and woke up early, harness
the horses rest in the inns, played guitar. Suddenly, two soldier asked him where he had come from
and who he was. Aksenov found out that the merchant he met was killed and he is the primary
suspect. He argued but the officers checked his bag and they found a knife covered with blood.
Aksenov was arrested and accused as murder and thief.
Aksenov’s wife visited him and said that she had sent petition to the Tsar but had not been
allowed to reach him. She also questioned Aksenov about the crime and he begun to think that she
also suspected him. They had children but still young and one was still at the breast. Aksenov,
though desperated, still believes that God can know the truth. By then on, he always prayed, read the
“Lives of the saints”, gospels, sang, and the inmates came to like him, and so he was called
“Grandpa” and “Godly one”.
One day, new convicts came to prison. One of them is Makar, Makar Semenovich, and
conversed to them. They found out that he came from Vladimir. Now, Aksenov gave him lot of
questions about the merchant’s killing. Maker was surprised and the prisoners wondered. Aksenov
came to suspect him. Of the night, he couldn’t sleep and realized all the bitter things happened
before. He felt fury toward Makar Semenov didn’t talk and look him for two weeks. One night, he
noticed Makar digging a passage bena\eath the wall. Maker said that they will get away there but
Aksenov refused and shook with rage. So one day, a guard noticed the hole. The warden asked all of
them, and no one dared to answer. Aksenov was asked but he didn’t talk as he left everything to
God’s will. Still, he didn’t use it and asked for forgiveness. He hold everything that he was done to
Aksenov and his plan to kill him also but suddenly people came and so he escaped. He wanted to
confess to the authority so that aksenov will be set free. Aksenov explained that he has nothing to go
for, his wife was dead and his children don’t know him. Aksenov cried and said that God will forgive
him.
Inspite of what Aksenov has said,, Makar Semenov confessed his guilt to authority. But,
when the order permitting Aksenov to return home, he was already dead.

Character Analysis:
Aksenov’s personality symbolizes faithfulness to god and maintaining his clwean
conscience. He never yielded and learned to forgive people with all his heart and with the help of
God.
 Makar as an antagonist was first a tough rival of Aksenov, but as Aksenov showed him
goodness, he learned to ask for forgiveness and confess the sins that he has made.

Approach:
Classicism as it talks about love to God and faithfulness. The story is also simple.

A Psalm of Life
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

TELL me not, in mournful numbers, Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !

Life is but an empty dream ! — Let the dead Past bury its dead !
For the soul is dead that slumbers, Act,— act in the living Present !
And things are not what they seem. Heart within, and God o'erhead !

Life is real ! Life is earnest! Lives of great men all remind us

And the grave is not its goal ; We can make our lives sublime,
Dust thou art, to dust returnest, And, departing, leave behind us
Was not spoken of the soul. Footprints on the sands of time ;

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Footprints, that perhaps another,

Is our destined end or way ; Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
But to act, that each to-morrow A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Find us farther than to-day. Seeing, shall take heart again.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting, Let us, then, be up and doing,
And our hearts, though stout and brave, With a heart for any fate ;
Still, like muffled drums, are beating Still achieving, still pursuing,
Funeral marches to the grave. Learn to labor and to wait.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !

A. Linguistic Analysis

The poem with its title “ A Psalm of Life”, where “psalm” means a poem or song that is
sacred or can be extracted moral values. This poem contains nine stanzas consisting of four lines. The
lines are alternately indented except the third stanza because its last three lines are all indented. The
meter or number of syllables in a line is either seven or eight, doesn’t have a fixed limit. When
talking about rhyme, the sound of the last syllable in the first and third line, and the second and fourth
line are the same. The author also used archaic words in the poem. He made a vivid description of life
using figurative languages especially simile and metaphor. He also used the manner of conversing
and inspiring the readers what is meant by the poem.

B. Literary Analysis
 The selection talks about merely about the life of a person in earth, his value, his routines,
the troubles and happiness he experiences. The author encourages the readers to pursue and achieve
all the opportunities to be a worthy individual. He also suggests that when we are in sorrow, we have
to be courageous and brave so as to overcome them and let the life gets going. We need to forget the
terrifying past and find ways to make the future brighter. He also wants us to value God’s surprises
and moral orders. The poem gives us exact idea of life and how we can mange it. The climax of the
poem leaves us lesson that we need to work and wait for the results of our goodness.

Winning Friends
I.V. Mallari

Introduction:

We often treat a new person in our school or turn in a very rough manner. We
sometimes have many suspicions against him due to the fast that we don’t know
anything. But would you consider him as a friend when he just became generous to us?
Learn not to judge others immediately; we just need to maintain warm welcome.

Story:
David, the new boy in the town was not treated good by many boys because they
all suspected him as a different person just for the reason that he is a stranger to them.
The narrator didn’t like the way he excelled in the school and they never talked or offered
a food to him in time of recess.
One time, David approached them and offered “puto seco.” The narrator and the
other classmates tasted it. They were all impressed with its taste. Soon, they found out
that David is interesting and entertaining. They were invited in David’s house and they
found out that he was the only child. They were approached by David’s mother kindly
and offered them lots of Pampanga foods. They knew that David has gone through many
places, because of his father’s job, an engineer. They saw his pictures, one in swimming
trunks and so they invited David to go swimming in the next Saturday.
The day came and they rode in a “salambao”. David was a good swimmer because
he took a summer camp in Laguna. At noon, when they were about to eat, they found out
that Pendong was missing, the smallest of them and not a good swimmer. Soon, David
dived and swam gracefully in the sea. The narrator and the others paddled towards them.
They were both saved and they all laughed nervously. They ate their snacks afterwards
and talked about their escapades. The next day, David was the talk of the school.
Everybody was proud of him and treated as a hero.

Character Analysis:
The narrator and his friends may be characterized as not good persons when they
see new to them. But inspite of that, they are all good friends. David is that entire patient
and determined to win friends by means of goodness. Pendong, becomes the character of
proof because he stands as evidence that David is so much dedicated to his friend.

Approach:
Socialism because it talks about the relationship of people to other people in a
way of bonding friends together.

The Town’s Hero

Loreto Paras – Sulit

Introduction:
Sincerity which can be explained as being genuine and honest with oneself and
with others, is one of the characters and factors why heroes are born. Helping others is
considered the noblest trait that we can treasure for a lifetime. Offering ourselves for
services reminds us how people around us are very valuable. We should never stop
harnessing all that we can build within our self and pass it to others who needed it.

Story:
Lope against Hugo and Felix once have an argument about their lesson in
catechism. They rolled their sleeves and decided to finish it on a fright. Suddenly a man
spoke in a serious manner and asked them if fists can settle arguments. He told them that
they must look well for the answer and not engaging in a fight. After that day, the boys
passing by on his spots, they wave their hands and they got know him very well.
One time, they took a bunch of ripe mangosteen along with him. They conversed,
and the man asked them if they would like to learn other language than Spanish. They
had their choice among French, English, and German. Lope suggested English, and so
they learned greetings and simple statement. Sooner, the man noticed lope that he became
absent-minded, and so he found out that his problem is his mother’s illness. Lope
explained the condition of his mother’s blindness and they couldn’t afford to bring her I
Manila because they are poor.
The man offered himself and went on to their house. He said that it was not a
serious case, so he operated the eyes of lope’s mother. Later, the operation was finished
and was successful. Lope cried in glee. His father thanked the man and asked for his
name. he smiled briefly and said it is Jose rizal.

Character Analysis:
The man Jose Rizal, showed sincerity to his fellow. Though there are some grief
on his face because of his exile, he still gave value to education and health of his
countrymen. Lope , Hugo, and Felix are the simple boys of the town who admired
Rizal’s greatness. Lope’s mother is a typical character with illness in eyesight that
reflects on Rizal’s experience in ophthalmology. Lope’s father is all that reveals the
man’s name.

Approach:
Humanism because it reflects the goodness of man to his fellow.

Go or Stay?
Joe Quirino

Introduction:
Duty is forever a duty. We need to forsake the pleasures in our lives to fulfill our duty.
Since we meet people around us, they give strong influence for whether what decision we have
to make. What if we meet a very prominent person in the world? What shall we do? This factor
affects our viewpoints and principles in life. We just need to realize all the things that will make
us satisfied. Perform the better, and give up the other, it is all that matter.

Story:
Joel Syquia, sixteen years old, newly graduated from high school, handsomely athletic, of
average IQ, had a job as waiter at the Pines hotel in Baguio, has gone to travel to Rome join a
fashion troupe, but was ordered to come back in the Philippines because of his clumsiness and
lack of poise in carrying clothes.
He jogs every morning and he met a tall, old stranger when they crossed their ways. They
got acquainted and conversed in a little English language. Joel said that he came from the
Philippines but the stranger seems he knows something about the country.
One morning, Joel saw the stranger not jogging but just strolling moodily along the path.
The man said “Quo vadis, my son?”, the term for “Where are you going?”. Joel said that he is
confused whether to go home and study, find a job, and perform his duty or he may just stay in
Rome. The old man also opened his sentiment whether he will go to Germany and do his duty.
Later, he decided to go as he told the story of St. Peter when he was about to leave Rome. The
stranger also convinced Joel not to stay. Joel asked the stranger about his business. He said that
he was a sort of fisherman and a kind of shepherd. In the last part of their conversation, the
stranger requested Joel to hear mass on the next day at seven in the morning in the church of San
Pietro of Montorio. Joel made a promise.
The next day, Joel woke up late, and so he hurried and rushed quickly to church. There
had many tourists and heard that Pope is saying the mass. The crowd was so dense and he was
hardly covered by two gigantic German nuns. Joel heard the voice that sounds familiar and he is
praying for a young Filipino to have his right decision whether to go or stay. The two nuns
kneeled and he saw the tall man in the altar. He is the Pope. And then, Joel cried. Two days later,
Joel Syquia was on the plane going to Manila.

Character Analysis:
 Joel Syquia, as the young boy, is searching for a right decision whether he has to return
home for his duty or stay for luxury. At the end, he was guided by God’s spirit by the
representation of his friend. The stranger, as was known as the pope gave Joel the
encouragement and lessons. He helped the young boy realize the importance of life.

Approach:
Biographical, because the story values the characters of the story. It talks about their lives
and their prominency to many people.