Saint Columban College

Pagadian City

ENG 106 Philippine Literature Final Requirement

Name: Ailyn N. Almirol

Class Schedule:TF 5:30 – 7:00 pm

Contact Number: 09092193695

Questions and Answers:

The Virgin

1. What is the conflict that confronts the leading character of the story?

 The conflict that Miss Mijares confronts is the love from an opposite sex that she

never had. She had been very busy living for her dreams and taking care of her

mother. She doesn’t have time to look for her knight in shining armor , the love of

her life. At the age of 34 , she is still single but I am not sure if she is happy with

her life.

2. How the conflict was resolved?

 It was resolved when a carpenter show up, giving meaning to Miss Mijares life

and making it colorful. He tend to make the leading character do unusual things

and it seems like she is enjoying it. She did not notice that is constantly getting

close to the carpenter .

 3. Explain the title.

 It tells about the story of a woman who never been in love and only thinks of

reaching up for dreams and when she notice that time flies so fast and she is

already 34 years of age , an age beyond maturity , she became desparate to look

for the love of her life .

4. Describe the carpenter’s personality in the story.

 He is kind of impolite and arrogant. He’s presence is annoying and he is a kind of

person who does everything to get what he wants . He is clever and he tends to

control the life of the leading character. He is a bit jerk but I can say that he is a

responsible person.

5. Explain the symbolism of the protagonist reoccurring dream in the story:” Again and

again, in that dream, she had change direction, losing her way each time, for something

huge and bewildering stood blocking the old, familiar road home.

 It represents her decisions in life which leads to a different directions. The

outcome of her decisions relies on her actions and it will affect her life. Everytime

she make a decision , there is a tendency that she will lost something important to

her .

The Chieftest Mourner

1. In two sentences each, describe the physical characteristics of the narrator, Sophia and

Esa.
  The narrator is from a wealthy family who goes to college in Manila. She is at the

same time the niece of the poet and she is thinner or smaller in figure than her

aunt Sophia.

 Sophia is a wealthy woman who has a beauty which captivates the heart of the

poet. She is the poet’s legal wife and she is older than Esa and pudgy in figure .

 Esa, is the poet’s mistress and is a younger than the legal wife. She has thick hair

and fair glowing skin .

2. Directly quote line from the story which gave you those characteristics.

 “I was boarding then at a big girls’ college in Manila”. “She said that he had

never meant to marry, knowing the kind of husband he would make, but that her

beauty drove him out of his right mind”. “I was happy to report all details of my

aunt’s health and the amazing fact that she was getting fatter and fatter

.“…..when a girl came up and excitedly bubbled that she had seen my uncle–and

my aunt, who was surprisingly young and so very modern!”. “I looked at the

slight woman in black and knew of a sudden that she was the woman.” “Across

the aisle from her was a very slight woman in her early thirties who was dressed

in a dramatic black outfit with a heavy veil coming up to her forehead.” “She

wore the same black dress but her thick hair was now carefully swept into a

regal coil; her skin glowing; her eyes, which had been striking enough, looked

even larger.

3. Describe the Poet’s personality in the story.

 He was extremely considerate and kind person. He always tried to put effort and

make up for his mistakes and his past sins .

 4. What is the conflict of the story.

 When people mention about the poets wife and there was no way of knowing as

to whether they referred to his legal wife Sophia, or to his mistress t Esa, who

had been with him till his last breath .

5. Quote a line in the story that support your answer in #3.

 “My aunt used to relate that he was an extremely considerate man–when he was

sober, and on those occasions he always tried to make up for his past sins.”

6. Explain the title.

 The Chieftest Mourner basically talks about a poet who died and two women

mourn because of his death but no one can tell who deserves to be recognize as

the poets lover.

7. Why the narrator want to learn Spanish?

 There was a time she came into her mother’s room and they were having a

conference with her aunt Sophia the talk would suddenly switched to Spanish.

8. Explain the symbolism of the “ cluster of white flowers placed at the foot of the casket in

the shape of dove” in the story.

 It symbolizes loyalty and consistency. Dove bird usually symbolizes purity. The

cluster of white flowers that form a shape of a dove bird symbolizes a genuine ,

consistent and pure love for the poet .

Scent of Apples

1. Compare and contrast the personality of Celistino Fabia and Bienvenido Santos.
  Celestino Fabia , a Filipino farmer is a friendly and hospitable person. He is also

hardworking , he owns a farm.

He is a brave man who had a deep longing and regret in his heart for his native

land and family. Santos has a lovely personality. He is kind and polite. He has a

deep sense of consideration and is very patient. He is a sincere person and is a

humble one.

2. Why Fabia wants to invite Santos in their home?

 Fabia invites Santos in their house because he wants to have dinner with him . he

also wants santos to meet his family .

3. Describe the personality of Fabia in the story. How about Ruth?

 Fabia is a hospitable person. He is humble and a hardworking farmer. He is a

caring father and a good husband. Ruth is a country girl and a loving wife to

Fabia. She is a nice and a caring mom.

4. Describe the life and family of Fabia in the Philippines.

 They lived in an old Visayan town where the streets are narrow. Their house was

the oldest and the biggest house in their town though their family is quite huge.

They lived a wealthy living where a massive staircase installed to it. He filled his

family’s heart with hatred against him which made them shut their doors for his

homecoming.

5. What is the setting in the story.

 It happened in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. It was on the month of October .

The Day the Dancers Came

1. Differentiate the personality of Tony and Fil.

 Their personality is a total opposite. Fil is a kind of obsessive. He has a positive

outlook but is easily gets discouraged. Inspite of this fact he still continue to

pursue and go for what he wants to achieve. In contrast , tony has been

bedridden most of the time. Nevertheless , he looks much younger than Fil. He is

a representation of the phrase “ live on reality , not on fantasy “. He is a person

who don’t want to give false hope to himself.

2. What is the conflict of the story.

 The conflict of the story is that Fil wants to invite the dancers to his house and

tour them around Chicago but they keep on rejecting him. The dancers are

always avoiding him and making him feel like as if he was not existing.

3. Describes the Dancers in the story.

 They were all beautiful. They have sparkling teeth and the girls have black long

hair. They were all young .

4. Explain: “Like time, memory was often a villain, a betrayer”.

 Time and memory are often villain. There are memories that we don’t want to

remember and yet it keeps on flashing into our minds. Same as time, when we

are enjoying the moment it feels like it flies so fast that we cant even notice. It is

sometimes annoying.

5. List how Fil planned to entertain the dancers if they will accept his invitation.

 First is to talk to them and then guide them around Chicago. He plans to spend

money on them and took the dancers to his apartment.

 Cook some Filipino dishes for them. He would show them his tape recording

that has a recorded voices of the dancers every time they perform .

May Day Eve

1. What is the May Day Eve? Explain the Traditions that people celebrate during this day.

 Pagan feast which was introduced here in our country by our colonizers, and was

celebrated with dancing, and eating cakes.

2. How do you describe the love between Aguenda and Badoy?

 They failed to understand the real meaning of love and take had fail to take it

seriously. They took love as an easy thing which is supposedly not. Love is not a

game for us to play. It should involve two mutual feeling and it should be

handled seriously. Yes, they both had loved each other but with the same love

that they had, grew their regretful hate which in turn revealed themselves as

witch and the devil. Love comes with acceptance and being true to yourself .

3. What is the significance of the mirror in the Story?

 The mirror represents the memories from the past. The belief of a superstitious

with a deceptive love. It shows a reflection of how Agueda and Badoy had a

perception of love within the constraint of their beliefs. The mirror made them

believe and allowed themselves be deceived by a false image. It is a mistake to

fall in love because of outer physical beauty.

4. Describe the personality of the young Badoy in the story.

  The young Badoy was arrogant, boastful and proud just like some of the typical

boys from Europe. He had a young vengeful heart driven by an aggressive

attitude. Being young he has still his immature acts.

5. Why Don Badoy cried at the end of the story?

 The memories from the past are flashing through his mind and he had realized

that he had live a life in remorse and how he let the superstitious belief

manipulate their love and how it greatly affects their life of Donya Agueda .

Dog Eaters

1. How did Mariana and Victor come to know each other?

 I assume they met when Victor found a work as a bouncer at Three Diamond

and Mariana was one of the hostess there. She became a regular customer of

Fely ( a manicurist who was dated by Victor ) and that leads her to meet Victor .

2. Why where they quarreling?

 Its because Victor was invited by a group of friend who was currently eatimg a

dog meat and drinking tuba. Mariana doesn’t want Victor to join them but he

keeps on insisting.

3. Why did Mariana like to abort their second baby?

 Because she doesn’t want another child to experience the kind of life she is

experiencing. Her first baby was only eight months old and yet she is three

months pregnant. The thought of having a baby with their kind of lifestyle

burdens her.

4. If you where Mariana, would you also feet the same about your child?
  No, because every child is a blessing and it is their action which leads to that

result. The baby knows nothing and its not the babies fault. They should not let

the baby suffer because of their actions. The baby has nothing to do with it.

5. What is the implication of this phrase “to lead a dog’s life”?

 It implies a life living in an unpleasant environment. It is a kind of life full of

misery and unhappy moments dumped with the scorn of poverty where even a

little glimpse of hope can’t be foreseen because of the problems that has kept on

piling, drowning them both. It seems very difficult to overcome the challenges

because of their laziness and because of the way they live their life .

6. When is a person said to be leading a dog’s life? Explain.

 Leading a dogs life is a result of an unwise decision which will lead you into a
miserable and depressive kind of living. It is a result of the wrong choice that
you have made. You will have it as a consequence. If you were born with a life
of misery , you had all the chance and do something to change your life .
Leading a dog’s life is when you live a nasty life by choice. It’s a kind of life
where you do desperate things for a living and deeds against your morality in
finding a resolution for a problem you couldn’t escape so easily.

7. What happen to Ramir at the end of the story?

 Mariana got so fed up with her anger from the fight she had with Victor about

her plan of aborting their child that she attempted kill the dog with the knife she

got from the kitchen which ended up to his death when he hurtled into the space

between the broken banisters and fell hanging under the stairs.

I. Essay: Concept about dog-eater.

 Dog eaters literally means a person eating dog. They used to slaughter or kill

innocent dog and cook them. It is very inhumane and it is not a right thing to do.
Aside from the fact that the dog could possibly has rabbies which are harmful to

us humans when transmitted , dogs are one of the most caring and friendly pets

and they should not be killed just for the purpose of eating them. They are very

lovely and charming . it really hurts when a pet dog will be killed and how come

it would seem very natural for the people living in Artiaga Street to eat them and

kill them so easily. It also seems like they were enjoying it . I know people who

has a loving heart would not dare to kill a dog . I hate this story because it seems

like it is implementing dog killing acts .