Humor My Own Theory of *an essay, therefore a non-fiction, on how

Devolution by humans become less of a human being when

Jessica Zafra drunk; humans degenerate when drunk
*displays Zafra’s wit by presenting human
weakness/es especially the politicians who were
placed within the level of the animals
*the thesis statement found in the introduction
was expounded by providing an illustration and
analogy between those who are drunk and the
animals (except the politicians) through the
different stages
*used sarcasm (especially in the case of the
politicians)
My Father Goes to *Fiction (a short story)
Court by Carlos *somehow reflects magical realism (a
Bulosan combination of fantasy and reality/ blending of
real and the supernatural)
*suspension of disbelief (suspending the fantasy
because of the background of reality)
*shows parallelism - use of the “spirit” of the
food (stolen) and of the coins (means of paying)
*reflects realities about the Filipino life
*shows humor to lighten the burden, argue,
cope with embarrassment, philosophize, handle
ugly truths about life, and hope for the best
Gender Relations The Conversion by *a confessional poem
J. Neil Garcia *on gender and social orientation
*”loob-labas” dichotomy; inner and outer self
(psycho-social self)
*presents the voice of a gay forced to become a
“straight” man
*death of anima; legacy of violence
*depicts the oppression and trauma experienced
by a homosexual
* reflects patriarchy
*filled with “irony”
= father as homophobic
= They put me there (drum filled with water)
My family THAT LOVED ME
= “We die to rise to a better life” (paradoxical
as well)
= water (for baptism in the Christian point of
view, which symbolizes “cleansing”; thus, giving
 way to a “new” life ) used to “punish” the
persona; the “change” was not for the better
The Small Key by *gender relations between couples (Pedro Buhay
Paz Latorena and Soledad); dynamics of heterosexual
relationships
*characters’ name with representations
(solitude/loneliness; apostle of hope/life)
*setting instrumental in building the qualities of
characters
Dead Stars by Paz *meaning of the text may be derived from the
Marquez Benitez scientific description of the title
* gender relations in courtship; dynamics on
heterosexual relationships
* echoes the Filipino practices (on family, social
relationships, gender roles, spirituality)
* depicts how one can be fooled by one’s
emotion
* has lots of innuendos/insinuations
*introduced Alfredo, Julia, Esperanza
*Alfredo: an enigma; the mystery of indecision;
timid, affected by lethargy
*talks of middle class morality
* remembered for the following lines:
= “Greed was what ruined too many.”
= “Something is beautiful when it pleases the
eye, but it’s different when it saddens.”
= Did you ever have to choose between
something that you had to do (obligation) and
something that you wanted (desire) to do?
Sex – biological; assigned at birth
Gender – socially constructed
Homosexuality – attraction to the same sex
Heterosexuality – attraction to the opposite sex
Bisexuality – attraction to either the same or the
opposite sex
Heteronormativity – consideration of
heterosexuality as normal; cultural bias in favor
of the opposite sex relationships of a sexual
nature against same-sex relationships
Homophobia – an irrational dislike/hatred for the
homosexuals
Transgender – those who are “trapped in
someone else’s body”; those who have sexual
 identity that differs from the one which
corresponds to the person’s sex at birth
Transsexual – a person who strongly identifies
with the opposite sex and may seek to live as a
member of this sex by undergoing surgery and
hormone therapy to obtain the necessary
physical appearance (as by changing the external
sex organs)
Transvestite - a person who likes to dress like a
person of the opposite sex; a person and
especially a male who adopts the dress and often
the behavior typical of the opposite sex
especially for purposes of emotional or sexual
gratification

Death Si Lola Isyang at *Persona, an old woman, like the kaimito tree,
ang Matandang succumbs to death
Puno ng Kaimito *Personal take on whether death is an ending,
by Chary Lou beginning, spiritual phase, or a stage in life
Navarro *Physical description of kaimito tree that justifies
its representation of death, life, or old age
*employs personification
Ghost by Connie *wandering soul recounts the cause of death and
Jan Maraan discovers immortality
*dies without settling the conflict with her lover
*the ghost wants to me remembered
*in death is the absence of feeling, sensation,
time, words/language, thinking/memory, and
doing
*Life- space of death and pleasure
*In death is the beginning of life (paradox)
*Lines to explain: Knowing is not feeling.
- Light is the feeling of love, not lust; lust is
merely physical
Spirituality Is It the Kingfisher Background:
-refers to a broad by Marjorie Evasco *Religion - “set of beliefs, practices, and language
set of principles that that characterizes a community that is searching
transcend all for transcendent meaning in a particular way,
religions. Spirituality generally based upon belief in a deity” (Astrow et
is about the al. 2001)
relationship *Religious- scrupulously and conscientiously
between ourselves faithful
and something *Ceyx and Alcyone- first kingfishers (from
larger. That mythology)
something can be *Connotations of blue- sadness, peace, purity,
the good of the knowledge
community or the * intertextuality – the interrelationship between
people who are texts, especially works of literature; the way that
served by your similar or related texts influence, reflect, or differ
agency or school or from each other
with energies *The persona’s search for God is basic and blue
greater than *God is essential (basic) and everywhere
ourselves. (transparent blue)
Spirituality means *quest for the sublime
being in the right
relationship with all
that is. It is a stance
of harmlessness
toward all living
beings and an
understanding of
their mutual
interdependence.”
(Kaiser 2000)
Himala by Ricky *commodification of faith revealed
Lee *religious fanaticism (outlook or behavior
exhibited by excessive enthusiasm, unreasoning
zeal, or wild and extravagant notions)
*social issues (poverty, prostitution)
*irony (Chayong, the most religious, committed
suicide; alcohol presented side by side with the
image of the Virgin Mary; people believe that
Elsa is a saint even after the public admission
that there is no miracle)
*The camera does not lie (captures what actually
happened to Elsa and Chayong in the hill)
*According to Nimia, both she and Elsa (together
with her disciples) are prostitutes; both earn
from commodifying (Nimia- the body; Elsa –
faith)
*doctrine, popular religiosity, superstition, and
commerce intertwine and co-exist
War Comfort Woman: *gendered war
Slave of Destiny by *comfort stations
Ma. Rosa Henson *purposes
*Kim Hak Soon
*Maria Rosa Henson
 *objectification - practice of treating another
person merely as an instrument/object towards
one’s sexual pleasure/gratification
*untold sexual nature of imperial acts and war
that occupies a liminal space in national
narratives
*marginalization of women inside and outside a
state of war
Class Relations Rice by Manuel *deplorable conditions of pre-war land tenants
 Unit that Arguilla on account of their heavy indebtedness to their
advances usurious landlords who concoct means to make
irony as a the farmers economically dependent upon them
device/trope *massive pauperization of the underprivileged
to illumine (Anderson)
more clearly *landlord-tenant relationship
the bitter *Pablo, an older character; a high-principled
conflict kasama turned into a would-be thief brought
among social about by starvation and abusive landlady
classes and *takipan (paying 100% percent of what was
its roots in borrowed) vs tersiohan (paying 50%)
social *displacement anger- occurs when you direct
injustice, your angry thoughts and feelings at someone or
poverty, and something that is safe or convenient, rather than
the hapless the actual source of your anger (father hitting
insensitivity the carabao)
of the *impressionistic description- a literary
privileged description, using optical and artistic principles
classes through language and using the reader's
imagination.
Isang Dipang *background: peasant and labor
Langit unrest in the 1950s
(acknowledged by *plea of the soul for release from
Republic Cultural physical imprisonment and the victory
Heritage Award) of the mind over such torment
by Amado V. *on labor injustice
Hernandez *Confessional poetry - represents
(charged with shade/s of truth in the writer’s life
rebellion complex *Proletarian literature- reflects the plight of the
with murder and working class
arson, as head of *social realist writer; following the ideology of
the Congress of Salvador P. Lopez
Labor
Organization, but
was acquitted and
 freed); Palanca
awardee; awarded
national artist for
literature
posthumously;
produced
“Bartolina” poems
– written under
incarceration at
several military
camps
Children of the *talks of disastrous implications of labor
City (3rd prize injustices for families of displaced workers
winner in the 1971 *employs jungle motif - the city was impliedly
Palanca Memorial described as a place which is dangerous
Awards) by Manila- an asphalt jungle)
Amadis Ma. *Victor- lost a parent, his youth, and dignity
Guerrero *irony – in the name, Victor, and the
situation presented in the last paragraph
*employs impressionistic description as well

Migration The Day the *Migration - the movement of people, especially

*Exile- mother of Dancers Came by of whole groups, from one place, region, or
nationality (By Bienvenido Santos country to another, particularly with the
leaving the (explores on intention of making permanent settlement in a
homeland, the themes of new location
Filipino stays alienation, *alienation- feeling of isolation
rooted.) migration, and *diaspora – dispersion of people
diaspora) *nostalgic character – homesickness; of
sentimental recollection (exhibited by Fil)
*Fil – shows a typical quality/ies of a Filipino
*Tony – able to adapt to American culture;
better English speaker, more practical even by
the physical description of his illness
*Two things serving as villains: time and memory
Lines: It was a rock on his breast. (metaphor)
This was home. This was homelessness.
The apartment is old. It smells of death.
*erased recording- metaphor for Fil’s feeling of
exile and homesickness
*ending talks of migrant’s loneliness
 The Sorrow of *separation expressed through recollection
Distances by Jaime *physical distance may result in emotional
An Lim distance caused by the years of separation
*caryatid represents the physical structure of the
text; a female-shaped supporting pillar
Philippine History Ang Kamatayan ni *allegory of industrialization of the Philippines
*Literature- an ally Tiyo Samuel by after the WWII and the multinational capitalist
of the historian in Efren Abueg interest that enslaved Phil labor and
re-creating the past expropriated the environment (Tiyo Samuel-
(Agoncillo) Uncle Sam/ US; Felipe- rich like the Philippines
rich in natural resources: “kulay ginto ang
buhok” speaks of the Americans
*reflective of class difference: Felipe, a mestizo
and Ligaya, a native woman
*places the issue of parity rights (equal rights of
both Americans and Filipinos to explore the
resources of the Philippines) during the American
colonial years
*context: industrialization of the 50s
*moves back and forth between dream and
reality
*circular presentation of events; beginning is the
same as ending; therefore uses flashback