May Day Eve

V. Assignment

Application

IV. Evaluation
T: Our activity has something to do with what we're going to discuss today. Last meeting, I have instructed you to read the
story of May Day Eve by Nick Joaquin. Have you encountered unfamiliar words?

Write the answer on your paper.

A. Preliminary

 Routine Activities

- Prayer
- Recapitulation
- Roll Call
- Checking of Assignment

III. Learning Activities

photograph of an old man talking to a lad

Generalization

Write a short story about someone who believe in superstitions. Use the element of flashback.

Presentation of the Lesson

photograph of an old man
Subject Matter: Determining the Flashback Element of a
Story
Reference:
Materials: Textual Aids, Illustration, Conceptual Map,
Photographs
NCBTS Domain: Domain 3 – Diversity of Learners
Value Focus: Cooperation and showmanship

III. Learning Activities

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
1. Define unfamiliar words through vocabulary mapping
2. Narrate the important events in the story through photographs
3. Determine the flashback element in the story
4. Reflect on how superstitions influenced the lives of people

I. Objectives

II. Content
How did Badoy reacted and what came into his mind when he saw Voltaire in front of the mirror?
B. Motivation
BELIEVE IT OR NOT. Photographs with respective situations will be shown, you will identify if it is a superstition or not.

Lesson Proper
Q: On what part of the story was the flashback element evident?
Q: Did the flashback element made the story interesting? Why or why not?
Q: What was the superstitious belief included in the story?
Q: Do you know anyone who still believes in superstitious beliefs?
May Day Eve
Q: What have you learned from the story?
Q: How can a superstition affect one's life?
photograph of a lad holding a candle in front of a mirror

May Day Eve

There is more to the mirror in Nick Joaquin’s “May Day Eve” than meets the eye. It may be a literal image in which the lives of the
estranged couple Agueda and Badoy are inextricably linked, but by figurative extension, the mirror resembles, suggests and
associates something more and something else.
For one, the mirror symbolizes the illusory love between Agueda and Badoy. When they first met, the mutual physical attraction was
strong as may be confirmed in the recollection made by both. On the part of Agueda, her physical attraction was evident in seeing
the young Badoy’s “very black and elegant” mustaches, “his fine clothes, his flashing eyes, his curly hair” as they were reflected in
the mirror. On the part of Badoy, his physical attraction was evident in seeing the young Agueda’s “charms,” “tremendous beauty,”
the “eyes she had,” “bare shoulders gold in the candlelight and delicately furred,” “the mobile insolence of her neck, her taut breast,”
her enchanting “fire” and “grace,”“her hair that was like black waters” as they were reflected in the same mirror. However, their
attraction being founded on something so superficial as physical appearance, their love’s roots are not anchored deeply so their
feelings for each other did not endure. Just a few years after their chance meeting by the mirror on a May Day Eve, with the product
of their marital union still a very young girl, Agueda is already referring to her husband as the “devil” and attaches negative
descriptions to him like having “a scar of sin,” mustaches“dirty and greying and smelling horribly of tobacco,” and horns and tails.
Badoy has the similar antagonistic attitude against his wife, whom he refers to as a“horrible,” “dark, fatal creature” of a “witch” who
“tortured” him and “ate [his] heart and drank [his] blood.” This reversal of Agueda and Badoy’s initial passionate pronouncements
toward each other implies that like a mirror reflecting analmost-similar yet actually false image, the skin-deep love they had already
disillusioned them. Whereas before, the coyness Agueda had shown in the guise of feistiness hid her true interest over Badoy and
the anger Badoy had felt toward the spunky lady intensified into a realization of love, there was now noreason for them to veil thinly
their disenchantment toward each other after their shallow love had dissipated. The mirror in which the husband and wife had seen
each other’s image reflected illusions of realities that when they took seriously, deceived them into a married life of bitterness and
estrangement. The deceptively superficial beauties they had marveled at in the mirror did not reveal the essential selves which in the
course of their marital union were suggested to be not as attractive as their physical masks.
Also, the mirror symbolizes the illusion of feminist strength in young Agueda when she dealt with young Badoy fiercely during their
encounter at the sala. The recently-arrived lad from Europe was so intoxicated that he made to feel the country lass as stupid for
admiring herself in front of the mirror at midnight. She was, in truth, experimenting on some imported superstition but would not
want to be caught doing a more stupid thing so she brazenly asked to be permitted to pass. The lad felt so encouraged to deal with
such a tigress of a beauty that he acted more obnoxious, reducing her to tears. When his attempt to pacify her earned him her bite
on the knuckles, it seems that the woman had the upper hand on the matter. Her eventual marriage to him and the unhappy life that
followed suit proved that what seems may not be what is, for the patriarchy had yet again won for making Agueda pay a high price
for her spunk. Much like the mirror that showed an almost-but-not-quite-real reflection, Agueda’s ferociousness may appear to
dismantle Badoy’s macho ideology single-handedly, but her decline into an unhappy, resentful wife manifested the containment of
her strength by the actually more powerful patriarchy of her society.
Another symbol of the mirror is the variant of realism called magic realism. The events chronicled in the story may very well have
happened in real life except that they are so hyperreal and so mundane that they cannot be mistaken for anything else but magic
realism. In this kind of realism, the ordinary is interspersed with the fantastic, i.e. the enchanted element of the mirror, the tensed
encounter between Agueda and Badoy, such that the effect makes the miraculous seem like an everyday thing. Ultimately, this effect
creates a reflection-like impression of reality whereas in fact, the mirror is far from being magical and the lovers’ quarrel, far from
being too cinematic.
The aforementioned symbolic representations of the mirror in “May Day Eve” prove that some things are meant to be viewed beyond
the deluding façade because these, ironically, are not what they seem.

May Day Eve

Figures of Speech

Personification May Day Eve is definitely a literary masterpiece, an

"the blind black houses mutteres hush-hush"
"an evil old moon prowled about in a corner or where a
murderous wind whirled, whistling and whining"
Hyperbole
"She bewitched me and she tortured me. She ate my
heart and drank my blood."
"I saw the devil."
irony at its best. It is able to paint a rare dimension of a
very complicated subject matter called love through the
use of tale hardly having unexpected twists and turns.
It goes beyond the conventional perception of love of
man which is represented by flowers and chocolates,
passionate words, warm hugs and a lot more sweet
things in the world. It explores a greater depth exposing
how love ironically brings pain and sorrow. May Day Eve
does all of these while keeping the readers interested.

Irony
Questions

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

May Day refers to first day of May and is traditionally a celebration of spring. Several
cultures believe that spring is a gift from gods, thus festivities and gatherings are usually held. May Day
also holds a mystic attribute, for it is also considered a time for divination and lovers.

How do you describe the love between Agueda and Badoy?

The love they had was true, but was clouded by their initial dislike for each other; hence,
the love they shared was poorly manifested.

What is the significance of mirror in the story as a way to explain the tradition?

The mirror enables you at midnight to behold the face of the person fated to be yours. It
serves as a clue to unlock the mystery of the past and the future, the departure and return, and the
idealistic traces of what is "out there" and what is "at hand."

Explain the following literary devices used by Nick Joaquin in this narrative:

a. the telescoping/uneven use of time frame

Joaquin aimed to present a man and a woman holding on to love until the death, unveil
the hazy romance of the old world and the silent consummation of their love, show the tragedy that
Agueda and Badoy had undergone - the love that did not go away and was just covered up in the dust of
time.

b. the depiction of dark metaphors of “witch” and “devil” to describe love

Joaquin wanted to provide the readers with a n insight of how Badoy and Agueda
perceived their marriage to be a taste of hell. Instead of admitting that they saw their spouses in the
mirror, they claimed that it was the witch/devil they saw for that was probably how each of them was to
each other during their life together.

c. the use of lush and ornate language

It mirrors the multifaceted emotional intensity of the era during which the
characters lived. Joaquin not only used words that attract and enthrall but also breathes life into what
seem to be non-living as well as consequently lending the work its delicious ambiguity and double
meanings.

d. the parallel structure of the opening and closing paragraphs

The careful organization and development aids the readers to effectively analyze the
story for the author to achieve his well-defined purpose. Joaquin chose to reiterate for amplification.
This is because he intends to produce familiarity. He repeats exactly the description of the foul street
towards the end of the story to encourage the reader to remember the mood and promote further
conveyance. He wants the story to leave an impression that will last even after the literary piece has
been put away.