Seta

            Seta by Alessandro Baricco

              Seta or Silk in English translation is a Novel Made by and Italian writer Alessandro Baricco during 1996. Where Harve Joncour is wishing a trade of silk to a Japanese Emperor Hara Kei at first they have a good relationship but when Hara kei find out that Harve Joncour is also having an affair to his second wife he become angry. In addition his second wife is trying to attract Harve Joncour who has already wife during the talk between Harve Joncour and Hara kei, by also drinking  the sake in the spot where Harve Joncour drunk. It was a good story yet not good for some children. The place was good where you actually notice that it is like a old times in Japan and the costume of the Japanese are all like a samurai that show the Japanese culture.

          I love the story but it is not a romantic for me, but it tells the reality in life, once you cheat it doesn't mean you don’t love your girlfriend or wife but you choose to hurt your love ones, you choose them to have a trust issues and to have anxiety, yes we can learn about our mistake but cheating is not a mistake it is a choice you choose it. Harve Joncour can’t blame a girl who is already having an affair with a emperor of Japan, because maybe the girl is desperate to escape to the hands of Hara Kei. The story also tells us that every country need to help each other in order to fight the problems and crisis in our society but for me they use a metaphor in the novel, there’s a betrayal between a French and Japan, the Japanese girl represents Japan country and Herve Joncour represents the French, that has been attracted to the beauty of Japan and intended to steal it. For me it is not Romantic movie it is a tragic story.

            Overall I liked the story but if you will ask me is it romantic or not, probably I will answer no it is a itchy story where an affair wants to have affair that already married now they’re both affair. But the Protagonist still choose to be a good person at the end part of story he choose and learn from his mistake. I wonder if how many people also experiencing this kind of conflict.

Surrealism of Kafka on The shore

              Haruki Murakami

                          One of the famous novelist in Japan. He was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1949. He grew up in Kobe but later on he moved to Tokyo. His first work is Hear the Wind Sing that won a  Gonzou Literature Prize for Budding Writers during 1979. And followed by Pinball 1973 and A Wild Sheep Chase, which all Together form "The Trilogy of the Rat". He is also the writer of " Kafka on The Shore" it is all about a boy named Kafka that run away from home.


Reflection

        Based on what I understand about the novel it is all about a life of a teenager that everyone can experience. Kafka is the most relatable character on the story, whenever you read about his story in the novel you will also tell to your self that i'm still lucky because some of the teenagers also suffer from what they call mental illness like Kafka, in the story the writer did not state that Kafka is having a mental illness but after reading the story maybe he became depressed on what happen in his family, and Crow is just his imaginary friend that making him feel alive and made him to think twice, and have a proper decision. It is creepy but everyone of us want a friend that will guide and correct us

       Another one that the novel tells us is to learn to be alone because in real life we got nothing, the only thing we need is to fight and dream, because the only thing we can do if there is a tsunami in our front is to face it and fight do not run away, because when we turn our back it means surrender. It is OK to have nothing because you can not lost and lose, instead of having a lot then you will felt dead in the end. Kafka already lost his mother and sister but it seems he want to find them even he do not know how he will start and first of all he has no friend that why he can not ask help for anyone ,but what ever happen there will be a people or person that will help you, no matter how big or what worth of their help the important is you help people.

      Demons... all of us are having demons inside us sometimes they command us and control us, their strength is our weakness, and the only way to defeat them is to overcome our thoughts and fear, sometimes they are the great pretender, but in the novel it also tells that once we defeat demons inside us it means success and knew tasks. They will comeback after we defeat them and stronger and wiser but this demons are our dark side, we just need to cuddle the darkness so it can become light. Kafka was slowly swallowing by the darkness once he was still a child and suffer from pain that's way he become like a rebel son while growing and we can not blame him because of his life experience.

     In the story the writer also tells the reader that the attitude and the way how the child act is the way how their parents grow him, and it also show that what will happen if the a child experienced disorganized attachment. Once a child experience this it can have a big impact to a personality even he still growing up.

    The most amazing lesson of this story is once the storm is so strong, do not run away from it or escape the only thing you can do is fight that storm and wait for the shine of the sun, or once you have a problem solve it or find a solution, yes it is harder than a mathematical problem but you just need to know the equation and correct formula, because once Kafka run away from his home it means he is scared from facing his problems, maybe the only solution he can think is to run away from it, but for me the interpretation of why did he go to the gym, it is because he is working out for his problem.

    His Hemophilia maybe, he is bleeding inside because of what happened.

Ka Bel by Bienvenido Lumbera

     Living in the Philippines is somewhat irritating because of the attitudes of the people living here not all but the majority of the Filipinos are not disciplined enough. In Ka Bel it is about Filipino laborers who are fighting for their right. I can understand them because I know that in the regime of Macapagal there are a lot of crimes that our government did. I can really say that the problem of our country is the people. People who only thinks about money that is why even though our country is going down they don't care as long as they can have money. I am not new about this kind of issues because I know what is happening in our country and sometimes I will just say to myself we don't need to blame others or even our government because in the first place we are the one who put them in that place. I really believe that what happened in the People Power Revolution has a bad effect to todays generation because if Filipinos don't like the new rules that are implemented by our government they will rally which is not healthy for our country and it is said in the Ka Bel "ang lider ay isang sangkap lamang ng tagumpay, ang masa ang siyang tunay na mapagpasiya. Maraming beses na nating sinabi sa kanila, subalit makunat talaga ang kanilang utak, ayaw nang talaban ng ating katotohanan." It is clear they are not open to know what is true and what we want why do we need to rally? Does it change anything? Yes it change something and that is making our country more dangerous to go to why? Because a lot may think that our government don't do good things or they might think that it is not safe to go here because we are always rallying. If we really want to prosper and get what we want we should not depend on what our government can do instead we should ask our self what did we do for our country? Yes I agree rallying is one way in expressing ourselves but because of that every time we see something bad about our government we are always protesting and I can say that instead of talking about the dirt of our government we should help each other in order for our country to prosper and to have peace. Rallying is not the answer to every problem that our country is facing. We should stop blaming each other. As what Mahatma Gandhi "be the change we want to see in the world." If we really want change we should start in ourselves.

HOUSE IN ZAPOTE STREET

REPORTAGE

 We are assigned to make a research about gruesome cases or crimes that happened in 1960 and we reported about the case of Ronald Bae who killed a lot of people including children.

  

      We also have different props like camera and powerpoint so that it may really looks like where in a studio and shooting our report.

     We also have a witness to make it more realistic and it is really fun doing this kind of activity and it is really hard to be a newsreporter because sometimes the news you need to report will put your life in danger that's why I salute people who are working as a newscaster

Monyeka (collection)

Puppy Love by Francisco Sionil Jose

                            

                                   

(Puppy Love by Francisco Sionil Jose)

(Critique Paper)

Submitted by: Jonaly P. Sta. Maria

Grade 12: ABM (B)

2:00 - 2:50 p.m.

Monday - Friday

October 18, 2017

Submitted to: Ms. Priscilla M. Agaton

“Love that is not destined”

The story Puppy Love by Francisco Sionil Jose was written in 1998. At first I don’t want to read the story because I know that its genre is love and I really hate love stories. Some may say that I’m bitter that’s why I don’t like it but my real reason is that it is a common genre. I am tired with this kind of story because it is always the same that’s why when I’ve heard that we are going to read a love story I am not interested but I still read it because it is required and as I read it make me change my feeling about love story because this story is different from all the stories that I watched and read.

The story begins by introducing the main character Jacobo Salcedo and also known as Jake after he was introduced he narrates the happenings in his life and the people around him who really has a big impact in his life and one of this is Gina. The story mainly revolves around Jake and Gina. At the very young age Jake is already attracted to Gina and later on Gina became attracted to Jake but the both of them don’t know that they have feelings for each other because no one confess their true feelings. There are a lot of conflicts here in the story. First, the conflict about being poor and being rich. It is obvious that in the story if you read it that the conflict is about the social status because Gina is rich and Jake is thinking that there is no hope to end up with her. Second, the war happened, it is the reason why Jake and Gina became away from each other. Third and last, they never confess the feelings they have for each other but for me the real conflict here and the climax is that when they meet each other in the Bayside Club but Jake didn’t confess or reveal his real identity to Gina because she doesn’t recognize him and that’s the conflict because the chance that he has flew away because he didn’t reveal himself and Gina doesn’t know that he is her childhood friend and long lost love. The story is a bit irritating because I hate the attitude of Jake he is wasting his time and chances so that Gina will be his forever. The story ends up tragically because the both parties married different persons. Where Jake married Jenny, according to the story Jake married her because she looks like Gina but as time goes by he begins to love her wife if Jake has a happy life, Gina doesn’t because her husband is not faithful to her and she killed him that’s why she ends up in the prison. At the first part of the story I really thought that the twist will be the same with the other love story where the boy and the girl faced a lot of circumstances but in the end they end up with each other and live happy ever after but in this story it is different and I could really say that not all love stories have a happy ending.

The main characters in the story is Jacobo Salcedo (Jake) and Gina Garcia because the story revolves around the two of them and the supporting characters are Lito Garcia, Carlos Cobello and Jenny. The parents of Lito and Gina are also introduced and they are Don Antonio and Doña Alicia. Jake came from a very poor family but due to his hardworking and motivated by Gina and also the situation of his life he become rich and a successful lawyer. His father raised fighting cocks and drunkard and his mother is selling fish and salt in the market, she also sold jueteng bets. Gina one of the daughter of a rich family that owns a big hacienda in San Jacinto. Has a brownish hair, dark eyes, nice voice and mestiza. She’s fluent in speaking Spanish language and loves reading novels specifically Wuthering Heights. Lito Garcia is the brother of Gina and the bestfriend of Jake and because of him Jake and Gina became closed to each other. Don Antonio has a lot of mistresses and illegitimate children while Doña Alicia is always in the room. Carlos Cobello is the friend of Jake and help him to have a job and became successful. Jenny Salcedo is the wife of Jake. He married her because she looks like Gina but later on he learned to love her.

Jake is a pessimist person because he is always thinking the negative side of every situation just like when he is attracted to Gina when they are still young he used to think that they will not end up together because Gina is rich and he is poor and when they meet again in the Bayside Club there’s a line in the story saying “she might not even the Gina of my childhood in spite of the many clues that I had already unearthed” he is still doubting that maybe she is not Gina his long lost love. Also he  doesn’t have the guts to be a man because he is not brave enough to tell Gina his real identity and feelings earlier before the things messed up. For Gina, I think she’s just a typical Filipino woman that dreaming about a perfect relationship, a relationship that is faithful and loyal to each other. A Filipino woman because as she grew up she never let other man touch her body and she is not in a hurry, she is always waiting for Jake to do the first move and always overthinking. Both have a psychological problem that’s why they don’t end up with each other because they keep on thinking and thinking about negative things and they didn’t even talk about their past that’s why they are not enlightened maybe if Jake use the chance he has when he met Gina in the Bayside they can live happily.

The setting in San Jacinto is really perfect in the first part of the story because in terms of my experiences, San Jacinto is a province because there are fields and  the jobs of people here is raising cocks and selling fishes which means it has a particular part there that they can go fishing and in provinces I know that there no discriminations because when I went to our province everyone knows the name of their neighbors and they don’t even mind if they are poor or rich and the other setting is in Manila is very appropriate in the plot of the story because we all know that a lot of people in the province move to Manila to have a job and to become successful and it have a lot of club so that girls or woman rather, who didn’t finish their studies still have something order for them to live and for some instance, I think most of the woman who didn’t finish their studies will choose to become hostess because the money here is easy to gain and the story happened before and after the colonization of Japanese. 

The story was written using the first person point of view because the character is just narrating the things that he experiences in his life. Not all the information is revealed but I understand it because as my teacher said that in stories not all the information is given that’s why we need to use our critical thinking and to read between the line to really understand what the story is conveying to us and it is easier to understand a story if it uses the first person point of view because I can relate to it whenever I read the word “I” in the story I can feel that I am the persona and because it is the person who talks about his experiences he can narrate it properly and systematically. Maybe if the story is not written using the first person point of view it will be difficult for me to understand because me as a student I am always writing in the first person point of view because I can easily say what I want to say that’s why one time when our teacher said that we should right in the third person point of view I really find it hard making one and if the story is not written in the first person point of view it will be hard to relate to it. 

There are a lot of things that comes into my mind when I’m reading the story. First, the story is all about grabbing every chance and opportunity that comes to our life because in the story because Jake didn’t value that chance and opportunity he had when he and Gina meets again their story became so complicated so I can say that maybe if Jake grab it different story will happen. Second, life goes on because it is said in the story that Jake and Gina faced a lot of circumstances but they still managed to live and survive so I can say that the message of the story is that even though we have a lot of problems and dramas in life, life still goes on and we shouldn’t lose hope and trust in ourselves. Third and last, when you love someone you should fight for it because in the story Jake keeps on thinking that he and Gina are not compatible because he is poor that’s why he doesn’t have the guts to confess and because of this a lot of conflicts occurred in the story so before it’s too late we need to confess even if we don’t know if he or she will accept or reject our feelings at least we tried and we have nothing to regret for in the future. The three of this can be the theme of the story but the most appropriate theme is “Nothing Last Forever” because as the story entitled as Puppy Love it means loving at a very young age but it will not last forever. You may love the person today but tomorrow you not love him or her anymore and that’s what happened to the story Jake and Gina finally let go the feelings they have for each other and married different persons. Jake finally learned to love Jenny his wife and Gina loves her husband but due to her so much love and to the novels she read she killed her husband because of too much pain she felt and because she is still imagining to have a perfect relationship just like what she read in the novels. 

The story is a little tragic for me because I can’t imagine what love can truly do to people. Just like in the story when Gina cut the private part of her husband because for me that’s not the right thing to do. In reality people tend to forgive the love of their life even though their partner betrayed them but as a whole I really like the story because I can simply say that I can really relate to this and it is really happening in real life and I hope I could know what happened next in the story after Gina knew that Jake is her long lost love because I am a little confused what happened next but I know that this story is an open ended story so every reader can imagine what will be the ending and for me the ending will be after Gina knew that it is Jake she cried and Jake help her so that she can start a new life and she accepted and moved on already and she has a happy and better life just like what Jake has.

Gulayan Klasrum

          I live at 5775 Ebro St. Poblacion Makati City. As you can see, there are a lot of plants that surrounds our house but to tell you honestly the plants are not mine. I don’t like planting because every time I plant it only dies. I like plants but it is really sad to say that plants don’t like me. My father loves planting and he can really make the plant grow beautifully and I really don’t know why I didn’t inherit that from him. My auntie, uncle and father own the plants. I really fear planting because as I said it only dies and because we have read the Gulayan Klasrum we are required to plant a vegetable to help our environment that’s why even though I don’t have cold hands to grow a plant I still do it.

            

I choose monggo because there are a lot of nutrients we can get from it like manganese, potassium, magnesium, folate, copper, zinc and various B vitamins. They are also a very filling food, high in protein, resistant starch and dietary fiber that are all needed by our bodies. I will be honest again I also choose monggo because a lot said that it is the easiest vegateble to plant but I’m afraid for me it is not easy because I planted three times.

My first try is using a pet bottle I planted five monggo seeds but it didn’t grow my auntie said it is because of the soil but I don’t believe her because me and my friend made it together and used the same soil and his plant grow.

My second try I planted it in a pot every early in the morning I always go out and water it and it is already sprouting but one day I just know that it is already gone and I keep on thinking maybe because of the cat in our house because our cat keeps on climbing the tree and my pot is near the tree maybe he jumped on it.

I almost give up in planting but my cousin said that I should try to grow it in cottons that’s why I try it and it is my third try and I am really happy that it turned out so fine because it grows. Now I realize that planting plants is not really easy but it is really worth it and honestly I always wake up 6 in the morning so that I can water it and I am really excited to see it grows.