Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Presented by:
Geraldine A. Peralta
BSED 4A
Presented to:
Patria A. Bello, Ed. D., Prof. VI
INSTRUCTOR
Formalistic Approach
Characterization
The narrator the speaker in the story, is the protagonist. She is a
round character.
Francis is the husband of the narrator. He is a static character.
Gracie is a friend of the narrator. She was recently divorced. She is an
antihero.
Julian is the son of the narrator and Francis. He is a boy who loved
pets but have them die on him.
Gracies kids: Bianca, Carlos, Kevin they are the new friends of Julian.
Figures of Speech
The story employed some figures of speech to vividly express the
authors ideas. We can find: I didnt think Id ever wear it its too
Joyce Jimenez is an example of analogy. It also has a simile, She did
it like it was as methodical as baking a cake. or He stomped his feet
tiny little stomps, like a boy throwing a tantrum at a toy store.
The Plot
Exposition
The story begins with the introduction of Julian, the narrator and
Francis son. Here, the narrator tells shes worried that her son might
think life so rude. With the thought established in the introduction you
will be guided through. It can be implied that the narrator did not have
peace of mind, that she had grief inside. that I worried he, only eight,
might think life so inordinately flimsy, full of sad surprises: someone
you care for turning stiff With how the narrator said these lines, we
can hint an uncertainty of happiness because she thinks herself of
these thoughts.
Rising Action/Conflict
The conflict is the inner grief the narrator feels for her loss, her friends
death. Therefore, it is internal. It has been introduced from the start, in
the exposition. It is just that it is implied. The next events in the story
support the problem that the narrator has. She has no peace of mind.
She is insecure of herself. These can be seen in the way she suspects
about her husband. There was one part of the story when she kept an
eye on her husband because she was afraid Francis eyes might have
caught Gracies cleavage. It was even said, The room darkened quite
a bit. Signifying a start o a problem.
Climax
Her insecurity has even gone higher when she was wearing that
orange pair of bikinis. She said she wears it because it is a Gracie kind
of look. It is also when she thought about her mother and her
childhood. This is where the root o her insecurity was revealed. There
was a sudden melancholy. Her sadness was even aggravated when she
was rebuffed by her son when she tried to cuddle him like a baby.
Falling Action
Buddys death is the falling action or denouement. We see here that
the inner grief of the narrator is somewhat came out. And it is no
surprise that she remembered Weenas death.
Conclusion
We can imply that the narrator finally found peace of mind. At the end
of the story, what were mentioned are the kids playing, having
forgotten about the sorrow in the death of Buddy and Gracie dancing
to Jingle Bells and she, the narrator, waving her arms like crazy. We
could say that the narrator was enlightened by the events and decided
to let the grief go, so with the insecurities.
Point of View
The story is expressed in the first person point of viewnarrative voice
that speaks with "I/we/us" pronouns.
Imagery
The story is rich in imagery. The setting was clearly described. The
reader could easily picture what the author says because of the
abundant use of imagery in the story. You are compelled to imagine the
place being described because it seemed that the words are taking
0you to that place being described, specially images that draw mental
pictures.
Setting
The name of the place where the story was held was Punta Fuego. This
was like an exclusive village for the rich because the house where the
family stayed is a beach house. Also, We see a flash of light from that
direction. A glint of sun deflected from a mirror, maybe, or something
flashy like a Rolex. Across the water on the north side where the
ridge curves, there is a larger house, large like Alcatraz even in the
distance, and Francis points to it. Throughout the story, the parts of
the house are being described as magnificent, grandiose. Which is
true, as in the lines: a humongous Rubiks cube made of glass with
some corner quadrants lopped off. Its shamelessly large for a weekend
retreat; eight huge bedrooms spread over three floors. The bits of
detail stone, wood, glass, leather smell of over-the-top money.
Every twelve-inch plank of wood makes me think of landslides in
Quezon, but I dont tell Graciethat, her sister owns the place, so I tell
her, "Its so Elle Decor." I must admit its very pretty, though. The
design is so open, as if the ocean and sky are part of the house
Literary Devices
The story employed Flashback, since it is looking back into time. The
narrator remembers something from the past, and then the story
revolves around it. And, in a flash, goes back to the present situation.
Another literary device used is Foreshadowing. One event in the story
is a foreshadowing of another event. I see a glint of light flash for one
brief moment and I wave. I fling my arms like crazy. Her seeing of the
glint of light foreshadows her enlightenment. This enlightenment
signifies her realization that she has to let go of the past. She has to
free herself from the insecurities.
Theme
The past can haunt you even if you take refuge in the present.
Whatever you do when you escape something in the past and do not
face it, it will always and always come back haunting you wherever you
go, whether in the present or in the future. Youve got to face what
brought you this uncertainty so that you could free yourself from it and
find inner peace.
Motifs
Gender Discrimination
This is presented in the part when the narrator remembered the
maltreatment she has experienced in childhood. She was born in the
time when girls are disappointments and boys were preferred than
them.
Grief
Grief becomes an uncertainty of mind when you havent let go o the
feeling. This happens when you havent accepted the loss of a loved
one for example.
Insecurity
Insecurity springs when you feel envy to someone. You think that you
are inferior to a person and you think you dont have what others have.
Symbols
Mahogany Water
Mahogany Water will represent the narrators comfort zone. She loved
the band more than anything else because she felt her worth there.
And when one member of the band, Weena, died, she felt her world
collapse. And literally, the mahogany water, her band caved in.
Buddy Rabbit
As a symbol, Buddy Rabbit is representative of dependent people. They
are the ones who did not stand on their own. They were used to being
controlled by someone. And because Julian was so cautious with his
pet that he became overprotective for the reason that he did not want
another animal dying on him.
Sociological Approach
One great issue we can get from the story is the confinement of
the constituents of a political country. They are never free to choose
even if the political system is democracy. Its essence is never fulfilled.
Buddy rabbit and Julian both symbolize this kind of persons. Julian was
too protective with his rabbit that he never lets him out in the same
way that Beth was babying him too much. The situation became worse
when the other kids joined Julian. Each of them could hold the rabbit
three times a day? They dont let the rabbit breath fresh air. They are
like a president who holds his people too much because he does not
want to lose any vote come next election. And the result is, the rabbit
died.
This part: Julian told the other kids not to take Buddy out of the
cage. But they insist on taking it out of the cage to hold it. It portrays
two kinds of authority. The first one is not an obvious one; he imprisons
the rabbit in a cage. The rabbit could still move but with a limited
motion. The second one is a real dictator. They are possessive because
they would like hold the rabbit in the neck.
A product of a social condition is also portrayed in the selection.
This is the long-due and extended grief that a person keeps in his heart
from parting with a loved one. In this case, it is the narrators grief. She
had lost Weena, a close friend. And she grieved a lot when this friend
died. Yes, we feel sorrow for our loss but we should not lock ourselves
in our room and cry there all day. As for the narrator, she temporarily
forgot her grief, she has not let go yet of the thought that her friend
died. When something triggers it, for example, Buddys burial, it
eventually comes back. She again feels pain. Another social condition
which is relatively important is gender discrimination and inequality.
This is portrayed through one part of the story wherein the girls,
wherein the narrator is one, are referred to as disappointments to their
father, that they should have been boys. This greatly affects the
attitude of a child. Especially that she was being threatened by her
relatives. She feels a great pressure on her shoulders.
This social condition, loss of a loved one, is a natural cycle in the
society. People come and go, but life is just a matter of acceptance.
Psychological Approach
The narrator feels insecure of herself. She is not even confident of her
husbands feelings. She thinks that Gracie could get her husband when
in fact, Gracie does not try to. This kind of thinking may be caused by
her experiences from childhood.
Maybe the reason is the narrator was treated like she had no worth
when she was a child. Yes, this is supported by these lines: I was the
sixth girl, coming at a time when the disappointment had given way to
Moral Approach
The story is set in a Filipino context. But here is another family
from a foreign country, the US. So that we expect it to have Filipino and
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Archetypal Approach
Archetypes found in the selection are:
The sea (beach) the sea usually means the Mother of all Life; spiritual
mystery, and infinity; death and rebirth; timelessness and eternity;
the unconscious. In this case, it is death and rebirth. One part of the
story, the narrator said, There is no access to the beach. and her
husband replied, Im sure theres a way down there somewhere. And
in this, I think the author is referring to the death of the feeling of
sorrow and a rebirth of true happiness. In the end of the story, the
narrators husband again reminded her of this. The husbands
inspiration to the narrator is consistent throughout the story.
If we try to connect the story to a literary piece, we could say it is
related to another fictional short story by Nick Joaquin, Three
Generations. The daughter (narrator) is controlling herself. She has an
uncertain happiness because she
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