I.

READING COMPREHENSION CHECK-UP

1. How significant is the cock in the story? Do you consider the first paragraph effective in
preparing readers for the conflict?
The cock is noteworthy. The first paragraph is effective in preparing readers for the
conflict because who would have thought that it would play a notable role in their lives
and the cock contributes to the main conflict of the story.

2. What problems are raised by the love angle between the narrator and the man she
loved at the beginning of the selection?
The distance between them was immeasurable, unbridgeable. The man that she loved
came from a poor family while the narrator came from a rich family and a family of a
mayor must never lose face. The narrator’s family was antagonistic towards their love
story, so they decided to meet in secret.

3. Cite the reasons why the narrator was spared from a forced suicide?
She was spared from a forced suicide because she was an only child and her mother was
already old. Her mother would be forced to choose a concubine for her father and to
admit her to the marriage bed, to cherish the concubine’s children as her own. And no
matter what the sacrifice, the family must have another generation to carry on the cult
of the ancestors.

4. How does the narrator feel towards a) the cock, b) her marriage and c) their village’s
customs on love, courtship and marriage?
At the beginning, the narrator was irritated because of the cock’s interference and
because of that the villagers found out and starts gossiping about them. Despite that,
she was grateful and happy at the end because she was able to marry the man that she
loves. She was not happy with the way the villagers reacted. In spite of her tears and
denials, they chose to believe the superstition.

5. What is the dramatic irony in the story? How does this affect the characters?
The dramatic irony in the story is the cock’s interference. The cock was the reason the
villagers and the narrator’s family found out about them meeting in secret. At the same
time, the cock was also the reason they were married because of the superstitious belief
that when a cock crows at night it is a sign of extramarital pregnancy. The family
decided to marry her off in all haste. Five years have passed but the woman haven’t yet
had a child. The cock has been proved a liar. But thanks to the cock the woman was able
to marry the man that she loves.
6. What Philippines customs on love , courtship and marriage can be compared with those
of the Viatnamese as gleaned from Hai’s story?
The Philippine culture has a very strict dating traditions. Both men and women need to
follow traditional steps in which the man is the pursuer. This is a way for the man to
show his interest in her. The parent’s approval is required in order for the man to be able
to visit their daughter.

II. TONE
Since the story is in the woman’s point of view the tone of the story comes from her. The
tone of the story starts from being anxious to ironic. At the first, the woman was anxious
because of the cock’s consistent interference, she was troubled that they’ll be discovered
and so they were. The woman was locked in her room and was worried what will be the
outcome of her family’s meeting regarding what they should do to her. But the outcome
was ironic, she was married to the man that she loves. The cock’s interference may be
the reason they were discovered but the cock was also the reason they were married.

III. IMAGERY
In the first place, he’d fight until his crop was torn open rather than be deposed. He
comes of fighting stock – see how long and sharp his spurs are, and how they curve. And
in spite of his age, he’s still fast enough on his feet to defend his rights. His feet are his
most aristocratic feature; notice how the scales grow in two straight lines like the
Chinese mottoes on either side of a door, with not a sign of a feather between them.
My father had twenty oxen and ten buffaloes, and a thousand acres of rice fields; he
hadn’t even a patch of ground, and raised only a few chickens.
He was the handsomest young man, the best monochord player and the fastest rice
planter of the whole district. You should have heard him play the monochord in those
days; it was enough to bring a goddess down from heaven.
He would cock a glittering eye at me, and crow.
One day his master and I were talking behind the bamboo hut, where we were safe
from all indiscreet eyes. Suddenly we heard a loud “Ha, ha, ha!” We turned around in
alarm; it was only the cock. My suitor threw a stick at him. He saw it coming and made a
magnificent leap to one side, so that the stick only grazed his tail. Then with an
indignant “Kut-kut-kut” he stalked off to rejoin his hens, looking for all the world like an
insulted sovereign.
Soon the village was buzzing with gossip about us; the cock had set tongues wagging.
They shut me up in my little room and held a family caucus in the living room before the
altar of our ancestor.
His house was a little hut built on date-palm posts, walled with bamboo and thatched
with water-palm leaves.
My house had four rows of carved teak, wood columns, walls of whitewashed brick and
red-tiled roof.
 An irresistible attraction drew me to him, in spite of his rough farm clothes and his
unkempt hair.
In his poultry yard a young cock with green and gold plumage and a blood-red comb
lorded it over the admiring hens.
I in a wide-sleeved red dress and he in a black tunic and turban.

IV. PLOT

 Exposition
The story begins with background information about a cock that comes of like a
fighter. Followed by a recollection five years ago about his husband who was a
farmer, while the woman’s family is rich and her father was the mayor of the
community. In the beginning, their social differences were showed.
 Rising Action
One day the woman and the man were talking behind the bamboo hut, where
they thought they are safe from all indiscreet eyes. When suddenly a cock started
making noise. In fear of being discovered they chase away it away successfully.
Another day, they decided to meet again in secret however, the accursed cock
started making loud noises while beating his wings in the air as if to call the
whole world to witness. In trying to chase away the cock, they lost all sense of
caution. The villagers discovered about them.
 Climax
After the couple was spotted together, rumors then started to spread. The
villagers assumed that the woman lost her virginity and that she is pregnant. The
rumors reach her parents ears. What makes it even worse; the cock started
crowing at the evening. In their province, they believed in a superstitious belief
that when a cock crows at night it is a sign of extramarital pregnancy. In spite of
her tears and denials, no one believes her. They locked her up in her room while
the rest of the family gathered to have a meeting on what they should do with
the woman. The family council decided to do nothing worse than to marry her off
to the man in all haste.
 Falling Action
The six preliminary marriage ceremonies were gotten through before two weeks
had passed, and they were married in the strictest privacy. They gossip about
them being a bad match and a scandalous one, it has been agreed that they’ll
leave their native village immediately and make their home in some distance
province where they are not known.

 Conclusion
It has been five years now, and the woman haven’t yet had a child. The poor old
cock has been proved a liar. But thanks to his lies the woman is happy.