ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL "THE PRETENDERS"

For me the best theme for the novel is "The search for the truth behind all of the truth". The truth is Rizal is our national hero, and he died for our country. Also Andres Bonifacio died fighting for our country against the Spaniards but Antonio Samson wants to find out who is the real hero between the two of them. Another truth is his father is imprisoned because of fighting against the conquerors. And another is the great Ilocano migration, which he is also trying to research about. He is also searching for the truth about his past, his origin and all about the Philippine Revolution.

As he search for the past, he did not realize that he is already living in the past, history repeats itself in the novel. He is lost searching for the truth. He sacrifices everything, his freedom, his pride and his life. He realized that marrying Carmen Villa is a suicide and a big mistake, this is the time when he lost everything. Then he was owned by the Villa Family after he married Carmen and everything was taken from him. He was conquered by the Villas, defeated, he has no way out.

His search has ended as the Villa Family reign over him. He is now worse than a prisoner who loss his freedom, pride and his right to make decisions for his own life. His search for the truth is a dead end. While searching for it, he realized in the end that his death is the answer, the truth that he was seeking for. His death was the solution for the people around him to change into better persons. Therefor, he took his own life for the Villas to realize their mistakes as Antonio realize his mistakes. This is the part of the novel where history repeats itself, like Rizal, Bonifacio and Jesus Christ, Samson sacrifices his life for the freedom of the others, for the freedom of the Villas and for them to be a better person. His death has awaken the Villas and also the readers. He did not realize that the truth he was searching for will result to the end of his life. The answer he was seeking is his own death but in the end Samson turned into a hero for sacrificing for the freedom of the other people.

I think that the best title for the novel is " The seeking or The seeker". "The Seeking" because Antonio Samson was searching for the truth behind all of the truth. The great Ilocano migration, the Philippine revolution and all about his past. He was seeking for the truth behind all of the truth which is my theme for this novel. The novel is mostly about searching or seeking for the truth, answers or solutions to the problems of our country or our own.

It can also be titled "The Seeker". In the story Antonio Samson is the seeker who is seeking for the truth but in real life whomever reads the novel becomes the seeker who will be seeking for the truth along with the journey of Antonio Samson. They will be seeking for the truth about Samson's suicide, the reason and the truth behind it. The real hero between Rizal and Bonofacio and about the Philippine revolution.

Overall, the story is about our history, our past, our origin, the Philippine revolution which our ancestors died fighting for our freedom and for the future generation. They are the heros of the past and we will also be heros like Samson, in our own generation and in our own way.

Philippine Tanaga

"IRONY OF LIFE"

As we create, we destroy
Other life, as we enjoy
All the things, that we have made
Every hope begin to fade.

MY REACTION TO THE POEM LAUGHTER WRITTEN BY MANINGNING MICLAT

I think that the poem is a good one. I think that it is all about how the main character hide her pain or how she keep living, surviving without losing control of herself and her emotions. I think it's how she use laughter or happiness to survive and surpass the pain. I think that she and the other person in the poem have an argument about it. Maybe that person doesn't want her to keep the pain inside her or to keep the pain all by herself. I think the other person is her love one who is just caring so much for her that he does not want to see her in pain. I think that person is the only reason why the girl can still survive the pain and sadness but for me, keeping the pain and sadness within oneself is not being courageous or strong because sometimes sharing it to other people can ease the pain and maybe they can help you with the problem. Keeping the pain inside within oneself is also very dangerous because pain can cause death, maybe emotional, psychological and worse is physical or natural death.

I think the poem is really a very good one especially the title "laughter", when you only read the title you would think of it as a happy poem but not all the title speaks as loud as we feel when we read the whole poem. For me good poems are like great movies. Great movies for me are those with the good title and a great twist of events and actions, great movies that make me very excited and makes me think what will happen next, great movies that shows the unexpected and unbelievable but great things.

For me, the poem LAUGHTER is like a hard puzzle to solve because like I said earlier when you only read the title you would think of it as a happy poem but when you read it as a whole it is very different. For me, good poems are those with great mysteries and untold stories and I think that her poem is a very real and truthful story and she is very transparent to share us her poem.

Reaction to Estrella Alfon's Servant Girl

Rosa in Estrella Alfon's Servant Girl is a typical servant or slave who is maltreated by her mistress. Rosa can be compared to the Overseas Filipino Workers who were also maltreated by their boss. I think that the story happens between the Spanish period. I adore the character of Rosa for having a lot of patient and perseverance despite of her having been maltreated by her mistress and being isolated from other people due to her mistress' orders. I also pity her for not having a good life and a good mistress.

I think that the story is partly about Rosa's love story and her life being a servant girl but as the title says it focuses more on Rosa's life of being a servant. I compare the servant girl to the tale of Cinderella. I compare it to the tale of Cinderella because Rosa and Cinderella were both servant and maltreated by their mistress, step sisters or step mother and they also have similar love stories except that Rosa's love story ended not as she had expected. Still I think that it is a very good story.

ATOM (What is Literature?)

Every atom is composed of protons, electrons, neutrons and a nucleus. While Literature is built through the connection between the author and the reader. The connection between the reader and the writter is very significant in building a good Literature, which is also similar in building an atom.

Why is Literature important?

Literature is important because it has been a part of the development of man's way of thinking and living. It also tells the experiences and learning which can help and influence every people. It tells the history of one's country and the development of it. With out literature, great writers like Jose Rizal and Shake Spear would not be recognized by the people. Literature also used in communication between the writer and the people. Until now it is very significant and has a very great goal in our own individual journey in life.

Epifanio Alfafara (Great Filipino Authors)

Epifanio Alfafara (1882-1933) was an orator, fictionist, and writer of political and philosophical articles. A native of Carcar, he became presidente municipal of that town. He studied at the Colegio de San Carlos where he learned law and Spanish. Alfafara was the translator of the phenomenally popular Ang Dose Pares sa Pransiya (1930). He also published in Bag-ong Kusog.

Liwayway A. Arceo (Great Filipino Authors)

Filipino writers paid tribute to multi-awarded Tagalog fictionist, journalist, radio scriptwriter and editor Liwayway A. Arceo in a necrological service held last Dec. 6, 7:30p.m. at the Loyola Memorial Chapel in Guadalupe, Makati City. Arceo, 75, passed away last Friday, Dec. 3, after a brief confinement due to an illness at the Medical Center Manila. She is survived by her four children - Florante, Celia, Ibarra, and Jayrizal. Her husband, poet Manuel Principe Bautista, died in 1996. Arceo's most recent award was given this year by the National Centennial Commission on Women Sector for her prioneering and exemplary contributions in the field of literature. Other major awards include the Gawad CCP for Literature given by the Cultutal Center of the Philippines in 1993, the Doctorate on Humane Letters, honoris causa, conferred by the University of the Philippines in 1991, the Catholic Publishers in 1990, the Catholic Author Award by the Asian Catholic Publishers in 1990, and the Gawad Balagtas Life Achievement Award for Fiction, by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas in 1998. Arceo is the author of highly praised novels such as Canal de la Reina and Titser and collections of short stories such as Ina, Maybahay, Anak at iba pa, Mga Maria, Mga Eva and Ang Mag-anak na Cruz.