Historical-Biographical Analysis of A Child of Sorrow by Zoilo Galang

            Zoilo Galang was born in Bacolor on 27 June 1895 and his young life was spent in that bucolic town, famed for its writers and artists. He went to school at the Bacolor Elementary School and then went to Manila to study at the Escuela de Derecho, the country’s eminent law school where he graduated in 1919. A self-starter, he learned typing and stenography in English and Spanish all by himself. Attracted to the English language, he took special courses at the University of the Philippines in 1925, then went to Columbia University for further studies in Literature.

          He was soon writing books of fiction, biography and philosophy, and his output was prodigious. His early poems saw print on the Kapampangan paper, “E Mangabiran". He authored “A Child of Sorrow”, the first English novel written by a Filipino. This was later made into a movie in 1930. Other notable works include "Nadia", "For Dreams Must Die", "Springtime", "Leaders of the Philippines", "Glimpses of the World", "Life and Success", "Master of Destiny", "Unisophy" and "Barrio Life".

          But his greatest opus undoubtedly is the Encyclopedia of the Philippines, which began as a 10 volume set when first printed. Galang himself, edited and wrote entries for the book set which covered Philippine literature, biography, commerce and industry, art, education, religion, government, science, history and builders of the new Philippines. The Encyclopedia of the Philippines came with a general information and index.

         A second edition, destroyed by fire, was published in 1948. So positive was the response to Galang’s work that the encyclopedia project was expanded to 20 volumes in a later 1949 printing. There has been no new printing since 1958.

          Here is a summary of A Child of Sorrow. It was summertime in April when Lucio and Camilo had prepared for their give way and went to Merry town, where they notice lots of joy in frank things. Lucio also erudite some traits or personalities of some mickle in Merry town. Like how a Governor Pancho Ismael can be so screw up or how an Oscar Ramirez be an intelligent yet selfish guy, that he did not have any hatred because he met a Rosa Garcia who was beautiful interior and out.

           After Lucio's meeting with Rosa, he developed a judgement for her, something he cannot describe, and something he hasn't experienced before.  After a hardly (prenominal) days, Lucio met Rosa again, confessing his feelings for her, and they've become partners afterwards Rosa said that she matte the same way. Lucio spent close of his time with Rosa when he was at Merry town but, the time came that his vacation in Merry town was over and he needed to go back to his provincial town.  It was very(prenominal) hard for Rosa and Lucio but he promised that he would not forget her and he would be back when he knows he may not be able to leave.  At first, Lucio got very blue and lifeless after his separation, but then, with some with Rosa, both Lucio and Rosa was able to accept that Lucio has to leave with the promise to not forget about her and to think about her all the time. The separation caused the two  sorrows beyond word-description. Though far away from each other, the two tried to keep in touch by sending letters to one another. Time passed and Lucio grew to be a fine, young man. He was the man looked up to in his town for alertness of mind and calmness of disposition for he was  a born leader.  

          Lucio was elected president of The Rising Generation and continued to spur to greater heights. One day, Lucio received an invitation from Rosa to attend their Garden day and it was the first time the two saw sight of each other after the summer vacation of Lucio has ended. Again, Lucio marveled at the beauty of Rosa. The governor treted hm coldly but he paid no mind to it. What is important to him is his Rosa sitting beside him. The two enjoyed the time while they are together for they know that they will again part ways. 

          Oscar confessed his love for Rosa to Governor Pancho Ismael, who is Rosa's father and wished to be married to her. The next day, it was announced that Rosa will be married to Oscar. The news reached Lucio But Rosa denied it. She is not willing to marry any man unless it is Lucio. Rosa tried her best to not be wedded to Oscar but Oscar Sexually harassed her, leaving her no choice. Dignity and purity is the most important thing for an individual especially to a lady like Rosa and that is what Oscar took away from her.  

         Lucio felt very broken and was enraged upon hearing the news but he know he can do nothing about it. " what is past is past. Let us now consider the present. That's the only way we can live happily--- by burning the bridges of the unfortunate past behind us and looking ahead with glowing hopes. 

         Rosa knew, by that time, who her father is and wrote a letter to Lucio saying that no matter what happens he will always be her one and only true love; that only Lucio makes her live and that she will remember always and will cherish all their memories. Lucio told himself that f he failed in love, he'll be successful in something else. That was his determination. Lucio endured all injury done against him and little by little his sorrows vanished and recovered from the shock. Time healed all wounds but the scars are still there.
  
         While Lucio is trying his best to move-on from Rosa, Rosa on the other hand does the opposite. Though married to Oscar, it is Lucio who she's thinking all the time. After several years, it is still him and will always be him. The marriage of Rosa to Oscar did not go well that caused Rosa to be sick. Time came that Rosa was dying and she summoned Lucio to come visit her.  Lucio answered to the summon and went to Rosa. Rosa then died at the arms of the man she truly loves.

          The novel ended by seeing Lucio at the grave of Rosa still lamenting and and reading a letter to her and by the people pointing to him saying " There is the child of sorrow". 



          It was mentioned that Zoilo grew up in a town of famed writers and artists, no wonder Zoilo showed such eloquence in his novel. When you read it, you will be amazed by the words used in it. Also, Zoilo grew up surrounded by artists can also be seen in the character of Lucio in the story. Zoilo was attracted to the  English language. Maybe this is the reason why he has decided to write an english novel instead of a filipino one. This liking to the said language is also very evident in the choice of words used in the novel. Zoilo also had played with the words of the English language very well making it an entertaining and an unforgettable piece of literature once read.  Upon reading it, you can really feel the passion of the writer towards his work. With this liking, he had shown excellent imagery, had conveyed undeniably bizarre emotions and had taken sentiment to the highest level.


REFERENCES:
http://viewsfromthepampang.blogspot.com/2009/08/155-zoilo-galang-kapampangan.html
http://personalessayforcollegeadmission.blogspot.com/2013/09/child-of-sorrow-book-report.html

Formalist Analysis of the Naming of parts by Henry Reed

NAMING OF PARTS

BY HENRY REED

To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,

We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,

We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,

To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica

Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,

          And to-day we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this

Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,

When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,

Which in your case you have not got. The branches

Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,

          Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released

With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me

See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy

If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms

Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see

          Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this

Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it

Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this

Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards

The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:

          They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy

If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,

And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,

Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom

Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,

          For to-day we have naming of parts.

          

          The poem "Naming of Parts" written by Henry Reed, is a free-versed poem. Free-verse in a way that it doesn't have rhyme within its lines and it doesn't follow any rhyme scheme. Because of the word "we", i can say that the speaker in the person uses the first person point of view. the author of the the poem also incorporated similes and a metaphor in it. There are two similes that can be found in the poem. The first one can be seen in the the fifth line of the first stanza and the other one in the second line of the fifth stanza.

           A metaphor can also be found in the poem. The word "spring" in the last line of the fourth stanza may either mean or symbolize spring of an armor or spring that signifies season. Because of this metaphor,  I can say that though the character in the poem is in the military, wherein he must be as hard as a rock, he is at the same time a nature-lover, which is the total opposite of being hard. 

           An imagery is shown in the second stanza of the poem. Here the reader can come up with an image of what is being described by the author. Since each  part was described clearly and one-by-one, this enables the reader to draw a picture of what is being described. 

           

REFERENCES:

http://www.solearabiantree.net/namingofparts/namingofparts.html

Analysis of The Lady and Her 5 Suitors using the Mimetic Approach

          Literary pieces are written to convey real life situations, real life happenings and experiences of human life here on earth. Even works of fictions are based or are inspired by what is happening ion the society. These literary pieces serves as the voice or the medium in letting the realities of life be known by everyone. It depicts happenings that may not be happening to you but are happening and is experienced by others in whoever-knows-where part of the world. Literary pieces show these various realities which are being appreciated and understood by a few and are being misunderstood and neglected by many.

          The Lady and Her 5 Suitors is a good example of a literary piece that accords with the real world. When compared to real life, it is really accurate. We can't deny the fact that lies and outsmarting is really happening in the society nowadays. Concubinage, adultery, whatever you call it, it's the trend, especially on the case of long distance relationships.The opening sentence of the story really speaks of reality, "The wife of a merchant loves a man when her husband is away". isn't it happening in the real world today? of course it is. Actually, it's happening almost everywhere. Nowadays, wives/husbands plunging into the sin of adultery while their partners are away is a cliche, a commonplace; "concubines" fighting for their iniquitous, vicious, impious love towards someone is a normal scenario; doing everything for the one you love is prosaic same with how the lady in the story did everything to free her an her lover fro prison.

          The lady in the story used her beauty ta make her 4 suitors fall in love with her. It shows the reality that one is always willing to use all of her resources just to get what she wants. People nowadays use or do everything they can just to get ht they want. People are even willing to sell their soul just to get what they want, to reach their goals and to attain their aims.

          The Lady and Her 5 Suitors shows the real world.  A world where morality seems to have no place. A world where one is willing to do everything for their personal satisfaction. A world where one is willing to give everything just to have  that "something". A world, a society of gambling. A world where everything has a price. A world that pays no mind to what is ethical rather focuses on one's pleasure A world easily deceived by physical appearance. A world of injustice. These truths are being shown and/or can be related  to the story The lady and Her 5 Suitors. It shows about love and lies.
          

Formalist Analysis of The Sick Rose by William Blake

The Sick Rose

BY WILLIAM BLAKE

O Rose thou art sick. 

The invisible worm, 

That flies in the night 

In the howling storm: 

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy:

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy.

          The poem is composed only of two stanzas with four lines in every stanza. The said poem follows the rhyme scheme A-B, C-B, D-E, F-E. We can say that the poem is not a total free verse because as you can see there is a rhyme scheme and a measure being followed. Try to notice that each of the four lines in every stanza has the measure of 5 except for the second lines which are any number other than five. Isn't it amazing? The poem obviously uses symbolism. An imagery can be attained from the lines of the first stanza.

          Connotation wise, the poems simply talks about a rose, a plant that is being attacked by a worm, a tiny worm to be specific, almost impossible for the naked eyes to see that is why it is described in the poem to be invisible.The worm landed or has found out the bed of crimson joy which may refer to the the flower of the rose. I this case, it is a red rose because of the word crimson that can be found in the poem. The worm;s darkest love simply means the desire of the worm to eat the rose or it's attraction toward the plant.
          Denotation wise, the poem may mean a lot or has a lot of meanings depending on the person reading it and depending on how the reader will interpret and understand the poem. The rose is a metaphor of life and the invisible worm(s) is(are) its hazard(s). The poem symbolizes that the person living the life referred to in the poem was defeated by life's trials and hardships which is being shown by the dying rose because of the attack of the invisible worm. The word "invisible" is used to describe the worm for it is true that hardships and trials cannot be sen by the naked eyes.It can only be felt and experienced but can never be touched.





REFERENCES:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172938