STEVEN JAKE Y.
CONDES
BS BIOLOGY II (BLK. 1)
I. FORMALISTIC APPROACH
1. Is there a relationship between the beginning and the end of the story?
There is a relationship between the beginning and the end of the story. The beginning
of the story introduces the main characters and how they act and behave, and in the
latter part it shows the consequences of their actions. Pinang’s laziness and
stubbornness at the beginning gave us significant lesson at the end.
2. What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work?
The first paragraph of the story has a heart-warming mood. The line “Rosa did
everything for her beloved Pinang”, gives light to such positive mood. While its tone
provides an optimistic outlook, even though Pinang is lazy her mother is still hopeful
that she’ll change and learn some household chores. As I read the second paragraph, I
started to feel sad and worried, especially when I’ve read the part where Aling Rosa got
sick. The story is starting to get intense, creating a more dramatic tone. On the third
paragraph, the tension between Pinang and her mother is starting to build up, which
leaves me an ambivalent feeling while providing an ominous tone. The last paragraph of
the story gives me a mixed emotion. I must say that the mood of the story in the end is a
bit sad and at the same time happy. Since even though Pinang was never seen ever
again, her mother’s love will always be with her. And she even named a mysterious
plant after her daughter Pinang, and later on turned Pinya which creates a sentimental
tone and emotional atmosphere.
II. MARXIST APPROACH
a. Is there any class separation that is incurred by the protagonist’s behavior? If so, how
did the main character use it to his/her advantage?
The presence of class separation is observed within the story. In a community, class
separates every individual according to their socioeconomic status, wealth and even
power. And in the story, I can say that there is class separation since it is common in a
Filipino household set-up for children to follow and obey the rules set by the parents,
therefore our parents always have the power and all we can do is to follow . And in that
case, I can say that Aling Rosa has the power, while there’s nothing Pinang can do but to
follow what Aling Rosa says, most especially in the part where she got ill.
b. How did society dictate how one should act or behave?
Society has a great contribution on how one should act or behave. It affects us as an
individual, in a sense that we need to consider our actions, behaviour, as well as style,
just to fit in within the standards set by the society. I, myself has a lot of things in mind
to do, however society tells me not to do it. We are all chained and in prisoned by the
standards of society, maybe it’s time break free and finally decide for our own.
III. READER-RESPONSE APPROACH
a. Write about what would happen if you brought one of your characters to school or
home for a day.
Aling Rosa is a loving mother with a beautiful soul and being with her at home would be
a nice idea since my mom is away from home because of her work. Having someone like
Aling Rosa at home would be a great feeling, since a mother’s figure is something I am
longing for.
b. What is your personal view regarding the story that you have read?
My personal view regarding the story that I’ve read is that it portrays the common
Filipino set-up. In a Filipino culture, our parents are usually the ones who do the
household chores however this kind mindset should end for it is making the children
lazy and dependent towards their parents.
IV. MIMETIC APPROACH
a. In what scene or dialogue of the story shows the reflection of the real human world?
The scene in the story that shows the reflection of a real human world is when Aling
Rosa scolded Pinang. It is something that we can all relate as Filipino children, our
parents used to tell us, “bunganga kasi ang naghahanap” “pag ‘di mo nakita, makikita
mo”. This is the scene in the story where I can relate to and does reflect the real
scenario in the human world.
b. How does the story interpret the situation of the common people before versus in
today’s world?
The quality of living from now is different from the way most of the people live in the
past. In the story we can picture out a simple life of a mother and daughter living in a
tranquil area, away from pollution and free from noises where children can freely play
outside without the fear of being hit by a vehicle. At the present time, civilization crawls
it self where pollution and noise is no brand new. We are living in a busy and a fast-
paced environment, where most of the children are busy playing with their mobile
phones unlike from the children before who used to play freely outside.
V. FEMINIST APPROACH
[Link] does the work reveal about the operations (economically, politically, socially, or
psychologically) of patriarchy?
We can clearly see that patriarchy is present and male domination is in every field. The
story tells that Aling Rosa is at home doing chores and is taking care of her daughter
Pinang. Though, Aling Rosa’s husband was never mentioned, we can assume that her
husband is working, for it is the common family set-up wherein men are most likely to
do the work and provide a living for the family while women are left at homes to serve
their husbands and children.
a. What does the work say about women’s creativity?
Women have wide imagination and creative mind and it can be justified, specifically in
the part of the story where Aling Rosa gave name to an unknown plant surrounded by
eye-like patterns. She named the plant Pinang because it reminds it of her daughter
Pinang which later on, became Pinya. And I find it interesting and creative on how
women relate things in naming unknown and peculiar objects.
VI. STRUCTURALIST APPROACH
1. Define the following terms: sign, referent, and binary opposition.
Sign is defined asthe basic unit of Saussurean linguistics, a physical entity consisting of a
signifier (an acoustic image) and a signified (a concept); a sign is said to be arbitrary
because a logical relationship between the signifier and signified does not necessarily
exist.
Referent refers to the extra-linguistic object to which a sign refers; the relationship
between the sign and referent are also arbitrary and conventional.
Binary opposition is described as a pair of related terms or concepts that appear to be
opposite in meaning (e.g., light/dark).
2. Explain the following concepts: sign and binary oppositions.
Sign is composed of a signifier and a signified. An example of it is when we see a red flag
and the first thing comes to our mind is danger. The red flag itself is the signifier while
danger is the signified.
Binary opposition is a concept showing contrast, an example of it is rich and poor which
are contradicting words with opposite meanings.
