Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL
ILOCOS REGION CAMPUS Certificate No. SCP000401Q

HOME READING REPORT

The Last Time I Saw Mother by Arlene Chai

NAMES: ____________________________SECTION: ______________________

DIRECTION: In 60-100 words, answer the following question about the first three (3)
chapters of the book.

1. Based on the introduction, why is the persona writing the story?

The reason is, because it is the truth.

Caridad wrote the story because she fears that it may be hidden
again just like it was around 40 years ago. She wrote the story ,for she
believes that stories written on paper are easier to believe. She wrote this
story so that her family will know her story because her story belongs to
them aswell. She wrote the story so that she will make peace with her
past ,for she had a lot of things she hadn’t understood about her past.

2. So far, how would you describe our main character (i.e., Caridad)?
Caridad is very curious because at the beginning of the book or
the first chapter of the book , her mother summoned her to go back to
Manila for a news. Ever since she still have that in mind. She is very loving
towards her family, not just her own family but her family with Jaime. She
loved them dearly and she couldn’t move on to the fact that Jaime and her
separated.

3. How would you describe Thelma?

Based on the book, on Emma’s point-of-view, Thelma is too proud to
admit that she is lonely. Thelma is like a tree, very hard and unbending.
Thelma is very hard-working because Emma said that she had done so
much that she does not even know how to repay her for helping her out.
She is very strong and life had left her to on her own.
4. What do you think is the purpose of the part in the novel that describes how
Caridad always asks questions?
I think that describing Caridad as inquisitive is to foreshadow the
fact that Thelma is not really Caridad’s mother. This scene is the one where
in they are discussing the gender of Caridad’s child. Thelma says that
female babies make women look more beautiful. Caridad then remarks
about Thelma being beautiful when she was pregnant with her, but she
reacted negatively to it as if she had not actually carried her.
5. What do you think of Thelma’s decision to finally tell Caridad bout the secret
of her existence?
 Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
PHILIPPINE SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL
ILOCOS REGION CAMPUS Certificate No. SCP000401Q

HOME READING REPORT

The Last Time I Saw Mother by Arlene Chai
I think that it was very smart of her to finally doing it. I think of her
decision like that because it would be best for Caridad to hear all the sides
of the story as to who her real mother is and why she was taken away from
her. It was wise of her to tell her because with one of the “holders of truth”
dead, she would not get to learn all of the sides of the story and make unfair
judgements.
6. If you were Caridad, how would you feel about discovering a secret about
your identity?
For me, if I were to find out the truth about my identity, I would have
gotten my emotions mixed. It would be a combination of happiness,
sadness , and shock. Shock and sadness would dominate my emotions the
most. I would be shocked because who would not be when the person that
you grew up with kept a secret from you for that long? I would feel sad
because the two people who you treated like your family told this to you.
7. What have you learned about the two “homes” from the way Caridad
described it in the novel?
I learned about the two homes that migrants have. The first home
would be their past, the place which they came from, and the second home
would be the one in the present. Caridad went to the second home as she
wanted Marla to have a better education, for she thought that Sydney is a
better place for her to live in. She didn’t want Marla to stay in Manila
because the risk was too high. Manila is the city of extremes which would
mean Marla would become very successful or fail horribly.