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Ventic Reading and Writing Skills

April 10, 2020

Book Review

Title: May Day Eve

Author: Nick Joaquin

Publisher: Univesity of Santo Tomas Publishing House. Print

Espana, Manila

Pages: 1 The short story was all about a grandfather who caught his grandson chanting in front

of a mirror and remembers a superstition from his youth that this mirror will reveal your future spouse.

The story was intended for elderly people to consider that marriage should only be a result of love. It

demonstrates how love is different from lust and that it takes a certain level of maturity to be able to

differentiate the two. He used this topic as his subject to make the people especially the elderly take

marriage as a serious matter, it is not something that you can play with, it comes with great responsibility

and lust shouldn't be part of it. Most people are forgetting about the essence of love, all they want is

temporary lust, unlike love which can last forever. He used this topic as his subject to make the people

especially the elderly take marriage as a serious matter, it is not something that you can play with, it

comes with great responsibility and lust shouldn't be part of it. Most people are forgetting about the

essence of love, all they want is temporary lust, unlike love which can last forever. I would say that the

theme in the story was not quite clear because you have to analyze the story well to know what the story

implies. The author in the story used a third person point-of-view to tell the story.
Martinez

Pascual

Regala

Santillan

Valila

Ventic Reading and Writing Skills

April 10, 2020

 Bibliographic information
Introduction
The Genre and Material
Materials and Sources
 Statement of book’s purpose
The Audience /Readers
 Statement about the author
The Author’s Style

 Places the book in a context

1. Does the author state an explicit thesis or a theme?
2. …?
3. ….?
 Statement about book’s genre and potential significance
The effect of the book on you

 Overall evaluation
Setting
In a room with a mirror during May Day Eve

Characterization
Anastasia - old woman, who is so obedient to her mistress, accused for being a witch and believes
in superstitious beliefs
Agueda - pretty, young woman who is so curious, hardheaded, brave and very much willing to
know her future husband
Dona Agueda - old lady who has gray hair, full of sentiments, emotional and resentful
Dona Agueda’s daughter - a vain curious girl who is persistent to know about the past of her
mother
Don Badoy Montiya - a great lover, emotional and full of sentiment old man, who repents for
what he has done to agueda
Martinez

Pascual

Regala

Santillan

Valila

Ventic Reading and Writing Skills

April 10, 2020

Voltaire - believe in superstitious belief and was like his grandmother who at an early age want to
know who will he marry

 Summary of the book’s beginning – giving details which provide the context of the author’s
conflict
The plot revolves around Don Badoy who live his life with regrets. He realizes that Dona Agueda
forces him to marry her.

He could not accept what he had done to Dona Agueda, a miserable life. He could not accept that
he takes advantage of the superstitions.

Badoy told his grandson, Voltaire that he once saw a witch in the mirror when he caught him
doing the same incantation. Amazed of what his grandfather said, Voltaire told him that his
grandma once saw a devil in the mirror.

The theme centers on intense remorse caused by wrong decisions. Like believing in superstitions.

 More summary of later parts of the book, showing how the author has related her own
experiences to the experiences of others and to the philosophies that were dominating the religion
at the time
Style

 Reviewer indicating the value for readers interested in research on the development of and
changes in faith
 Further evaluation – some weaknesses and omissions noted
Restatement of overall impression and recommendation
Martinez

Pascual

Regala

Santillan

Valila

Ventic Reading and Writing Skills

April 10, 2020

References: These are formatted on a separate page according to APA 7th edition.