 Use appropriate strategies in unlocking the

meaning of unfamiliar words. (EN8V-Ie-4)

 Use the appropriate reading style for one’s

purpose. (EN8RC-Ie-7)

 Use appropriate cohesive devices in composing

an informative speech. (EN8G-Ie-8)

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 Hi! I am Kongai.
Come and I’ll join you
in your adventure to
China as you read the
folktale “Soul of the
Great Bell “

In reading the folktale, you will

surely meet some unfamiliar words which
may cause you to stop and analyze the
meaning of each to understand the details
of the story. Let’s unlock first the
difficulties. Are you ready?

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ACTIVITY A.1: MATCH ME!

Instructions: Use the context to help you determine the meaning of the word. Write
the letter that corresponds to your answer on the space provided before
the number.

________1. Ralph is cunning in artworks.

A. skillful B. guideless C. innocent D. artless

________2. The students work toilsomely to finish the project.

A. lightly B. hardly C. easily D. cheaply

________3. She leaped with joy when she received the award.
A. stood B. sat C. walked D. jumped

________4. Razel is sobbing for her lost friend.

A. crying B. smiling C. waiting D. thinking

________5. The story mingles fact and fiction.

A. breaks B. separates C. mixes D.divides

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ACTIVITY A.2: MEANINGFUL SOUNDS!

Instructions: Read the given word then look at the picture as a clue. Give the word
synonymous to the given word by filling in the clue with a vowel
sounds.

1. MALLET H __ M M __ R

2. SHIVER T R __ M B L __

3. SMITE H __ T

4.FISSURED C R __ C K __ D

5.WRITHING T W __ S T __ N G

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ACTIVITY A.3: LOVE TO WRITE!

Instructions: Based on the picture, the synonym and antonym of each word, construct
your own sentence.

crying relight

PICTURE SYNONYM
SYNONYM PICTURE SYNONYM
SOBBING REKINDLE

laughing stop

ANTONYM SENTENCE ANTONYM SENTENCE

hold jumped

PICTURE SYNONYM PICTURE SYNONYM

SYNONYM
CLUTCH LEAPED

drop sat

ANTONYM SENTENCE ANTONYM SENTENCE

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 You are now ready to read
the folktale.
Enjoy Reading!

The Soul of the Great Bell

by Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904)

Nearly five hundred years ago the Celestially August, the Son of Heaven, Yong-Lo,
of the ―Illustrious or Ming dynasty, commanded the worthy official Kouan-Yu that he
should have a bell made of such size that the sound thereof might be heard for one hundred li.
And he further ordained that the voice of the bell should be strengthened with brass, and
deepened with gold, and sweetened with silver; and that the face and the great lips of it should
be graven with blessed sayings from the sacred books, and that it should be suspended in the
centre of the imperial capital to sound through all the many-coloured ways of the City of Pe-
King.

Therefore, the worthy mandarin Kouan-Yu assembled the master-moulders and the
renowned bell smiths of the empire, and all men of great repute and cunning in foundry work;
and they measured the materials for the alloy, and treated them skillfully, and prepared the
moulds, the fires, the instruments, and the monstrous melting-pot for fusing the metal. And
they laboured exceedingly, like giants neglecting only rest and sleep and the comforts of life;
toiling both night and day in obedience to Kouan-Yu, and striving in all things to do the
behest of the Son of Heaven.

But when the metal had been cast, and the earthen mould separated from the glowing
casting, it was discovered that, despite their great labour and ceaseless care, the result was
void of worth; for the metals had rebelled one against the other—the gold had scorned
alliance with the brass, the silver would not mingle with the molten iron. Therefore, the
moulds had to be once more prepared, and the fires rekindled, and the metal remelted, and all
the work tediously and toilsomely repeated. The Son of Heaven heard and was angry, but
spoke nothing.

A second time the bell was cast, and the result was even worse. Still the metals
obstinately refused to blend one with the other; and there was no uniformity in the bell, and
the sides of it were cracked and fissured, and the lips of it were slagged and split asunder; so
that all the labour had to be repeated even a third time, to the great dismay of Kouan-Yu. And
when the Son of Heaven heard these things, he was angrier than before; and sent his
messenger to Kouan-Yu with a letter, written upon lemon-coloured silk and sealed with the
seal of the dragon, containing these words:

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―From the Mighty Young-Lo, the Sublime Tait-Sung, the Celestial and August, whose reign
is called ‗Ming, ‗to Kouan-Yu the Fuh-yin: Twice thou hast betrayed the trust we have
deigned graciously to place in thee; if thou fail a third time in fulfilling our command, thy
head shall be severed from thy neck.Tremble, and obey!

Now, Kouan-Yu had a daughter of dazzling loveliness whose name Ko-Ngai was
ever in the mouths of poets, and whose heart was even more beautiful than her face. Ko-Ngai
loved her father with such love that she had refused a hundred worthy suitors rather than
make his home desolate by her absence; and when she had seen the awful yellow missive,
sealed with the Dragon-Seal, she fainted away with fear for her father‗s sake.

And when her senses and her strength returned to her, she could not rest or sleep for
thinking of her parent‗s danger, until she had secretly sold some of her jewels, and with the
money so obtained had hastened to an astrologer, and paid him a great price to advise her by
what means her father might be saved from the peril impending over him. So the astrologer
made observations of the heavens, and marked the aspect of the Silver Stream (which we call
the Milky Way), and examined the signs of the Zodiac—the Hwang-tao, or Yellow Road—
and consulted the table of the Five Hin, or Principles of the Universe, and the mystical books
of the alchemists. And after a long silence, he made answer to her, saying: Gold and brass
will never meet in wedlock, silver and iron never will embrace, until the flesh of a maiden be
melted in the crucible; until the blood of a virgin be mixed with the metals in their fusion. So
Ko-Ngai returned home sorrowful at heart; but she kept secret all that she had heard, and told
no one what she had done.

At last came the awful day when the third and last effort to cast the great bell was to
be made; and Ko-Ngai, together with her waiting-woman, accompanied her father to the
foundry, and they took their places upon a platform overlooking the toiling of the moulders
and the lava of liquefied metal. All the workmen wrought at their tasks in silence; there was
no sound heard but the muttering of the fires. And the muttering deepened into a roar like the
roar of typhoons approaching, and the blood-red lake of metal slowly brightened like the
vermilion of a sunrise, and the vermilion was transmuted into a radiant glow of gold, and the
gold whitened blindingly, like the silver face of a full moon.

Then the workers ceased to feed the raving flame, and all fixed their eyes upon the
eyes of Kouan-Yu; and Kouan-Yu prepared to give the signal to cast.

But ere ever he lifted his finger, a cry caused him to turn his head and all heard the
voice of Ko-Ngai sounding sharply sweet as a bird‗s song above the great thunder of the
fires—―For thy sake, O my father!‖ And even as she cried, she leaped into the white flood of
metal; and the lava of the furnace roared to receive her, and spattered monstrous flakes of
flame to the roof, and burst over the verge of the earthen crater, and cast up a whirling
fountain of many-coloured fires, and subsided quakingly, with lightnings and with thunders
and with mutterings.

Then the father of Ko-Ngai, wild with his grief, would have leaped in after her, but
that strong men held him back and kept firm grasp upon him until he had fainted away, and
they could bear him like one dead to his home. And the serving-woman of Ko-Ngai, dizzy
and speechless for pain, stood before the furnace, still holding in her hands a shoe, a tiny,
dainty shoe, with embroidery of pearls and flowers—the shoe of her beautiful mistress that
was. For she had sought to grasp Ko-Ngai by the foot as she leaped, but had only been able to
clutch the shoe, and the pretty shoe came off in her hand; and she continued to stare at it like
one gone mad.

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 But in spite of all these things, the command of the Celestial and August had to be
obeyed, and the work of the molders to be finished, hopeless as the result might be. Yet the
glow of the metal seemed purer and whiter than before; and there was no sign of the beautiful
body that had been entombed therein. So the ponderous casting was made; and lo! when the
metal had become cool, it was found that the bell was beautiful to look upon and perfect in
form, and wonderful in colour above all other bells. Nor was there any trace found of the
body of Ko-Ngai; for it had been totally absorbed by the precious alloy, and blended with the
well-blended brass and gold, with the intermingling of the silver and the iron. And when they
sounded the bell, its tones were found to be deeper and mellower and mightier than the tones
of any other bell, reaching even beyond the distance of one hundred li, like a pealing of
summer thunder; and yet also like some vast voice uttering a name, a woman‗s name, the
name of Ko-Ngai. And still, between each mighty stroke there is a long low moaning heard;
and ever the moaning ends with a sound of sobbing and of complaining, as though a weeping
woman should murmur, ―Hiai!

And still, when the people hear that great golden moan they keep silence, but when
the sharp, sweet shuddering comes in the air, and the sobbing of ―Hiai! then, indeed, do all
the Chinese mothers in all the many-coloured ways of Pe-King whisper to their little ones:
―Listen! that is Ko-Ngai crying for her shoe! That is Ko-Ngai calling for her shoe!

8
 This time, try to answer the
activities to test if you fully
understood the story.

ACTIVITY B.1: PUT ME IN ORDER

Instructions: Chronologically, arrange the following events in the story in the order of
the diagram by writing numbers 1 to 10 on the space provided before
each statement.

_______ Yong Lo, the Son of Heaven ordered Kouan Yu to make a great bell.
_______ Ko-ngai leaped to the boiling metal for her father‘s sake.
_______ Upon knowing the situation of her father, Ko-ngai sold her jewels and
consulted an astrologer.
_______ Kouan-yu and the master moulders started to make the bell.
_______ The result was there is no uniformity on the sides of the bell, it was cracked
and fissured.
_______ Yong-Lo got angry and sent a letter.
_______ They repeated the labor day and night without rest, but still they failed.
_______ The bell was beautiful to look upon and the sound is mellower.
_______ The astrologer told her that the blood of a virgin should be mixed to the
alloy.
_______ The sound of the bell symbolizes Ko-ngai crying for her shoe.

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ACTIVITY B.2: GREAT BELL TIME

Instructions: Answer the questions inside the bells to get to know more about the
folktale.

1
4. Why was it
1. Who are the entitled the
characters? Soul of the
Describe each.
Great Bell?

3
5. When do
2. Where did
Filipinos use
the action
bells?
happen?

3. What are 6. How do

the values you show your
depicted in love to your
the story? parents?
6

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ACTIVITY B.3: MAKE A CHOICE

Instructions: Read and analyze the questions very well and encircle the letters of your
chosen answers.

1. In the story ―The Soul of

the Great Bell,‖ what is the
name of the emperor?
A. Yong-Lo B. Kouan-yu
C. Ko-ngai D. Builders 2. How many times
did the molders cast
the bell before it was
made successfully?
A. four B. three
C. two D. one
3. What was left as a memory of
the daughter to Kouan-yu just
after she leaped into the furnace?
A. jewelry B. shoe
C. handkerchief D. bag

4. Why was the folktale entitled

The Soul of the Great Bell?
A. Ko-ngai sacrificed for her father.
B. Ko-ngai killed her father.
C. Ko-ngai disobeyed her father.
D. Ko-ngai respected her father.

5. Kouan-Yu immediately
assembled the master moulders.
What value can we infer from his
attitude?
A. Lovable B. Obedient
C. Kind D. Loyal

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 Cohesive device is sometimes
called linking words, linkers,
connectors, discourse markers or
transitional words (example:
therefore, but, now, and,etc.).

Finally, do the tasks on

cohesive devices.

ACTIVITY C.1: FIND ME

Instructions: Revisit the folktale ―Soul of the Great Bell.‖ Look for the cohesive
devices used and write them inside the hearts.

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ACTIVITY C.2: MY ONLY ONE!

Instructions: Join the two sentences to make ONE sentence, using cohesive devices such as AND,
SO, BECAUSE, BUT or OR.

1. The moulders couldn‘t make the bell perfect. The Son of Heaven got angry.

2. You obey. You will die.

3. The astrologer found the answer to the problem. He studied the Milky Way.

4. She loves her father. She left him.

5. He was obedient. He was hardworking.

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ACTIVITY C.3: YOU COMPLETE ME!

Instructions: Complete the short story below with appropriate cohesive devices. You can use the
cohesive device more than once.

AND SO BECAUSE BUT OR

Mary could not go out with me _____ I invited Anne

instead. Anne was very happy to accept my invitation _____ the

film was very popular. Anne and I had a good time. _____the next

day Mary was very angry. "Do you love me _____ do you love

Anne?" she asked me. "I like both you _____ Anne," I answered.

"Look!" said Mary. "Either you go out with me _____ you go out

with Anne. You can't love both me _____ Anne at the same time."

"Why not?" I answered.

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I. VOCABULARY: Underline the word that fits the meaning of each sentence.

1. Xian has a (shinny, brilliant) mind.

2. My friend collects (aged, antique) furniture.
3. The glass figurines were very (fragile, flimsy).
4. Kim (spotted, detected) a hint of disapproval in his mother‘s voice.
5. Tom‘s library books are (expected, overdue)

II. READING COMPREHENSION: Read the selections carefully and answer the questions
that follow. Encircle the letter of your answer.

A good looking boy lived with his wise grandmother. The boy loved to talk about
himself and boasted that he was the best. His grandmother knew that people did not like him
for his boastfulness. So one day, she took the boy to the rice fields. ―Do you see those heads
of palay?‖ grandmother asked. ―They are full of big ripening grains of palay. See how humbly
they bow their heads to the ground.‖
―Look over on the other side, Grandmother pointed to the other side of rice field.
―The palay heads are thin for they are still empty, yet they all stand very proudly.‖
―These palay plants are like boastful persons‖, continued the grandmother.
6. These palay are like boastful person. What is the synonym of boastful?
A. Wise B. Shy C. Intelligent D. Proud
7. What value is reflected in the statement ―the palay heads humbly bow down their heads to
the ground‖?
A. Courage B. Bravery C. Humility D. Honesty
8. What positive character of the grandmother is shown in the selection?
A. Cheerfulness B. Faithfulness C. Sensibility D. Kindness
9. What is the negative characteristic of the boy?
A. Good-looking B. Boastful C. Loving D. Humble
10. What generalization can be drawn from the selection?
A. The boy loves to talk about himself to his grandmother.
B. Some palay heads bow, some stand.
C. Wise people tend to be boastful
D. Humility makes us real
III. COHESIVE DEVICE: Select and encircle the letter of the appropriate cohesive device.
I1. Man enjoys a variety of musical instruments ________ his greatest musical instrument is
his voice.
A. but B. or C. so D. for
12. Rock music can be very irritating to some people ______ it can be very pleasing to others.
A. since B. nor C. but D. and
13. One should not limit himself to familiar music ______ give oneself the chance to explore
new kinds as well.
A. but B. so C. while D. because
14. The school always sends her to quiz bees _________ she has to read informational books.
A. unless B. although C. therefore D. when
15.We should do that now, _______ tomorrow we won‘t have time.
A. for B. and C. so D. but

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**VOCABULARY
ACTIVITY A.1 ACTIVITY A.2 ACTIVITY A.3
1. A 1. hammer ANSWERS MAY VARY
2. B 2. tremble
3. D 3. hit
4. A 4. cracked
5. C 5. twisting

**READING COMPREHENSION
ACTIVITY B.1
1 8 6 2 4 5 3 9 7 10
ACTIVITY B.2
1. Ko-ngai- beautiful, lovable
Kouan Yu- obedient, hardworking
Yong Lo – powerful, strict
2. at the foundry
3. lovable, obedience, hardworking
4. Kongai sacrificed her life to save his father from death.
5. During mass, when it times to assemble

ACTIVITY B.3
1. A 2. B 3. B 4. A 5. B

**COHESIVE DEVICES
ACTIVITY C.1 ACTIVITY C.2
Therefore But 1.because
But when Then 2. so
A second time But inspite of 3. but
Now And still 4. and
At last 5. but

ACTIVITY C.3
1. so 2. because 3. but 4. or 5. and 6. or 7. And

ASSESSMENT CARD

1. brilliant 6. D 11.D
2. antique 7. D 12. C
3. fragile 8. C 13. A
4. detected 9. B 14. C
5. overdue 10. D 15. A

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Anama, Gina A. Voyages in Communication: Learning Material in English.
Philippines: DepEd-IMCS, 2013.

http://englishuphfon.weebly.com/practice-using-cohesive-devices.html

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