Learning Area English Grade Level 7

W6 Quarter
I. LESSON TITLE
II. MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING
COMPETENCIES (MELCs)
III. CONTENT/CORE CONTENT
4 Date
Filipinos’ Linkage to their Cultural Identity
MELC 27. Discover literature as a tool to assert one’s unique identity and to
better understand other people
Where’s the Patis? by Carmen Guerrero Nakpil

IV. LEARNING PHASES AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

I. Introduction (Time Frame: 30 minutes)
Gary Paulsen once said: “You can take the man out of the woods, but you cannot take the woods out of the man.” Truly, a
person’s cultural identity is deeply embedded in his mind, heart, and soul, even though at times one becomes far away from
home.
This week’s lesson explores the idea of asserting one’s unique identity and better understanding of the people around
him/her through the longing of one’s senses to the stimuli of homebound material cultures, particularly food, while being away
from the country as one tries to blend into the global crowd.
Before delving deeper through the essay of Carmen Guerrero Nakpil titled, “Where’s the Patis?”, here are some foods that
best define being a Filipino:

The Filipino culture has been constantly changing throughout history, gaining influence from various nations who colonized
our country and those nearby, and inevitably has evolved. Filipino food today has been shaped by many unique and affluent
cultures, thus making the Philippines a mixture of different cultures in one plate. Here are examples of such delicacies:
 Many of us associate food with good memories and it ties us to our families, holding a special and personal value for us. It
is passed down from generation to generation. It also operates as an expression and a way of preserving cultural identity.
D. Development (Time Frame: 2 hours)

Learning Task 1
Match each vocabulary word to its definition to help you better understand the selection that you are about to read. Write
only the letter of your answer.
_____ 1. denationalize A. (noun) failures
_____ 2. bastion B. (noun) sense of taste
_____ 3. palate C. (noun) a fortified place
_____ 4. crux D. (noun) a vital or decisive point
_____ 5. debacles E. (verb) to deprive of national status, attachments or characteristics

Learning Task 2
Read “Where’s the Patis?” by Carmen Guerrero Nakpil. As you read the selection, STOP when you see a dish illustration and
answer the question.

Where’s the Patis?

Carmen Guerrero Nakpil
1A Filipino may denationalize himself but not his stomach. He may travel over the
seven seas, the five continents, the two hemispheres and lose the savor of home, forget his
identity and believe himself a citizen of the world. But he remains- gastronomically, at least,
always a Filipino. For, if in no other way, the Filipino loves his country with his stomach.
2 Travel has become the great Filipino dream. In the same way that an American
dreams of becoming a millionaire or an English boy dreams of going to one of the great
universities, the Filipino dreams of going abroad. His most constant vision is that of himself as
a tourist.
3 To visit Hongkong, Tokyo and other cities of Asia, perchance or to catch a glimpse

of Rome, Paris or London or to go to America (even for only a week in a flyspecked motel in
California) is the sum of all delights.
4 Yet having left Manila International Airport in a pink cloud of despedidas and

sampaguita garlands and pabilin, the dream turns into a nightmare very quickly. But why?
Because the first bastion of the Filipino spirit is the palate. And in all the palaces and fleshpots
and skyscrapers of that magic world called "abroad" there is no patis to be had.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 Consider the Pinoy abroad. He has discarded the barong tagalog or "polo" for a
dark, sleek Western suit. He takes to the habiliments from Hongkong, Brooks Brothers or Savile
Row with the greatest of ease. He has also shed the casual informality of manner that is
characteristically Filipino. He gives himself the airs of a cosmopolite to the credit card born.
He is extravagantly courteous (especially in a borrowed language) and has taken to hand-
kissing and to plenty of American "D'you mind's?"
 6 He
hardly misses the heat, the native accents of Tagalog or Ilonggo or the company of his brown-skinned cheerful
compatriots. He takes, like duck to water, to the skyscrapers, the temperate climate, the strange landscape and the fabled
refinements of another world. How nice, after all, to be away from good old R.P. for a change!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 But as he sits down to meal, no matter how sumptuous, his heart sinks. His stomach

juices, he discovers, are much less neither as apahap nor lapu-lapu. Tournedos is meat done
in a barbarian way, thick and barely cooked with red juices still oozing out. The safest choice
is a steak. If the Pinoy can get it well done enough and sliced thinly enough, it might remind
him of tapa.
8 If
the waiter only knew enough about Philippine cuisine, he might suggest venison
which is really something like tapang usa, or escargots which the unstylish poor on Philippine
beaches know as snails. Or even frogs' legs which are a Pampango delight.
9But this is the crux of the problem, where is the rice? A silver tray offers varieties of
bread: slices of crusty French bread, soft yellow rolls, rye bread, crescents studded with
sesame seeds. There are also potatoes in every conceivable manner, fried, mashed, boiled,
buttered. But no rice.
10 The Pinoy learns that rice is considered a vegetable in Europe and America. The
staff of life, a vegetable!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11 Where is the patis?
12 Andwhen it comes to a special order which takes at least half an hour the grains
are large, oval and foreign- looking and what's more, yellow with butter. And oh horrors!-
one must shove it with a fork or pile it with one's knife on the back of another fork.
13 After a few days of these debacles, the Pinoy, sick with longing, decides to comb

the strange city for a Chinese restaurant, the closest thing to the beloved gastronomic
country. There, in the company of other Asian exiles, he will put his nose finally in a bowl of
rice and find it more fragrant than an English rose garden, more exciting than a castle on
the Rhine and more delicious than pink champagne.
To go with the rice there is siopao (not so rich as at Salazar), pancit guisado
14

reeking with garlic (but never so good as any that can be had on the sidewalks of Quiapo),
fried lumpia with the incorrect sauce, and even mami (but nothing like the downtown
wanton).
15 Better than a Chinese restaurant is the kitchen of a kababayan. When in a foreign

city, a Pinoy searches every busy sidewalk, theater, restaurant for the well- remembered
golden features of a fellow-pinoy. But make no mistake.

Learning Task 3
Complete the table by filling in the second row with the Filipino counterpart of the food listed in the first row.

Food in the Example:

selection

a French steak dish

Filipino food
counterpart
based on the ________________________ ________________________ ________________________
selection
E. Engagement (Time Frame: 1 hour)
Learning Task 4
Think of your town/city’s most well-known food or delicacy. Draw or cut-out a picture and paste it on a piece
of paper. Then, write a short essay using the following guide questions:
 Why does that food or delicacy best represent your town/city’s cultural identity?
 Why should other people try it?
Your work will be grade based on the following criteria:
Content (5pts), Organization (5 pts), Writing Mechanics (5pts).
A. Assimilation (Time Frame: 10 minutes)
Culture is the shared characteristics of a group of people, which encompasses, place of birth, religion, language,
cuisine, social behaviors, art, literature, and music. Some cultures are widespread and have a large number of people who
associate themselves with those particular values, beliefs, and origins. Others are relatively small, with only a small number
of people who associate themselves with that culture. However, the value of culture cannot be defined by its size. No matter
if a culture is widespread or kept within a small region, is young or old, or has changed over time or stayed the same, every
culture can teach us about ourselves, others, and the global community. (from National Geographic Resource Library)

Take a look at the illustrations of Filipinos indicating the parts of a body; the head,
mouth, and feet. Explain each body part based on your comprehension of the
selection as well as the descriptions and values/attitudes of Filipinos. Write your answers
in the boxes. Using the following as your guide, write your answers in the boxes.
• Head: Filipinos remember ________________ when in a foreign country.
• Mouth: When in a foreign country, Filipinos crave for _________________.
• Feet: When Filipinos travel, they ___________________________________.
V. ASSESSMENT (Time Frame: 10 minutes)
Instructions: Answer the following questions on your paper.
1. Generally, Filipinos dream of going abroad as a ______________.
A. businessman B. tourist C. worker
2. “The Pinoy, sick with longing, decides to comb the strange city for a Chinese restaurant.” The word comb in this sentence
means _________________.
A. untangle B. smooth out C. search carefully
3. Why is the kitchen of a kababayan better than a Chinese restaurant?
A. The place is spacious and has good ambience.
B. The food they cook are reminiscent of their home country.
C. The restaurant offers different varieties of noodles and soups.
4. What character trait of Filipinos allows them to easily engage and practice another culture’s customs?
A. adaptability B. creativity C. hospitality
5. What is the theme of the selection?
A. A Filipino would satisfy their palate wherever he goes.
B. A Filipino values the friendship from other Filipinos he meets in a foreign land.
C. A Filipino’s identity and his longingness for Filipino culture will remain with him in all his ways.
VI. REFLECTION (Time Frame: 10 minutes)
 Communicate your personal assessment as indicated in the Learner’s Assessment Card.
Personal Assessment on Learner’s Level of Performance
Using the symbols below, choose one which best describes your experience in working on each given task. Draw it in the column for Level of
Performance (LP). Be guided by the descriptions below:
 - I was able to do/perform the task without any difficulty. The task helped me in understanding the target content/ lesson.
 - I was able to do/perform the task. It was quite challenging, but it still helped me in understanding the target content/lesson.
? – I was not able to do/perform the task. It was extremely difficult. I need additional enrichment activities to be able to do/perform this task.
Learning Task LP Learning Task LP
Number 1 Number 3
Number 2 Number 4
VII. REFERENCES Department of Education. English Grade 7 Learner's Material. Philippines: FEP Printing Corp, 2017.
National Geographic Society. "Cultural Identity." Accessed June 5, 2021.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/topics/resource-library-cultural-identity/?q=&page=1&per_page=25.
Pineda, Maida, Candice Lopez-Quimpo, and For CNN. "50 Dishes That Define the Philippines." CNN. Last modified May
25, 2016. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/50-delicious-philippines-dishes/index.html.
"Where’s the Patis?" Kwf.gov.ph. Accessed June 5, 2021. https://kwf.gov.ph/wp-
content/uploads/2_Wheres_the_Patis.pdf.
Prepared by: Tesalonica C. Abesamis Checked by: Mary Joy B. Talavera
Karren Fatima G. Gomez Maria Madel C. Rubia
Luzviminda Cynthia Richelle F. Quintero
Generosa F. Zubieta
Ermelo A. Escobiñas
Rempson P. Sumilang