QUARTER 4

Module 5
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Embracing Diversity

Differences among people cannot be avoided. You will encounter

different people with different culture wherever you go. It is up to you how you
handle these differences. Will it be a hindrance for you to understand others
better? Or are you ready to set aside differences to become a better person?
The answer lies in your hands.

Task 1. Picture Me a Word. Look at the given set of pictures carefully. Give
the word that best describes the symbols below. Form the word by choosing
from the boxed letters. Write your answer on the empty boxes.

Challenge Questions:

Supply the word that you formed, and answer the following
questions.
1. What makes people ____________ from one another?
2. How will it affect us?

Task 2. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (Activity notebook)

A. Pre-reading.
 Observe the pictures below. List down all the words that you
can form out of these pictures.
 What do these pictures tell you?
 Write your answers on your notebook.

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Task 3. To Where I Belong (Activity notebook)

B. During Reading. Study the following sentences. Group the underlined

words according to their classifications. Use the sentences as your clue in
finding out where the underlined words belong. Write your answers on the
table provided below.
 His penmanship is legible because the teacher understood clearly
what he had written.
 The boy sprawled on the floor because his father did not buy a new
toy.
 The house was dank because it never stopped raining since
yesterday.
 The stark truth about his condition is very obvious.
 Mang Jose is so usurious because he likes to lend money for a bigger
payment.
 Even though he was puny in size, he has a very big heart.
 Julio was ashamed so he concealed himself.
 Fidela fumbled carelessly on her bag looking for her handkerchief.

Describing Word Action Word

At the end of the module you are expected to

 Discover the conflicts presented in the literary selections and the need to
resolve those conflicts in non-violent ways.
 Explain how the elements of a short story contribute to the theme of the
story

Curriculum Guide Reference and Duration

 Understands how Philippine Literature guides and helps answer an

important question about life. “How does setting aside differences help you
live in a harmonious community” and express ideas opinions, feelings and
emotions; serve as a tool to assert one’s identity in a diverse society.
 2 to 3 days duration

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 You are a part of a diverse and ever-changing society. For you to live
in harmony with others, you must learn to accept our differences, and use
them to create a more productive community. In order to achieve that, you
need to learn how to embrace our differences. It is about trying to understand
each other, and not letting differences serve as a hindrance. It is about
developing a well-rounded community in a diverse society.

Reading Time

THE HAPPIEST BOY IN THE WORLD

N.V.M. Gonzales

(1) Julio, who had come from Tablas to settle in Barok, was writing a letter, of
all people, Ka Ponso, his landlord, one warm June night. It was about his son,
Jose, who wanted to go to school in Mansalay that year. Jose was in fifth
grade when Julio and his family had left Tablas the year before and migrated
to Mindoro; because the father had some difficulty in getting some land of his
own to farm, the boy had to stop schooling for a year. As it was, Julio thought
himself lucky enough to have Ka Ponso take him on as tenant. Later, when
Julio's wife Fidela gave birth to a baby, Ka Ponso, whi happened to be visiting
his property then, offered to become its godfather. After that they began to call
each other compadre.

(2) "Dear Compadre," Julio started to write in Tagalog, bending earnestly over
a piece of paper which he had torn out of Jose's school notebook. It was
many months ago, when, just as now, he had sat down with a writing
implement in his hand. That was when he had gone to the municipio in
Mansalay to file a homestead application, and he had used a pen, and to his
great surprise, filled in the blank forms neatly. Nothing came of the
application, although Ka Ponso had assured him he had looked into the
matter and talked with the officials concerned. Now, with a pencil instead of a
pen to write with, Julio was sure that he could make his letter legible enough
for Ka Ponso.

(3) "It's about my boy, Jose." he wrote on. "I want him to study this June in
Mansalay. He's in the sixth grade now, and since he's quite a poor hand at
looking after your carabaos, I thought it would be best that he go to school in
the town."

(4) He sat back and leaned against a wall. He had been writing on a low
wooden form, the sole piece of furniture in the one-room house. There he sat
in one corner. A little way across stood the stove; to his right, Fidela and the

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baby girl Felipa, lay under the hempen mosquito net. Jose, who had been out
all afternoon looking for one of Ka Ponsos carabaos that had strayed away to
the newly planted rice-clearings along the other side of the Barok river, was
here too, sprawling beside a sack of palay by the doorway. He snored lightly,
like a tired youth; but he was only twelve.

(5) The kerosene lamp's yellow flame flickered ceaselessly. The dank smell of
food, fish broth, particularly, that had been spilled from many a bowl and had
dried on the form, now seemed to rise from the very texture of the wood itself.
The stark truth about their poverty, if Julios nature had been sensitive to it,
might have struck him then with a hard and sudden blow; but, as it was, he
just looked about the room, even as the smell assailed his nostrils, and
starred now at the mosquito net, now at Jose as he lay there by the door.
Then he continued with his letter.

(6) ""This boy, Jose, compadre," he went on, "is quite an industrious lad. If
you can only let him stay in your big house, compadre, you can make him do
anything you wish--any work. He can cook rice, and I'm sure he'll do well
washing the dishes."

(7) Julio recalled his last visit to Ka Ponsos about three months ago, during
the fiesta. He had seen that it was a big house; the floor was so polished you
could almost see your own image as you walked; and always there was a
servant who followed you about with a piece of rag to wipe away the smudges
of dirt which your feet had left on the floor.

(8) "I hope you will not think of this as a great bother," Julio continued, trying
his best to phrase his thoughts. He had a vague fear that Ka Ponso might not
favorably regard his letter. But he wrote on, slowly and steadily, stopping only
to read what he had put down. "We shall repay you for whatever you can do
for us, compadre. It's true we already owe you for many things, but your
comadre and I will do all we can indeed to repay you."

(9) Reading the last sentence and realizing that he had made mention of his
wife, Julio recalled that during the very first month after their arrival from
Tablas, they had received five cavanes of rice from Ka Ponso and that later
he had been told that at harvest time he should pay back twice the number of
cavanes. This was usurious but was strictly after the custom in those parts,
and Julio was not the sort who would complain. Besides he had never thought
of Ka Ponso as anything else than his compadre spiritual, as they call it, a
true friend.

(10) Suddenly he began wondering how Jose would move about in Ka

Ponso's household, being unaccustomed to so many things there. The boy
might even stumble over a chair and break some dishes...He feared for the
boy.

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(11) And I wish you would treat Jose as you would your own son, compadre.
You may beat him if he should commit some wrong, and indeed I want him to
look up to you as a second father.

(12) Julio felt he had nothing more to say, and that he had written the longest
letter in all his life. For a moment his fingers felt numb; and this was a funny
thing, he thought, because he had scarcely filled the page. He sat back again,
and smiled to himself.

(13) He had completed the letter. He had feared he would never be able to
write it. But now it was done; and, it seemed, the letter would read well. The
next day he must send Jose off.

(14) About six o'clock the following morning, a boy of twelve was riding a
carabao along the river-bed road to town. He was very puny load on the
carabao's broad back.

(15) Walking close behind the carabao, the father accompanied him up to the
bend of the river. When the beast hesitated in crossing the small rivulet that
cut the road as it passed a clump of bamboo, the man picked up a stick and
prodded the animal. Then he handed the stick to the boy, as one might give a
precious gift.

(16) The father did not cross the stream but only stood there by the bank.
"Mind to look after the letter," he called out from where he was. "Do you have
it there, in your pocket?"

(17) The boy fumbled for it. When he had found it, he said, "No, Tatay, I won't
lose it."

(18) And take good care of the carabao, Julio added. Ill go to town myself in a
day or two, to get that carabao back. I just want to be done first with the
planting.

(19) Then Julio started to walk back to his house, thinking of the work that
awaited him in his clearing that day. But he thought of something more to tell
his son, and so he stopped and called out to him again. (20) And that letter,
he shouted. Give it to Ka Ponso as soon as you reach town. Then be good,
and do everything he asks you to do. Remember: everything.

(21) From atop the carabao, Jose yelled, Yes, Tatay, yes, and rode away. A
stand of abaca plants, their green leaves glimmering in the morning sun, soon
concealed him from view.

(22) Fastened to his saddle was his bundle of clothes and a little package of
rice, food to last him all through his first week in town. It was customary for
school boys from the barrio or farm to provide themselves in this simple

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manner; in Joses case, although he was going to live at Ka Ponsos, it could
not be said that his father had forgotten about this little matter concerning
food.

(23) Thinking of his father, Jose grew suddenly curious about the letter he
carried in his shirt pocket. He stopped his carabao under a shady tree by the
roadside.

(24) A bird sang in a bush hard by. Jose could hear it even as he read the
letter, jumping from word to word, for to him the dialect was quite difficult. But
as the meaning of each sentence became clear to him, he experienced a
curious exultation. It was as though he were the happiest boy in the world and
that the bird was singing for him. He heard the rumbling of the stream
faraway. There he and his father had parted. The world seemed full of bird
song and music from the stream.

Task 4. Process Questions

Imagine that you are one of the characters in the story. Pick two of the
following questions and answer it. Write your answer in your notebook.

1. If you were Ka Ponso, how would you react if you read the letter of
Julio? Why?
2. If you were the boy, how would you feel if somebody sponsored you to
go to school? Why?
3. If you were the father of the boy, how would you react if somebody
offered a scholarship for your child? Why?
4. If you were Julio, would you do the same? Why? Why not?
5. What will you do if you are Ka Ponso? Will you grant the wish? Why?
Why not?

ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES

The Short Story

 A short story is an imagined account of events brief enough to be read

at a single sitting. Your appreciation of a short story will greatly
increase if you understand the tools which an author uses in telling
one. Some of them are: setting, character, plot and point of view.

Elements of the short story

The basic elements of a short story are setting, conflict, character,

plot, theme, and point of view.

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Setting
This element refers to the place and time when and where the story
happened. When evaluating the setting, look for where the action takes
place. In addition, the historical period may be important.

Conflict
In every story, there has to be a problem. It is the problem presented
in the story through the clash between the main character and other forces.
The main character has to be challenged in some way or the story will go
nowhere.

The three common kinds conflict are:

 Man vs. man – it is the opposition between the main character and
other characters in the story.
 Man vs. himself – it shows the problem created by the main character
and his/her personality.
 Man vs. society – it is the conflict between the main character and the
society where he/she lives.

Source: Hovland, L.et.al. (1997). Elements of literature Introduction Course.

Orlando, Florida: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston Inc.

Character
The development of the characters is important to the short story. The
characters are the heart of the story. The two primary characters are called
the protagonist and the antagonist.
The protagonist is the main character. It is not safe to call him the hero
because the main character is not always heroic. He/she is the person with
which the story is most concerned.
The antagonist does not have to be a human being. If he is a person,
he may be the villain. This character does not have the main character’s best
interest at heart. In some stories, nature is the antagonist.

Plot

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Theme

Theme is life lesson of a story or the author’s message; the idea the
writer wishes to convey about an important subject; expressed in the
sentence; not usually stated directly; can have two or more themes but one
often stands out as the principal theme.

Subject – usually expressed in a word or two: love, childhood, or death

Point of view

Point of view answers the question: “who is telling the story?” An

author may choose one of the characters in the story to be the narrator, when
he does this, he using the first person or personal point of view.

The other point of view an author may use is the third person or non-
participant narrator who is more of an observer.

Now that you have accepted differences among people, what do you
think is your next step? It is now time for you to fit in and respond to the needs
of others. You need to become a part of society that works together, to set
aside personal interests and, to become more sensitive to the needs of
others. It is now time for you to act and lend a helping hand to those who
need them without expecting something in return. It is your calling to become
a living individual not only to satisfy oneself but also to serve others.

Task 5. (Activity notebook) Discuss the answers to the following

questions:

1. When and where did the story happen? What are the lines in the story
that support your answer?
2. The story features three kinds of conflict which are man vs. man, man
vs. himself, and man vs. society. Find the events in the story that
reflect these kinds of conflict. Organize your answer using this table:

Kinds of Conflict Events in the Story

Man vs. Man

Man vs. Himself

Man vs. Society

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EVALUATION

Task 6. (Activity notebook) Go over the events in the story, and find out
the lesson that you will get from it. Use these questions as your guide:

1. How did Julio make his son happy?

2. If you are in Ka Ponso’s shoes, what will you do? Why? Why not?
3. Do you think differences among us will serve as a hindrance for us to
grow? Why? Why not?
4. How can you make others happy in your own way?

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

Task 7. (Activity notebook) Retell the important events in the story by

using “The Adventure Map of Plot”.

Task 8. The Search for the Theme. (Activity notebook) Determine the
different events in the story that showed how the characters helped each
other in spite of their differences. Explain why it is important to embrace
differences while applying it to the modern world. Enumerate the benefits that
we can get from accepting differences among people.

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  Supplemental Lessons in English Grade 7 pp 3-4
 Source: Hovland, L.et.al. (1997). Elements of literature Introduction
Course.
 Orlando, Florida: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston Inc.
 Remoto, D., Balarbar, C. & Bolasco K. (1989). Gems in Philippine
Literature.
 Philippines: National Bookstore, Incorporated

Task 1. D I F F E R E N T

Task 2. Answers may vary

Task 3.

Describing Word Action Word

legible sprawled
dank concealed
stark fumbled
usurious
puny

Task 4. Answers may vary

Task 5.

1. Setting : July (time), Mindoro (place)

Kinds of Conflict Events in the Story

Man vs. Man
Man vs. Himself
Man vs. Society
Julio thinks that Ka Ponso will not grant
his wish.
Julio does not know if he will send the
letter to Ka Ponso or not.
Since Julio’s family is not well-off in life;
he needs to ask the help of other people
to send his son to school.

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Task 6. Answers may vary

Task 7. Provide guide questions for the learners for them to be guided
as they complete the Map:

1. Exposition - How did the writer begin the story?

2. Rising action – what are the problem encountered by the main
character?
3. Climax – what did the character do to solve the problem?
4. Falling action – what was the result of their action?
5. Resolution – How did the story ends?

Task 8. Answers may vary

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