Activity 12

NAME: JOHN ALBERT AZARSE

Instruction: Look for the following masterpieces online. Provide the theme and summary of each literary
text. Take note of the characters and symbolism if they are present.

Here are the list：

● Ang Isang Punong Kahoy by Jose Corazon de Jesus

● Ibong Mandaragit and Isang Dipang Langit by Amado V. Hernandez VALERIANO

● Banaag at Sikat by Lope K. Santos

● Walang Sugat by Severino Reyes

● Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas by Aurelio Tolentino

● Ninay by Pedro Paterno

● Anak ng Dagat by Patricio Mariano

● Bunganga ng Pating by Julian Cruz Balmaceda

Ang Isang Punong Kahoy by Jose Corazon de Jesus

This poem “Ang Isang Punong Kahoy” written by Jose Corazon de Jesus is believed to be a poem that
speaks about his life especially at the point of his time where his health was waning and on the brink of
his last breath. This poem, as mentioned by online sources, was written by Jose Corazon de Jesus during
his last few days in which he underscored his sufferings and regrets for what he has done and has not
done. Moreover, the poem talks about a tree and this tree becomes the persona of the poem. This tree
figuratively describe the stages of life—from sapling to age-long tree, in which akin to that of the stages
of human life. Similar with a young tree, youths are also strong and capable. However, as it accrues with
time it is undeniable that a tree losses its leaves and started to be vulnerable. The same with human,
who have reached the old-age, they would feel lonely as well especially when we feel how short the
hours left on us. The themes of this poem are death and value of life. In which, Jose taught us that it is
inevitable for us to meet our demise soon and it will come just like a theft in the night. Having that said,
one must know how to utilize and live his life. This poem is composed of 12 syllables is each line with 8
stanzas. The symbolism in this lyrical poetry is the persona “punong kahoy” in which the poet
compared this to his life that when he met his demise the branches of the tree are his cross, the leaves
 Activity 12

are the flowers. Another symbolism here is the “batis” which represents the tears of the people who
attended his funeral.

Ibong Mandaragit by Amado V. Hernandez

This novel unravels the story of a servant named Andoy. He lived under the house of Don Segundo
Montero. However, Andoy was allegedly accused to be a member of guerilla. Andoy has escaped and
just went with a guerilla and slept in the house of Tata Matias, who taught him where Father Florentino
threw the treasure of Simoun. On the next day, Andoy, together with the guerillas Karyo and Martin,
dived into the pacific and found the treasures of Simoun. However Karyo was killed by the shark
whereas Martin, who attempted to kill Andoy for he wanted a sole ownership of the treasure, was killed
by Andoy himself. Martin cut Andoy’s cheek and this concealed the true identity of Andoy. Andoy hid
his true self as Mando Plaridel. Andoy used his money to establish a newspaper publishing. He let his
friend Magat to manage the Kampilan. He then realized that he needed to nourish and nurture himself
with knowledge and that made him went to abroad to enrich his self. He then met and saved Dolly
Montero, who’s the daughter of his former master, from the hands of a foreign who tried to rape her.
Dolly fell in love with Andoy because of that. When two has returned to Manila separately, Dolly invited
Andoy. Looking forward, Andoy helped the farmers and revealed his true identity first with Tata Pastor
and Puri, after Puri reciprocated his love. On the point of view of Don Sedundo Montero, he was put to
jail after the relentless effort of Ando of exposing the illicit activities done by the Don, for instance being
a smuggler.

Characters:

Andoy— a lover of Puri and feigned to be Mando Plaridel

Don Segundo Montero— the father of Dolly and a smuggler

Tata Matias— who told Andoy of where Father Florentino threw the treasure of Simoun

Karyo— a guerilla who accompany Andoy in seeking the treasure in the pacific

Martin— a selfish man and was killed by Andoy

Magat— Andoy’s friend and manager of kampilan

Dolly Montero— who was attracted to Andoy

Tata Pastor— Andoy’s uncle

Puri— a cousin and lover of Andoy

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Theme: One of the themes that I can extract from this is to foster a care for the least fortunate like the
farmers, and another theme is the exposition of the illegal doings.

Symbolism:

Kampilan— it is newspaper publishing which I believe to be the voice of the people

Isang Dipang Langit by Amado V. Hernandez

This poem talks about a prisoner captivated by an evil leader, whose rights were jailed as well. This was
written in first person point of view. The narrator stated that this place was isolated and what he only
saw was a little window that made him see an arm’s length piece of sky. The narrator is awaken by the
brutalities that happened at night. Moreover, narrator still believes in hope that one the tyranny has a
price to pay and the unfortunate will not stay oppress, that there is a tomorrow where no more
sufferings and tears falling from the tired eyes because freedom is achieved. This poem has a tone of
rebellion and sufferings, as it is evidently expressed by the words of the poet. The theme revolves
around the life inside the prison and the possibilities when freedom is achieved. In a nutshell, it is about
justice, reform and equality. I believe the symbolism used in the poem includes the little window which
symbolizes hopes. In addition to that is prison which signifies how our motherland is colonized by the
foreign country.

Banaag at Sikat by Lope K. Santos

Characters:

Delfin- socialism advocate, journalist and husband of Meni

Meni— was abandoned by Don Ramon because of the disgrace he believed brought by Meni to his
family

Felipe- is a son of an affluent president in one of the nations in the east, fried of Delfin, and is an
anarchist

Tentay— Felipe’s lover

Don Ramon— A rich man in Manila who exploits his people; who has two daughters— Talia and Meni,
and one son who is married already

Talia— Madlanglayon’s husband

Madlanglayon— a lawyer and husband of Talia

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Kusinero— who save Tentay from the food shortage during the baptism of his son

Don Felimon— Don Ramon’s business partner and the one who threated and ordered the workers to
see the death Don Ramon and if not they will not receive their wage

Ruperto— Don Ramon’s trusted servant’s friend and narrated the reason of the demise of Don Ramon
because of his cruelty

This is all about the two friends— Felipe and Delfin. Though they don’t have the same ideology in life
(because Felipe is an anarchist and Delfin is a socialist), they still share a common goal—to address
poverty and equality. Felipe, though born with silver spoons and forks already, has opened his eyes with
the maltreatment received by their farmers and servants in the house by his father. It has urged him to
run away under the supervision and house of his father because he could not withstand the unpleasant
attitude of his father, who displayed conspicuous stratification. He lived on his own and met Tentay,
whom he fell in love with. But he was forced by his father to come back; he became submissive then.
When Felipe was home, he taught their servants and farmer with their rights and it made his father to
be up in arms and forced him to be abandoned by his own father. Felipe went back to Manila and asked
Tentay to be with him despite of not getting married and to stay under one roof. Moving forward,
Delfin, the friend of Felipe, met Meni and later on became his wife. At first, Meni’s father was the
obstacle of their union but Meni got pregnant by Delfin, forcing them to get married. However, Don
Ramon with the help of Madlanglayon made a testament indicating that Meni is no longer considered as
his heir. This led Meni and Delfin to still live under travails of life. It was during the baptism of their son
when Meni received the news that his father was killed by his favorite servant when he flew to Japan,
United States and Europe just to escape the disgrace he felt. Felipe and Delfin had descried how lavish
even the burial of Don Ramon but neglecting the thousands of people who are combating with famine
day by day.

Theme: I believe the themes here include love and equality. Love because both the main characters,
Delfin and Felipe, fought for the person they love. And equality because both of them want the servants
and farmers will enjoy the same privilege with opportunity and rights of law.

Symbolism: I believe that the title alone has its own symbolism in which it underscores the unfortunate
situations of the farmers and servants, or the poor in general as Banaag or Early Dawn in English. This
only means that a ray of hope started to appear and it is closed to “Sikat” or the full light of the sun for
the people to get the same privilege as enjoyed by the affluent.
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Walang Sugat by Severino Reyes

The Walang Sugat, a zarzuela written by Severino Reyes, talks about the love of Tenyong and Julia. It was
believed to be a forbidden love because Tenyong and Julia are cousins. Their story started when Julia,
together with the other women, embroidered handkerchiefs for their love ones. Julia’s handkerchief has
the initial of Tenyong’s full name ANF or Antonio Narciso Flores. Tenyong paid a visit at Julia’s house
and Aling Juana, Julia’s mother, was there. Aling Juana was the thorn in the relationship of Julia and
Tenyong because she wanted her daughter to marry Miguel, a rich yet illiterate nephew of the parish
priest. Unfortunately, a sad new brought Lucas brought concerned to the group. Lucas said that Kapitan
Inggo, father of Tenyong, and his companions were arrested by the Spaniards as they are allegedly
considered as rebels. All of them hurriedly went to the quarter of Bulacan to see Kapitan Inggo. They
have heard that the others were dead already except for Kapitan Inggo who was battling for his life as
the upshot of the torture by the Spaniards. Later on, Tenyong saw vividly how his father lost its last
breath, and had witness how her mother Kapitana Putin fainted from what happened. With that,
Tenyong made a promise to revenge the doleful and inhumane sufferings of his father. This led him to
turn his back from his love for Julia and the mourning of his mother for his father’s death. Tenyong
instilled in his mind he is doing this to save his motherland from the atrocious hands of Spanish
colonizers. He left and it made Julia worried because he did not receive any letters from Tenyong,
forcing her to scrape the barrel of marrying Miguel. Julia informed Tenyong about this. Then Lucas
delivered it to Tenyong and it was evident on Tenyon’s visage that he was clad with blue-devils for the
two sad news— his mother’s passing and Julia’s marriage arrangement and asking for help. Tenyong did
not got the chance to give a written response because they were attacked by “Makabebe” and he only
asked Lucas to inform Julia of his coming soon. Moving forward, Tenyong asked a help from Heneral
Leon Villa in order for him to take the place of Miguel. However, the hopeful spirit of Julia was shattered
when she received a news from General Leon Villa that Tenyong got died during the battle. And it left
Julia a choice to marry Miguel.

On the wedding day, the wedding encountered a brief respite because of the announcement made by
Lucas that Tenyong is alive but is dying. The wedding did not proceed to its usual flow because Tenyong
needed to confess his sins to the priest. But before he proceed with the confession, Tenyong whispered
to the priest his last wish that he hoped to be wed with Julia, as his dying wish. Everyone agreed
because Julia will just become a window and her marriage with Miguel still has a chance. But everybody
was flabbergasted when Tenyong went up to show everyone that he has no wounds (walang sugat).

Characters:

Julia—Aling Juana’s daughter, and a cousin and lover of Tenyong

Tenyong — a far degree cousin of Julia and her lover

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Aling Juana— Julia’s mother and the one objected the relationship between Julia and Tenyong

Kapitan Inggo— Tenyong’s father

Kapitana Putin— Tenyong’s mother

Lucas— a friend of Tenyong and his messenger and informant

Miguel— a rich yet illiterate nephew of the parish priest

General Leon Villa— the one who helped Tenyong to be married with Julia

Theme: It highlights injustices suffered by the Filipinos under the hands of Spain. Another theme that
we can extract is the forbidden love between Julia and Tenyong has been hampered because of their
social status but at the end, their love prevails.

Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas by Aurelio Tolentino

The play “kahapon, Ngayon, at Bukas” started with the scene of celebration of the Filipinos who were in
gay and exhilarating with joy. This celebration was interrupted by Inang Bayan when she came in,
together with Tagailog. Inangbayan lectured and reprimanded them. However Asalhayop, together with
the rest of attendees, just laugh at them. This made the Inangbayan felt so betrayed and sad, so she
insinuated to them the grave of their progenitors for them to open their eyes of how much blood and
life were lost when they fought and longed for independence. All of them knelt after pondering what
Inangbayan has said, except for Asalhayop who took his exit. This further saddened the Inangbayan and
left the group while Tagailog stayed. Tagailog suggested to fight for their freedom in their own land and
recruited the others. Others were willing to join the crusade except for Asalhayop. Howover, Asalhayop
had a dark plan at the expense of his fellow countrymen lives. He communicated with Haringbata and
delivered to him the plan of insurgency at the exchange of money. Haringbata agreed to Asalhayop and
made him a spy. Luckily, Inangbayan was clandestinely listening to their discourse. Moving forward,
Asalhayop joined the group of Tagailog and everybody felt over the moon. Asalhayop then asked
Tagailog for the plan. Since the time was still in favor of the true Filipinos, Inangbaya came and told
them regarding the dark and selfish motif of Asalhayop. Many were outrageous especially Tagailog that
led him to kill the traitor Asalhayop. The play ended of killing Haringbata.

Characters:

Asalhayop— the one who betrayed his groups and the spy of Haringbata

Inangbayan— the one who lectured and reprimanded the other Filipinos
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Tagailog— the one who has an indomitable desire for the independence of the country

Haringbata— the one who oppressed and exploits the people and agreed with the proposal of
Asalhayop to be his spy

Theme: It is a play that speaks of how Filipinos abhors colonizers. In a nutshell, this play implicitly
attacks the imperialist. Other than that, it speaks as well treachery. It is a common vice of mankind that
even your own land will be betrayed by your own people. And lastly, loyalty, devotion and love of one’s
country are indispensable for its success.

Symbolism:

Inangbayan— this symbolizes to our motherland Philippines, as it calls the attention of many Filipinos to
be united in fighting against the termite of the country (corruption, poverty, treason, etc.)

Tagailog— symbolizes the heroes and heroines who fought and sacrificed itself for the freedom that we
enjoy today

Asalhayop— this character represents the Filipinos who joined the colonizers at the expense of having a
good life and became nonchalant with the merciful motherland

Haringbata— may represent the political figures or affluent personalities who exploit and oppress the
people through their wealth and power.

Ninay by Pedro Paterno

The story begins with the love between Ninay and Carlos Mabagsic. Her poverty worsened when her
parents passed away. One day Carlos is suspected of being the mastermind of the rebellion. Federico
Silveyro, a businessman from Portugal, reports Mabagsic as a leader of the insurgency. Mabagsic
immediately flees to abroad for his safety. Upon his return, Mabagsic found out that Ninay had entered
the convent. Mabagsic died of cholera. And Ninay also died from the same illness. Another victim of
Portuguese evil Federico Silveyro is the couple Loleng and Berto. Silveyro was the cause of Loleng's
death. And Berto killed Silveyro in retaliation for his death

Characters:

Ninay— the main character who deeply in love with Carlos

Carlos Mabagsic— the lover of Ninay

Federico Silveyro— the one who reported Carlos for being allegedly accused as a leader in an
insurgency
 Activity 12

Loleng and Berto— the couple victimized by Federico and the latter avenged for Loleng’s death

Theme:

Love, faithfulness and loyalty— this talks about how strong the love between Ninay and Carlos. Despite
being challenge by distance, both remain faithful and loyal.

Anak ng Dagat by Patricio Mariano

This zarzuela was narrated by the first person point of view. It all started when the narrator said that
before he reached the pinnacle of success, he had lived in a world that honed who he is right now. He
stated that he could not facilely eradicate a very significant world that happened at some point in his
life, that no matter where the breeze of destiny brings him it will always be part in his heart and life. And
that is his life in the sea. The narrator is son of a fisherman. There life has been full of catch-22 and it led
him to widen his horizon. It all started with a dream of instead of holding a fishnet under the scorching
heat of the sun, he will comfortably hold a pen and paper in a air-conditioned room. With his
determination plus his parents’ support, the narrator has metamorphosed his dream into concrete
reality.

Characters:

Son of the Fisherman— who took advantage of their current situation to alleviate from poverty

Father— a person who had indomitable for his son’s dream, which is also his dream— to make his son
live a comfortable life

Theme:

To become a dreamer— a dream is what everyone can afford, regardless of socio-economic status
despite few only can materialize their dream. It has no cost yet it has value for us people who are
battling with poverty. This has become our source of energy and motivation to keep on going in spite of
how ambiguous or arduous it may seem.

Perseverance— the same with the narrator, he perseveres even though his teenage life was stolen from
him but he knew that what lies ahead was sweet. More than that, it taught us that the greater the
sacrifice, the greater the triumph when it is done.
 Activity 12

Symbolism:

Typhoon— I believe this symbolizes the unforeseen storms that we meet ahead but all we have to do is
to be strong, determined, and passionate enough in achieving what we want.

Bunganga ng Pating by Julian Cruz Balmaceda