CONTEMPORARY AND POPULAR LITERATURE

ACTIVITY NO. 1

1. According to Thomas A’ Kempis, what should be the most important concern of a

person?
2. What are the characteristics of a person who knows himself?
 According to Thomas A' Kempis, the most important concern of a person is
knowing oneself, as the title implies.
3. What are the characteristics of a person who knows himself?
 A pure, sincere, and stable spirit.
4. What is the value of Knowing oneself?
 If you understand yourself, you can set boundaries away from things that will get
you in trouble. Knowing yourself empowers you to succeed in life, where
obstacles, challenges, or even the smallest conflict that you may face on your path
to achieving your goals will serve as motivation to keep going.
5. Why does Thomas A’ Kempis think that a good conscience and a virtue of life are
preferred for learning or knowledge?
 Because conscience is a person's inner voice that motivates him to do good in all
circumstances and to protect oneself at all costs. At the same time, it is the ability
to tell one from the other. This allows us to connect a lesson or knowledge from
our experiences. And a virtue is a good soul behavior pattern. When we practice
integrity, for example, the more it becomes a standard version in our soul, so we
tend to do good and practice even more honesty, which contributes to our
learning.
6. How does a person with good conscience behave?
 A person with a good conscience selects the right thing, puts all options for the
sake of the word ‘humanity’, and bears witness through his actions. A good
conscience is entrenched in decent family moral standards, in which a person is
raised with morals and fear of the creator. You will be at peace with yourself as
long as your soul and your heart does not start bothering you. You can observe a
person with good conscience by your instinct that this person has this calm
personality, open-mindedness and joyous mood most of the time unlike for those
who have with bad conscience, their physical self looks awful, and you can
observe how bothered they are from the things that are not really matter.
7. Explain the last two paragraphs in the selection.
 The last two paragraphs described common scenarios in our lives in which
hypocrites judge how people should live while, in fact, they are also sinners. The
last two paragraphs stressed the importance of living according to God's will; we
should not only continue to spout God's words, but we should also share,
embrace, and live without judging others.
8. Give your reaction to the ideas brought up in the selection. (last two paragraphs)
 It is very inspiring in the sense that it teaches us all to live without a notion of
superiority because we are all equal in God's eyes. As the literary piece explains,
we should live teachings of God, so His word should influence each of us to
transform into men of his words.