Name: John Michael R.

Suyom Grade and Section: 12 - Mozart

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

The concept of death is often perceived as opposite to life, but in reality, it is a part of life
that everyone must embrace. Death is like the wind, it is everywhere yet invisible to the naked
eye, it lurks just around the corner, waiting for the right time to strike. Along with death is a
sorrowful bid of goodbye, just like the story written by Resil B. Mojares.

“I Never Sang for My Father” is an essay about a son’s realization that words can never
approximate what the heart contains. Resil realized this when he was forced to come to terms
with his relationship with his father when his father died. It is a way for Resil to grieve for what
he did not have or was not able to grasp because he never “knew” his father. Resil recounts that
his father was never the “showy” type, he never verbalized his emotions well, but kept them to
himself, only showing signs of his feelings in little actions. Only through examining their
experiences together did Resil discover that his father loved him after all. The paradox of the
matter is that while trying to write about his feelings for his father, he also realized in the end
that “you cannot contain in words the fullness of what a person means in your life, you can only
hold it in your heart.”

The way Resil Mojares depicted different situations from his past experiences with his
father was very creative, his descriptions were able to form images in my mind, he fully utilized
the description method in writing his creative nonfictional literary piece. The ideas were cleanly
organized and are clear, I could not see any grammatical errors nor any another bothering errors.
While reading his literary piece, I was able to feel a hint of sadness as the story progressed, the
context of the story is emitting a vibe that I could feel, precisely, grief. Resil’s diction or choice
of words in his literary piece is quite impressive, he used some words that are uncommon yet
somehow understandable because of the context. As I read the whole story, I noticed that Resil
Mojares was indirectly giving life lessons through stressing the theme of his story which is death,
the story gave me a hint that the time you spend with your loved ones is a valuable treasure that
death may able to steal away from you.
 As a response to the literary piece that Resil Mojares wrote, I could say that it was well-
written, although the words were somehow deep, but if the readers focus on the context, the need
to use a dictionary is unnecessary. Many will be able to relate to Resil’s story, even I was able to
relate that words cannot fully express the true intentions of an individual, it takes a good
observation skill to fully comprehend the expressions and intentions of someone through actions
or body language. The emotions that are integrated to the context of the story is very
commendable, sometimes it is hard to express emotions specially if it is about a sensitive topic,
but Resil Mojares was able to express how he felt about the death of his loved one through
creative writing. The story was really well-written to the extent where I could not find any errors
that are in need to be changed, it is perfect just the way it currently is. Lastly, as a response, the
whole story made me realize that time is valuable because death is just around the corner, once
death takes actions, all that will be left are memories of the past, to reminisce and value.

In conclusion, the story is worth reading and I highly recommend it to everyone, specially
to those who are confused with their familial relationships. “I Never Sang for My Father”
resembles the common household of Filipino people, it is a good story that heightens our
awareness that life is short and temporary, the story also serves as a reminder to the readers that
feelings cannot be fully measured through words. Overall, it is a great story.