Name of learner:___________________________________ Score:________

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LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET IN CREATIVE NONFICTION

QUARTER 1, WEEK 4

Competencies: Analyze factual/nonfictional elements in the texts.

FACTS. Elements of Creative Nonfiction

All of these elements are similar to the elements of other literary texts. But what
Nonfiction stands out is that it is based on FACTS. Also, note that not all elements are
visible in a certain literary text for types nonfiction are many,e.g., news articles, essays,
biographies, etc.
These are the elements that you learned in week 3: structure (plot), characters,
point of view, and figurative languages. It’s now time to see these elements in some
texts.

CHECK IT OUT!
Read the youngblood article of Philippine Daily Inquirer below written by Joy F.
Calvar.
My Stuntman Father
By Joy F. Calvar
I’ve always been fascinated by my father’s job. My 50-year-old father has been
working as a stuntman for more than 30 years now, and I can say that it’s a job that he
really loves. Actors are the ones often praised for jaw-dropping, heart-pounding, and
death-defying action scenes on television series and movies, but most of them usually
have a stunt worker standing in for them to ensure they don’t get hurt — just like my
father.
STOP!
The author has clearly given us an idea on what her essay will be all about, and that is her father
as a stuntman. This is the introduction of her essay.

GRADE 12 CREATIVE NONFICTION (PREPARED BY EDMAR D. AZURIN)

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 Whenever a script calls for the performance of a dangerous, specialized scene,
from bloody fistfights to a fall from a tall building, a full-body burn, or an impactful car
crash, stuntmen and women work as a “double,” taking the place of the actors.
They usually work behind the scenes, fulfilling a movie or a television series’
stunt requirements, ensuring they are both believable and lifelike. Sometimes, they get
a chance to act, too, and drop a few lines. I remember watching a scene in a TV show
where my father had a “dialogue,” as they call it in the industry.
We gathered in front of the TV and watched his virtual self flashed on the screen
say a few lines flawlessly. He was a natural during the scene. I admired how he
showed no sign of nervousness; he didn’t even stutter. I told him, “Wow. Artista ka na,
Pa!”
My father started doing stunts for a living in the ’80s during his teens, but he had
been practicing since he was in Grade 6. He was a “stunt kid,” he said. Coming from a
poor family in San Juan, he started working young so he could help earn a living for
his family. In 1984, he came to Antipolo to practice at a friend’s gym. He eventually met
my mother.

STOP!
Behind the scene and earn a living are some common expression that should not be taken
literally. These are examples of a figurative language.

As a stuntman and sometimes a stunt director, my father relies heavily on his

physical strength to perform his job. His capital is his years of physical training in
martial arts and stage combat. He gets his ideas on directing fights from his favorite
action movies. He specifically likes Jackie Chan and FPJ movies, but he would watch
any action film available.
I’ve always known that my father’s job is tough, back-breaking, and very
dangerous, as defined by the many battle scars that he has all over his body, which he
has tried to conceal with big, bold tattoos. The job requires dynamic strength and
stamina, as, more often than not, stunt workers end up getting hurt from the dangerous
acts they perform. It’s life-threatening; they face serious occupational hazards. Add to
that the poor working hours and conditions in the movie and television industry. My
father had gone home sick from injuries many times.

STOP!
The essay is told in a perspective of a daughter who can see and observe the main character, her
father who works as a stuntman. It is observed the frequent use of ‘I’ pronoun. Therefore, the essay in
written in first person omniscient point of view.

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 I know how much my father loves his job as a stuntman; it’s something that he
takes pride in. However, the job, sadly, doesn’t pay much. It is not stable, as projects
aren’t available all the time. When I was still studying, I would always hear him say,
“’Nak, wala pa kaming project” whenever I would ask for extra money for my school
requirements.
In the Philippines, stunt work is often a forgotten industry; one that is
overshadowed by the bigger, more extravagant movie and television industry where
famous actors and actresses dominate, and which stunt workers form part of, but are
often not paid much attention to. No matter how important stunt work is to an action
film or TV show, it is still regarded as lowly, as my father described it.
“Mababa ang tingin sa amin sa set,” he opened up when I tried to ask him how
he thinks the industry views them. “Parang katulong lang,” he added. My father then
went on to share how stunt workers abroad are treated better and are considered as
actors themselves. “Dito, hindi kami gaano pinapahalagahan.”
Stuntmen and women work on a “per day” and “per project” basis. They work
under groups or associations whose heads are usually the ones coordinating with
directors for projects. Since they are not like regular employees, they do not receive
benefits.
What’s worse is that, despite the life-threatening work they do, they are not
insured. My father shared that before they perform a dangerous stunt, most
productions would ask them to sign a waiver stating that the other party wouldn’t be
responsible for whatever may happen to them on the set. According to him, stunt
workers couldn’t get accepted for insurance because of the type of job they perform.
My father knew he couldn’t solely rely on his job as a stuntman, so he looked for
other sources of income to raise me and my siblings, especially when he and my
mother separated when I was 12 years old. He entered almost all types of work: He
sold “KFC” or “kanto fried chicken,” as it is colloquially called, on the streets for years;
repaired shoes; offered tattooing services; and took on lettering jobs. He even worked
as a “jeepney barker,” shouting at the top of his lungs under the sweltering heat of the
sun to call for passengers just to earn a few coins, which he would save so he could
buy food for us at the end of the day.
STOP!
Now let’s try to analyze how the author described her father (the charcter in the essay). She has
given us a lot of information about him like how he works as a stuntman and his feelings about his job. The
background information when her father started as a stuntman has stated. We could say that the character
has been well developed therefore the character,father, is a round character.

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 I was in my college years then. My heart broke for him. If only they had more
stunt projects, he wouldn’t have to do this, I thought. I didn’t want to see him suffer, but
as a student during that time, I couldn’t do anything but make him an inspiration to
study really hard. I studied on scholarship but still needed money for fare and other
expenses at school. My father knew how much studying meant to me, so he would
always see to it that I’d have a school allowance — even if it meant waking up early to
“bark” for jeepneys. While he couldn’t give me and my siblings fancy things, my father
made sure we could attend school and that we didn’t go hungry.

STOP!
The author has elaborated ‘stuntman’ as a kind of job and how her father loves it and works as
such just to provide her and her siblings need. This is the body of her essay.

My siblings and I are still on our way to reaching all of our dreams, so we haven’t
been really able to give our father the life that we’ve always wanted to give him. But,
we are slowly getting there. If it is up to me, I would want my father to quit his job as a
stuntman, but I wouldn’t ask him to do that knowing he loves it. It is what defines him;
it’s already an extension of himself. I just hope that, soon, stunt workers like him in the
country would become more than just the names that appear at the end credits of
television series or movies. I wish they would get recognized or at least be given
attention, too, and be provided with enough safeguards as they perform their jobs on
the set. It’s time that their work is given due importance.

STOP!
The author has stated her final thought about her father doing his job as a stuntman. She also
added her hope that someday this type of job would be given attention especially the safety of the people
doing it.This is the conclusion of her essay.

Source: Calvar, J. F. (2020, June 21). My Stuntman Father. Daily Inquirer, p. 5. Retrieved October
11, 2020, from https://opinion.inquirer.net/130978/my-stuntman-father#ixzz6ajhZAtKY

ACTIVITY 1. Your Turn

Read the essay below and try to analyze it by getting its figurative language,
point of view, character, and plot. Write your answers to each element in not more than
5 sentences. (5 points each)

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 The Thin White Line

By Mae Gianelli Boco

1. Every day I wake up to the familiar hum of my alarm clock with the slow-rising sun
shyly casting light through my blinds. And while my mind starts reorienting,
reaching consciousness as I rub the sleep out of my eyes, some days I feel
something amiss. Everything seems the same, yet there’s a hint of unreality in the
air. It’s usually at this point that I startle myself upon remembering: I’m living
through a pandemic. COVID-19 has crossed species, covertly traversed barriers
and borders, transcended all strata of society, and unified all creeds and races
through a vicious virulence humanity hasn’t seen since the Spanish flu of 1918.
2. SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19: Such a small, microscopic
organism at the front and center of the world stage, and it has made us all
secondary characters in our own lives. It has not only invaded the very air that we
breathe, it has also saturated all media, and has somehow held us hostage in our
own homes. It holds dominion over life and death while it beguiles under the
simple guise of fever, cough, and myalgia.
3. But despite the fear, the uncertainties, and the isolation, as the last dregs of
nighttime leave me, I get up and prepare for the day ahead as a physician
frontliner. On duty days, I dress in my clean scrubs and sensible shoes with my
face mask looped behind my ear. Walking the few meters to the hospital from my
condo, I see what the oft-used phrase “new normal” really means. Quiet roads
with a few people on the sidewalks with determined strides. Dimmed stores with
dusty and skewed “CLOSED” signs. Daily infographics from the Department of
Health flashed on TV screens and uploaded through social media giving updated
statistics — showing a stubbornly up-trending graph with detection alarmingly and
persistently over-taking the cure rate.
4. I start to recognize friends with just their eyes and the crook of their noses. I have
become adept at estimating six feet on a flat surface, at a bend, or climbing
upstairs. I hear the word “hero” being used as a soothing balm for unnecessary
medical casualties in lieu of instituting timely travel policies, improving hospital
working conditions, and providing complete personal protective equipment (PPE).
It took only a measly three months for an aerosolized virus to divide us and
conquer all our preconceived notions of safety and security.
5. The patients come from all over Metro Manila and from differing stations in life, but
they all arrive at the doors of the emergency room with the same familiar
symptoms in varying combinations and severity, and with the same look of fear
and faltering hope in their eyes. Most would have minor symptoms, but a few
would already come in breathless, in distress, in imminent, impending respiratory
failure. For a number, their last gasps before intubation would be the last sounds
they would contribute to the cacophony of life.
6. I take hurried steps, bringing me closer to the hospital and to my patients. Not
because I don’t fear contracting the very disease that has laid waste to the lives of
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 thousands. I go to the hospital to don my PPE, go on rounds, and administer
medical measures that would spell either wellness or sickness for my patients. Not
because I am brave, but because I took a noble oath. I promised to be a keeper of
health. During this pandemic, all physicians, alongside other essential healthcare
workers — we are the thin white line separating life and death for our patients.
7. Yet every time I wake up and remember the pandemic with its horrors akin to
nightmares unvanquished by waking, I still find myself grateful for another day.
Because, in spite of the fear and the ever-present danger, my hope, and faith in
our fight are greater.

Source: Boco, M. (2020, May 21). The Thin White Line. Daily Inquirer, p. 5.
Retrieved October 13, 2020, from https://opinion.inquirer.net/130021/the-thin-
white-line#ixzz6aocowIlV

Write your answer/s on the space provided. Explain your answer/s if needed.

1. Plot [Identify it through the given numbers for each paragraph.]

Introduction__________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Body
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Conclusion___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

2. Figurative language [at least five]

(1)______________________________________________________________
(2)______________________________________________________________
(3)______________________________________________________________
(4)______________________________________________________________
(5)______________________________________________________________
3. Character [explain your answer/s]
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. Point of View [explain your answer/s]

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

GRADE 12 CREATIVE NONFICTION (PREPARED BY EDMAR D. AZURIN)

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