1. Identify the characters.

Yeyeng
She is a Kapampangan woman who fell in love with the English language and abandoned
her native tongue, claiming that she had forgotten how to speak it as a result. She was eager to
sound cool as she spoke the language of another country. She is the story's main character. She
may have worked hard to conceal her true color beneath heavy makeup and constricting clothing,
but she is still a Filipina by birth with a brown complexion.

American soldier.
This character is the one who made Yeyeng obsessed with English language and tried to
look like an American woman.

Townsmen
They are hostile towards Miss Yeyeng. They opposes Yeyeng's actions and laugh at the
girl's mistakes.

1. Is the character the protagonist or the antagonist?

 Yeyeng (Protagonist)
She is the protagonist of the story. She is the main topic in this story and is the one
being portrayed as a bad influence for Filipina women. Even though she was
illustrated in the story as someone that must not be imitated, she is still the main
focus of the plot.

 American soldier (Foil)

He is the one who introduced their language to Yeyeng. Even though he did not
intend to make the girl obessed with English language, his introduction of English
language to Yeyeng made the girl fall deeply with their language.

 Townsmen (Antagonists)
They show their hostility towards Yeyeng in an abrupt manner. They strongly
opposes Yeyeng's actions and laugh at the girl's mistakes.

3. How do the protagonist and antagonist interact with each other? How do their
produce reactions and changes?
T h e t o w n s f o l k s i n C o u n t r y X ( a n t a g o n i s t s ) a r e s a r c a s t i c towards Miss
Yeyeng. They tease the girl until it finally spoke off its dialect and laughed at her. Everone
knew that she was really one of t h e K a p a m p a n g a n a n d t h o s e w h o h e a r d l a u g h e d s o
h a r d . M i s s Phathupats cried and when she wiped her tears, her natural color was
revealed causing more laughter among the crowd.

4. What actions bring out important traits of the character?

A f t e r l e a r n i n g f o r 8 m o n t h s Y e y e n g w a s a l r e a d y g o o d i n English
speaking. She never speak Kapampangan anymore because she said that she already
forgot this dialect.
 This action shows her colonial mentality and thinks that she'll look cooler if she
speaks in English. This is a proof to our national hero- Jose Rizal's famous quotation, 'He
who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination'.

5. Are the protagonist's actions good or bad, intelligent or stupid, deliberate

or spontaneous? How does they help you better understand the protagonist?

Miss Yeyeng acts with a very dense mentality. Her action is a product of low quality of
education that we Filipino have. Until today, Filipino's goal is to be rich, go abroad, or be fluent
in English without thinking that our Philippines is a very rich in terms of resources,
culture and traditions. Just like Yeyeng who thought that she'll loo elegant if she speaks
English.
Through the protagonist's action, I understand her even more and made me hate her
deeper. It is because our heroes didn't offer their lives just for us to worship foreign culture.

6. What are the character traits of both the major and minor characters? What is your
judgement of them?
Yeyeng (anxious)
I feel hatred towards her because of her very ambitious mindset. Just as I say, our heroes
did not offer their lives just for us to worship other nations' languages.

American soldier (mischievous)

This man is the main reason why Yeyeng had changed and cause greater disaster to the life
of the woman.

Townsmen (rude)
Even though Yeyeng is such a stupid character, I think that the actions of townsfolks in
Nation X is too much. They shamed Miss Yeyeng in front of many people

7. Are the characters round or flat? How do they recognize, change with, or adjust to
circumstances?
Yeyeng is a round character who changed after she met the American soldier after
the revolution. From a fine Filipina who sells ginataan and bitso bitso, she became the
anxious and ambitious Miss Phathupats who wears short skirt and always dress her face
with layers of make ups to hide her brown complexion.

8 . A r e t h e c h a r a c t e r s s t e r e o t y p e ? T o w h a t t y p e d o t h e y belonged?
Yeyeng or the main character and the protagonist in the story is stereotyped to a
Phathupat or "suman sa ibos na mahigpit ang balot". She is also the damsel in
distress in the later part of the story when everyone laughed at her.

9. If the characters are stereotype, do they rise above it?

 Miss Phatuphats/ Yeyeng gets used to how people call her but she cried when
everyone laughed at her in one of the gatherings in Nation X. She cannot withstand the
shame she got when people laugh at her so hard after she speak Kapampangan with
an angry tone.

10. What insights do you get from what the characters say about themselves and others?
Do not ever forget your own origin just because you learned another language.
Just like the saying of Rizal- 'He who does not know how to look back at where he
came from will never get to his destination'. Yeyeng who thinks of herself as high and
mighty after
she learned English and told everyone that she forgot her dialect Kapampangan was
punished later on by shaming in front of many people. We should not imitate this act and
always be grateful about our own culture and language. We must be proud of our country.

11. What does the narrator or storyteller say about the characters and how valid are
their comments and insights?
The narrator portrays Yeyeng as a bad example for everyone. He illustrates the girl
as an ambitious woman who wants to look high by learning English. This is a valid
insight for every Filipino. Most of us thinks that learning English is a sign of
intelligence and high IQ, but the fact is having patriotism and enriching your culture is the
best thing to do as a member of Filipino community.

12. A r e t h e c h a r a c t e r s r e a l o r u n r e a l ? C o n s i s t e n t o r inconsistent?
Believable or not believable?
M i s s Y e y e n g i s a n u n r e a l c h a r a c t e r t h a t i s n a r r a t e d b y J u a n Crisostomo
Soto and is portrayed as Miss Phathupats who always wear thick make ups and tight dress.
She was a representation of Filipinos who are eager to learn English because they think
that this will make them look genius and/or witty.
She is an inconsistent character. As said before, she is a round character who is
a fine Filipina in the start of the plot but changes because the American soldier that
she met after the revolution.
She is a believable character because there really are
Kapampangans but she is unreal because she is just a creation of imaginative mind
of the author.