Name: Asmolo, Kyle Angela Prof.

Rosalina Lopez Date: 16-10-23

Section: BSOA 2-2 Rizal’s Life and Works

Activity #4
Rizal’s Life, Family, Childhood, and Early Education

Guide Questions:

1. Where did Rizal’s student life start?

- Rizal’s student life started in Ateneo de Municipal.

2. What did Rizal take up at the Jesuit’s school?

- Jose Rizal had his Bachiller en Artes (Bachelor of Arts) at the school of the Jesuit.

3. What areas did Rizal excel in?

- In Ateneo, he excelled in academics, in extracurricular and vocational education.

4. Why did Father M. Fernando does not want to accept him?

- He was introduced to Father Minister Magin Fernando and at first, the Father Minister
did not want to accept him because of his weak constitution and short stature.

5. Why did he change his name to Rizal instead of Mercado?

- In his stay in Ateneo, he needed to change his name to Rizal instead of Mercado to avoid
being associated with Father Burgos.

6. Give the difference between the Carthaginian and the Roman students.

- The class was divided into two groups, the Carthaginian (the non-boarder of Ateneo) and
the Roman (the boarder inside Ateneo).

7. How were the best students classified?

- The best student in each group was called as the Emperor, the second best was the
Tribune, the third best was the Decurion, the fourth best was the Centurion, and the fifth
best was the Standard Bearer (Zaide, 1994).

8. What were the extra-curricular activities of Rizal at Ateneo?

- He was part of the literary group under the guidance of Fr. Sanchez,
- a member of a Marian Congregation who were devoted to Virgin Mary, a member of the
club of Natural Sciences.
- He also continued his painting lessons under Agustin Saez, and he also studied sculpture
under the guidance of Romualdo de Jesus.
- His literary skills were also sharpened because of his passion in reading.

9. What were the novels appreciated and fascinated by Rizal?

- He was able to read and understand complicated novels like The Count of Monte Cristo
written by Alexander Dumas.
- Universal History of Cesar Cantu.
- Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Fedor Jagor.

10. What was the first poem written by Rizal?

- The first poem that he wrote in Ateneo was for his mother entitled “My First
Inspiration.”

11. What were the other 2 poems written by Rizal?

- In 1876, he wrote poems about the importance of education for the development of a
country entitled “Through Education the County Receives Light” and connection
between Education and Religion entitled “Intimate Alliance Between Religion and
Good Education.”

12. What was the manuscript given by Rizal to Fr. Sanchez?

- He also ventured in writing manuscripts for play. In June 1876, he handed to Fr. Sanchez
the manuscript entitled “St. Eustache, the Martyr.”

13. Give the highest award given to Rizal at UST.

- At the end of education of Jose Rizal in Ateneo, he was able to gain the highest award as
the emperor of his class.

14. Why did his mother disapprove his pursue to a higher education?

- He wanted to pursue his higher education inspite of the disapproval of his mother who
thought that the higher education would lead to Rizal’s disadvantage.

15. Why did he shift his course to Medicine?

- In 1878 he shifted to Medicine course because he considered the situation of his mother
who had failing eyesight.
16. How was the student life in Ateneo different from UST?

- His life in Ateneo as a student was different from UST maybe because in Ateneo his
teachers monitored the students closely since it was considered a school for secondary
education while in UST the students were free to do their other activities. The students
were only required to attend their classes for three hours and they were free to do their
other things for the rest of the time. So even if he was enrolled in UST he spend his other
time in going back to Ateneo to continue his extra-curricular activities and in 1877-1878
he used his spare time in SUT to study a vocational course.

17. What title did Rizal gain after he studied Surveying Course?

- In Ateneo, he studied surveying course and gained the title of Perito Agrimensor.

18. What attributed to his low grades in UST than when he studied in Ateneo?

- Some of the historians who ventured in the life of Jose Rizal commented that Rizal had
lower grades in UST than when he studied in Ateneo and they attributed his low grades to
the discrimination that he experienced in UST.

19. What were the reasons why Rizal got lower grades in UST?

- However, according to Villaroel and De Viana, Jose Rizal was not discriminated in UST
because first among other students, he was able to get higher grades. Second the story of
Placido Pinetente in Physics class did not happen in UST because personally Rizal took
Ampliacion so he did not take Physics in UST, third, the reason why Rizal got lower
grades in UST was the different distraction that he experienced while studying in UST
like his love life and group that he established (Compadreñismo).

20. What play did Rizal write that awarded him the Highest prize?

- He wrote a play entitled, El Consejo de los Dioses, a play which recognized Cervantes as
equal to Homer and Virgil and even if the jury was composed of Spaniards, they awarded
Rizal the highest prize.

21. What was the purpose of Rizal in Writing “La Juventud Filipina”?

- He wrote the “La Juventud Filipina” (To the Filipino Youth), this poem encouraged and
inspired the Filipino youth to stand up and work harder to attain the highest objectives.