UNLOCKING OF

DIFFICULTIES
 SEEPED FUSS
HEEDED SLIGHTED

GRUDGE SQUANDERED

CONCOCTION INCOHERENTLY

PERCEPTIBLE P CHOKE
 To flow or pass slowly
through small openings in
something.

PRELUDES
To pay attention to
something.

PRELUDES
 A strong feeling of anger
toward someone that lasts
for a long time.

PRELUDES
To make (a food or drink) by
mixing different things
together.

PRELUDES
Able to be seen or
noticed.

PRELUDES
An expression of anger or
complaint especially
about something that has
little importance.

PRELUDES
Very small in degree or
amount.

PRELUDES
To use (something) in a
foolish or wasteful way.

PRELUDES
Not able to talk or express
yourself in a clear way
that can be easily
understood.

PRELUDES
 To make (someone)
unable to breathe in a
normal way.

PRELUDES
Daryll Delgado
• Daryll Delgado’s first book of short stories, After the Body
Displaces Water (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House,
2012), won the 32nd National Book Award for Short Fiction,
and was a finalist in the Madrigal-Gonzales First Book Award.
She has also received a Philippines Free Press award for her
fiction in 2010. Her short stories and essays have been
published in national publications and academic journals. She
has been a lecturer at the University of the Philippines, the
Ateneo de Manila University, and Miriam College. She
currently works for the Southeast Asia office of an
international labor and human rights NGO headquartered in
Massachusetts. Daryll has a BA in Journalism and MA in
Comparative Literature from the University of the Philippines.
She currently resides in Quezon City with her husband,
William. She was born and raised in Tacloban City, and
continues to call Tacloban home.
Municipal
Hall

Death
Anniversary
 Characters
- Nenita
- Husband
- Herbalista
 Exposition
Nenita is a house wife who is a fan of Willy Revillame. She
dreamed of Willy Revillame embracing her in a hug. She
tell herself that she shouldn’t dreamed of that. She
remember she have to make ten dozen of suman to
deliver the next day.
When Nenita suddenly woke up from her nap which she
shouldn’t have, she felt the presence of her husband and
had thought that he swore at her—even though he was at
the Municipal Hall attending the death anniversary of the
judge. Her husband does not like Nenita enjoying the
presence of other men, even though he himself had been
having affairs with other women and Nenita just kept
taking him back.
 Rising Action
• Nenita, then, remembered that she had to
prepare the medicinal tea needed by her
husband. She was picking the leaves outside
when she heard her husband singing. She
never heard her husband sing like this before.
He knew her husband was happy the way he
was.
 Climax
• There were times when Nenita listened to the
beats and murmurs of her husband’s heart at
night. When she heard his singing voice from
the Municipal Hall, she almost caught the
sound of his labored breathing, and his heart’s
irregular beating. She always nursed him back
to health, but why wasn’t she showing any
sings of concern or worry whatsoever?
 Falling Action
“She could have prepared him then that other brew her
herbalista friend had suggested at the time, the one that
would make his balls shrink, give him hallucinations,
make his blood boil until his veins popped. But she didn’t,
of course.”
She didn’t. Of course. Because she wouldn’t want the
murder to be noticeable. Although this could be
considered as her small way of expressing her frustration
towards her husband, it’s still like a black print among the
white words. Moreover, she didn’t seem to be so
concerned about her husband when she heard him
choke.
 Ending
She knew of his condition. But she still laughed
at her silliness for applauding along with the
audience in the Hall. That moment, she went
back inside the house, emphasizing that it was
getting very hot outside, certainly hot enough to
boil an old man’s blood and pop his veins, she
added in her thoughts. She knew. It was her. She
killed her own husband.
Guide Questions:
1. What is a prelude? Why is that the title of the
story?
2. What does Nenita feel for her husband? Why do
you think she feels that way?
3. What does her herbalista friend feel about
Nenita’s husband?
4. Who was the man that died in the first
paragraph?
5. How do you think he died? What clues in the
text helped you to reach that conclusion?
6. What is the importance of dried purple leaves?
Do you think that these were used in the story?
How?
Guide Questions:

7. Who killed the man? Explain your answer.

8. The story end with the feeling of heat. What are
the many meanings of heat in the story?
9. Why is it ironic that the widow was married to a
judge?
10. Do you think, with what happened, that some
kind of justice was served? Why or why not?