PROSE
MY FATHER GOES TO COURT BY CARLOS S.
BULOSAN STRUCTURAL CONTEXT IN READING
PLOT
CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION
Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, learners will be
able to:
• Define elements of prose pertaining to characters
• and [Link] different terms pertaining to the parts
Identify
of [Link] a text into its corresponding plot
• Break
parts.
• Differentiate characters in the assigned text using
various characterization techniques as bases.
What is
literature?
Instruction:
Go to the board, one at a time, and Literature
write any word or phrase they think
is related to the word literature.
After which, define literature based
on the words/phrases associated.
What is
literature?
Literature is derived from the latin word
“littera” which means “letter”.
It is the work of art that uses the language
creatively to portray the message to the
intended audience.
Literature is a work of art that uses the
language creatively to express human realities
Types of
literature
Oral literature: This is a type of
literature that presents the message
through words of mouth.
Written literature: This is a type of
literature that presents the message
Fiction/Fictive And
Non-fiction/Non-Fictive
Fiction/Fictive. It is a kind of literature
that deals with non factual materials or
events. Characters, setting and events
are the product of imaginations from the
author. It can be inspired by the actual
events or completely made up.
Ex. Short Story, novel, novella
Fiction/Fictive And
Non-fiction/Non-Fictive
Non-Fiction/Non-Fictive: This is a kind
of literature that deals with factual
materials or events. The people written
about in non-fictions are real. Literary
non-fictions are written to be read just
the same way as fictions.
Ex. Autobiography, Biography, Essays,
Prose
Prose/Prose Fiction. A prose is any
kind of writing that is not poetry or
that is not presented in verse form or
stanza. It is a specifically imaginative
work that includes short stories,
novella and novels.
Watch the video clips with the links below:
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
Guide Questions:
Asks the following questions after watching:
• What did you feel while and after watching the
videos?.
• What can you say about feeling happy? What good
does it do to someone? Is feeling happy restricted
to a specific age, gender, or race? Why do you say
• so?
Do you then believe in the following lines? Why or
Guide Questions:
Asks the following questions to the students after
watching:
• What did you feel while and after watching the
• What can
videos?. you say about feeling happy? What good
does it do to someone? Is feeling happy restricted
to a specific age, gender, or race? Why do you say
so?
• Do you then believe in the following lines? Why or
why not?
Let’s match! Instructions: Match the words in
column A with their corresponding meanings in
column B. Draw a line to connect each pair.
B.
a. a distinctive, pervasive, and usually pleasant smell
A b. a small mallet with which an auctioneer, a judge, or the chair of a
1. gavel meeting hits a surface to call for attention or order
2. character c. the final part of a narrative in which the strands of the plot are
3. aroma drawn together and matters are explained or resolved
4. condemn d. a person, or sometimes an animal, takes part in the action of a
5. denouement short story or other literary work
6. savor e. a person, or sometimes an animal, takes part in the action of a
short story or other literary work
[Link]
f. an emotion, feeling, or attitude) likely to spread to and affect others
8. plot g. the arrangement of the incidents or actions in a story
9. judge h. a public official appointed to decide cases in a court of law
10. contagious i. taste (good food or drink) and enjoy it completely
j. to say in a strong and definite way that someone or something is
bad or wrong
k. not strong, forceful, or impressive weak
Think-Pair-Share Activity: Speak up your mind!
Instructions: With your pair, share your thoughts
on the following questions:
1. Why do you think is the story titled ‘My Father
Goes to Court?
2. What could be the relevance of those videos
and quotes presented in the previous activity?
Popcorn Reading
Instructions: The class is divided into three groups, which
may be named Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. There will be
an assigned parts of the story to be read by each group
aloud. Each student must pay attention for them to be on
the same page with their groupmates/classmates. After
reading the story, students are asked to answer the
comprehension questions taken from the Take the Road Map
Pass the Ball
Instructions: After answering the
comprehension questions individually, the
class will do the pass the ball short game. The
teacher flashes questions on the screen taken
from the Take the Road Map worksheet.
Answers will be given corresponding points.
Whoever gets the correct answer first will get
the credit points. (refer to worksheets)
Let’s Start!
Where and when did the story
Answer: The story happened in the island of Luzon and in
happen?
the court room.
How would you describe the two families in the
Answer: The
story? two families described in the story are the
poor family and the rich family. The poor family is very
healthy, happy and contented family, while the rich family
isa Where
lonely and sickly.
did the farmer’s family move after the
Answer: The farmer’s family move after the flood in the in
flood?
the town, though he preferred living in the country.
My Father Goes to Court
Who became their neighbors?
Answer: The very rich man became their neighbors.
What did the rich man’s servants always do?
Answer: The rich man’s servants always do frying and
cooking something good/food.
Why did the rich man order his servants to shut all
windows and doors in their house?
Answer: The rich man order his servants to shut all
windows and doors in their house because he noticed that
the poor family was sniffing and smelling the delicious
aroma of their food that made them healthy.
My Father Goes to Court
Why did they go to court?
Answer: They went to court because the rich man
What did
brought a the
charge against
rich man’s the poor
servants family
always do? for stealing
the spirit of his family’s food and wealth.
If you were the judge, what would be your
judgement on the case?
Answer: If I were the judge, my judgement on the case
would be the same because I have seen nothing wrong
with what the farmer’s family doing.
My Father Goes to Court
How did the farmer/the poor man
address the accusation against him?
Answer: The farmer/the poor man address the accusation
against him by arriving at the court and paid the rich man’s
accusation with the spirit of money.
Can money buy happiness? Why or why not?
Answer: Money can buy happiness because
_________________.
Answer: In my perspective, money cannot buy happiness
for instance, if you’re rich and miserable, more money
won’t help. Happiness found within not necessarily when
you are financially well-off.
All about the author!
Carlos Sampayan Bulosan, (1911-September 11, 1956)
was a Filipino American author, poet, and activist. A chronicler
of the Filipino American experience during the 1930s-early
1950s, he is best remembered for his semi-fictional, semi-
autobiographical novel about Filipino immigrant experience
America Is In The Heart(1946). He wrote My Father Goes To
Court. He based this story on folklore from the Philippines, and
it contains an underlying social commentary. This story
Write and Post!
Instructions: After reading the text, write down the
line/s from the story that speak/s to your heart
most or the scene of the story that you like most.
Then, post them on the Class Jam-Board or
blackboard that the teacher prepare
Let’s hear from you!
Points for Discussion
• Short story falls under the first general category
of literature – fiction.
• Short stories are characterized by a limited
number of characters, a restricted setting, and a
narrow range of action. Hence, it can be read in
a single sitting.
• Short stories share common elements as work
of fiction: Plot, Setting, Character,
Points for Discussion
● To analyze a literary text in structural contexts, one looks
into the elements found in the text itself.
● To analyze a story, the structuralist focuses on literary
elements that make up a short story rather than the facts
about the author’s life or the historical milieu in which it was
written.
● It must be pointed out that though each part may be
identified individually, these literary elements are joined
together to unify the writing and to produce a blend that is
Build-It-Up!
Instructions: Please see the worksheet task Build-It-
Up. Based on your understanding of the text
through the literary elements, fill in the bricks with
the needed information to build up the house.
Picture-cued retelling of the
story
Picture Weave
Instructions: The class will be divided into 5 groups. Review the
series of events in the story with your groupmates. Each member
should actively engage in the spontaneous re-telling of the story.
Each group is given 3 minutes to share.
Time to Answer:
• How did you make use of the pictures to retell the story?
• Which part of the story did you introduce the characters?
• How important is the sequence of events in narrating the
story and being able to relay the intended message of the
writer?
Points for Discussion
• The plot is the arrangement or structure of the events or
actions in a story.
• The plot shows every detail that the characters in the story
experience.
• It is said to be the skeleton of the story.
Word Hunt! The teacher distributes the worksheets or may flash
the puzzle on the TV screen. He/she presents the definitions of
each part of the plot and asks the students to loop or write down
the correct part of the plot (Please see corresponding worksheet).
Let’s Map the Story
Instruction: Complete the worksheet
activity. Explore further the literary
elements of the plot used in the text My
Father Goes to Court by filling out the
worksheet provided.
Understanding
Character/Characterization
Answer the following question:
• Which part of the plot introduces the setting,
characters, and other basics that are to be known
by the readers?
• Who are the people in the story?
• How do dialogue (what he or she says) and action
(what he or she does) reveal a character’s
• How do the events
personality traits? of the story reveal the traits of
the characters?
Points for Discussion
● A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal,
who takes part in the action of a short story or other literary
work.
● The character/s is/are introduced in the exposition part of
the plot.
● The series of events or the plot of the story shows every
detail that the characters experience, which reveals the
character’s traits and development.
Points for Discussion
● Types of Characters:
- Protagonist The main/leading character of
the story who makes key decisions that
affect the plot of the story.
- Antagonist The character who opposes or
conflicts with the main character.
Points for Discussion
- Dynamic/Round Character They are the characters in the
story who change, accept changes, act, and view the
changes as part of their role as human beings. They are
often known as the hero/heroine. Since they undergo
changes, they possess dynamic traits, and the changes
they face depend on the situation.
- Flat/Static Characters They are the characters that do not
change. They remain static or stagnant throughout the
story. As the story begins, the flat characters are static
and stay as they are until the end of the story. They help
bring out the best in the main characters or the
protagonist.
The teacher proceeds to ask the following
questions:
Who among the characters in the story did you
empathize with the most?
Explain your answer. Would you agree that we all
have characters we love and hate? How does the
writer evoke certain feelings of love and/or hate to
the characters of a story? How is it possible?
More Points for Discussion
• Characterization is the process by which the writer
reveals the personality of a character
• Types of Characterization:
- Direct characterization: The author explicitly tells
the readers what they want us to know about the
character by clearly stating details about him/her.
- Indirect characterization: the author shows who
the character is through their speech, thoughts,
motivations, actions, and interactions with others.
More Points for Discussion
Character Diagram and Traits
Analysis
Instruction: Accomplish the
worksheets on Character Diagram
and Character Traits Analysis tasks.
Accomplish and answer the following
questions:
QUIZ
TIME:
Instructions: Identify what is referred to by the
following statements. Write your answers in the
space provided.
_________1. This literary element refers to the arrangement of the events or
actions in the story
_________2. It is the where and the when of the story.
_________3. The main idea of a story.
_________4. This part of the story introduces the setting, characters, and
other basics that are to be known by the readers.
__________5. It refers to the ending of the story where the loose ends are tied
up.
__________6. This part of the story is sometimes called the inciting incident,
which begins the major conflict.
__________7. This is the greatest tension or the turning point of the story.
__________8. A type of characterization in which the author shows who the
character is through their speech, thoughts, motivations, actions, and
interactions with others.
__________9. A type of character that develops and changes during the
Instructions: Read the following statements from the
text. Write T if the statement is True and F if
otherwise.
_________1. The story begins in the small town of Luzon.
_________2. The rich family usually stood by the poor
man’s house to smell the delicious food.
_________3. The farmer’s/poor man’s family paid the
judge for them to win the case.
_________4. The rich man condemned the poor man’s
family for stealing the ‘spirit’ of their wealth.
_________5. The judge favored the accusation of the rich
man.
Thank
You!
