Morning in Nagrebcan

Morning in Nagrebcan

By: Manuel E. Arguilla

Manuel Estabilla Arguilla was an Ilokano writer in English, patriot, and martyr. He is known for his widely anthologized short story "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife," the main story in the collection "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Short Stories" which won first prize in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940.

Most of Arguilla's stories depict scenes in Barrio Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union where he was born. His bond with his birthplace, forged by his dealings with the peasant folk of Ilocos, remained strong even after he moved to Manila where he studied at the University of the Philippines where he finished BS Education in 1933 and where he became a member and later the president of the U.P. Writer's Club and editor of the university's Literary Apprentice. He became a creative writing teacher at the University of Manila and later worked at the Bureau of Public Welfare as managing editor of the bureau's publication Welfare Advocate until 1943. He was later appointed to the Board of Censors. He secretly organized a guerrilla intelligence unit against the Japanese. On August 5, 1944, he was captured and tortured by the Japanese army at Fort Santiago.

Morning in Nagrebcan is a story by Manuel E. Arguilla. This story is about the life of boy in the Philippine countryside. His dog had puppies that he loved, cared for and protected. He and his younger brother got into a fight over the puppies. The younger brother had snatched a puppy out of the older brother's arms. While they were tussling they both fell on the puppy and it died. The children's father beat the younger brother very badly. In the end, the two brothers buried the puppy and life went on as usual.

Noli Me Tangere

Noli Me Tangere

By: Dr. Jose Rizal

Noli Me Tangere is a Spanish-language novel written by José Rizal that is credited with the awakening of nationalism among the Filipinos of Rizal's time. "Noli Me Tangere" is a Latin phrase that Rizal took from the Bible, meaning "Touch me not." It was published in 1887 in Berlin.

When Rizal read Uncle Tom's Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel on the abuse of black slaves in America, he thought that a novel should be written about the abuses that Philippine natives were suffering at the hands of the Spanish friars. He proposed to his Filipino friends in Madrid in 1884 that they collaborate in writing a novel on the Philippines. This group of friends included his hosts, the Paternos (Pedro, Máximo, and Antonio), and Graciano López Jaena. Although the others approved of the idea of writing on Philippine life, they all wanted to write about women rather than about national problems and in any case preferred to gamble and flirt than to write. Rizal then decided he would have to write the entire book himself.

Rizal began working on the Noli while still in Madrid, Spain. Of the remainder, most was written in Paris. He finished the book in Berlin, Germany. Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, a well-known writer and political activist, volunteered to be the proofreader and consultant.

When he was finishing the book in December 1886, Rizal was penniless and despaired of ever publishing it. The novel might never have seen print had it not been for the support of his wealthy friend, Máximo Viola, who came to visit him in Berlin. Rizal gratefully presented him with the galley proofs of Noli on 29 March 1887, the day that Noli was printed.

Key characters of this novel are the following:

• Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, the main character, is a young illustrado who has been studying in Europe for 7 years according to the wishes of his father. Influenced by his father, his studies and his observations of other countries, he has developed patriotic and progressive ideas which he wishes to put into action in his country. He is very much like Rizal himself. Quoted as saying that to achieve liberation, they need the "catuiran ng lakas" , or the use of force.
• María Clara de los Santos is Ibarra's faithful, pure and modest sweetheart. She is the portrait of an ideal woman, partly drawn perhaps from Rizal's love Leonor Rivera.
• Padre Dámaso was once a good friend of Ibarra's father. He was, until the start of the novel, the domineering and condescending curate of San Diego, where the property of the Ibarra family is located, and continues to be a powerful figure in San Diego. Biological father of María Clara, as he takes advantage of Doña Pia, mother of María Clara and wife of Capitán Tiago
• Padre Salví is the new parish priest of San Diego, who lusts after Maria Clara.
• Elías, a common laborer whose family has suffered much, dreams of revolution. He may be said to represent another side of Rizal.
• Pilosopong Tasio is an old man who received an excellent education in his youth but was persuaded into discontinuing his studies, which he was told would lead him away from his faith. The character is based on Rizal's older brother, Paciano.
• Sisa is the mother of two young boys who disappear. With her mother love, her grief and her frustration, she is thought to represent the suffering motherland.
• Crispín- brother of Basilio. Dies at the hands of the "sacristan mayor" and Padre Salví.
• Basilio- brother of Crispín and son of Sisa and Pedro. Last person to see Elías alive.
• Capitán Santiago de los Santos - also known as Capitan Tiago, he accepts María Clara as his own daughter.
• Doña Victorina is a native woman who desperately tries to look like a Spaniard. She was so determined to marry a Spaniard that she was willing to settle, late in life, for a toothless stuttering man. She convinces him to pretend to be a doctor to raise their status and society.
• Don Tiburcio is a former customs official who pretended to be a prestigious medical doctor in town as his bread and butter. He is the lame, stuttering husband of Doña Victorina.
• Doña Consolación is the muse of the cuartel. She is the violent wife of the Alferez and has treated Sisa cruelly.
• Alfonso Linares is the godson of Padre Damaso and a distant cousin of Don Tiburcio from Spain. He is hard pressed to be Maria Clara's fiance instead of Ibarra.
• Padre Sibyla is a Dominican friar who is the curate of Binondo. His character is a stark contrast to that of Padre Damaso.

Completed when he was 26, Noli Me Tangere was Rizal's first novel. He had already written essays and poetry with nationalistic themes previously. The book was a call to the assertion of national identity and the fight for equality with the conquerors. With its presentation and analysis of Spanish abuses, it emphasized the need for reforms.

Rizal had problems with the authorities due to their reception of the book. He was accused of being a subversive because of the content of the book. Governor-General Emilio Terrero confronted him with this charge, but when Rizal defended himself and gave him the book to read, he accepted Rizal's statement that the book was merely an honest presentation of the country's situation and not a call to revolution. However, the Archbishop of Manila and other friars remained prejudiced against the book, and it was eventually banned. All this only added to its popularity among the masses, who secretly obtained copies. With its vision of a national identity, the book served to unify the Philippine natives, who had long maintained allegiance only to those of their own region.

Despite Rizal's clearly expressed reluctance for revolution, his Noli Me Tangere and later its sequel, El Filibusterismo, inspired revolutionaries in their cause.During the visit following the publication of Noli, Rizal had gotten into further trouble with the friars when he aided his townsmen in demanding agrarian reform and had to leave home again. He wrote and published El Filibusterismo while abroad. When he returned to the Philippines after completing his medical studies, he was exiled in Dapitan by the Spanish authorities. The Philippine Revolution broke out soon after his exile ended. He feared the Spanish authorities would credit him as a revolutionary leader. Sure enough, he was soon arrested, tried for rebellion, sedition and forming an illegal association, found guilty and executed.

Canterbury Tales

Canterbury Tales

By: Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet, was born in 1342. Historians are uncertain about his exact date of birth. Geoffrey's well-to-do parents, John Chaucer and Agnes Copton, possessed several buildings in the vintage quarter in London. Not much is known about Geoffrey's school career. He must have had some education in Latin and Greek. Out of school he went on as a page in the household of the Countess of Ulster. Chaucer rose in royal employment and became a knight of the shire for Kent. As a member of the king's household, Chaucer was sent on diplomatic errands throughout Europe. From all these activities, he gained the knowledge of society that made it possible to write The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer died in October 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey in London. He was the first of those that are gathered in what we now know as the Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey.

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories in a frame story, between 1387 and 1400. It is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury.

The Stranger

The Stranger

By: Albert Camus

The Outsider or The Stranger (French: L’Éstranger) is a novel by Albert Camus published in 1942. Albert Camus was a French-Algerian journalist, playwright, novelist, philosophical essayist, and Nobel laureate. Though he was neither by advanced training nor profession a philosopher, he nevertheless made important, forceful contributions to a wide range of issues in moral philosophy in his novels, reviews, articles, essays, and speeches—from terrorism and political violence to suicide and the death penalty. He is often described as an existentialist writer, though he himself disavowed the label. He began his literary career as a political journalist and as an actor, director, and playwright in his native Algeria.

The Stranger’s theme and outlook are often cited as exemplars of Camus's philosophy of the absurd and existentialism, though Camus personally rejected the latter label.

The Stranger is Mersault, the narrator and protagonist of the novel. He suffers alienation from himself and the world. His narrative is divided into two parts. Part I deals with the routine affairs of Mersault, except for two key events. The story begins with the death of Mersault’s mother. Since he is an average man who earns barely enough for himself, Mersault sent his mother away to a Home for the Aged in Marengo, an action that brought him criticism. Then when he attends the funeral of his mother, he finds that he does not feel much grief; neither is he concerned about observing the social formalities of mourning. The day after his mother’s funeral, Mersault becomes involved in an affair with Marie, who was once a typist in his office. They swim together, have lunch, watch a comic film, and make love. The society is horrified at his refusal to observe a period of mourning for his mother. He is called "uncouth," "insensitive," and a "social monster". Part I also reveals Mersault’s involvement with Raymond Sintes, his neighbor who works as a pimp. Raymond has beaten has girlfriend for cheating on him, but he wants to punish her further. He persuades Mersault to write a scathing letter to her on Raymond’s behalf. The result of the letter is another confrontation between the girl and Raymond in which he beats her brutally. Mersault agrees to testify in Raymond’s behalf, saying that he was provoked by the girl into the confrontation. Mersault also agrees to travel with Raymond to the beach house of Masson, Raymond’s friend. At the beach, they encounter two Arabs, one of whom is the brother of the beaten girlfriend. A fight ensues, and Raymond is stabbed in the arms and mouth. Mersault is drawn into the conflict and winds up killing the Arab brother. It is the second key event of Part I. Both the death of his mother and the murder of the Arab have a direct bearing on the events of Part II.

Mersault is arrested and imprisoned for the murder. He is not worried about his case, for he feels the jury will understand how the shooting was not intentional. He does not hire his own attorney, but accepts the court appointed one. When the attorney tries to get Mersault to slant the truth about his reactions to his mother’s death, he refuses, for Mersault values honesty and is true to himself. He also fails to see the relationship between his case and his feelings for his mother. Mersault also refuses to see the chaplain, who eventually barges in to Mersault’s cell. When Mersault refuses to confess his guilt and beg forgiveness, the chaplain reacts with disbelief. When he tires to pray for Mersault, he screams at the chaplain. In a similar manner, he refuses to react to the crucifix that the magistrate shows him and reveals that he does not believe in God. The magistrate believes that he has never met a more taciturn, self-centered, naïve, honest, and blunt criminal. He also thinks that Mersault is so hard-hearted that he must be an "antichrist." The jury has the same reaction to Mersault. They do not comprehend any of his explanations and feel that his lack of emotion and remorse is inhuman.

The Stranger ends in tragedy when Mersault is sentenced to die by the guillotine. His lack of emotion and his detachment about life convince the jury that his life should not be spared.

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

By: William Shakespeare

This was a play written by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare is the most celebrated writer in the history of the English language. He was born in 1564, in a town called Stratford-upon-Avon, England. From roughly 1594 onward he was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men Company of theatrical players. Written records give little indication of the way in which Shakespeare’s professional life molded his artistry. All that can be deduced is that over the course of 20 years, Shakespeare wrote plays that capture the complete range of human emotion and conflict. His career began in London in the early 1590s, when he was in his late twenties. He wrote more than thirty plays as well as poems for about twenty years.

Romeo and Juliet, a play that has become one of the most famous and greatest love story ever written. Yet, this is more than just a love story. It deals with various issues affecting today’s young generation- love, family, desires, hatred, reconciliation, and emotions that affects everyday life. In this story, two young people, who came from a long-standing contradicting families and was a victim of the issues caused by older generation of both parties, met in an unexpected way, felt the heat of love at first sight, and have been drawn to various challenges, yet continued to fight for what their heart desires.

One of the primary issue of this story is the unending feud between the Montagues and the Capulets.  Yet, because of the kind of love that Romeo and Juliet have possessed, the love that was believed to put them in danger and would cause more conflict between their families, was the love that ended their old-aged family feud. Their love conquered the hatred that blinded both parties for a very long time.

Romeo and Juliet allows readers to have their own interpretation. Different readers have different perceptions about this story. But in the end, only one thing prevails. And that is, love conquers all.

Hunger

Hunger

By: Knut Hamsun

Hunger (Norwegian: Sult) is Hamsun's breakthrough novel about a young writer struggling to maintain his dignity while trying to survive in a desolate and lonely world.

Knut Hamsun was born in 1859 in Lom, Gudbrandsdal. His parents, Peder and Tora Pederson, were forced to move the family to the town of Hamaroey for financial reasons. There, a wealthy uncle had acquired a farm called Hamsund, which they were to farm. Hamsun was separated from his family at the age of nine to go and work for his uncle, who also owned and ran the town post office. The young Hamsun was ill-treated by his uncle, who often starved and beat him. Years later, Hamsun would continue to refer to the abuse he suffered at the hands of his uncle, which he believed, was responsible for many of his chronic nervous illnesses. In 1874, Hamsun managed to escape from Hamaroey. He lived itinerantly for the next few years, working various petty jobs. Simultaneously, he also published several books, even presenting literary lectures for interested audiences. However, he was unable to interest a major publisher in his work. Disappointed with the failure, Hamsun moved to the United States in 1882. Once again, Hamsun was faced with a life of labor, with little literary success. He returned to Norway in 1884, publishing an article on Mark Twain under the name of Knut Pederson Hamsun. Hamsun returned to the United States in 1886, moving back to Norway permanently in 1888. It is believed that his harsh experiences in America influenced his political views deeply and were partly responsible for his reactionary politics later in life. Hamsun continued to write and lecture, publishing the first few chapters on Hunger anonymously. When the novel was published in its entirety, it finally brought with it the literary success Hamsun had been seeking for many years.

Hunger is a monologue related by a struggling artist and is considered one of Hamsun's most autobiographical works. Regarded as one of the first examples of psychological literature and the stream-of-consciousness technique later developed by writers such as James Joyce, the novel is largely devoid of plot and character development. Instead, the narrative focuses on the thoughts and actions of the first-person narrator, a struggling artist, who lives in Christiania, Oslo, hoping to strike success. Divided into four parts that are very similar in form, content, and style, the book follows an unnamed narrator as he attempts to find food, lodging, and work while dreaming of making it as a writer. Instead, he finds himself alone, with nowhere to live, and nothing to eat. Alone in the big city, the protagonist reaches catastrophe in each section of the book, saved at the last minute by random events, such as the sale of an article, help from an old friend, and eventually at the end of the book, a job on a ship that takes him away from the desolation of the city.

The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken

By: Robert Frost

"The Road Not Taken" is a poem by Robert Frost, published in 1916 as the first poem in the collection Mountain Interval.

Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, where his father, William Prescott Frost Jr., and his mother, Isabelle Moodie, had moved from Pennsylvania shortly after marrying. After the death of his father from tuberculosis when Frost was eleven years old, he moved with his mother and sister, Jeanie, who was two years younger, to Lawrence, Massachusetts. He became interested in reading and writing poetry during his high school years in Lawrence, enrolled at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1892, and later at Harvard University in Boston, though he never earned a formal college degree.

Frost spent the years 1912 to 1915 in England, where among his acquaintances was the writer Edward Thomas. Thomas and Frost became close friends and took many walks together. After Frost returned to New Hampshire in 1915, he sent Thomas an advance copy of "The Road Not Taken." The poem was intended by Frost as a gentle mocking of indecision, particularly the indecision that Thomas had shown on their many walks together. Frost later expressed chagrin that most audiences took the poem more seriously than he had intended; in particular, Thomas took it seriously and personally, and it may have been the last straw in Thomas' decision to enlist in World War I. Thomas was killed two years later in the Battle of Arras.

The Road Not Taken” is one of Robert Frost’s most familiar and most popular poems. It is made up of four stanzas of five lines each, and each line has between eight and ten syllables in a roughly iambic rhythm; the lines in each stanza rhyme in an abaab pattern. The popularity of the poem is largely a result of the simplicity of its symbolism: The speaker must choose between diverging paths in a wood, and he sees that choice as a metaphor for choosing between different directions in life.The interpretation of this poem is about the human tendency to look back and attribute blame to minor events in one's life, or to attribute more meaning to things than they may deserve.

Journey to the End of the Night

Journey to the End of the Night

By: Louis-Ferdinand Celine

Journey to the End of the Night (Voyage au bout de la nuit, 1932) is the first novel of Louis-Ferdinand Céline. This semi-autobiographical work describes antihero Ferdinand Bardamu.

Bardamu is involved with World War I, colonial Africa, and post–World War I United States (where he works for the Ford Motor Company), returning in the second half of the work to France, where he becomes a medical doctor and establishes a practice in a poor Paris suburb, the fictional La Garenne-Rancy. The novel also satirizes the medical profession and the vocation of scientific research. The disparate elements of the work are linked together by recurrent encounters with Léon Robinson, a hapless character whose experiences parallel, to some extent, those of Bardamu.

  

Céline's first novel is most remarkable perhaps for its style. Céline makes extensive use of ellipsis and hyperbole. He writes with the flow of natural speech patterns and writes vernacular, while also employing more erudite elements. This influenced French literature considerably. The novel enjoyed popular success and a fair amount of critical acclaim when it was published during October 1932. Albert Thibaudet, perhaps the greatest of the entre-deux-guerres critics, said that during January 1933 it was still a common topic of conversation at dinner parties in Paris.

  

A clue to understanding Céline's Voyage is the trauma he suffered during his experience of the Great War 1914–19.

Louis-Ferdinand Celine's revulsion and anger at what he considered the idiocy and hypocrisy of society explodes from nearly every page of this novel. Filled with slang and obscenities and written in raw, colloquial language, Journey to the End of the Night is a literary symphony of violence, cruelty and obscene nihilism. This book shocked most critics when it was first published in France in 1932, but quickly became a success with the reading public in Europe, and later in America where it was first published by New Directions in 1952. The story of the improbable yet convincingly described travels of the petit-bourgeois (and largely autobiographical) antihero, Bardamu, from the trenches of World War I, to the African jungle, to New York and Detroit, and finally to life as a failed doctor in Paris, takes the readers by the scruff and hurtles them toward the novel's inevitable, sad conclusion.