SHORT STORY ANALYSIS VIA POWERPOINT: The Gift of the Magi by O Henry

The gift of the magi

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(O. Henry is the writer's pen name) 

ON CRITICAL THINKING: How do you contrast critical thinking with poor thinking?

       There is nothing more practical than sound thinking. No matter what your circumstance or goals, no matter where you are, or what problems you face, you are better off if your thinking is skilled. As a manager, leader, employee, citizen, lover, friend, parent — in every realm and situation of your life — good thinking pays off. Poor thinking, in turn, inevitably causes problems, wastes time and energy, engenders frustration and pain. 
--http://www.criticalthinking.org/print-page.cfm?pageID=478

       Critical thinking and poor thinking are exact opposites. It is just like comparing full to empty. Whatever status a person has, his/her life will be more meaningful and less problematic if he/she practices critical thinking. Not all people can think critically, but many can have critical thinking skills even very slowly, by simply trying to have such. 

       Practice makes perfect, even if it takes a long time. The daily hassles and burdens in life can be minimized and even eliminated with sound critical thinking skills. On the other hand, these hassles and burdens will be worse and will pile up with poor thinking, hence the high suicide rate. At one point, I almost ended my life due to the pressing problems that I couldn’t handle anymore. I was thinking very poorly that time.  --ARV

Short Story Analysis: THE NECKLACE by Guy de Maupassant

I, THE NECKLACE

by Guy de Maupassant

II. SYNOPSIS /SUMMARY

A young woman named Mathilde Loisel is married to a little clerk of the Ministry of Public Instruction. They live a poor life, which Mathilde hates. One day, they are invited to a grand ball where the rich people will be. Mathilde buys a new gown from her husband’s savings intended to buy him a gun for shooting larks, for his hobby. To go with that very elegant gown, she borrows a diamond necklace from her friend Madame Forestier. At the ball, Mathilde is prettier than any woman there. When they arrive home after that ball, she discovers that the borrowed necklace is gone. She and her husband try to find it, but are not able to, so they buy another one exactly the same, for thirty-four thousand francs, from its original price of forty francs; such a very big amount of money for the couple. They use up Mathilde’s husband's inheritance, borrowed from usurers, and they work odd jobs for ten years just to make up for that amount. After a decade, Mathilde sees Madame Forestier by chance, and after those years, finally confesses that the necklace she returned was a replacement. Madame Forestier is shocked, and tells her that the necklace she lent her was fake, worth at most five hundred francs.

III. SHORT STORY ELEMENTS

A. CHARACTERS

There are three main characters in this short story:

1.   Mathilde Loisel, the wife

2.   The little clerk of the Ministry of Public Instruction, the husband

3.   Madame Forestier, the friend who lent Mathilde a diamond necklace

B. PLOT

a)  Introduction

Mathilde, the main woman character in this short story, is being described as unhappy because of her and her husband’s being poor.

b)  Rising Action

The complication starts when she and her husband are invited to a rich people’s ball. She buys a new gown, and to go with it, she borrows an elegant diamond necklace from her friend Madame Forestier.

c)  Climax

The peak of this short story iswhen Mathilde discovers that she lost the diamond necklace.

d) Falling action

 To replace the lost diamond necklace, Mathilde and her husband buy another one exactly the same, for thirty-four thousand francs, from its original price of forty francs, such a very big amount of money for the couple. The eighteen thousand francs was inherited by her husband from his father, and the rest of the amount he borrows from various sources.

e)      Denouement

       The problem resolves itself, though in a negative manner, when Mathilde and Madame Forestier meet again after ten years, and the latter tells the former that the diamond necklace she borrowed was fake.

C. SETTING

a)  place – in Paris

b)  time- sometime in the 18^th century

c)  weather conditions - good

d)  social conditions- Mathilde Loisel and her husband were poor

e)  mood or atmosphere – Mathilde is not contented of her poor life. When she loses the borrowed diamond necklace, she and her husband become anxious. Then they buy a new one to replace the lost one, and they live a stressful life in order to pay their debts  incurred to buy such necklace.

D. POINT OF VIEW

The Point of View used in this short story is the Omniscient Limited - The author tells the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc).  We know only what the character knows and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us.

E. LITERARY DEVICES

In my opinion, the literary devices used in this story are Symbolism and Irony. For Symbolism, the borrowed necklace symbolizes being wealthy, which Mathilde has been longing to be. While wearing it, she feels so superior. Meanwhile, for Irony, such borrowed necklace looks so sophisticated but is actually fake.

F. THEME

For me, the theme Things are not always as they appear to be and also Be content on what you have are applicable to this story.

G. CONFLICT

The conflict here are of Man vs. Himself, and Man vs. Society—Mathilde has been struggling as a poor woman because of her desire to “fit in” the society. --ARV

A Simple Analysis of "Flower Shop (by Arturo Rotor)"

I. FLOWER SHOP
By Arturo Rotor
II. SYNOPSIS

         This short story is narrated by a persona who writes for a magazine. One morning, he/she goes to the local flower shop owned by Letty and her father, to cover some incidents that are worthy as news features. While the persona is in such flower shop, he/she encounters different customers who have various selections on their choices of flowers, though most of them order for a certain Margarita Martinez who is celebrating her birthday that day.

III. REVIEW

         Though the aforementioned short story’s writer used words which are easy to comprehend, I had to read it three times to be able to fully understand the entire story and to look for symbols.. In my opinion, this is indeed a story that has an element of Symbolism overpowering the other elements, since the Setting is simply that flower shop, the Plot and the Theme are plain, and the Characters do not have quite significant roles.

         The different varieties of  flowers depicted here symbolize the different personalities (souls) of people. It is stated in the 7th paragraph of page 255 that “flowers speak language of soul.” For me, such flowers, which are truly different in color, size, appearance, are similar to people’s innate personalities or souls.

         In this story, the last customer is a man who orders cheap flowers, worth ten centavos, in an expensive box, worth ten pesos, because, according to him: “People will see the expensive box. They will say, why, it must contain something very expensive inside, too. The expensive covering fools them, don’t you see?” --ARV

A Lesson Plan on An Interactive Language Learning Activity Using the Story "The Unicorn in the Garden (by James Thurber)" As the Focal Point for Analysis

Lessons: 1. Storytelling
                2. Noun replacement – Synonyms and Antonyms

Level of students: 4th year college

Material Used: The Unicorn in the Garden by James Thurber

Duration of the Lessons : 3 meetings

Flow of the Lesson:

1. As a preview, the teacher will show a slide presentation of a unicorn, then of a booby, of a booby-hatch, of a lily, of a strait-jacket, then of a jay bird, each in five different angles/slides, with The Unicorn Song (Appendix 1) by Irish Rovers, in the background. The last slide of such presentation will be the vocabulary.

Vocabulary:
1. Unicorn - mythical one-horned horse: a mythical animal usually depicted as a white horse with a single straight spiraled horn growing from its forehead
2. Booby - a person regarded as stupid
3. Booby-hatch - An institution for the mentally ill.
4. Lily - a plant and flower of the genus Lilium, endogenous bulbous plants, having a regular perianth of six colored pieces, six stamens, and a superior three-celled ovary.
5. Strait-jacket - A long-sleeved jacket-like garment used to bind the arms tightly against the body as a means of restraining a violent patient or prisoner.
6. Jay bird - 1.Any of various often crested birds of the genera Garrulus, Cyanocitta, Aphelocoma, and related genera within the family Corvidae, often having a loud, harsh call. Also called jaybird. 2.An overly talkative person; a chatterbox.
2. Handouts of the short story The Unicorn in the Garden by James Thurber (Appendix 2)will be distributed to the students, for them to read, two lines per student, until the end of the story. The teacher will introduce such reading activity by reading the first two lines herself.

3. An activity sheet will then be given to the students to accomplish.


Listening Component: Listening to the individual reading of the story, also to the background song during the slideshow presentation

Reading Component: Individual reading of the story

Writing and Grammar Component: The replacement of nouns underlined by the teacher. The corresponding grammar resulting to such changes should be followed.

Speaking Component: The students will be interacting/ brainstorming with group mates.

Vocabulary: The words unicorn, booby, booby-hatch, lily, strait-jacket, and jay bird will be defined.


Closure: As a homework and study guide, the students will practice singing the song "The Unicorn Song," and will identify ten nouns in the lyrics and replace them with nouns that are either synonyms or antonyms. --ARV

A SONG ANALYSIS : "MAGELLAN"

I.  MAGELLAN

Sung by Yoyoy Villame (RIP)

On March sixteen fifteen hundred twenty one
When Philippines was discovered by Magellan
They were sailing day and night
Across the big ocean
Until they saw a small Limasawa island.

Magellan landed in Limasawa at noon
The people met him very welcome on the shore
They did not understand
The speaking they have done
Because Kastila gid at Waray-Waray man

When Magellan landed in Cebu City
Rajah Humabon met him they were very happy
All people were baptized
And built the church of Christ
And that's the beginning of our Catholic life

But Lapu-Lapu met him on the shore
And drive Magellan to go back home

When Magellan visited in Mactan
To Christianize them everyone

Then Magellan got so mad
Ordered his men to camouflage
"Mactan Island we could not grab
Cause Lapu-Lapu is very hard"

Then the battle began at dawn
Bolos and spears versus guns and cannons
When Magellan was hit on his neck
He stumble down and cried and cried

"Oh mother, mother, I am sick
Call the doctor very quick
Doctor, Doctor shall I die
Tell my Mama do not cry
Tell my Mama do not cry
Tell my Mama do not cry"

That's the end of Magellan in the island of Mactan long time ago ladies and gentlemen…

II.  SUMMARY

          The above famous song is all about the voyage of Magellan who, in search of the Spice Islands, landed in Limasawa, and ‘discovered’  the Philippines. That was the start of the spread of Christianity in our country.  Many Filipinos, except for Lapu lapu and his native men, welcomed Magellan and his Spanish troop. Lapu lapu and company staged a war because they did not want the Spaniards to take over their turf, Mactan Islands. The ending of the song was composed of the lines of a popular nursery rhyme.

III. REVIEW

         The lyrics are actually lines and stanzas of a poem. However, without the jolly background music, the overall lyrics will sound less interesting.

          Over all, the poem/lyrics had a meaningful historical gist, even if some lines had grammatical errors, like (but I believe that these “errors” were made so as to have a good laugh):

1. When Philippines was discovered by Magellan – should have the article “the” before “Philippines”

2. Until they saw a small Limasawa island – the article “a” should be “the”

3. The people met him very welcome on the shore – awkward sentence construction

4. Rajah Humabon met him they were very happy – should have a punctuation mark (; or ‘ or .) or the  

     conjunction “and” between “Rajah Humabon met him” and “they were very happy”

5.  And that's the beginning of our Catholic life – should have been “that was” instead of “that is”

6.  And drive Magellan to go back home – should have been “drove” instead of “drive”

7. When Magellan visited in Mactan – the preposition “in” is not needed here

8.  To Christianize them everyone – awkward if without the punctuation mark ; in between “them” and “everyone”

9. Cause Lapu-Lapu is very hard- “Cause” is the short cut of “because,” so it should have been ‘Cause

10. Doctor, Doctor shall I die – should have the question mark at the end

IV. CONCLUSION

          Despite the ten errors in grammar, the song is still quite entertaining, mainly because of its upbeat melody, as well as the singer’s unique and innate humorous style in singing.  And, most of all, disregarding such errors, the summary somehow helps the youngsters know a very important part of our country’s history.

V.  RECOMMENDATION

          After I resigned as a fulltime High School English teacher, I was hired to substitute a Grade 4 Civics teacher for three months. When our lessons were about the Spanish colonization, I decided to play a video-cd of the above song right after our film viewing on Magellan at the AVRoom. The students really had fun singing and dancing to Yoyoy Villame’s upbeat songs. I played it three times, and the meeting after, we had a recap on the film via question-and-answer. Most of the students remembered and liked the song better than the film.

          I hereby recommend this song as an ice-breaker during a film viewing activity in the intermediate years, when the topic in Civics reaches the Spanish colonization. So as not to confuse the students, a short explanation regarding the grammar may be done prior to the playing of the said song. Thekids will truly enjoy the singing and dancing to this merry song while learning remarkable facts about our very own Philippine History. --ARV

SOURCES:
           1. SONG :  www.opmpinoy.com/opm-magellan-lyrics-11063.html
           2.  VIDEO -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-xSgQcYPmQ&feature=player_embedded#at=23

A Personal Essay: It Pays to Do Your Best in Everything

        Every single thing you do at any given time should be done with all your might so as to get the best results. Whether it is a task pertaining to your studies, goals in life, job, household duties, or personal responsibilities, it is most ideal that you really do your best in doing such task’s steps even if the starting step can be difficult.  As the famous saying goes, “No pain, no gain.” Oftentimes it is just in the beginning that difficulty is present. Eventually, the procedure will be smooth and you will get accustomed to its entirety.

          On the other hand, though the overall procedure in a certain task is very easy that you may not regard the outcome as worthy of attention, this finished task must still be in your list of accomplishments. In general, both difficult and easy tasks must form part of your life, since these actually put “spice” in living. Literally, if there is no spice in cooking, food will lack taste. In this connection, a life without “spice” seems empty. Anyway, in order to have a lighter load for all of your hard tasks, you can follow the following five tips so that you will not have much difficulty in accomplishing each task:

          First, a particular task’s set-up should be planned carefully. For instance, if it is your goal to graduate within the next two years or so, you must have a concrete breakdown of what subjects to take every semester, and summer, if applicable. Then, you should have self-discipline to not do anything that will become a hindrance in this goal. Most importantly, you must put your heart into it, because a half-baked process typically does not do any good.

          Second, once the set-up has been pinpointed, you should be firm in undertaking each step under it. No matter what obstacle or temptation comes your way, this firmness will help you a lot in reaching your goal. If a friend invites you to an overnight party that will make you absent from classes the next day, you must have the courage to say no. Otherwise, there is a big chance of this wrongdoing pulling down your goal.     

          Third, always remember that a wrong move does not necessarily mean a bad result. In fact, sometimes there is a hidden “good” in a bad decision. However, as much as possible, you must ensure that this bad move does not happen again, because not all negativities have goodness in them.

          Fourth, be serious in undergoing any task even if it seems impossible to attain. Think of every step as a challenge, and the end-result as your prize. If the first man on the moon thought of his task as unreachable, he would not have done what he did. Similarly, getting that much-coveted diploma is not viable if you are not serious in this goal.

          Fifth and last, if you fail in the total procedure, do not despair. More so, do not give up. There is still a next time to do better.

          All in all, each mentioned tip can be maximized or used to the fullest if you try to do your best at all times. Even if you frequently end up failing in most tasks, it really does not matter if you see to it that you do everything with all your might. Likewise, always bear in mind that it pays if you do your best in everything that you do. Failures may not make you get some of your desired goals, but failing principally makes you a wiser, tougher, and better person.  --ARV