Sex + Humor + Drama

Derived from the title of the story, Getting Better is like a step-by-step instructional guide for people who discovered their partner cheating. The author of the story is a filipino and a writer in a magazine, so you would expect that the story feels like you are reading a magazine that features a guide on how you will face life after breaking up with the one you love and start to get better! haha! For me, Getting Better is a combination of drama, comedy, suspense, romance and a bit of SEX to spice things up in the story. Though, it shows the western and different side of young adult filipinos, everyone in the class can easily understand and relate to what is happening in the story. Maybe, the PHILIT class enjoys stories that has SEX in it, well it's just my opinion. nyehaaha!

The story is about a woman named karen, the girlfriend of miko that will cheat later on. I think the story took place in an urban area like makati, or manila because of the atmosphere the story suggests. The characters acts like they aren't filipinos at all because most
of the time filipinos are described as conservative and simple persons. The attitude of the characters in the story is the reason why I think the author is quite influenced by western countries. Maybe it is also possible that the author is watching too much sex and violence
that's why the story shows sexual activity between a man and woman and why the story feels like it is very normal in the society to say things about *toot*, *toot* and *toot*.

I like this story, not because of sex, but because of how the author was able to establish a different way of telling a story about a person's recovery after discovering that his partner is cheating on him/her. Also, the story has a bit humor in it to balance things and prevent the story to become serious and boring. The author for me used "sex + humor + drama" as an effective style to keep the readers interested.

The Document

One of the shortest story we read in our PHILIT class is the document. This story is unique! For me... Why? Because the author uses technology like the computer as a way to express his message to his readers. One more reason why this story is so unique is because of it's setting. Everything in the story happened in front of the guy's computer. Most of the time, when I read stories, each event and scenes happens in different places. The story was written in the year 1995 wherein people are still using weird computers because people in that time are not yet interested in computers so they tend to stick to what they still have.

The document is about a guy using his computer and the .doc files saved by a girl who often uses the guy's computer whenever she wishes to use it without asking permission directly to the guy. While the guy is browsing the computer the guy finds the filename of the .doc files, strange that's why the guy started to think that the girl likes him because the filename of the .doc files suggest.

Maybe, the point of the author is that we immediately put meaning about what we see without being able to prove it first. Just like the guy in the story, the guy started to assume that the girl likes him without even making a move to prove what is the true meaning of the strange filenames of .doc files of the girl.

The Great Pretender /ho

Games

Ang istoryang ito ay tungkol sa isang mapagpanggap na babae na madalas tumawag sa isang lalake. Tuwing tatawag ang babae sa lalake ay gumagamit sya ng iba't ibang pangalan, boses at style ng pagsasalita. Ang dahilan ng pagpapanggap ng babae ay dahil sa hindi sya siguro ang tipo ng babaeng magugustuhan ng lalakeng kanyang tinatawagan kaya lagi syang nagpapanggap bilang isang babaeng matitipuhan ng isang lalake.

Kung iisipin natin hindi lamang sa mga babae natin ito maaring, maikumpara. Maari din sa mga lalake, dahil di natin maikakait na minsan ninanais tayong maging, pero kasamaangpalad ay hindi tayo naging ganoon. Para sa akin hindi maganda ang magpanggap, para sa akin napakahirap magpanggap dahil una sa lahat niloloko mo ang mga kapwa mo dahil sa umaasa sila na ganoon ka talaga at pangalawa niloloko mo na din ang sarili mo, dahil sa nabubuhay ka na nagpapanggap at hindi ka na totoo sa sarili mo.

Kung ako yung babae, magpapakatotoo ako. Kung ano talaga ako, yun ako kapag nakita ako ng natitipuhan kong lalake. Tsaka pwede ko naman sigurong akong gumawa ng paraan para magustuhan ako di ba? Bakit magpapanggap ka pa?

Forgotten Love in the Cornhusk

Sometimes people when it comes to love, defines love as a relationship where two hearts should exist, where both of them should be physically in contact with each other so that they could really have love. What I mean is, for most of us, it is so difficult to maitain a long distance relationship, specially if you you will not be communicating a lot. Maybe, today it is more easy to maintain a long distance relationship. Maybe, because of technology, we have telephones where we can our love ones anytime, cellphone where we can send a simple sms to our loved ones and there is the internet wherein there is a lot of communication options we can choose from. But in the story we discussed, there is no telephone, cellphones, etc... the typical, unreliable snail mail is their only option for a long distance communication making long-distance relationship very difficult to maintain.




The story for me is all about forgotten love. The story starts in a typical rural area wherein corns grow. In the first part of the story, Tinang, wife of inggo,the main character of the story, with his son, visits her master to ask if her master would agree to become a ninang of her baby in the its coming baptism. But before tinang leaves her master, she was asked by his master to go to the post office because she has a letter. Tinang went to the post office to pick-up the letter and after that she searched for a place where she can read the letter. She decided to read the letter when she found a place with cornhusks.

The letter she got from the post office is from her first husband, amado. In the letter, Amado told
tinang that his mother is sick, now, unfortunately dead. Also, Amado asked if tinang still has for amado in her heart. Because of this, tinang felt guilty. She felt guilty because she didn't even wait for amado and she regret losing the love started in the cornhusks.

What I can say is that, tinang is weak and impatient. Why weak? Why impatient? She is weak and impatient because of the fact that tinang fell in love with Inggo. I also find the relationship of amado and tinang, a weak one because it took tinang two years to read amado's letter. Which may mean that they aren't communicating a lot. They just let time pass by.

Pimped Mats

Para sa akin maganda ang mensahe na nais ipahiwatig sa atin ng istoryang "The Mats" ni Francisco Arcellana. Kung ating iisipin napakasimple lang ng istorya ngunit marami itong laman. Maraming mga pangyayari ang sumasalamin sa mga kaugaliang pinoy na umiiral pa din hanggang ngayon tulad ng isang ama na kada-uwi nya ay nagdidiwang ang buong pamilya. Pinakikita dito ang kaugaliang kailangang magsaya ng lahat dahil ligtas at "buong" na nakauwi ang ama at syempre kaya nagdidiwang at masaya ang lahat ay dahil tuwing uuwi ang ama ay may pasalubong ang ama, syempre masaya yun di ba? Tulad sa totoong buhay, lalo na noong bata pa tayo, kapag narinig mo na ang kotse na bumusina, bumukas ang gate at tumunog ang pinto nagkakandarapa ka nang salubungin si Mommy at Daddy para inspeksyunin ang kanilang mga dala dala at hanapin ang iyong pasalubong di ba? (Hindi ako yan ah!) Minsan malungkot kasi walang pasalubong pero ayus lang andyan naman si Mommy at Daddy di ba? (wushu!)

Balik sa istorya, naguwi ang ama ng mga "mats" o sleeping mats na ipinagawa nya sa isang mahusay na manghahabi para sa lahat ngunit may kondisyon ang ama na dapat makamit muna ng kanyang mga anak ang kanilang mithiin at makatapos sa pag-aaral bago nila magamit ang kani-kanilang mga mats. Pinakikita sa pangyayaring ito na napakaimportante para sa isang magulang ang pagtatapos ng isang anak sa kanyang pag-aaral. Para sa isang magulang, ito na marahil ang pinakamahal na kayamanan na maibibigay ng magulang, di tulad ng pera na nauubos, di tulad ng mga ari-arian na nawawala, para sa kanila ang edukasyon ay parang mga pakpak na makakatulong para sa kanilang mga anak na abutin ang kanilang mga pangarap kahit na wala na sila.

Sa huling parte ng istorya, para sa akin ang pinakaimportanteng bahagi ng istorya, kasi matapos ibigay ng ama ang kaniyang pasalubong sa kanyang mga anak, nagtaka ang kanyang mga anak kung bakit may natira pang mga mat/sleeping mats na ikinagalit ng ama, dahil ang mga mats na natira ay para sa mga anak nyang yumao na. Para sa akin, nais ipahiwatig ng ama na kahit wala na hindi na nabubuhay ang kanyang mga anak na iyon para sa kanya, buhay pa din sila at di dapat sila kinalilimutan kahit na masakit alalahanin. Sa iba't ibang mga bagay din siguro, di lamang sa mga yumao, sa mga tao na may mga mabuting nagawa sa atin dati dapat alalahanin natin sila. Kaya di ako naniniwala sa kasabihang "past is past" eh. Tama nga talaga ang kasabihang, dapat lumingon ka sa pinanggalingan mo para makarating ka sa paroroonan mo.