UNIT 1: Philippine History and Literature

Unit I explores the use of Philippine history in Literature. The texts found in this unit
hope to show how literature can offer insights on the Philippine history and show different
perspectives regarding history. For example, it shows the enthusiastic joys of a teenager during
the Spanish era when one read Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere. This unit also depicts martial law from
the perspective of two different children, in two different texts, it also discusses the death of
Jose Rizal from the perspective of one of his teachers.
MODULE 1: Reading and Revolution
Close Reading and Significance of Literature from the Philippines
Learning Objectives
At the end of this module, the student shall be able to:
1. appreciate the importance of Noli Me Tangere to the Philippine during the Spanish
occupation;
2. understand the importance of literature in Philippine society; and
3. read and analyze the text.

MOTIVATION:
1. What do you know about publication of Noli Metangere and how it affected the
Philippines?
2. Do you think that novels in the Philippines are as important as they used to be when the
Noli Metangere was published in 1887? Are people still inspired by novels?
 3. What is it about reading long texts, such as short stories or novels that makes it different
from reading tweets, and Facebook status posts? What is the important of literature for
the Facebook generation?
PRE-READING:
Family Tree
Map your family tree. Try to find out who your relatives are as far back as your great-
great- grandfather, if possible. Draw your family tree, and beside the names of your relatives,
make a sketch of the historical events happened in their lifetime. Is it possible to trace your
ancestors from the times of Rizal before 1898?
Essay
In a short one-page essay, imagine what life of your ancestor would have been like
during the Philippine Revolution. Judging from your family tree, create an educated guess. Do
you think he/she would have been a Spaniard, a Chinese, or a Filipino? Would he/she have
been from the upper class or lower class? Imagine what his/her life would have been like during
that time.
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE:
When people write about Noli Metangere in the history books, they always mention
how Andres Bonifacio was inspired to revolution, and that it was the ideological fire forged the
Katipunan. However, it was not just Andres Bonifacio who was inspired by the novel, but
countless other Filipino who felt for the very first time, that Jose Rizal was articulating what
they felt about the Philippines. According to the poet and writer J. Neil Gracia (2011), before
Rizal wrote Noli Metangere, there was no real concept of the Philippine nation; that the novel
was a “myth- making project,” a “means of imagining the special communal fantasy that was
the nation. “ When Rizal wrote the Noli Me Tangere, the concept and dream of the Philippine
nation was born.
When you think about it, it is interesting that the seeds of the Philippine nationhood
came from a novel. Although some people may say that literature is not important, during
those times, literature was important enough for people to imagine a nation and be willing to
fight for it.
In the excerpt of Gina Apostol’s novel The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata, the
“revolutionary act of reading” is explored through the eyes of a young man, a high school
student from the Ateneo. Reading it makes you imagine what it would have been like to be
alive during those heady days of revolution. In this excerpt, he reads the book Noli Me Tangere
by Jose Rizal, which was given to him by his friend, Father Gaspar, a Filipino priest.
 The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata
[Excerpt]
by Gina Apostol

It was a bolt – a thunder bolt. A rain of bricks, a lightning zap. A pummeling of

mountains, a heaving violent storm at sea – a whiplash. A typhoon. An earthquake. The end of
the world. And I was in ruins. It struck me dumb. It changed my life and the world was new
when I was done. And when I raised myself from bed two days later, I thought: It’s only a novel.
If I ever met him, what would my life be? I lay back in bed. But what a novel! And I cursed him,
the writer – what was his name – for doing what I hadn’t done, for putting my worlds into
words before I even had the sense to know what the world was. That was his triumph – he’d
laid out a trail, and all we had to do is follow his wake. Even then, I already felt the bitter envy,
the acid retch of a latecomer artist, the one who will always be under the influence, by mere
chronology always slightly suspect, a borrower, never lender be. After him, all Filipinos are
tardy ingrates. What is the definition of art? Art is reproach to those who receive it. That was
his curse upon all of us. I was weak, as if drugged. I realized: I hadn’t eaten in two days. Then I
got out of bed and boiled barako for me.

Later it was all the rage in the coffee shops, in the bazaars of Binondo. People did not
even hide it – crowds of men, and not just students, not just boys, some women even, with
their violent fans – gesticulating in public, throwing up their hands, putting up fists in debate.
Put your knuckle where your mouth is. We were loud, obstreperous, heedless. We were literary
critics. We were cantankerous: rude raving. And no matter which side you were, with the crown
or with the infidels, Spain or Spolarium, all of us, each one, seemed revitalized by spleen,
hatched by the woods of long, venomous silence. And yes, suddenly the world opened up to
me, after the novel, to which before I had been blind.

Still I rushed into other debates, for instance with Benigno and Agapito, who had now
moved into my rooms. Remembering Father Gaspar’s cryptic injunction -  “throw it away to
someone else,” so that in this manner the book traveled rapidly in those dark days of its
printing, now so nostalgically glorious, though then I had no clue that these were historic acts,
the act of reading, or that the book would be such a collector’s item, or otherwise I would have
wrapped it in parchment and sealed it for the highest bidder, what the hell, I only knew holding
the book could very likely constitute a glorious crime – in short, I lent it to Benigno.

Guide Questions:

1. Why did Noli Me Tangere have such a big impression on the narrator? Could you
relate to the feelings of the narrator’s experience of reading? Why or why not?
2. Have you ever felt the same about book that you had read? What book was it? Why
did it leave such a huge impression on you?
3. What does the line, “Art is a reproach to those who receive it” mean? Should art be
a reproach? Should we relate art to society? Explain your views.
4. When you read about how so many people were affected by the novel Noli Me
Tangere, what was your reaction? Do you think a book can ever elicit such a strong
response in the Philippines?
5. When the narrator says that the act of reading was a historic act, what did he mean?
Do you think this is true even today?
6. During those times, do you think you would have been moved to fight against the
government after reading the novel?
7. They say that the act of reading gives people more empathy and makes them more
critical and reflective. Do you think this is true?
8. Given this excerpt, what do you think is the importance of literature to society? Is
this still applicable today?
9. Why is the Noli Me Tangere, a book that was banned in the past, now a required
reading in Philippine schools? Why did the Catholic Church go against making Noli a
requirement?
10. Do you think there should ever be a time when certain books should be banned?
Why or why not?
Module 2
The Death of a Hero
MOTIVATION:
1. What do you know about Jose Rizal? What do you feel about Jose Rizal?
2. Why do people often compare and contrast Rizal and Bonifacio?
3. Do you consider Jose Rizal a revolutionary? Why or why not?
PRE-READING
Create a semantic map about everything you know about Rizal, and all of his
achievements and contributions to Philippine society. (Your teacher should be able to show
what a semantic map looks like.)
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE:
Did you know that Jose Rizal is not the Philippines' national hero? According to the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA 2011), there has been no official
proclamation of any Filipino historical figure as our national hero. The NCAA states, “Even Jose
Rizal considered as the greatest among the Filipino heroes, was not explicitly proclaimed as a
national hero. The position he now holds in Philippine history is a tribute to the continued
veneration or acclamation of the people in recognition of his contribution to the significant
social transformations that took place in our country.”
The poem are about to read is an imagined narrative by a priest of Ateneo, Padre Faura,
on how he feels about his old student, Jose Rizal.
Padre Faura Witnesses the Execution of Rizal
By Danton Remoto
I stand on the roof
Of the Ateneo Municipal,
Shivering
On this December morning.

Months ago,
Pepe came to me
In the Observatory
I thought we would talk

About the stars

That do not collide
In the sky:
Instead, he asked me about purgatory.

(His cheeks still ruddy

From the sudden sun
After the bitter winters
In Europe.)

And on this day

With the year beginning to turn,
Salt stings my eyes.
I see Pepe,

A blur
Between the soldiers
With their Mausers raised
And the early morning's

Star:
Still shimmering
Even if millions of miles away,
The star itself

Is already  dead.
 Guide Questions:

1. Who is Pepe? Explain.

2. Why does Pepe ask the persona about purgatory?
3. The poem talks about the nature of the stars. Can you explain what he means, in
terms of science.
4. This discussion of a star is also a metaphor. What is the metaphor for?
5. Why was Rizal executed? How is this similar to the idea of a star? Relate this to
Philippine history.
6. What do you think the persona felt for Rizal? Give textual evidence.
7. Do you feel the same way?
8. What would you say was Rizal’s greatest contribution to Philippine society?
9. If you were in Rizal’s place, would you have supported the Katipunan? Why or why
not?
10. Who do you consider as our national hero? Jose Rizal or Andres Bonifacio?
AFTER READING:
Viewing
Look for the Joey Ayala song Mi Ultimo Adios, with English subtitles on YouTube.