Pangako Sa 'Yo

(Marxist Analysis)

  Donya Benita wants to maintain their family's high class status so she arranged Eduardo and Claudia into marriage instead of Amor.

• "Doña Benita opposes his son and Amor's relationship since Amor was only a housemaid and she wanted Eduardo to marry Claudia Zalameda for political reasons. Doña Benita asked Eduardo's brother, Diego, who has a crush on Amor, to separate them."

   Power gives higher classes the confidence to rule because they believe that if they are much higher than the lower class, they can easily control and dominate them.

• "Doña Benita regretted forcing Eduardo to marry Claudia, as her daughter-in-law turned out to be cruel. She tried to explain on her deathbed that it was she who broke his relationship with Amor, but died before explaining."
• "Yna and Angelo fall in love, much to Claudia's chagrin. She looks down on maids, and actively makes Yna's life a living hell."

  It can be seen in the story that only a higher class can defeat another high class because of equal forces.

• "Amor Powers returns to the Philippines from the United States after making a name for herself in the business world. Amor had been all the while planning her revenge on the Buenavista family, whom she blamed for her past sufferings as well as the assumed death of her child."

Nicolle’s #BagongGandaBagongPagAsa Story

(Maxi-peel commercial)
Structuralist Analysis

           The tv ad was classified as rhetorical criticism, that fall under the theory of genres in a drama category in structuralism, for it uses a girl's past experience to make her use the product. Nicolle was bullied by her classmates when she was a teenager because of her pimples. She was encouraged to use Maxi-peel and her life was gradually changed because of its effect. Her face that was pale, cracked and was full of pimples was now totally changed and her confidence was renewed because her natural beauty finally appears. 

          The commercial has examples of binary opposition because in here, it conveys the message of good-looking vs. ugly, that you can hardly be accepted if you are not pleasing enough especially if there is something wrong with your physical appearance. You have to be beautiful in order for you to gain friends and to be fully confident with yourself , and; strong vs. weak, from being gloomy, aloof, and depressed to being cheerful, determined and full of life. It can be seen in the commercial that in order for you to be strong, you have to gain enough confidence, and that is why they are convincing the people to use maxi-peel in order for them to achieve or to retain what they really want themselves to become. Strong is the dominant between the two so we make it as our basis to achieve something as our norm.

Biag ni Lam-ang

by Pedro Bucaneg

Archetypal Analysis

           At an early age, Lam-ang already possessed extraordinary abilities. It took four people to help his mother, Namongan, to give birth and when he came out, he told her that he would be given the name Lam-ang. 

    

          Lam-ang was only nine months old when he decided to look for his father, Don Juan, after not returning home from a battle. Aware of his son's extraordinary capabilities, Namongan allowed him to go for a quest though she was sad to let him go. During his exhausting journey, Lam-ang fell asleep and dreamed of his father's head being stuck on a pole by the Igorot. Lam-ang was furious when he learned about what happened to his father and hurriedly went to the village. He killed all the people except for one, so that he could tell others about Lam-ang's greatness.

          Upon returning to Nalbuan, he was bathed by women in the Amburayan river and the dirt from his body caused the death of fishes, crabs, and shrimps in the river because of his strong odor. 

         There was a woman whom Lam-ang wanted to court, and her name is Ines Kannoyan. Ines lived in Calanutian, and upon visiting her, Lam-ang brought along with him his gray dog and white rooster. While on their journey, Lam-ang encountered one of Ines' suitors, Sumarang, which he fought later on and defeated. 

        Ines' house was surrounded by many suitors, so Lam-ang thought of something to catch her attention. He had his rooster crow, which caused a nearby house to fall. His dog barked, and suddenly, the house rose up again. This caught the attention of Ines' parents and called Lam-ang. The rooster expressed his love and finally, Ines' parents agreed to a marriage with their daughter if Lam-ang could give them a double value of their wealth. Lam-ang had no problem with this, so he and Ines got married. 

          It was a tradition for the people of Nalbuan to have a newly married man dive for a rarang fish. Unfortunately, Lam-ang was eaten by a river monster, Berkakan. His bones were recovered by Marcos, and Ines covered them with a piece of cloth. The rooster crowed and the dog barked, and gradually, the bones started to move. Upon his resurrection, Lam-ang, together with his wife, lived happily ever after with their gray dog and white rooster. 

 Biag ni Lam-ang has the usual plot of a monomyth:

* Ines Kannoyan - symbolizes the ideal woman, the good and innocent which every man in every story desires to have as their partner.

* The river in the story symbolizes purification, such as when Lam-ang was bathed by women in order to remove the dirt and odor from his body; fertility, when he asked to dive in the water for their "married man tradition" to have a healthy married life, and; birth-death-resurrection when he was eaten by the shark and was eventually recovered and resurrected with the help of Marcos and his two magical pets. 

* The shark, or the Berkakan, symbolizes danger and death, which must be avoided in order to have a peaceful and successful life, like the couple in the story experienced and had overcome. 

* The rooster and gray dog in the story symbolizes downfall, hope and resurrection, that in every situation, you must have to experience failure in order to rise up again, and hope, to never give up, especially when you know that success will always be at the end of the story; because everything happens for a reason, and if all is not well, then it's not yet the end of the story.

Hands

by Sherwood Anderson

Psychological Analysis

           The story is about a middle-aged man who suffers from a psychological trauma because of his past. He is Wing Biddlebaum, a former school teacher who lived in the outskirts of Winesburg, Ohio. 

            

         Wing is a quiet man. But when he speaks, he talks with his hands. His shyness eases whenever he is around with his friend, George. George Willard  is a reporter from Winesburg Eagle and he is the only friend of Wing. A lot of times did George wanted to ask him about his hands' movements and why does he always intend to keep them, which made Wing to recall his past. 

         Wing's actual name is Adolf Myers, taught in a school in Pennsylvania. He was driven out of town and was forced to transfer in Winesburg because of being accused that he fondles his male students at school, making him to hide his real identity. 

      Biddlebaum is innocent, and tousling the hair of his students is just his way of expressing his kindness and concern to them. His hands help him to emphasize what he is trying to say. But instead of believing him, people in the town severely beat him, leaving Wing to be psychologically traumatized. The experience made him to live in isolation, and his hands are kept hidden every time he is surrounded by everyone because he has this fear that he might get again into trouble because of his hands.


* Id:
    > He would often caress the shoulders and heads of his pupils every time he does some lectures.
    > His hands slowly stole forth and lay upon George Willard's shoulders.
     - Caressing, or even just touching someone, could already be interpreted by others as a sexual act, because it  expresses desire by getting a physical contact with other people. It can be referred to as id because it focuses on the person's pleasure-seeking part; the person gets satisfaction every time he does some physical contact with other people.

* Ego:
    >  Wing Biddlebaum talked much with his hands. The slender expressive fingers, forever active, forever striving to conceal themselves in his pockets or behind his back, came forth and became the piston rods of his machinery of expression.
    -- In reality, there are people who are really kinesthetic. They cannot fully express themselves if they do not perform several actions. Just like Wing, his hands are active because it is his way of expressing himself. Talking with his hands is his source of confidence and it makes him feel good every time he shows what he is trying to say and whenever he makes some physical contact with other people.

     > In the presence of George Willard, Wing Biddlebaum, who for twenty years had been the town mystery, lost something of his timidity, and his shadowy personality, submerged in a sea of doubts, came forth to look at the world.
     -- Sometimes, we have this attitude that we simply do not trust anyone and that we only choose whom are we going to trust. We select our friends because we have these instincts to choose whom we are comfortable with.

     > He thinks his hands are responsible for his timidity, his fear of everyone. George is right, and the narrator tells the story of Wing's hands.
      -- We all have perceptions about other people. We have lots of questions and mostly, we are the ones who investigate to find out the answers behind them. Just like George, he wanted to ask Wing about his hands and it only tells us that in every person, there is really a story behind his/her actions so we cannot just freely judge until we found out what is really the truth.

* Superego:
    > only a growing respect for Wing kept him from blurting out the questions that were often in his mind.

     -- George had several questions, and for how many times he wanted to ask Wing about his hands but he hesitated to do it because his mind is telling him that Wing might get offended if he continued asking about something he didn't even want to talk about with.

    > He would rather hide his hands, and he looks with envy upon those who have them under control.

       -- How great is it for those who can freely show their hands, but for Wing, keeping them them is the right thing to do avoid misinterpretation again from other people.

The Virgin

by Kerima Polotan Tuvera





Feminist Analysis

         The woman in the story symbolizes the female stage, in which the Showalter's theory describes it as the "phase of self-discovery" and being free from dependency towards opposition, because in the story, it can be seen that she was able to live her life without a man. She can assist herself financially, no one forbids her to work, no one dictates her what to do and no one interferes with her rights. Though she possesses these traits, she cannot deny the fact that something is missing in her life - and that is love and be loved.

         Miss Mijares is a devoted daughter, for all her life, she spends most of her time taking care of her ailing mother.

           She is highly respected in their office because of being a high-rank officer, to the point that was feared because of being a strict, stereotypical and conservative spinster.

         In the story, Miss Mijares is a gloomy and a lonely woman, a slender lady, almost bony, who would camouflage herself and conceal her emotions by dressing ruffled and pastel-colored clothes.

           She poured too much attention to work that she forgot to pay attention to herself; and realizes that she is now past her age to marry. When she met the guy, she felt attracted to him because the guy didn't fear her.

          She loses herself every time she is with him, but not totally, for opposite to her, the man was big and graceful. The kind who knew his body and used it well. Until later on, she finds herself caring for this man. May it be a subordinate or a colleague, she didn't care.

          She was deeply shocked when she found out that the man has a son, for it is not allowed in their agency. She is confused why she felt being betrayed, either because the man didn't tell her or because of what she has discovered. She gets into reality and realizes that not all things are in her control.

            In the end, she learned to step out of her shell with the man's help.

           The story, though filled with symbolism, has the essence of letting us know that it is not easy to love. We may be eager to experience the feeling, but something is suppressing us because of risks, making us to feel unsure and afraid. Miss Mijares' traits are the typical characteristics of a Filipina. Conservative and the one who always sticks to norms. We are guarded by our emotions because we are aware that when we do something, it's not impossible for us to get hurt. That's why we sometimes feel uncomfortable, even though we are now eager to enter a relationship and to fall in love again.