Urbana and Felisa

By:Modesto De Castro

Reporter: Stephen Rey C. Estilo Abegaile

Hidalgo Jeptha Arzaga

• Urbana – The eldest of the sisters; studied in Manila.

• Felisa – Younger sister of Urbana; the one who takes care of the house.

• Honesto – Youngest of the three.

Characters

• Family• Perseverance• Conduct Etiquette• Moral

Themes

"The glance is natural magic. The mysterious communication established across a house between two entire strangers, moves all the springs of wonder. The communication by the glance is in the greatest part not subject to the control of the will. It is the bodily symbol of identity with nature. We look into the eyes to know if this other form is another self, and the eyes will not lie, but make a faithful confession what inhabitant is there."

Moral

Purpose

The main purpose of the author in writhing this story was to teach people on how to follow the Christian way of living. To teach people tips on how to avoid and prevent temptations according to the bible.

Urbana at Felisa

Tremendously popular from the 19th-century to the first half of the 20th-century.The story relates the importance of purity and ideal virtues that married people should practice and enrich.

Summary

A book by Modesto de Castro, the so called Father of Classic Prose in Tagalog. These are letters between two sisters Urbana at Felisa and have influenced greatly the behavior of people in society because the letters dealt with good behavior.

Written in Tagalog by a priest famous for his powerful sermons, Urbana at Felisa is an example of the book of conduct that emerged in Europe during the Renaissance. Its author used the epistolary style where in a series of thirty-four letters, members of a family in Paombong, Bulacan gave each other advice on the ideal conduct and behavior expected of a middle-class and Christian family. Thus in her letters to her younger siblings Felisa and Honesto, who remained in Paombong, Urbana, who left for Manila to study, wrote not only of the need to follow the values and norms found in Christian teaching, but as importantly, to observe the proper mode of conduct as one dealt with people in society. The series of correspondences, including a letter from a priest on the duties and responsibilities of married life, touched on various facets of experience that a person underwent from birth to death both in the secular and spiritual realms.

In retrospect, Urbana at Felisa should be perceived as a text not only meant to regulate conduct and behavior, but as a discourse to contain the moral excesses of the period and affirm basic Christian tenets.Urbana at Felisa enjoyed tremendous popularity not only in the nineteenth century but in the first half of the twentieth century as proven by the numerous reprints and translations it underwent. Many of the norms articulated in the book, especially those related to the importance of purity, the ideal virtues that married people should cultivate, the view of life on earth as a vale of tears, among others, continue to shape contemporary value systems.

FOOTNOTE TO YOUTHBy: Jose Garcia Villa

SUMMARY:The story is all about the seventeen years old boy who decided to marry a very young girl named teang. The boy’s name is dodong. Dodong love teang so much and he can’t wait to marry her. One day dodong decided to ask permission to his parents. Dodong and teang got married at the very young age and not thinking of what will happen to them in the future. They just follow what they feel. after 9 months teang gave birth for their first child. Years and years go by dodong and teang have more than one child. Teang now realize how hard it is to be a young parent.she regret everything she had done, for entering to such situation. She also think of what would be her life if she marry her other suitor before instead of dodong. She asked herself, “can I have the same life I have now?”. Teang regret so much for entering to that king of situation. dodong ang teang’s son turned 17. the boy followed his parents footsteps.he also want to marry at 17 years of age without thinking twice. He told his parent what his plans, dodong told his son how hard it is to be in marriage at the very young age. Like dodong, his son was so eager to marry the girl he loves.

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Moral lesson:the moral lesson for this story is that marriage can

wait at the right time and not at the very young age. Getting into marriage is never an easy life. It have ups and downs that you should handle well. Before entering to it we must settle everything, we must have diploma, get a good work that can give your family comfortable life and in legal age. Always think of what will happen in the future if we enter into such thing. the writer really is great of thinking and writing this kind of story because it gives us knowledge of what will happen to us teenages if we enter marriage life.

The Nanking StoreBy: Macario Tiu

SummaryIt is a story about two Chinese lovers who weren’t destined

for each other. After years of marriage, they still haven’t produced a child which is considered bad in their culture. In the Chinese culture, it is very important to produce a child, specifically a son because it is their way of spreading their bloodline. In the story, Peter was the only hope of the Zhin family to carry on its name to the next generations. Linda’s mother-in-law was very unhappy with her that she scolded and slapped Linda in public. Unfortunately, Peter died in a car accident and had two sons with a Visayan bar girl which was called by the community as a “bad woman.” Linda became pregnant with no other suspect but the driver.

Betrayal

The story shows examples of betrayal. Where? In the part where everybody knew about Peter dating and had children by another woman and Linda being pregnant by another man. If they were Catholics, they had committed adultery. Married people entered a sacred sacrament and should live fully with it without breaking it. They should be faithful to each other besides any circumstances that they encounter. They should fight together and show other people how they are strongly bond by love.