Nationalism

Nationality is the cornerstone of a modernized society, it is what makes a country function and it gives a nation its very own identity. Nationality is shared through the individuals that have the same ideology and beliefs for the betterment of their own nation and it is passed down from different generations in order to preserve the cultural identity of a nation. Identity, culture and language, these are the main aspects of nationality that is personified in each member of the society. Each and every one of us embodies the ideals of a nation, without it, we would have no knowledge our own history and traditions.

 

We, the citizens provide a sense of unity through our ideology and language and it gives our nation a unique identity. Through our identity as Filipinos, we find the spirit in our own nation. Our nation drives us towards tomorrow, which gives us the passion to move on every single day. The spirit in us as Filipinos is what we must cherish and value the most in our lives as it is through these values that we create the individuality as the common people of a nation. What divides us among other nations is our own heritage. The colonization of the countries that have diminished, yet nurtured our literature, culture and habits is what we must always put in our hearts and in our minds. We must not forget the dark times in our past, not that we must take revenge, but the fact that we have gained and moved forward with the given blessings in the history of our nation.

 

In general, nationality is our own individuality. It separates us from other nations as we have our own culture and heritage. We must know, understand and acknowledge our own nationality as it gives and portray what we truly are, and that is to be a Filipino. We should not belittle our own men as Jose Rizal once said, “Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika, daig pa ang hayop at malansang isda”, with this message that is passed down through the Filipino people, we came to understand that we must nurture our own language because it embodies our nationalistic virtues of the ideal Filipino person. With nationality springs patriotism and pride.

At Wit’s End

A short story by Bea Marie Arboleda

Set in the neutral territory between two war-torn kingdoms, High Prince Nicholas Belgrav of Thier figures out a way to save his people by meeting with the enemy: Prince Octavian of Echo – his sister’s suitor, his closest friend.

 

Knowing they were at war – or rather at the brink of it — Nicholas can’t imagine Thier’s soldiers fighting under the force of the winds of the storm coming in. He shouldn’t even travel at the rate the rain was falling, but Nick disregarded the concerns of his guards and asked for other options. It was not attending the meeting at all, or take the carriage with guards on point and a driver who could get him there as soon as possible. Nick took the carriage offer, of course.

The carriage was a rickety old thing, and Nick fumed from within – the guards felt the prince’s mood dropping as the rain drowned out the prince’s impatient huffing.  Although he loved the rain, he remembered how so many people had gone to the castle asking for help, begging his father and telling him how their lands are drowned and destroyed. He remembered the past week, his secret missions to the poorer part of the city, and found that he still did not regret his decisions despite the dangers of interacting with the common folk when nearly at war.

It didn’t stop his parents from punishing him, though. He was forbidden to ride his horse and was required to bring at least four guards to wherever he went. Nick thought if he could survive this much attention, he’d be able to survive living the rest of his life as the Crowned Prince… but as it was, on the way to an old castle away from home, he started to despise the punishment he was given.

With the sour mood Nick had as he got to the neutral territory, it might be best if Octavian moved the meet at a later date.

His driver fidgeted as he pulled on the reins, before signaling the guard to his right to let the prince out. The guard cleared his throat and bellowed:

“Crowned Prince Nicholas Belgrav, Heir to the throne of Thier!”

“Is that really necessary?” Carriage doors opening, Nick rolled his eyes at the guard, who stood by his right smirking a little, and kicked the guard’s shin as he passed him. The guard, Elias, grunted and struggled to keep a straight face, his lips twisting as he stood straight and held up the covers to shield Nick from the rain. Nick shook it off and laughed aloud, then ran past his guards to their meeting place.

Their meeting place. He sat by his usual spot and crossed his legs, watching the rain by the window and waiting for the other prince to show up.

_________________________________________________________________

“I do sincerely apologize for being late.” Octavian said as he shut the door behind him: a rule put in place between them so the meetings could be held entirely in privacy. The war meets were required, to make sure no innocents die and that their agreements were in place. “The Cobalt River flooded over Jade Bridge, and I had to find an alternate route. In other words, I had to jump over the river.” The prince stood by the door for a moment, shivering and catching his breath; Nick noticed how out of breath he was and how drenched he had gotten, and laughed as Octavian took off his soaking cloak and laid it on a hook by the door before approaching the other prince.

“Jumped over the river? Write that down along with the other records of brave escapades.” Nick joked as he smirked at Octavian, who rolls his eyes.

“Do you have any findings from your travel here to report?”

“There was nothing much, except the damn lakes that used to be fields before this blasted rain came,” Nick said, raising an eyebrow as Octavian sits down. “You?”

“I’ve been told to inform you that a small fleet of our soldiers has moved into one of your southern villages.” Octavian said, getting back to business. “I can’t pronounce the name. Yigdrazilies, or something. Shut it,” he told Nick as an afterthought, when the latter opened his mouth to comment on the mispronunciation.

“To quite possibly divide your forces across my lands despite these conditions?” Nick sat up straighter in his chair and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow menacingly. “Just so when these meetings come to an end and the war begins, you have the upper hand?”

“They haven’t been ordered to do anything, Nick.” Octavian remarked, his voice reassuring. Nick hated it. “Simply be stationed there.”

“I can’t believe you, Octavian. Our main focus right now is to keep the people alive and fed. I thought we should discuss how to fix that before we talk about the war. Get your men out of Yigdrazilies.”

“Echo has made the necessary preparations for a flood. My people are alive and fed.” Octavian says, purposefully ignoring his attempts at changing the subject. “I’m sure you’re aware that our farms are strategically placed on higher ground, so they’ll remain protected from a flood longer…” It was Nick’s turn to roll his eyes. Of course Echo’s prince would turn their conversations into competition.

“Get your men out of my kingdom, Octavian—”

“I predict that the majority of Echo’s farms will be safe from the flood in the event that one does occur. Am I correct in assuming that that doesn’t remain true for dear old Thier?”

“Yes, I’ve told y—“

“Echo would be willing to offer some of its food to Thier. For a fair trade, of course.” Octavian said dramatically. If the kingdoms ever gave each other anything, it was always for a trade. “Shocking, I know. The queen said that I should demand land, but I think she was joking. She says that all the time. What would you be willing to give us in exchange for three farm’s worth of food, Nicholas of Thier?”

Nick put an arm on the table and crossed his legs, moving his chair sideways so Nick could watch the weather as he ignored Octavian’s jabs at Thier. “Well, I couldn’t exactly tell my forefathers to choose the better land, really.” Nick remarked, pointing at him and tilting his head a little to watch his expression with a judging eye. He narrowed his eyes at Octavian and smirked. “I was hoping you’d be a little more considerate about this, Octavian.”

“This IS me being considerate. What’s your price, High Prince?”

“It’s always about the trade. Isn’t it, my friend?”

“The price, Nicholas!”

“My sister.”

Octavian stood up abruptly, his shocked face almost comical with his royal garments. “I- I know how selfless and kind you are. I would accept pieces of land, or- or gold! But an unwilling princess?”

“You’ve been writing to her for two summers, now, with her barely replying to half of them.” Nick retorted, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Surely an arranged marriage would make things easier for your courtship, no?”

“How dare you mock my love for her–”

“We’ve lost enough land as it is in the flooding, and my people are barely holding on.” Nick interrupted loudly, standing up from his seat. He thought of sweet little Anastasia smiling up at him from the other side of the throne room, of a teenage princess dancing with her suitors in her pale pink ballgown, of his friend and his baby sister dancing around each other for two years.

He thought of a blushing Anya running into his room in her bed clothes and claiming his bed before talking endlessly about Octavian for hours, begging him Never to tell, brother! He mustn’t know!

He thought of a horrified Anya when the farmers began storming the royal hall and begging the family to help them.

He thought of the determined Anya who helped Nick secretly bring food and clothes to the city days afterward.

“I swore to you I would earn her hand years ago, Nicholas.”

“And you will, once she finds out you did this for her kingdom, and not your own.

…

If we go on with this, you could marry her and bring peace to our lands, my friend.

…

Just save my people.”

 

 

LIT

           I cannot precisely say what I had enjoyed about the subject, and I could not do the subject any justice by stating my experience about just one output. But I think I most enjoyed writing my poem in this blog. It was the encapsulation of all the things that were relevant to me in this subject made manifest into something more tangible and meaningful. A good example of this would be the fact that I had never payed much attention to form when it comes to writing poems but only to what I had to say, but knowing that the criticism that related to form brought about a shift on my style and surprisingly it was a change to my writing that didn’t come at the expense of my comfort on writing, in fact, it came rather naturally. This ultimately lead to an incredibly satisfying experience that I honestly and wholeheartedly can say does not happen in any other subject. I think it’s because the limitless self-expression that was demanded of the output brought forth something far different from the mundane difficulty of a problem set and it was a change that can never be easily forgotten. I think that if I ever get serious with my poetry and get famous for it, I can thank LIT 102 and especially my teacher for not really giving me a voice but to give the voice I already had something far more special and unique that I could not have made for myself.

CONSTANT

There was a time

When the wind

whispered

and I answered

with my own

riddle

 

There was a time

when the rooks took flight and

would circle me

in their parliament

They would tell a universe of stories

and I would listen

 

There was a time

When the sun had risen

and I’d smile and sing

along with the rest of humanity

to greet the new, sudden dawn

with an eager and hopeful soul

 

There was a time

when I had found love

or it had found me

Like a Neruda-esque poem

it was beautiful and romantic

and she too was beautiful and romantic

 

But there had come a time

when the winds had died down

and the rooks flew home without

a story to tell

and a time when the sun was called to set

only she remained.

Préféré

             Literature, honestly speaking literature we tend to conclude that it is “boring” or “dorky” because literature is all about written works. To be honest I don’t usually read books but literature taught me to appreciate written works, especially the works of our very own. Literature changed my life, it changed my beliefs, it opened my eyes, it changed my perspective on written works and especially that it was not boring after all. Like for instance if you read and understand the real meaning behind those words, you will be amazed and inspired. Additionally, we must cherish and give attention to the works of our very own because there is something that Filipinos must be proud of.

             Of the entire topic we’ve discussed, I’m still attached to pre-colonial. I know this is the first topic we discussed in literature 102 but still because of this I’m proud of what we have way back of hundred years. We have our own way of writing, which is Alibata; we have proverbs, riddles, tales, epics, and etc. Imagine how creative our ancestors were since they created different forms of literature: we had nothing but nature.Before, we used our ears rather than our eyes. I’m thinking as to what if the Spaniards failed to colonized the Philippines, what if the things what we have before, is what we have right now like how we write? Imagine the signages like Jollibee or Globe would be written in Alibata, it’s cool because it is written from our own historic language. But in reality there was a good side to it, because the Spaniards taught us a lot of things that we’re still using up until today, like our religion, our surnames, and even the food we enjoy.

VLOG #1: LiteraTour in Solidaridad, When in Manila

It was lit.

When I first heard that we will have a literature subject, I had this feeling that it would be something I wouldn’t enjoy and something I would probably fail since I am in no way a person of literature for the reason that I thought literature was only enclosed to traditional writings, classics, books and writings in general but I was wrong about every connotation I had in mind.

Literature is wider than what I thought. It is much more important than what most people think. Literature is the foundation of a culture. As said by Croghan (1977), the history of a nation can be learned in its constitution its laws and its political statements. But to know the history of a nation’s spirit, you must read its literature. I never actually imagined that I would be able to enjoy most of the topics and get really interested and inclined to such to the point that I would research more information about a certain topic. We tackled a lot for this subject. Starting with the history of Philippine Literature to the National Artists then, famous works in the country then Asian Litt. to World Litt. I must admit, that I really enjoyed most of the topics. Despite the lessons being reported by my classmates, Ms. Irish never fails to add up the important information and she really is knowledgeable on the subject. It is evident that she herself research on the topic to be able to answer most of our questions.

If I am to choose my favorite topic, it would probably be the National Artists for Literature. Before the start of the reporting for this topic, our Literature teacher, Ms. Irish, flashed pictures of famous foreign authors such as J.K. Rowling, JRR Tolkien, George R. R. Martin and William Shakespeare. The class was very enthusiastic in shouting their names and most were very familiar. Then she flashed national artists, the only ones familiar are the reporters.  I am one of the reporters for the National Artists and as I research about Amado V. Hernandez and Jose Garcia Villa, it made me appreciate them and their works. But as we tackle more national artists, it made me realize that our country is not only rich in nature, beautiful landscapes and people but also in literature. Aside from that, I was also able to know the contributions of these national artists in literature,  such as comma poetry, taglish in poetry and so much more.

Overall, LIT 101 was definitely lit. Lit being the state of being so intoxicated that all the person can do is smile, so that they look lit up like a light. Despite the numerous schoolwork needed to be done, I always look forward into this subject. It made me realize a lot of things and made me value and preserve literature. It also made me have a sense of patriotism that we must acknowledge our own literature and culture before embracing others.

Lit is a favorite topic

At first glance Lit isn’t really a topic essential for STEM, but as we studied the writers you could figure out why Literature is actually essential for the people; it makes life more interesting. Out of all the topics discussed, I think my favorite one is about the pre-colonial literature because this one shows the topics that are focused on our literature before we were colonized by the Spaniards. For me this was the most interesting and I was able to learn a lot about the superstitions and different riddles that were also fun to hear. The pre-colonial literature focused more on pleasing the ears as we do not have much of writing materials and were not able to make materials pleasing to the eyes. Luckily the traditions and culture of the literature were past on generations to generations, though orally, the literature itself was able to define our folktales, short stories and also other characters depicted today. The influence of the other countries were able to take part of our History, but our old stories will remain with our generation until the end.

At Litt’s End

As a STEM major originally poised to pursue a medical career due to my parents’ wishes, I found LIT 101 a breath of fresh air from the subjects I had only halfheartedly pursued. Moreover, as a prospect journalism or communications student, I savored the lessons in its entirety and took the subject seriously. Due to this, all topics for me had a certain significance. We tackled everything from the cultures and societies of countries, the backgrounds of authors, and finally the literature itself.

In this regard, I must conclude that it is the interlacing of these topics that especially piqued my attention. Taking into account both context (history and background) and content (litt. itself) is that of literary criticism. It is, in my humble opinion, the pinnacle of this course, as it gives all the learnings incurred a definite purpose and aids in the students’ critical and objective thinking skills. With the course providing us more than ample selections of literature, so too did we learn about life — whether it be the life of the country, of the author, of the gender, of the culture, or of the society — that undeniably links us together.

In critiquing Clenched Soul and May Day Eve, I discovered how the intricacies of form could factor into the text’s effectivity. In critiquing Slumdog Millionaire, I discovered how sociopolitical and socioeconomic variations could lead to diverse texts. In critiquing Telephone Conversation, I discovered how race and ethnicity matters. Finally, in critiquing To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time, I discovered how men and women authors portray and think of women.

From these examples, it should be easy to discern that the literary criticisms discussed created viewpoints. These viewpoints have the ability to sway the audience into either liking or disliking the text. More than that, however, it allows for a more comprehensive understanding and not merely looking on what’s on the surface. Instead, literary criticism pushes us to dig deeper: a lesson that applies not only in an academic context, but in professional and personal circles as well.

It is with this mindset that I entered this course. Many have surmised that taking LIT 101 would’ve been a waste of time considering that us STEM students were pursuing a path where only math and science take center stage. Nevertheless, two things that must be placed in our minds’ forefront is that words matter, and that in every nook and cranny, words will continue to exist despite the strenuous efforts many undergo through just to avoid it.

On a more personal note, taking up literature was one of the highlights of my two-year stint in senior high. Partly because I knew it would be instrumental to my would-be career, but mostly because there is nothing more in this world that moves lives more than words. After all, it was the great National Artist F. Sionil Jose who wrote: “We write from life and call it literature, and literature lives because we are in it.“

Labyrinth

Left
Right
Left
Right
Straight

I cannot find the beginning.
I cannot find the end.

How can I leave?
I will never know.
I will never look back.

Even though I will never look back,
I will still be back to where I have left.

What is the point of being
Inside of a labyrinth if I am
A labyrinth myself?