MagnificenceBy Francisco Arcellana 1. Explain the title. In what way is it suitable to the story.

Magnificence is a story written by Francisco Arellana that literally means grand, elegant or splendid in appearance; grand or noble in action; exceptional for its kind. But Arellana further give it adeeper definition and that is being a mother turned into a woman. It is suitable in the story due to itsrepresentation. The representation of this story is to represent all women against mans abuses. Itshows woman empowerment and awareness. 2. What is the predominant element in the story- plot, theme, character, and setting? Explain. The 2 predominant elements on the story are the theme and the plot. The theme because itempowers all the women in the world to fight with their rights against all the cruelty, violence, andexploitation that they receive. In the story, it was being focused and being considered by Arcellana.T h e p l o t i s a l s o o n e o f t h e p r e d o m i n a n t e l e m e n t s b e c a u s e i t g a v e t h e r e a d e r a n i d e a o n h o w Arcellana would interpret his message and he showed it in the plot. He used the typical situationsbefore, during, and after the abuse and how the writer solves this kind of conflict and what should bethe preventive measures to avoid such abuse. In the plot, they show how mothers really see to it thesafety of her children. 3. Who is the single main character about whom the story centers? Explain. The single main character about which the story center is the young girl (the mothers child).Because in the story, she is the one who was sexually violated by a bus conductor named Vicente.She is the one whom Vicente take advantage for. Because he can see her weakness because of her innocence. And because of the situation that she was maltreated by Vicente, this made the mother tobecame a woman to fight with their civil liberties. And the young girl was the character that the storyrevolves and evolves and represents the youth who are violated. 4. What sort of conflict confronts the leading character or characters? Explain. The external conflict confronts the characters. Because it is in the Man vs. Man situation thatVicente uses the young girls innocence by gaining her trust by offering them the pencils. And whenVicente fulfill to gain the childs trust, he make use of the childs innocence to make a move and thento abuse her. 5. How is the conflict resolved? The conflict was resolved through the character of the mother. She is the one who fight for therights of her child especially the young girl when she slapped Vicente and throw Vicente out of their house. It somehow represents that women are not apathetic in terms of these situation especially thesituation that there is an abuse. The mother draws the line to stop this kind of circumstances. That themother, being a woman should protect her child and preventing abuse that will come to her family. 6. How does the author handle the characterization? Justify The author handles the characterization using the actions of the characters. First of all, abuseis associated with the act of molesting a child. This means that in the story itself, it focuses the actions done by Vicente to take advantage of the girls blamelessness. The young girls happinessand actions also shows her innocence against things surrounding her. Also the act of slapping andthrowing away Vicente out of their house is an act that women must end this kind of maltreatment.And this is an act that give power to all the women to struggle against ill-treat. 7. Who tells the story? What point of view is used? Explain In the story, the writer does tells us the story. The point of view used in the story was theo m n i s c i e n t p o i n t o f v i e w b e c a u s e t h e a u t h o r s e e s a l l , k n o w s a l l , a n d t e l l s a l l w h a t i s t h e s t o r y supposed to be. The story is told by an all-knowing narrator, allowing us to see the world through theeyes of many characters, not just the young girl. 8. Where does the primary action take place? Explain. The primary action was done on the downstairs hall wherein the little girl and her brother werestudying at their big study table. It was the situation wherein the man named Vicente knocked andcomes in and gives them tutorial lessons. 9. What is the time setting for the action? Period of history? Season? Time of the day? The time setting for the primary action happens on the evening where the two children wheredoing their

assignments and studying their lessons. This story supposed to be in the 21stcentury. Theseason is within July-February or school days. Time of the day that the most situations happened is inthe afternoon and in the evening. 10. How much time does the story cover? The story covers for a specific period of time. Almost a month or two. As the story shows,Vicente does not come to the young girls child from some weeks. Vicente certainly tries to maximizedthe time to get the trust of the girl and abuse her. So it takes time also makes the story somehow much longer. 11. How does the story get started? What is the initial incident? The story happens on the Barangay meeting wherein the mother of the two child where havinga meeting and the two children were there listening to the meeting of the neighborhood association.And after the meeting, Vicente came to scene that he talks to the mother and somehow talking aboutthe childrens performance at school. And after that, Vicente introduced himself that he wants to helpthe children doing their homework. 12. Briefly describe the rising action of the story? The rising action of the story is when Vicente came earlier usual in that evening. The childrenimmediately put their lesson down, telling him of the envy of their schoolmates and would buy themmore pencils. Then Vicente asked Oscar, the young brother, to get him some glass of water. 13. What is the high point, or the climax of the story? The climax of the story is wherein Vicente held the little girl by the arm then let the girl take her full trust and when he took the little girl up lightly in his arms and holding her under the armpits andheld her to sit down on his lap. Then the girl kept squiming and for somehow felt uncomfortable to beheld and looked around at Vicente interrupting her careful writing to twist around. Then Vicentes facewas wet with sweat and his eye looks strange. 14. Discuss the falling action of the story or the close of the story. When the girl jumped up away from Vicentes lap and then she stood looking at him notknowing what to do. And for a short while, the mother came downstairs holding in her hand the"merienda" for them. And Vicente jumped up too as soon as the little girl had jumped from his lap.Then the mother looked at him and then she said to him: do not move. And after that, the mother said to the two children that they must go now to their room and she and Vicente will talked. After that, she slapped Vicente and throws him out of the house as soon as possible. The close of story iswherein she bathed the little girl and she throws the clothes at the garbage bin and on the next dayburned it with the pencil on it. 15. Does this story create any special mood? Explain. Yes it does create a special mood. Wherein in the climax, you can see the suspense of whatwill happen next to Vicente and the little girl. Because we all know that there are a lot of possibilitiesthat would happen. And also the feeling of disappointment to Vicente and a sense of annoyancebecause of what he did to the incorruptibility of the child. Lastly it also seen the triumphant of the women when the mother slapped Vicente. 16. Is this story realistic or true to life? Explain your answers by giving examples. For me, it is a true to life story. Because there are many instances that had this situations. Likefor example, the show Draw the Line by Rhea Santos, it shows many women and also young girlstaking advantage of their rights. And It also showed the abuses of men to them and how they reactand do some actions beyond it. 17. Are the events or incidents of the plot presented in flashback or in chronological order?Justify. The plot of this story is presented on a flashback on the first paragraph of the story and therest is in chronological order already. Because in the first paragraph of the story, it tells about howVicente does when he is in the childrens study table and helping them with their lesson. Then the resthappen on chronological order when Vicente met the children, introduce himself to the mother to betheir tutor, then he went to house to help the children, brought some pencils to gain their trust, thenthe act of molesting the young girl until the mother put into action what Vicente did to her child andburned the clothes of the children with the pencil.

18. Was the selection written as a short story or is it a condensation or excerpt? Is it takenfrom a collection of stories? The selection is naturally came and written form a short story. It is not taken from a collectionof stories. 19. What is the general theme of the story? What is the underlying theme? Name any other stories with a similar theme? The theme of the story is that how a mother will turned to a woman to fight for her rights interms of abuses. It also shows the empowerment of women. The underlying theme is that this story itrepresents all the women against mans abuses. Stories in the Draw the Line show have this similar theme. 20. Identify yourself with any of the characters? Explain. I would actually see myself to the father of the child. Because as you can see, Vicente is just abus conductor and he does not have this certain educational to teach the children. And I know thatthe father has this doubt about the motive of Vicente to their children. The father wants to make surethat his children would have a safe interaction with him. He knows that because Vicente is a stranger for their child and putting trust on a stranger like him is really a question that must be answered. 21. Does the story contain any following elements? Explain. It has symbolism, suspense, and surprise ending. Symbolism because the young g i r l represents that youth who are being maltreated by men. Then the mother represents the women whoare fighting for what are right. Suspense because of the way the characters act wherein in the situation that young girl was being molested already because you do not know what will happen next.Then surprise ending because the reader thought that the act will pursue but the mother came andthe mother driven off Vicente and burned the pencil together with the clothes of the child. 22. Was there a villain in the story? A hero? A dynamic character? Describe. The villain of the story is Vicente. Vicente is a bus conductor that has a bad motive on theyoung girl. The hero for this story is the mother herself. She is the one who fights for what is right andshe is the one who protects the child from abuse. She is the one who ends this abuse. The dynamiccharacter here is the father. The father is having the strange feeling that Vicente is a not trustworthyperson. 23. Can you find any examples of figurative language? Cite them from the selection. The figurative language uses are personification: the cool air of the free night touched himThen metaphor and hyperbole: they were both very tall for their age, and their legs were the longgangly legs of fine spirited colts. 24. Does the story contain a single effect or impression for the reader? If so, what? Yes it does give a single effect on the reader. And that effect is that we must be aware of whatmotives really a stranger gave us. And also we must not put our trust that fast to strangers to avoidkind of abuse. If you have a doubt or gutfeel about the motive of a person, trust your instincts andmake sure that you have plans to proved that doubt before putting it into action. 25. Name one major personality trait of each leading character, and tell how the author makesthe reader conscious of its trait. The major personality trait of the character shown in the story is the trait of trust. Because inthe fist place, Vicente is a stranger to the children and somehow to the mother. And because the mother is already know him (actually not that much), she hired him to be their tutor. Also Vicente gavethe children pencils, some kind of panuhol, for Vicente to gain their trust. Also when the mother andthe father talking about Vicente that the father has this doubt about the trust given to Vicente. 26. Does the story have a moral? If not, what do you think the purpose of the author was? Yes it has moral lessons that we must not be an apathetic person that we must be aware of what really a stranger could do to us. Also trust is not inherited but it is gained. Then, for the women,you should fight for your life and draw the line for the mans abuses because your dignity and personality depends on it. If you know that it is enough, fight for it.