Visitation of the Gods

born on June 4, 1932

a writer and publisher from

the Philippines. She was born

in Manila, has a B.A. from St.

Theresa's College-Manila, and an

M.A. from the Ateneo de Manila

University.

has two collections of short stories:

The Butcher, The Baker and The

Candlestick Maker (1962) and A

Wilderness of Sweets(1973). These

books have been compiled and

reissued later as Story

Collection (1994). Another

book, Philippine Food and Life, was

published in 1992.

Together with Alfredo Roces,

Cordero-Fernando worked on Filipino

Heritage, a 10-volume study on

Philippine history and culture

published by Lahing Pilipino in 1978.

Afterwards, she founded GCF

Books which published a dozen titles

that deal with various aspects of

Philippine culture and society.

Including the ff. books :

Streets of Manila (1977),

Turn of the Century (1978),

Philippine Ancestral Houses (1980),

Being Filipino (1981),

The History of the Burgis (1987),

Folk Architecture (1989), &

The Soul Book (1991)

Cordero-Fernando has also worn

numerous other hats as a visual

artist, fashion designer, playwright,

art curator and producer. In

February 2000, she produced Luna:

An Aswang Romance.

In 2001 she produced Pinoy Pop

Culture, the book and the show, for

Bench.

Ms. Noel – English instructor

Mr. Sawit – new English Supervisor

Mr. Alava – Superintendent

Mr.Olbes – Pugad Lawin’s principal

Mrs. Olbes – wife of Mr. Olbes

Mrs. Divinagracia – HE instructor

Mr. Buenaflor – Industrial Arts instructor

Mr. de Dios – Physics instructor

Mr. Baz – Nat’l Language instructor

Ms. Santos – PE instructor

Mr. del Rosario – Military Tactics

Leon - student

Pugad Lawin High School

- had made capital of its topography:

rooted on the firm ledge of a hill, the

schoolhouse was accessible by a series of

stone steps carved on the hard face of the

rocks; its west windows looked out on the

misty grandeur of a mountain chain shaped

like a sleeping woman.

INTRODUCTION

The letter announcing the visitation (a yearly descent upon the school by the superintendent, the district supervisors and the division supervisors for "purposes of inspection and evaluation") had been delivered in the morning by a sleepy janitor to the principal. The party was, the attached circular revealed a hurried glance, now at Pagkabuhay, would be in Mapili by lunchtime, and barring typhoons, floods, volcanic eruptions and other acts of God, would be upon Pugad Lawin by afternoon.

RISING ACTION

The teaching staff and the student body

had been divided into four working groups. The

first group, composed of Mrs. Divinagracia, the

harassed Home Economics instructor, the

teachers of Group Two had been assigned to

procure the beddings and the dishes to be used

for the supper, "Structuring the Rooms" was the

responsibility of the third group, and the

rowdiest freshman boys composed the fourth

and discriminated group. Under the

stewardship of Miss Noel.

Climax

The visitation turns out well, but ten when the night came. Mr. Sawit, the new English Supervisor asked Ms. Noel about the evaluation. Frankly, Ms. Noel said that it seems all the visitation were a farce or funny play because the assessment were like scripted. A visitation announced a month in advance defeats the purpose for such an activity, as was clearly shown in the story. It gives the school administrators the opportunity to prepare and hide the infirmities of their respective schools. The results are usually not reflective of the true status and situation of the schools because only the good things are highlighted while the bad things are hidden. The whole activity boils down to making an impression and satisfying a group of assessors, who are treated like gods by flattery and gift-giving.

FALLING ACTION

Ms. Noel realized that those who

sacrifice and dedicate their lives for the

good of the country usually end up getting

nothing and having nothing, it seems that

all those years, she have been a slave of

the administration. In the end, it’s always

the children who will suffer, as she looks to

the eyes of Leon who is very willing to

become a Lawyer someday.

RESOLUTION

At the end of the story, Ms. Noel determination to teach students still is in her heart. She knows that, there’s a lot of factors that the teachers can give to her students. And so, after breakfast the next morning, the supervisors packed their belongings and were soon ready. Mr. Buenaflor fetched a camera and they all posed on the sunny steps for a souvenir photo: the superintendent with Mr. and Mrs. Olbes on either side of him and the minor gods in descending order on the Home Economics stairs. Miss Noel was late -but she ran to take her place with pride and humility on the lowest rung of the school's hierarchy.

“Determination is worth fulfilling.”

-Though, there are lots of people telling her to give up teaching for more salary but then her willingness to teach her students is priceless. She knows that, for the children to achieve their dreams, the teachers guidance is very valuable. In so, Ms. Noel’s determination succeeded.

“Death of Filipino idealism”

-It shows in the story is about the reality of the process of death of Filipino idealism in the administration of public schools. Also,thedifficulties of sustaining one’s interest and motivation in improving the standards of education in the country.

“The Filipino’s mentality towards competition”

-The story also exposes the Filipino’s mentality

towards competition. Sometimes one’s pursuit

for personal and professional growth can be

mistaken a threat to another man’s job or

authority. More likely, it would be interpreted

as “showing-off”. It’s like, good people in the

government are usually punished for doing

their jobs, while bad people are rewarded for

doing things other than their jobs.

Prepared by:

RENELYN BO

AB ENGLISH 3A