The Virgin (Feminist Approach)

This story is about Miss Mijares — the stereotypical uptight, conventional, old fashioned and strict spinster.  For a long time, she’s been living in a routine life. When she met the guy, she’s attracted to him because he doesn’t “fear” her. She could almost lost herself with him. She cares about him. However, all of the good feelings she's got to the man turns upside down when she gets to know about him having a son. There, for the first time, she realizes that not everything is in her control.

The Virgin refers to that woman in the story. It makes to feminist approach because the piece defines the revelation of woman's real desires and struggles in the society.

As dictated by the society, in order to gain respect and dignity, a woman must be pure and virgin because it is said that a woman's virginity is equated to her dignity. The society dictates that woman must preserve her virginity until she gets married, like what Miss Mijares did to herself. She wasn't able to state her feelings to men because she had to protect her virginity/dignity. Hence, the story presents Miss Mijares' struggles caused by the social dictates on her individuality that hindered her to find her own identity as a person and as a woman through the feminist type of perspective.

A Child of Sorrow (Historical-bigraphical Approach)

"A Child of Sorrow" was the first Filipino novel written in English and was first published in 1921. It can be a reflection of Zoilo Galang's personal life. It also symbolize the social and intellectual currents in which Galang composed his novel. The novel omits a phenomenon of wonder, simplicity, beauty, urbanity, language, and history nevertheless it is also a revelation of man's wickedness.
There are many examples of historical and biographical influence on the novel. The years that Zoilo spent in living in the bucolic town of Bacolor, Pampanga add a vivid description of simplicity and mundane lifestyle to the life of the novel’s protagonist, Lucio Soliman. The lifestyle in which Zoilo lives his life clarifies the milieu in which the novel takes place. As Lucio Soliman traverses from the dying Spanish regime to the spring time of Filipinos intellectual prowess in Commonwealth period as well as the mundane provincial life in Fertile Valley and Merry Town, it brings the readers to the time of Zoilo Galang, allowing them to live through his thinking, beliefs, culture, and code of ethics albeit for a short period of time. Additionally, Galang manifests the typical provincial and conservative kind of romantic relationship since during that time Filipinos were traditionalist and old-fashioned.
Also, during the mid-18 thto 19thcentury there was a sentimentalist movement in Europe and it greatly affected the literary traditions of all writers in the world and one of them was Galang. In reference to the historical movement of Sentimentalism during the 18th century, this is a European idea that emphasized feelings and emotions, a physical appreciation of God, nature, and other people, rather than logic and reason. The impact on the people was that love became as important in marriage as financial considerations. European sentimentalism arose during the Age of Enlightenment, at the same time as sentimentalismin philosophy which can be found in the story.

Moulin Rouge (Post-modern Approach)

Moulin Rouge is a movie starred by Christian, a young English writer, who has come to Paris to follow the Bohemian revolution taking hold of the city's drug and prostitute infested underworld. And nowhere is the thrill of the underworld more alive than at the Moulin Rouge, a night club where the rich and poor men alike come to be entertained by the dancers, but things take a wicked turn for Christian as he starts a deadly love affair with the star courtesan of the club, Satine. But her affections are also coveted by the club's patron: the Duke. A dangerous love triangle ensues as Satine and Christian attempt to fight all odds to stay together but a force that not even love can conquer is taking its toll on Satine... (Imdb)

The story makes it post-modern due to the music of 40's. The character, who is Christian, plays with postmodern and post-structuralist phenomena such as intertextuality, multiple narrative levels and the self-reflexivity of the characters and the story. 

The movie is all color and music, kinetic energy, broad strokes, operatic excess. While it might be most convenient to see it from the beginning, it hardly makes any difference; walk in at any moment and you'll quickly know who is good and bad, who is in love and why--and then all the rest is song, dance, spectacular production numbers, protestations of love, exhalations of regret, vows of revenge and grand destructive gestures. It's like being trapped on an elevator with the circus.

Things Fall Apart (Post-colonialism Approach)

Things Fall Apart is a novel about the colonization’s cause and effect of Europe to Africa. The novel introduced the colonized country Africa’s weakness that led the oppressors  to overpower its stand in religion, science, and government especially the buy-and-sell slave process.

But readers should note that Achebe is not presenting Igbo culture as faultless and idyllic. Indeed, Achebe would contest such a romantic portrayal of his native people. In fact, many Western writers who wrote about colonialism (including Joseph Conrad, George Orwell, Herman Melville, and Graham Greene) were opposed to imperialism but were romantic in their portrayal of noble savages — primitive and animalistic, yet uncorrupted and innocent. The opposition to imperialism that such authors voiced often rested on the notion that an advanced Western society corrupts and destroys the non-Western world. Achebe regards this notion as an unacceptable argument as well as a myth. The Igbos were not noble savages, and although the Igbo world was eventually destroyed, the indigenous culture was never an idyllic haven, even before the arrival of the white colonialists. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe depicts negative as well as positive elements of Igbo culture, and he is sometimes as critical of his own people as he is of the colonizers.

At the societal level, the Igbos' lack of a unifying self-image and centralized leadership as well as their weakness in the treatment of some of their own people — both previously discussed — suggest the inevitable fate of becoming victim to colonization by a power eager to exploit its resources.

Along that are the three themes discussed in this essay, the thoughtful reader will probably be able to identify other themes in the novel: for example, the universality of human motives and emotions across cultures and time, and the need for balance between individual needs and community needs.

Archetypal Analysis in Bia ni Lam-ang

Biag ni Lam-ang is one of the epics in Philippines which gives attention to the native god Bathala. The same is true with the god, Lam-ang is one of a strong man who always went back to life with the help of his magical pets. The magic in him is that he had a rooster and a dog to guide him in every way. Also, the beginning of his life was already been a supernatural one.

At the age of 9 months, he finally got to decide to follow and retrieve his father from the tribe of Igorots. On the other hand, he witnessed the feast of the said tribe over the death of Lam-ang’s father. This outraged him that he got to kill lots of the tribesmen and left only one for the other tribes to know that he, Lam-ang, was a strong man and had revenged for the hung head of his father.

When he got back from the first batlle of his life, he passed a river where he was washed by women. He was so dirty that the dirt even poisoned the animals living by the water. The river is the symbol of purification, thus this meant a new beginning, and the dirt are those bad feelings he had along the encounters he’d made.

The marriage of Lam-ang and Ines depicts the very start of his new life, However, challenges are never absent through living. Lam-ang was still on encounters but the good thing was that he finally had some\one to accompany him emotionallyall the time.

The epic dictates how life could be so challenging and at the same time worth living whwn you have a real purpose.

Deconstruction (Design by Robert Frost)

The sonnet Design is about an itsy-bitsy spider, a flower, and a moth.

In the first stanza, it presents a white fat spider that carries a moth on a white heal-all. The scenario is somewhat like the beauty among the three which however is a violence between the spider and the moth.

At the second one, it states there what the white flower could be doing at the aweful scenario - with the flower's beauty being ruined by the spider-and-bug thing or with the design which of darkness is appalled.

As a whole, the poem might be talking abou how life could be so ironic. It might be questioning about the existence of goodness and of God. 

Fantastic Analysis in a Cartoon (Tangled)

Tangled is one of the animated movies to revive the existence of Rapunzel's story. It is focused on how a woman could be so caring over something or someone in spite of the gain they take.

In the story, there was a witch who was so obsessed on prolonging her beauty to stay young, but it came to the time that her only cure to stay the same was also the cure which a kingdom tried to find to heal a sickly pregnant queen.

The cure was a magical flower, and this only flower was to be first taken by the kingdom's soldiers. This maddened the witch that she decided on taking a revenge over the kingdom.

However, on the day of the queen's labor, the witch witnessed the effect of the cure the queen had taken subsided on the child, especially on its glowing hair. It was just like the magical flower glowing through the night, so it made the witch steal the child to make it her own.

As the time went by, the child also grew but the witch's age stayed the same. The child became a very fine young lady, full of curiousity. She was kept in a tower by the woods and was visited by her witch mother every time.

But one day, a young man got lost through the woods when he tried to get away from the people he stole from. He reached the tower and got to meet the lady. This makes the young lady more curious to see another person she even decided to go out of the tower, and this was the very mistake she'd made to her witch mother who forbade her to step outside because it was all bad right there. But Rapunzel still found way to run. 

The witch got angrier. She kept on reaching for the young lady who also kept on hiding from her.

Through the escape of Rapunzel, she got to discover the beauty of the world. Thus, it made her realize and eager to go away.

In the end, everything was solved when Rapunzel cut her golden long hair. After she cut it, it turned black losing the power it obtained. The witch went back to being old and gone forever. Rapunzel found her real parents and became a princess.

The story states that in our own nature, we always try to get things of our wants, even sometimes it'd mean a bad thing. The search of the cure cure represents that as being a human - a mortal, we are eager to find and do something that might enlighten us from everything. However, we really are just humans; we are no gods. Our lives always depend on the almighty's hands. 

Psychological Analysis in Hands

Analysis: 

Id: Shown here, is the nonconscious state of an individual on reacting. This is just based on the senses. 

"One summer afternoon he is on the verge of doing so when Wing is telling him he tries to be too much like other people in the town. You are destroying yourself," he cried. "You have the inclination to be alone and to dream and you are afraid of dreams. Laying his hands on George's shoulders, Wing tells him what the old man said: You must try to forget all you have learned. You must begin to dream. From this time on you must shut your ears to the roaring of the voices. His hands would touch their shoulders or tousle their hair. His voice was soft. His voice and hands were instruments of kindness. " 

Ego: This is upon having to depend on the real and social aspects of life. Having to react from the subconcious. "Suddenly Wing puts his hands in his pockets. Tears well in his eyes, and he says he must go home. 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."

 Superego: In this situation, the justification of a normal reaction is seen. May it have a moral and ethical argument or just purely nonsensical reaction from reflex. "Sometimes, when talking with George, Wing beats his fists on a wall or table or even on a stump or a fence if they are outdoors. Doing so makes him feel more at ease. To help him make his point, Wing beats on a grass bank."

Marxist Analysis on Pangako Sa'Yo

The succession of events in this story will depend more on the power of money and fame. Starting on to the character of Yna, a child who was so vulnerable to abuse, but still became very strong and calm despite the fact that she was very aware of what's happening around her. She was one example of an ideal person because of her courage and stillness to face inevitable situations. She was the girlfriend of Angelo, a perfect example for a man who can sacrifice his life just to be happy and have freedom with his love and he also swore to love Yna despite everything, but his mother, Claudia, was going on their way. Claudia then used her powers just to eliminate Yna away from his son. A model of ambitious and overprotective mother. His husband, Eduardo, was a direct opposite of her. He was very kind. He was a Governor of fairness, loyalty and full-service among his people. He gave them hope. He only have one weakness, his past love, Amor de Jesus that later became Amor Powers because she came back from a "scorned" girl to a very powerful woman many paid respect of. She also came back to seek revenge for her family. She did what she have to do. Make those people who was responsible of her family's death pay. She was a mark of an achiever and reincarnated individual. The whole plot defined the unevenness of justice, freedom, and power. It also restricted the holistic stability of characters.

Analysis on the Poem “The Sick Rose” Using Formalism Approach

The Sick Rose

By William Blake

O Rose thou art sick.

The invisible worm,

That flies in the night

In the howling storm:

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy:

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy

The poem lead us to view love in its complexity. It proves that love could not just make us but, it could sometimes break us. The poem was set in England in the year 1794, where the only job opportunity for women is to get into prostitution. It is about a man who infected his wife with a virus. The virus was from a prostitute whom the man had sex with. The wife was happened to bear a child.

Rose could mean a lot in literature. It could be a metaphor for love or a woman. The worm signifies a virus. It is small so it is aid to be “invisible”. Worm is destructive in nature. It could be that the worm is the “syphilis” which is a common disease during that time. “That flies in the night” means that the virus was incurred and infected the woman in the night where making love is commonly done. The man get the virus also at night with the prostitute. “Howling storm” and “bed of crimson joy” refers to the howling of sex and pleasure. It signifies a man fornicating the prostitute and his wife. “The secret love which thy love destroy” means that they lost the life of their child because of the virus that infected the fruit of their ROSE or LOVE.

The Lady and Her Five Suitors (Mimetic Analysis)

   The story is about the use of trickery for getting what you want and in the pursuit of having what you love. This is one of the Arabian Literary pieces that shows the real state of the world- full of oppressor and oppressed, users and used, and players and played. In mimetic approach of analyzing the story, it started with the presentation of the main character and her present situation. The truth about this story is really happening in real life. Trickery is one of the most common activities done by a lot of people in varied forms and situations. Some did this to escape from a situation and some to alleviate their living situation. The story was set in Persia, where a lady’s lover is put into jail. To help her lover out of the prison, she uses someone whom she thinks could help her. She lures her suitors using her charm and beauty. In real life, having pleasant or being beautiful was being used as a requirement for a lot of opportunities. There’s a lot of people who get what they want because they are simply beautiful. In the story where the five suitors obeyed the lady without them noticing it that they are being tricked, it is also very common today. People were using other people for their own benefits. People were lured by what their eyes can see and act out of impulse without thinking first. Generally, this is very common in our society, especially in the situation wherein one of the couple has to work outside the country; the one left home find it easy to engage in faithlessness by committing adultery.