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ENGLISH 10 MANUAL

Subject Manual: English 10

UNIT 1- Short Stories: Window to Cultural Literacy

Introduction

In this unit, you will appreciate the diverse beliefs, appearances, and lifestyles of the short story
characters; learn from their experiences and apply in real life the values promoted in their life stories;
and eventually see the world in a more positive and hopeful perspective.

Lesson 1: Fortifying Family Values and Traditions

Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Determine how connected events contribute to the totality of a material viewed
2. Explain how the elements specific to a selection build its theme
3. Differentiate between formal and informal definition of words
4. Use textual aids to understand a text
5. Use reflexive pronoun in sentences
6. Write a persuasive essay about a chosen topic

Key Concepts
 Short stories reveal how similar humans are in terms of struggles, experiences, and triumphs
despite differences in religion, race, appearance, beliefs, age, gender, etc.
 Human life is characterized by happiness, hope, wonder, fear, struggle, and perseverance.
 Our experiences in life influence our perceptions, decisions, interpretation of literature,
application of values, and biases.
 Written language has the power to immortalize cultures, personalities, advocacies, tragedies, and
life lessons.
 Spoken language helps us express our thoughts and emotions, engage in collaborative
discussions, maintain relationships, and participate in social activities.
 We can learn significant principles in life even from people we do not know, people from a
different walk of life, people from a different period of time, people from a different culture, etc.

Materials
 Laptop
 PowerPoint Presentation
 Diagram: Story Caravan
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Instructional Procedure
Part 1: Sharing Prior Knowledge

"The Mats" is about the Angeles family whose patriarch frequently travels for work. Despite being away
from his family, he makes sure to keep his lines of communication with them open. One day, he comes
home to his family with a very special treat, the mats.

Essential Questions: How did families in the past strengthen their family ties? How different are their
ways from the ways of families today?

Part II: Discussion of the Lesson

- Reading and analyzing the short story

“The Mats”
By Francisco Arcellana

For the Angeles family, Mr. Angeles'; homecoming from his periodic inspection trips was always an
occasion for celebration. But his homecoming--from a trip to the South--was fated to be more
memorable than, say, of the others.

He had written from Mariveles: "I have just met a marvelous matweaver--a real artist--and I shall have a
surprise for you. I asked him to weave a sleeping-mat for every one of the family. He is using many
different colors and for each mat the dominant color is that of our respective birthstones. I am sure that
the children will be very pleased. I know you will be. I can hardly wait to show them to you."

Nana Emilia read the letter that morning, and again and again every time she had a chance to leave the
kitchen. In the evening when all the children were home from school she asked her oldest son, José, to
read the letter at dinner table. The children became very much excited about the mats, and talked about
them until late into the night. This she wrote her husband when she labored over a reply to him. For days
after that, mats continued to be the chief topic of conversation among the children.

Finally, from Lopez, Mr. Angeles wrote again: "I am taking the Bicol Express tomorrow. I have the
mats with me, and they are beautiful. God willing, I shall be home to join you at dinner."

The letter was read aloud during the noon meal. Talk about the mats flared up again like wildfire.

"I like the feel of mats," Antonio, the third child, said. "I like the smell of new mats."

"Oh, but these mats are different," interposed Susanna, the fifth child. "They have our names woven into
them, and in our ascribed colors, too."

The children knew what they were talking about: they knew just what a decorative mat was like; it was
not anything new or strange in their experience. That was why they were so excited about the matter.
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They had such a mat in the house, one they seldom used, a mat older than any one of them.

This mat had been given to Nana Emilia by her mother when she and Mr. Angeles were married, and it
had been with them ever since. It had served on the wedding night, and had not since been used except
on special occasions.

It was a very beautiful mat, not really meant to be ordinarily used. It had green leaf borders, and a lot of
gigantic red roses woven into it. In the middle, running the whole length of the mat, was the lettering:
Emilia y Jaime Recuerdo

The letters were in gold.

Nana Emilia always kept that mat in her trunk. When any one of the family was taken ill, the mat was
brought out and the patient slept on it, had it all to himself. Every one of the children had some time in
their lives slept on it; not a few had slept on it more than once.

Most of the time the mat was kept in Nana Emilia's trunk, and when it was taken out and spread on the
floor the children were always around to watch. At first there had been only Nana Emilia to see the mat
spread. Then a child--a girl--watched with them. The number of watchers increased as more children
came.

The mat did not seem to age. It seemed to Nana Emilia always as new as when it had been laid on the
nuptial bed. To the children it seemed as new as the first time it was spread before them. The folds and
creases always new and fresh. The smell was always the smell of a new mat. Watching the intricate
design was an endless joy. The children's pleasure at the golden letters even before they could work out
the meaning was boundless. Somehow, they were always pleasantly shocked by the sight of the mat: so
delicate and so consummate the artistry of its weave.

Now, taking out that mat to spread had become a kind of ritual. The process had become associated with
illness in the family. Illness, even serious illness, had not been infrequent. There had been deaths...

In the evening Mr. Angeles was with his family. He had brought the usual things home with him. There
was a lot of fruits, as always (his itinerary carried him through the fruit-growing provinces): pineapples,
lanzones, chicos, atis, santol, sandia, guyabano, avocado, according to the season. He had also brought
home a jar of preserved sweets from Lopez.

Putting away the fruit, sampling them, was as usual accomplished with animation and lively talk. Dinner
was a long affair. Mr. Angeles was full of stories about his trip but would interrupt his tales with: "I
could not sleep nights thinking of the young ones. They should never be allowed to play in the streets.
And you older ones should not stay out too late at night."

The stories petered out and dinner was over. Putting away the dishes and wiping the dishes and wiping
the table clean did not at all seem tedious. Yet Nana and the children, although they did not show it,
were all on edge about the mats.

Finally, after a long time over his cigar, Mr. Angeles rose from his seat at the head of the table and
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crossed the room to the corner where his luggage had been piled. From the heap he disengaged a
ponderous bundle.

Taking it under one arm, he walked to the middle of the room where the light was brightest. He dropped
the bundle and, bending over and balancing himself on his toes, he strained at the cord that bound it. It
was strong, it would not break, it would not give way. He tried working at the knots. His fingers were
clumsy, they had begun shaking.

He raised his head, breathing heavily, to ask for the scissors. Alfonso, his youngest boy, was to one side
of him with the scissors ready.

Nana Emilia and her eldest girl who had long returned from the kitchen were watching the proceedings
quietly.

One swift movement with the scissors, snip! and the bundle was loose.

Turning to Nana Emilia, Mr. Angeles joyfully cried: "These are the mats, Miling." Mr. Angeles picked
up the topmost mat in the bundle.

"This, I believe, is yours, Miling."

Nana Emilia stepped forward to the light, wiping her still moist hands against the folds of her skirt, and
with a strange young shyness received the mat. The children watched the spectacle silently and then
broke into delighted, though a little self-conscious, laughter. Nana Emilia unfolded the mat without a
word. It was a beautiful mat: to her mind, even more beautiful than the one she received from her
mother on her wedding. There was a name in the very center of it: EMILIA. The letters were large, done
in green. Flowers--cadena-de-amor--were woven in and out among the letters. The border was a long
winding twig of cadena-de-amor.

The children stood about the spreading mat. The air was punctuated by their breathless exclamations of
delight.

"It is beautiful, Jaime; it is beautiful!" Nana Emilia's voice broke, and she could not say any more.

"And this, I know, is my own," said Mr. Angeles of the next mat in the bundle. The mat was rather
simply decorated, the design almost austere, and the only colors used were purple and gold. The letters
of the name Jaime were in purple.

"And this, for your, Marcelina."

Marcelina was the oldest child. She had always thought her name too long; it had been one of her
worries with regard to the mat. "How on earth are they going to weave all of the letters of my name into
my mat?" she had asked of almost everyone in the family. Now it delighted her to see her whole name
spelled out on the mat, even if the letters were a little small. Besides, there was a device above her name
which pleased Marcelina very much. It was in the form of a lyre, finely done in three colors. Marcelina
was a student of music and was quite a proficient pianist.
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"And this is for you, José."

José was the second child. He was a medical student already in the third year of medical school. Over
his name the symbol of Aesculapius was woven into the mat.

"You are not to use this mat until the year of your internship," Mr. Angeles was saying.

"This is yours, Antonia."

"And this is yours, Juan."

"And this is yours, Jesus."

Mat after mat was unfolded. On each of the children's mats there was somehow an appropriate device.

At least all the children had been shown their individual mats. The air was filled with their excited talk,
and through it all Mr. Angeles was saying over and over again in his deep voice:

"You are not to use these mats until you go to the University."

Then Nana Emilia noticed bewilderingly that there were some more mats remaining to be unfolded.

"But Jaime," Nana Emilia said, wondering, with evident repudiation, "there are some more mats."

Only Mr. Angeles seemed to have heard Nana Emilia's words. He suddenly stopped talking, as if he had
been jerked away from a pleasant fantasy. A puzzled, reminiscent look came into his eyes, superseding
the deep and quiet delight that had been briefly there, and when he spoke his voice was different.

"Yes, Emilia," said Mr. Angeles, "There are three more mats to unfold. The others who aren't here..."

Nana Emilia caught her breath; there was a swift constriction in her throat; her face paled and she could
not say anything.

The self-centered talk of the children also died. There was a silence as Mr. Angeles picked up the first of
the remaining mats and began slowly unfolding it.

The mat was almost as austere in design as Mr. Angeles' own, and it had a name. There was no symbol
or device above the name; only a blank space, emptiness.

The children knew the name. But somehow the name, the letters spelling the name, seemed strange to
them.

Then Nana Emilia found her voice.

"You know, Jaime, you didn't have to," Nana Emilia said, her voice hurt and surely frightened.
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Mr. Angeles held his tears back; there was something swift and savage in the movement.

"Do you think I'd forgotten? Do you think I had forgotten them? Do you think I could forget them?

"This is for you, Josefina!

"And this is for you, Victoria!

"And this is for you, Concepcion."

Mr. Angeles called the names rather than uttered them.

"Don't, Jaime, please don't," was all that Nana Emilia managed to say.

"Is it fair to forget them? Would it be just to disregard them?" Mr. Angeles demanded rather than asked.

His voice had risen shrill, almost hysterical; it was also stern and sad, and somehow vindictive. Mr.
Angeles had spoken almost as if he were a stranger.

Also, he had spoken as if from a deep, grudgingly-silent, long-bewildered sorrow.

The children heard the words exploding in the silence. They wanted to turn away and not see the face of
their father. But they could neither move nor look away; his eyes held them, his voice held them where
they were. They seemed rooted to the spot.

Nana Emilia shivered once or twice, bowed her head, gripped her clasped hands between her thighs.

There was a terrible hush. The remaining mats were unfolded in silence. The names which were with
infinite slowness revealed, seemed strange and stranger still; the colors not bright but deathly dull; the
separate letters, spelling out the names of the dead among them, did not seem to glow or shine with a
festive sheen as did the other living names.

Grammar Awareness: Reflexive Pronoun

Pronouns such as myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself. yourselves, ourselves, and themselves are
either reflexive or intensive, depending on their use in a sentence.

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the sentence. It can be used as the direct object (when the
verb is transitive), indirect object (when the verb is intransitive), or object of the preposition in the
sentence. For example:

Mr. Angeles balanced himself on his toes. DO)

The children gave themselves some time to relax. (IO)
The female guest had to cook for herself. (OP)
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Reflexive pronouns are also used with the preposition by to indicate that the subject performed an action
alone and without assistance. For example:

The little girl was proud that she brushed her teeth by herself.
The crippled man drives to work by himself.

Note: See the Grammar Notes on page 14-15

Writing and Composition: Writing a Persuasive Essay

Persuasive writing is useful in promoting an advocacy or a movement you feel strongly about. In writing
a persuasive letter, you are trying to convince or influence the reader to support your cause or give you a
favorable reaction.

Part III: Evaluation

1. Answering Reading and Viewing Comprehension in their book on page 10.

2. Getting the elements of short story in the story that they have read (page 10-11).
 Theme
 Setting
 Characters with description
 Plot: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution
 Conflict
 Using an Advance Organizer to Understand the Text (page 12)
3. Grammar: Answering Activity 1 on page 15 and Activity 2 on page 4.
4. Study the outline and then write a 3-5 paragraph persuasive essay about your position on one of
the given topics.
Title - Choose a catchy title that will capture the gist of your persuasive essay.
I. Introduction
Your introductory paragraph contains the argument of your essay and provides the
background information about the topic. It should also answer the 5 Ws and 1 H (who,
what, when, where, why, how).
II. Body
The body contains the topic sentence which has two purposes: introducing the content of
the paragraph and introducing the next steps of your argument. The goal of the topic
sentence is to expound on the argument of your essay. Thus, you need to elaborate at this
point of your essay by incorporating validated facts, useful information, data, and
statistics to back up your claims.
III. Conclusion
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The conclusion brings your essay to a close and summarizes where the argument of your
paper has gone. An effective conclusion explains why readers need to take action after
learning your position about the topic.

Suggested Topics:
1. Is it important to have a close-knit family?
2. Should parents monitor their children's social networking accounts?
3. How does technology affect the relationship of the family? accounts?
4. Should students bring their mobile phones to school?
5. How do you end bullying?

Part IV: Integrating Values

In "The Mats," the Angeles family's close-knit relationship was portrayed. As the head of the
family, Mr. Angeles endured being away from his family in order to be a good provider. Although he
was always away, he made sure to have an open line of communication with his family. Nana Emilia
stayed home and devotedly attended to the needs of the children and her husband. The assignment of
roles between the father and mother can be considered old-fashioned because nowadays, both parents
can decide to be the breadwinners of the family. In other families, the mother goes to work while the
father stays home.

The children in the short story showed respect to their parents in their actions and words. As a
family, they gave importance to every member, even the deceased ones. Even though the three children
had passed away, they remained in the hearts and minds of the Angeles Family.

In the short story, each of the Angeles children received mats with their names inscribed in it.
Beside their names are devices or symbols that represent their character or interest. These devices or
symbols will encourage them to pursue their interests and remind them of who they are in times of
uncertainty. Suppose that you are to give one of your family members a mat, whom would you give it to
and what device or symbol would you attach to his/her name? Explain why.