CARAG, COHLEEN DIANNE A.

BSED ENGLISH 2B

SYNOPSIS OF THE FOLLOWING SELECTIONS

RED RUSSIA by Tanya Thompson

Red Russia is a story about business wherein two Americans will be entering Russia without
knowing how to speak their language and know nothing about their culture. Peter, who was one of the
American had a fiancée and helped them throughout their business in Russia, and achieved what they
wanted.

Insight: It is all about greed and mischievousness. Also, an eye opener for cultural differences amongst us
people.

THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini

This story emphasized the purpose of how the Kite-fighting tournament commence and how it is
being done.

Amir resembled a scene 26 years ago when he was still young. It was then introduced that when
a kite loses, boys will chase it and retrieve it, called kite running. After winning the tournament, Amir had
to wait after Hassan had retrieved the kite. It took him a while longer that’s why Amir decided to go after
him and witnessed that Assef is raping Hassan while Wali and Kamal is holding Hassan. Amir was shocked
and then he left. After Hassan had finally returned, Amir pretends not to know about the incident.

On March 1981, Amir met Soraya, due to the sudden arranged marriage because his father, Baba,
was ill and soon will be dying. After Amir had asked for General Taheri’s consent, they held the wedding
quickly because of Baba’s health and Baba died a month later.

After a while, Amir went to Pakistan and met Hassan and Hassan’s wife, Farzana. Eventually,
Farzana and Hassan had a little boy named Sohrab. The Taliban went to Baba’s house and shot Hassan
and Farzana and sent Sohrab to an orphanage.

Rahim Khan wants to go to Kabul and bring Sohrab back to Pakistan. Through one of the Taliban
guards, Amir sets up a meeting with the official. When they met, Amir told the official he is looking for a
boy, Sohrab, and the official told the guard to bring the boy in. The official was Assef, he then insists to
settle some unfinished business. Assef beats Amir breaking his ribs and wounding his lips.

After Amir had recovered, he found out that there was never a couple who took care of Sohrab.
Amir offered him to stay with him in California and he accepted it.

Adopting Sohrab was deemed impossible because they can’t prove that Sohrab’s parents are
dead, and he have to go back to an orphanage. Before telling Sohrab that Amir and Sohraya had sought
things out, he tried to kill himself. He lives but he changed a lot. He doesn’t speak much and kept himself
isolated. One day, Amir and Sohrab went to the park and bought Sohrab a kite. Using one of Hassan’s
favorite tricks, they won. Sohrab smiles, and as the opposing team loses, Amir went to run for the kite for
Sohrab.
Insight: It has powerful depictions of suffering and guilt, an urgent quest for redemption, and an intense
engagement with the fraught and complex history and politics of Afghanistan and its relations with
American culture.

THE HANDMAID’S TALE by Margaret Atwood

It is a story of the role of a handmaid, Offred, in the Republic of Gilead, a state substitute for the
United States of America. Since there is a low reproduction rate, handmaids are tasked to bear children
for the elite couples who are not able to do so.

Offred serves the Commander and his wife, Serena Joy. Every month, when Offred is about to
have her period, she has to have sex with the commander, while Serena sits behind her, and holds her
hands. All they have to do, Offred and the Commander is to have sex setting aside their personal emotions
so as to avoid growing into each other.

Offred’s daily routine was indeed very strict, for she has the Eyes, Gilead’s secret police force, that
keeps an eye for her every time she leaves.

In the old world, before Gilead, Offred had an affair with Luke, a married man. He divorced his
wife and married Offred, and they had a child.

The military, set foot to control the declining fertility rates of women and taking over the power
temporarily. Women are not allowed to have property or job.

Offred and Luke, trying to escape had been caught, since then Offred had been separated from
Luke and her daughter and she had never seen them since. She was sent to the Rachel and Leah Re-
education Center, called the Red Center by its inhabitants. At the center, women were indoctrinated into
Gilead’s Ideology in preparation for becoming Handmaids.

Offred was assigned to the Commander’s house. After some time has gone by without Offred
becoming pregnant, Serena suggests that Offred must have sex with Nick secretly and pass the child off
as the Commander’s. The same night that Offred is to sleep with Nick, the Commander secretly takes her
out to a club called Jezebel’s, where the Commanders mingle with prostitutes.

Soon after Offred returns from Jezebel’s, late at night, Serena arrives and tells Offred to go to
Nick’s room. Offred and Nick had sex. Soon they begin to sleep together frequently, without anyone’s
knowledge.

At home, Serena had found out about Offred’s trip to Jezebel’s, and she sends her to her room,
given the punishment. Then Nick comes in and tells her that Eyes are really Mayday members who have
come to save her. Offred leaves with them, over the Commander’s futile objections, on her way either to
prison or to freedom – she does not know which.

Insight: Women should be respected and be given the right to speak for themselves.

BELOVED by Toni Morison

This novel portrays the destructive legacy of slavery in showcasing the life of a black woman
named Sethe, from her pre-civil war days as a slave in Kentucky to her time as a slave in Kentucky to her
time in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1873.
 Sethe escaped from a Kentucky plantation with her husband and their children. They sought
refuge in Ohio, but their owner and law officers soon caught up with the family. Before their recapture,
Sethe killed her young daughter to prevent her return to slavery. Sethe is a passionately devoted mother,
in an act of supreme love and sacrifice, she tries to kill her children to keep them from slavery.

Events are revealed in flashbacks. In 1873, with Sethe and her teenage daughter, Denver, living in
Ohio, where their house at 124 Bluestone Road is haunted by the angry ghost of the child Sethe killed.
The hauntings are alleviated by the arrival of Paul D, a man so ravaged by his slave past that he keeps his
feelings in the “tobacco bin” of his heart. He worked on the same plantation as Sethe, and the two begin
a relationship. A brief period of relative calm ends with the appearance of a young woman who says that
her name is Beloved. She knows things that suggest she is the reincarnation of Sethe’s lost daughter. Sethe
is obsessed with assuaging her guilt and tries to placate the increasingly demanding and manipulative
Beloved. At one point, Beloved seduces Paul D after learning that Sethe killed her daughter, he leaves.

The situation at 124 Bluestone worsens, as Sethe loses her job and becomes completely fixated
on Beloved, who is soon revealed to be pregnant. While the lonely and largely housebound Denver initially
befriends Beloved, she begins to grow concerned. She finally dares to venture outside in order to ask the
community for help, and she is given food and job. As the local women attempt to stage an exorcism,
Denver’s employer arrives to take her to work, and Sethe mistakes him for “schoolteacher” and tries to
attack him with an ice pick. The other women restrain her, and during the commotion Beloved disappears.
Paul D later returns to grieving Sethe, promising to care for her, and Denver continues to thrive in the
outside world.

Insight: It portrays the significance of motherhood, the psychological impacts of slavery, and repression
of memory, as well as connections to the real-life slave who inspired Morrison’s story.

RICHARD CORY by Robinson

Richard Cory was a young, fine man. He’s a man of the upper class. Every time he goes to town
people are staring at him. He is neat and quite slim. Every word he spoke of is indeed pleasing and deemed
as a man of his word. People thought he has everything and people admired him a lot. And people would
also wish they were on his place. But one calm summer, he killed himself, pulling a trigger on his head.

Insight: A person might be seen physically fine but not on the inside he is not. Might be emotionally or
mentally troubled. Indeed, we are all fighting our battles silently. That’s why we should be kind and be
thoughtful to other people.

LITTLE BLADE OF GRASS by Stephen Crane

This poem is a dialogue between God and the little blade of grass. They are to be asked about
what they have done on Earth, if it’s either good or bad deeds. Those who have done bad deeds will be
punished and those who have done good deeds will be rewarded, but they should not boast or feel proud
about it. After the little blade of grass had told God that it does not know any of those good deeds it have
done, God arose from His throne and admired the little blade of grass.

Insight: We should not brag about the things we have done or achieved, rather stay humble and kind even
though it feeds you honour and benevolence.
PARADOX OF OUR TIME by Jodi Hatton

It is an implication how things are being done by people but not knowing that everything has a
better purpose. Things are being settled for less without even trying hard and be able to provide a better
outcome.

Insight: People should always think outside the box. There is more from where it came from. Let us be
more productive and innovative.

THE KIT by Rudy Duterte

This poem is from a Filipino writer who took note of some parts of President Rodrigo Duterte’s
press conference which addresses the nation about updates on the novel coronavirus cases in the country.
It was then asked to Duterte if there were enough testing kits in the country and be able to prevent the
cases from increasing. Therefore stating about the Bubonic plague, Spanish flu, and if someone has a
birthmark they are considered witch.

Insight: In this time of pandemic, people should always look at the bright side. People need to comply first
rather than complaining.

BALLAD OF A MOTHER’S HEART by Tierra Jose La Villa

It was already night when a young man went out to see his maiden fair. The young man told his
maiden fair that his love for her is true but the maiden fair told the young man that he need to prove it to
her, the young man replied and told his maiden fair that he is willing to do anything for her, so the maiden
asked him to get her mother’s heart. The young man went to his mother and took her heart. Then, he
went back to his maiden fair but suddenly his feet slipped on his way and he fell down and because of the
pain, he cried out and then he heard a voice and he realized that it was his mother’s heart who is telling
him to get up and asking him if he was hurt.

Insight: A mother’s love will never change, unconditional love that will never be replaced. Even though
we hurt them they will get mad but at the end of the day they would still love us. That is why we must
love our family first, aside from God, more than anyone else in this world.

MY WIFE’S HANDS by Conrado S. Ramirez

This poem tells of a man quietly seeing the delicateness in each movement in her significant one.
Without a word coming from the speaker, appreciation is evident as the single sentiment expressed by
the poem. Daintiness and radiance are the impressions left by the poem for the readers to sense.

Moreover, this poem is a form of acknowledgment in the vital influence of true teachers of poetry
upon the neophytes. She inspires, she sharpens the perception, she harnesses the potential, and she
awakens appreciation which might remain unmoved by the wonders of everyday living.

Insight: A wife’s sacrifices are beyond limits that is why she is worthy of care and appreciation.
THE VIRGIN by Kerima Tuvera

It is a story about a woman named Miss Mijares and the Carpenter. Miss Mijares, a woman in her
early 30s, has not had any experience when it had come to men due to the fact that she had taken care
of her ailing mother almost all her life. She focused most of her youth on things she considered essential
and important. She lives her mundane life with constraint and detachment. When a carpenter applies for
a job, she unknowingly becomes attracted to him, but only sticks to her fantasies and dreams up until the
two are stranded after the driver of the jeep leaves them in the rain. She then follows her attraction
towards the carpenter and turns to him. This story talks about the subject of virginity, a value that Filipinos
care about deeply and consider important.

Insight: Filipinos are very conservative. They tend to keep themselves untouched by other people. They
focus on a more important role, one after the other. They love deeply and purely from their heart, mind,
and soul.

TRIBUTE TO A TEACHER by Arvee Bucarile

This is an image of a legendary man who became a big part of a student’s life. A mentor that is
admired by providing each letter of his name a peculiar rationale.

Insight: As his student, everything that is stated in this tribute are proven true. His perception on learning
is quite extraordinary. His exquisite ways on attacking every discussion in class is indeed mind blowing.
Hence, I know there are bullets that are waiting to be unravelled. Kudos to our superb mentor!

THE BOLO by Loreto Sulit

This story has two main characters, Sita and Clara. Clara was the eldest and a widow after her
previous husband Ramon had passed away. Clara also lost her son. Sita was a simple, young girl who was
consumed by hunger. Their greatest possession was the bolo, which is their last card to suffice their
rumbling stomachs.

Clara was hesitating to sell the artefact at an Old Hison’s Store but Sita was persistent in selling it.
But Clara didn’t give up easily because she believed that the parents of Ramon would still send them
money, despite what happened to Ramon and their son.

Clara was not just famished but she was also sick. Despite her condition, she still insist on keeping
the heirloom. Sita’s desperation was greater. Out of her desperation, Sita snatched the bolo from Clara’s
weak and helpless hands. She then went to the Old Hison’s store to sell it, and received fifty pesos for the
bolo. Sita’s thought were troubled, if it is hunger that needs to be sufficed of the shame and pride. But
later on, she sold the bolo for the price.

At the end of the story, a customer named Oscar bought the bolo for a far more superior price
and gave it to Sita. Oscar explained the significance of the bolo and the rarity of its value. Sita then went
back to the storeowner and returned the money, and kept the bolo.

Insight: Value of a precious heirloom can never be bought by money. Its pride and possession is nothing
compared to what a price it provokes. Learn to cherish such treasures and be persistent in doing so.
ON THE PULSE OF MORNING by Maya Angelou

The poem asserts that human beings can change for the better and that, working with nature,
learning from the past, and despite differences, great things can be accomplished together. The speaker
says that rocks, rivers, and trees were present since prehistoric times and had witnessed the arrival and
departure of many generations.

Insight: The poem gives the lesson of unity, faith, and determination.

DEAR BASKETBALL by Kobe Bryant

It is a poem how Kobe Bryant started playing basketball. He portrayed his journey throughout his
life. How he fell in love with this sport and gave his all. Until he became a part of the Lakers team. His
heart and mind can take so much more but otherwise his body seem to disagree. He bid goodbye and he
was okay with it. Thus, he will always be grateful in becoming one.

Insight: We should always put our heart, mind, and soul in doing something were passionate about.
Through this, even in the afterlife, we won’t regret everything we’ve left behind. And leave a mark on
everyone’s heart.

THE PARODY SOCIAL DISTANCING (Island on the Stream)

It is a story of a couple who are away from each other because of the social distancing being
implemented, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They had to keep distance even though much of their desire
to kiss and hug each other, they could not. Moreover, they have to wear facemasks and gloves as well as
sanitizing themselves from time to time, since this is the new normal, everyone is quarantined. Hence,
they wish that the said be virus be gone and go back to normal, where people could socialize and mingle
with each other without being cautious by the social distancing. Wishing everything will go back to the
way it used to be.

Insight: We should take part in this time of crisis by following precautionary orders. As our front liners
asked us to do “WE STAY AT WORK FOR YOU, STAY AT HOME FOR US”. As citizens of our country, let us
all be obedient and responsible enough.

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH by Al Gore

It is story about climate change. It aims the society to be aware about the disasters brought upon
by the global warming, and shows re-enacted incidents from Al Gore’s life story which influenced his
concerns about environmental issues. Typically, the inconvenience comes down to having to take
responsibility for something, or at least in admitting that the excuse you’ve been using doesn’t hold up.

Insight: People should be wary about the things they are doing. They should take good care of our mother
earth so as to give a beautiful paradise for the next generations.