Republic of the Philippines

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Urdaneta City Campus

ACTIVITY
LIT 1: Society and Literature

Name: SURAT, GRACIELA F. Course, Year, and Section: BS Architecture 3A

Learning Activity
1. The title of the story, “Rice and Bullets,” is figuratively written. What figure of
speech is used and what is its meaning? Discuss in a 150 to 250-word essay.

Rice and Bullets

‘Blood is a language and thus, so are rice and bullets.’ Hernando R. Ocampo’s
tropological practices are portrayed on Rice and Bullets, depicted in the manner of his
written works, he creates figures in prose. Those kinds of figures which he directly and
indirectly used are showcased in today’s society, the problems faced by farmers and
workers in the Philippine Setting. The short story used the figure of speech “Antithesis”
or using two words which has direct opposite meaning to each other. According to
Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Antithesis is the rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of
parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences (as in “action, not words” or “they
promised freedom and provided slavery.”) When individually defined, ‘Rice’ means life,
not just because it pertains to food but because it makes people continue living. Rice in
literal terms are starchy seeds that is a part of our daily life as a Filipino. While ‘Bullets’
means death or giving someone pain and putting them in danger. In literal terms, bullets
are missile-like, fast and accurately thrown to hit an object – meant to kill or make
someone suffer by those strikes. Stones are also used in the short story which replaced
food and symbolizes the image of starvation. This has representation in a political
sense, which displays violence, as well. The scenes include true to life story of workers
who strive so hard to live each day. Symbolic violence that suffices one’s hunger, ready
to risk all that one has.

 
 2. Identify the parts Rice and Bullets which correspond to the elements of a short
story.

Rice and Bullets

Short Story Elements

A.      Characters
a.      Tura: Round character, he is the protagonist, a father for 3, poor guy.
b.      Police officers: Flat character, who guarded the warehouse.
c.       Mr. Remulla: Round Character, first he is kind, but in the end, he let his officer to
shoot the crowd.

B.      Plot Liner

a.      Introduction: The author introduced the main character and describes their
situation.
b.      Rising Action: When the crowd started to fire and a riot has taken place.
c.      Climax: When the police officers start to shoot the people, who started the riot.
d.      Falling Action: When the police overtook the place from the group of Tura
e.      Denouement: Tura, as he tries to go home, was shot and lost his
consciousness.

C.      Settings
a.      Place: One of the poor provinces in Luzon, Plaza mayor, where Chinese Rice
Warehouse is located.
b.      Time: Long time ago.
c.      Weather: Warm, typical warm weather in the Philippines
d.      Social conditions: Main character is from Lower – Class or below poverty line
e.      Mood or Atmosphere:  Tense, action

D.     Point of View

a.      The author uses 3rd person point of view, because he uses - he, him, his, and
they.
Omniscient- God-like, the narrator knows and sees everything, and can
move from one character's mind to another. Authors can be omniscient
narrators by moving from character to character, event to event, and
introducing information at their discretion.
E.      Literary Devices
a.      The author uses symbols such as the big three rocks that represents the 3 main
islands of the country, and it shows how the people lift heavy problems in their back
such as poverty and food shortage.

F.       Theme
a.      The theme of the story is that people will absolutely do anything to survive even if
it would harm them and put their life in danger.

G.     The Conflict

a. Man vs. Man - The struggle against another character 

    The poor family lives in salabat as their source of food. Tura, the father, seeks to find
rice for food even for once in a while, to satisfy their hunger and have some for his
family. So, he went to the plaza to be blessed and have even some kilos of rice. As his
hunger strikes so bad, he wanted to get rice as fast as he could so he bumps other and
run first the line, that is where the riot started. The police start to fire some shots and it
alarmed everyone so the crowd would stop. But it is useless because after that
happened, the raging crowd started to fight back.

Learning Activity
 1. Watch the movie, Heneral Luna and answer the questions in the KWL chart.
K W
What do I already know
about the story?
Heneral Luna
‘The Movie’ portrays the life
of General Antonio Luna,
the Greatest General in the
Philippines, a patriotic
biopic. It is a powerful film
that channels the inner
social frustration of every
Filipino, I think. Aside from
the heroic acts of Heneral
Luna, life lessons are given
especially the importance of
unity and cooperation of one
nation. Freedom is never
given without actions from a
side. Arrangements must be
done by a nation’s
countrymen, because in the
first place, no one will do it
for us. It depicts cultural,
social, economic and
political issues which are still
existing up until this day.
What do I want to learn
about this story?
I want to learn how
Heneral Luna mirrors every
Filipino who cry for justice
and wants to be freed in a
cage he didn’t get himself
into. The realizations which
would hit the viewers,
specifically me, the
importance of every role of
the characters in the film
even more than a hundred
years after Luna’s death. I
want to look at the bigger
picture, not just about hating
the plans and decisions of
Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo or
admiring the bravery and
principles of Heneral Luna.
The struggles occurred
during those colonial times
which could be related to
modern day Filipino
problems like dis-unity,
corruption and being in the
hands of self-serving
national elite. Luna is flawed
like the rest of us, he
certainly has self-harming
decisions.
L
What did I learn about this
story?
The movie seeks
the young audiences and
gives us awareness. We,
the future leaders have the
responsibility for the
betterment and nation-
building of our country.
Joven, the young journalist
in the movie represents us
young adults for his name in
Spanish means ‘Youth’. A
symbolic character which is
significant in the story and
historical event itself. He
was shot twice, one in his
writing hand, second in his
ear. This is the challenge for
the Filipino youth – do we
have to stay deaf despite all
the happenings around us?
Do we still let fear creep
through our veins and hinder
our freedom of expression?
We should live by Heneral
Luna’s principles and stand
by it without giving selfish
reasons.