KENNETH A.

OLIVA STEM 11 – EULER

READING AND WRITING
MODULE 9

PRACTICE TASK 1. READ ME

1. Do you think the setting Banwa Island is in existence in real life? Why?
→ I think it exists. The author somehow had to get an inspiration from some place in the Philippines
even though it is a fictional island. The place was somehow described like a character by itself by the
article. The detailed description of the place showed the state of the country back during the era of
Marcos’ Dictatorship.
2. What does the writer mean when he said, “walk the purgatory between life and death’?
→ The writer described the feeling of the sugarcane farmers when they are experiencing a “dead
season” or the time that there is no harvest. Due to no paid work, the farmers described their suffering
as “to walk the purgatory between life and death” or in other words, they have experienced what’s like
to be in between life and death as the time of waiting with hunger and eventually pain due to the lack
of jobs to provide them with food.
3. Based on the review, what do you think is the theme of the novel by Hau?
→ Based on the review of Ruel S. De Vera, I think the themes of the novel by Hau revolves around
finding oneself amidst social issues, being hopeful for the uncertainties of the future that’s ahead, the
trials and tribulations of being an Overseas Filipino Worker, and the socio-economic divide between
the rich and the poor.

PRACTICE TASK 2. ELEMENTS IN REVIEW

PARAGRAPH OR LINE NUMBER ELEMENT
Paragraphs 1 – 7 Summary
Paragraph 8 Reviewer’s Statement
Paragraph 9 Brief Biographical Sketch
Paragraph 10 – 11 Objective Evaluation
Paragraph 12 Quotations
PRACTICE TASK 3. ELEMENTS IN REVIEW
Book Features
On features
What is the title of the book?
Does the title suggest
anything?
Is the title of the book adequate
to its content?
Who wrote the book?
When was it published?
What is the relevance of the
cover illustration to the topic of
the book?
Book type
What type of book is it? Fiction
or non-fiction?
What genre does it represent?
Answer Comment / Opinion
Heartstopper (Volume 1 – 4)
The title described little about
the plot, other than it having a
lot of “heart-stopping” moments
in the book.
Yes. I think the title of the book The title gives the readers an
adequately describes what type idea about the plot of the book,
of content the book will have. it is all about how Charlie
Spring, an openly gay person
meets a straight rugby lad
named Nick Nelson, and how
they eventually fall for each
other. In which in every journey
they have, in my opinion, is a
heart-stopping moment for the
readers.
Alice Oseman She is the creator, author, and
artist of literary masterpieces
such as Solitaire, Radio
Silence, Nick and Charlie,
Heartstopper, and many more.
The first volume was self- The Web Series is currently
published on October 1, 2018. ongoing. The Fifth Volume for
The second one was on July the book series is set to be
11, 2019. The third volume was published on the 2nd of
published on February 6, 2020. February of 2023.
And the fourth volume was
published on May 6, 2021.
It is relevant in a way that each Nick and Charlie are the main
cover shows Nick and Charlie protagonists of the story.
progressing through their
relationship – they started out
as friends in the first cover and
started to progress into
something more romantic
Fiction The story is set in a fictional
town in Kent, England. Which
the author grew up and lives in
currently.
Romance The novel described the story
of how Charlie Spring, a highly-
strung, openly gay over-thinker,
who is frequently bullied due to
his sexuality, meets Nick
Nelson, a soft-hearted rugby

On contents
Are there charts, graphs,
photographs, etc.?
What do the photographs
show?
Do they have something to do
with the theme of the book?
Do the photographs reveal
something about the author?
What does the material
present?
On topic
What is the general topic of the
book?
What are the author’s main
arguments?
Yes. The book is based on her
own web novel that mainly has
a comic-type of illustration to
show the actions and dialogues
of each character. (Graphic
Novel)
The photographs presented
show the storyline as it is a
graphic novel, which relies on
images to effectively portray
the plot of the story.
Yes. This is because the book
is a graphic novel.
The photographs show the
author, Alice Oseman’s, Art
style.
The material presents the
journey of Friendship to Lovers
of Nick and Charlie as they
conquer the stigma and
negativity of being a queer in
an all-boys school.
The general topic of the book
tackles the friends-to-lovers
trope of high school teens,
Nick, and Charlie
One of the author’s main
arguments in the book is that
coming out to people is not
something that should be
rushed like there’s a deadline
to it, it takes time and a great
deal of acceptance to what you
identify as.
player. Their friendship blooms
quickly, but love works in
surprising ways as they soon
realize that they are falling hard
for each other.
Aside from this, each is
manually drawn by the author
to make sure that each
expression that she wants to
convey is genuinely expressed
by each character.
The material also represents
different life lessons and
problems that the LGBTQIA+
people are experiencing that is
not usually accurately
represented by the media.
Although Charlie didn’t know he
had the chance to actually be
with Nick, he still persisted into
befriending with him with little
hope that they can be a thing
together. Little did he know that
they were both falling in deep
with each other.
Coming out can never be
rushed and should be done at
your own pace. This is what
Alice Oseman tried to argue in
the story as it was shown in the
novel that when Nick was
having troubles with on what he
identifies with. This was an
absolutely heartbreaking
moment for me as I relate to his
situation currently. Coming out
should never be something that
will make you pressured.

What did the author want to
accomplish?
What message did the author
want to convey?
The author wants to show the
people that the LGBTQIA+
people are not like the media
has stereotyped them to be.
She wants to show the mass
how LGBTQIA+ couples are
not always experiencing
rainbows and cupcakes
through their relationship. As
they are usually hatecrimed,
judged, and criticized by the
people who has different
religious beliefs and opinions
about the LGBTQIA+
community or just someone
who is blatantly homophobic.
Although the author did not
directly convey the message
that she wants to in the books, haven’t experienced
but it was showed in one of the relationships like this. Alice was
chapters in the book that love is spot-on with the explanation on
not a solution to any problem.
Specifically, a chapter in the
story where Nick’s Mother and
him are talking about Charlie’s
Mental Illnesses. It was
discussed by them that true
love is realizing that it’s not
always one’s job to “save” the
other from their mental
Although doing this can relieve
one from being shackled to
their own chains, it still has
some downsides that one really
needs to consider especially if
one can’t take the negativity
that others might bring as it
might only further damage
one’s mental health, which is
the same thing that happened
to Charlie when he got outed to
all the people in his school in
the first volume, this led him
into developing severe mental
health issues that slowly
manifested throughout the
story.
The Netflix adaptation show for
heartstopper showed how fast
people change their
impressions about someone
once they know they are “out”.
One Lesbian couple in the
show (Named Tara and Darcy)
decided to come out. Although
most of the reactions were
positive, a handful of them
changed their view about the
two characters. Some people in
their school treated the couple
like being a lesbian was a
disease. It was genuinely sad
knowing that many people still
have this mindset about
LGBTQIA+ couples. They have
done nothing wrong against
anyone, they just want to be
happy.
This part of the story moved me
to the core even though I
healthily dealing with mental
illnesses in a relationship. She
also stated that although one
can’t help the other from fully
recovering from their mental
illnesses, they can still be there
to listen, to talk, to cheer them
up when they’re having a bad

Why was the book written?
On writing style
Is the author’s writing style
technical or simple?
Is it logical or emotional?
How did the writer reveal the
character?
On readership
Who is the intended reader of
the book?
Are the terms and vocabulary
appropriate to the readers?
problems as dependency isn’t
healthy for both parties in a
relationship.
The book was written to
showcase love, understanding
one’s sexuality, and how
bullying can branch into
different mental health issues
such as eating disorders and
Self-harm
The author’s writing style is
mainly simple as the graphic
novel is intended for young
teens aged from 12 above, but
there are also instances where
technical writing styles were
used when explaining a
concept.
The writing style of the author
leans more on the emotional
side.
Each character was revealed
through other characters in the
story.
The graphic novel published in
the WEBTOON app is rated
12+
For the most part, yes. But
there are some profanities,
although these were used very
minimally.
day, or just standing by his
side.
This is honestly one of the best
LGBTQIA+ novels that
perfectly represent the
struggles of teens that are part
of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The whole plot was just too
close to my heart that it made
me emotional whenever the
main leads are experiencing
hate from other people and
when Charlie is showing his
mental health issues.
Some of the parts that the
author used a technical style of
writing is when Nick tried to
explain the mechanics of rugby
to Charlie when Charlie
decided to join the rugby team
even without prior knowledge
on how to play the game.
Different sensitive topics were
discussed that are quite heavy
for the readers to digest, topics
such as Eating Disorders, Self-
harm, bullying, and Trauma
were shown in the novel, this
personally made me emotional
as the way that the author uses
these topics was greatly
moving in a way that she
represented it the way that I’ve
been experiencing.
Charlie Spring and Nick
Nelson, the two main
protagonists of the story, was
introduced to the story by their
teacher when Charlie asked
where he is on the seating
plan.
There were no inappropriate
themes that are not suitable for
young teens.
The profanity is used to
express the character’s
emotion when they are met
with catastrophes and
problems.