University of Rizal System

Angono Campus

College of Arts and Letters

Midterm Examination in

Life and Works of Rizal

Name: _Vince Carl V. Vale______________________ Score________

Course/Year & Section:_BFA VC1___________________ Date: __________

I. Essay

Instruction: Write your answers at the back of the paper.

In everything that we have learned about Rizal’s life, given a chance to talk to Rizal at this time, what
would you tell him about the life situations of the Filipinos and our country as of today? (50 words)

What do you think would be the response of Rizal to our situation right now? (50 words)

Being inspired with Rizal’s life, how would you help our fellow Filipinos in loving each other and our
country? Enumerate ways that you would apply in your life as of today and in the future. (50 words)

Bonus: 10 points

Prepared by:

_______________

Melvic V. Atienza

Instructor
In everything that we have learned about Rizal’s life, given a chance to talk to Rizal at this time, what
would you tell him about the life situations of the Filipinos and our country as of today?

Having the chance to talk to our national hero is a very rare opportunity to have. First of all, I’m
going to tell him that I’m very grateful for all the heroic deeds he's done for our country and for all the
sacrifices he's made for the sake of the freedom of our motherland. I would tell him that the people he
swore to protect even after his death are slowly forgetting about him, his heroic deeds, his sacrifices, and
his patriotism. But there are still people who believe in his ideals and are carrying on his legacy to protect
this country, to love the land where we were born, and to fight and give their lives for it. I would tell him
that the country is still evolving, adapting to new things, still practicing some traditions and even cultures
that are nearly forgotten.My message for him, if I was given the chance to talk to him, would be "Dr. Jose
Rizal, this is the country that you protected with your own life, and this is the fruit of your patriotism, and
we promise you that we will continue your ideals and put our lives just to protect our country, our
motherland."

What do you think would be the response of Rizal to our situation right now?

Dr. Jose Rizal died because he fought the Spanish government with pen and paper and the skill of
writing; he fought for our country's freedom by depicting the evils of Spanish rule in the Philippines.
According to the novel Noli Me Tangere, he portrays here the situation of the Filipinos before, or Indios,
as the Spaniards called them. The novel describes the blasphemy of friars just like Padre Damaso and
Padre Damaso, the miseries of Sisa, Crispin, and Basilio, and so on.

If Dr. Jose Rizal were alive today, he would certainly point out the cancer here in our country,
which is drugs, corrupt officials, and even the current governance of the republic. He might not be
pleased with the current leadership that we have right now. He would certainly write more about this
new social cancer that our country is currently facing.

If Rizal had lived today, I am confident he would have written about the many cancers that
plague our social, economic, and political environments.

Being inspired with Rizal’s life, how would you help our fellow Filipinos in loving each other and our
country? Enumerate ways that you would apply in your life as of today and in the future.

Pushing the idea to each person is like an impossible task to do, but it’s possible to influence
them, make them inspired, just like how Rizal’s life did to us Filipinos. Showing others how much you
value them is enough to inspire them, and for them to do what you did to another person is like repaying
the kindness that they experienced. But not all people have the sense of obligation to do that, but that is
just a small number of people, and still, there are some ways to influence them to love their fellowmen.

After knowing some parts of Rizal’s life, some sense of responsibility has suddenly popped up
inside me, and through the process, I’m starting to understand what this sense of responsibility really
means to me. As a young person in this country, I am responsible for loving my country and my
countrymen. But by not just saying "love" is enough, I need to find some ways to execute this ideal.

I would apply patriotism to myself because, like Rizal, all of his heroic deeds stem from his strong
sense of patriotism within him. That’s why I must apply to myself to be patriotic to prove that I love this
country and I am willing to protect it no matter what.
 To inspire people, you need to show them that you are worthy of their attention, and to show
them that you are dedicated to the things that you want to pursue. That’s why I need to inspire myself
first before I inspire others and help them to love each other, especially our country, our motherland.