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Bermuda's Triangle (Essay)

            Hell’s gate, the devil’s triangle. What exactly is in the infamous Bermuda Triangle which made it terrifyingly scary not only for seafarers but for everyone who knows its tale? According to stories, anyone who crosses its borders are bound to experience accidents and even fatality. True enough, there have been a lot of historic accounts of death and disappearances in this part of the ocean.

                Bermuda Triangle is an undefined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean, where a number of aircrafts and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. This mystery is said to have started on Dec. 5, 1945 when five Navy Planes took off from Florida on a routine mission. And since then, neither the planes nor the crew were ever seen again. It has been almost a century, and ever since, there has been a lot of disappearances happening in this area of the ocean. Why is it so?  

                Bermuda Triangle is an imaginary area of the ocean bounded by Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. Aside from the disappearances happening around this area, there are also a lot of unexplainable phenomena in this region. Inconsistent compass readings, fires, and strange night lights are just a few of the things which happen around this vicinity.

                Long before the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle has been popular, Bermuda has always been referred to as an enchanted island. Bermuda was feared by people because of the creepy howls of birds and squeals of pigs. It was even coined “The Devil’s Island” by seafarers.

                There have been a lot of socially accepted legends about what really is in the Bermuda Triangle. Scientists say that these disappearances may have been a result of deficiencies in the magnetic field which caused inconsistencies in compass readings. Some say that all of the disappearances have been results of human errs. But too many disappearances on a single location? I don’t think this is simply human err.

 Villagers and common folk believe that this is a result of crystal energies from the lost city Atlantis. They believe that Atlantis, having been sunk deep below the Bermuda Triangle, pull these aircrafts and ships down below, which explains why no debris were ever found.

Up to now, there has been no exact reason on why over 500 years, at least 50 ships and 20 aircrafts have vanished in this part of the ocean. Not even leaving a trace. Many theories have been suggested, but everything is almost fictional. Experts still continue studying and researching on possible explanations of why death’s hand seem to linger on this triangle on Atlantic ocean. But all I know is,  legend or not, ironically, these mysterious disappearances are something that won’t disappear soon. 

The Miracle Worker (Reaction Paper)

            I haven’t really read the actual manuscript of the play yet, but I was really touched when I watched it being performed in class. What interested me the most in the play was how Annie could teach Helen how to speak when the latter’s senses were obstructed. Through the duration of the play, many human values could be seen and many of life’s greatest lessons could be learned.

            In the story, Annie Sullivan became the perfect epitome of everything a teacher should be. A teacher not only should be able to teach his/her students how to read and write, but he/she should also able to teach them what path in life they should tread. From the very start, Annie, being physically unable to see, has already learned the core values of patience and perseverance, which she then passed on to the Keller family. Annie’s courage in staying in an asylum and overcoming her brother’s death alone is also really commendable.

            A typical human being is born with five different senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Losing one is bearable, losing two is difficult, but losing two and having another disability is near to worst. Helen Keller is a typical cute little girl who wasn't that lucky enough to have all these essential senses. Besides from lacking the ability to see and hear, she also couldn't speak. If you were placed in this kind of situation, what would you do?

            Helen Keller’s situation is never next to easy. Not being able to see and hear prevents her from knowing about the outside. What happens then if the only thing that connects her own thoughts to the world has also been taken away from her? For Helen, all she could do was let all these feelings out in the form of rage. She couldn't tell everyone how she felt, what she wanted, what she needed, and what she wanted to express.  She wanted to link her world to her family’s and everyone else’s world, but she couldn't. Annie Sullivan, however, did all she could to build a bridge for Helen.

            At first, HeHGHHhHhdjjjjdiajwsdoijsldjdddddddddddddHelen was really stubborn. Maybe because she was just a kid and it was normal for her to act that way. Maybe because she just didn't want to learn. Or maybe because she just liked to fool around people. But for me, Helen became obdurate because of one simple reason: she already lost hope that someone would be able to help her, but Annie’s determination was greater than Helen’s sensory impairments and even greater than her helplessness.

            In spite of all the negative things and pressure that the Keller family was putting on Annie, the latter still did not lose hope that someday, Helen would be able to learn and live just like any normal kid could. And Annie was right. She persevered, day and night, to teach Helen how to read, write, and behave properly. She didn't mind all the things and words people spat at her. She didn't listen to the critics telling her she wouldn't succeed. Because Annie knew she would. And then again, she was right.

Helen Keller, a girl who was deaf, blind, and mute at the same time, finally learned how to communicate and express her own feelings. She learned how to persevere. She entered school and became better than most of the students. She then graduated with flying honors.

Sometimes, it’s not our abilities to see, hear, or speak which define us. It’s the way we overcome these obstructions that defines who we really are. In the play, Helen is a strong girl who managed to endure it all. While Annie, the person beyond Helen’s success, is the miracle worker. 

The World Is An Apple (Reaction Paper)

           When I first read the excerpt from this play, my immediate reaction was “wow that was it?” After my first reading of the play, I thought that it was just a simple play made for fun. But I realized after rereading it a few more times that it actually has a deeper meaning than what it appears to have.

            First, an emphasis on the love of a father should be given. Despite them being really financially unstable, Mario did everything he could to give his beloved daughter an apple; even if it means losing his own job. That time, I’m sure nothing goes inside Mario’s mind but his love for his sick daughter, Tita. Seeing his daughter weak and ill is worse than losing his job; thus, forcing him to steal an apple.

            Second, the patient love of Gloria to Mario. Gloria did all she could for Mario to stop from going back to the criminal life he once lived. She persevered and endured everything to stop her husband from treading the wrong path in life. In spite of their financial instability, Gloria cared so much for her family, a mark of a strong Filipina.

The last but the most evident sense of the play is a Filipino Family’s struggle against one of the major social issues of today’s world: poverty. Poverty is seen in almost every part of the world nowadays. News about a family not being able to eat at least three times a day is not that new anymore. Leaking roofs, broken beds, overpopulated areas, all of these are signs of poverty. Up to this date, there is no entire solution to this worldwide crisis; thus leading Filipinos to yield to criminal ways.

It is evident in Mario that he tried to change his ways more than once. But all of Gloria’s and Mario’s pains all became futile when he was faced with an obstacle where he felt so hopeless: when his beloved daughter became sick. This shows a sad reality of life: that when a person is backed up on a wall, he can do absolutely anything, may it be good, may it be bad.

Just like Adam who stole an apple from the garden of Eden for his love, Mario stole an apple from his work for his love. Humans are easily tempted. What more if they’re tempted while undergoing a personal crisis?

The play focused on the essence of a Filipino family striving in their battle against poverty and against their own selves. Mario’s weakness to temptation forced him to succumb back to his evil ways. The act of stealing a single apple, though just a simple theft, ruined all the efforts of Gloria on making her husband a changed man. These events then led to the destruction of the family. And the cause of it all? Poverty.

The Philippine government should start finding a panacea to this disease. Poverty destroys not only roofs, beds, and stomachs, but also a kid’s laugh, a mother’s smile, a father’s esteem, and a human’s soul.

MAPEH: The Romantic Period

THE ROMANTIC PERIOD

·         From 1815 to 1910 (musicological) or from 1789 to 1910 (historically)

·         A revolution against the aristocratic socio-political norms of the Enlightenment

·         Emphasis on subjectivity, emotion, imagination, and individualism; a counter-reaction to this is the logical deduction of the Enlightenment

·         Stress on the freedom of expression

1. Major Events of the Period

·         The Industrial Revolutions (1760 to 1914)

·         The French Revolution (1789 to 1799)

·         Napoleon’s Rise to Power (1799 to 1804)

·         Unification of Germany under Bismarck (1815 to 1871?)

·         Napoleon’s Defeat at Waterloo (1815)

·         The British Empire’s Dominance of the Seas (1815 to ?)

·         The Victorian Era (1837 to 1901)

·         Publication of the Communist Manifesto (1848)

·         Spanish-American War (1898)

2. Characteristics of Romantic Music

·         Emphasis of self-expression and freedom of form

·         Emphasis on lyrical, song-like melodies

·         New intensity on the classical forms

·         Intensified popularity of program music

·         Harmonic instability

·         Introduction of new chords and new uses of fam… chords

·         Prominence of chromatic harmony

·         Wider use of dissonant or unstable chords

3. Vocal Forms

·         Art Song

o   A composition for solo voice and piano

o   Expressive and closely adaptive melodic lines

o   Voice for interpretation of text and piano accompaniment for the projection of mood and melody

o   Intimate fusion of poetry and music

·         Strophic Form – same music for each stanza

·         Through-composed Form – different music per stanza

·         Song cycle – collection of poems in one poet set in a… unified thru a story line and musical ideas

4. Keyboard Forms

·         Etudes – a study that showed off the performer’s technical ability using apreggios, octaves, scales, and chords

·         Character Pieces – a short programmatic work that had descriptive titles, such as nocturne, ballad, rhapsody, and wordless songs

·         Variations – a virtuoso piece that states the theme and then modifies it through changes of rhythm, meter, and structure

·         Stylized Dances – popular dance forms such as the waltz, mazurka, polka…

5. Orchestral Forms

·         Symphonies – differs from classical symphonies due to free form of internal structure, movement variation, creativity, and inclusion of solo and choral sounds

·         Concerto – extravagant showpiece for  a virtuoso soloist in orchestra; usually played with violins and pianos

·         Concert Overture – a single movement and is usually found in sonata-allegro form

·         Symphonic Suite – programmatic works in… several movements which do not follow the symphonic form

6. Program Music (flourished during the close association of music and literature)

·         Program music – instrumental music associated with a poem, idea or scene

·         Program – a non-musical element that is specified by explanatory comments

·         Absolute Music (opposite of program music) – self-standing music; music intended to be appreciated without any reference to the outside world

·         Examples: Beethoven’s “Pastoral” and Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet”

7. Musicians

·         Franz Schubert

o   January 31, 1797 – November 19, 1828

o   Born in Vienna, Austria

o   Father of the German Liede

o   Never held an official musical position and was neither a conductor nor a virtuoso

o   Well-known works: German Dance in B flat, Salve Regina (D.27)

·         Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

o   February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847

o   Born in Hamburg, Germany

o   A German and Jewish conductor, composer, pianist, and organist

o   Grandson of philosopher Moses Mendelssohn

o   Greatest musical child prodigy after Mozart

o   Well-known works: Wedding March for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Die Hochzeit des Camacho

·         Frederic François Chopin

o   March 1, 1810 – October 17, 1849

o   Born in Zelazowa Wola, Poland

o   A Polish composer and virtuoso pianist

o   Second Mozart of Poland

o   Well-known works: Opus 53:Polonaise in A flat major, “Heroic”, Opp. 11 and 21, Etude no. 3

·         Franz Ritter von Liszt

o   October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886

o   Born in Raiding, Austria (formerly Doborjan, Hungary)

o   A Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher

o   Surrounded with music in early childhood

o   Well-known works: Les Preludes, Piano Concerto in Eb, Piano Concerto in A, the Hungarian Rhapsodies (1-19)

8. Songs and Composers

·         Giuseppe Verdi

o   La Donna E Mobile

o   La Traviata

·         Johann Strauss II

o   Blue Danube

o   Champagne Polka

·         Franz Schubert – Symphony no. 5 in B flat major

·         Johannes Brahms – Hungarian Dance no. 5

·         Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky

o   Trepak

o   Waltz of the Flowers

o   Romeo and Juliet Overture

·         Hector Berlioz – The Damnation of Faust

·         Clara Schumann – Piano Trio in G minor

·         Frederic Chopin – Raindrops

·         Bedrich Smetana – Vitava

Jose Rizal

1.    Mga mahahalagang pangyayari
- Hunyo 19, 1861 – Ipinanganak si Jose Rizal.
- Hunyo 22, 1961 – Siya ay bininyagan.
- 1886 – Unang nag-aral sa Paaralang Binan.
- 1872 – Nag-aral sa Ateneo. Nakulong ang kaniyang ina.    
- Hunyo 1877 – Nag-aral sa Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas.
- Mayo 3, 1882 – Umalis si Rizal tungong Espanya.
- Hunyo 21, 1884 – Ginawad kay Rizal ang degree na Lisensyado sa Medisina.
- Hunyo 19, 1885 – Natapos niya ang Pilosopiya at Sulat.
- 1885 – Nagtungo sa Paris at Berlin.
- Abril 13, 1886 – Umalis ng Japan si Rizal.
- Agosto 1887 – Bumalik si Rizal sa Pilipinas
- Agosto 28, 1893 – Namatay ang kaniyang asawa.
- Dis. 30, 1896 – Kamatayan ni Jose Rizal.

2.    Limang akda
- Sa Aking Mga Kababata – 1869
- El Embargue: Himno a la Flota de Magallanes – 1875
- Memorias De Un Estudiante de Manila – 1878
- Abdel Azis Y Mahoma – 1879
- A Filipinas – 1880

3.    Limang pag-ibig
- Segunda Katigbak – 1877
- Leonor Rivera – 1880
- Gertrude Beckett – 1889
- Suzzane Jacoby – 1890
- Josephine Bracken - 1893

4.    Limang lugar na pinuntahan
- Espanya – 1882
- Paris – 1885
- Hongkong – 1888
- Japan – 1888
- Brussels – 1890

5.    Limang kamanghamanghang ginawa
- Noong siya’y nag-aaral pa, nakatanggap siya ng iba’t ibang parangal sa pagsulat mula sa iba’t ibang mga bansa sa buong daigdig.
- Pinagtanggol ang mga kababayang inaapi sa ibang bansa.
- Bumuo ng sariling samahan ng propagandista na tutulong upang maimulat ang bayan sa totoong nangyayari sa bansa.
- Lumibot sa daigdig upang pag-aralan ang iba’t ibang mga kultura na makatutulong sa pagbuo ng kaniyang mga nobela at akda.
- Namatay para sa bayan.

HEALTH: Drugs and Alcohol

BARBITURATES

·         Barbiturates – depressants and sedatives

·         Depressants – drugs that reduce or slow down the activity of the nervous system

·         Sedatives – hypnotic drugs that induces sleep

ALCOHOL

·         Fermented berry juice – first fruit wine

·         Ethyl Alcohol – pure in form and has little odor

·         Methyl Alcohol – made from wood and used in making perfumes

·         Rubbing Alcohol – for medical use

·         Wine – fermentation of fruits

·         Beer – fermentation and brewing of grains

·         Social Drinking – drinking occasionally with others in relaxed, pleasant circumstances

·         Problem drinking – when drinking becomes an individual’s routine in coping with stress

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE ABSORPTION

·         Strength of beverage

·         Number of drinks consumed

·         Speed of consumption

·         Presence of food

·         Body chemistry

·         Gender

1.       Women have more body fat

2.       Women have less water

3.       Alcohol is more quickly absorbed during premenstrual phase

CLASSIFICATION OF ALCOHOL DRINKERS

1.       Abstainers – do not drink/less often than once a year

2.       Infrequent Drinkers – once a month, small amts

3.       Light Drinkers – once a month, medium amts

4.       Moderate-Heavy Drinkers – at least once a week, medium amts

Heavy