Catherine S.
Asentista
History 11.1 – ACA
1. Based on Rizal's To The Young Women of Malolos, How did he present the women of the
Philippines? And what does Rizal wants the women of the Philippines should act?
2. Rizal's Indolence of the Filipino presents his counter argument by the Spaniards that
Filipinos are lazy. What were his answers to the accusations of the Spaniards (mostly to the
friars) that Filipinos are indolent?
A. How could lack of training and lack of national sentiment be a factor why people are
indolent?
B. Based on your observation at present, do you really think Filipinos are lazy? Please cite
examples to your answer.
3. Noli Me Tangere which means "touch me not" is Rizal's 1st novel that "sketches a wound
painful even to the healer's touch causing more agony than relief".
A. What were the reforms that Ibarra wanted to introduce to the town of San Diego?
B. What could be Rizal's purpose in writing the Noli Me Tangere?
ANSWERS:
1. Women with agreeable manners, beautiful ways, and modest demeanor, but there was
in all an admixture of servitude and deference to the words or whims of their so-called
"spiritual fathers" (as if the spirit or soul had any father other than God), due to excessive
kindness, modesty, or perhaps ignorance. They seemed faced plants sown and reared
in darkness, having flowers without perfume and fruits without sap.
Let us be reasonable and open our eyes, especially you women, because you are the
first to influence the consciousness of man. Remember that a good mother does not
resemble the mother that the friar has created; she must bring up her child to be the
image of the true God, not of a blackmailing, a grasping God, but of a God who is the
father of us all, who is just;
The duties that woman has to perform in order to deliver the people from suffering are of
no little importance, but be they as they may, they will not be beyond the strength and
stamina of the Filipino people. The power and good judgment of the women of the
Philippines are well known, and it is because of this that she has been hoodwinked, and
tied, and rendered pusillanimous, and now her enslavers rest at ease, because so long
as they can keep the Filipina mother a slave, so long will they be able to make slaves of
her children. The cause of the backwardness of Asia lies in the fact that there the
women are ignorant, are slaves.
If the Filipina will not change her mode of being, let her rear no more children, let her
merely give birth to them. She must cease to be the mistress of the home, otherwise
she will unconsciously betray husband, child, native land, and all.
2. Rizal started his argument with the admittance that Filipinos are indolent. The word
indolent was termed by friars to illustrate that the natives don’t like to work or don’t have
any idea on love for work. There are writings describing indolence but instead of dealing
and scrutinizing the cause of it, a mere affirmation or denial was just being established
by the writings. Undeniably, the natives were always put into shame by the Spaniards.
Before the Spaniards come to the country, the economy and culture have been
flourishing. It is appalling that the Spaniards created a new era for the natives. With the
belief that the foreigners are superior, the natives willingly submit themselves to their
will. Spaniards would often accentuate how indolent the native are.
a. According to Rizal, all the causes of indolence can be reduced to two factors. The
first factor is the limited training and education Filipino natives receive. Segregated
from Spaniards, Filipinos do not receive the same opportunities that are available to
the foreigners. They are taught to be inferior. The second factor is the lack of a
national sentiment of unity among them. Because Filipinos think they are inferior,
they submit to the foreign culture and do everything to imitate it. The solution,
according to Rizal, would be education and liberty. Indolence is a corollary derived
from the lack of stimulus and of vitality.
b. No, I don’t think that present Filipinos are lazy because there are many Filipinos
around the world working. There are many Filipino Workers working
abroad/overseas. However, we can’t deny the fat that there are filipinos now who do
not have permanent jobs because the lack of knowledge but still looking for ways to
find money to support their needs. That is why there are many street vendors, having
a sari-sari store abd etc.
3. a. Reforms that Ibarra wanted to implemeny are securing political and social reforms
for his
country and at the same time educate his countrymen.
c. Rizal's purpose in writing the Noli Me Tangere was to depict the miseries of his
people
under the lash of spanish tyrants, written in foreign languages and published 2,000
copies. And also to help the Filipinos realize and gained hope against the spanish
friars. Through this book he wa able to reveal the true situation of the Philipines in
the hand of the Spaniards.
