Marikina Polytechnic College: CNVCVNCVNVBNC
Marikina Polytechnic College: CNVCVNCVNVBNC
Marikina Polytechnic College: CNVCVNCVNVBNC
I. OBJECTIVES
GENERAL OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate cognitive and literary skills essential to the
understanding and appreciation of literature.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
1. Identify the elements of a short story present in the literary piece.
2. Relate the story to real-life situation.
3. Realize the importance of human value expressed in the story.
III. PROCEDURE
A. Preliminary Activities:
1. Prayer
2. Greeting
3. Checking of attendance and cleanliness
4. Review
B. Motivation:
Motive Questions:
1. Have you ever received a present from someone who just arrived from a trip? What
present have you received? Who gave it to you? What did you feel about the present?
2. In the story we are about to discuss, what did the character give his family as a
present from his periodic inspection trip? Let’s find out.
C. Presentation:
1. Vocabulary Development:
Read the following sentences carefully. Choose from the pool the word that best
defines the underlined word in each sentence.
2. Lesson Proper
(While discussing, show illustrations that are related to the events in the story.)
Summary:
For the Angeles family, Mr. Angeles’ homecoming from his periodic inspection
trips was always an occasion for celebration. But his homecoming—from a trip to the
South—was fated to be more memorable than any of the others.
He wrote Nana Emilia, his wife, that he met a marvellous mat weaver and that
he asked the weaver to weave a sleeping mat for every one of the family. Nana Emilia
read the letter again and again everytime she had a chance to leave the kitchen. In the
evening when all the children were home from school, she asked her oldest son Jose to
read the letter at the dinner table. The children became very much excited about the
mats, and talked about them until late at night. For days, the mats continued to be the
chief topic of conversation among the children.
Finally, Mr. Angeles wrote again, saying that he would be taking the Bicol
Express the next day and that he had the mats with him. The letter was read aloud and
the talk about mats flared up again like wildfire.
The children knew what they were talking about. They knew just what a
decorative mat was like. That was why they were so excited about the matter. They had
such a mat in the house, the one given to Nana Emilia by her mother when she and Mr.
Angeles were married. It was a very beautiful mat, not really meant to be ordinarily
used. Nana Emilia always kept that mat in her trunk. When anyone in the family was
taken ill, the mat was brought out and the patient slept on it, had it all to himself.
In the evening, Mr. Angeles was with his family. He had brought the usual things
with him—fruits and jars of preserved sweets. Dinner was a long affair. Mr. Angeles was
full of stories about his trip. The stories petered out and dinner was over. Putting away
the dishes and wiping the tables clean did not all seem tedious. Yet Nana Emilia and the
children, although they did not show it, were all on edge about the mats.
Finally, after a long time over his cigar, Mr. Angeles rose from his seat at the
head of the table and crossed the room to the corner where his luggage had been piled.
From the heap, he disengaged a ponderous bundle. One swift movement with the
scissors, snip! And the bundle was loose.
Turning to Nana Emilia, Mr. Angeles joyfully cried: “these are the mats, Miling.”
The children watched the spectacles silently and then broke into delighted, though a
little self-conscious, laughter. Nana Emilia unfolded the mat without a word. It was a
beautiful mat. The children stood around the spread mat.
Mat after mat was unfolded. On each of the children’s mat, there was somehow
an appropriate device. The air was filled with their excited talk, and through it all Mr.
Angeles was saying over and over again in his deep voice that the mats were not to be
used until the children go to the University.
Then Nana Emilia noticed bewilderedly that there were some more mats
remaining to be unfolded. “But Jaime,” Nana Emilia said, “There are some more mats.”
“Yes, Emilia,” said Mr. Angeles, “There are three more mats to unfold. The
others who aren’t here...”
Nana Emilia caught her breath. The self-centered talk of the children also died.
There was a silence as Mr. Angeles picked up the first of the remaining mats and began
slowly unfolding it. The mats had names. The children knew the name.
Then Nana Emilia found her voice. “You know, Jaime, you didn’t have to, you
didn’t have to,” Nana Emilia said and her voice was hurt and was surely frightened.
Mr. Angeles held his tears back. “Do you think I had forgotten them? Do you
think I could forget them?”
“Don’t Jaime, please don’t” was all that Nana Emilia managed to say.
“Is it fair to forget them? Would it be just to disregard them?” Mr. Angeles
demanded rather than asked.
The children heard the words exploding in the silence. They wanted to turn
away and not see the face of their father. But they could neither move nor look away.
Nana Emilia shivered once or twice, bowed her head, and gripped her clasped hands
between her thighs.
There was a terrible hush and the remaining mats were unfolded in silence.
c. ) Comprehension Questions:
1. What did Mr Angeles give his family as a surprise present from his periodic
inspection trip?
2. To whom were the remaining mats for?
3. What did Nana Emilia feel after knowing that the mats were for their dead children?
4. What was the reaction of the living children upon hearing Mr. Angeles and Nana
Emilia’s conversation?
5. How do you perceive Mr. Angeles as a father?
6. If you were Mr. Angeles, would you also reserve the mats for your dead children?
7. If you were Nana Emilia, how would you react to Mr. Angeles’ words?
8. If you were the living children of Mr. Angeles, what would you probably feel upon
seeing how hurt your parents were?
d.) Valuing
What have you learned from the story that you can probably use in real life? Write your
thoughts on the “Mat of Wisdom.”
D. Application:
Divide the class into five groups. Assign one of these tasks to each group. Give each
group a 15-minute preparation.
1. Here is a piece of cartolina. Using crayon, identify the setting of the story by drawing
the place where the events happened.
2. Here are cut-outs of humans. Who are the characters in the story? What are the
individual characteristics and the roles of each in the story? Answer these by
labelling each cut-out with the names of the characters and by writing their
characteristics inside the cut-outs.
3. What is the onset of the conflict in the story? What event in the story has the
greatest tension, curiosity and uncertainty? What is the story’s highest point? How
were the problems solved? Identify the story’s plot by supplying the missing events
in the story ladder.
CLIMAX
CRISIS DENOUEMENT
COMPLICATION
END
There was a terrible hush. The
remaining mats were unfolded in
silence.
EXPOSITION
Mr. Angeles wrote to Nana Emilia and told her that he
met a marvelous matweaver and that he asked him to
weave mats for the entire family.
4. What truth about life and human nature is featured in the story? Create a slogan
about the story’s theme.
5. Think of real life instances that show how some people still value the important
people in their lives who are no longer here on earth. Present a short skit about it.
E. Evaluation:
MODIFIED TRUE OR FALSE
Directions: Read and analyze the statements carefully. Write T if the statement is true. If
not, change the underlined word/phrase to make the statement true.
IV. ASSIGNMENT
Think of the three most loved/important gifts you have received and create a
decoupage.
Prepared by:
Dianne C. Semana
Checked by:
Resource Teacher