READERS SPOTLIGHT

                                                                 Reader’s Spotlight

 

An Analysis of a 21st Century Philippine Literature entitled

Care of Light

by Gemino H. Abad

•        Introduction

           “Maybe you have to know darkness before you can apprecaiate the light”

           ❖      Background

           ❖     Authorial Information

●       Gemino Henson Abad

●       Central Visayas ( Region VII) Cebu    

                   Educational and Family Background

•  His family moved to Manila when his father, Antonio Abad,
•  offered professorships at  Far   Eastern University and the University of the Philippines.
•  He earned his B.A. English from the University of the Philippines in 1964 and Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Chicago in 1970

 

                                                         COPY OF THE LITERARY TEXT

        Care of Light

As soon as it gets dark, I turn on the lights

in my old professor’s cottage, and the following

morning before office, turn them off again.

With one key I open the iron gate, and with two,

the main door. I turn the lamp on in her library,

the vigil light for the Sacred Heart on the shelf

jutting out a wall; then I switch on the single

electric bulb outside the kitchen, and last,

the red and green halogen like Christmas lights

below the front eaves.

I follow strictly her instructions.

She loves order in her life, and requires

a similar order in other people’s behavior –

a discipline of mind sometimes terrorized

by the haps and hazards of thieving time.

She needs to be always in control,

but she’s old now and frail, can hardly walk,

deaf and half-blind, and often ill, so that,

having no choice, no housemaid able to endure

her sense for order, she had to leave

and stay at her sister’s place,

finally dependent.

In the half-darkness and mustiness now

of her deserted cottage, all its windows closed,

her books and papers, once alive with breath

of her impetuous quests, are filmed with dust

on her long working table, awaiting it seems her return.

I think of how a time ago

she’d walk briskly to her early morning class,

dressed in style to shame old maids; then call

our names as though each had irreplaceable

post in her invincible order of things;

and then, her shoulders hunched, teach

with a passion that, before the imperious gale

of her questioning, drove us bleating

on the open plain of the world’s sharp winds.

So; at the day’s end,

I’m her lamplighter on her silent asteroid,

among books, papers, rubble of chalk.

I close the gate behind me as I stride out,

making sure I hear the lock’s tiny click.

I follow strictly her instructions.

Down her street the street lamps cast

my shadow ahead. Crickets in the bushes

whirr according to their nature.

In the same order, the sun too will rise

tomorrow, and I shall be back.

❖     Analysis

❖      A. Literary Genre

1.    21st Century literary forms, modes and genres including game writing, autofiction, speculative fiction, specialist poetry, Hypertext, and experimental fiction.

2.    Our Literary text is poetry because this contains octave in every stanza there is 4 lines which is under the 21st Literary genre and also uses figure speech which are simile and metaphor and also the author uses symbolism

 

B. Analysis Guides

We will be showing you the final analysis of our work.

 

●       Reader Response

               We felt the love you can give and get to anyone.You can care with anyone even though you are not related with each other because in the line of “I turn on the lights in my old professor cottage,we can see that shes a former student of the professor and even thought they are not related she still carefor her old professor.

●       Point of  View

                      The  Point of View is  first person pov because she's the one who's telling the storyThe point of view is first person pov. Because she's the main character of the poem. Also she's the who tells the story.

●         Diction and style

                               The diction and style is poetic diction and Formal diction because on how he tell the story and he didn't use some slang or simple words. The diction and style is formal diction. Because she used a proper words. She didn't use a slang word or just a simple word

●        Image and Styles

        Lamplighter means that he is the guide or he will be the one that will take care of him.It shows here the image lamplighter which symbolizes that the professor will be the light of his student. The symbolism can be seen or understood so that the readers realized what is happenimg or narrated on the poem.

 

●       Sound Effects

                         The sound effects of the poem is assonance because there are some repetition of syllables like “of her deserted cottage, all its windows closed “ he repeated the syllable “ed”. Repetition of  those words are showing assonance.Assonance are the repetition of syllables in each lines or stanza.

 

●       Structure of the Text

                               The structure of the literary text is octave because it is an 8  stanza with 4 lines . Also  uses spenserian poem because there  is a syllabic form which is A-B-A-B and etc. So  that this literary text compose of octave and uses spenserian poem structure.

 

●       Purpose

               The purpose of the poem  is to tell us that caring is for anyone even it is not needed,you can actually give it to someone or to anyone you want.we felt the love you can give and get to anyone. You can care with anyone even though you are not related with each other because in the line of "I turn on the lights in my old professor cottage, we can see that she's a former student of the professor and even thought they are not related she still care for her old professor.

 

●        Techniques

                    The techinques of poem uses rhyme because in other lines having a rhyme scheme. Also uses figure of speech which is simile because the author use word “ like” and he compared  on a thing. Rhyme scheme  becaue it repeats consonants in each stanza.

 

●       Theme

The theme of the poem is caring and freedom. It is caring to people who helped you without asking for replacement. Being free for the past or the darkness makes you feel happy. Can they be free and happy.

 

C . Contextual  Analysis

●       Biographical  Context

                     Because In the first part of the poem, "I turn on the lights in my old professor's cottage" it is said that it is his own experience or point of view. It also stated in the poem that he is in his proffesor's library which means he also include education in the poem

 

 

●       Summary

“Care of Light”

         •All in all Care of Light is all about of having care and wisdom, place finally dependent on each others and understand the imperfection or disability of others and having their own freedom to live. Because the narrator of the poem is narrating his old professor he give such to his professor eventhough they are not relative.  This professor had a great contribute to her life his professor was his light on his darkest paths. Now her professor is old now maybe this is the time thatb he can payback to his old professor. So that she is now the guide or the light of his old professor.

 

 

 ●     References

       Below are the list of references we used to get the information we need in creating the analysis

 

Ø   Online Sources

·         Bascal,    Myra   G, (2011)       Poetry        Friday        retrieved     from       website

        https://gatheringbooks.org/2011/10/14/poetry-friday-care-of-light-by-gemino-h-abad/amp/

·         Certes                       (2001)              Poetry          Friday        retrieved   from       website

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/?fbclid=IwAR25cfWzYBzor921sNhXv-V0w8YVRiuVW9GXXWlLIPUySTnelTNfzSQJgDw