Reflection Paper
A Hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
And we, the people of the Philippines have a national Hero whose name is Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal
Mercado Y Alonso Realonda. He made many sacrifices and fought for our freedom by writing his famous
poems and novels. Revealing the truth about the abuses and the wrong doings of the Spanish priests.
Opening the eyes of every Filipino on what’s happening in our country. And that what makes me
conclude that implementing Rizal Law is very important. By implementing Rizal Law, we the youth will
learn many lessons and inspirations with his works. The principle of the pen is mightier than the sword.
And most of all, his love for his country. If all of the youth will inherit this kind of concern and patriotism
for the country, for sure we will have a nonstop cycle of dignified youths that soon will be leaders of this
country.
Is the teaching of Dr. Jose Rizal Life and Works course realistic given the dangers and sensitivities of
literature as means of communication in learning nationalism, patriotism, and volunteerism? Definitely
yes, first I would like to talk about the dangers and sensitivities of Rizal’s literatures. Yes it has sensitive
issues about the church and its priests. That’s why the church is against in implementing Rizal law
because they don’t want the church’s image get dirty in the eyes of their followers. But I think we are old
enough to know the truth and believe our own opinion about this topic. In learning nationalism, patriotism
and volunteerism we need to know the truth and what really happened regardless of the sensitivities of
Rizal’s literatures. Even though his works reveals a bout the wrong doings of the church, it plays a big
role in our history. It gives us ideas on how people lived, how they are treated and how they fought the
Spaniards. Also his literatures talks about his life, his opinions, his ideas, his lovers and most of all it talks
about how he loves our country. So learning all of this will boost our nationalism, patriotism and
volunteerism in this country. Through Jose Rizal life we can learn how he face various challenge in his
life. Displaying that you can show your love to your country without using violence weapon or any
weapon. He encountered serious dilemma and predicament in his life but Jose Rizal responded decently
and highly mindedly.
How important are literary criticisms in the study of Rizal’s life and work? I have come to know about
Jose Rizal when I was just a grade1. Every teacher and parent would have taught their child who the
national hero was. As a student, I never had an interest in Rizal other than another name to be memorized
just in case his name happens to be an answer in one of the examination questions. In High School, I got
to know more about his life and works, especially Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo since they were
novels we studied discussed in my first year college. I became fond of these novels and found them very
well written actually. But then, my interest in them ended when I graduated high school. Now that I’m
taking a course about Rizal’s life and works, my interest in Rizal is once again ignited. Just recently, all I
cared about were facts the dates, the names, the places, the events and not really on how they affected the
life of Rizal. Having been given the opportunity to be able to do my own research on him, with the goal
of learning more about how he came to be, I’m looking forward to discovering new things about our
national hero. It is not a myth to say that the actions and thoughts of an individual is a result of the totality
of the influences in his lifetime, which is why it is important to talk about these places, people and events
in Rizal’s life. At the end of this report, one should be able to have a deeper understanding as to why
Rizal is Rizal, why he is regarded as the National Hero of the Philippines. It would include some of the
most relevant persons, places, events and the like that helped Rizal form his beliefs, his character, his
legacy. There would be a total of four parts, the last of which would be Rizal’s legacy resulting from the
three main influences in his life: his family, his education and his political views and involvement.
If given a chance to deconstruct one of Rizal’s written works (both well-known and obscure), what would
it be and what is its relationship to the analysis and understanding of nation-building?
