LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET IN ENGLISH 10

Worksheet No. 4.2 Quarter 3

Learner’s Name : ______________________________________________

Grade level/Section : ______________________________________________
Date : ______________________________________________

THE LESSON BEHIND

I. LEARNING SKILLS
A. Most Essential Learning Competency:
4.2 Critique a literary selection based on Moralist Approach

B. Objectives
1. Critique a literary selection based on Moralist approach
2. Write a poem based from the theme of the selected approach

II. INTRODUCTORY CONCEPT

Literature is a form of human expression. It helps us understand the
society and culture of people around us. Reading literature is important as it
enriches vocabulary and improves reading comprehension skills. Furthermore,
it gives us enjoyment while getting the gist of the story.
In this worksheet, you will learn about Moralistic Literary Approach
● A tendency rather that a recognized school within literary criticism
to judge literary works according to moral rather than formal
principles
● Judging literary works by their ethical teachings and by their
effects on readers
● Literature that is ethically sound and encourages virtue is praised
● Literature that misguides and corrupt is condemned

III. ACTIVITIES

A. Practice Task 1. Agree Or Disagree

Read each item carefully and tell whether you Agree or Disagree.
______1. Moralistic Approach is a literary criticism to judge literary works
based on moral rather that formal principles.
______2. This approach is judging literary works by their ethical
teachings and by their effects on readers.
______3. Literature that is ethically sound and encourages virtue is
praised.
______4. It states that moralist particular interest are the elements form-
style, structure, tone, imagery that are found in the text.
______5. It investigates the effects it has on reader as moral beings.

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 Practice Task 2. Find to Enrich
Read the sentences below with the given clues and supply the
correct word in the puzzle.

Across Down

2. Sensational reports in the press 1. The plants especially during summer

threaten the fairness of a trial. were withered because of too much heat.
3. The treatment of the native peoples of 5. Their religion has a deep devotion for
the New World by those bent on conquest nature.
at any cost. 7. The coach demands that his players
4. He is in favor to eliminate dead penalty. obey him without question.
6. The approaching fire forced hundreds of 9. Those children have such horrible
people to give up their homes. manners.
8. He suffered severe emotional sufferings
as a result of the accident.
10. They carried out the governor’s
command to build more roads.

What are the things that your mother has sacrificed for you? How do you
appreciate your mother’s sacrifice? Are you also willing to take sacrifice for you
mother? Now, take time to read “The Story of the Aged Mother” by Matsuo Basho.
Then, pause and write your answers to the questions that follow.

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 The Story of the Aged Mother
MATSUO BASHO

Long, long ago there lived at the foot of the mountain a poor farmer and his
aged, widowed mother. They owned a bit of land which supplied them with food,
and they were humble, peaceful, and happy.

Shining was governed by a despotic leader who though a warrior, had a

great and cowardly shrinking from anything suggestive of failing health and
strength. This caused him to send out a cruel proclamation. The entire province
was given strict orders to immediately put to death all aged people. Those were
barbarous days, and the custom of abandoning old people to die was not
uncommon. The poor farmer loved his aged mother with tender reverence, and the
order filled his heart with sorrow. But no one ever thought twice about obeying the
mandate of the governor, so with many deep and hopeless sighs, the youth
prepared for what at that time was considered the kindest mode of death.
What disrupted the peaceful and happy life of the poor farmer and his
aged mother?
Just at sundown, when his day’s work was ended, he took a quantity of
unwhitened rice which was the principal food for the poor, and he cooked, dried it,
and tied it in a square cloth, which he swung in a bundle around his neck along with
a gourd filled with cool, sweet water. Then he lifted his helpless old mother to his
back and started on his painful journey up the mountain. The road was long and
steep; the narrow road was crossed and re-crossed by many paths made by the
hunters and woodcutters. In some place, they lost and confues, but he gave no
heed. One path or another, it mattered not. On he went, climbing blindly upward --
ever upward towards the high bare summit of what is known as Obatsuyama, the
mountain of the “abandoning of the aged.”
How does the poor farmer feel about the proclamation?
The eyes of the old mother were not so dim but that they noted the reckless
hastening from one path to another, and her loving heart grew anxious. Her son did
not know the mountain’s many paths and his return might be one of danger, so she
stretched forth her hand and snapping the twigs from brushes as they passed, she
quietly dropped a handful every few steps of the way so that as they climbed, the
narrow path behind them was dotted at frequent intervals with tiny piles of twigs. At
last the summit was reached. Weary and heart sick, the youth gently released his
burden and silently prepared a place of comfort as his last duty to the loved one.
Gathering fallen pine needles, he made a soft cushion and tenderly lifted his old
mother onto it. He wrapped her padded coat more closely about the stooping
shoulders and with tearful eyes and an aching heart he said farewell.
If you were the son, would you bring your mother to the peak of the
mountain to die? Why or why not?

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 The trembling mother’s voice was full of unselfish love as she gave her last
injunction. “Let not thine eyes be blinded, my son.” She said. “The mountain road
is full of dangers. LOOK carefully and follow the path which holds the piles of
twigs. They will guide you to the familiar path farther down.” The son’s surprised
eyes looked back over the path, then at the poor old, shriveled hands all scratched
and soiled by their work of love. His heart broke within and bowing to the ground,
he cried aloud: “oh, Honorable mother, your kindness breaks my heart! I will not
leave you. Together we will follow the path of twigs, and together we will die!
What did the old mother do so that her son would be able to find his
way back down from the mountain? What were the twigs for?
Once more he shouldered his burden (how light it seemed now) and
hastened down the path, through the shadows and the moonlight, to the little hut
in the valley. Beneath the kitchen floor was a walled closet for food, which was
covered and hidden from view. There the son hid his mother, supplying her with
everything she needed, continually watching and fearing she would be
discovered. Time passed, and he was beginning to feel safe when again the
governor sent forth heralds bearing an unreasonable order, seemingly as a boast
of his power. His demand was that his subjects should present him with a rope of
ashes.
Does the mother show unconditional love to her son even at the
middle of her death?
The entire province trembled with dread. The order must be obeyed yet
who in all Shining could make a rope of ashes? One night, in great distress, the
son whispered the news to his hidden mother. “Wait!” she said. “I will think. I will
think” On the second day she told him what to do. “Make rope of twisted straw,”
she said. “Then stretch it upon a row of flat stones and burn it on a windless night.”
He called the people together and did as she said and when the blaze died down,
there upon the stones, with every twist and fiber showing perfectly, lay a rope of
ashes.
Does the son care much about his mother or not at all? What does
this line mean “with the crown of snow cometh wisdom?”
The governor was pleased at the wit of the youth and praised greatly, but
he demanded to know where he had obtained his wisdom. “Alas! Alas!” cried the
farmer, “the truth must be told!” and with deep bows he related his story. The
governor listened and then meditated in silence. Finally he lifted his head. “Shining
needs more than strength of youth,” he said gravely. “Ah, that I should have
forgotten the well-known saying, “with the crown of snow, there cometh wisdom!”
That very hour the cruel law was abolished, and custom drifted into as far a past
that only legends remain.
What did the governor realize in the story? If you have given the
power to change the lives of the people, what would it be?

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 Practice Task 3. Read and Evaluate
1. What can you say about the proclamation of the Governor? Are you in
favor or against it? Why or why not?
2. Do you think the demand of the leader is JUST and FAIR for the old ones?
Explain your answer.
3. Do the characters in the story show an ethical value as a person?
Describe the characters and mention their acts as proof to your answer.
a. MOTHER: b. SON: c. The LEADER:
4. Do you think obeying the rules all the time is the best thing to do? Why or
why not?

After reading the text, fill in the story map below.

Source: https://www.canva.com/design/DAEUGUz9MX8/VNxJOdhNmcebWDLzwWbZog/edit

B. Assessment
UNSPOKEN WORDS TO IMPRESS
Expressing gratefulness is sometimes difficult to utter especially
to our parents. Now, it is your time to let them hear those unspoken
words. Using your knowledge of the Moralist Approach, write a two-
stanza poem dedicated to your parents. Be guided by the rubric below.
CATEGORY Exceptional Good Work Developing Beginning
The entire poem is Most of the poem is Some of the poem No attempt has
related to the related to the is related to the been made to
Focus on assigned topic and assigned topic. The assigned topic, but relate the poem to
Assigned Topic allows the reader to poem wanders off a reader does not the assigned topic.
understand much at one point, but learn much about
more about the the reader can still the topic.
topic. learn something
about the topic.

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 Creativity The poem contains The poem contains The poem contains There is little
many creative a few creative a few creative evidence of
details and/or details and/or details and/or creativity in the
descriptions that descriptions that descriptions, but poem. The author
contribute to the contribute to the they distract from does not seem to
reader's enjoyment. reader's enjoyment. the poem. The have used much
The author has The author has author has tried to imagination.
really used his used his use his
imagination. imagination. imagination.
Spelling and There are no There is one There are 2-3 The final draft has
Punctuation spelling or spelling or spelling and more than 3
punctuation errors punctuation error in punctuation errors spelling and
in the final draft. the final draft. in the final draft. punctuation errors.
Title Title is creative, Title is related to Title is present, but No title.
sparks interest and the poem and topic. does not appear to
is related to the be related to the
poem and topic. poem and topic.
Imagery Many vivid, Some vivid, The reader can The reader has
descriptive words descriptive words figure out what to trouble figuring out
are used. The are used. The picture in the poem, what imagery the
reader can picture reader can but the author didn't poem is using and
the imagery in the somewhat picture supply much detail. what the author
poem. the imagery in the wants him/her to
poem. picture.
Source: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=PrintRubric&rubric_id=1107387&

IV.REFERENCES

• DepEd Region V SLMs in English 10, 3rd Quarter Module 4.2: The Lesson Behind
• Scope of Literature. Accessed at https://www.britannica.com/art/literature
• Story of the Aged Mother. Accessed at https://americanliterature.com/author/matsuo-
basho/short-story/the-aged-mother
• Story Map created at https://www.canva.com/design/DAEUGUz9MX8/
VNxJOdhNmcebWDLzwWbZog/edit
• Crossword Puzzle. Generated at Free Crossword Puzzle Maker
• Poetry Rubric. Accessed at http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=
PrintRubric&rubric_id=1107387&
• https://dictionary.com
• www.meriam-webster.com

Prepared by:
ROSE ANN D. REONAL, Teacher III
Oas Polytechnic School, Albay Division

Quality Assured by:

CHEENEE H. BUAL, Teacher III

SANCHO M. BOLAÑOS, JR., Teacher II
GENEBIEVE D. SABILE, Teacher III

Key to Corrections:
Practice Test 1 Practice Test 2 Practice Test 3. Answers may vary
1) Agree 1) shrink 6) leave Assessment. Answers may vary
2) Agree 2) careless 7) autocratic
3) Agree 3) cruel 8) torment
4) Disagree 4) terminate 9) frightful
5) Agree 5) respect 10) order