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The conversion by J. Neil Garcia

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The document provides an overview and lesson plan for teaching 21st century Philippine literature from the regions. The lesson uses the poem "The Conversion" by J. Neil Garcia as a case study. The objectives are for students to identify literary devices in the poem, determine the key issues, and respond to the theme through a performance or output-based task. The lesson includes worksheets where students analyze symbols, irony, characters, and themes in the poem and discuss its message.

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21st Century Philippine Literature from the Regions Prepared by: Sarah Jean Reyes
Objectives: The student will be able to: Identify the literary device/s used in the poem, Determine clearly the issue that was presented and importance in discussing the issue; and Respond to the poem’s theme through choosing a particular output-based or performance based tasks in the suggestion pool of the teacher.
(J.Neil Garcia)
Pre-Reading Worksheet 1 Directions: Tell all the possible uses of this metal drum. Write your answers on the space provided.
Music Video
It happened in a metal drum. They put me there, my family That loved me. The water Had been saved just for it, that day. The laundry lay caked and smelly In the flower-shaped basins.
Dishes soiled with fat and swill Pilled high in the sink, and grew flies. My cousins did not get washed that morning. Lost in masks of snot and dust, Their faces looked tired and resigned To the dirty lot of children.
All the neighbors gathered around our open-aired bathroom. Wives peered out from the upper floor of their houses into our yard. Father had arrived booming with cousins, my uncles.
They were big, strong men, my uncles. They turned the house inside-out Looking for me. Curled up in the deepest corner Of my dead mother’s cabinet, father found me. He dragged me down the stairs by the hair Into the waiting arms of my uncles.
Because of modesty, I merely screamed and cried. Their hands, swollen and black with hair, bore me Up in the air, and touched me. Into the cold Of the drum I slipped, the tingling Too much to bear at times my knees Felt like they had turned into water.
Waves swirled up and down around me, my head Bobbing up and down. Father kept booming, Girl or boy. I thought about it and squealed, Girl. Water curled under my nose. When I rose the same two words from father. The same girl kept sinking deeper, Breathing deeper in the churning void.
In the end I had to say what they all Wanted me to say. I had to bring down this diversion To its happy end, if only for the pot of rice Left burning in the kitchen. I had to stop Wearing my dead mother’s clothes. In the mirror I watched the holes on my ears grow smaller, Until they looked as if they had never heard Of rhinestones, nor felt their glassy weight.
I should feel happy that I’m now Redeemed. And I do. Father died within five years I got my wife pregnant with the next. Our four children, all boys, Are the joy of my manhood, my proof. Cousins who never shed their masks Play themfor all their snot and grime.
Another child is on the way. I have stopped caring what it will be. Water is still a problem and the drum Is still there, deep and rusty. The bathroomhas been roofed over with plastic. Scrubbed and clean, my wife knows I like things. She follows, though sometimes a pighead she is. It does not hurt to show who is the man.
A woman needs some talking sense into. If not, I hit her in the mouthto learn her. Every time, swill drips from her shredded lips. I drink with my uncles who all agree. They should because tonight I own their souls And the bottles they nuzzle like their prides.
While they boomand boomflies whirr Over their heads that grew them. Though nobody Remembers, I sometimes think of the girl Who drowned somewhere in a dreammany dreams ago. I see her at night with bubbles Springing like flowers from her nose.
She is dying and before she sinks I try to touch Her open face. But the water learns To heal itself and closes around her like a wound. I should feel sorry but I drown myself in gin before I can. Better off dead, I say to myself And my family that loves me for my bitter breath. We die to rise to a better life.
Who is the persona in the poem? What is his narrative?
Literary Device Persona – refers to the voice or mouthpiece of the writer within a literary text.
Literary Device Symbolism – an artistic and poetic movement or style using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind. It originated in late 19th century France and Belgium, with important figures including Mallarme, Maeterlinck, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Redon.
Literary Device Irony – a figure of speech in which words are used to signify an opposite meaning in literature. There are three kinds of irony:
Worksheet 2: On understanding the persona Instruction: Draw the timeline of the persona’s journey towards his “conversion”. Use the graphic organizer below
Worksheet 3: On Symbols Lines From the poem Literal Meaning Symbolic Meaning 1. It happened in a metal drum 2. The laundry lay caked and smelly; dishes soiled with fat and swill piled high in the sink, and grew flies. 3. Father had arrived booming with cousins, my uncles. 4. Water curled under my nose. 5. When I rose the same two words from father. The same girl kept sinking deeper.
Lined from the poem Literal meaning Symbolic meaning 6. In the mirror I watched the holes on my ears grow smaller 7. I got my wife pregnant with the next. Our four children, all boys are the joy of my manhood, my proof. 8. Water is still a problem and the drum is still there, deep and rusty. 9. A woman needs some talking sense into. If not, I hit her in the mouth to learn her. 10. I see her at night with bubbles springing like flowers from her nose. 11. But the water learns to heal itself and closes around her like a wound.
Worksheet 4: On Irony Instruction: Tell the irony behind the last sentence of the poem: We die to rise to a better life. Rubric: Accuracy of content (10) – Deeping of Insights (10) – Organization (5) – Mechanics (5) –
Worksheet 5: Sino Siya? Instructions: Describe the “murdered girl” in the poem according to the narrative of the persona whom we identified in worksheet 1. Murdered Girl
Round Table Discussion Class Activity: The Murder Questions: 1. Who should be held liable to the girl in the persona’s body? Give evidences to your answer. 2. Can we blame the killer of the girl in the persona’s body? Justify your answers. 3. How do you plan to give justice to the death of that girl in the persona’s body? Expound and elaborate your plan. Please specify.
Post Reading Activity Task: Kantabokasiya at iba pa Directions: Let us organize a small gig in the classroom. Be able to identify in your group the singers, band members, dancers, and spoken words performers. At least for this meeting provide the following: A. Song lists arranged based on the them of the mini gig B. Program flow C. Evaluation session with the audience
Criteria Unity with the theme Content of the output or performance Quality of the output or performance Time Limit
Evaluation Directions: Write a critical paper as an extension of our discussion on J.Neil Garcia’s “The Conversion”. Particularly, be able to provide answers to the following: A. What are the strengths and the weaknesses of the poem in delivering the message? B. Was the overall presentation through the use of the literary devices become effective? C. What were the new and significant learning that this poem has given you? Expound. D. What would be your own share in this advocacy? Explain.
Thank You

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The conversion by J. Neil Garcia

  • 1. 21st Century Philippine Literature from the Regions Prepared by: Sarah Jean Reyes
  • 2. Objectives: The student will be able to: Identify the literary device/s used in the poem, Determine clearly the issue that was presented and importance in discussing the issue; and Respond to the poem’s theme through choosing a particular output-based or performance based tasks in the suggestion pool of the teacher.
  • 4. Pre-Reading Worksheet 1 Directions: Tell all the possible uses of this metal drum. Write your answers on the space provided.
  • 6. It happened in a metal drum. They put me there, my family That loved me. The water Had been saved just for it, that day. The laundry lay caked and smelly In the flower-shaped basins.
  • 7. Dishes soiled with fat and swill Pilled high in the sink, and grew flies. My cousins did not get washed that morning. Lost in masks of snot and dust, Their faces looked tired and resigned To the dirty lot of children.
  • 8. All the neighbors gathered around our open-aired bathroom. Wives peered out from the upper floor of their houses into our yard. Father had arrived booming with cousins, my uncles.
  • 9. They were big, strong men, my uncles. They turned the house inside-out Looking for me. Curled up in the deepest corner Of my dead mother’s cabinet, father found me. He dragged me down the stairs by the hair Into the waiting arms of my uncles.
  • 10. Because of modesty, I merely screamed and cried. Their hands, swollen and black with hair, bore me Up in the air, and touched me. Into the cold Of the drum I slipped, the tingling Too much to bear at times my knees Felt like they had turned into water.
  • 11. Waves swirled up and down around me, my head Bobbing up and down. Father kept booming, Girl or boy. I thought about it and squealed, Girl. Water curled under my nose. When I rose the same two words from father. The same girl kept sinking deeper, Breathing deeper in the churning void.
  • 12. In the end I had to say what they all Wanted me to say. I had to bring down this diversion To its happy end, if only for the pot of rice Left burning in the kitchen. I had to stop Wearing my dead mother’s clothes. In the mirror I watched the holes on my ears grow smaller, Until they looked as if they had never heard Of rhinestones, nor felt their glassy weight.
  • 13. I should feel happy that I’m now Redeemed. And I do. Father died within five years I got my wife pregnant with the next. Our four children, all boys, Are the joy of my manhood, my proof. Cousins who never shed their masks Play themfor all their snot and grime.
  • 14. Another child is on the way. I have stopped caring what it will be. Water is still a problem and the drum Is still there, deep and rusty. The bathroomhas been roofed over with plastic. Scrubbed and clean, my wife knows I like things. She follows, though sometimes a pighead she is. It does not hurt to show who is the man.
  • 15. A woman needs some talking sense into. If not, I hit her in the mouthto learn her. Every time, swill drips from her shredded lips. I drink with my uncles who all agree. They should because tonight I own their souls And the bottles they nuzzle like their prides.
  • 16. While they boomand boomflies whirr Over their heads that grew them. Though nobody Remembers, I sometimes think of the girl Who drowned somewhere in a dreammany dreams ago. I see her at night with bubbles Springing like flowers from her nose.
  • 17. She is dying and before she sinks I try to touch Her open face. But the water learns To heal itself and closes around her like a wound. I should feel sorry but I drown myself in gin before I can. Better off dead, I say to myself And my family that loves me for my bitter breath. We die to rise to a better life.
  • 18. Who is the persona in the poem? What is his narrative?
  • 19. Literary Device Persona – refers to the voice or mouthpiece of the writer within a literary text.
  • 20. Literary Device Symbolism – an artistic and poetic movement or style using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind. It originated in late 19th century France and Belgium, with important figures including Mallarme, Maeterlinck, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Redon.
  • 21. Literary Device Irony – a figure of speech in which words are used to signify an opposite meaning in literature. There are three kinds of irony:
  • 22. Worksheet 2: On understanding the persona Instruction: Draw the timeline of the persona’s journey towards his “conversion”. Use the graphic organizer below
  • 23. Worksheet 3: On Symbols Lines From the poem Literal Meaning Symbolic Meaning 1. It happened in a metal drum 2. The laundry lay caked and smelly; dishes soiled with fat and swill piled high in the sink, and grew flies. 3. Father had arrived booming with cousins, my uncles. 4. Water curled under my nose. 5. When I rose the same two words from father. The same girl kept sinking deeper.
  • 24. Lined from the poem Literal meaning Symbolic meaning 6. In the mirror I watched the holes on my ears grow smaller 7. I got my wife pregnant with the next. Our four children, all boys are the joy of my manhood, my proof. 8. Water is still a problem and the drum is still there, deep and rusty. 9. A woman needs some talking sense into. If not, I hit her in the mouth to learn her. 10. I see her at night with bubbles springing like flowers from her nose. 11. But the water learns to heal itself and closes around her like a wound.
  • 25. Worksheet 4: On Irony Instruction: Tell the irony behind the last sentence of the poem: We die to rise to a better life. Rubric: Accuracy of content (10) – Deeping of Insights (10) – Organization (5) – Mechanics (5) –
  • 26. Worksheet 5: Sino Siya? Instructions: Describe the “murdered girl” in the poem according to the narrative of the persona whom we identified in worksheet 1. Murdered Girl
  • 27. Round Table Discussion Class Activity: The Murder Questions: 1. Who should be held liable to the girl in the persona’s body? Give evidences to your answer. 2. Can we blame the killer of the girl in the persona’s body? Justify your answers. 3. How do you plan to give justice to the death of that girl in the persona’s body? Expound and elaborate your plan. Please specify.
  • 28. Post Reading Activity Task: Kantabokasiya at iba pa Directions: Let us organize a small gig in the classroom. Be able to identify in your group the singers, band members, dancers, and spoken words performers. At least for this meeting provide the following: A. Song lists arranged based on the them of the mini gig B. Program flow C. Evaluation session with the audience
  • 29. Criteria Unity with the theme Content of the output or performance Quality of the output or performance Time Limit
  • 30. Evaluation Directions: Write a critical paper as an extension of our discussion on J.Neil Garcia’s “The Conversion”. Particularly, be able to provide answers to the following: A. What are the strengths and the weaknesses of the poem in delivering the message? B. Was the overall presentation through the use of the literary devices become effective? C. What were the new and significant learning that this poem has given you? Expound. D. What would be your own share in this advocacy? Explain.