THE STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPH OF ISIDRO
In this story the author introduces a number of unfamiliar words, chiefly of Spanish origin, which are current in the Philippines. The meanings are given below.
baguio, hurricane.
barrio, ward; district.
carabao, a kind of buffalo, used as a work animal.
cabo, head officer.
cibay, a boys' game.
daledale, hurry up!
de los Reyes, of the King.
de la Cruz, of the cross.
hacienda, a large plantation.
ladrones, robbers.
maestro, teacher.
nipa, a palm tree or the thatch made from it.
palay, rice.
pronto, quickly.
pueblo, town.
que barbaridad!—what an atrocious thing!
volador, kite.
1. Why does the story end with Isidro's crying? What did this signify? What is the relation of this to the beginning of the story?
2. Has this story a central idea? What is it?
3. This might be called a story of local color, in that it gives in some detail the atmosphere of an unfamiliar locality. What are the best descriptive passages in the story?
4. Judging from this story, what are some of the difficulties a school teacher meets with in the Philippines? What must he be besides a teacher?
5. What other school stories are there in this book? The pupils in Emmy Lou's school, (in Louisville, Ky.) are those with several generations of American ancestry behind them; in Myra Kelly's story, they are the children of foreign parents; in this story they are still in a foreign land—that is, a land where they are not surrounded by American influences. The public school is the one experience that is common to them all, and therefore the greatest single force in bringing them all to share in a common ideal, to reverence the great men of our country's history, and to comprehend the meaning of democracy. How does it do these things?