Biography and Plot of the story

Report in Literature Search by : Rea Ylanan
Instructor: Romeo Fabales II

~Biography of: 

Alejandro Roces

Alejandro Reyes Roces (13 July 1924 – 23 May 2011) was a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist and a National Artist of the Philippines for literature. He served as Secretary of Education from 1961 to 1965, during the term of Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal.
Noted for his short stories, the Manila-born Roces was married to Irene Yorston Viola (granddaughter of Maximo Viola), with whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth Roces-Pedrosa. Anding attended elementary and high school at the Ateneo de Manila University, before moving to the University of Arizona and then Arizona State University for his tertiary education. He graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts and, not long after, attained his M.A. from Far Eastern University back in the Philippines.^[1] He has since received honorary doctorates from Tokyo University, Baguio's St. Louis University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the Ateneo de Manila University. Roces was a captain in the Marking’s Guerilla during World War II and a columnist in Philippine dailies such as the Manila Chronicle and the Manila Times. He was previously President of the Manila Bulletin and of the CAP College Foundation.
In 2001, Roces was appointed as Chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). Roces also became a member of the Board of Trustees of GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) and maintained a column in the Philippine Star called Roses and Thorns.


 

Literary works

During his freshman year in the University of Arizona, Roces won Best Short Story for We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers. Another of his stories, My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken, was listed as Martha Foley’s Best American Stories among the most distinctive for years 1948 and 1951. Roces did not only focus on short stories alone, as he also published books such as Of Cocks and Kites (1959), Fiesta (1980), and Something to Crow About (2005). Of Cocks and Kites earned him the reputation as the country's best writer of humorous stories. It also contained the widely anthologized piece “My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken”. Fiesta, is a book of essays, featuring folk festivals such as Ermita's Bota Flores, Aklan's Ati-atihan, and Naga's Peñafrancia.
Something to Crow About, on the other hand, is a collection of Roces’ short stories. The book has been recently brought to life by a critically acclaimed play of the same title; the staged version of Something to Crow About is the first Filipino zarzuela in English. This modern zarzuela tells the story of a poor cockfighter named Kiko who, to his wife's chagrin, pays more attention to the roosters than to her. Later in the story, a conflict ensues between Kiko’s brother Leandro and Golem, the son of a wealthy and powerful man, over the affections of a beautiful woman named Luningning. The resolution? A cockfight, of course. Something to Crow About won the Aliw Award for Best Musical and Best Director for a Musical Production. It also had a run off-Broadway at the La Mama Theater in New York.
Through the years, Roces has won numerous awards, including the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, the Diwa ng Lahi Award, the Tanging Parangal of the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining, and the Rizal Pro Patria Award. He was finally bestowed the honor as National Artist of Literature on the 25th of June 2003.
When once asked for a piece of advice on becoming a famous literary figure Roces said, "You cannot be a great writer; first, you have to be a good person".^[2]

Socio-Cultural-Civic Affiliations

• Trustee, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS)
• Chairman, College Assurance Plan Foundation
• Columnist, “Roses and Thorns” of The Philippine Star
• Chairman, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), 2001
• President, Bagong Katipunan Foundation
• President, UNESCO Philippine Centre of the International Theatre Institute
• President, Bulletin Publishing Corporation
• Secretary of Education, Republic of the Philippines, 1961
• Dean of the Institute of Arts and Science, Far Eastern University
• Co-Founder of the Philippine PEN
• Board of Regents, University of the Philippines
• Chairman, Board of Trustees, Colegio San Agustin
• Chairman, Board of Regents, Pamantasan ng Lungsond ng Maynila
• Chairman, Board of Regents, St. Louis University, Baguio City
• Chairman, Board of Regents, St. Mary's University, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
• Chair, United Way Philippines
• Chairman, UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines
• President, Cultural Nationalism of the Philippines
• Head, FEU Cultural Research Team
• President, Philippine International Friendship Organization
• President, Research Foundation in Philippine Anthropology and Archeology, Inc.
• Vice President, Art Association of the Philippines
• Vice President, Manila Symphony Society
• President, Philippine-Italian Association
• Chair, Philippine Selection Committee - Eisenhower Fellowship Inc.
• Member of the Board, Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española
• Member of the Board, Association for Philippine China Understanding
• Member of the Board, National Historical Commission of the Philippines
• Board of Authenticators, National Museum
• Member of the Board, TOYM Foundation
• Member of the Board, Casino Español de Manila
• Member of the Board, Philippine National Bank
• Member of the Board, Brent International School, Baguio
• Member of the Board, Yuchengco Museum
• First Chairman of the Board, PETA Theater
• First Chairman of the Board, Philippine Ballet Theater

" We Filipinos Are Mild Drinkers "

Introduction:

In Philippines we drink casually in many variety ways.We drink only for three good reasons.We drink when we were happy,we drink when we were sad and we drink for any other reasons.we sometimes drink,drink,drink and drink to forget our problems,the funny thing is after we drink sometimes we do forget our names or act funny in front of many peoples like dancing,saying crazy stuffs specially on embarrassing things.That is why we Filipinos only drinks from mild or should we called it lambanog.



Directed by:  Alejandro Roces
Hero or Main Character: ( Filipino farmer )
Supporting characters: Americans and American soldiers, Groggy Gls, Carpio, bull, water buffalo, Joe, flies and insects,
Japanese, farmers mother, barrio peoples and General Douglas
MacArthur

Setting: ( In 1945 on a barrio festival near the plow fields. )
Main Idea: ( "We Filipinos are mild drinkers" )

Moral: ( Another mans drinks is a poison for others. )

Plot:Theirs a farmer who lives near the plow fields.One day 
his regular life changes when suddenly he met an American 
soldier asking him when their is a bar nearby,the talking 
goes smooth but their are no bars in their barrio then the American soldier ask him to drink they got drunk and unexpectedly the American soldier felt down and now the farmer is trying to return the drunken soldier back were he belongs. 

Sequence:
Act one: "Expect the Unexpected"
Act two: "American soldiers dares to drink wines"
Act three: "Drinking till we get drunk"
Act four: "Weird drunken commotions"
Act four: "Returning whats best for all"

Genre: ( Poetry )

Point of View: Himself is included in the poem and uses I and
My.