Reaction Paper: Footnote to Youth by Jose Garcia Villa

Footnote to Youth concentrates in the prospect of teenage marriage. This account focuses on the most common problem of the youth these days, Love and being in love encompasses a lot of things in life that we have to keep in mind. Being married at the young age is something that many people should consider because with everything that’s been happening in our society we might just regret it. Indeed, marriage is a holy sacrament that is to be taken seriously and responsibly by two people who have witnessed their love grow.

Dodong is seventeen and was madly in love with Teang so they decided get married and have their family at the early age. I could say that Dodong’s parents also got married early because I believed that his father understands his feelings that he agreed in the marriage. This three generation have a commonality in raising their families. I like the story and how it ended, even though it is cliché I find it interesting because it depicts one of the current social issues in our nation. I also believed that it was entitled “Footnote to Youth” because it is a reminder to the youth of what life could probably be. The author is very impressive because he used a lot of Filipino cultures and ways through the character and setting. Nowadays, we teenagers are very clever that we do not think of the possibilities that might occur if we did something unusual like getting married or being pregnant in the early age. Life is not easy as it should be, and just like what Confucius said “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

Reaction Paper: Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez

Confusions, heartbreak and love, these are the things that encapsulates the story of the Dead Stars. It is a beautiful and a typical love story which highlights the confusions on the relationship between the three characters namely Alfredo, Esperanza and Julia. The story is a collection of complex situation that every man has to go through in life. As the story goes, you will be more enticed to read it further because the exchange of heart-warming words that could really inspire a lot of people.

                                                                   

The story is about a man who’s uncertain of what he really wants and who’s trapped in a decision of a lifetime that could change everything in his life. The account doesn't only focus on the idea of love, but also, it exhibits how one conquers himself by understanding his true feelings. Certainly, Alfredo was once in love with Esperanza but there are a lot of things that has changed including his feelings towards her and that could be the reason why he also fell in love with Julia. After reading the story, I realized that it is hard to fall in love between two people because you are forced to sacrifice everything you’ve got. In my opinion, dead stars pertain to a dream that doesn’t exist for the reason that Alfredo loves Julia but they can’t be together because of some society circumstances.  Indeed, it gave us an idea that we should not expect too much and time has its own way of changing a person’s life. I find the story cliché because most of the short story written before was somehow have the same plot. Even though the literary piece was written in the past, it somehow depicts the modern society because it provides us the similar information of what is happening in the lives of many people.