little, letter, little prince

Someone with F.O. for initials recently joined my intergalactic fans’ club, citing that he has read my articles over the net and “[ang] galing mo po magsulat.” Thank you, F.O.; I hope that more students like you will visit my blogsite for my random ranting of the academic sort. However, I’m sorry to disappoint you but your flattery lacks enough merit for me to write a reflection paper on Antoine de Saint Exupery’s The Little Prince in Tagalog (Do you mean, in Filipino? I write only in English and Filipino and have yet to dip into my parents’ Iloko, my directed reading’s and beloved’s Hiligaynon, or my favorite writers’ Spanish). Most especially, I am a teacher too so I feel for your professor who expects that students like you will be able to fulfill the course’s three-domain objectives. In any case, let me give supplementary ideas aside from the guide questions already given by your professor. Remember that you are working on a reflection, so the obligatory philosophical queries and symbols should be evident. I will use English for obvious reasons: I encourage you to resist becoming like other students who guiltlessly cut and paste my work and brand it as theirs instead of using it as a reference material, as a point of contention or whatever else.

1. Ano ang makabuluhang karanasang pantao na nakapaloob sa nobela?
There are many significant human experiences embedded in the novel, the more salient of which are introspectiveness, friendship, and reckoning one’s priorities. These experiences may be found throughout the novel, but may also be discovered in one single episode that’s the encounter between the little prince and the fox. It is interesting to point out that the little prince is not an earthling and the fox is an animal, making their humanness questionable; however, they express so much humanity to such extent that they seem more human than the rest of us.

2. Ano ang kahalagahan nito sa kasalukuyang kalakaran o mga pangyayari sa ating lipunan?
Significant human experiences are essential at all times; in the context of the contemporary period, however, they become increasingly important because how many of our modern people can afford to, say, stop being multi-tasking in order to think things over? It might not even occur to them at all to reflect the importance of their present engagements. It is a welcome change, then, to be reminded of somewhat overlooked values present in the novel since these values are crucial in achieving the best evolution we can attain out of experienced social currents.

3. Paano maaring maging instrumento ang nobela upang mabago o mapaunlad ang pananaw ng mga tao tungkol sa mga nangyayari sa ating kapaligiran?
Any good piece of literature can become a catalyst of development in social consciousness. In the case of the novel, the insights it offers provide ways through which people can sort out their priorities in their ultimate attempt to bring out the best in life and in this world.

4. Ikaw, bilang mambabasa, paano mo maaring mapahalagahan ang mga kaisipang nakapaloob sa nobela?
The most one can do about insights being imbued by any literary work is to apply them in real life in such a manner as introduce personal as well as social change. If they have been known and are found beneficial to one’s improvement, then they should be put to good use.

5. Anong kaisipan mula sa nobela ang nakintal sa iyong isipan?
The novel is unforgettable for its philosophy on being meditative, its way in making one set priorities as well as its placement of importance in relationships. Of course, there are other insights that may have impressed other readers more than the ones mentioned.

6. Anu-anong mga simbolismo ang nakapaloob sa nobela at ano ang kinakatawan nito sa kasalukuyan?
There are many symbols and their representations may be found in the contemporary society, some of which are the king without any subject, the tamed fox, the whimsical rose and the like. What they stand for in the present time, however, depends on whose perspective.

7. Maituturing mo bang makabuluhan ang nobela? Bakit?
It is hard not to consider the novel significant, given the many ignored philosophies that the novel helps resurface for people to learn. If these philosophies will be put to practice, how can the world full of injustice stay the same? The novel is meaningful because the lessons that may be drawn from it can elicit, among other life-altering conditions, the definition of and change in humankind and the universe.

F.O., I hope that I was able to help you in any way. Good luck to your paper and let me hear from you again, your classmates, and your friends. Feel at home whenever you visit my blogsite.:)