Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Preliminary Examination
Second Semester A. Y. 2009-2010
2. Why is Rizal singled out among our many national heroes for study and emulation?
No single person or groups of persons were responsible for making the greatest Malayan
the Number One Hero of his people. Rizal himself, his own people, and foreigners all together
contributed to make him the greatest hero and martyr of his people. No amount of adulation
canonization by both Filipinos and foreigners could convert Rizal into a great hero if he did not
possess in himself.
4. Give a brief account of Jose Rizal’s lineage. Name the brother and sisters of Rizal.
Rizal was the seventh child of their eleven children namely: Saturnina (1850–1913),
Paciano (1851–1930), Narcisa (1852–1939), Olympia (1855–1887), Lucia (1857–1919), María
(1859–1945), José Protacio (1861–1896), Concepcion (1862–1865), Josefa (1865–1945),
Trinidad (1868–1951) and Soledad (1870–1929).
5. Why was he named Jose and surnamed Rizal?
His name was changed into Jose Rizal for him to be able to travel freely and disassociate
him from his brother, who had gained notoriety with his earlier links with native priests who
were sentenced to death as subversives.
10. Describe the scholastic records at Ateneo. Cite some of his literary triumphs as a
youth.
Rizal was an excellent student and had garnered high scholastic records in all subjects.
On March 23, 1877, the 15-year old Rizal received his Bachelor of Arts diploma (equivalent to
present-day high school diploma), and was among the nine sobresaliente or outstanding students
of their class.
11. Mention some of Rizal’s dark hours during his boyhood and youth.
During his boyhood and youth Rizal had his dark hours. He was envied and others pitied
him. Sometimes they accused him wrongly, sometimes rightly, and always the accusation cost
him half a dozen or three lashes. He used to win in the gangs, for no one defeated him. He
succeeded to pass over many, excelling them, and despite the reputation he had (good boy) rare
was the day when he was not whipped or given five or six beatings on the hand. When he went
in the company of my classmates, he got from them more sneers, nicknames, and they called
him Calambeño, (08) but when only one went with him, he behaved so well that he forgot his
insults. Some were good and treated him very well, like Marcos Rizal, son of a cousin of mine,
and others. Some of them, much later, became by classmates in Manila, and we found
themselves in very changed situations.
12. What course did Rizal take at the University of Santo Thomas?
The course he took at University of Santo Thomas was Philosophy and Letters (1877-
780) but after a year of the course he then transferred to a medical course. He was led to that
profession, first of all, by the cataracts that caused his mothers' blindness, and second, by the
desperate need of his country. Terrible scourges of cholera, smallpox, and plague, added to the
unending ravages of malaria, dysentery, beriberi, and tuberculosis, made Rizal's heart bleed. But
at the same time the instincts of his nature called for art and natural sciences.
14. When and where did Rizal enroll in Spain for his studies in medicine, philosophy
and letters?
He went to Madrid in May 1882 and studied medicine at the Universidad Central de
Madrid where he earned the degree, Licentiate in Medicine.
16. How did Rizal prepare himself for the mission of ameliorating the conditions of his
homeland?
He prepared himself by studying abroad and having meetings with different bunch of
people against the Spaniards and through writing books and poems against the Spaniards.
17. What early steps did Rizal take to carry out his self- imposed mission?
To prove his point and refute the accusations of prejudiced Spanish writers against his
race, Rizal annotated the book, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, written by the Spaniard Antonio
Morga. The book was an unbiased presentation of 16th century Filipino culture. Rizal through
his annotation showed that Filipinos had developed culture even before the coming of the
Spaniards.
While annotating Morga’s book, he began writing the sequel to the Noli, the El
Filibusterismo. He completed the Fili in July 1891 while he was in Brussels, Belgium. As in the
printing of the Noli, Rizal could not publish the sequel for the lack of finances. Fortunately,
Valentin Ventura gave him financial assistance and the Fili came out of the printing press on
September 1891.
V. RIZAL IN HONGKONG
21. Why did Rizal finally returned to the Philippines in June of 1892?
Despite the many oppositions from friends and relatives, he decided to return to Manila
on the following reasons:
♥ to discuss with Governor General Despujol his Borneo colonization project;
♥ to form the La Liga Filipina in the Philippines; and
♥ to prove that Eduardo de Lete's allegations on him and his family in Calamba were
wrong.
22. Were his relatives and friends in favored of Rizal’s return to the Philippines?
Before his departure, he wrote three more letters – the first addressed to his parents and
friends; the second one, to the Filipinos; and the last to Governor General Eulogio Despujol.
Instead of having the protection he desired, Rizal and his sister, Lucia, fell into the Spanish trap –
a case was secretly filed against Rizal, and Despujol ordered his secretary, Luis de la Torre, to
verify whether the patriot had naturalized himself as German citizen or not. And so the siblings
sailed across the China Sea without prior knowledge of what awaits them in the Philippines.
23. Was Rizal aware of coming dangers when he returns to the Philippines?
Yes he was aware of coming danger that’s the reason why he wrote to Governor
General Eulogio Despujol. Instead of having the protection he desired.
27. How long did Rizal stay in Dapitan? How did he occupy his time?
He stayed at Dapitan from July 1892 to July 31, 1896.
29. Compare Rizal’s trial with that of Gomez, Burgoz and Zamora?
For me Rizal’s trial passed a court trial. He was given a lawyer to stand for him and he
was also given time to speak for himself at the trial while GOMBURZA’s trial didn’t pass any
court trial. They were judged without given a chance to defend their selves.
VIII. COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE THREE FILM’S DEPICTION OF OUR
NATIONAL HERO