Activity 1
Briefly answer the following:
1. Describe the background of Rizal’s ancestry that might have
contributed to his life and education.
Answer: On his mother’s side, Rizal’s ancestry included Chinese,
Japanese and Tagalog blood. His mother’s lineage can be traced to the
affluent Florenta family of Chinese mestizo families originating in
Baliuag, Bulacan. He also had Spanish ancestry.
2. Compare the experiences of Rizal as a student in Ateneo Municipal,
UST, and in Madrid.
Answer: In June 1872, 12-year-old Jose Rizal Mercado y Alonzo
Realonda enrolled at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in Intramuros.
Rizal launched himself into studies that sharpened not only his
capacity for critical thinking and discernment, but also his love for God
and country.
Upon learning that his mother was going blind, Rizal opted to study
ophthalmology at the UST faulty of Medicine and Surgery. He,
however, was not able to complete the course because “he became
politically isolated by adversaries among the faculty and clergy who
demanded that he assimilate to their system.
After his Medical studies at University of Santo Tomas (UST), Rizal left
the Philippines on May 3, 1882, and arrived in Madrid in September
1882, He took courses in medicine at Universidad Central de Madrid as
well as painting at Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in
Calle Alcala.
3. Who were the important persons that influenced Rizal in his intellectual
pursuits?
Answer: Rizal’s Mother Teodora Alonso, it was she who opened his
eyes and heart to the world around him with all its soul and poetry, as
well as its bigotry and injustice.
4. What were Rizal’s activities in Dapitan and their impact?
Answer: Rizal devoted much effort in Dapitan. He tilled the soil and
planted rice, corn, abaca and many fruit trees. He practiced his
profession as physician and eye surgeon, constructed residential and
little hospital houses. He also assisted to the beautification of the
public square.
5. How would you asses Rizal’s objection to the revolution?
Answer: Rizal was a reluctant revolutionary. He that Filipinos of his
time were not ready for a revolution as they were not ready for
independence. Thus, Rizal became a separatist, he left to God the
attainment of independence. He returned to the Philippines to share
the misfortunes of his family.
Submitted by: Alyaseer M. Somirado
Submitted to: Ma’am Carol Rodenas Anotinio