Question 1

The most famous Filipino, and our national hero, is Jose Rizal. His two masterpieces, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, helped spark the revolution which led to the war that kicked out the Spaniards from the Philippines. El Filibusterismo is primarily about revenge. The main character is Simoun, he is a mysterious, wealthy and extremely intelligent Filipino gentleman that came back to the Philippines after being abroad in Spain for many years. The big twist is that he is actually Chrisostomo Ibarra, believed to have been murdered by the Spaniards from the previous book, Noli Me Tangere, and he has come back to exact his revenge on the Spaniards. After slowly getting close the most powerful Spaniards in Manila, he throws a huge party in his house where he secertly planted bombs all over the place to kill all the evil Spaniards. His plan fails and he dies miserably.

Question 2

I really liked this story, because it so accurately depicted the terrible situation Filipinos were facing at the time. I think it was very important for Simoun to fail in the end. If he had succeeded, the Filipinos reading the story would have felt satisfied and maybe wouldn't become angry enough to start the revolution. Also, the Spanish goverment would probably ban the books sooner if Simoun was successful with his mission, thinking that the book was treason against Spain.

Question 3

The famous romantic poet, Lord Byron, used to love animals and had many pets. His favorite was a Newfoundland dog named Boatswain. While attending the Cambridge Trinity College, Lord Byron liked to bring his dog with him too, but the campus has a "no dogs allowed" rule. When he reviewed the rules, he discovered that it only applied to dogs, but there no rules against bringing any other type of animal. So, one day, Lord Byron brought a bear to the school and they couldn't tell him no because there no rules against it!

Question 4

I think it was funny. People come up with all sorts of silly rules and Lord Byron showed how silly the "no dogs allowed" rule was. Dogs clearly aren't as dangerous as bears, maybe they should just make rules about how to ensure bringing your pet won't cause trouble in school.

Question 5

My brother and I have never gotten along, especially when we were kids. We would get into fights a lot, as far as I remember, it's always him that's starting the fights. I never really understood what his problem with me was so you can imagine I would get really upset sometimes. There was a time when I was so angry that I really wanted to do something bad to him, which only I would know about. I dipped his toothbrush into the toilet. But, I felt really guilty aftwerwards and ended up cleaning the toothbrush as best as I could and then put it back.

Question 6

My brother and I still don't talk to each other much but we don't fight anymore. He gave me a huge amount of money as a wedding gift, and that really surprised me. So I think, even if we aren't close, we have at least stopped being enemies. I would even do him favors every now and then!

Tough Vocabulary

- English -	- Japanese -
treason	外患罪, 反逆

Question 1

"The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith", first a novel by Thomas Keneally and later adapted into a film, is a powerful story of an exploited Aboriginal Australian’s revenge against an unjust and intolerant society. It is a fictionalised account of a killing spree that took place in 1900 in New South Wales. Jimmy Governor – the real-life Jimmie Blacksmith – was eventually caught and executed for the murders of nine people.

Question 2

I haven't read the book and I haven't seen the film. The fact that it is based on a true story interests me but I doubt I'll get around to reading or seeing it any time soon.

Question 3

The Internet is full of these, mostly of people getting back at cheating partners. A common one I keep seeing goes like this: "My boyfriend cheated on me so I convinced him we should get matching tattoos. He went first. I went home." There are better ones out there but this is short and to the point.

Question 4

Sure. If the revenge is clever and doesn't involve violence, I think it can be said to be justified. I think the best forms of revenge are where the recipient learns some kind of lesson. In this case, the cheating guy would have a constant reminder of what he did right there on his body. Plus he had to pay for the lesson. Well played, anonymous lady!

Question 5

I don't have a good story to tell here I'm afraid. I'm human so I'd be lying if I said I'd never had vengeful thoughts before. But all I can think of is petty stuff from when I was a kid. Name-calling, pushing someone over, that kind of thing. Nothing epic, nothing clever, nothing worthy of repeating here.

Question 6

Given my answer to Question 5, I've got nothing to add here.

Tough Vocabulary

- English -	- Japanese -
adapt	適応する
exploit	悪用する
unjust	不当な
intolerant	不寛容
killing spree	殺人
recipient	受取人
vengeful	すごい
epic	エピック
pursue	追求する

Question 1

I think that there are many comic book stories that are good examples of exacting revenge. To me the most classic has to be "Batman". The original Batman movie shows us a young Bruce Wayne(Batman) witnessing the murder of his parents after a show. He grows up very wealthy as he inherits his family fortune. He vows to come back and get revenge on the murderer, who later in the story becomes the "Joker" played by Jack Nicholson.

Question 2

Yeah. I think that it is a great story. I like how the city of Gotham is a dark and mysterious city. I like how Batman is anonymous to the public. He keeps it a secret that he is battling crime. Also, the original writer of the comic book is Bob Kane. My father shares the same name. He is also a Bob Kane.

Question 3

The Kardashians are a family that has a reality show in America. They have become rich and famous for doing basically nothing. There have been many scandals and revenges in their famous circle. There are many cases of backstabbing and cheating. I think it is more of an act to promote the reality show.

Question 4

I think that some of the retaliation was reasonable, but a lot of it was just to make the reality show exciting. If there is no fighting and revenge it's a boring show. I think the show is boring either way.

Question 5

I was at a Red Sox game in Boston with my wife about 10 years ago. Daisuke Matsuzaka was pitching and not doing so well in the third inning. I rude father with his family kept yelling rude things with derogatory words towards Japanese people. Mostly just racist things. He didn't know that a Japanese woman was sitting in front of him, but that is beside the point. I went and bought soda, beer, and a hot dog with extra ketchup and mustard. As I was making my way through the narrow aisle of seats. I purposely dumped the food and drink all over him and his wife. He thought it was an accident until I said meet my Japanese girlfriend.

Question 6

I feel like I struck a perfect balance. When he realized that it was purposeful he become so angry and left the game.

Tough Vocabulary

- English -	- Japanese -
exacting	まさに
derogatory	軽蔑的
aisle	通路
purposeful	わいせつな