# data[].attributes.headline
What is happening in the story (PLOT) and its primary CONFLICT?

# data[].attributes.subject
What is happening in the story (PLOT) and its primary CONFLICT?

# data[].attributes.body
PLOT:
The story starts with the introduction of a well known scientist named Michael Tejades in his hotel apartment. He just came from a different countries as he examined the water contamination crises that has been happening all around the world. In the early chapters, it was told how conscious he is with his body and the problem he faced alongside it with his past partner. As he was smoking in his balcony where he is thinking about the situation of the world, he saw a troubled woman near his apartment which was also doing the same thing as him. He was struck with how gorgeous his body is to the point that he was unable to sleep during the night. The next morning he went to a conference in relation to WHO where he gave a talk regarding his finding about the continuous effect of the water contamination and how it will cause the eradication of humanity. After his talk, legalities of the issues was addressed in which explains the origin of the problem, enzyme synthesized by the corporation for their profit which backfired to humanity. This part also explained how the politician were able to escape the consequences of their action because of the power they held. After the conference, he went to eat in a restaurant where he saw the woman from last night. Unfortunately he was avoided by her despite his perseverance to catch and have a talk with her. The stories goes on when Michael visits his close friend, Peter, where he was able to reminisce the past and talk about Michael's future endeavors. Peter then talked about how short time is and that everything is "noise". He went to his hotel apartment afterwards where was having a hard time. Thus he knocked the apartment beside him, the room of the woman last night. The woman was reluctant on letting him in but she eventually let him do so. The woman introduced her name, Mirasol, and they had a talk about their past such as their mutual weight problems, past relationship, and the event that happened earlier which apparently Mirasol saw because she is a reporter. Conversation dissipated and heat increased which leads them to have sexual intercourse. After doing the deed, they had a talk about the severity of the situation around the world as Michael is smoking in the room. The story ended when both of them woke up and on their way to work, Michael confessed to Mirasol how short the remaining time is and the he want to be with her in which she gladly accept.

CONFLICT:
There are three main conflict I would like to highlight in this selection. First is the Man vs. Society conflict that took form in fat-shaming and toxic masculinity experience Michael which manifested from the hotel apartment, conferences, up until the moment when he met Mirasol. Next is Man vs. Himself which is actually tied up from the prior type of conflict. This will not be unlocked if Michael was not discriminated because of his size in which he is still carrying within himself to the point that he is always self-conscious toward what will people think of him. Finally, we have Man vs. Nature which is the most obvious one because of how the environmental problems with regards to water contamination from enzymes is being described.

# data[].attributes.headline
When and where can this story have taken place? How can you describe the social and cultural conditions in which the story takes place (SETTING)?

# data[].attributes.subject
When and where can this story have taken place? How can you describe the social and cultural conditions in which the story takes place (SETTING)?

# data[].attributes.body
The story took place in Manila, Philippines in the time ranging from late 20th century to early 21st century. With regards to social and cultural condition of the story, it has a deep dystopian theme because of how the world is in chaos because of the environmental problems. The country has been pretty liberal at the time this story occurred because of how forward Michael and Mirasol are despite their past and age, and how meritocracy is valued over nepotism (Peter's talk about who will replace him).

# data[].attributes.headline
Who are the major persons involved in the story? How would you describe them?

# data[].attributes.subject
Who are the major persons involved in the story? How would you describe them?

# data[].attributes.body
Michael Tejades: He is the main protagonist of the story. He is an intellectual individual especially in terms of science. However, he is suffering from trauma from the past because of his heavy weight and expectations from him.

Peter Darrow: The closest friend of Michael. He is a tough, blunt, and unsentimental person. Yet he deeply care about Michael which is somewhat contradicting to his main attitude.

Mirasol: The neighbor of Michael and Michael's love interest. She has the same insecurity like Michael since she was fat also in the past. The main difference that Michael and her have is that Mirasol is more courageous and brave, maybe because of her line of work that led her to such an attitude.

# data[].attributes.headline
What do you think is the short story/work of fiction trying to say? What is the story’s message?

# data[].attributes.subject
What do you think is the short story/work of fiction trying to say? What is the story’s message?

# data[].attributes.body
There are three main message that I have learned from the whole story. First is to avoid having absurd expectation to others. Michael's consciousness to his body up to how he handle his emotion was a cumulative result of the harsh society that we have. We often judge someone by their weight and how they should change it because that is what society said so which then lead to Michael's fear from what will others say. Expectation on how men should handle their feelings led to Michael being unable to express his feelings when his wife left him such as cry because society deemed that men should not do so.

Second, take care of Mother Nature. The enzyme that resulted to the contamination of water came from the greed of a corporation to increase their profit. If only those corporation where held under control, humanity could have existed for a longer time instead of a mere 7 years. Thus, this  story teaches us to treasure the world we are living in and that we should protect and fight for it whenever there is someone that is trying to destroy it.

Finally and perhaps the most important of all, cherish every moment in life. Just as how Michael accepted the fact that his days is gone, we need to also acknowledge the fact that our stay here in this world is a short one only, regardless of natural calamity or whatnot. Hence, we need to prioritize the things and acts that we really want to have or do in life. "Don't be alone when the end comes. That's the key. Everything is just noise.", this is the exact word that Peter said to Michael as an advice and frankly, I could not agree more. What is the sense of all the achievements and fitting to the crowd efforts that you will do? After all you are just a small speck of dust in this vast universe. That is why you might as well enjoy life to the fullest instead of worrying about things you cannot control.

# data[].attributes.headline
Do you think that your chosen text is relevant to the world today? Why or why not?

# data[].attributes.subject
Do you think that your chosen text is relevant to the world today? Why or why not?

# data[].attributes.body
Yes, it is a highly relevant text in today's world. Let us start off with the fat-shaming. Weightism may be the last socially acceptable prejudice in our culture —occurring more frequently than gender, sexuality, age or religious discrimination (Puhl et. al., 2008). This only shows that you are more likely to be discriminated by you weight compared to you other features.  This is still evident of how rampant slimming products here in the Philippines is and how fat people are always the butt of the jokes whenever a conversation occur or the judgmental eyes the people whenever a fat person is walking really says a lot about this issue (Abello, 2019). There is also toxic masculinity that is rampant issue in the country because of how patriarchal our society is. Whenever a man expresses his feelings to the public, they are to be outcasted or even named derogatory terms such as "gay" or "soft". Finally, we have the environmental problems. As I am doing this activity, there was a recent global climate activism that occurred where scientist warned the public that if they do continue our style of living, the world will cease to exist in the next 3-5 years (Freedman, 2022). Hence, scientist held a protest in front of a mega corporation who has been contributing huge amount of carbon emission in the whole world (Freedman, 2022). This parallels to the event in the story where a corporation synthesized an enzyme to sell to pharmaceuticals in order to increase their profit which then led to the impending doom of the world.

# data[].attributes.headline
Seeing the text and the world in each other: What do you think the short story/poem/essay tells us about the world? How is our world reflected in and by this short story/poem/essay? 

# data[].attributes.subject
Seeing the text and the world in each other: What do you think the short story/poem/essay tells us about the world? How is our world reflected in and by this short story/poem/essay? 

# data[].attributes.body
I feel like the story has really stressed the meaning of interconnection of human being from one another and human's connection to the world. First is our relationship as a society is something that we have taken for granted for a long time. We have forgotten the fact that everything we are doing to others such as small teasing to intense bullying have impact to a person. That a single belief or standard is all it takes to bring down the confidence of an individual.

Lastly, is our connection to the world. It seems that up until now, people are still thinking that our world and us humans are a different things which is a harmful way of living. Having this kind of mindset makes us detached to what the world's suffering. It enables us to justify everything that we are doing even though it is harmful to nature just because of our own individuality. An example of this is being a head of a corporation which you are proud of since you are the one who built it. However, because of your aspiration in life, you have forgotten your connection in this world which led you to defile our nature just to reach your goal.

# data[].attributes.headline
What are your personal thoughts, comments, and reactions to the short story/poem/essay you chose? In what ways does your chosen text resonate with you?

# data[].attributes.subject
What are your personal thoughts, comments, and reactions to the short story/poem/essay you chose? In what ways does your chosen text resonate with you?

# data[].attributes.body
To be honest, reading the story is a mind-blowing experience for me. I was surprised because of how many lessons the story contains which rare for me because I am used to stories that have a single impactful lessons. The story being set in a late 20th to early 21st century enabled me to have an easier time imagining myself to fit in the story.

After reading the story, it resonated to me a little bit especially in the last scene. Since I am in elementary school, I am pressuring myself to achieve higher than what I am expected to. I mean, there is nothing wrong with striving for you betterment. However, it feels like I have forgotten to enjoy and cherish the moment that I have with my family, friends, and loved ones. The story helped me reflect on many societal issues from fat-shaming to environmental problems, but the most impactful part for me is that how it teaches me to take life easy.

# data[].attributes.body
Abello, R. P. D. (2019). “I am Too Wide for Your Narrow Mind”: Drawing on Experiences of Overweight and Obese Filipino Adults on Fat Shaming. PADAYON SINING: A CELEBRATION OF THE ENDURING VALUE OF THE HUMANITIES.

Freedman, E. (2022, April 17). NASA climate scientist who was arrested speaks about his tearful protest. The Independent. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/protest-nasa-scientist-rebellion-b2059788.html

Long, J. (2020, May 24). What is fat shaming? are you a Shamer? Dr. Jamie Long, Fort Lauderdale Psychologist. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://drjamielong.com/what-is-fat-shaming/