Getting Better

There are seven chapters in the short story which is: How to Deal with June, How a Xerox Machine Can Break, How to Tell the World You’re So in Love You’re Getting Married, How to Catch a Cheat Without Really Trying, How to Recover from Heartache by Trying Really Hard, How You Might Backslide, and How to Be Nice to Yourself.
The first chapter gives an introduction on the characters, situation and the setting of the story which is the wedding of the girl's friend on june. Basically, the division of the chapters tells the story of the lovers.

I kinda like this short story because while reading in the succeding chapters, there are problem and situations and in those chapters an advice from the author is displayed there. I think, this kind of reading is for matured people because in the story, foul language is present and adult situation is present like there is a scene there which I call "sex in the xerox machine"

This story is tells how to overcome your problems and do something so the same dillema or almost same one won't happen again to you. In this short story, Miko was having an affair with another girl. Karen, who is Miko's girlfriend and the one being cheated to is adviced on how to: know if her boyfriend is really cheating on her and also how to recover if Miko really did cheat on her. The advices are really "user friendly" which means that anyone can easily relate to the situation and for that, I think the author did a great job on giving advices and capturing attention of the readers.

Well, going back to the story, Karen discovered Miko was really cheating on her and naturally, she was really upset. Then, the author adviced many things on how to recover from her dillema. One of the many advices was to go and hang-out with friends at the mall because malling I think is like a girl thing and is usually is one of their many and favorite hobbies. When Karen does that, its as if she will temporary forget her depression and can be said as one of the steps to recovery. I think that will be a very effective thing for Karen.

The story is a “chick lit” reading because situations cited in the story can be said common. For me, I think this story is not most likely a short story but rather like a documentary because it studies and gives out lessons and descriptions etc.. To sum up, "Getting Better" is an article which tells us how to get better despite evrything.

Sweet Summer/The Marriage

For me, the story "sweet summer" is all about a boy and a girl where "puppy love" can be said as to be present. The two main characters there is frederick and sara. The day was cool and sunny where they enjoy each others company and the sweets like cloud9 and halls honey-lemon flavor but eventually their sweetness broke-up when Felix, the older brother of Frederick, came into the scene. For me, I think this short story is not very filipino, because upon reading this short story, I can't imagine filipino kids playing and eating candies, its like the picture of this scene is more like american kids. Also, for me, "puppy love" in us filipinos develop when we're a little older not this young because most kids I observed this days has their mind set on playing but as they move on with their life, I think love is becoming a part of them that they get involve in romantic relationships. I think nowadays, the representation of Felix symbolizes a man who has no commitment in romantic relationships and can also be considered as a "playboy" while his younger brother, frederick symbolizes a kid going to be that way because of his brother while sara can be said to be symbolizing innocent women victimized by these men. The next story "The Marriage" is like the continuation of the story because now, in this short story, we are now talking about marriage and can be said as to the next step of that "puppy love". The story started when the husband had a stroke and doesn't want to be dependent of her wife. Also, in this story, the term "predator" and "prey" can be seened and coined. For me, the lesson to be learned here is that sometimes, when your a predator or in other words, the dominant in your relationship, you have to be also a "prey" which means you must also give in to save your relationship or save your marriage. Marriage is a sacred sacrament which is rooted and composed of love and to have or give love means to also have sacrifice and for me, it is one of the important words to describe love-- Sacrifice because love is sacrifice. The husband is ussually the dominant and the wife is the inferior so sometimes, the husband must give in to the "prey" and let the "prey" become the "predator" to show and express love. In the story, the wife showed her love and compassion by being loyal to her husband despite his handicap instead of leaving him and finding a new spouse. For me, that is one of the most important elements of marriage, loyalty to your husband or wife because you have chosen that person and marriage is a forever commitment not a temporary one.