Literary Circle

BOOK NO. 1

Tuesdays with Morrie

By: Mitch Albom

SIXTENSIVE READERS

Members:

                Cassandra Joyce Cabesas---------------- Discussion Director

                Jona Belle Mariano-------------------------- Passage Picker

                Iriss Joy Rabago------------------------------ Vocabulary Enhancer

                Diayanara Rose Cacho--------------------- Summarizer

                Daisery Bantilan----------------------------- Literary Artist

                Rutchel Saplot------------------------------ Character Captain

                Hilly Rose Guanzon------------------------ Connector

Cassandra Cabesas, our discussion director

gives 5 questions and these are the following:

 

1.      If you are Mitch, having/during the last days or classes you had with your Professor what topics would you have asked him? Give at least 2 and share why.

2.      Do you think Morrie have lived his life to the fullest upon knowing a devastating that he is dying-slowly?

3.      From the 6^th Tuesday lesson…How do you understand what Morrie said, “…detachment doesn’t mean you don’t let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That’s how you are able to live it?

4.      Do you think you have found your Morrie at MSU? Who is she/he? Describe her/him.

5.      What are the changes that have occurred to Mitch from the 1^st day of Tuesday’s class to the last day of Tuesday’s class?

For the first question, our discussion director, Cassandra Joyce Cabesas chose the topics coping up and family. According to her, there are many things in this world which we need to cope up such as maturity especially that we are already a college students. We need to be careful of the things that we do and we should be cautious and attentive to our surroundings and even with the people around us. Furthermore, we must be ready to accept new things, new friends, new world and new responsibilities. Next topic she has chosen is Family. She said she wants to ask Morrie if how to keep family relationship even if you are far with each other. Like Morrie in the story, he really gives importance to his family even if he is already dying and already weak; Cassandra also wants to have this kind of relationship with her family.

Daisery Bantilan, our literary artist chose the topics forgiveness and letting go. She said she chose forgiveness because she can’t forgive people easily especially when the mistake they have done is worst. She can’t forget easily the situation and the place where and when she felt down and embarrassed. Next topic she has chosen is letting go. She said she wants to conquer her problem about forgiveness, she wants to let go those heartaches she’s keeping in her heart.

Next one who discussed was Jona Belle Mariano, our passage picker chose the topics love and marriage. According to her she is not knowledgeable and experienced enough about love with the opposite sex. She never experienced to have a boyfriend or a love with opposite sex only crushes. Next topic she has chosen was marriage. She wants to ask advice from Morrie on how to deal with a serious marriage and what are the things to be considered in engaging to the world of marriage.

Next was Hilly Rose Guanzon, our connector chose the topics knowing thyself better and setting up goals. According to her she has many questions about her life as well as herself. She is confused about many things like her course, she said that she really doesn’t want her course and she only took it for the sake of her parents. Even though her parents force didn’t her to take up the course. She was asking why she is always upset about things and why she never accepts advices. She just wants to know herself better. Next topic she has chosen was setting up goals. She want to know what is the real things she really want to do, what are the specific things to consider in setting up goals and to met or fulfill that specific goals.

Another member who discussed was Diayanara Rose Cacho, the summarizer. She chose the topics how to gain true happiness and how to know the true value of money. She said she cannot feel true happiness even if how hard she try to be happy completely. According to her, in the story Morrie said that we must not run our world only for money but for Diane we need to money to survive so she wants to clarify to Morrie if money really the needs of human or not so.

Last one who discussed for the question number one is me, Iriss Joy Rabago and I am the vocabulary enhancer. I chose the topics life and forgiveness. At the age of nineteen I still have many questions about life especially about my life, about the people around me and such. Why my mother does needs to go abroad just for me and my brother to be able to finish our studies. The people around me, why are they so rude sometimes, so insensitive and seems like don’t care about the feeling of others. Next was forgiveness, I want to know why is it difficult to forgive people; me myself often can’t really forgive easily especially when they already hurt me. I can forgive actually but when they already pushed me into the edge and they already reached the limit of my anger that’s the time I keep anger in my heart for a long time.

For question number two most of us agreed that yes Morrie have lived his life to the fullest because even though he is dying he still find a way to have time with his family and friends, even if he is already bed ridden she still bond with his love ones. He serves as an inspiration to other people especially to Mitch whom he shared great lessons about life, touched every other people’s life. On the other hand, Hilly said that for her Morrie lives only his life close to the fullest for he has a friend who didn’t able to attend a special celebration of Morrie and with that Morrie did not able to forgive him until the day he died. So that is Hilly’s reason why she concluded that Morrie did not live his life to the fullest.

On the fourth question we all agreed that we must not penetrate experience away from us instead we must accept it and embrace it. Pain is meant to be feel not to be ignored. We learn through our experience and it’s a big opportunity for us to learn, to be mold into a better person and be matured enough to face hardships, trials and challenges.

Next was the sharing about our Morrie at MSU.

Diayanara said that physically, Prof. Larry Laroco has the same features as Morrie because they are both chubby and a little bit getting older but the one she really chose was Prof. Angelo Altez, he is our Philosophy Professor and Diayanara chose him because he shared many things about life, about cultures, material things and realization about life. He said that we must be willing to accept and discover new things, we must explore and with this we must be able to learn. He motivates us his students on how to deal with the things that are new to me and learn to accept things outside the box.

Mine were my best friend, Chariz Sacro and my best buddy, Gemaima Grace Cohan. Chariz was my best friend since we are third year. She became my best friend because she was always there to give me advices, she’s sharing her experiences which give me inspiration and she taught how to value things even if it is the least important to me. She was there whenever I have a problem; she comforts me, serves as my guardian angel. And now even if we are on the same boarding house we don’t have enough time to bond because of the hectic schedules we have, the essence of friendship still stays in our hearts. Next was Gemaima or Memai, she is a moody sometimes but a living friend. She is my roommate my best buddy in playing sports, we both love to play, I play volleyball and we both play basketball and softball. Most of the time we are together, aside from we are roommates, we eat together, we go to school together and we are always there to support each other.

Next one who shared was Daisery, her Morrie according to her was the Bible, she chose it because it’s like talking to her whenever she is stressed, she feels down and every time she has a problem.

Cassandra considers Prof. Arcenal as her Morrie. According to her we must value the wisdom of olders and yes she is boring but the wisdom and knowledge she was sharing was great and genuine. She motivates her students to strive hard and continue fulfilling their dreams.

Next was Jona Belle, her Morrie was her ate Ella, even though her ate is still young the advices she gives to me not only to me but also to my board mates can really make you realized and lead you a good way. She is her inspiration, adviser and her best friend.

Lastly was Hilly, for her she don’t have her Morrie because she don’t accept advices, yes she listens but she never digest it. She just makes her own decision and believes in herself.

Last question was about the changes occurred on Mitch from the first Tuesday to the last Tuesday. Jona said that Mitch already learned how to handle money correctly; she learned how to help others. Diayanara said that Mitch already learned how to forgive and with that he forgives his brother. Cassandra said Mitch learned how to treasure living, he now know how to give attention to the people he loves. Mine was he already gives attention to the things that he valued and love. Daisery and Hilly also agreed with our comments.

Tuesdays with Morrie

By: Daisery Bantilan

  

Take me

Take my life and let it be

Genuine heart let them see

Take my moments and my days

Let them flow in ceaseless praise

Touched and nurtured lives

Is where my golden treasure lives

Behind my amorous smile

Tears flow down like the river of nile

Friends bestowed by the creator

I endure as my armor

Breath of memoires sincerity

Won’t wither until eternity

Cry! Cry! Cry!

Pain hinders to make you dry

Let go and declare it’s alright

 The sun is shining bright

       Tuesday with Morrie

(Summarized by Diyanara Cacho)

Mitch Albom took the last class of his favorite professor, Morrie Schwatz. The subject was “The meaning of life”. Mitch remembered the moment he was with Morrie, the graduation day when they bid goodbye to teach other. They hugged and when he stepped back, he saw Morrie was crying. Mitch promised to stay in touch with Morrie but he never did after college. Years passed after his graduation, he wanted to become a great mucisian. However, he lose his inspiration after his favorites uncle died, it made him realized to continue his education and obtained the masters degree in journalism. Mitch then had a very productive life and stable job as a sport writer. He even traveled in different places and met his wife Janine.

Sixteen years later, Morrie new his health was failing especially that he could no longer dance which he really love to do. When he was in his seventies, he became weak; he got troubles in walking and sleeping. He began to consult doctors and find out that he has ALS. Since he was diagnosed, Morrie decided to live his life to the fullest. He jotted down ideas and thoughts especially philosophies, lessons about life and knowing death is going near.

One evening, Mitch was hooked up on the television when he saw Ted Koppel, the most famous interviewer in America asking “who is Morrie Schwarts”. He then recognized his old professor and decided to visit him after almost sixteen years of not seeing each other.

Mitch started visiting Morrie every Tuesdays. They discussed about the world, regrets, death, love and money. Out of the topics every meeting, Morrie’s purpose is to inculcate the true meaning of life to his favorite student with genuine intent, Mitch began taking notes and even recording Morrie’s philosophies especially disbelieving cultures, wrong ideas, valuing yourself, loving and cherishing other people and accepting death open-heartedly.

However, the more Tuesdays they meet, the worse Morrie’s condition becomes. He is coughing more than usual and takes a minute to recover. He can no longer go to the bathroom by himself. He becomes increasingly sick and having bad nights. On the 13^th Tuesday Mitch told Morrie about his sick brother who wants to be alone that made Mitch puzzled about what his brother usually think and believed. On the 14^th Tuesday Morrie was now bed ridden and near death. He could barely talk and having trouble in breathing. Mitch already knew that moment has finally arrived. As he and Morrie hugged for one last time, he just let his tears fall while his arms embracing the weak body of his old professor.

Morrie died on Saturday morning, at his funeral, Mitch talked with Morrie in his head but then he just realized the comfort and pleasing ambiance of that conversation for it happened to be Tuesday.

“It’s not too late”- this line was what Morrie left on Mitch mind and heart. Mitch was inspired to regain contact with his brother in Spain who was fighting with cancer. He told his brother that he loves him, that made his brother realized that it’s never too late to get involve his family in his life.  

Passage/ quotes

By: Jona Belle Mariano

v  “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”- Morrie

v  They discussed about death. Morrie feels that people refuse to believe that one day they will die, and therefore, do not live their lives as fully as they would have liked. Once we learn and accept that we are going to die we learn to live our lives full and without any regrets. Morrie repeat this quote frequently throughout the chapter to emphasize how important and helpful it is to accept death and what a benefit it was be living the remainder times of our lives. Morrie wants us to see how he is able to appreciate the smaller, more genuine things in life, knowing that his death is approaching.

v  “You close your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too- even when you are in the dark and even when you are falling.”- Morrie

v  Morrie stated that we cannot always believe on what we see but we can believe on what we feel. If we ever want others to trust us, we must show that we can trust them in return. The trust that is shared between two people can sometimes be risky because it is a  risk we must take if we ever want to be trusted or we ever want to trust others. This risk is to be taken by an instinctive feeling and not by rational thinking.

v  “As you grow old, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you’d always be as ignorance as you were twenty-two. Aging is not just decay you know. It is growth. It’s more than the negative that your going to die, It’s also positive that you understand that you are going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.”- Morrie

v  They talk about fear of aging. Youth nowadays have little understanding about life and lack purpose they felt in life. That is why we must just enjoy aging because it is an opportunity to learn more. Once you want to remain on your young age, you always be ignorant. Once you found meaning in life, you never want to go back and you will want to progress forward with age by doing more things, seeing more and learning more.

v  “So many people walk around with the meaningless life. They seem half does asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community and people around you, and devote yourself in creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”- Morrie

v  So many people become to involve to their job and money. They leading a meaningless life because they chasing this things which they thought important. We should create meaning in our life, we must love and show compassion for others. In this way, we create our own meaning of life and do not waste our life chasing the wrong things.

v  “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and let it come in.”-Morrie We live in this world because of love. We love our family, friends and other people around us. Learn to love because in love, we will find our happiness. There are some also that afraid to let love come because they think they don’t deserve it, and they will became too soft. But always remember that with love, our life will be meaningful and when you let the love come in our life will be full of joy and happiness.

 Vocabulary enhancer

    (iriss joy rabago)

 

ü  Tufts- a small bunch of feathers, hairs, grass, etc. that grows close together

ü  Hobbled- to walk with difficulty because of injury or weakness

-          To show the movement, progress

Or action of (someone or something)

ü  Limp- to walk in a slow and awkward way because of an injury to a leg or foot

-          To go or continue slowly or with difficulty

ü  Cluck- to make a low sound with the tongue

-          To talk about something in an excited

And often disapproving way

ü  Wither- to become dry and sapless; especially: to shrivel from or as if from loss of bodily moisture

ü  Sequoia- a very tall evergreen tree that grows in California

-          Either of two huge coniferous California

Trees of the bald cypress family that may reach

A height over three hundred feet or ninety

Meters

ü  Ambivalence- simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person or action

ü  Grapple- to hold and fight with another person to try to solve a problem: to deal with a problem

ü  Laxatives- having a tendency to loosen or relax; specifically producing bowel movements and relieving and constipation

ü  Strutting- to walk with a pompous and affected air

-          To walk with a proud gait

ü  Bloat- unwarranted or excessive growth or enlargement

ü  Spouting- to shoot out (a liquid) with force

-          To flow out with force

ü  Cranked- a machine part with a handle

ü  Aphorisms- a short stating a general truth

ü  Narcissist- love of or sexual desire for one’s own body

ü  Locomotive- a self propelled vehicle used to move rail road cars

ü  Gazelle-  any numerous small swift graceful antelopes

ü  Fumbling- to grope about clumsily

-          To fail to hold, catch or handle properly

ü  Suburban- a residential area adjacent to the city

ü  Maple- any of the genius of trees or shrubs with two winged dry fruit and opposite leaves

ü  Gaunt- excessively thin and angular

ü  Serene- clear

ü  Fuzz- fine light particles or fibers (as of down or fluff)

ü  Tramping- the succession of sounds made by the beating of feet on the road

ü  Dwindling- to make or become steadily less

ü  Mimicking- to imitate closely, to ridicule by imitation

ü  Flinch- to shrink from or as if from pain

ü  Intravenously- used in or using intravenous procedures

ü  Mortgage- a transfer of rights to a piece of property usually as security for the payment of loan or depth that becomes void when the depth is paid

Character Report

By: rutchel saplot

R

 

Here are the lists of those people who has a vital role in the novel Tuesdays with Morrie:

v  Morrie Schwartz – a professor of Brandeis University and one of his students is Mitch Albom. He had two sons Rob and Jonathan Shwartz with his wife Charlotte. As I read on the book, Morrie was a great teacher, an awesome father, a sweet husband and the best friend that every person in this world wishes to be with and happy to have. He is a deep person and has a great sense of humor. He always thinks positively and lives life in a simple way. He always told Mitch that Love each other or die. A simple quote but has a wide explanation when talking about life. Based on the story, it means love those person who surrounds you, listen to them like you just first hear them talking and give them what you think you can possibly give. He always talk about living a simpler life like not craving for outrageous amount of money, wanting to have a big house or a brand new car and using things and embracing them like you can find real happiness through them. He always say that real happiness can be found to those person you love and who loves you back. Morrie has the habit of touching other people and especially touching their souls. He always dream of dying in sereneful way. He was Mitch’s bestfriend because they are the Tuesday people.

v  Mitch Albom – Morrie Schwartz’ student and his best buddy. He is a sport reporter and a writer. Back in middle school, he dream of becoming a musician and Morrie encouraged him to do so but later he found out that being a musician is a tough career so he pursue another dream which is to become a writer and he was successful for it. And because of being a writer and a reporter, he was able to buy a big house, a brand new car and became famous. He’s currently living with his wife, Janine, in Michigan. His work with Morrie was his final project with the professor which is the book entitled Tuesdays with Morrie. In his professor’s final days, Morrie told him that he’s a good soul. He always visit Morrie every Tuesday so they call themselves Tuesday people. They talk about things in life which make people live in this world. He’s Morrie’s dear friend.

v  Charlotte Schwartz – Morrie’s wife. She’s a beautiful gray-haired woman who spoke in a lilting voice. She’s a very quiet person.

v  Ted Koppel – Nightline’s reporter. He’s a very famous reporter. His show became the way to make Morrie and Mitch meet again. One of those many person whom Morrie had touched its soul.

Connector

(hilly rose guanzon)

    

As I read the story “Tuesdays with Morrie”, a movie entitled “The Bucket List” struck in my mind. Both stories showed a big connection to one another.  First thing is that there were characters that were terminally- illed. These characters were taking their steps of their last journey in life, in “Tuesdays with Morrie”, Morrie’s last class about life with his former student Mitch while in “the bucket list” was the bucket list which is the list of the things they wanted to do before they pass away. As they went along with their own journey the characters had the chance to reflect about life. As Morrie and Mitch had their discussions every Tuesday they have talked about life and its subcomponents which are family, love, forgiveness, death, money, religion and the likes, so as with Carter and Edward when they traveled the world to fulfill their bucket list. The two thought they were just accomplishing their bucket list, but what they have found in their journey was more than they expected. The characters in both stories found an extraordinary companionship which lead them to a self-reflection of what was happening with their lives and each one touched each other’s heart and made each other look life in a bigger perspective, that the essential things are invisible to the eye. This made  them fix their lives and to be better persons until their last breath.