The document provides a summary of the short story "Pedro and The Life Force" by Joel M. Toledo. It describes the author Joel Toledo's background and accomplishments. It then summarizes the plot of the story, which follows Pedro's quest to find the magic crystal that can end a drought affecting his village and save his dying brother. Key characters like Pedro, his brother Pablo, and the mystical creatures encountered are outlined. The genre, themes of man vs. nature and self-realization, and other literary elements of the story are also analyzed.

1. Pedro and The Life Force
By:JoelM. Toledo

2. AUTHOR
• NAME: JOEL M. TOLEDO
• FROM: SILANG, CAVITE
• PROFESSION: POET
AWARDS:
• 2 DON CARLOS PALANCA AWARD FOR POETRY
• BRIDPORT INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE WRITING PRIZE
• RECIPIENT OF THE ROCKFELLER FOUNDATION BELLAGIO CENTER
RESIDENCY

3. EDUCATION AND CAREER
• TOLEDO EARNED TWO UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES IN
JOURNALISM (1992) AND ENGLISH (CUM LAUDE,
1994) AND HIS MASTERS IN CREATIVE WRITING
(POETRY) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES,
DILIMAN, FOR WHICH HE WAS THE RECIPIENT OF THE
BEST THESIS AWARD IN THE M.A. LEVEL. HE WAS A
FORMER FACULTY MEMBER AT U.P. DILIMAN. HE IS
CURRENTLY A LITERATURE PROFESSOR AT THE ENGLISH
DEPARTMENT OF MIRIAM COLLEGE AND IS THE
LITERARY EDITOR OF THE PHILIPPINES FREE PRESS
MAGAZINE.

4. WORKS
• HE HAS AUTHORED THREE BOOKS OF POETRY –CHIAROSCURO
(UST PRESS, 2008), THE LONG LOST STARTLE (UP PRESS,
2009), AND RUINS AND RECONSTRUCTIONS (ANVIL
PUBLISHING, 2011).CHIAROSCURO WAS A FINALIST FOR THE
2008 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS. TOLEDO WAS THE RECIPIENT
OF THE 2006 NCCA LITERARY PRIZE, AND HAS WON SEVERAL
LITERARY AWARDS FOR HIS POETRY IN ENGLISH, INCLUDING
TWO DON CARLOS PALANCA MEMORIAL AWARDS, THE
PHILIPPINES FREE PRESS LITERARY AWARD, THE MERITAGE
PRESS POETRY PRIZE IN SAN FRANCISCO, USA, AND THE
BRIDPORT PRIZE FOR POETRY IN DORSET, UNITED KINGDOM.

5. CHARACTERS
• PEDRO – A 14-YEAR OLD BOY WHO BECAME A HERO FOR HIS BARRIO.
• PABLO – PEDRO’S YOUNGER BROTHER WHO IS ON THE VERGE OF DYING
WHILE PEDRO IS ON A JOURNEY
• THE THREE CHOSENS – THE KEEPERS OF THE MAGIC CRYSTAL, THE KEY I
ORDER TO SAVE THE BARRIO ON THE DROUGHT.
• LUMBO – ONE OF THE THREE CHOSENS
• PEDRO’S FATHER – DIED IN A SEEMINGLY USELESS DEATH.
• TOWNSPEOPLE – PEOPLE WHO SUFFERED IN A SEVERE DROUGHT.

6. SETTING
• THE STORY TAKES PLACE ON A SMALL BARRIO CALLED STA.
INES. IT IS POPULATED BY PEOPLE WHO NOT ONLY BELIEVE
IN GOD BUT IN THE OTHER BEINGS THAT RULE THE LAND,
WATER AND AIR LIKE THE FILIPINO MYTHICAL CREATURE
TIKBALANG, KAPRE, SIRENA, DUWENDE AND OTHER
POPULAR MYTH CREATURES THAT FILIPINOS BELIEVED IN. IT
OCCURS AROUND 1997.

7. PLOT
PEDRO AND PABLO LIVES IN A PEACEFUL BARRIO NAMED STA. INES.
PEDRO’S FATHER DIED IN A SEEMINGLY USELESS DEATH WHILE THEY WERE
VERY YOUNG. ONE DAY, THE BARRIO WAS SUDDENLY CAUGHT IN A
SEVERE DROUGHT. MANY TOWNSPEOPLE WERE DYING. PABLO HAS BEEN
AFFECTED BY THE SEVERE DROUGHT AND IS ON THE VERGE OF DYING
BECAUSE OF DEHYDRATION. PEDRO WENT ON A JOURNEY TO FIND WATER
FOR HIS BROTHER AND ALSO TO FIND THE MAGIC CRYSTAL THAT HOLDS
THE KEY TO RESOLVE THE SEVERE DROUGHT THAT HIT THEIR BARRIO.
PEDRO ENCOUNTERS MANY MYTHICAL CREATURES WHO EXIST ONLY IN
FILIPINO’S PSYCHE LIKE TIKBALANG, KAPRE, NUNO SA PUNSO, ENGKANTO,
DUWENDE AND SIRENA. ONE OF HIS ENCOUNTERS IS THE ONE INVOLVED
WITH THE THREE CHOSENS, WHO ARE THE KEEPERS OF THE SEGMENTS OF
MAGIC CRYSTAL. PEDRO SUCCEEDS IN OVERCOMING THE THREE CHOSENS
AND ACQUIRED EACH OF THE SEGMENTS OF THE MAGIC CRYSTAL. PEDRO
SAVED HIS BROTHER AND BECAME A RELUCTANT HERO FOR HIS BARRIO.

8. FREYTAG’S PYRAMID
Exposition:
Pedro and the
townspeople are living
peacefully.
Rising Action:
The town was suddenly
caught in a drought and
Pablo is dying.
Climax:
Pedro went on a journey to
save his brother and Sta.
Ines.
Falling Action:
Pedro succeeds in finding the
magic crystal.
Resolution:
The barrio of Sta. Ines
and Pedro’s brother is
saved.

9. CONFLICT
MAN VS. NATURE
• THE TROUBLES THAT WERE FACED BY THE PEOPLE OF STA.INES AND
PEDRO’S JOURNEY IS THE CONFLICT. THE BARRIO IS CAUGHT IN A
SEVERE DROUGHT AND PEDRO’S BROTHER IS DYING. PEDRO, WHO IS
ON A FINE CONDITION, IS THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN SAVE THE TOWN
FROM A SEVERE DROUGHT. THE STORY’S CONFLICT CIRCULATES ON A
TYPICAL CONFLICT THAT HAPPENS IN EVERY BOOKS THAT WE READ. IT
FOLLOWS THE CONTEXT OF MAN VS. NATURE. THE PROTAGONIST
OVERCOME A FORCE OF NATURE TO MEET HIS GOAL.

10. THEME
• THE THEME OF THIS PIECE IS UNIVERSAL, MUCH LIKE THE
SEARCH FOR THE HOLY GRAIL—A QUEST FOR A HIGHER
GOOD. VERY EVIDENT IS TOLEDO’S CHILDHOOD
INFLUENCES—THE ARTHURIAN STORIES FILLED WITH
KNIGHTS, DAMSELS AND DRUIDS COUPLED WITH THE
LANGUAGE OF CHIVALRY BUT THE CONTRAST IS THAT IT IS
CONSISTED OF MYTHICAL CREATURES THAT ARE THE
PRODUCTS OF THE MIND OF THE AUTHOR INSTEAD OF
KNIGHTS AND DAMSELS.

11. SYMBOLISM
• DROUGHT – IN THE STORY IT TELLS ABOUT EXTREME HIGH TEMPERATURE
THAT CAN EVEN DESTROY THEIR CROPS AND EVEN THEIR LIVES. LATER IN THE
STORY, A DROUGHT HAPPENED IN THE BARRIO THAT INVADES THEIR PEACEFUL
LIFE. IT IS ONLY FITTING TO SAY THAT THE HIGH TEMPERATURE IS ACTUALLY A
DROUGHT.
• CREATURES – IN THE STORY, PEDRO HAS TO FIGHT THE VERY SAME BEINGS HE
WAS SUPPOSED TO SAVE. THIS CLUE SHOWS THE READERS THAT IT IS ACTUALLY
ABOUT SELF-REALIZATION HAVING TO FIGHT OUR OWN PERSONAL DEMONS. IT
IS A STRATEGY USED BY MANY AUTHORS TO UNRAVEL MANY ISSUES ABOUT
YOUTH. IT ALSO ANSWER THE READER’S NEEDS FOR AN ACTION THAT WILL
HAPPEN IN THE STORY AND A SATISFYING RESOLUTION.

12. PLOT TYPE
CLASSIC PLOT
• THE STORY FOLLOWS A CLASSIC PLOT WHEREIN THE
EVENTS ARE CHRONOLOGICALLY SEQUENCED. THE STORY
STARTS WHERE STA. INES WAS DESCRIBED AS A PEACEFUL
BARRIO AND THEN THINGS START TO CHANGE WHEN THE
BARRIO WAS SUDDENLY CAUGHT ON A DROUGHT AND
THEN IT ENDS WITH PEDRO SAVING HIS BROTHER AND THE
BARRIO FROM THE DROUGHT.

13. PLOT DEVICES
• THE STORY USED FLASHBACK AND FORESHADOWING AS STATED
BY SOME EVENTS. FORESHADOWING WAS SEEN WHEN THE
TOWNSPEOPLE WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT AN INCREASE IN
TEMPERATURE IN THEIR TOWN WHICH LATER BECOME A DROUGHT.
FLASHBACK WERE USED WHEN THE NARRATOR DESCRIBES THE TWO
CHILDREN’S FATHER AND HOW HE DIED. SYMBOLISM IS ALSO USED IN
SOME PARTS OF THE STORY.

14. POINT OF VIEW
• THE STORY FOLLOWS AN OMNISCIENT POINT OF VIEW.
THE LINE “THE KAPRE BROKE INTO BOOMING LAUGHTER.
THEN IT SAID, “FORGIVE ME, LUMBO—BUT THE BEARER IS
ONLY A CHILD!” ITS SHOULDERS SHOOK WITH ANOTHER
CHUCKLE.” SHOWS THAT THE STORY IS ON AN OMNISCIENT
POINT OF VIEW WHERE THE NARRATOR KNOWS
EVERYTHING AND WHAT EVERY CHARACTER THINKS. THIS
TYPE OF POINT OF VIEW CIRCULATES THROUGHOUT THE
STORY.

15. REFERENCES
• AMAZON. DECEMBER 10, 2016. PEDRO AND THE LIFEFORCE. RETRIEVED FROM
HTTP://WWW.AMAZON.COM/PEDRO-LIFEFORCE-JOEL-M-
TOLEDO/DP/9718967451
• C PACIS. DECEMBER 10, 2016. HUMANITIES. RETRIEVED FROM
HTTP://WWW.JOURNALS.EDU.PH/INDEX
• PANITIKAN. DECEMBER 10, 2016. JOEL M. TOLEDO. RETRIEVED FROM
HTTP://WWW.PANITIKAN.COM.PH/CONTENT/JOEL-M-TOLEDO
• SOFTBLOW. DECEMBER 10, 2016. JOEL M. TOLEDO. RETRIEVED FROM
HTTP://WWW.SOFTBLOW.ORG/TOLEDO.HTML
• WIKIPILIPINAS. DECEMBER 10, 2016. JOEL M. TOLEDO. RETRIEVED FROM
HTTP://WWW.EN.WIKIPILIPINAS.ORG/INDEX-PHP/JOEL_M._TOLEDO

16. NAME OF THE PRESENTORS
IAN MOSCOSA
VINSON TANCHOCO