Filipino Short Story

1. My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken
ALEJANDRO R. ROCES

3. Alejandro R. Roces
Born
in Manila, Philippines
on July 13, 1924
Died
May 23, 2011

4. Alejandro R. Roces
 Alejandro Reyes Roces was a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist and a
National Artist of the Philippines for literature. He served as Secretary of
Education from 1961 to 1965, during the term of Philippine President
Diosdado Macapagal.

5. Alejandro R. Roces
 He has since received honorary doctorates from Tokyo University, Baguio's
St. Louis University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the
Ateneo de Manila University. Roces was a captain in the Marking’s Guerilla
during World War II and a columnist in Philippine dailies such as the
Manila Chronicle and the Manila Times. He was previously President of
the Manila Bulletin and of the CAP College Foundation.

6. Alejandro R. Roces
 In 2001, Roces was appointed as Chairman of the Movie and Television
Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). Roces also became a member
of the Board of Trustees of GSIS (Government Service Insurance System)
and maintained a column in the Philippine Star called Roses and Thorns.

7. I. Summary of Story
 The story was about the weird chicken which Kiko and his brother found.
They couldn’t tell whether it is a hen or a rooster. They keep on arguing
to each other because Kiko insist that the chicken is a rooster for they
saw it on the field fighting another chicken. But his brother is not
convinced for the chicken has no comb or wattles, both disagree to one
another.

8.  They began to ask their mother and father, even the people
on their village like Tasio and Mr. Cruz. But all of
them couldn’t tell whether it’s a hen or a rooster. And they
also thought that it was a “binabae”.

9.  So instead, they decide to bring it into the cockpit and make it fight to a
rooster. But during the fight there is a turn of events, things gone
different for what they have expected. A lovesick expression came into
the rooster’s eye, instead of fighting, the rooster began to do some love
dance but the peculiar chicken suddenly stub it’s spur into the rooster
and the fight is over. The brothers couldn’t believe what they had saw.

10.  Kiko thinks he convinced his brother that the chicken is a
rooster, but the chicken act something strange. It began to
quiver, and egg came out and drop into his brother’s hand.

11. II. Analysis
Characters:
 Kiko (Protagonist) – The owner of peculiar chicken and the smart guy
who had many ideas how he can prove to his brother that it was a rooster.
 Youngest Brother of Kiko (Protagonist) – The one who said that the
chicken was a hen.
 Mother – The one who always cried when she argued with father

12.  Father – The pleasing husband
 Mr. Cruz (Minor character) – The owner of the largest poultry business in
the town and studied poultry raising in UP.
 Teniente Del Barrio (Minor character) – Oldest man in the village. That did
not mean that he was that wisest and always carried more weight.

13. Literary Devices
Figures of speech
 Personification – “I suppose you are going to tell me now that carabaos
fly”.
 Personification – “The chicken”, she said, “is a binabae”.
 Personification – That chicken is a binalake, a hen which looks like a
rooster.”

14.  Simile – serpent-liked head
 Personification – It has killed more chickens than the cholera.
 Simile – Were both panting like dogs.
 Personification – The chicken cackled with laughter.

15. Tone
 Cheerful – “Why, if I had a rooster like that I could get rich in the cockpit.”
 Serious – “Look at the rooster fight!”
 Angry – “That’s enough!”
 Mad – “Tiope! , Tiope! Fixed fight!
 Cheerful – an egg!

16. Style
 Narrative style – he narrates the of his brother and hi, about the peculiar
chicken and what they had experience thru it.

17. Theme
 The theme of the short story, is that people have differing opinions on a
subject. One person sees something one way and another person sees
the exact opposite when looking at the same situation.

18. Point of view
 First Person point of view – Kiko the owner of peculiar chicken and the
smart guy who had many ideas how he can prove to his brother that it
was a rooster.
 Second Person point of view – Youngest Brother of Kiko the one who
said that the chicken was a hen. He is the one narrated the story.