The Appreciation of Characters in Rizal’s Noli me tángere in Two Philippine Public High Schools

Abstract

In implementing the Rizal Law, the Department of Education’s K-12 Curriculum Guide emphasizes the study of characters in Rizal’s novels as a means to cultivate patriotism among the youth. In this light, this paper presents ethnographically how students from two public high schools in Rizal Province relate with characters in Noli me tángere. In the classroom, these characters have developed a status akin to “real” historical beings. Concomitantly, students use tropes that connect these characters to their own lives, relationships, and understandings of the social world. The students’ relationships elicit moral standards for imagining the nation and embodying their own patriotism.