Meycauayan National High School

SECOND GRADING UNIT TEST

st
21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
School Year 2016-2017

NAME: ________________________________________________________________________ DATE: ___________ SCORE:__________

YEAR AND SECTION: __________________________________________ SUBJECT TEACHER: ___________________________

I. A. Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the passage carefully taken from This Is What a Feminist Looks Like" by Barack Obama and
answer the questions that follow.
1
Now, the most important people in my life have always been women. I was raised by a single mom, who
spent much of her career working to empower women in developing countries. I watched as my grandmother, who
helped raise me, worked her way up at a bank only to hit a glass ceiling. Ive seen how Michelle has balanced the
demands of a busy career and raising a family. Like many working mothers, she worried about the expectations
and judgments of how she should handle the trade-offs, knowing that few people would question my choices. And
the reality was that when our girls were young, I was often away from home serving in the state legislature, while
also juggling my teaching responsibilities as a law professor. I can look back now and see that, while I helped
out, it was usually on my schedule and on my terms. The burden disproportionately and unfairly fell on Michelle.
2
So Id like to think that Ive been pretty aware of the unique challenges women faceits what has shaped
my own feminism. But I also have to admit that when youre the father of two daughters, you become even more
aware of how gender stereotypes pervade our society. You see the subtle and not-so-subtle social cues transmitted
through culture. You feel the enormous pressure girls are under to look and behave and even think a certain way.
3
And those same stereotypes affected my own consciousness as a young man. Growing up without a dad,
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who I was, how the world perceived me, and what kind of man I wanted
to be. Its easy to absorb all kinds of messages from society about masculinity and come to believe that theres a
right way and a wrong way to be a man. But as I got older, I realized that my ideas about being a tough guy or cool
guy just werent me. They were a manifestation of my youth and insecurity. Life became a lot easier when I simply
started being myself.
4
So we need to break through these limitations. We need to keep changing the attitude that raises our
girls to be demure and our boys to be assertive, that criticizes our daughters for speaking out and our sons for
shedding a tear. We need to keep changing the attitude that punishes women for their sexuality and rewards men
for theirs.
5
We need to keep changing the attitude that permits the routine harassment of women, whether theyre
walking down the street or daring to go online. We need to keep changing the attitude that teaches men to feel
threatened by the presence and success of women.
6
We need to keep changing the attitude that congratulates men for changing a diaper, stigmatizes full-
time dads, and penalizes working mothers. We need to keep changing the attitude that values being confident,
competitive, and ambitious in the workplaceunless youre a woman. Then youre being too bossy, and suddenly
the very qualities you thought were necessary for success end up holding you back.
7
We need to keep changing a culture that shines a particularly unforgiving light on women and girls of
color. Michelle has often spoken about this. Even after achieving success in her own right, she still held doubts; she
had to worry about whether she looked the right way or was acting the right waywhether she was being too
assertive or too angry.
8
As a parent, helping your kids to rise above these constraints is a constant learning process. Michelle
and I have raised our daughters to speak up when they see a double standard or feel unfairly judged based on
their gender or raceor when they notice that happening to someone else. Its important for them to see role
models out in the world who climb to the highest levels of whatever field they choose. And yes, its important that
their dad is a feminist, because now thats what they expect of all men.

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I. Vocabulary
Directions: Match the items in Column A with the correct answers in Column B. The words in
Column A are noted from the paragraph where they are found. Write the letter of your answer
before the item number.

A B
1. Stereotypes (paragraph 2,3) a. too large or too small in relation to something
2. Routine (paragraph 5) b. to believe unfairly that all people or things with
3. Stigmatize (paragraph 6) a particular characteristic are the same
4. Manifestation (paragraph 3) c. a situation in which two people, groups, etc., are
5. Assertive (paragraph 4) treated very differently from each other in a way
6. Demure (paragraph 4) that is unfair to one of them
7. Double Standard (paragraph 10) d. hard to notice or see: not obvious
8. Trade-Offs (paragraph 1) e. a situation in which you must choose between
9. Subtle (paragraph 2) or balance two things that are opposite or
10. Disproportionate (paragraph 1) cannot be had at the same time
f. a regular way of doing things in a particular
order
g. a sign that shows something clearly
h. quiet and polite
i. confident in behavior or style
j. to describe or regard (something, such as a
characteristic or group of people) in a way that
shows strong disapproval

II. Figurative Language/ Idiomatic Expressions

Directions: From the underline phrases in the text, fill in the blanks with appropriate meaning
based on the definitions given below:
11. Surpass all difficulties - ________________________________________________________________________________
12. Encounter a lot of troubles - __________________________________________________________________________
13. Be free from controlling factors - _____________________________________________________________________
14. Being controlled by something - _____________________________________________________________________
15. Influenced the mindset - _____________________________________________________________________________
16. Looking for a solution - ______________________________________________________________________________
17. Does not forgive shortcomings - _____________________________________________________________________
18. Prioritizing between responsibilities - ________________________________________________________________
19. Being honest to self - _________________________________________________________________________________
20. Accept all information given - ________________________________________________________________________

III. Reading Comprehension

Directions: Write TRUE if the statement given is correct and FALSE if otherwise. Write your
answer before the item number.
21. Barack Obama was raised by a single parent.
22. Michelle is the name of Barack Obamas mother.
23. President Obamas former job was a teacher.
24. As a father of two daughters, Obama realized the importance of feminism.
25. The text explains that culture has to be changed for feminism to flourish.
26. For Obama, attitude plays a role in advocating feminism.
27. Obama perspective in life has remained the same all throughout his career.
28. Obama speaks of balanced gender roles in his analysis of feminism in the text.
29. Double standards as viewed by Obama promotes feminism in the society.
30. The text written by Obama is an example of a persuasive speech.

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 IV. Identification
Directions: Identify the following based on previous lectures and discussions. Write your
answer on the blanks provided.

Three possible features of World Literature

31. ______________________________________
32. ______________________________________
33. ______________________________________
American Authors who come from multi-racial backgrounds
34. ______________________________________
35. ______________________________________
36. ______________________________________
37. ______________________________________
Sample of Literary Theories mentioned in Marikit Tara A. Uychocos Introduction of 21st Century World
Literature
38. ______________________________________
39. ______________________________________
40. ______________________________________
41. ______________________________________
42. ______________________________________
43. ______________________________________
Penelope considers this as a low art
44. ______________________________________
A literary theory that challenges the traditional perspective of looking characters and providing an alternative
perspective to the story.
45. ______________________________________
A literary theory that seeks the equality between men and women and advocates womens rights.
46. ______________________________________
John Greens focus in analyzing the Iliad and the Odyssey.
47. ______________________________________
48. ______________________________________
49. ______________________________________
Penelopes way of talking loudly and in a way that shows anger or complaining in a way to something that is
unreasonable. Clue: It starts with the letter R.
50. ______________________________________

GOOD LUCK AND GOD SPEED!

Prepared by:
ARIEL P. VILLAR, M.A.T.
Master Teacher II