MY NEIGHBOR
by Ricaredo Demetillo
It's true thieves jimmy doors and snitch
What usable lie strewn about
So it is right my neighbor blocks
Suspect intrusions to his house.
Created by Ma'am Aivy
for Grade 7 Students
Stanza 1
My neighbor, being well-to-do
Bought years ago a lot and house
And built high walls as if to say:
"All interlopers here, keep out!"
My neighbor, being well-to-do
Bought years ago a lot and house
And built high walls as if to say:
"All interlopers here, keep out!"
Subtopic 1
1. Why did the neighbor build high walls around his residence?
Subtopic 2
2. Describe the neighbor's attitude towards others. Read the lines which give clues to your descriptions.
Timeline
#2
#3
#4
#1
TIMELINE
Timeline
Stanza 2
It's true thieves jimmy doors and snitch
What usable lie strewn about
So it is right my neighbor blocks
Suspect intrusions to his house.
3. Is the neighbor right to build high walls around his house? What forced him to do such?
Stanza 3
Now all the urchins shy, the cold tall gate
That guards the ripe fruits from their slings
Still I can't keep my curiosity
To trespass slyly with a peek;
Now all the urchins shy, the cold tall gate
That guards the ripe fruits from their slings
Still I can't keep my curiosity
To trespass slyly with a peek;
4. How did the people react on the action made by the neighbor?
Stanza 4
So know how each lush flower-bed
Is sprayed by hoses in the sun
And guess when roses scent the air
Or drop their petals on the grass.
So know how each lush flower-bed
Is sprayed by hoses in the sun
And guess when roses scent the air
Or drop their petals on the grass.
5. In spite of high walls and tall gate, what is the narrator able to discover?
Stanza 5
I know too that my neighbor's girl
Who strains beneath her yaya's hand
Looks longingly beyond the gate
Where my boys tumble in the sun.
I know too that my neighbor's girl
Who strains beneath her yaya's hand
Looks longingly beyond the gate
Where my boys tumble in the sun.
7. Do you think this "neighbor's girl" will be a lot happier if she is allowed to play with other children? Why?
8. How will you differentiate the lifestyle of neighbor's daughter from that of the boys?