Short Story Analysis (Paper Menagerie)

 It appears the author is making observations about society in the Philippines. He uses English but expresses himself in such a way that only a Filipino audience could completely relate to what he is saying. He uses references and speech patterns that are more common among Filipinos. He turns some nouns and adjectives into verbs such as “beautifuling” and “tomorrowed”. He also inserts some Filipino words into the English as well. It seems the author is talking to and about a group of society members and how they view things. It seems that this group, perhaps of a younger generation have discovered their “look” and are demonstrating how they wish to dress and behave and that this “look” is like a new wave moving across the country.

The poem entitled "Jolography" by Paolo Manalo obviously depicts variety of scenarios showcasing Filipino realities. The content of the poem narrates such activities being done by mostly teenagers and the environment where they belong. More importantly, this poem describes teenagers who sees themselves as more superior than their fellows when in fact they're not. This is evident in the first line of the poem where he says “how dead you child are”. This seems to imply the child or members of a younger generation are naïve or inexperienced. This generation dresses a certain way as he calls it “beautifuling”. This same look is being done in Cubao. The movement is also crossing the Ibabaw Mountains as well as Baclaran. Perhaps it is not well received there as the poet says “Please pass. Kindly ride on”.