Guide Questions #2
Answers to the guide questions must be based on the assigned readings.
1. Why is nation an imagined political community according to Benedict Anderson?
According to Anderson, the nation is imagined because the members of even the smallest
nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet
they consider their fellowship even in their minds. People in the community have its own
differences, but they consider sharing common language, traits, culture and beliefs, and
history because they belong to the same nation.
2. With Spanish rule, the people “forgot their native alphabet, their songs, their poetry, their
laws, in order to parrot other doctrines that they did not understand”. Do you agree? Give
examples to support this claim.
Yes, I agree. Before the impact of liberal ideas in the second half of the nineteenth
century, Filipinos lived in a kind of static dream world. They were eventually enslaved by the
cosmology introduced by the colonizers and blindly imitated these foreign and
incomprehensible things. As a result, they lost all confidence in their past, all faith in their
present, and all hope for the future.
3. Describe the setting of the Philippines when Rizal was born in 1861.
When Rizal was born in 1861, on the 19th century, Filipino nationalism started to grow
and develop. During this time, the Spaniards ruled the country and the Filipinos became their
slave. The Philippines also struggled to the negative effects of industrial revolution which
widened the gap between the rich and the poor and caused the displacement of the farmers
from their land.
4. Discuss the socio-political system under Spain.
The political structure of Spain established a centralized colonial government in the
Philippines which was composed of National and Local Government to administer provinces,
cities, towns, and municipalities.
5. Discuss the events of the world that might have influenced Dr. Jose Rizal.
The Western/Global imperialism; colonization of the Spaniards; the industrial revolution,
the most crucial development in the 19th century; Suez Canal; man becoming servants of
science; the nation’s struggle for nationalism; the fight for democracy; and the growing
confidence on progress, brought by the advancement of science, that inspired optimism were
some of the world events that might have influenced Dr. Jose Rizal.
6. Discuss the challenges in the Philippines that might have influenced Dr. Jose Rizal.
