What insights have you gained?

1. How similar is sharpening with a knife and in putting an idea in writing?
They are the same in the way that you work on it until you are satisfied with its sharpness(for the pencil) and for its quality (for your composition)
2.According to the selection, erasers are like people, in what ways are people like eraser?
Because some erasers are soft, just like other people that are easy to love, while some erasers are so hard to use   just like some people  that are not easy to accompany with. Erasers and people are also the same in the way that they can correct their mistakes.
3.What experiences in your life show that you have like an eraser? How were you manage that situation? what consequences came up? What happened then?
When I was in grade 1, I always absent in our class and doesn't have interest in studying. But, when a right time came, I realized that I need education in order to achieve my ambition. So, I studied hard and now, I am uch satisfied in my standing in our class.

What gems have you found?

In the essay "On a Pencil", how did the author describe the pencil? What did she feel about it?
She described like her treasure. She is very passionate in using it and she assumed o herself that the quality of the pencil is like an art. She is also fond of inspecting its quality.

How Well Do you Understand The selection?

1.Describe the speaker.
She really like pencils.
2.Describe the speaker's mother.
Her mother is very supportive to her even she has other six children to take care of.
3.Why did the speaker not buy more than one pencil at a time?
Because her mother does not have enough income to support their wants, and she is already contented at looking some of it on a store.
4.What gave the speaker a nice feeling?
When she look at some pencil displayed in a store.
5.Where did the speaker find her pencil at times?
In her handbag, between the pages of her notebook or under her typewriter.
6.Whose pencil did the speaker compare hers with? Describe the life of this person and what he/she did in living? She compare her pencil with the stenographer's pencil. The stenographer always need to be alert in every tasks that is give to him, he uses specific forms of shorthand to accurately transcribe verbal communications.
7. From what point of view this story written?Could it have been more effective if it was written from another point of view? Why or Why not?
This story is written in the point of view of the speaker (Lydia Arguilla, the writer). It is yet effective for me because she expressed what she wanted to say.

The Precious Lesson

There are many parables that we have heard; used by our parents for us to learn a lesson and to be more aware in this unpredictable world. We have heard the "parable of the prodigal son ", "the parable of the sower" and the most relevant among these for me is "The Parable of the pencil".My mother made her own parable and her inspiration to make her own is this parable.

Before I explore the world outside, my mother oriented me on what to do to avoid problems and when it already came. It is like the parable of the pencil, before letting me out, he gave me five rules. it is listed below:

One: " Before you do anything, consult God first, and if it seems that He don't allow you to do it, then obey Him."

Two: " Let everyone to guide you. Don't assume to yourself that your knowledge is enough in doing everything"

Three: " Always look positively for the coming tomorrow, don't lose your hope and faith in God."

Four:"You must learn to stand on your own, don't always depend to the people around you"

And five: "Do not wait to learn from your own mistake, you should a lesson from the other's and you must take a stand in every word that you gave."

I followed my mother's rules and I am very grateful to her because I am satisfied on what I've done. Even I am not greatest beyond the sea of people here in the world, I still thank her because I use these rules to avoid bigger mistakes, problems and failure.