A NATURAL DISASTER: "Mount Pinatubo Eruption"

In June 1991, the volcano Mount Pinatubo in Philippines had been dormant for more 500 years and in that year came back to life. The eruption forced evacuation of more than 50,000 people, including the “Clark Air Base”, a U.S. military installation near the volcano. However 800 people dead and 100.000 became homeless after the episode. Indications of a possible eruption had started a year ago but the size and impact of it were completely unexpected.

The events of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption began in July 1990, when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred 100 kilometers northeast of the Pinatubo region, determined to be a result of the reawakening of Mount Pinatubo. After that, small explosions began and earthquakes continued. On June 5, a Level 3 alert was issued for two weeks due to the possibility of a major eruption. On June 15, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo began.

During the eruption, the upper slopes of the mountain suffered immediate destruction. Unfortunately, at the time of the eruption, Tropical Storm Yunya was passing 75 km to the northeast of Mount Pinatubo, causing a large amount of rainfall in the region. The ash that was ejected from the volcano mixed with the water vapor in the air to cause a rainfall of tephra that goes across almost the entire island of Luzon. In addition to the ash, Mount Pinatubo ejected between 15 and 30 million tons of sulfur dioxide gas. Sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere mixes with water and oxygen in the atmosphere to become sulfuric acid, which damages the ozone layer.

A week later after the major eruption, heavy rains from Typhoon Brenden sent thousands of tonnes of ash, silt and volcanic debris surging down the mountain. Enormous mud flows killed many people and forced thousands to flee from their homes.

Its consequences were the following:

Mt Pinatubo’s massive eruption produced the largest cloud of climate-modifying gases. The cloud over the earth reduced global temperatures. In 1992 and 1993, the average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was reduced 0.5 to 0.6°C and the entire planet was cooled 0.4 to 0.5°C.

The human impacts of the disaster were devastating. In addition to the up to 800 people who lost their lives, there was almost one half of a billion dollars in property and economic damage. The volcano eruption destroyed 4,979 homes and damaged another 70,257. The following years, 3.281 homes were destroyed and 3,137 were damaged.

The Pinatubo volcano never became a dormant mount, because another eruption in August 1992 killed 72 people.

THE PEARL"

"THE PEARL"

George Herbert

The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls; who, when he had found one, sold all that he had and bought it.—Matthew 13.45

I Know the wayes of Learning; both the head

And pipes that feed the presse, and make it runne;

What reason hath from nature borrowed,

Or of it self, like a good huswife, spunne

In laws and policie; what the starres conspire,

What willing nature speaks, what forc’d by fire;

Both th’ old discoveries, and the new-found seas,

The stock and surplus, cause and historie:

All these stand open, or I have the keyes:

Yet I love thee.

I know the wayes of Honour,

what maintainsThe quick returns of courtesie and wit:

In vies of favours whether partie gains,

When glorie swells the heart, and moldeth it

To all expressions both of hand and eye,

Which on the world a true-love-knot may tie,

And bear the bundle, wheresoe’re it goes:

How many drammes of spirit there must be To sell my life unto my friends or foes:

Yet I love thee.

I know the wayes of Pleasure, the sweet strains,

The lullings and the relishes of it;

The propositions of hot bloud and brains;

What mirth and musick mean; what love and wit

Have done these twentie hundred yeares, and more:

I know the projects of unbridled store:

My stuffe is flesh, not brasse; my senses live,

And grumble oft, that they have more in me

Then he that curbs them, being but one to five:

Yet I love thee.

I know all these, and have them in my hand:

Therefore not sealed, but with open eyes

I flie to thee, and fully understand

Both the main sale, and the commodities;

And at what rate and price I have thy love;

With all the circumstances that may move:

Yet through these labyrinths, not my groveling wit,

But thy silk twist let down from heav’n to me,

Did both conduct and teach me, how by it

To climbe to thee.

In the first part of the poem “The Pearl” appears an abstract about the scriptural or biblical passage cited in Matthew 13:45 where a merchant, who is a buyer and seller of pearls, finds a very expensive pearl and he sells his other ones in order to purchase the one of great price and great value.

The poem is about faith4, the man’s love for God. In the poem, the speaker is the writer1 George Herbert who addresses God and attempts to demonstrate his love for him. He has renounced all those worldly goods (Learning, Honour and Pleasure) for God’s sake, so God should allow to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Also he thinks he has done much to earn this.

The poems has a formal, elegant and reflective written2, and in the final of each stanza, the writer or speaker concludes “Yet I love thee” that is would be say "I love God so much" or "I love God mainly". ALso we can find the following literary figures3:

Metaphors:
What reason hath from nature borrowed (means what pearl…)
But thy silk twist let down from heav'n to me,

Did both conduct and teach me, how by it
(is a continuum between this life and the next)

Personifications:
What willing nature speaks, what forced by fire;
The quick returns of courtesy and wit:
What willing nature speaks, what forced by fire;
But thy silk twist let down from heav'n to me, Did both conduct and teach me, how by it

Simile:
Or of itself, like a good huswife, spun

Alliterations:
“To all expressions both of hand and eye

Which on the world a true-love-knot may tie”

”And bear the bundle, wheresoe'er it goes:

How many drams of spirit there must be

To sell my life unto my friends or foes:

Yet I love thee.”

In my opinion5, the speaker must be desperated to obtain the God's love. Therefore, he wants to leave everything and demonstrates his faith. It gives me the impression that the speaker needs a concrete test of God, that God sacrifies by him.

ANALYSIS QUESTIONS:

1- Who's the speaker and who's speaking to?
2- Type of vocabulary (loving, violent, angry, etc)
3- Alliterations, metaphors, comparisons, assonances, personifications (that is to say any literary figure you find in it)
4- What's the poem about? (love, hate, faith, life, death)
5- Your opinion about the poem.

It is necessary to live as if this day

was the last of our lifes

If we loved somebody, we have

to demonstrate it every day.

La muerte

La muerte no es nada. Sólo me he refugiado
en la habitación de al lado.
Yo soy yo, y tú eres tú.
Tal como fuimos el uno para el otro, seguimos siendo.
Llámame por mi diminutivo de siempre.
Háblame como solías.
No cambies de tono. Ni solemnidad forzada,
ni aflicción quiero escuchar.
Ríe como reíste siempre nuestras pequeñas bromas.
Juega... sonríe...
piensa en mi... reza por mí.
Deja que mi nombre siga siendo
la palabra familiar que era.
Que sea pronunciado sin afectación,
sin la más pequeña sombra.
La vida significa lo mismo que siempre,
sigue igual que siempre.
Hay continuidad, absolutamente ininterrumpida.
¿Qué es esta muerte sino un accidente sin importancia?
¿Acaso debo desaparecer del pensamiento
porque haya desaparecido de la vista?
Estoy esperándote... será sólo un rato.
Muy cerca de aquí, a la vuelta de esa esquina.
Todo está bien.

Anónimo