“A Tale of Two Chances” by Paulo Bedonia Masangcay: A Linguistic Analysis

I. Introduction

            This article by Paulo Bedonia Masangcay is about how a son expressed his heartfelt gratitude to God for giving his father another chance to live with them. In here, the author narrated his experiences on how he was able to cope up with the situation of his father; especially on the time when he was far from his family. He also mentioned how special his birthday was because that was the time when his father went out from the hospital: an indication that his father was already in good condition. In the end, the author realized how important his father was to him and how he planned to be part of his father’s recovery.

II. Discussion on the Stylistic Analysis

            In this article, an attempt to look for its linguistic features is done:

A. Syntactic Features

1. “He is amazing that even though I’ve got a number of shortcomings, still, He is unselfishly ever ready to give a second, third, fourth – or perhaps even an infinite number of chances!”

 -The use of conjunctions like that and or makes the sentence long and form a compound-complex sentence which denotes that God can give extended and immeasurable blessings and opportunities in life.

2. “And I almost had this bitter share of life’s bitters three days before I commemorated my coming to this world naked.”

-The used of the adverb of time “almost” indicates that he had nearly lost his father before his birthday comes. For him, if ever that this sudden death comes, it would be really painful for him to accept the reality that he lost his father.

3. painfully, terribly, extremely, heavily

 -The adverb of manner was used in the third and fourth paragraph to show the author’s strong emotion of fear that he might lose his father.

4. “The medical staff started to do their thing after sensing the only vital sign left of a patient who almost succumbed to death– his pulse!”

“This incident was undeniably a testimonial proof of how powerful a prayer can be!”

“I was given the most symbolic gift I have ever received in my entire life!”

-The sample sentences above taken from the fifth paragraph of the essay shows how the author uses exclamation marks (!). These sentences totally reveal his intense feeling of concern/apprehension to his father that even when he loved his mother more than his father, still, he loves him too. He also shows his heartfelt gratefulness to God by giving him the chance to be with his father.

B. Semantic Features

1. “And I almost had this bitter share of life’s bitters three days before I commemorated my coming to this world naked.”

-The author says “before I commemorated my coming to this world naked” instead of saying “before I celebrate my birthday” to give a symbolical meaning that his birthday is unforgettable and special to him because that was when his father was totally free from death. 

2. “I am guilty of the fact that I do not care for him the way I do care for my mother. I am guilty of the fact that I do not think of him the way I always think of my Inay – with so much love and affection.”

-The repetition of the phrase, ”I am guilty of the fact” means that the author really admits that he is guilty of caring so much for his mother than for his father. This also made him realize that he has to grab the chance given to him to show his love and affection to his father.

3. “Down poured the rain heavily, incessantly. My two brothers-in-law struggled in carrying my father from the house to the car, as they braved the continuous shedding of tears from up above. My folks’ wailing and praying kept in sync with the distinct swooshing sound of the pouring rain.” 

-The underlined words and phrases in the sentences are used by the author symbolically to indicate the sudden and painful feeling that he might lose his father. They also describe the agonizing feeling of the family as they were trying to save his father’s life from death.   

CONCLUSION:      

            When I read this article written by Paulo Bedonia Masangcay, I also remember the same situation with my father. When my father was alive, like Paulo Bedonia Masangcay, I was also not giving my full affection and love to him. I admit; I loved my mother more than I loved my father. But when my father was dying, that was the time I realized that I loved him the same way I loved my mother. It was painful for me that until his last breath, I was not able to be with him. But still, “God is amazing”, as quoted by Paulo Bedonia Masangcay.  It is because He let me realize that I shouldn’t take for granted my significant others and my folks. The experience I had with my father made me strong enough to express my love and affection to my family. This is also the same realization that Paulo Bedonia Masangcay has when he understood that he must make the most of his being for his father.