Portents By Jessica Zafra - NCR

1. PORTENTS
By Jessica Zafra – NCR

2. BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR
 Jessica Zafra is a fiction writer, columnist, editor,
publisher, and former television and radio show
host.She is known for her sharp and witty writing
style. Her most popular books are
the Twisted series, a collection of her essays as a
columnist for the newspaper Today (now Manila
Standard Today), as well as from her time as editor
and publisher of the magazine Flip. She currently
writes a weekly column for InterAksyon.com, the
online news portal of TV5. She resides in
Metro Manila, Philippines, where she is working on
her first novel. She also managed
the Eraserheads during the 1990s.

3. CHARACTERS
 Jessica –
the pregnant lady that doesn’t know yet what to do in her situation.
 Wilma
– jessica’s friend that had an experience of abortion.
 Lawrence
– fifty fifty candidate for the father.
 Ramon
– an old friend of jessica that knows her very well, eventhough in one
look he can read jessica;s thoughts.
 Pocholo
– friend of jessica whose been telling about the wars and earthquake.
 Filthy man
– the dirty man whose been revealing important secrets to jessica.
 Doctor Manalo
– jessica’s doctor.
the story tells us about decision making in any kind of situation and
facing reality.
The message of the story is that know when or what to do or think first
before you do something so that when you are already in the situation
you will know what to do.

4. SETTING
 Office
 Home / House
 Restaurant
 Church

5. PLOT SUMMARY
 All morning I wondered whether I should ask Wilma for
her abortionist’s address. She would give me the
address, I knew, even a accompany me to the place.
Probably some decrepit wooden house in the fetid alley
of Tondo, where the gangs hunted each other down with
homemade revolvers. Wilma hid nothing, she wore her
brazen honesty like a soiled and rusty halo. She had
four abortions, she told me casually while I was brushing
my teeth in the bathroom; the washer wowan down her
street performed the operations, she owed Wilma
money, I imagined Wilma’s insides, as torn and bloody
as a battlefield. She said she’d always wanted a baby
girl

6. PLOT STRUCTURE / PLOT DEVELOPMENT
 Exposition- Jessica Zafra as the author and the main
character of the story.
 Rising action- Jessica Zafra became pregnant and she
don’t know what to do because she don’t know who is
the father of the child, one of the things coming from her
mind is the die or suicide.
 Climax- A menu from a pizza parlor that delivered had
been shoved under my door; reading it, I had a sudden
wild craving for anchovy pizza. Pregnant women are
supposed to have these wild cravings.
 Falling action- Jessica Zafra go to Wilma to abort the
child inside of her tummy.
 Resolution- Jessica Zafra is undecided if she will abort
the child or raise it.

7. CONFLICT
 The Conflict of the story is Man
Versus Himself
Positive, she said cheerily, as if I
shouldn’t go out and hang myself
this instant. I held on to the phone
for a long time; I was sure that if I let
go I would fall down. The coffee
turned to mud in my mouth—I ran to
the sink and heaved.
Congratulations, it’s a fetus. You
f*cking idiot.

8. THEME
The story teach us on how to
manage right decision in our life,
especially for those decision that
may become a horrible result that
you will regret for your whole life.
The infidelity of a woman who got
pregnant by circumstance who
thinks of an abortion.

9. SYMBOLISM IS USE
“A man on a horse. Riding across the
sky. A hundred schoolchildren saw it.
According to my aunt it looked like the
statue of St. Martin that stands in their
church.”

10. PLOT DEVICES
 Foreshadow – “a earthquake will hit at the time of
2:00 oclock.
 Flashback – “She had four abortions”

11. POINT OF VIEW
First person – As the
author, she is also the main
character of the story.

12. REFERENCES
 Jennifer Silao.(December 13, 2016). Copy of Copy
of PORTENTS. Retrieved from
https://prezi.com/biqjqmxo3myd/copy-of-copy-of-
portents/
 Philippine Literature.(December 13, 2016).
PORTENTS by Jessica Zafra. Retrieved from
http://pinoylit.blogspot.com/2004/12/portents-by-
jessica-zafra.html

13. GROUP MEMBERS
 Ian Christian Villanueva
 Anna Mae Barcarse
 Darwin Cruz
 Emerjoyce Basilio
 Ronn Andrew Sanchez
 Robyn Tiong
 Jhoncel Hernandez
 Lawrenz Enriquez
 Charlene Magaling
 Myrro Vitangcol
 Kyla Samson
 Russel Aquino