ASSESSMENT 2b: Have you watched a Balagtasan? It is a verbal joust named after 18th century literary great Francisco Balagtas, author of the Florante at Laura. Look up examples of the Balagtasan from popular video-sharing sites. Does your generation have a counterpart for it? What is it called? Contrast the Balagtasan with present-day form of verbal jousting. How do their elements (language, theme, participants, setting, rules) differ. Answer this on a separate sheet.

Explanation:

Bubonic Plague, also is known as the Black Death, originated from Asia, most likely China, India, and Persia. In October of 1347. it arrived in Italy with trading ships from Asia; their goods were very prized at the time, and the trade was greatly developed with these countries across all European countries.

The black death quickly continued to spread around Europe. The quick and easy spreading happened partly because of the trade, but more importantly because of the rats. It has been proven that rats and fleas can carry the disease, and many people got it from the bites of these creatures. The hygiene wasn’t developed at the time as it is today, and pests were everywhere on the ships and in the streets. Because it was a highly infectious disease, it quickly spread over the whole continent of Europe, resulting in million deaths.