BSIT Survival Kit

Prelim Exam Blueprint & Study Plan

Your prelim in Reading in Philippine History almost always draws from the first four modules of this course. Professors love this stretch because it tests both memory (dates, names, definitions) and skill (classifying sources, applying criticism). Here is exactly what to expect and how to prepare in one week.

What the Prelim Covers

Module in this app	Typical weight	What actually gets tested
The Meaning and Relevance of History	~20%	Stearns's four purposes of history; primary vs secondary; artifact vs ecofact; the three types of unwritten sources; Philippine and foreign repositories
Tests of Authenticity and Credibility	~30%	External vs internal criticism; Gottschalk's credibility criteria; the Maragtas case; rules for disagreeing and hostile sources; research ethics
Case Study: The Tejeros Convention of 1897	~25%	The Katipunan split, the two factions and their leaders, the March 22, 1897 election and its aftermath, and why Alvarez is primary while Agoncillo is secondary
Early Philippine Chronicles — Pigafetta and Plasencia	~25%	The Magellan expedition timeline, Pigafetta's manuscripts, Plasencia's Customs of the Tagalogs, and the biases of both chroniclers

The Question Types You Will Face

Type	What it looks like	How to win it
Multiple choice	Four options, usually one "trap" distractor built from a nearby fact	Eliminate the distractor that belongs to a different module or person
Identification	"Give the term/person" — no options	These come straight from the memorize list below
True/False	Statements with one wrong detail (a date, a name, an "always")	Absolute words like "always" and "never" are usually false
Primary vs secondary classification	A described source; you classify it	Ask one question: was the creator present at the event? (Proximity is the key distinction)
Document analysis	A short quoted excerpt plus 2–3 questions	Name the source type, the author's vantage point, and the bias before answering anything else

The Exact Memorize List

If you can recite everything here, you can answer roughly 80% of a typical prelim.

Module 1

Stearns (1998): moral understanding, understanding people and societies, providing identity, civic formation
Primary source = testimony of an eyewitness (Gottschalk, 1950); secondary = produced by someone not present (textbooks, encyclopedias, monographs, journal articles, bibliographies)
Artifact = object made/modified by humans; ecofact = natural archaeological evidence (bones, seeds, shells) not shaped by humans
Unwritten sources: archaeological, oral, material evidence
Repositories: National Library of the Philippines (Filipiniana Division; Historical Data Papers, Philippine Revolutionary Records); National Archives of the Philippines (Spanish-period government records); Archivo General de Indias in Seville; PARES (free online Spanish portal); Mexico's Archivo General de la Nación (Philippines under the Viceroyalty of New Spain until 1821); British Museum (documents taken during the British occupation of Manila, 1762–64); Ayer Collection at the Newberry Library, Chicago

Module 2

Historical method = examining/testing sources; historiography = the writing of history
External criticism = authenticity ("is it what it claims to be?") — examines authorship, time, space
Internal criticism = credibility — Gottschalk's four: competence, willingness to tell the truth, adequacy of data, reliability against other sources
The Maragtas: alleged document that William Henry Scott (1984) argued rested on suspicious oral traditions and fabricated written sources
Gottschalk: the historian plays "prosecutor, attorney for the defense, judge, and jury all in one"
A source that does not fit the milieu of its supposed period is likely fabricated; witnesses without a personal stake are more credible; when all independent sources agree, the event is accepted as factual

Module 3

Full name: Kataas-taasang Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, founded by Andres Bonifacio
Factions: Magdiwang — Noveleta, led by Mariano Alvarez; Magdalo — Kawit, led by Baldomero Aguinaldo
Tejeros Convention, March 22, 1897: Emilio Aguinaldo elected President; Danielo Tirona challenged Bonifacio's qualification; Bonifacio declared the proceedings null and void; he was executed for treason in Maragondon, Cavite, May 1897
Santiago Alvarez, Katipunan and the Revolution — Magdiwang participant, serialized in Sampagita (1920s) → primary source with faction bias
Teodoro Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses (1956) — pioneer of nationalist historiography → secondary source

Module 4

Pigafetta: Italian chronicler of the Magellan-Elcano expedition; one of only 18 of ~270 crew who returned; four manuscripts — one Italian (Ambrosiana Library, Milan), three French (earliest c. 1525)
Timeline: left Seville Aug 10, 1519 with five ships (Victoria, Concepción, San Antonio, Santiago, Trinidad) → Strait of Magellan, Oct 21, 1520 (only three ships through) → landed Zamal (Samar), March 16, 1521, islands named Archipelago of St. Lazarus → blood compact with Rajah Colambu at Masao → first Mass March 31, 1521 → Cebu, April 7, 1521 (Rajah Humabon; 800+ baptized; Santo Niño gifted) → Battle of Mactan, April 27, 1521 — Magellan killed by Lapu-Lapu's forces
Plasencia: Franciscan friar, arrived 1577, wrote Customs of the Tagalogs (c. 1589) with a missionary bias; Bathala ("the maker of all things"); catalonan = chief religious officiator; afterlife: maca (rest) vs casamaan (punishment)

Top Mistakes Students Make

Confusing the two Aguinaldos. Baldomero Aguinaldo led the Magdalo faction; Emilio Aguinaldo was elected President at Tejeros. Read the question twice.
Swapping external and internal criticism. External = authenticity (the document itself); internal = credibility (the content's truthfulness). If the question is about forgery, it is external.
Treating "primary" as "always true." The lesson is explicit: primary sources carry biases too — Alvarez was a Magdiwang loyalist and still a primary source.
Mixing up the 1521 dates. Landing (March 16) ≠ first Mass (March 31) ≠ Cebu arrival (April 7) ≠ Mactan (April 27).
Attributing Plasencia's ethnography to Pigafetta. Pigafetta sailed with Magellan in 1521; Plasencia was a friar writing about Tagalog customs almost 70 years later.

Realistic 7-Day Study Plan

Day	Focus	Do this
1	The Meaning and Relevance of History	Recite Stearns's four purposes; build a two-column primary/secondary chart; drill artifact vs ecofact
2	The Meaning and Relevance of History	Memorize the repositories table — country, archive, and the one fact attached to each (1821, 1762–64, Seville, PARES)
3	Tests of Authenticity and Credibility	External vs internal criticism until automatic; Gottschalk's four credibility criteria; the Maragtas case
4	Tests of Authenticity and Credibility	Rules for disagreeing/hostile sources and the basic assumptions; say the "prosecutor, attorney, judge, jury" quote from memory
5	Case Study: The Tejeros Convention of 1897	Draw the faction map (Magdiwang/Noveleta/M. Alvarez vs Magdalo/Kawit/B. Aguinaldo); rehearse the March 22, 1897 sequence and the Alvarez-vs-Agoncillo source comparison
6	Early Philippine Chronicles — Pigafetta and Plasencia	Write the 1519–1521 timeline from memory three times; list Plasencia's key terms (Bathala, catalonan, maca, casamaan)
7	All four modules	Take the free 15-item practice set below under time pressure (20 minutes), then the mock exams; review every miss against the lesson

One warning: do not study the modules in isolation. The best prelim questions cross modules — for example, applying Module 2's criticism tests to Module 3's Tejeros sources or Module 4's chronicles. That is exactly how the practice items below are built.

Free Practice Set — 15 Items with Answer Key

Work through these 15 items in 20 minutes, closed notes. They are built exactly like real prelim questions — same modules, same traps. The answer key with explanations is at the bottom.

Part I — Multiple Choice

1. According to Peter Stearns (1998), a community coming to understand who they are through their shared historical experiences illustrates which purpose of history?

A. Moral understanding
B. Civic formation
C. Providing identity
D. Understanding people and societies

2. Archaeologists recover rice seeds, shells, and animal bones from an ancient settlement. None of these were made or modified by humans. These are classified as:

A. Artifacts
B. Ecofacts
C. Relics
D. Material evidence

3. Which question belongs to external criticism?

A. Was the author willing to tell the truth?
B. Is this source what it claims to be?
C. Is the information detailed and complete enough?
D. Does the account agree with other independent sources?

4. Louis Gottschalk described the historian's role as playing which roles "all in one"?

A. Author, editor, publisher, and critic
B. Witness, suspect, victim, and investigator
C. Prosecutor, attorney for the defense, judge, and jury
D. Reporter, historian, archivist, and teacher

5. Which statement correctly describes the outcome of the Tejeros Convention of March 22, 1897?

A. Bonifacio was elected President and Aguinaldo declared the proceedings null and void
B. Aguinaldo was elected President, and Bonifacio later declared the proceedings null and void
C. The two factions peacefully reunited under Mariano Alvarez
D. The convention drafted and promulgated the Malolos Constitution

6. Santiago Alvarez's memoirs are a primary source on the Tejeros Convention while Teodoro Agoncillo's The Revolt of the Masses is a secondary source. What single criterion drives this distinction?

A. The language each book was written in
B. The proximity of each author to the event — Alvarez was present, Agoncillo was not
C. The publisher of each book
D. The political opinions of each author

7. On March 16, 1521, the Magellan expedition made its first Philippine landfall. Where, and what name did Magellan give the islands?

A. Cebu; Islas Filipinas
B. Mactan; Archipelago of St. Lazarus
C. Zamal (Samar); Archipelago of St. Lazarus
D. Limasawa; Islas de San Miguel

8. What happened at the Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521?

A. Magellan defeated Lapu-Lapu and completed the conquest of Cebu
B. Magellan personally led the assault and was killed
C. Rajah Humabon repelled the Spanish fleet
D. The expedition lost all five of its ships

Part II — True or False

9. A source whose style and content do not fit the milieu of its supposed period is likely fabricated.

10. Fray Juan de Plasencia sailed with the Magellan expedition and wrote his account of the voyage in 1521.

Part III — Identification

11. The alleged document that historian William Henry Scott (1984) argued was based on suspicious oral traditions and fabricated written sources.

12. The person who challenged Bonifacio's qualification for the position he had been elected to at Tejeros.

13. The supreme deity of the Tagalogs described by Plasencia as "the maker of all things."

Part IV — Source Classification

14. Classify each source as primary or secondary:

(a) The diary of a Katipunero written during the Revolution of 1896
(b) A college textbook chapter on the Philippine Revolution published in 2015

Part V — Document Analysis

15. Plasencia listed the Tagalog religious specialists — the catalonan, mangagauay, and others — under the heading "Priests of the Devil."

(a) What bias does this label reveal about the author?
(b) According to the lessons, does identifying this bias automatically disqualify Customs of the Tagalogs as a source? Explain in one sentence.

Answer Key

1. C — "Providing identity" is Stearns's purpose about communities knowing who they are through shared historical experience; civic formation is about informed citizenship instead.

2. B — Ecofacts are natural archaeological evidence not shaped by humans; artifacts are, by definition, made or modified by humans.

3. B — External criticism tests authenticity (is the source what it claims to be?); options A, C, and D are all Gottschalk's internal-criticism credibility tests.

4. C — Gottschalk's famous line: the historian is "prosecutor, attorney for the defense, judge, and jury all in one."

5. B — Aguinaldo won the presidency; after Danielo Tirona questioned Bonifacio's qualification, Bonifacio declared the proceedings null and void. The Malolos Constitution (D) belongs to 1898–1899, not Tejeros.

6. B — Proximity to the event is the key distinction between primary and secondary sources; opinions and publishers do not change the classification.

7. C — First landfall was the island of Zamal (Samar), and the islands were named the Archipelago of St. Lazarus. Cebu came later (April 7).

8. B — Magellan led the Mactan assault personally and was killed; Lapu-Lapu had refused to submit.

9. TRUE — This is one of the basic assumptions in working with sources: a source out of step with its supposed milieu is likely fabricated.

10. FALSE — Plasencia was a Franciscan friar who arrived in 1577 and wrote Customs of the Tagalogs around 1589; the expedition chronicler in 1521 was Antonio Pigafetta.

11. The Maragtas — Scott's 1984 critique is the lesson's example of why the test of authenticity is necessary.

12. Danielo Tirona — His challenge to Bonifacio's qualification triggered the nullification of the proceedings.

13. Bathala — The Tagalog supreme deity who dwelled in heaven, per Plasencia.

14. (a) Primary; (b) secondary — The diarist was present inside the events; the 2015 textbook author reflects on them from outside.

15. (a) It reveals Plasencia's colonial-Christian missionary framing — he treated indigenous religious practice as idolatry to be understood and replaced. (b) No — identifying a bias does not automatically disqualify a source; it shapes how the historian interprets it.

Scoring: 13–15 correct, you are prelim-ready — sharpen with the mocks. 9–12, re-read your weakest module first. Below 9, restart the 7-day plan at Day 1.

The four full-length 30-item mock exams below, with fully explained answer keys and a traps drill, come with the subject unlock.