The author uses excerpts from other books, poems and speeches within the novel itself or to signify the start of a new section of the novel.
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.[16]
- The Philippines by Jean Mallat.[17]
- Poetry by Jose Rizal.[18]
- President William McKinleys "Address to a Delegation of Methodist Churchmen"[19] which provides the stereotypical view Americans have had of Filipinos.
The novel refers to a number of major films:
- All That Heaven Allows[20]
- A Place in the Sun[21]
- Bundle of Joy[21]
- "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley[21]
- Florante at Laura by Francisco Balagtas[22]
- Rebel Without a Cause[22]
- The Agony of Love
- The Ten Commandments
The novel also refers to a number of iconic American figures:
Actor Page Number Shirley Temple page 88 Barbra Streisand page 76 Anita Ekberg page 87 Rita Hayworth pages 79 and 87 Audrey Hepburn page 237 Elizabeth Taylor pages 15 and 17 Elvis Presley page 222 Sal Mineo page 51
