Marilyn Chin (1957-  ) Turtle Soup

You go home one evening tired from work,

and your mother boils you turtle soup.

Twelve hours hunched over the hearth

(who knows what else is in that cauldron).

You say, "Ma, you've poached the symbol of long life;

that turtle lived four thousand years, swam

the Wet, up the Yellow, over the Yangtze.

Witnessed the Bronze Age, the High Tang,

grazed on splendid sericulture."

(So, she boils the life out of him.)

"All our ancestors have been fools.

Remember Uncle Wu who rode ten thousand miles

to kill a famous Manchu and ended up

with his head on a pole? Eat, child,

its liver will make you strong."

"Sometimes you're the life, sometimes the sacrifice."

Her sobbing is inconsolable.

So, you spread that gentle napkin

over your lap in decorous Pasadena.

Baby, some high priestess has got it wrong.

The golden decal on the green underbelly

says "Made in Hong Kong."

Is there nothing left but the shell

and humanity's strange inscriptions,

the songs, the rites, the oracles?

Group’s leader: Annur Ezzati

Explorations of the Text

Notice the author’s choice of the word “cauldron” in line 4. What images or connections does this word evoke? Why might the author have chosen “cauldron” rather than “pot”

The using of cauldron is to show something bad. Cauldron in the first stanza means that the inhumanity aspect in the persona’s mother because she was selfish to boil the turtle. The son felt that his mother torture the turtle just to maintain the cultures. If we compared to pot, pot is nothing. It is just a common thing. So, the author use  the word of “cauldron” to show the bad side of the mother.

Chin refers to the “the Wei”, “the yellow” and “the Yangtze”. Why does she reference these rivers in China?  Why not include the Nile, the Amazon, or the Mississippi?

Because this poem is about the cultures in China. All those rivers was related to China. Nile, the Amazon, or the Mississippi does not related to the cultures of China.

What is the tone of this poem?

The tone of this poem are mocking and sarcastic. We can see that even though the persona tried to not hurt her mother’s feeling, but he was not satisfied with what her mother wanted him to be. The conflict here is when the persona either her mother cannot being tolerate with each other. The persona wanted her mother to adapt with modern cultures but the mother wanted the persona to stay with Chinese’s cultures.

Ideas for Writing ( not less than 400 words)

“Sometimes you are the life, sometimes the sacrifice”. Write about this quote within the context of an immigrant family. What might a family gain or lose by moving to a new land?

There are advantages and disadvantages when a family moving to a new land. Perhaps, in this poem the mother has moved away from her home country to a foreign one back then, she has lost some of her cultures, her China’s history, her relatives and even her son makes her feel like an outsider. She wanted to bring it back and make her child adapted with China’s cultures. But, the speaker was adapted with American cultures based on line “over your lap in decorous Pasadena”. Pasadena is something that originally came from California. If we look at the positive side, an immigrant family can gain the chances of better life if they move to develop country like American. They can get better education and enhance their knowledge. They will learn how to survive in develop country and compete with others. So, they can improve themselves. However, you have to sacrifice something if you want to move to a new land. For example, you might lose your identity. You will forget about your roots and where you came from. For instance, in this poem, we can see how the speaker forgot about his roots when he tried to be an American. He tried to hide the identity of Chinese by using a napkin of Pasadena. Like most Americans, he doesn't really have an identity. He just likes to pretend. So, he will forget about the Chinese’s culture. He was complaining about the mother killing the four thousand year old turtle for a turtle soup, but the mother just tells him to eat it. He did not want to adapt with that culture because he was adapted with American’s cultures. The most important part is, an immigrant family can make them isolated from each other. Because of misunderstanding and different point of view about new cultures, they might argue with each other which culture is the best. For example, we can see how the son tried to show the American cultures to his mother and how the mother wanted her son to adapt with their ancestors cultures. Both of them are trying to defend their stand.  We can see in this poem that the mother did not want to adapt with modern cultures while her son did not want to accept the old cultures. So, when this happened, it might give negative effects towards the bonding of the family. It would be difficult for them a good relationship.

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note 1961

Amiri Baraka (1934-)

                                                                                 For Kellie Jones, born 16 May 1959

Lately, I’ve become accustomed to the way

The ground opens up and envelopes me

Each time I go out to walk the dog.

Or the broad edged silly music the wind

Makes when I run for a bus…

Things have come to that.

And now, each night I count the stars.

And each night I get the same number.

And when they will not come to be counted,

I count the holes they leave.

Nobody sings anymore.

And then last night I tiptoed up

To my daughter’s room and heard her

Talking to someone, and when I opened

The door, there was no one there…

Only she on her knees, peeking into

Her own clasped hands

Explorations of the Text

What is the mood of the speaker in the opening lines? What images suggest his feelings?

He was sad, frustrated and became hopeless. He got used with his daily life. He used to live in the miserable and horrible. He was adapted to endure with that situation. The images that suggest his feeling are the sentence of “The ground opens up and envelopes me”, “Things have come to that” showing that he is not happy with the way things are, and that it does not seem to be changing. These statements seem so blunt.

What is the significance of the daughter’s gesture of peeking into “her own clasped hands”?

I found it was something about praying. Maybe her daughter was praying at that time and it was like there is hope for something to be better.

What does the title mean? How does it explain the closing line?

To be honest, when I first read this poem, I am not too sure whether it is about commit suicide or not.  Regardless of the title, I wouldn't think it was a suicide note. Perhaps, it is just like an emotional feeling towards this poem to show that the speaker’s life was too horrible like commit a suicide. It does explain the closing line by saying that “ Her own clasped hand”. His tone changes to. It changes what he was previously feeling. By seeing his daughter hold onto this hope that there is something better, he knows he has to make it better for her. So, we cannot conclude the poem is something about commit suicide.

What does Baraka have three short lines, separated as stanzas? How do they convey the message of the poem?

As for me, the first stanza showed the frustration of the speaker about his life. Then, the second stanza showed how the speaker feels lost hope. Lastly, the third stanza showed that there is still hope for the speaker to have a better life when he saw her daughter was praying. Every stanza convey the message with their tone.

Why does Baraka begin stanzas with “Lately”, “And Now”, and “And Then”? What do these transition words accomplish?

Baraka began stanzas with those words to show the power of language. The power of language in terms of literary text is to make the using of words more meaningful and bombastic for those who read the poem. “Lately”, showed the obstacles that the speaker went through previously, “And Now” showed the present of the speaker’s life and “And Then” showed what will happened to the speaker in his future life.

How does the speaker feel about his daughter? What does she represent to him?

The speaker felt glad to see her daughter was praying. She represented the symbolism of hope and strength for the speaker to have a better life in the future.

Incident by Countee Cullen

Explorations of the Text

The nature of the interaction between the two boys.

I defined it as a common conversation between two boys who did not know each other but it turns out to an unpleasant situation and made the changes of expression when the bigger boy started to call the other boy as a Nigger.

Why does the speaker remember nothing more than the incident, even though he stayed in Baltimore from “May until December”?

As for me, he was only remember about the incident because when someone called him as a nigger, he considered it as his bad experience with immature person and of course, he felt annoyed and insulted with that statement.

The reading/Writing Connection

In a paragraph, compare your experience of prejudice with the persona in the poem.

I was a student from SMA. Based on my own experience, during my secondary school, sometimes some people judge me as close-minded person. They considered me as a person who do not have social life and cannot communicate well with the outsiders. For me, that is a common phenomenon happened to any SMA’s student. Furthermore, our appearance also does make sense. They always assumed that people like us will spend time at the mosque most of the time. We will labelled as reading person and have lots of rules in our life. But for me, the boy in the incident had the worse experience rather than me. Obviously, it is a rude action when someone called someone else a nigger.

Ideas for Writing

The form for this poem is free style and the rhyme add to this poem is ABCB.

The power of language in terms of literary text is to make the using of words more meaningful  and bombastic for those who read the poem. For example, the words of “Heart-filled and head-filled with glee” meaning that happy feeling and joy. The effects of the use of the term nigger is it can cause racism among us. For instance, the dark skin boy feels offence when someone called him nigger. The word of nigger itself shows how certain people judge others people and make them angry. Furthermore, it can to bad relationship between each other. “Nigger” also is the most lethal insult in America.

All but Alone

This is a poem I created by myself. I got the inspiration from “All Things Not Considered” by Naomi Shihab Nye. I chose one of the main character in this poem, Mohammed Al-Durra as my inspiration. As for me, Mohammed was a brave boy, who stand for others. “Strong people stand for themselves but stronger people stand for others.

Always world chaos about war

But do you really care?

You, why you kill him?

Though you know, between diamonds and jewels

Life is priceless.

You, who do you think you are?

Declare yourself as a leader but useless

I doubt, it is real one for all,  all for one?

You, lied to me!

You saw he was killed

But others was his priority

Now, tell me “who is the real leader”

You? or He?

You own peace

He owns brave

But he deserves the best. Heaven.

First  Exploratory Draft/ Mini-outline

The first stanza

How I feel when war started. Everyone pretends to be a caring person but some of them did not do anything to help. Even though we know that life is the most valuable thing we had, but we ignore about these unfortunate people.( victims of war)

The second stanza

why a leader does not support peace? If you are a great leader, you will think the best for your country and people. Jewish was greed and power was their aim.

The third stanza

 I refer to the main character, Mohammed Al-Durra. He was so strong. Even though he knew that anytime he can die, but he still want to help others. So, he is the real leader and hero.

The last stanza

We are still live in peace but Mohammed Al-Dura won. He was dead but he already got the best place ever, heaven. (For being brave and fight with enemies)

Women In Poetry (Maya Angelou)

Why women wrote poems? In my opinion, it is just like a diary. When sometimes you can’t speak to express your feeling, you find out it is the best way to write it in your diary. Whether you write or speak, there is only one aim, to express your feeling.

Maya Angelou Marguerite Ann Johnson was born on April 4, 1928) is an American author and poet. She has published seven autobiographies, five books of essays, and several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than fifty years. She has received dozens of awards and over thirty honorary doctoral degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. Since 1982, she has taught at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she holds the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies. She was active in the Civil Rights movement, and worked with both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Since the 1990s she has made around eighty appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. One of his poem I like most entitled “Alone”. It was written based on her own experience.

Alone by Maya Angelou

Lying, thinking

Last night

How to find my soul a home

Where water is not thirsty

And bread loaf is not stone

I came up with one thing

And I don't believe I'm wrong

That nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires

With money they can't use

Their wives run round like banshees

Their children sing the blues

They've got expensive doctors

To cure their hearts of stone.

But nobody

No, nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely

I'll tell you what I know

Storm clouds are gathering

The wind is gonna blow

The race of man is suffering

And I can hear the moan,

'Cause nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

The poem entitled Alone, by Maya Angelou, is a personal reflection of what the writer has endured during her lifetime. The poem Alone reinforces the fact that all humans need interaction and cannot live all alone. This poem also tries to warn the readers that man is suffering and the time to heal mankind is running out. Maya Angelou went through a lot of trials and tribulations in her life which to me seemed like she was alone. Maya Angelou's poem alone is talking about not being able to make it alone. She speaks about the well to do and how the money will not help when you're alone. People need others. As for me, I would say that the theme for this poem is Interdependence. It is the same theme as "No man is an Island". Everybody needs somebody to love, live, help. Wealth does not the most important thing.  Love and relationship is the most precious thing in our life. We do need other people. Nobody can make out here alone no matter how successful they are. When we talk about its rhyme, "Alone, has no rhyme pattern or scheme, which makes it a form of free verse poetry. I also found metaphor in this poem such as “Where water is not thirsty, and bread loaf is not stone”. Metaphor is an implied comparison that made between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.

        All Things Not Considered 

by Naomi Shihab Nye

You cannot stitch the breath

back into this boy.

A brother and sister were playing with toys

when their room exploded.

In what language

is this holy?

The Jewish boys killed in the cave

were skipping school, having an adventure.

Asel Asleh, Palestinian, age 17, believed in the field

beyond right and wrong where people came together

to talk. He kneeled to help someone else

stand up before he was shot.

                                                                 If this is holy,                                                                   

could we have some new religions please?

Mohammed al-Durra huddled against his father

in the street, terrified. The whole world saw him die.

An Arab father on crutches burying his 4 month girl weeps,

“I spit in the face of this ugly world.”

*

Most of us would take our children over land.

We would walk in the fields forever homeless

with our children,

huddle under cliffs, eat crumbs and berries,

to keep our children.

This is what we say from a distance

because we can say whatever we want.

*

No one was right.

Everyone was wrong.

What if they’d get together

and say that?

At a certain point

the flawed narrator wins.

People made mistakes for decades.

Everyone hurt in similar ways

at different times.

Some picked up guns because guns were given.

If they were holy it was okay to use guns.

Some picked up stones because they had them.

They had millions of them.

They might have picked up turnip roots

or olive pits.

Picking up things to throw and shoot:

at the same time people were studying history,

going to school.

*

        The curl of a baby’s graceful ear.

    The calm of a bucket

waiting for water.

Orchards of the old Arab men

who knew each tree.

Jewish and Arab women

standing silently together.

Generations of black.

  Are people the only holy land?

First Exploratory and Notes

         “All Things Not Considered” by Naomi Shihab Nye is one of the most heart breaking poem. When I first read this poem, I was a bit emotional according to the first line of this poem. “You cannot stitch the breath back into this boy “which is means that life is too precious for everyone and once you lose it, there is no second chance. I believe this poem explores the flaws of religion. The poem starts out by asking “In what language is this holy?” after describing the brutal death of innocent children based on line “A brother and sister were playing with toys when their room exploded”.

          Naomi also stated that “could we have some new religions please”? In my opinion, religion themselves do not cause harm, hatred, violence or revenge. In fact, religion taught human about peaceful doctrine which is constructed to ensure harmony among people. The problem is when some extremist leaders distort their religion to ascertain their future power. I think that Naomi Shihab Nye does not necessarily misunderstand this concept, either. Have you considered re-reading the line “If this is holy, could we have some new religions please?” as ironic?

         I think most people do not put enough awareness for what happened to the whole world nowadays. For example, Naomi puts the characters named “Asel Asleh and Muhammed Al-Durra but I am sure some people do not even care about them.  The line “The whole world saw him die” but does it mean that the whole world really do care about this unfortunate children? Some might said yes, some might just ignored. So, if they do ask us, what will be our answer? Because, obviously we did nothing to help them.  My question is, are we really generations of black? That is all my opinion. No matter the situation, there’s always a different point of view.

Mini-outline and thesis statement

It is a kind of narrative poem, which is the speaker could be the one who saw the war, and it is historical event.

The narrator/speaker describes the bad condition of the world nowadays.

The tone of this poem: Horror, cruelty, sadness and curiosity because she left us with several question mark. For example, If this is holy,could we have some new religions please?

Themes: War, sadness, anger, life conflicts, women’s voice

Human’s conflict –innocent children was killed

                          -  -conflict between Jewish and Muslims (The Palestinians)