"A Date With A literary Scholar"

He is a great in poetry but really down to earth. He is teaching in English Literature. He is from Gaza. Who is he?

Refaat Alareer. Yes, a bit difficult to pronounce his name yet it is still a unic name. He is from Gaza, a literary scholar. I got a chance to meet this cool person in my class, for BBL 3406 and he suppose to give a talk and he did it very well! One thing I love about him when he says he is not a poet but he loves poem in deep. Lets go through about his talk on that day, 21/10/2013.

He began his talk with the introduction of Palestine, the background, culture and so on. He is even show the map of Palestine. He told how Palestine before and after the attacking of Israel. Then, he talked about Mahmoud Darwish, Tamim Bargouti who wrote the poem in Arabic but being translated into English.

Mr Refaat also gave share with us on how to be a good writer or poet. 

There are five techniques:

•   Read a lot of good and high quality poetry.

        You have to read a lot, and be influenced by the high quality poetry.

• .          Believe that you can write good stuff.

        Always believe what you can achieve and be confidence with your abilities

• .          Have the will to do so.

        You need to have the encourage to do so and the most important thing, be sincere.

• .          Scribble your thoughts.  Always

        You have to think out of board and broaden your mind. Connect one thing to our surrounding.

• .          Imitate.

        You don’t have to spend a specific time to get the good idea for your writing. You can get it everywhere       as long as you are alert. For example, you go to the café, hang out with your friends and you see an               incident. Next, you imitate the incident and relate it with your life. So, you get the idea from that and you       can start to write and elaborate your idea. That’s it!

Poetry by Refaat Alareer

There are 5 poems that have been read by him on that day consists of “If I must die”, “Over the wall”, “And we live on”, “I am you”, and last but not least, “Freshly baked souls”. I love this session because he touched my heart with the way how he recites all the poems. He read them so heartedly and he put soul on his reading. My favourite one is when he read “If I must die”. I almost cried because when he read the poem, it seems like I was in Palestine and I got the message. He convey the message very well. I must say this, he is great and I salute him.

“If I must die” by Refaat Alareer

For me, it is really heart-breaking poem. Setting in Palestine and written in sad mood are enough to show the violence happened in Gaza. Even though, they still have the hope based on the last two line “Let it bring hope”. The line “If I die, you must live” tell us not to give up so easily. If a person died because of the attacking, someone must continue the fighting to show that they are not the weak person who will give up easily. I agree with that because as for me, “Strong people are stand for themselves, but stronger person are stand for others”.

Mr Refaat also shares what is in his poetry. It concludes three things which are dialogue, performances and Palestine.

Last but not least, we did QA session with him.

1.       Who is your favourite poet?

I love John Donne. I like the way he write his poems.  I do hope that I will be able to do my PHD research on him.

2.       What was Gaza look like before the attacking took place?

The society has a simple life and the most obvious thing is, they love to plant. Education is still relevant during that time.

To sum up, I learned a lot of new things from him and it was a great talk and I wish I can meet him again. J

Poem during World War 1

Brief introduction of poems during World War 1.

World War 1 is associated with the so-called “war poets”. For example, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Rupert Brooke.

World War 1 did produce the poetry targeted the lifestyle of those who fought in the war or in other word, experienced the war.

The poets also came from different and varieties of religious backgrounds. The majority of this war poets were influenced by the “Georgian” poetry movement. The word of “Georgian” symbolize a king. 

So, they considered themselves to be modern and innovative.

Poetry during World War 2 also more famous and more read rather than any poems from World War 2.

Siegfried Sassoon,

Suicide in the Trenches

I knew a simple soldier boy,

Who grinned at life in empty joy,

Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,

With crumps and lice and lack of rum,

He put a bullet through his brain,

No one spoke of him again.

You smug faced crowds with kindling eye,

Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you’ll never know,

The hell where youth and laughter go.

Analysis of “ Suicide in the Trenches”

What is the meaning of war? What is war like? How do soldiers feel in a war?

When I first read this poem, I get confused whether the boy has been killed during war or he committed suicide. The word of “trenches” symbolize that not only depression possessed by one young soldier boy, but also by many others people in war. Perhaps the boy wanted to express his feeling about war. We can say that he willingly chose to commit suicide rather than live in chaos world, that full of war. He did not have enough strength to endure the hardship of life. So, he represented the depression and desire to quickly die. For him, life in war situation is really worse than death.

The setting

The setting was in frustrating, depressing, smelly, and stuffy trenches like what the title stated.

The movements of the story

This story is absolutely about a young soldier’s boy transformation. From a happy, naive and innocent person, he turns out into a depressed soldier. He was eagerly to end his life, because life is worse than death for him.

The character

The poet used psychoanalytic theory to attract the reader. He used the character of a small boy as an example to gain the reader’s sympathy and to put awareness among the reader about the war happened nowadays.

The structure and tone of the poem

It consists of three stanzas with four lines in each. The rhyme is A A B B. The tone for this poem is sarcastic, mocking and sorrow. We can see the line “You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye…”. Through this line, Sassoon tries to show that general public is unable to understand what war is like. He tries to say that nobody can understand what war is like without personal experience. He also uses the language which is clever in conveying the theme. This poem includes the balance of symbolism, diction and alliteration.

I put my favourite song, sang by talented singer from Philippines an title "A Note to God". She give her all out when singing this song. She expressed her feeling about the world nowadays and tries to convey a message which is what will she wrote to God to end the war if she had the chance.  My favourite quotes in this song are "I'd ask for war to end and for peace to mend this world" and "ends all the bitterness and put some tenderness in our heart". They really make me goosebumps and the lyrics really heart breaking for me. I really like this song, hope you guys enjoy it!!!^^

What is Poetry?

Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas. 

We used different style and rhythm when we read poem.

In other word, it is a quality of beauty and intensity of emotion regarded as characteristic of poems.

As for me, it is an art form which human expressing their feeling and to convey meaningful messages when they can’t speak.

Nature of Poetry

Poetry can be differentiated most of the time from prose, which is language meant to convey meaning in a more expansive and less condensed way, frequently using more complete logical or narrative structures than poetry does.

Quotations about Poetry

Poetry is just the evidence of life.  If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.  ~Leonard Cohen

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.  ~Kahlil Gibran

A poem is never finished, only abandoned.  ~Paul Valéry

Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted.  ~Percy Shelley, A Defence of Poetry, 1821

Poetry is a packsack of invisible keepsakes.  ~Carl Sandburg

A poet can survive everything but a misprint.  ~Oscar Wilde

"Therefore" is a word the poet must not know.  ~André Gide

What is Drama?

Drama is a just and lively image of human nature, which is representing its passions and own meaning.

Drama is the enactment of real and imagined events through role-play, play making and performances, enabling individuals and groups to explore, shape and represent ideas, feelings and their consequences in symbolic or dramatic form.

Drama is a unique tool to explore and express human feeling.

Drama is an essential form of attitude and norm in all cultures, it is a fundamental human activity.

A high degree of thinking, feeling and moving is involved in drama.

Drama is a discrete skill in itself.

Elements in Drama

·         the use of imagination

·         powers of creative self expression

·         decision making and problem solving skills

·         and understanding of self and the world

·         self confidence, a sense of worth and respect and consideration for others.