Turtle Soup by Marilyn Chin

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?

Explorations of the Text

1)      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 word “cauldron” evokes a bad image which usually involve with witchcraft in fairytales. According to this poem, that word connects the emotion between the mother and the speaker. The author chose “cauldron” instead of “pot” perhaps to point out the mother’s action of cooking the turtle to be considered as bad action.

2)      Chin refers to “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?

She tries to make clear of the background of her mother where she is from China instead of using other places which she was not familiar of.

3)      What is the tone of this poem?

The tone of the poem is anger where the speaker was unsatisfied with her mother’s action by cooking the turtle that symbolizes longevity as stated in the first line of the second stanza, ‘You say, “Ma, you’ve poached the symbol of long life;’.

Ideas for Writing

1)      "Sometimes you're 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?

The quote gives a deeper meaning in context of an immigrant family. It is not easy to live in a place where we are unfamiliar of. There were many reasons for the immigrant to travel to other places for example to follow their dreams, fulfill their needs and absolutely for a better life. The quote proposed that immigrants could live their life normally or to get a better life, they have to sacrifice either physically or mentally. False hopes and dreams were given to this kind of people by certain country such as United States. United States often called as “The Land of Hope” or “The Land of Dream” by those people who believe in the presence of opportunities in that country. However, a big country like this does not care about immigrants. Their own citizens were much more important to the country rather than people from other countries.

By moving to a new land, a family might gain or lose something that they have. Usually, they will gain a better living, a new beginning of life, and the second chance of improving their life. However, they might also lose something such as their motherland and their original culture. By moving to other places, it will be hard to adapt to the new surroundings where there is oppression by other people. People needs to keep their head up and be prepared mentally or physically of whatever things that might come into our life.

                                                                                                                                  

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note by Amiri Baraka

PREFACE TO A TWENTY VOLUME SUICIDE NOTE

By: Amiri Baraka

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

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

The mood of the speaker in the opening lines is depression. He is suffering from depression and lack of spirit. From the first stanza, the line “Lately, I’ve become accustomed to the way”, and “Or the broad edged silly music the wind” show the speaker’s feeling of depression where he uses the nature element in a negative way. It shows that he is stressful by his life and surroundings.

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

The daughter’s gesture of peeking into “her own clasped hands” is signifying the childish act of the daughter or any children who peeks their clasped hands while pray for God. The pure of the children’s heart hoping for their prayers to be answered by God.

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

The title “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note” means that it was just an introduction for a very long suicide note where it supposed to be just a short one. The title explains that the speaker’s intention of suicide was drawn back by his awareness of his responsibilities as a father to his daughter as we can see from the last stanza where he visit his daughter’s room and saw his daughter was on her knees praying to God. The closing line shows that there is still a glimpse of light in the darkness (hope).

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

Baraka separated the short lines as stanzas to point out the important message each stanzas have. He also tries to give a flow to his poem and to give a better understanding to the readers. With these stanzas, readers could follow the pace and received the message clearly.

5.      Why does Baraka begin stanzas with “Lately”, “And now” and “And then”? What do these transition words accomplish?

Baraka used the time transition words in the beginning of the stanzas to show the chronological order of events in his life. These transition words make the readers understand the reason he wanted to commit suicide, his feeling towards life and the incident that wake him up to the reality and responsibility which make him changed his intention.

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

The speaker feels responsible when he saw her daughter pray on that night. Her daughter needs someone to guide her to walk through this complicated life. She represents hope and love to the speaker which made him realize and wake up from his selfishness.



Source:-

http://michaelpotts.livejournal.com/5585.html

Incident by Countee Cullen

Incident
by Countee Cullen

Once riding in old Baltimore,

Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,

I saw a Baltimorean

Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,

And he was no whit bigger,

And so I smiled, but he poked out

His tongue, and called me, “Nigger.”

I saw the whole of Baltimore

From May until December;

Of all the things that happened there

That’s all that I remember.

Explorations of the Text

1.   What is the nature of the interaction between the two boys?

     

       Different of racism between two boys, includes prejudice to one another.

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

The speaker was taken aback by that incident where he received bad treatment from Baltimoreans. The memories are so complicated for him to forget.

The Reading/Writing Connection

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

      

      From my experience before, certain people are prejudice when I speak in English. They will point me out for bragging or showing off to the other classmates which sometimes makes me feel scared to speak before. However, I kind of overcome that problem because I originally speak English with my family sometimes.

Ideas for Writing

1.   What do its form and rhyme add to this poem?

    

     The poem is a quatrain that has 3 stanzas and each stanza contains 4 lines. The rhyme scheme of this poem is A,B,C,B.

2.   What is the power of language? What are the effects of the use of term nigger?

Language is so powerful that it could move a person’s heart either in a good way or a bad way. It could also change people. Nigger is a taboo word for African American people, so the term “nigger” could trigger a fray between the speakers which can become worst.

~Heartless~

HEARTLESS
Aisyah Manan (2013)

Listen! Not hear

The sound that grabs the ear

Of children who run from deathly rain

Of a nasty human’s game

They scuffle throughout fear

With a sound that are so clear

But still, a line of imbeciles

Pour the deathly rain

Both eyes met

The eyes of the innocent sparkled

But imbecile’s eyes darken the heart

Have a little mercy!

Dark moon shall no longer rise

Or else we will become crushed

By our sturdy fist

That changed by pride

Look into the tears

Shed by thousand prayers

Grant them oh flare gaze

How could you be so heartless?

                                                                                                                

Explanation:-

I wrote this poem in response to Shihab Nye’s “All Things Not Considered”. After my thorough reading of that poem, the word that pops out of my mind is heartless. Moreover, I also recall a song entitle “Heartless” and make use of a line in that song for my poem which is “How could you be so heartless?”. The overall poem is about the inhumanity of soldiers whom have no mercy when killing innocent people. If this kind of situation keeps on going, we could lose our humanity towards one another and we might not be civilize anymore.

"All Things Not Considered" by Naomi Shihab Nye (First Exploratory Draft and Notes)

In the poem entitled “All Things Not Considered” by Naomi Shihab Nye, the major issues discussed in the poem would be wars that happen in the Arabian country or to be more specific, Palestine. The poet describes the situation of war, where innocent people were killed without mercy in the name of holy religions of those who had the guns.

In reality, Muslims are symbolizes as terrorist because of religions. The oppression of religions was clearly seen in the poem. From the poem, we could see the direct choice of words and direct language used by the poet to convey a better understanding among readers. The themes that can be drawn from the poem are injustice, violence, death, inhumanity, misused of religions or believed and sacrifice. From line 9 to 12, the poet shows injustice of the death between two situations, good and bad situation. The sentence “could we have some new religions please?” shows that all religions are supposed to be kept in peaceful and harmony. Religion itself did not caused hatred and violence, it is the mindset of the believers himself that play the vital role in this situation. The misused of the religion makes the believer to oppress other religions in order to become holy.

At the end of the poem, the poet expresses her emotion which is longing for calm and peaceful day afterwards after going through suffering and hard times.

"All Things Not Considered" by Naomi Shihab Nye (Thesis and Mini Outline)

The poem was generally about a war that is really happen in reality which is in the Arabian country (Palestine).

The themes and elements found in the poem:

-          Injustice

-          Violence

-          Death

-          Inhumanity

-          Misused of religions

-          Sacrifice

Thesis: Through the diction and the imagery in the poem, the poet clearly portrays the injustice of war and conflicts in humanity.

Additional Notes:

The tone change from sad to dissatisfaction and longing for peace.

Gun is power

Religion is suppression

"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?

~Woman in Poetry~

Maya Angelou is an American poet, memoirist, actress and an important figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. She was born as Margaret Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. ‘I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings’ is her first work of literature. Her work reflects the struggle that she had in her early age. Maya Angelou had a very complicated childhood, where she had to face her parents divorced. She was also raped by her mother’s boyfriend at the age of 8 years old. Her personality changed from a joyful and active girl to a passive and mute one. This incident had given a major impact on her life. She was then helped by a woman named Mrs. Flowers to search for her pride and confidence she once had. Her bad childhood cause her to struggle with maturity. She found herself pregnant and delivered her son at the age of sixteen.

            We could clearly see that her background history did influence her work. She wrote her work with a twist of lyrical imagery and a touch of realism. She expressed herself in her work most of the time. Her other famous work are Still I Rise, Touched by An Angel, Phenomenal Woman, Rememberance and etc.