Turtle Sup by Marilyn Chin

Turtle Sup

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?

FOR BEN HUANG

Exploration Of the Text:

1. Notice the author's choice of the word "cauldron" in line 4. What image or connection does this word evoke? Why might the author choose "cauldron" rather than "pot"?

   "Cauldron" in line 4 symbolize the son and showed the love and sacrifices made by the mother. "who knows what else is in that cauldron" show an imagery of all the mother did for her son while his child is not in presence. "Twelve hours hunched over the hearth,(who knows what else is in that cauldron)" showed that the busy life of doing the job as a mother and who knows what his mother did for him when he is busy doing something else and i am sure it is something that good for his son. The chosen of "cauldron" over "pot" symbolize the son that need to be filled with love, knowledge and moral fiber. The cauldron is bigger than the pot showed the responsibility is bigger in the case of raising a children.
   But if you looked at it in a negative way, "Cauldron" in line 4 show an image of a large kettle or boiler to cook. It is also used in typical witch story or movie. The Witch portraying the mother who was cooking something unacceptable some of the society. The witch-act set the son thinking about what else her mother put into the cauldron because as a half Chinese, he doesn't believe in the longevity had by the turtle.

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?

   The use of these river's "the Wei", "The Yellow", and the Yangtze" rather than those outside the country is because it's located inside China. A well flowing local river that is easy for the persona to relate the point or idea rather than using the river that is hard to pop up by the imagination while discussing about it. It is also showed the wisdom of the turtle who went through the river and it's symbolize the experience gain by the turtle and directed us to the point of knowing the cultural heritage that the Chinese had and as a race that has it's legend.

3. What is the tone of the poem?

    The tone of the poem is considered as anger. It cause by the argument between the mother and son that triggered the mother to cry while standing their ground of opinion. The mother just want to light up the sense of living in China that have a sentimental value in her life while her son is against with the orthodox thinking and things.    

Ideas of Writing.

  "Sometimes you're the life, sometimes the sacrifice". Sometimes, things evolve around you. You were raised and gain experience by the day you were born on that particular place and see the world change. You made a bunch of friends and grow up with them. Make a lot of fun and sad memories that you shared with your family and friend at your birth place. That's showed that you are the life, of your family and friend while the earth spins around you like a symbol of the event that happen and you are the cause of it.

   But when you move to another place. You've become the sacrifice off what you have built up of all your life. You lose your friends, your daily habits that you built at the old place, you also thinking if you will be accepted by the new society and your old life. It is like what will happen after this will not include you into it, you will not be in the memories that will be made after migrate. That what makes you as the sacrifice. That is something you will lose after migrating to other places or land. You've been hit by a lot of negative impact but that not the end of your journey or the world.

     What goes around, comes around. But on the other side of the tape. Although you have to adapt a new lifestyle, situation, society and culture, you also will gain something even more precious and important. You will gain new experience, new friends, and gain new knowledge. At first you it's may be hard to find a friend, a place to socialize, to be accepted. For those who want his life to be adventurous, migration is the solution. Who know that migrating sets you on a journey to know more about yourself, to know the meaning of life. You also learned the true or value of a family and friendship. With that you can make your life better than before. Making new friend, find a new job, making new experience and learn to appreciate each and everything you've got.

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note by Amiri Baraka

PREFACE TO A TWENTY VOLUME SUICIDE NOTE

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

By

Amiri Baraka

Explorations of the Text

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

    Depression and lack of spirits are shown in the opening lines. The lines “Lately, I’ve become accustomed to the way”, and “Or the broad edged silly music the wind” showed the used of nature element in a negative way and pictured that nothing in the way could rise him up from the emptiness that his going through.

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

    The line  “her own clasped hands” showed a childish act by the daughter. It's showed the desire of the child who want her pray to be heard by God due her love for her father.

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

    The title “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note” explain an introduction for a very long suicide note where it supposed to be just a short one. Meanwhile the closing line show that there's still hope when he saw her daughter praying for a better future for the both of them. 

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

    He separated the 3 lines as stanzas because he want to emphasize the meaning of each line or stanza. For example the line “Nobody sings anymore” explain that there is nothing can be a tonic to give him the enthusiasm to live. Reader's also can analyze each line clearly.

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

    “Lately”, “And now” and “And then”? showed the order of her action, moment and situation. "Lately" showed his lost of interest to live on. “And now” told that his life is getting more worse that before. “And then” showed that he realize that life is not all that bad. There is still hope for him and his child. Baraka begins each three stanzas with “Lately”, “And now”, and “And then” to go over her twenty volume suicide note. 

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

    Her daughter is his ticket out of the misery of his life. He finally realize the hope by watching her daughter pray for the good of them. He felt the responsibility for the child and i think that he realize that maybe if he commit suicide and left his daughter alone, the child will also lose hope and eventually do the same thing he had done. 

"Possession du Ballon" by Ramdan Faudzi

"Possession du Ballon"

I've being kicked around,

For all my life,

Not by the cause of dislike.

I have been in Asia,

I was in Africa,

I am now in Europe.

I was known by the stars,

The one who created them,

And those who admire them.

I have been at the bottom,

I was in the center,

I am now at the top.

I've being pursued,

For the time given,

to have glory and fame in the game.

by

Ramdan Faudzi.

This poem is all about football. I wrote the poem after being inspired by watching the "Champions League" game last night. It is a poem about football who love by many and i think its easy to understand. There's an anaphor in stanza 1 and 3 and a lot of personification and of course symbolism. The first time making a poem showed my lack of knowledge producing it. I hope the poem is acceptable.

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?

   Discrimination is the interaction between the two. In stanza 8 "he poked out his tongue and called me 'nigger'" shows the racism offence because the word "nigger" is use to describe the black people in a negative form and show how at that time racism and discrimination is still shadowing the society. An act that the black people don't deserve the world.

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

   The word "nigger" have a deep affect on the boy who although he is still a kid. The human race are born with different varieties and that the beauty if it. Such discrimination has made the boy warp with pain while remembering the incident that made him feel isolated and humiliated although he stayed at Baltimore for a long time.

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

   I always experience the way one society treated the black people. When a foreigner came to this country especially those from the region of Africa. The society always whisper that those people are bad, troublemaker, thief, and many negative perspective throwed at them. This kind of prejudice is bad practice for the society because i have met some of these people and they are not what the kind that what have been describe. Some of them are very religious, nice and have high in moral fiber. Don't judge the book by its cover, learn to know them.

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

   All this form of rhyming in this poem were to emphasize the insults the persona gets while in Baltimore. It could also shows the reader about a timeline of his staying. At first, he was delighted to move to Baltimore. The word "me" to describe he is alone and might be in dire need of friends. The word "bigger" shows the size of the boy he met but he was insulted by the word "nigger". And, along his staying until December, all he could remember is the insults he received from the Baltimorean boy whom he thought could be his friend.

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

   Language is a powerful tool in the usage of life. Language is use for communication among humans. Although we spoke in different language for different culture, we can still understand the needs of each other and human can learn what other's feel. Language can connect us to be as one who shared the same air and the one world. But, the use of the "nigger" is not a good way to use your tongue. The word can trigger sadness and anger on certain race that would damage a relation that has been built up for all these years and leave a deep scar for years to remember. It's doesn't matter if you suit up in what kind of skin because human values is not base on that. It base on the personality and the things they do.

   

The Thesis & Mini-outline

"All Things not Considered"

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?

By : Naomi Shihab Nye

PART I : THESIS AND MINI OUTLINE

Thesis Statement :

Faith in Humanity

• contrasting imagery of the inhuman strike on                     Palestinians.

• In search of humanity and the obstruction of it.

• What will be proven if readers bites.

• Will restoration be if the readers see?

PART II : Exploratory Draft and Notes

   The poem "all Things not Considered" by Naomi Shihab Nye showed about the ongoing wars from decades ago between the Jews and the Muslims. War is not a way to settle thing."in what language is this holy?" showed that war was just a tool of destruction because gun pointing and boom throwing as written "A brother and sister were playing with toys when their room exploded" leads to death. Don't forget those who were responsible, because we can see the 'no one's thinks they are to blame' thing is going viral. Have humanity really gone bad? or did we not see that when we bleed we bleed the same. It is like the world come tumbling down for the Muslims when as they tried to rise up their voice and rights, and be free from desolation and despair but NO ONE (UN,America and mostly Zionist) wants to listen. "the generation black" showed the sit, sat by the Muslims now when each and one of them were drove out from their homeland, and living while breathing air filled with fear and panic everyday because "black" symbolize bad,horrible, and death. No humanity feeds for the innocents and still they say humanity in served.

Women in Poetry

Woman in Poetry.

'Women'...powerless,emotional, and just a 'thing' for Men.

But that was all in the past.

Now they've become powerful, attractive, leaders but still emotional.

Some of them become a poet...not just a poet..but an inspiring one.

Cast off their shell and became a literature figure that contribute in changing the world.

               the poet that i have my eyes on is:
                      Sharon Esther Lampert

Sharon Esther Lampert, is a world famous poet, philosopher, and educator. She is the Sexiest Creative Genius in Human History. She has a POETRY WORLD RECORD of 12 words of rhyme from one family of rhyme. In philosophy, she created the 40 Absolute Truths of "The Theory of Reality." In religion , she created "The 22 Commandments" a universal moral compass for all people, for all religions, and for all time. In education, she created the ACANDY Study Skills and she is the only expert in the country that can transform an F student into an A student. There are many more contributions and a movie is in the works, entitled, A Complicated Woman." 

Sharon Esther Lampert has a POETRY WORLD RECORD of 120 rhymes from one family of rhyme. She is a poet, philosopher, pioneer, paladin of education, pin-up, painter, photographer, politician, prophet, and princess. Her publications are too numerous to list. She has an international fan club. 

She is also a poet-in-your pocket activist, and there are hundreds of people walking around with one of her poems in their pockets.

One of poem that she wrote:

Success in the Twenty-First Century by Sharon Esther Lampert

Be Born.
Become Educated.
Love Your Work.
Make a Meaningful Contribution to Yourself,
Your Family, and Humanity.
Have Sex with Someone You Love.
Make Time to Read the Funnies and Laugh.
Save Enough Money to Visit the Popular,
Pretty, and Peaceful Places of the World.
Read Great Literature, Listen to Great Music,
See Great Art, See the Great Movies,
Play the Fun Sports, Dance till Dawn,
Taste the Great Culinary Delights of the World -
Eat Slowly, Enjoy Every Bite, and Stay in Shape.
Plan One Great Adventure and Stick to the Plan.
Enjoy Unconditional Love from Your Perfect Pet.
Be a True Friend to Yourself First, Make Love with
Complete Abandon, Leave Your Money to Someone
You Love - Who Loves You Back.
Die in Your Sleep.

Sharon Esther Lampert.

"My Life is an OPENBook, to KNOWMe is to READMe"