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 Wei, 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?

Cauldron means large cooking equipment that made from metal with a lid and handle. It is used for cooking over an open fire. In the poem, the author uses the word “cauldron” instead of pot because the cauldron is synonym with the use for making the potion or medicine.  The mother cooks the turtle soup for twelve hours which is requires a lot of time in the cauldron solely for her daughter’s health which is unacceptable by the daughter as in line 4 “(who knows what else is in that cauldron).”

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?

Chin refers to the Wei, the Yellow and the Yangtze as the reference because in this poem, the rivers are the important rivers that are significant to the Chinese identity.  “That turtle lived four thousand years swam the Wei, up the Yellow, over the Yangtze.” reflects the historical places in China.

3. What is the tone of this poem?

The tone of this poem is ridicule. The mother and the daughter have the argument of regarding the turtle. The daughter said  "Ma, you've poached the symbol of long life” as the mother boils the turtle because the narrator finds that the idea  is totally ridiculous due to her understanding in Chinese culture. She  believes that turtle is a symbol in Chinese tradition. In line 17 “her sobbing is inconsolable” shows that the argument between them has leads to the mother’s cries.

 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?

Based on this quote, mostly the purpose of migrating to another country is because in search of better life for the sake of family and loved one. In order to gain the benefit that they seek for, they have to lose on something precious as the exchange. They not only have to leave their homeland, but there is something more important beyond that, for example their identity. Sometimes, when an immigrant is moving to new land, they also have to sacrifice their culture in order to survive and accepted by the society.

The quote “Sometimes you’re the life, sometimes the sacrifice” in his poem indicates the fate of their culture when they migrate to certain country, far from their homeland, China to settle down in Pasadena, America. The author made this quote as a question of whether the culture which they have practice for a long time ago will be preserved or it will be fade away through the time In this poem, the mother cooks the turtle soup as the symbol of sacrificing the culture because she has grown up in China but then migrates to America. So, the daughter thinks that she has an important role  to keeping it alive by reminding her mother about their culture. Through this poem, the narrator emphasizes that the turtle’s fate as the symbol of Chinese tradition is unpredictable which reflects to the immigrants who still can practice their culture and tradition or it end up with the cultural extinction.

Group members: Farid (leader), Yvonne, Izu, Mira

Work cited:

Chin, Marilyn. "Turtle Soup." Portable Legacies. Eds. Schmidt, Jan Zlotnik and Lynne Crockett,
Boston: Cencage Learning Wadsworth, 2009. 419

Exploration of the Text based on " 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 envelops me

each time I go out to walk the dog.

Or the broad-edged silly music the wind

makes me 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.

image from http://fromthemommyfiles.wordpress.com/category/4-year-old/

Exploration 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 shows the emptiness in his heart. He feels meaningless towards his own life, causing him to not care anymore about the surrounding. the images in line 1 “Lately, I’ve become accustomed to the way” indicates that anything that he has done seems like a routine and did not bring happiness anymore in his life.


2. What is the significance of the daughter's gesture of peeking into "he own clasped hand"?

The significance of the daughter’s gesture of “her own clasped hand” is the belief towards God. When the speaker seeing her daughter is pray and asking the God to fulfil her wish when he is in the despair, it gives the impact towards him as he realises that there is God to depend on.

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

The title “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note” means the short introduction or foreword of the notes that the speaker has written. It explains the emotion of speaker in the closing line "Her own clasped hand" as he realises that there is still hope that left for him.

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

Baraka has three short lines, separated as stanzas because they show different of emotions highlighted in every stanza in the poem. In line 6 “Things have come to that”, the speaker feels ignorant for everything that he has done as he cannot feels the extraordinary things in his life. Then, in line 11 “Nobody sings anymore”, he starts to give up on his life. He is totally in emotional conflict since he not has any curiosity as before. The last line “Her own clasped hands” indicates the ray of hope on the existence of God that feels by the speaker at the end of the poem.

5. Why does Baraka begin stanzas with "Lately", "And Now", and "And Then"? What do these transition words accomplished?

Baraka begins stanzas with “Lately”, “And now” and “And Then” to signifies the speaker’s emotion based through time. At first, he feels there is nothing that the life can offers him as he feels the emptiness in his heart. Then in second stanza, he stops himself from being curious about anything that occurs in front of him. However, his feeling change as he saw his daughter prays to God in the third stanzas.

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

The speaker feels that his daughter gives him a slight of hope to continue his life. When she clasped pray to God, the act itself represents the existence of God to the speaker. Even though the speaker does not mention about the decision that he made whether he still want to continue to live or not afterward, he actually affected by his daughter’s act.

Works Cited

Schmidt, Jan Zlotnik and Lynne Crockett, eds, Portable Legacies. Boston: Cencage Learning Wadsworth, 2009.

Baraka, Amiri, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note. Schmidt and             Crockett, eds.

Exploration of the Text based on "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.

Exploration of the text

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

In my opinion, the nature of the interaction between two boys in the poem is based on racial context. The racial status at that time leads to the attitude of the Baltimorean towards the black boy. It can be seen as the Baltimorean is impudent by keep look at the black boy, poked out his tongue and called him “Nigger”. 

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

The speaker does remember nothing more than the incident even though he stayed in Baltimore from “May until December” because at that time he was eight year old and still young. The effect of being judged from the Baltimorean boy is deep in his mind rather than others event.

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

The Reading/ Writing Connection

The persona in the poem faces the prejudice act because of his race. As stated in the poem, the Baltimorean called him “Nigger” which is rude and intolerable. My experience of prejudice not based on race like what happened to the persona of the poem, it is based on gender. When I was in form 1, I was appointed to be a leader for my group in a science project. Just because I am a girl and my physical appearance was like 9 year-old child at that time, the members of my group, mostly they are boys, they act prejudice towards me.

Ideas for writing

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

The form and rhyme give effect to this poem as they clarify the tone of the speaker. For line 2 in the poem “Heart-filled, head-filled with glee”, it shows that the speaker is happy and bright. Then, the feeling is replaced with feeling when he sees the Baltimorean boy as that boy act prejudice towards him from line 8, “And so I smiled, but he poked out His tongue, and called me, “Nigger.”

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

The power of language in this poem shows the usage of offensive and confrontation words for example, the usage of “whit” which mean not at all. The poem shows that the Baltimorean is in the same size or should be in social status of the persona. Even so, he is being prejudice and not has respect towards the persona as the white power in that time is bigger. Next, the word “nigger” who means black people that is described in impudent manner.

Works Cited

Schmidt, Jan Zlotnik and Lynne Crockett, eds, Portable Legacies. Boston: Cencage Learning Wadsworth, 2009.

Cullen, Countee. Incident. Schmidt and Crockett, eds.

  

Blood Tears in Near East

This is my poem that is inspired by poem All Things Not Considered by Naomi Shihab Nye. It is a true story that happened in Palestine on March 22, 2004. The subject of this poem is not a child, but a respected person who fight for their nation and religion named Syeikh Ahmad Yassin. Near East in this poem's title is the another name for Middle East.

Blood Tears in Near East

That dawn

Call of prayer echoed to all corners

As the wind blows

And the clocks chime

Men rushed to meet their obligations

Pray for their family

Pray for their salvation.

The eye of radar

Hungrily searching for the prey

The rumble of the giant bird

Trailing like a snake

Prepare to attack with venomous poison.

As the target locked

The missiles are fired

Like fireworks

In luminous sky

Chaotic people who scream

While look at the bearded man

The respected person

Died in the blink of eye

They shed the blood tears

Bewail the death of him.

References 

Schmidt, Jan Zlotnik and Lynne Crockett, eds, Portable Legacies. Boston: Cencage Learning Wadsworth, 2009.

Nye,Naomi Shihab. All Things Not Considered. Schmidt and Crockett, eds.

All Things Not Considered - The Thesis, First Exploratory Draft and Notes

Notes on All things Not Considered

Category for the poem: Narrative

Point of view: Third person

Repetition: holy

Setting: Palestine, Middle East

Tone: Sadness, Angry

Thesis: The narrator describes the humanity issue by using the historical events.

Nur Amira’s First Exploratory Draft and Notes

In the poem All Things Not Considered by Naomi Shihab Nye, the poet describes the humanity issue by using historical events. Firstly, the brutality of killing the helpless children in Palestine as their room is exploded shows the suffering of Palestinians when their land is invaded. Based on the names such as Asel Asleh and Mohammad al-Durra as the evidence, the poet can easily conveys the message about the conflicts in Palestine.

The repetition of word “holy” in this poem shows the cause that leads to the conflict in Palestine. On the name of religion, people become enemies and it is always right to do anything toward others even though it means to kill. 

Other than that, the poet expresses her anger and sadness as her tone in this poem. When a father said “I spit in the face of this ugly world” as he burying his 4 month girl, he is angry toward the world because there is no one who really cares for their situation and help them to fight against the injustice. It also shows people who are silent and act only as the spectators when the poet describes “Jewish and Arab women standing silently together”.  

Women In Poetry

As we know, women also give big contribution in literary works over centuries with their own perspective.  

For me, my favourite poet is Anne Bronte. She also has known as one of the famed Bronte sisters that wrote Wuthering Heights. Anne Bronte was born on January 17, 1820 in Thornton, Bradford, Yorkshire, England. Anne was the youngest from six siblings. In 1824, Anne, with her four sisters entered the Clergy Daughter’s School at Cowan Bridge, near Kirkby Lonsdale. When Anne’s mother, Maria died there a year later of tuberculosis, she and Charlotte returned home to Haworth. Their father was a quiet man and often spent his spare time alone, so, the motherless children entertained themselves reading the works of William Shakespeare, Virgil, John Milton, and the Bible and played the piano, did needlepoint, and told each other stories.

They started writing of their imaginary world ‘Angria’, Emily and Anne writing of its rival, ‘Gondal’ as companions in their isolation. Around 1831, thirteen-year old Emily and eleven-year old Anne broke from the Angrian fantasies, which Branwell and Charlotte had dominated, to create the alternate history of Gondal.

Isolation, rebellion, and freedom were most the subject that she used in her poems. Other than that, Anne’s poetry was published, along with her sisters in 1846 under the pseudonym “Action Bell”.

Shortly after the deaths of her brother Branwell and sister, Emily in the winter of 1848, Anne Bronte died at the seaside resort of Scarborough, England, where she had gone to convalesce after a prolonged illness. She was buried there at Saint Mary's Churchyard on May 28, 1849.

Here is one of her poems which gives a deep meaning to me.

A Prayer

My God (oh, let me call Thee mine,

Weak, wretched sinner though I be),

My trembling soul would fain be Thine;

My feeble faith still clings to Thee.

Not only for the Past I grieve,

The Future fills me with dismay;

Unless Thou hasten to relieve,

Thy suppliant is a castaway.                              

I cannot say my faith is strong,

I dare not hope my love is great;

But strength and love to Thee belong;

Oh, do not leave me desolate!

I know I owe my all to Thee;

Oh, TAKE the heart I cannot give!

Do Thou my strength--my Saviour be,

And MAKE me to Thy glory live.

What I understand from this poem, a prayer is an important part in religious life. The purpose of prayer is to communicate with God by asking for His forgiveness, depend on him and express one’s gratefulness towards God.