My Faithful Overview

Finally, we have finish study on Selected Poems and Short Stories book. At first, it is quite hard for me to learn this literature book. This is because I’m not interested in those short stories and poems. But soon after that, I started to learn very valuable morals in these studies. Our dedicated literature, Mr Camillus is always giving his best in order to make us understand about literature. To make it more fun, he told us to do acting, made poem, and for sure, the presentations. This blogger is also one of the tasks that he had given.

Actually, between the short stories and the poems, I more prefer the poems. Why? This is because the poems are not as long as the short stories. This makes it easier to understand. Furthermore, the poems are also containing a lot of stories and moral values just like the literature. Absolutely, there is a poem that I like the most. It is Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall. I don’t know why I like this poem very much. Maybe I understand it a lot better than the other poems.

 Overall, I’ll hope things that I had learned all this time, will help me to understand the literature better and able to teach others it.

Literary Devices

1.    Metaphor and simile.

a.    Comparisons. A simile uses the words “as” or “like”; a metaphor does not.

b.    Examples: “He’s a pig” is a metaphor. “He looks like a pig” and “He’s as fat as a pig” are similes.

2.    Personification.

a.    Attributing human or other animate characteristics to an inanimate object.

b.    Example: Clouds cry.

3.    Symbolism.

a.    Using one object to stand for something else or to mean something else. Actions can also be symbolic, such as washing hands to indicate non-involvement.  Some symbols are universal, with generally accepted meanings, such as a crown to mean superiority or the color red to mean danger. Some are specific to a particular work of literature, such as the white whale in Moby Dick. Symbols, especially specific ones, often mean more than one thing.

4.    Irony.

a.    Conveys the opposite of what is meant or what would be expected.

b.    Examples: Saying “You’re so graceful!” to someone who has just tripped is verbal irony. A lifeguard drowning in a bathtub is irony of situation. A special kind of literary irony is when the reader (or viewer) knows something the character doesn’t. This is common in horror movies. An example of this is when the heroine runs to Jason for help, when we know he’s the slasher.

c.    Sarcasm is verbal irony with attitude, with a mean edge.

5.    Hyperbole.

a.    Literary exaggeration. Examples: Gilgamesh and Enkidu carried thirty score pounds of weaponry. I’ll give you the moon and stars.

6.    Rhythm and meter.

a.    Rhythm is the up & down, high & low series of emphases in speech. All speech has rhythm, and each language has its own particular rhythm. Meter is regular rhythm, as in poetry or music.

7.    Rhyme.

a.    Sounding alike at the end. Examples:  may—say, patter—matter.

8.    Assonance.

a.    Sounding alike in the middle. Example: moody blues.

9.    Alliteration.

a.    Sounding alike at the beginning. Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

10. Repetition.

a.    Saying the same thing over again. Seems obvious, but notice that the author has intended to do this, for emphasis.

11. Onomatopoeia.

a.    Words or phrases that sound like what they mean. Examples: pop, click. “The pitter-patter of little fee”

Main Entry:	literary device
Part of Speech:		n
Definition:		a literary or linguistic technique that produces a specific effect, esp. a figure of speech, narrative style, or plot mechanism

The Garden Party(question)

         What is our action when a fishmonger and a high-positioned person dead in our neighborhood while we are having a garden party?

         

           If a fishmonger who is our neighbor dead, the garden party that are being held should be canceled or stopped to respect for the dead. We must respect the dead because we must have moral values in living in a neighborhood. on the other hand, we should respect the dead because we do not know when our fate; who knows tomorrow or anytime, we or or our family will be dead and we will need respect from others.

          If a high-positioned person dead who was our neighbor, we should also stop the garden party. This is because me must respect for the dead doesn't matter their social class. The garden party can be held anytime but the dead will only be bereaved or visited for the last time.

          As a conclusion, we should stop any party or celebrations when there is a person dead in our neighborhood, abandoning their background or social status. We must respect for the dead as that is the last time we respect for them and we also does not know if one day, we might get the same case.

The Poem Suicide Note by Asian-American writer, Janice Mirikitani

Questions:

1. Why do people commit suicide? Provide example from real life.

     There are a lot of reason that cause people to commit suicide such as out of depression, despair, pressure, feelings of helplessness and being trapped etc. And in the case of this poem, the unnamed girl felt the hopelessness because she couldn't reach her parents' expectation to get perfect score in her examination.

   

2. What is Mirikitani agenda in this Suicide Note?

     According to Wikipedia, Mirikitani was sexually molested up to age 16. With her grandmother love and care, she was saved from committing suicide. She then portrayed this incestuous pain in her poem.

"I found that my wounds begin to heal when the voices of those endangered by silence are given power. The silence of hopelessness, of despair buried in the depths of poverty, violence, racism are more deadly than bullets. The gift of light, in our compassion, our listening, our works of love is the gift of life to ourselves."                                                                                                                

• Janice Mirikitani

3. As teachers, what is our role in insuring our students do not take their own lives?

• being empathy
•  aware of their students' changes in behaviors and detect the suicide warning sign
•  offer them help and support  
• care for them

    

Theme Analysis (The Jade Bracelet)

The main theme of this short story is filial piety.

            It is very well portrayed by Mrs. Wong and her dying mother. Different people may have different opinions on Mrs. Wong's relationship with her mother. Some may question on whether or not she is a loving daughter. However, in our opinion, we think that Mrs. Wong is more of a filial daughter. The reason why we think this is because Mrs. Wong is indeed a very responsible daughter. She is always there for her mother. She showed a lot of care and was a very devoted daughter.

            For example, Mrs. Wong looked after her mother even when she was in the process of dying. This shows that Mrs. Wong is a very filial daughter. Another example would be when she chose the best coffin for her mother.

            Apart from being portrayed in "The Jade Bracelet", this theme is also reflected in the other. Short story "The Disappearance" whereby filial devotion is shown between the protagonist's wife and his son. Although this theme is not much elaborated in "The Disappearance", as it is in "The Jade Bracelet", it still describes the relationship between the mother and her son.

POEM-That is Me at School

It’s very hard to wake up early,

In a very serene morning,

To take bath at the 6 am,

To dress up myself with school uniform,

And have to breakfast before 6.30 am,

And walking to the school 2 kilometers,

Away from my beloved house,

To meet new friends that I didn’t known,

To meet new adults that is calling as teacher,

To study new things that is very bored,

To learn Malay, English, Science and Mathematics,

That is very dizzy and mystify

I don’t know the reason I’m here,

In this crowded and noisy room,

Maybe because my mother wants me here,

Maybe because my father wants me to learn,

But for what reason I have to face this situation?

Why and for how long?

That is me,

My old me that is just 7 years old,

That doesn’t know anything about school,

That has to face the same phenomenon,

Every day in my Year 1 at school,

My old me that is only know to play, sleep, and eat,

And finally,

That is me.