A Day With The Poet Mr. Refaat

It was a good sharing I guess from the experience poet like Mr.Refaat.

Below is the conversation between our classmates and Mr. Refaat :

1) Q : Who is your favorite poet?
    A : John Donne 

2)  Q:  The style of poem before the war at gaza? 
     A:  Same with other country. For example, love and so on.After the war,its  more to memories.

3) Q :  Do you stay in Palestine? Why do you write about Palestine?
    A : He lives in Gaza. To write a poem, does not have to be a person who in Palestine. Poet is used to the stories or retell by the others. He is actually inspired to write by his students.

4) Q :  The status of education at that place?

    A:   There are 5 universities. Majority the students are woman and less of guy. The ratio =3:2

           15 writers = 3man. 12 woman (active than guy)

 

5) Q :  What was the situation before the war?

    A :  It was simple. It was more to agriculture.

 

6) Q :  About the picture in the blog. Does it symbolize something?

    A : Yes. The olive oil represent the traditional medicine. Pick the olive is the best thing to do in that place.But,  after the war, they did not  get the opportunity to do it. Means spend time with family.

WORLD WAR 1 POEM : THE SURVIVORS BY SIEGFRIED SASSOON

NO doubt they'll soon get well; the shock and strain

  Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk.

Of course they're 'longing to go out again,'--

  These boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk.

They'll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed

  Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died,--

Their dreams that drip with murder; and they'll be proud

  Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride...

Men who went out to battle, grim and glad;

Children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad

 

___________________________________________

  In his poem ‘Survivors’, Siegfried Sassoon gives the readers a satirical and paradoxical take on war and its effect on the soldiers who partake in it. This particular poem was written by Sassoon when he was spending his time in the Craiglockhart hospital where he was forced into convalescence due to his strong portrayal of anti- war emotions. On arriving at the hospital he was diagnosed with neurasthenia and had it not been for the work of his psychologist Dr. Rivers, Sassoon would have paved a tragic path to his self destruction. (Anaida D'souza)

         1) 'No doubt they'll soon get well'
The opening line gives the reader a sense of misleading hope. The throw- away feeling emphasised by the assured 'No doubt' calls to mind the sinister complacency of "Does It Matter?"

          2) 'stammering, disconnected talk'
One of the symptons of shell-shock or 'neurasthenia' (as it was then termed) is a stammer, and a failure to string sentences together coherently. The conditions of some of the patients at Craglockhart are described powerfully in 'Regeneration' the opening book to Pat Barker's WWI trilogy.

          3)  'Of course they're 'longing to go out again,''
Again the disassociated, unfeeling voice make its presence felt. The flippant remark, suggesting that all soldiers were willing to return to the front, is typical of the attitude Sassoon perceived in the non-combatants at home.

         4) 'These boys with old, scared faces'
Sassoon contrasts the youth and innocence of the soldiers with the ageing process of the war. Yet, although these men are made old before their time, they are also reduced to infants having to re-learn such basic processes as how to walk 

          5) 'They'll soon forget...of friends who died'
On Sassoon's return to England in April, 1917, after receiving an injury earlier that year, his anti-war sentiments reached new heights. Angered by the attitude he perceived in the people who remained in England, and troubled by visions and nightmares in which he saw corpses littering the streets, he was moved to publish his famous declaration  against the war, which ultimately led to his spell at Craiglockhart.

           6)  '- and they'll be proud/Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride'
Again the poet presents us with a sense of hope, immediately reversed by a harsh reminder of brutal reality. The survivors, once they have managed to forget the nightmares and visions of their dead comrades, will then be able to reflect on the 'glorious war' with pride; but this, in turn, will remind them of their time spent overcoming the horror, when they had no self-esteem having been reduced to helpless children. 

            7) 'with eyes that hate you'
Sassoon ends the poem in an accusatory manner, no doubt directed at the supporters of the War, the people who can so easily push soldiers back to the front without ever knowing the horrors of trench warfare.

References:

*  http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/education/tutorials/intro/sassoon
*  http://theourownword.blogspot.com/2013/09/survivors-critical-analysis.html

POEM: ~ WHAT WAR IS ALL ABOUT ~ BY TETSKE VAN DER WAL

War is evil
War is the devil
War is between politicians
War is about religions
War is destruction
War is not construction
War is depression
War is an obsession
War is fighting
War is killing
War is sorrow
War is no tomorrow
War is explosions
War is confusions
War is blood
War brings tears like a flood
War makes you cry
War makes you die
War is death all around
War makes you die on foreign ground
War is fire
War is not to admire!
War is creed
War is between different breed
War is cruel
War cost a lot of fuel
War is amputations
War is mutilations
War last forever
I wonder if it ends in Heaven
War is only release
For those who are killed
It means 'PEACE'




______________________________________________________



From my opinion, we can know that the persona hate war. He keeps mentioned about negative things about war. We can see his negative opinion even from the first line, "War is evil". He also stated that all the war was caused by the politician can give a really bad impact, "War is an obsession ,War is fighting,War is killing,War is sorrow". He also seems mocking about some believe that trust who ever died in war will be placed in the heaven. He stated "I wonder if it ends in Heaven , War is only release, For those who are killed,It means 'PEACE' ".

~ :: POETRY & DRAMA ::~

What is Poetry?





 Poetry is  words arranged in a rhythmic pattern with regular accents (like beats in music), words which are carefully selected for sound, accent and meaning to express imaginatively ideas and emotions. Each poem

has rhythm, melody, imagery, and form.

There are 6 elements in poetry. They are :

                                                                        *     Voice
                                                                        *     Tone
                                                                        *     Theme
                                                                        *      Setting
                                                                        *      Imagery
                                                                        *      Figures of speech


VOICE:

One of the best methods of interpreting poetry is to define the voice, to discover as much as possible about its quality, mood, and concerns.From the voice, we can consider:

                                                                               # Who is the speaker?
                                                                               # What is the point of view?
                                                                               # What can you tell about the speaker?
                                                                               # To whom does the speaker talk?


TONE :

The tone of a poem established the mood of piece, the changing emotions of the speaker, or the persona's attitude  towards the subject. The tone can be sad, angry, shocking, nostalgic or humorous.


THEME :

 Every poem have its own theme. We can define the theme through its voice, images and symbols. Example of theme is such as time, love, art and death.


SETTING :

The setting in the poem is not just consider about the place,but it also consider about the time and the atmosphere.


IMAGERY :

Every poem must have the imagery.  Imagery is created using descriptive words and phrases to evoke a "mental picture" of the scenes (not so much scenery, actual scenes) in a book.




FIGURES OF SPEECH :


Expression that suggest more than literal meaning, present implied or direct comparison that give readers the experience of an abstraction or an emotion. For instance, metaphor, simile, personification, synecdoche, metonymy and hyperbole.




STRUCTURES


There are a few structures in the poem that we can see. For example, stanzas,rhyme and sound, rhythm and free verse.


Stanza : The lines of poem that divided into group or units.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadows, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more; it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.  

 

# Life's  Brief Candle by William Shakespeare

Rhythm: The indispensable elements that  distinguishes poetry. Four basic categories: Traditional meters, strong stress rhythms, syllabic counts and free verse.









WHAT IS DRAMA?

 

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

Elements of drama :  *  Character
                               *  Action
                               *  Plot
                               *  Setting
                               *  Symbolism
                               *  Irony
                               *  Theme







 

~ Turtle Soup~ by Marilyn Chin

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?

_________________________________________________________


Exploration of the Text:

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


This "cauldron" word is usually significance with the witch. So, this can be assume that the persona himself feel hesitate to eat this turtle soup because he does not know what are the ingredients inside. Besides, this might be cannot be accept in American culture which some places in the United State it is illegal to to capture and kill this creature.


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?

This is because the persona and her mother perhaps was immigrant from China, and this place is more familiar to them rather than talk about foreign places.


3. What is the tone of the family?

The tone of this poem is ridicule. The persona himself against the culture that his mother tried to maintain in themselves. This tone can be seen in "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."




Ideas for writing: "Sometimes you're the life,sometimes the sacrifice"


Being an immigrant is not an easy things. Some might think that this is enjoyable moment  since we can see new places and new cultures. But, have they ever thought that can we adapt with the new culture,new places, new environment and the most important thing is new life?  For some people it is very hard for them to leave their culture even though they have moved very far away from their motherland. For instance, most Malaysian love to eat durian and "tempoyak",but as we know these thing have very strong smell. So, can this culture be acceptable in the new place like in western country whom well known with their fussy behavior and hate this stinky odor? Some might accept and some might not. So, this immigrant need to adapt with this situation in case to be accepted in the society.


If we can see, there are a lot of unemployed immigrant. This is because many people thought that it is easier to get a job in foreign country rather than in their mother land. It is undeniable that some immigrant got a better life after they moved abroad, but no everyone as lucky as them. Some are getting worst compare to  their life before. They had to suffer and compete with the local people to get the job especially if they did not have higher qualification. Because of beautiful image that be told by people, they daring to leave everything they had without knowing the obstacles that they are going to face.


Relating the quote "Sometimes you're the life, sometimes the sacrifice" to the an immigrant family, "Sometimes you're the life.." means when we immigrate to another country, we may improve our life such as get the better  job, new culture and proudly be a citizen of that country.While the sacrifice is the culture and identity that one or in this case the family has to give in order to survive in the new land they called home or at least be accepted in the new land. For someone who had lived in such along time in one place and used with the culture, it is hard for them to just leave it behind after immigrant to other country. They have to choose either adapt with the new culture, or keep practicing their own culture  and willing to accept any perception from the local people. In the poem Turtle Soup, the persona's mother came from the Main Land which holds more than 5000 years of civilization while The States is a relatively new land. It is seems  hard for the mother to adapt with the new culture and leave the culture that she has been practiced for a long time.



Members: * Farid
               * Yvvone
               * Mira

~ 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

____________________________________________________

 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 is depression. We can see the images of  of his feelings towards the words  "Lately,” “way”, “opens,” “envelopes,” “go,” “wind,” “run".


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

* It is significance to the praying gesture. This is means that the daughter is praying to God ,hoping that her father will never leave her alone.


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

* The title mean the persona is going to kill himself but not soon. And we can see the reason in the final two stanza which are  "he tiptoes upstairs, hearing his daughter talking. “…and when I opened / The door, there was no one there…” These stanza give us the message that the persona canceled his attention to commit suicide after he saw his daughter.


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

* These three short lines means it is the conclusion for each stanza and what had happened. The message of the poem can be seen for example in line " Things have come to that" which it tells us that the poet have decides what he has to do.


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

* This because he wants us to look the poem in chronological order which every event took place. These transition had succeed to make me understand the poem in orderly.


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

* The speaker feel very responsible towards his daughter which she is the main reason why he canceled his intention to commit suicide. She represent the responsible that he has to keep on. Besides,for him to keep living despite the drudgery of other parts of his life. She is the one who loves him and whom he loves , means they need each other to survive.

~The Song of Freedom~

This is the song?
The song of freedom that can never be hear,
Only the sound of ruination keep playing,
This war is endless.

Sshh.I'm here for you,
Oh my dear,let me wipe your tears,
Your hand is too small,yet it holding such a huge weapon,
Where's the humanity that we keep sing about??

How strong you are to face this huge test,
You, are such an innocent child,
A bullet in your forehead,
Is that what we called as HUMANITY??

You deserve to be in the Paradise dear,
O Allah, please,please place all our heroes,
In the place that You have promised,
Which is the beautiful Heaven.

Aamin Ya Rabbal Alamin.

* This is my response towards  Naomi Shihab Nye's poem, All Things Not Considered. When i read this poem, my mind keep not stop from imagine how was my brothers and sisters doing in Palestine while i am here, in this peaceful country. So, i start google for the news in Palestine, and suddenly I saw the picture of a child with a bullet on his forehead. It makes me really upset and angry towards the heartless people there.