Exploration on Turtle Soup by Marilyn Chin

On the reference to Turtle Soup by Marilyn Chin


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 author might have chosen ''cauldron'' instead of ''pot'' because the word ''cauldron'' itself closely symbolized Chinese culture which explains in the text that the speaker's mother has a strong believe and stand in Chinese culture. 


2) Chin refers to "the Wei","the Yellow", and "the Yangze". Why does she reference these rivers in China? Why not include the Nile, the Amazon, or the Mississippi?

The reason why the speaker refers to rivers in China because apparently turtle plays a very significant role in Chinese society. Chinese society believe that turtle bring them in the pink of health. Therefore, it is fair to make these rivers of China as a reference rather than Nile, Amazon, or Mississippi which obviously very far from the culture. 


3) What is the tone of this poem?

The tone of this poem shows that there's a kind of misunderstanding and dispute between the mother's action and the persona. Growing up in a total different culture as the mother did, the persona believes that the mother's action of boiling Turtle Soup is not wise and irrelevant. Provided in the text, based on the argument they had, we can presume that there's some sort of anger and resentment. 




* The answers given by the Blogger are the result from the discussion she had with her group.*

- Denise
- Agnes
- Khairil
- Atikah
- Aida