Exploration of the text: ''Trifles''

2. What clues lead the women to conclude that Minnie Wright killed her husband?

The clues leading the women to conclude that Minnie Wright killed her husband are unbaked bread, half-cleaned towels, and messy stitching on the quilt. This showed that Minnie Wright was distracted by something in doing her daily lives activities. The quilt presents clearer evidence where Mrs. Hale found the other stitches was fine and tidy. Nevertheless, the most intrigued evidence found is the bird cage leading to the dead bird in a fancy box where the same way Mr. Wright was strangled, so did the dead bird too.

3. How do the men differ from the women? from each other?

The men were too confident of themselves which they underestimate the ability of the women. In most of the crucial points in the play, the men overlook the evidence as trifles. However, the women initially already had a separated personality into discovering the farmhouse compared to the men. Where the men were in the kitchen, and the women were at the door fearful and curious. The men missed the actual reasons of why and how the murder occurred. They went to the bedroom to look for evidence. In other way round, the women analyzed each and every possible clues which could be the evidence for the murder such as the condition of the jars, the telephone, the apron, and the bird cage itself.

4. What do the men discover? Why did they conclude "Nothing here but kitchen things"? What do the women discover?

The men discover nothing but the dead body in the bedroom strangled. They concluded that nothing in the kitchen but only some kitchen things because the men overlook the evidence. They missed the clues where they thought Mrs. Wright was not skilled enough to take care a home. However, the women discovered all the clues which leading to the evidence and found a strong clue (dead bird) which can be the most significant evidence of the murder.

Susan Glaspell: About the author

Susan Glaspell (1876-1948), America's first modern woman playwright, winner of the 1931 Pulitzer Prize for drama, one of the most respected novelists and short story writers of her time, and a central figure in the avant-garde movement in Greenwich Village between 1913 and 1922.

In her own life she explored uncharted regions, breaking new ground for women; and in her writing she created undaunted, idealistic women characters who became models for future feminist writing. Her depictions of women's struggles for self definition and her visions of a more egalitarian America are still pertinent today.

Born in Davenport, Iowa, just as America entered its second century, Glaspell took her cue from her pioneering grandparents as she sought to rekindle their spirit of adventure and purpose. A social and cultural critic by age eighteen, she worked her way through university as a news reporter, and then turned to fiction. In the bohemian Greenwich Village community, she was a charter member of the Liberal Club, its social and cultural center, and Heterodoxy, the radical organization for women.

Her most important contribution was her work with the Provincetown Players, the first indigenous American theatre company, which she helped found. Her plays established a different type of drama on the American stage, offering new dramatic forms and focusing on pressing social and political issues, particularly the roles of women in society. Although frail and ethereal, Glaspell was a determined rebel throughout her life, willing to speak out for those causes in which she believed and willing to risk societal approbation when she found love.

"Out there—lies all that's not been touched—lies life that waits," Claire Archer says in The Verge, her most experimental play. The biography of Susan Glaspell is the exciting story of her personal exploration of the same terrain—toward the verge.




Notable works:

1. Alison's House; (Drama)
2. Trifles (Drama) - (adapted into a short story of "A Jury of Her Peers"); 
3. Fidelity; (Novel)
4. The Verge; (Drama)
5. Inheritors (Drama)

http://www.eoneill.com/references/x01250.htm
http://qctimes.com/news/local/education/susan-glaspell-s-writings-found-in-davenport-schools-museum/article_cb8a2084-6b33-5828-9250-daa233181a67.html
http://college.cengage.com/english/kalaidjian/understanding_lit/1e/students/drama/glaspell.html
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=The+Verge+A+Play+in+Three+Acts+by+Susan+Glaspell+2012+Paperback&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

A Date with a Literary Scholar: Refaat Alareer

- Mr. Refaat: The tallest guy in a plain blue shirt, Our Lovely Dr. Haslina: First standing from the right -

Very much lucky to meet Mr. Refaat Alareer who is a well-rounded person, he wrote numbers of poem about his mother country. He is also a teacher, a father of two kids and a scholar. Mr. Refaat is a Palestinian. He is currently doing his doctorate in Malaysia. One of my favourite poems would be ''O'Live Tree''. Why? Because some says that ''Poem makes the words dance'', and I find this poem is very beautiful, yet the words really danced :) Full of metaphors which is one of the elements interest me to look at to every poem i read. 

O, beat me more.

Hit me with your sticks;

Step on my leaves

Smother my twigs under your boots

Like how you always do.

The beating I bear;

The humiliation, I do not care

But take me not,

Steal me not.

Even if I burn,

Here I belong

And to them I shall return.

***

If you hear my talk,

You may feel my pain

But you belong not here:

You do not even know

How to touch me,

How to gently squeeze me,

How to hug me,

How to wipe off the dust,

When I am ripe,

And when I am not,

When I need water,

And when I do not,

And how to pick me

Like how they always do.

***

Your smell and heavy boots

And the metal on your backs

And your metal bars!

For God’s sakes who on earth olives picks

With metal bars for sticks?

***

But I ramble again.

Because you won’t understand

And if you understood me,

You would not, in the first place,

Be here.

***

You come and go.

I see you once or twice a year

With either flames or sticks

And I weep for the rest of the year.

But one day

My twigs shall grow,

The oil shall flow,

My people shall glow,

And you, you will go.

- Refaat Alareer

http://thisisgaza.wordpress.com/

What's inside Mr. Refaat Alareer poems...?

• Dialogue
• Performance/Drama
• Palestine

Mr. Refaat Alareer poems:

1. If I Must Die
2. Mustafa's Only Care
3. Land Day poem 'O, Earth'
4. Over The Wall
5. And Gaza lives on..
6. Mom
7. When I Stoop
8. O'Live Tree
9. I am You
10. Freshly Baked Souls

Famous Palestinian writers:

• Mahmoud Darwish
• Tamim Bargouti
• Rafeef Ziadah
• Susan Abulhawa
• Remi Kanazi

From World War I to contemporary poems

The First World War, originally called the Great War, raged from 1914 to 1918. Mostly fought in western Europe in muddy, bloody trenches, World War I saw the introduction of the machine gun and poison gas into battle. Great Britain and France was the most powerful country. Sadly happened to kill unintended victims.

Poets in the period:

1. Jesse Pope
2. Julian Grenfell
3. Owen Seaman
4. Wilfred Owen
5. Isaac Rosenberg
6. Siegfried Sassoon

--> Most of the poems talk about death, suffering faced by the army, hopeless, patriotism, humanity approach, and also sense of religion.

http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111ww1.html

http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwari/World_War_I.htm

What is poetry? What is drama?

Poetry:

There are as many definitions of poetry as there are poets. Wordsworth defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings;" Emily Dickinson said, "If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry;" and Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: "Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing."

http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/poetry/a/poetry.htm

Drama:

Drama is a word of Greek origin meaning "action" and referring to a performance on the stage in which actors act out the events and characters of a story. A dramatic work is usually called a play, but if you want to specify what type of drama it is, you can call it a comedy, a. tragedy, a farce or tragicomedy or other names. As wel1 as a play, drama usually involves a playwright or dramatist, that is, the author of the play; a stage, that is, the area in a playhouse or theatre where the play is performed; an audience, that is, the people who go to the theatre to watch the performance.

http://digilander.libero.it/mgtund/what_is_drama.htm

Ideas for Writing - Turtle Soup by Marilyn Chin

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?

The quote “Sometimes you’re the life, sometimes the sacrifice” conveys a couple of messages and meanings. Referring to the text, within the context of an immigrant family, the quote explains that sometimes you get what you want but some other time you might lose something. By moving to a new land an immigrant family might have to lose their culture. As referred to the text, the persona immigrated to America which is he brings his Chinese culture along with him but he is somehow to say, has to adapt with the Western culture though. Meaning, a fully practice of Chinese culture in America is most probably not applicable. This is where the quote obviously works. Living up in America offers the persona to get used to the Western culture where he believes that the ancient tradition, culture, and believes of the Chinese in China of Turtle Soup is irrelevant to extend of the modern era. This is because the Western is not familiar with exotic food. For them, medical sciences are more relevant nowadays. However, the mother who growing up in the Chinese culture yet still has faith in believing what the ancient did. The mother boiled Turtle Soup for twelve hours and never doubted the power of how much goodness and healthiness she can get from the Turtle Soup.

However, in relation of what an immigrant family might gain by moving to a new land could be explained in the sense of knowledge and experience. To immigrate means to experience a new things, new places, and new knowledge. The persona is living in America but that doesn’t mean it is a bad thing if he didn’t fully practice Chinese culture. Somehow he is adapting the new culture which is the Western culture where he gains new knowledge and experience of new places and new peoples which he wouldn’t get in China. This is why to get something you might have to lose something in return. This is also where the pros and cons depicts when you moving to a new land. Therefore, the way of how the persona expresses himself in the text could be claimed wise and logic. No matter how rich ones culture is, but by the moment you immigrate, changes does takes place.

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