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

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note - Amiri Baraka

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.

Explorations 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 sounds wistful and gloomy. The moment I read the first line of this poem, I seen a clear picture of the speaker in sad and sorrow. Provided that he was accustomed to the way.

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

The significance explains that the daughter still have faith in God and it shows that there's still hope in the daughter's eyes which probably the reason why the speaker/he do not end up his life with suicide.

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

The title is just an introduction of what's going on. Referring to the Text as it is a suicide note, most probably the tittle explain that this is just a foreword of what might coming next or the following notes. In accordance to the closing line, it explained that the suicide didn't seen to have happen yet. ''Her own clasped hands.'' might change the action or the destiny.

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

Baraka have three short lines, separated as stanzas because he tries to give a short conclusion of each transition pictures in the poem. Therefore the reader has a vivid images of what he's trying to tell. The message of the poem is clearly conveyed through foreshadowing.

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

He begins with ''Lately,'' ''And now,'' and ''And then'' because Baraka wants to tell us the story in a chronological order so that the message delivered closely to the reader. These transition words work very good. The message delivered clearly and strong.

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

Based on the Text, the speaker symbolized his daughter as the last hope he has or the only reason why he's living. The daughter also represents an infinite love he has for her which even his faith in God takes a back seat.

Countee Cullen (1903-1946) - Incident (1925)

Exercises on page 143

Explorations of the Text:


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

It was unfriendly approached. Not as what usually happens to ordinary little boys friendship. There's sentiment of sarcasm and prejudice.

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

The speaker remember nothing because the prejudice was just too obvious to him. He experienced nothing much rather than the race discrimination that he gone through. Indeed he was so young boy, he couldn't think of anything in bigger conflicts instead of what is clearly seen or experienced by him.

The Reading/Writing Connection


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

Throughout my life, prejudice has got nothing much to do with me. I might have encountered prejudice but it is surely not too obvious. In some cases perhaps just because I am Malay, so I was misunderstood as less smart and definitely from a lower class society. However I took that more to stereotypes that they have for Malay societies and just being typically sceptical.

Ideas for Writing


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

The poem is in figurative form and the rhyme is ABAB.

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

 Language plays a big role in two ways of communication. Referring to the poem, the word nigger did really  gives a huge impact to the speaker. This is because through language, we understand. Through language too,  we feel the meaning. The speaker wouldn't take it much affected if it was a bias glance. However, through  language, it contains clear meaning which interpreted through the brain which makes the speaker feel  irritated and injustice.