Poetry Analysis 2

2. Poets often include in their poems places that evoke strong emotion. In the work of ONE poet you have studied, show how settings in poems have been connected to the presentation of feelings.
      Emily Dickinson is an American poet who lives as a recluse, a kind of completely isolation from the outside world, throughout her life. When I read her poem, “A narrow Fellow in the Grass”, I wonder is the word “Grass” here really the “grass” in nature? The unexpected setting of the poem she comes up right at the beginning attracted my attention. 

      To start the poem, the speaker tells an interesting encounter with “a narrow Fellow” in the  grass, which immediately gives me a kind of feeling of the author’s longing for being closed to the nature. Instead of calling this fellow “it”, the speaker regards this fellow as “him” at first, which somehow more vividly gives the readers a first impression. 

      Then, in the following stanzas, the speaker offers more descriptions about the “him” in the grass by using metaphor and simile. “The Grass divides as with a Comb.” Same with what Emily does in the first stanza, she specifically capitalizes the word “Grass”, which heightens the setting of the poem. In addition, she also capitalizes the word “Comb”. I guess the comb here must be used to describe the “Fellow”, which refers to the metaphor. Same in the next line, the capitalized word “Shaft” also means to the “Fellow”. Instead of directly telling the readers what is the “Fellow”, the speaker chooses to keep being mysterious. But in the following line, she gives us a hint, “it closes at your Feet,” it must be a kind of animal that is able to move rather than a thing. When I read here, I know that must be a snake. And then, surprisingly, “a Boy” and “Barefoot I” appear. It is hard to judge whether these two characters are real or not because of the author’s special reclusive way of living. In my opinion, these are more likely what Emily imagines in her mind, which more effectively expresses her feelings of yearning for nature. She hopes that she can go outside, stepping on the grass with barefoot. 

      Approaching the end of the poem, the speaker makes a turning point. Instead of keeping talking about the snake, she says, “Several of Nature’s People I know, and they know me I feel for them a transport of Cordiality.” As what I have mentioned about her longing for nature, she expresses her love to the nature as well as some living things. But unexpectedly, in the last stanza, the positive and warm tone of the poem makes a great change. I could feel from the words “never”, “alone”, “tighter Breathing”, “Zero” and the “Bone”, which create a noticeable chill and fear. 

      Somewhat surprisingly, the speaker expresses her fear of the snake in the grass at the end of the poem at the same time with presenting her love toward somethings in the nature. In my opinion, the setting of the poem, the grass, is a symbol of the outside world here, and the snake must be someone or something of which the speaker is afraid. Although sometimes, Emily also long for freedom and those beautiful things in the nature, that “snake” makes her choose to stay away. 

Poetry Analysis

1. Ancestors, parents, children. The connections and oppositions among these groups often provide interesting material for poets. In the work of ONE poet you have studied, examine the means by which such relationships have been explored.

  With growing up in a different cultural environment, Naomi Shihab Nye has experienced a long journey of self-exploration. On the way of this journey, her grandmother has been like a mentor, a friend, and a constant companion, who used her wealth of experiences to accompany Naomi grow up. The Words Under the Words is such a poet, in which Naomi expresses her feelings of admiration, love and longing to her grandmother through the descriptions of details of life. 

  From the first two stanzas, I can read the author’s admiration toward her grandmother despite the fact that her grandmother is a farmer and illiterate. In the first stanza, Naomi tells the readers her grandmother’s “magical hands”, which not only can know when the grapes mature but also which goat is the newborn baby by feeling its skin. After showing her grandmother’s rich experiences, she describes their closed relationship. In those days when she was sick, her grandmother used her hands to comfort her with gently covering her head. Then, in the second stanza, she introduces that her grandmother is also a baker. But rather than a baker, her grandmother is also a great mother who had been waiting for the messages from her son. Her son might be soldier who was sent to the war or migrated to another place in seeking for a better life.  I guess the loving image of her grandmother and their closed relationship is one of the reasons that enables the author to not only appreciates but embrace those gaps between different cultures later in her lives.

  Naomi’s reliance on her grandmother not only has an influence to her own personalities but also her belief. In the last stanza, from authors’ words, we know that her grandmother believes in Allah, and often tells her stories about Joha in her childhood. The word “Allah” is the Arabic word of “God”. As we know Naomi is not familiar with Arabian culture at first, her grandmother is like one of the only accesses for her to get information about Arab. More important than the cultures that her grandmother tells her, she also learns many significant lessons. The last sentence of the poem, is a direct quote from her grandmother, “Answer, if you hear the words under the words — otherwise it is just a world with a lot of rough edges, difficult to get through, and our pockets full of stones.” After describing all those beautiful memories with her grandmother, the author ends her poem with one lesson that she was taught: stay away from the appearance, think deeper, do not just be blinded by the surface of things. 

  A kind of dependent and closed relationship between the author and her grandmother is completely demonstrated in this poem. Every aspect of Naomi’s personalities or identity all can be traced back to some specific details of her grandmother’s life. 

Stage Proposal

  In transferring the story My Love My Love to the stage, I would like to express the theme of fate and magnify the gap between the rich and peasants through the play.  
  First of all, the stage would be divided into two parts and a “nonexistent” third part. The left stage is where the peasants live and the right stage is where the rich live. Thus, there will be two background boards at the back. On the left side, the board would be painted with arid land, the winds, and the bare hill in the distance. Those actors who play the peasants would wear loose and torn sweaters with tucked into pants, and pretend to be farming at the beginning of the play. In contrast, on the right side, which is the second part of the stage, is where the rich live. There will be a painting of glorious, brilliant and magnificent on the background. The stage would be set up in the dinning room where Daniel Beauxhomme and his father is having an extravagant meal. The concept of the whole decoration at the right stage would be gold, bright and luxury. Start with such huge contrast, it will give the audience a shock at first. The audience would immediately get the information of the insurmountable and unfair gap between the rich and poor in the first time. Otherwise, if the rich and poor were not put on the stage together but separate scenes, the contrast would not be very intense to the audience. In addition to these, there is also another important third part. Instead of directly shown on the stage, the third part would be presented by sounds, the sounds of the four gods. Gods absolutely play a very significant role in the text, which refers to the theme fate. They have different powers with controlling different things in the world. If there is a social level in the society of My Love My Love, I would say they are at the highest level. In order to show their sacred and unapproachable image, I would not let any actor to play them but only tell the audience their existence through the sounds. Therefore, the play would start with such image: peasants are farming very hard at the left stage; the rich people are enjoying a fantastic meal; the gods are talking about the past sins which had done by human “outside the stage”.  
  More than that, costumes and lightning are also very crucial elements of the play. As what I have mentioned a little bit above, for the peasants, they would wear some kinds of old, torn and loose sweaters or shirts at the top with tucked into their same old and loose pants but without wearing shoes. The colors of their clothes would mainly be brown, yellow or dark colors. However, the protagonist Désirée would instead wearing a white dress. But the dress is also very old and torn with many patches. In contrast, those rich people, Daniel Beauxhomme and his father would both wear a classic suit, a watch and a pair of shinny loafers. Daniel’s father also can wear a pair of god-rimmed glasses. In terms of lightning, such contrast would be presented as well. The light at the right stage would absolutely be very bright but the light at the other side would be darker.  
  From the stage design to the costumes, all of these would strongly heighten the gap between rich and poor. 

In-class Writing

Costumes: 

      > the other villagers: 

           both for men & women: 

                - women would basically wear the same clothes as men because they all have many works to do (farming) so that they would not wear something like a dress 

                - wearing a towel on their head (keep sweating); loose and comfortable sweaters or shirts with tucked into loose pants [basically like what showed in the following figure but without wearing shoes]

      > Désirée: 

            Different from all the others, she would wear a dress. The dress might be with some patches on it and very old since she keeps growing up. She has to sew the dress by herself. She also not wears any shoes. 

Duality in Ti Moune v.s. Community of villagers

Ti Moune v.s. Community of villagers 

    - "I now belong in the big city"
       When M. Bienconnu asks her to tell Mama Euralie what she wants to do because she has experienced many great storms, and she can give her some counsels as her "adoptive mother", she refuses. She has already drew a line between her and the other villagers (even her mom); she now thinks that her mind is with the man in the big city. She no longer belongs to here.
    - "History has cast our fate in stone."
      "Her fate! What nonsense."
       Lead by M. Bienconnu, all the villagers here must be the people who submit to their fate. They suffer all the things that gods give to them without ever thinking about to rebel. However, Ti Moune is not such obedient person. From the moment when she dares to dream or when she is the only one who steps forward and saves the man, she never submits to such fate. Although his words might chill her or give her a shock, she still wants to go to the city and find the man. She thinks that she is different than all the people who live here.

The Five Senses

↪ Sight:
        p. 25 "and as she did she saw a papillon --- blue and silver, startlingly lovely --- winging on an overhanging branch."
        p. 31 "As she sang, dozens of lamps appeared, dotting the dark night, some coming down from the hill, others approaching along the road."
        p. 32 "By the light of the lamps, the peasant girl looked down into them --- strange eyes, gray eyes. How loverly against his bronze skin. A grand homme. Such a handsome grand homme."
        p. 39 "Ti Moune, there's work to be done. Only a rock is so blind as to guard only the earth on which it sits."
        p. 40 "One day she entered the hut to find that the man's eyes were open. He looked from her to stare around the mud hut."
                 "The following day his eyes we're open again when Désirée entered the hut. This time he recognized her, showed gladness to see her."

↪ Hearing
        p. 14 "The old woman sounded a note of warning at the girl's excitement."
        p. 21 "As she listened to the camionettes passing on the road, to the croaking frogs, the rasping crickets, and the hooting birds in the woods ... "
        p. 25 "Dusk fell. Silence settled. Insects rasped."
        p. 31 "As she sang, dozens of lamps appeared, dotting the dark night, some coming down from the hill, others approaching along the road."
        p .45 "She listened to the wind, the rain, and the thunder outside, alert for other sounds of danger. Inside, all was still. The silence lulled her, lulled her, lulled her ... "

↪ Taste
        p. 15 "She dipped a gourdful and took it over to Mama Eurasia. The old woman drank some. The peasant girl drank the rest."
        p. 21 "She knew that nothing in the world could compare with the sweet softness of pure brook water."
        p. 35 "She brewed teas to stop his bleeding from inside ... "
        p. 44 "Wasn't rain the nectar of gods?"
        p. 49 "We know how harsh the sun has been, now feel how sweet it is."

↪ Smell
        p. 30 "Where were those who always knew of, or heard of, or sensed tragedy even before tragedy presented itself?"
        p. 44 "A smell of death invaded the cabin through his festering sores."
                 "On the fourth day of the storm an old woman, weakened by the smell of rotting flesh ... "  
        p. 46 "The sense of evil he had brought permeated the cabin."
        p. 51 "Seeing his son lying wet and pale on the mat on the muddy floor, smelling the stench of his rotting flesh, the silver-haired father cried ... "

↪ Touch
        p. 21 "She passed her hands over her body, enjoying the feel of her skin."
        p. 30 "Once again Désirée reached through the window to touch the stranger, this time to comfort him, to let him know that he had no need to fear." She moved her hands gently over his face, his forehead, his hair.
        p. 44 "He shivered. She lay beside him and took him in her arms. He moaned. She bared her breasts and held his head to the soft warm of her bosom."
        p. 46 "She made her hands into claws and held them to his face to keep him at bay."
        p. 47 "She lay beside the young patient, cradled his body to her, and sang ... "

Oral Presentation Reflection

      I am not very satisfied with the final product I made. It only took 11 minutes but when I practiced before, it took me about 13 minutes.
      My oral presentation is divided into five major parts:
        > introduction of the novel + understanding of the texts:
            I make a brief introduction about the story New York Day Women, and I illustrate two intriguing points of the story that appeal to me, which are the two major themes: the mother-daughter relationships and the Haitian immigrants. Under each theme, I also put my explanation with supporting some examples that are directly from the book to tell the listeners what makes this story stand out from the rest of the book and why I would like to explore them more in my adaptation. 
        > critical perspectives on the dramatic potential of the texts
            In the second part, I introduce my adaptation more specifically, in which includes two stories and a pre-scene and ending scene. While I am telling each of the stories I create, I also relate them with the two major themes that I mention above in the first part. 
        > insights into the performance process experienced from page to stage
            When I listen to this part later after I finish the oral presentation, I clearly realize that there is more I could add up to it. This part is relatively short that all the others. I just briefly introduce the two challenges we meet --- need a lot of props to set up the scene & the large age span we need to perform --- but there is not any detailed explanation about how we solve the problem. I think I could add more details into it like we were using all the three triangular walls in the scene I during the rehearsal but we removed all of them in the rest of the scenes; and, after we realized that that would be a huge time-consuming "project" to do in the real performance so we just left all three of them throughout the play on the stage. 
        > critical evaluation of their particular role and contribution to this process of transformation or adaptation and realization
          In this part, I specifically introduce the role I play --- Suzette, and the challenges I meet, progress I have made, the strength and weakness I have while playing the two different ages of this character. Again, like what I did in the first part, I use many detailed examples like the specific body languages that I added during the performance for enriching the monologue. However, as I notice later when I listen to the recording, my ending sentence is to "rush"; I could add more to the part when I play the Suzette at 35. That is one thing I am ashamed of. 
        > conclusion
          I bring out the two major themes of the story that appeal to me again at the beginning of the conclusion. Then, I use more detailed things to tell the listeners how I feel empathize with my character as I perform it. Once again, I have got a very rush ending at last, which I think is one of the reasons that shorten my time.