Saturday, July 11, 2009
WEEK 3 QUESTION 6
In the poem titled "Heritage" the author Linda Hogan is stating "From my family I have learned the secrets of never having a home." I believe this is her expression of having an abnormal life. Hogan is trying to tell her readers by mentioning the word "secrets" that she does not really matter to her family, but rather the heritage is what is most important her them rather than her. My interpretation of "secrets" is symbolic. It symbolizes the fact that despite of the fact that she is nothing like her family, meaning that the things that her family does are not as important to her as they are to the rest her family, she still belongs to the heritage. Due to this situation, Hogan does not feel as though she has real home because of their different persepective on life.
WEEK 3 QUESTION 2
In the poem titled "Commitments", the author Essex Hemphill is talking about his life as a homesexual and how he is so different from everyone else in the family. The images throughout the story highlight the fact that in the photos he is the only one that has no children in his hands and the small children are held by their parents. One of the highlights that Hemphill stated was "My arms are empty, or around the shoulders of unsuspecting aunts expecting to throw rice at me someday." Here he is a homesexual and everyone else in the family is married with children. The interpretation in the end of this quote means that if his family find out that he is homesexual that rice will be thrown at him. Meaning that most likey it will be very difficult for them to accept the fact that they have a homosexual in their family. He is afraid of how his family might react toward him after they find out.
Week 3, Question 3
In “Commitments,” the speaker begins with the announcement "I will always be there", and yet later he says "I am the invisible son.” How can these two statements be reconciled?
In the poem “Commitments” by Essex Hemphill the statements “I will always be there”, and “I am the invisible son” are reconciled in knowing some background on Essex Hemphill’s sexuality. From reading the introduction the reader is given the knowledge that Essex is a homosexual black man. Knowing this gives the reader a lot of insight into his dilemmas at family gatherings. Family gatherings usually include couples and their children. Single people often feel ostracized at such functions, and homosexual single people all the more because the lifestyles of both these demographics is not fitting a square peg into a round hole. Essex describes several holiday settings that fit the stereotypical family traditions “set for Thanksgiving/a turkey steaming the lens” l 22-23 (p.553). Yet he describes his arms as empty in all of the family photos. Empty of a child that would make him fit into the heterosexual world and empty of a lover that would make him fit into the homosexual world. He attends these family functions but he is invisible to his family because they do not know the true him.
In the poem “Commitments” by Essex Hemphill the statements “I will always be there”, and “I am the invisible son” are reconciled in knowing some background on Essex Hemphill’s sexuality. From reading the introduction the reader is given the knowledge that Essex is a homosexual black man. Knowing this gives the reader a lot of insight into his dilemmas at family gatherings. Family gatherings usually include couples and their children. Single people often feel ostracized at such functions, and homosexual single people all the more because the lifestyles of both these demographics is not fitting a square peg into a round hole. Essex describes several holiday settings that fit the stereotypical family traditions “set for Thanksgiving/a turkey steaming the lens” l 22-23 (p.553). Yet he describes his arms as empty in all of the family photos. Empty of a child that would make him fit into the heterosexual world and empty of a lover that would make him fit into the homosexual world. He attends these family functions but he is invisible to his family because they do not know the true him.
Week 3, Question 3
Consider the details the author provides in "A Chinese Banquet". What do these (largely image-driven) details establish in the poem? Consider that these details are offered primarily in the first half of the poem but are largely absent from the second.
In the poem “A Chinese Banquet”, by Kitty Tsui the author uses image driven details in reference to the guests attire, professions and cultural heritage to establish the formality of her family. She starts the story with “It was not a very formal affair…”(554), however she then goes into detail about the young women wearing corsages except for herself. So from the beginning of the poem you see that she does not conform to her cultural or family norms. During the course of the rest of the poem the author makes reference to the expensive vehicles and vacations her family is speaking of, all the while she is enthralled with thoughts of her lover as expressed in the line “dreaming of the cloudscape in your eyes”.
As the poem progresses and the evening gets more intimate the author speaks of a time when she attempts to have an open conversation with her mother. “mother I’m gay and so happy with her” (555). This portion of the poem is less formal and more honest. The mother rejects this attempt at honesty and dismisses her daughter. The conversations in the room then digress to more guarded things such as the types of vehicles being driven by different people at the party.
In the poem “A Chinese Banquet”, by Kitty Tsui the author uses image driven details in reference to the guests attire, professions and cultural heritage to establish the formality of her family. She starts the story with “It was not a very formal affair…”(554), however she then goes into detail about the young women wearing corsages except for herself. So from the beginning of the poem you see that she does not conform to her cultural or family norms. During the course of the rest of the poem the author makes reference to the expensive vehicles and vacations her family is speaking of, all the while she is enthralled with thoughts of her lover as expressed in the line “dreaming of the cloudscape in your eyes”.
As the poem progresses and the evening gets more intimate the author speaks of a time when she attempts to have an open conversation with her mother. “mother I’m gay and so happy with her” (555). This portion of the poem is less formal and more honest. The mother rejects this attempt at honesty and dismisses her daughter. The conversations in the room then digress to more guarded things such as the types of vehicles being driven by different people at the party.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Jessica Silva – Week 3, Question 4
Consider the details the author provides in "A Chinese Banquet". What do these (largely image-driven) details establish in the poem? Consider that these details are offered primarily in the first half of the poem but are largely absent from the second.
The imagery in Kitty Tsui’s “A Chinese Banquet” illustrates the level of importance that her family places on projecting an image of wealth and success: working as a dentist, driving a Mercedes, owning a home, vacationing in Beijing, and marrying early. I feel that these images are vivid because the fact that Tsui does not fit into this mold weighs heavily on her and it is something that she cannot forget – something that runs through her mind often. However, there is little to no imagery used in the second half of the poem – a technique used to illustrate the fact that she feels a distance growing between herself and her family, especially her mother, whom she desperately wants to “bridge the boundaries” with. While the second half of the poem is virtually void of imagery when she speaks of her family, in the last stanza, when speaking about her partner, she presents us with imagery of “dragons and water” as well as the “wide open sky,” perhaps to convey the idea that as she distances herself from her family and their lack of acceptance, she and her partner become all the family that one-another need.
Week Three, Discussion Question # 4
Jazmine Navarro
In Tsui’s, “A Chinese Banquet,” her relatives are measured by how much success
they achieve and that success is shown through materialistic forms. One of her relatives is a dentist who drives a Mercedes-Benz. The rest of her family is concerned with buying a house or what vacation they will go on next. There achievements only come through material things while Tsui sees things differently. She does not want to be a computer programmer because it is not her passion. All of these details show the way people perceive what it is to be successful (in monetary terms) and how some cultures put all the emphasize on that and nothing else.
In Tsui’s, “A Chinese Banquet,” her relatives are measured by how much success
they achieve and that success is shown through materialistic forms. One of her relatives is a dentist who drives a Mercedes-Benz. The rest of her family is concerned with buying a house or what vacation they will go on next. There achievements only come through material things while Tsui sees things differently. She does not want to be a computer programmer because it is not her passion. All of these details show the way people perceive what it is to be successful (in monetary terms) and how some cultures put all the emphasize on that and nothing else.
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