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CHINESE mythology and literature
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In Li-Young Lee’s poem “Eating Together”, the author describes the cultural values of his family and days ahead of them without his father who lost his life last week. “My mother who will/taste the sweetest meat of the head” indicates that his mother will take over the role of head of family moving forward. Lee is so proud of his food and tradition, and mentions how they do prepare food and sit together when it is time for meal. They are fond of eating together. He respects his father and remember his role of head of family till last week. Lee definitely misses his father on dining table but fully aware that death is inevitable. When Lee writes, “Then he lay down / to sleep like a snow – cover road” symbolizes the death of his father was quietly
Because Lee is also trying to adapt to the new culture and fit in among his peers, he naturally gravitates towards food that his peers often eat. For example, Lee mentions that he would ask his mother to prepare American foods such as "Southern fried chicken and mashed potatoes, beef Stroganoff over egg noodles, lasagna." Since his mother has little to no experience recreating these dishes to Lee’s perfection, she is heavily critiqued by her son as well as herself. Because Lee uses words such as "tyrannical" and "awful" to describe himself after causing his mother to lose the bright light in her eyes, it is clear that he has an understanding of his lack of gratefulness and is able to "squash her whole day’s work with a grimace" (pg
Night Waitress by Lynda Hull is a poem that describes the feelings of a waitress that works the night shift of a diner Reflection of “Night Waitress” “Night Waitress” by Lynda Hull is a poem that describes the feelings of a waitress that works the night shift of a diner. The speaker obviously belongs to a lower social class, in the way of income and her occupation. Much like the character in this poem, the speaker in “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake works long, hard hours as a chimneysweeper. These two characters are both related in their ways of life and their classes in our society.
The description of the women’s meal could be summed up in one word, plain. Syntactically there are many examples promoting the simplicity of women in society at the time. For the excerpt to open with, “Here was my soup,” shows the monosyllabic words being used and the simplicity of the sentence all imply just that of women’s roll in society; simple, short-lived, and unimportant. The sentence, “the plate was plain . . . transparent . . . no pattern,” just so does a painter thinks of his canvas of white – colorless. The quote reinforces that idea also illustrating that to use the plain ties in with women and their roll in society.
Evan Nave writes: “I was / too busy calculating my / mortality to bother solving / for the value of x.” (lines 15-18). In these few lines, someone can easily think of a time when they were in school and they had other things on their minds besides the actual subject of school. It can be difficult for students to focus on the subject of school when they are facing personal problems in their daily lives. Students are often forced to disregard personal problems or face the consequences of their grades suffering because they brought their issues along with them to school. In our education system, there is not any room for a student to bring their personal lives with them once they enter the doors of the institution. The poem, “17” by Evan Nave
It was hard to maintain a sacred atmosphere because of the television lights and the sound of the refrigerator. The family hoped the ceremony would at least make Lia happier and stop crying at night. This passage was also important because you could tell how they made sure to treat the animals with some respect. For example, the pig was killed, but the pig was told it would be well rewarded and its soul would be set free at the end of the year. Killing animals for rituals seems hard to understand from another culture, but you can tell they don’t intend to be mean to the animals and at least reward them in their afterlife for their sacrifice. It also reveals a cultural respect and a connection to the natural world. The chapter uses rich details to help you imagine and feel what is happening. After reading this chapter I noticed the importance of writing this book because the author allowed readers to bring Lia back to life in a form, by engaging us in her story. This relates to a few themes seen in this book. Family is an important theme in this book and connected us to the
In the novel, As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner tells a story of a family (the Bundrens) trying to fulfill the dying wish of a family member. The family is made up of Dewey Dell the only daughter, Vardaman the youngest, Anse the father, and Addie the dead mother. Darl and Jewel are the oldest in the family. Along with Cash who is a handy man and is seen as the normal one in the family who tries to compromise. Cash tries to keep the family together. Anse is a father that throughout the book is focused on Addie’s dying wish he puts his family at risk a lot. He has given up his children’s health, his family’s home, and crew of horses for Addie’s dying wish. Addie is the dead mother that is remembered as a loving and caring mother, but it is later
One of the most distinguished, contemporary poets in America today is Joy Harjo. Born in 1951 in Oklahoma and a member of the Creek (Mvskoke) Nation, her work is deeply influenced by her American Indian roots and upbringing. She has won numerous awards and has published a fair amount of poetry books as well as a memoir, Crazy Brave published in 2012. She is currently a professor of English and American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In 2014, Harjo has been named a Guggenheim Fellow, a prestigious award to further the development of scholars and artists. She is planning to use the award funds to complete her second memoir, Songline of Justice.
Originally the narrator admired her father greatly, mirroring his every move: “I walked proudly, stretching my legs to match his steps. I was overjoyed when my feet kept time with his, right, then left, then right, and we walked like a single unit”(329). The narrator’s love for her father and admiration for him was described mainly through their experiences together in the kitchen. Food was a way that the father was able to maintain Malaysian culture that he loved so dearly, while also passing some of those traits on to his daughter. It is a major theme of the story. The afternoon cooking show, “Wok with Yan” (329) provided a showed the close relationship father and daughter had because of food. Her father doing tricks with orange peels was yet another example of the power that food had in keeping them so close, in a foreign country. Rice was the feature food that was given the most attention by the narrator. The narrator’s father washed and rinsed the rice thoroughly, dealing with any imperfection to create a pure authentic dish. He used time in the kitchen as a way to teach his daughter about the culture. Although the narrator paid close attention to her father’s tendencies, she was never able to prepare the rice with the patience and care that her father
L. and his family are experiencing the dying process and final days of his illness (Matzo & Sherman, 2015). Asian culture values collectivism— putting the needs of family and community over the needs of the individual (Hays & Erford, 2014). This seems to be the case with Mr. L. Although Mr. L. is weak and having difficulty eating, when asked how he feels he reports feeling fine. Additionally, Chinese culture holds the value that sadness and grief are kept private because a person’s dying thoughts influence end of life behavior, ultimately determining the cycle of life, death, and rebirth (Matzo & Sherman, 2015). Mr. L. demonstrates these values, keeping his emotions private and doesn’t complain about pain or discomfort. Mr. L. has not been told of his diagnosis or prognosis. In Asian cultures, dying patients are not told of their terminal illnesses because discussing end of life can lead to hopelessness. Additionally, in Chinese culture, the eldest male is responsible for decision-making (Matzo & Sherman). As Mr. L. can no longer make decisions, his oldest son would be responsible for deciding matters for the family. Furthermore, there appears to be an element of secrecy and lack of communication between the eldest son, mother, and youngest son. The eldest son and mother continue to encourage Mr. L. to eat when it causes aspiration. The younger son,
The second stanza is only two lines, “My father told us this, one night,/and then continued eating dinner.” This stanza breaks up the chronology of the poem, pushing the previous stanza into the past, and making it disjointed, almost like another poem in itself. The result of the father continuing eating after he tells the story shows how dead he is inside, the recalling of the story no longer affecting him in the same way it does the reader and his own family. It is implied that he is the only one able to eat after telling the story. This short stanza foreshadows the father’s personality change.
In the poem “Singapore” the author captures the reader’s attention till the very last line. In the first two stanzas the author gives us the setting and mood, as stated “In Singapore, in the airport” (1). Mary Oliver relates to something that is out of the ordinary. Inside of Singapore ladies restroom she saw a woman washing something in the towel bowl. “A darkness was ripped from my eyes” (2) which means that the sight opened her eyes. She points out that everyone has to make living no matter what it is or how demeaning it might be. Even though the cleaning lady saw her staring she continued without being ashamed. Mary Oliver sees how dedicated she is in her work despite the circumstances. There are many disgusting jobs out
In the poem “Sitting Down to Breakfast Alone,” Christian Wiman reminisces about a local diner. Even though he views the Longhorn Diner as run-down and in a small and abandoned town, he is drawn towards the waitress and culture of the diner. Throughout the poem, he portrays how sitting down to breakfast alone at the diner is a worthwhile experience.
Hungry Like The Wolf Darken the city, night is a wire Steam in the subway, earth is a afire Do do do do do do do dodo dododo dodo Woman, you want me, give me a sign And catch my breathing even closer behind Do do do do do do do dodo dododo dodo In touch with the ground I'm on the hunt I'm after you
They let the things that can separate them bring them closer to each other. This poem teaches its readers that love takes sacrifice. Towards the ending on the poem the poet expresses what she is feeling, “She smiled, stretched her arms to take to heart the eldest daughter of her youngest son a quarter century away.” (Ling, 142) The quote shows that the poet traveled halfway around the world to meet her grandmother that she couldn’t communicate with.To sum up the poem, “Grandma Ling,” both the poet and the grandmother take huge sacrifices to see each other. The whole poem represents that love takes
As part of Ang lee’s filmic oeuvre, the award-winning trilogy, Pushing hands (1992), Wedding Banquet (1993), and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), endeavors to reveal a unique and startling array of approaches and genres to the theme of cultural identity in the world which is fueled by globalization (2009). Moving back and forth between the Chinese culture and American culture, Ang Lee employs special narrative techniques to present its global audience the representational family ethics and cultural values specific to the Chinese people. As the concluding epilogue of the Chinese language trilogy, Eat Drink Man Woman (in 1994, the film received the Asia Pacific Film Festival Award for Best Film; in 1995, it received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film; the box office was estimated to reach up to $7.2 million) has been considered to be one of the most successful films directed by Lee. Seven years later, in 2001, Tortilla Soup, an adapted English language version of the