Malay Literature:
- Dato’ Shahnon Ahmad - Gelungnya Terpokah (short story)
- Prof. Dr. Muhammad Haji Salleh - Anak Global (poem)
English Literature
- Datuk A. Samad Said - The Dead Crow (poem)
- Prof. Dr. Muhammad Haji Salleh - Si Tenggang’s Homecoming (poem)
The poems by Erica Jong raises some feminist issues. What are they?
“Isn't that the problem? That women have been swindled for centuries into substituting adornment for love, fashion (as it were) for passion?” ~Erica Jong
Erica Jong and her advocacy of social activism through poetry was proved when Jong highlights the ability of poetry to inspire others to make a positive change in the world through organizations such as Poetic People Power. Her poems had take the public by storm for its explicit treatment of women's sexuality. The novel was greeted on publication with high praise from such prominent writers as John Updike and Henry Miller.
Do you think they are suitable to teach at the secondary school level? Explain.
I don’t think they are suitable to teach at the secondary school level. The most important matter will be on teachers’ side. We must make sure teachers choose the most appropriate poems by Jong but it seems hard as the poems of Jong mostly suit adult readers.
Issues arose in Jong’s poems are sex-positive issues, gender difference, gender bias, patriarchy and oppression of women, male dominance in love and family relationship, gender equality for women and women’s rights and interests. I think these will mischief the students.
Is Hillary Tham's poem more suitable?
When we talk about poems, we should also look into poets’ culture background as literature works has an direct or indirect link with culture. As Hilary Tham is a local Malaysian writer, that will definitely suit most of the Malaysian readers because the less of bias in readers’ culture dissimilar. Moreover, her poems are rich in the use of language in her poems which are more moderate. Besides, her poems often deals with common female issues.
The short tale from the Native American group is about a girl who is unsatisfied with her life. How is this a universal experience? Can it teach our students anything?
The greediness, materialistic and unappreciative behaviors within the leaders lead to a universal experience which across all the countries, races and even religious. People nowadays are ungrateful and never content with what they have. Compared to the story, the girl was deceived by the handsome outlooks of the man who turned out to be a horned serpent.
This story can be taken as a source to teach moral values through literature works, especially when we would like them to understand the meaning of appreciate, give thanks and try to let them realize the world around us which should be full of love but not the bad things they desired for.
From your findings about his background, tell me about the dilemma he conveys through the poem CROSS.
The poetry of Langston Hughes was a great inspiration to people everywhere. It publicized a hunger for freedom in the hearts of many Americans who had been oppressed by the government. Through his poetry he gave people the courage to stand up for their rights. African Americans could finally take a stand against oppression because they developed a sense of pride for whom they were, and wanted to see justice demonstrated in society.
Langston Hughes’s poems, “Children’s Rhymes”, “Cross”, and “Dream Deferred” express his dream of liberty and justice achieving a better life for African Americans during the 1920s. "Cross" is a lyric poem expressing in first-person point of view the feelings of a person with a white father and a black mother. (Although Langston Hughes's parents were both black, he well understood the confusion and conflict that a person of mixed heritage experienced). Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., published the poem in January 1926 in a collection entitled The Weary Blues.
I find "Dinner Guest: Me" laden with irony and sarcasm. Briefly state if you feel the same.
It is full of irony and sarcasm because of the extracts I quoted below:
Stanza 1, Line 1 & 2
- I know I am
- The Negro Problem
Stanza 1, Line 9, 10 & 11
- Of darkness U.S.A.—
- Wondering how things got this way
- In current democratic night,
Stanza 1, Line 14
- “I’m so ashamed of being white.”
The experience in the poem Harlem is one that is true for many people. Do you agree?
Yes. There is no balance between fair and our world. The world around us have their unfair issues arose each or everyday, Malaysia is one of them. This poem explores what happens to people and society when millions of individuals' dreams get deferred, or put off indefinitely. For example, issue about unequal treatment among the blacks and the whites. The blacks are marginalized and they are treated like second class citizens.
In 1951 (the year of the poem’s publication), frustration characterized the mood of American blacks. The Civil War in the previous century had liberated them from slavery and federal laws had granted them the right to vote, the right to own property and so on. Unfulfilled dreams become part of us, like scars. No matter how hard life going to be, one should not give up their dreams and hopes. If we always keep our dreams and hopes alive, someday the dreams and hopes will surely come true.
Langston Hughes fights for the voice of his people. What is the movement called?
New Negro Movement.
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