Who we are and our identities are deeply rooted in what we believe. For if we are stripped of everything else that physically defines us, we still hold on to our beliefs. They govern all that we do, think, and say. They develop as we grow and learn from our environment and experiences. However, beliefs are very personal as they’re built on faith, not being necessarily true or false, but instead, something you accept. To explore what makes us fundamentally ourselves and what makes the people around us, we were asked to explore about a belief we hold and how we came to it. This was accomplished by writing numerous drafts, an essay, editing, and eventually, creating a video.
In the book American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang shows how other people’s words at an early age can change one’s behavior towards other people through Jin’s childhood relationship with his classmates and teacher.When Jin transfers to his new school, he is one of the only Asians in his class and unfortunately, Jin notices that his classmates are only focused on stereotypes. “Rumors began to circulate that Suzy and I were arranged to be married on her thirteenth birthday. We avoided each other as much as possible.” (31).His classmates don’t like Jin because his culture is not like theirs and since they feel that Jin is very different from them due to his race, they come up with stereotypes that further isolate Jin from them. They do not want anything to do with him or know very much about his culture, which is why they make hurtful comments to Jin. Their relationship (making rude comments towards Jin) stems off of hate from the classmates, which causes Jin to feel self conscious about his Asian heritage. From the moment he stepped into class, he was already subjected to the underlying racism that exists in American culture from his classmates. These rumors are based off of stereotypes that Chinese people are still very primitive in their ways and since neither Suzy or Jin wants to be associated with something so negative, they avoided each other, in turn, avoiding that specific stereotype. Jin is being exposed to stereotypes and racism from classmates and teachers early on and this type of interaction leaves a mental scar that stays with him, not just for that day, but for years to come. These types of interactions where the teacher and classmate assume he eats dogs makes him try his hardest to avoid fulfilling the Asian stereotypes that they expect him to satisfy, so anything that deals with Asian culture, even if it’s something as simple and as innocent as interacting with another Asian classmate, Jin avoids it. The rumors are ignorant to the point where it’s outright racist, but since Jin is so young, this is all he is used to and all he knows.From that point on, Jin has unconsciously decided he wants nothing to do with Asians because just a few seconds later, he avoids contact with the only other Asian in the class, Suzy, for the rest of the year. Due to other people’s hatred of Asian culture, Jin was also influenced because he believes all the negative rumors his classmates have told him, and doesn’t want to be associated as Asian anymore. Without even noticing, Jin’s perception of Asians, especially himself, has been affected by the negative rumors that surrounded him at a vulnerable age. It took away his behavior and identity as an Asian because it made him feel like there was no place for Asians in America. What his classmates said heavily influenced his life and the way he portrays himself to others.
MLA citation: Yang, Gene. American Born Chinese. First Second, 2006.
Illustrator TIEA:
In the graphic novel American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang and Lark Pien use recurring characters and choice in color in order to emphasize meaning behind Jin’s transformation to the audience. Jin was so caught up in wanting to feel like an American that he betrayed Wei Chen’s trust, but still felt no remorse when he went to sleep at night. In the illustration, Jin dreams that the herb woman that told him he could be anything he wants to be if he sells his soul, came back and transformed Jin into what he desires to be. (Yang, Pien, 194). In the page, Jin’s transformation to an American is made all the more prominent by a physical depiction of the contrast between Jin’s old body, and Jin as an American. From the picture, the use of the woman from his childhood, it shows the audience that Jin is willing to do anything to become an American because then he will be what he has always wanted to be. When Jin was young, his perception of the woman was that she was crazy to think he would do something as drastic as sell his soul in order to become a transformer. However, when the woman comes back in his life, this time as a dream, the difference in how Jin used to think and what Jin thinks now is made more clear to the audience because now, Jin is willing to do anything to become American, including losing his identity as an Asian. Although Jin thought he would never do something like sell his soul, after seeing Jin transform into an American, the idea that Jin didn’t sell his soul, but rather, lost a part of it is given to the audience by how quickly Jin made the decision to forget his Asian identity. The black background gives off the effect that the readers are now in Jin’s mind and they can see all the things that he desires most. In his mind, Jin has turned himself into what he’s always wanted to be. The readers are able to see how drastic the difference between what Jin sees himself as and what Jin desires for others to see him as because the illustrator chose to gradually change the colors of Jin’s face on the same page until he was blonde and his eyes were blue. To be able to see the process of transforming through his hair color, the audience is shown the contrast between Jin’s 2 identities. The first is Jin’s identity as an Asian, shown on the left, before his transition. His second identity is the American part of him, his desire to look like how everyone else around him looks and how he feels like American on the inside, but doesn’t look like one. The contrast in the colors highlights to the audience how the different the 2 cultures/identities within Jin are. It shows how different Jin desires to be from his Asian heritage and since the black background conveys the idea that the readers are in Jin’s mind, it’s almost as if the audience is able to see how Jin’s 2 identities are fighting with each other in his mind to be “Jin’s true identity”. Jin’s mind is confused as to whether he is Asian or whether he is American because although it is obvious that he is physically Asian, Jin feels and relates more towards his American identity, so putting his physical transformation between both identities on the same page is emphasizing to the readers that Jin doesn’t want to be Asian anymore because he feels more like an American. By only describing the mental change in Jin would not be able to show how much his mindset on being an Asian has changed, but through an illustration of physical change in Jin, the contrast in Jin is much more prominent.
MLA citation: Yang, G., Lark, P. American Born Chinese. First Second, 2006.
Poetry is a lot of things. For some, it’s a way of expressing themselves. It’s storytelling without all the unnecessary words. It can mean anything you want it to mean. It’s complicated but so simple. That’s the beauty of poetry.
For every person that reads those words, it takes on different meaning and form that is unique to each individual. People can spend hours analyzing and annotating a single poem and still never know what exactly the author is trying to tell the readers. Or maybe the author’s intent was right in front of our faces the whole time and we just overcomplicated the entire theme of the poem. Maybe the author meant for the readers to decide the meaning of the poem for themselves. Who knows? It’s poetry. Use the words to find yourself, then maybe other people can find you.
Two Poem Annotation:
Pleasures of Ordinary Life Annotation:
Phenomenal Woman Annotation:
Two TIEA Paragraphs:
Pleasures of Ordinary Life TIEA:
In Pleasures of Ordinary Life, Judith Viorst uses first person point of view/perspective to inspire readers to learn how to find happiness in the small and ordinary things.Viorst draws from her own personal experiences and failures in life that have led her to being content in a life that’s not as she envisioned by saying,
It seems the woman I’ve turned out to be
Is not the heorine of some grand story.
But happiness arrived in new disguises:
Sun lighting a child’s hair. A friend’s embrace. (14-15, 9-10).
Viorst chooses to use words like “I’ve” in order to be able to talk about her own personal experiences which allow her to establish trust with the reader. Since Viorst is using first person perspective to discuss the dreams she had that didn’t come true,the readers feel like the author can relate to the sadness that comes along with realising they didn’t become who they wanted to be. After she has established trust with the readers that she understands their disappointment with themselves, she changes the topic and in line 9-10, instills motivation by discussing how she gradually found happiness in simple things like a sun lighting a child’s hair or just a friend’s hug. She is able to inspire readers to find happiness in their own lives because by discussing her own broken dreams, the readers feel as if she’s been in their position before and if she has been able to be content in her life as it is now, then the readers can also be like her and be happy in the small things. She gives them hope that failure or not succeeding doesn’t mean they can’t be happy.
Viorst, Judith. “Pleasures of Ordinary Life,” Poem Hunter. 3, January, 2003. Wed. 19 April, 2018.
Phenomenal Woman TIEA:
In Phenomenal Woman, Maya Angelou uses imagery to empower women to feel proud of themselves and feel comfortable in their own skin, no matter what they look like.Angelou talks about how although she doesn’t have the physical attributes that people would label as pretty, men and women find themselves being drawn into the aura her attributes give off, saying
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman.
Phenomenally. (22-23, 25-27).
Angelou is first able to draw the reader’s attention to her running list of physical features because the detailed description of each trait makes the readers give more thought to the meaning of each line. However Angelou uses imagery in an interesting way that gives each trait a deeper meaning than just being a detailed description, she uses imagery to empower women. In the first line of evidence, the author of course does not literally mean she has fire in her eyes, but wants to bring out the amount of passion and fight that she has sand needs to have in order to fight against the prejudice she faces from being a woman. The second line is talking about the brightness and confidence that emits from the radiance of her smile. When she looks at you, because of the confidence in her smile, she brightens up the room like a flash of light. When you read the third line, you are able to feel the aura that she gives off when she dances. Since Angelou uses descriptive words like ‘joy in my feet,’ the readers know immediately that she looks happy when she dances and she’s able to influence people around her to also share her excitement when they see her dance. Angelou is telling people through the depth of her imagery that it’s not the physical features themselves that make her attractive, but the way her confidence and self-love seeps through her features and makes them attractive. It’s not her eyes that are attractive, but the passion in her eyes.
In Pleasures of Ordinary Life by Judith Viorst and Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou, both authors use first person point of view to inspire their audiences to feel a certain way. Viorst and Angelou both mention their past experiences with feeling like failure and learning to embrace what it means to be a woman in order to build a level of trust with the readers before talking about how they’ve moved on or realised the true meaning of beauty.
But I have learned to find the poetry
In what my hands can touch, my eyes can see. (Viorst, line 16-17).
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery. (Angelou, line 33-34).
In the first 2 lines Viorst starts to talk about how she has overcome her feelings of being a failure and has gradually learned to find the poetry. She’s using poetry as a metaphor for happiness, because often times, like happiness, it’s a lot harder to write poetry when you’re forcing yourself to write. It’s the same with happiness, a lot harder to find when you are forcing yourself to be happy or find happiness. Instead, Viorst is saying in the second line that she has learned how to let the words and the poem come naturally to her. She no longer racks her brain to force words out onto paper, but feels the poetry in the moment. If she sees something she feels overcome with motivational to write about, then she will write because it’s something she wants to do. It’s her way of saying she will feel happiness in the moment instead of trying to fake her joy. The author uses first person perspective throughout the 2 lines, which ties the concept of being happy to her poetry. This is done well by using first person point of view as she talks about poetry, but then as she talks about feeling inspired to write, the subject becomes more vague, switching to talk about both poetry and happiness while keeping the first person point perspective. The audience sees how she was inspired by poetry to not force herself to feel upbeat and are also inspired to be content in whatever they feel, whether it’s sad, joyful, anger, or any other emotion. The and 2nd author, Angelou, also uses first person point of view to inspire woman to focus on more than just looks using her own experiences. The 3rd and 4th lines are referring to how people wonder how she is beautiful without having the standard beauty ideals. Angelou tries to get the point across to the readers that her “inner mystery” or what makes her special is not on the outside, but on the inside. Since so many people have wanted to tear down her self esteem by saying she’s not physically pretty or has features that fit the normalised idea of pretty, she wants the readers to know she is not phased by what they comment about her her appearance because they can’t touch her soul, and that’s what makes her pretty, but above all, it’s what makes her phenomenal. Readers are inspired by her poem because she uses her personal experience to empower women to embrace their inner beauty.
Contrast:
In the poem Pleasures of Ordinary Life by Judith Viorst and Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou, the authors use poetic devices such as rhyming and repetition differently in order to serve different intents. In Pleasures of Ordinary Life, Viorst uses a clear cut rhyme scheme of ABABB throughout the entirety of the poem to tie in the idea of pursuing a content fulfilled life through all stanzas.
It’s time to make things good, not just make do.
It’s time to stop complaining and pursue (Viorst, line 4-5).
Since she keeps going back to this idea of wanting to pursue a life where she’s content in the ordinary, the best way to help the readers remember and take note of this concept is to bring it up over and over again. However, she achieves this not by using repetition, but by Rhyming helps the readers to remember the poem better because it gives the poem a beat that makes the poem easy to read. Viorst takes advantage of the recurrence of sounds that occur in rhyming to present a recurrence of the same ideas because the music of rhyme helps readers to remember. rhyming instead. Then using rhyme, she continuously talks about getting herself out of the funk, in the poem, and talks about it twice already in the evidence. In Phenomenal Woman, Angelou uses repetition along with rhyme in order to get the readers to take note of the big idea, so she repeats the same rhyme over and over throughout the poem saying,
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal Woman,
That’s me. (Angelou, line 11-13).
The idea of being unapologetically a woman is repeated through the whole poem, but the part that readers pay attention to is the rhyme that is repeated in each stanza. Angelou takes a different approach from Viorst and instead of changing the rhyme constantly, she uses the same repeated rhyme to help her emphasise the point that she is an unbelievable woman. Through rhyming, the author is able to create a pattern that she repeats in order to create meaning. It is because repetition creates a sense of hope for the readers in this poem, that Angelou continues to use the same rhyme. The readers are bombarded with the recurrence of these lines, especially the word “phenomenal”, which leads them to feel as if maybe the author wants them to remember she is phenomenal/women are phenomenal. Angelou stresses the idea that women are not just unique and amazing, but they are so much more powerful than that, they are phenomenal.
Inspirational Poem – All I Hear:
They laugh and say
“We’re not laughing at you, we’re laughing with you.”
But it feels like they’re just trying to downplay,
In a way,
The judgement behind those words.
I scoff and pretend I’m not the same, but
Am I like them?
Every word that comes out of her lips, clouded by the faint sound of her foreign accent.
Her words hold the weight of the world,
The finality in leaving,
The pain of starting over,
But all I hear is broken English.
Am I like them?
How dare I be ashamed when she was the bridge between two cultures,
And her words were like the stories of the travelers who crossed the bridge.
Stories I never heard.
Words I never bothered to listen to.
Am I like them?
She could’ve spoken in every other language,
She could’ve told me everything.
But I preferred the deafening silence.
I am like them.
I don’t want to be.
I won’t be.
Inspirational Poem Slideshow:
Hope Imagery Flipgrid:
Hope Imagery Poem – Hope Makes Us Believe:
My hope feels like the soft red cloth that wraps your neck like a cape.
My hope tastes like the endless boxes of cereal kids go through in their relentless search for that one toy.
My hope looks like the thousands of people, young and old, all marching for their rights.
My hope smells like the disinfectant of hospitals as parents wait an eternity for their comatose child to wake.
My hope sounds like the rhythmic pattern of feet against pavement long after practice has ended.
My hope is for people to hold onto their hopefulness (because it’s the only reason they try).