Poetry Assignment 3

Due Wednesday, October 26. Typed, double-spaced, and printed.

This assignment has two parts. The first part is a poem that is informed by a concept that your poetry group agreed upon. The second part is a short essay (one page) that interprets the poem. Type your poem and interpretation and be prepared to recite your poem for your video group on the 26th.

In your interpretation, in addition to restating what the poem means you should trace your own poetic development through your poems. Can you detect themes that you are developing through multiple poems? How have your poems changed, and how have they illuminated different aspects of the themes that you have chosen? How are your poems related to one or more poems by other people in your group? How is your third poem related to poems from previous quarters of ICS24/ELIT24? How is your third poem different? How is your third poem related to the topic of caregiving and the poem concept that your group developed?

For this poem remember to pay attention to sound. If your poem is part of a video then the way it flows, the breaks, the rhythm, and the way it sounds will be very important. Recite your poem at least once, and edit your poem so that it sounds the way you want it to sound and so that it is easy for you to recite.

Poetry Concepts

In class on October 24 your poetry group will decide on concepts for your poems. Concepts include a prevailing message, one or more imagined communities as recipients for the message, and the formal rules for the poems. For this poem your group should be clear about what the relationship is between your group's concept and the topic of caregiving. The concept for your group should guide you as you write your poem for this assignment. For examples of concepts, look at descriptions of poetry videos from previous quarters.

Keep in mind that your concepts should involve criticism. In other words, your concepts should identify a problem and ways to handle or solve the problem.

You will need to write a new poem, but you can use topics that you have developed in previous poems. If your video group selects your poem for its video you will need to edit and revise your poem later on.

Group Concepts

Several of the concepts are in the form of a question. Remember that your answer to the question should be a poem, not an essay.

  • JRS: How to manage money when parents are far away?
  • PPAP: Should we care for our elders?
  • Mother Lover: We are not used to taking care of our grandparents but we are expected to take care of them in the future. Some of the poets live with their grandparents while some don't. Hence, the memories and experiences we have encountered with our grandparents are so different. That is reflected in our poems.
  • Genji: Culture difference between Chinese and American
    • Food - opinions about caregiving
    • Schedule
    • Caregiving if family is apart
    • Education
    • Table culture
  • Love is All: These poems describe the responsibilities that we have towards prior generations, expectations to be a filial child/grandchild. This however does not always work out because of the different view sets of responsibilities and expectations from different cultures.
  • Random: The elders in our generation must step back and apologize, even if the younger sibling is at fault. It makes the elder sibling feel this is unfair.
  • Team Tacos: Our respect for parents/grandparents for taking care of us while dealing with other pressures
  • Givenchy: How could we make a compromise in our family between different cultures and expectations for caregiving?
  • Panda: Should we sacrifice for our parents? The poems, besides having caregiving as a common theme, also have a common theme of sacrifice of some family members. This is influenced also by the poets since they come from a similar background, Asian family. The difference is mainly in the settings, since in one of the poems, the poet's parents are not in Indonesia and a greater deal of sacrifice had to be made. The poets also have differences since two of them are the oldest child of the family. So our concept would mostly lean on to the concept of sacrifice, but other concepts can be about family, etc.
  • Versace: Imagination of what it would be like to take care of our parents. Keep it real.
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