poetry research paper
For A New Citizen of These United States
Se-Hoon Kim
Mrs. Boyd
MYP English 9
May 14, 2013
A poet’s milieu affects the poet’s writing style, tone, and use of symbols to match with their past experiences and the environment in which he grew up. Through this poem, Lee’s past life and struggles are able to be heard and connected emotionally by the readers. His use of descriptive symbolism and other various literary tools help the readers understand Lee’s childhood memories, with the theme of letting go of the past and moving on towards the future.
Having been born in a country of different race, his life was filled with many different cultures. “Lee was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1957. His parents were Chinese and were well educated.” While still a young child, Lee’s father was imprisoned by the Indonesians for having different beliefs and culture. His father, being interested in western culture and a Christian, went against the principles of Indonesian culture. However, his father was able to escape the prison and escaped Indonesia with his family. They traveled to various places in Asia until they finally settled in the United States. This poem goes over Lee’s thoughts and feelings as he dwells on his past experiences while his mind conflicts on forgetting the past and looking toward the future.
Pamela Steed Hill, a poet, defines Lee’s work as “an attempt to be pathetic.” (Hill 60). Lee attempts to put himself at “a new low level of pity-seeking” (Hill 61) through his writing as he re-accounts his terrible past. The title, being that new citizens have a difficult time adjusting, also corresponds to his pathos. Another factor that made his poem pathetic was his frequent use of irony. His constant use of, “I won’t mention”(Lee) and “After all, it was only our life”(Lee) was too frequent and too obvious in the poem. “When the recurring tactic strings together pathetic descriptions of personal misfortune, it loses the punch it may otherwise had.” (Hill 61) Nevertheless, his portrayal of imagery was astounding which the “black moth”(Lee) and “postage stamp of death”(Lee). All in all, the poem makes “feel more sympathetic”(Hill 60) but it also makes them feel “cheated out of the high-quality work that this poet is capable of.” (Hill 62) Lee’s past life of fear and suffering molded his style. “the title hints at a much different poem, mentioning a transitional moment that usually ranks with life’s most celebrated.” (Kelly 63) Lee’s new life in the United States brought him hope, joy and an escape from his memories. However, his past sticks on to him and he is continuously affected by the memories forcing him to remember and produce irony in, “I’ll mention none of it”(Lee). “This speaker is fighting a cultural battle so large and complex that it could only be against his chosen home.” (Kelly 65)
This poem really touched me emotionally as I, a new citizen of the U.S, can relate to Lee’s situation. However, his sense of fear and excitement experienced in his early years had not happened to me, but through his imagery, I was able to visualize what had happened to him in his perspective. With every line, his emotions were clearly expressed during his times such as “there is no need for sadness, if the rain at the window now reminds you of nothing” (Lee) This quote shows that his memories brought grief and sadness to him. Through reading his milieu and his poem, it can be clearly seen that his style of writing was affected by his past experiences. Human ingenuity is in fact molded by one’s childhood and the environment in which he/she has grown up in.
The poem itself was about the terrors and memories Lee had while escaping from Indonesia with his family. His milieu directly connected with his writing as it was the main topic for his poem. This event had changed Lee’s lifestyle and his thoughts which affected his style of poetry and writing to what it is today.
The well-crafted poem really showed how the poet’s writing was affected by his milieu such as his style of repetition and irony. His unforgettable past clenches on to his heart and disables him from moving on to the future which he knows he must break free from. It showed that even having lived in a foreign country for most of his life, his past memories of his home country will never leave his mind and stay with him forever shaping his writing style and poetry.
Se-Hoon Kim
Mrs. Boyd
MYP English 9
May 14, 2013
A poet’s milieu affects the poet’s writing style, tone, and use of symbols to match with their past experiences and the environment in which he grew up. Through this poem, Lee’s past life and struggles are able to be heard and connected emotionally by the readers. His use of descriptive symbolism and other various literary tools help the readers understand Lee’s childhood memories, with the theme of letting go of the past and moving on towards the future.
Having been born in a country of different race, his life was filled with many different cultures. “Lee was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1957. His parents were Chinese and were well educated.” While still a young child, Lee’s father was imprisoned by the Indonesians for having different beliefs and culture. His father, being interested in western culture and a Christian, went against the principles of Indonesian culture. However, his father was able to escape the prison and escaped Indonesia with his family. They traveled to various places in Asia until they finally settled in the United States. This poem goes over Lee’s thoughts and feelings as he dwells on his past experiences while his mind conflicts on forgetting the past and looking toward the future.
Pamela Steed Hill, a poet, defines Lee’s work as “an attempt to be pathetic.” (Hill 60). Lee attempts to put himself at “a new low level of pity-seeking” (Hill 61) through his writing as he re-accounts his terrible past. The title, being that new citizens have a difficult time adjusting, also corresponds to his pathos. Another factor that made his poem pathetic was his frequent use of irony. His constant use of, “I won’t mention”(Lee) and “After all, it was only our life”(Lee) was too frequent and too obvious in the poem. “When the recurring tactic strings together pathetic descriptions of personal misfortune, it loses the punch it may otherwise had.” (Hill 61) Nevertheless, his portrayal of imagery was astounding which the “black moth”(Lee) and “postage stamp of death”(Lee). All in all, the poem makes “feel more sympathetic”(Hill 60) but it also makes them feel “cheated out of the high-quality work that this poet is capable of.” (Hill 62) Lee’s past life of fear and suffering molded his style. “the title hints at a much different poem, mentioning a transitional moment that usually ranks with life’s most celebrated.” (Kelly 63) Lee’s new life in the United States brought him hope, joy and an escape from his memories. However, his past sticks on to him and he is continuously affected by the memories forcing him to remember and produce irony in, “I’ll mention none of it”(Lee). “This speaker is fighting a cultural battle so large and complex that it could only be against his chosen home.” (Kelly 65)
This poem really touched me emotionally as I, a new citizen of the U.S, can relate to Lee’s situation. However, his sense of fear and excitement experienced in his early years had not happened to me, but through his imagery, I was able to visualize what had happened to him in his perspective. With every line, his emotions were clearly expressed during his times such as “there is no need for sadness, if the rain at the window now reminds you of nothing” (Lee) This quote shows that his memories brought grief and sadness to him. Through reading his milieu and his poem, it can be clearly seen that his style of writing was affected by his past experiences. Human ingenuity is in fact molded by one’s childhood and the environment in which he/she has grown up in.
The poem itself was about the terrors and memories Lee had while escaping from Indonesia with his family. His milieu directly connected with his writing as it was the main topic for his poem. This event had changed Lee’s lifestyle and his thoughts which affected his style of poetry and writing to what it is today.
The well-crafted poem really showed how the poet’s writing was affected by his milieu such as his style of repetition and irony. His unforgettable past clenches on to his heart and disables him from moving on to the future which he knows he must break free from. It showed that even having lived in a foreign country for most of his life, his past memories of his home country will never leave his mind and stay with him forever shaping his writing style and poetry.
Reflections
Writing this research paper was definitely difficult and the process of gathering ideas and thoughts and condensing it down to two pages was a long process. First, we started with the research of the author himself and then we read the critic overviews of the poem. The research for the paper was time-consuming because each part of the poem relating to the author's life had to be analyzed. Although the process was long and strenuous, it was a fun assignment and I learned a lot about poetry and the different styles of writing.
The product was good on the part that we got to read poems from one of the best known poets in the nation. The poem that I did was really cool because it was a story on how the author had felt on his past life. My favorite part of this assignment was when we had to criticize the poet's work in our own words. Being my first time critiquing a writer's work, it was interesting and fun. I feel that in this essay, for the first time I wasn't too discursive as I strive to keep my writing condensed. Everything had to count and although it was hard, it was a good learning experience.
Condensing this essay into two-pages definitely challenged my writing abilities as I had to make every sentence and word count. With the little writing I could do, i had to be able to get all my ideas in and finish with a conclusion. However, doing this helped me to realize that I am capable of doing these things and I have the ability to make even more condensed essays. I learned that being a writer is not always about writing many things or making many works. Sometimes it's about writing things that have a truly special meaning whether it is short or long.
I really want to be able to learn to write with proper grammar and associate all the things that we have learned in Bedford. I feel that my writing is still "immature" and there is a long way to go but throughout this year, my writing has improved a whole lot. Learning new vocabulary in my writings would be a good improvement as I often overuse certain words such as (In the poetry essay): "his", "life", "past", etc. Once my vocabulary becomes bigger as I go through the years, I believe I will be able to overcome this problem of repetitiveness.
The product was good on the part that we got to read poems from one of the best known poets in the nation. The poem that I did was really cool because it was a story on how the author had felt on his past life. My favorite part of this assignment was when we had to criticize the poet's work in our own words. Being my first time critiquing a writer's work, it was interesting and fun. I feel that in this essay, for the first time I wasn't too discursive as I strive to keep my writing condensed. Everything had to count and although it was hard, it was a good learning experience.
Condensing this essay into two-pages definitely challenged my writing abilities as I had to make every sentence and word count. With the little writing I could do, i had to be able to get all my ideas in and finish with a conclusion. However, doing this helped me to realize that I am capable of doing these things and I have the ability to make even more condensed essays. I learned that being a writer is not always about writing many things or making many works. Sometimes it's about writing things that have a truly special meaning whether it is short or long.
I really want to be able to learn to write with proper grammar and associate all the things that we have learned in Bedford. I feel that my writing is still "immature" and there is a long way to go but throughout this year, my writing has improved a whole lot. Learning new vocabulary in my writings would be a good improvement as I often overuse certain words such as (In the poetry essay): "his", "life", "past", etc. Once my vocabulary becomes bigger as I go through the years, I believe I will be able to overcome this problem of repetitiveness.