Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)

Samuel Beckett was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1906, the second son of comfortable middle-class parents who were a part of the Protestant minority in a predominantly Catholic society. He was provided with an excellent education, graduating from Trinity College, Dublin, with a major emphasis in French and Italian. His first job was as a teacher of English in the Ecole Normale Superiéure in Paris. In 1931, he returned to Ireland as a lecturer in French literature, and he received his masters degree in French from Dublin and subsequently returned to Paris as a teacher in 1932. He has made Paris his home since that time, except for visits abroad and a retreat to the Unoccupied Zone in Vichy, France, during 1942–44.

Beckett found teaching uncongenial to his creative activities and soon turned all of his attention to writing. During the 1930s and 1940s, his writing consisted of critical studies (Proust and others), poems, and two novels (Murphy and Watt), all written in English. In the late 1940s, he changed from writing in English to writing in French. Part of the reason for this was his basic rejection of Ireland as his homeland. When asked why he found Ireland uncongenial, he offered the same explanation that has been given by other famous Irish expatriates, such as Sean O'Casey and James Joyce. He could not tolerate the strict censorship of so many aspects of life, especially the arbitrary censoring of many works of literature by the Catholic clergy. In addition, the political situation created an oppressive anti-intellectualism. Even after he became famous, he refused to allow some of his plays to be presented in Ireland. In 1958, during the International Theater Festival in Dublin, a play of his compatriot O'Casey was banned, and Beckett, in protest, withdrew his plays, which have not been seen in Ireland since then.

Since the major portion of his dramas were composed in French and first presented in Paris, many critics find difficulty in classifying Beckett's works: should he be considered a French or an Irish writer? The nature of' his characters, even when named Vladimir and Estragon, seems to be more characteristically Irish than any other nationality. Essentially, it should be a moot question because Beckett, when composing in French, was his own translator into English and vice versa. Thus his works do not suffer from another translator's tampering with them, and his great plays now belong to the realm of world literature.

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His Works

Whoroscope - in 1930 was his debut. It was a poem, poem with seventeen footnotes. Rene Descartes is protagonist of it.

Proust - in 1931, collection of essays about Marcel Proust

More pricks than kicks - in 1934, novel

Murphy - novel in 1938 

Molloy (novel) - 1951

Malone Meurt (novel) - 1951

En attendant Godot (play in two acts) - 1952

L'innommable/The Unnamable (novel) in 1953

Nouvelles et Textes Pour Rien/Stories and Texts for Nothing - 1955

Fin de Partie/Endgame (one-act play) , Acte sans Paroles I/Act without Words in 1957

Comment C'est/How It Is (novel) - 1961

Têtes Mortes (D'un ouvrage abandonné/From an Abandoned Work, Imagination Morte Imaginez/Imagination Dead Imagine, Bing/Ping) - 1967

Premier amour/First Love (novel) 1970 

Ends and Odds: Plays and Sketches 1977

Pas, suivi de Quatre Esquisses/Steps, followed by Four Sketches (plays) 1978

Poèmes/Poems, All Strange Gone Away 1979

Company 1980?

The Expelled 1980

Rockaby and Other Pieces, 1981

Three Occasional Pieces 1982

Disjecta, Worstward Ho 1983

Nohow On (short stories) 1989

As the Story Was Told: Uncollected and Late Prose, 1990

References : "Literary Encyclopedia: Beckett, Samuel."Literary Encyclopedia: Beckett, Samuel. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2014. <http://www.samuel-beckett.net/speople.html>.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, allegedly on April 23, 1564. Church records from Holy Trinity Church indicate that he was baptized there on April 26, 1564. Young William was born of John Shakespeare, a glover and leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a landed local heiress. William, according to the church register, was the third of eight children in the Shakespeare household—three of whom died in childhood. John Shakespeare had a remarkable run of success as a merchant, alderman, and high bailiff of Stratford, during William's early childhood. His fortunes declined, however, in the late 1570s.
There is great conjecture about Shakespeare's childhood years, especially regarding his education. Scholars surmise that Shakespeare attended the grammar school in Stratford. While there are no records extant to prove this claim, Shakespeare's knowledge of Latin and Classical Greek would tend to support this theory. In addition, Shakespeare's first biographer, Nicholas Rowe, wrote that John Shakespeare had placed William "for some time in a free school." John Shakespeare, as a Stratford official, would have been granted a waiver of tuition for his son. As the records do not exist, we do not know how long William may have attended the school, but the literary quality of his works suggests a solid educational foundation. What is certain is that William Shakespeare never proceeded to university schooling, which has contributed to the debate about the authorship of his works..
For the seven years following the birth of his twins, William Shakespeare disappears from all records, finally turning up again in London some time in 1592. This period, known as the "Lost Years," has sparked as much controversy about Shakespeare's life as any period. Rowe notes that young Shakespeare was quite fond of poaching, and may have had to flee Stratford after an incident with Sir Thomas Lucy, whose deer and rabbits he allegedly poached. There is also rumor of Shakespeare working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire for a time, though this is circumstantial at best.
It is estimated that Shakespeare arrived in London around 1588 and began to establish himself as an actor and playwright. Evidently Shakespeare garnered some envy early on, as related by the critical attack of Robert Greene, a London playwright, in 1592: "...an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country.".
Shakespeare's accomplishments are apparent when studied against other playwrights of this age. His company was the most successful in London in his day. He had plays published and sold in octavo editions, or "penny-copies" to the more literate of his audiences. Never before had a playwright enjoyed sufficient acclaim to see his works published and sold as popular literature in the midst of his career. In addition, Shakespeare's ownership share in both the theatrical company and the Globe itself made him as much an entrepeneur as artist. While Shakespeare might not be accounted wealthy by London standards, his success allowed him to purchase New House and retire in comfort to Stratford in 1611.

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Selected Bibliography

Poetry

The Rape of Lucrece (1594)
The Sonnets of Shakespeare (1609)
Venus and Adonis (1593)

Drama

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595)
All’s Well that Ends Well (1602)
Antony and Cleopatra (1607)
As You Like It (1599)
Coriolanus (1608)
Cymbeline (1609)
Hamlet (1600)
Henry IV (1597)
Henry V (1598)
Henry VI (Parts I, II, and III) (1590)
Henry VIII (1612)
Julius Caesar (1599)
King John (1596)
King Lear (1605)
Love’s Labour’s Lost (1593)
Macbeth (1606)
Measure for Measure (1604)
Much Ado About Nothing (1598)
Othello (1604)
Pericles (1608)
Richard II (1595)
Richard III (1594)
Romeo and Juliet (1596)
The Comedy of Errors (1590)
The Merchant of Venice (1596)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1597)
The Taming of the Shrew (1593)
The Tempest (1611)
The Winter’s Tale (1610)
Timon of Athens (1607)
Titus Andronicus (1590)
Troilus and Cressida (1600)
Twelfth Night (1599)
Two Gentlemen of Verona (1592)

References : "William Shakespeare." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014. <http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/william-shakespeare>.

Trifles Summary

 Plot Summary:

The sheriff, his wife, the county attorney, and the neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Hale, enter the kitchen of the Wright household. Mr. Hale explains how he paid a visit to the house on the previous day. Once there, Mrs. Wright greeted him but acted strangely. She  expressed in a sad voice that her husband was upstairs, dead.

The audience learns of John Wright’s killing through Mr. Hale’s beggining.of the story. He is the first beside  from Mrs. Wright to discover the body.  Mrs. Wright claimed that she was sleeping soundly while someone strangled her husband. It seems obvious to the male characters that she killed her husband, and she has been taken into custody as the main suspect.

The attorney and sheriff decide that there is nothing vital  in the room: “Nothing here but kitchen things.” The men criticize Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping skills, irking Mrs. Hale and the sheriff’s wife, Mrs. Peters.

The men exit, heading upstairs to investigate the crime scene. The women remain in the kitchen. Chatting to pass the time, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters notice vital details that the men would not care about

• Ruined fruit preserves
• Bread that has been left out of its box. 
• An unfinished quilt.
• A half clean / half messy table top.
• An empty bird cage.

Unlike the men who are looking for forensic evidence to solve the crime, the women in Susan Glaspell's Trifles observe clues that reveal the bleakness of Mrs. Wright’s emotional life. They theorize that Mr. Wright’s cold, oppressive nature must have been dreary to live with. Mrs. Hale comments about Mrs. Wright being childless: “Not having children makes less work – but it makes a quiet house.” To the women, they are simply trying to pass the awkward moments with civil conversation. But to the audience, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters unveil a psychological profile of a desperate housewife.

What Happened to the Bird?

When gathering up the quilting material, they discover a fancy little box. Inside, wrapped in silk is a dead canary. Its neck has been wrung. The implication is that Minnie’s husband did not like the canary’s beautiful song (a symbol of his wife’s desire for freedom and happiness). So, Mr. Wright busted the cage door and strangled the bird.

Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters do not tell the men about their discovery. Instead, Mrs. Hale puts the box with the deceased bird into her coat pocket – resolving not to tell the men about this little “trifle” they have uncovered.

The play ends with the characters exiting the kitchen and the women announcing that they have determined Mrs. Wright’s quilt making style. (She “knots it” instead of “quilts it” – a play with words denoting the way in which she killed her husband.)

                                             

Susan Glaspell .

Susan Glaspell Biography

Born: 1876

Died: 1948

She graduated from Drake University and worked as a journalist on the staff of the Des Moines Daily News. When her stories began appearing in magazines such as Harper's and The Ladies' Home Journal, she gave up the newspaper business. In 1915 Glaspell met George Cook, a talented stage director. Together they founded the Provincetown Players on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Players were a remarkable gathering of actors, directors and writers. The troupe included Eugene O'Neill and Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Best known in literary circles for her stage play "Trifles" and her short story, "A Jury of Her Peers." Both works were inspired by her experiences as a courtroom reporter during a murder trial in 1900

Glaspell's  Works

Much of Glaspell's writing is strongly feminist, dealing with the roles that women play, or are forced to play, in society and the relationships between men and women. She wrote more than ten plays for the Provincetown Players, including Women's Honor (1918), Bernice (1919),Inheritors (1921), and The Verge (1922). In 1922 Glaspell married George Cook and moved to New York City, where she continued to write, mostly fiction. In 1931 she won the Pulitzer Prize for Alison's House, a play based loosely on the life and family of Emily Dickinson. Glaspell spent the latter part of her life on Cape Cod writing.

Courage ( I know it doesn't have anything to do with poetry but it was the DRAMA of my life)

It is funny to look back at your life and see how foolish and naive you were.

I was really young when I started this blog. I guess I was only 15 .

It was all about me. How I felt? How I feel sorry for myself for being like the others ?

I was insecure , naïve and of course STUPID ….

I used to think joining the “cool gang” would make me happy..

I used to blog to express how people treated me and how I wanted to change according to mould that don’t fit me.

Being ignorant of how special I was , I decide to walk the path that everyone took .”cool kids”

Then it was about a betrayal of a close friend. I sobbed into the blog. I poured everything there.

Now reading it makes me feel so STUPID and a little sad.

Not because I lost a friend but how I reacted to that whole incident.

Now, I no longer feel sad or scared. I am completely myself and am proud to be me.

I took a huge courage and deleted the blog.

Which signifies that I am much more wiser .

Which signifies that I am now knowing what are priorites .

I outgrew the naïve me and blossom into a wiser and self-loving person.

Time doesn’t wait for anyone.

I figured that out.

Quit being sad and appreciate your surrounding .

I am done here..=)

A Letter to the White Boy

Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, 'Nigger.'

I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember. 

Countee Cullen

Dear White Boy,

I will call you "honey" since I don't know you name.I was really offended when you call someone Nigger. It is rude and and I would actually slap you if I could but I won’t as slapping you is too troublesome. Now listen, nobody likes to be call names. It is not nice and I believe you feel the same. The 8-year old boy smiled at you and all you could do is poke your tongue out and called him “nigger:

Honey, someone got to teach you some manners around. I am sorry if your parents are doing it but I believe it is natural to smile back if someone smile at you. The boy is scarred by your doing as he could only remember that YOU CALLED HIM NIGGER after the whole trip to Baltimore.

Please don’t do this again. Respect and give others . You will live a happier life

Regards

=)

Turtle Soup by Marilyn Chin

Marilyn Chin was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Portland, Oregon. Author of Rhapsody in Plain Yellow (W.W. Norton & Co., 2002) and Dwarf Bamboo (1987) to name a few, has received numerous awards including four Pushcart Prizes, the Patterson Prize and Fulbright Fellowship.

Turtle Soup 

You go home one evening tired from work,

and your mother boils you turtle soup.

Twelve hours hunched over the hearth

(who knows what else is in that cauldron).

You say, “Ma, you’ve poached the symbol of long life;

that turtle lived four thousand years, swam

the Wei, up the Yellow, over the Yangtze.

Witnessed the Bronze Age, the High Tang,

grazed on splendid sericulture.”

(So, she boils the life out of him.)

”All our ancestors have been fools.

Remember Uncle Wu who rode ten thousand miles

to kill a famous Manchu and ended up

with his head on a pole? Eat, child,

its liver will make you strong.”

”Sometimes you’re the life, sometimes the sacrifice.”

Her sobbing is inconsolable.

So, you spread that gentle napkin

over your lap in decorous Pasadena.

Baby, some high priestess has got it wrong.

The golden decal on the green underbelly

says “Made in Hong Kong.”

Is there nothing left but the shell

and humanity’s strange inscriptions,

the songs, the rites, the oracles?

Copyright © 1993 by Marilyn Chin 

Published in: Chin, Marilyn. 1993. The Phoenix Gone, The Terrace Empty. Milkweed Editions. 

1. Notice the author’s choice of the word “cauldron” in line 4. What images or connection does this word evoke? Why might the author have chosen “cauldron” rather than “pot”?

I actually think why the word  “cauldron” was used because the writer wants to embrace her Chinese heritage. Cauldron is commonly used by Chinese to boil soup especially the herbal soup. As turtle soup is consider a herb in the Chinese community therefore it is only right to cook in it in a cauldron.

Another way of seeing it is by using cauldron, it show motherly love. The mother cooked it for a long period for her child (him /her ) as the soup gives strength to one.

2.   Chin refers to “the Wei “, “the Yellow,” and “the Yangtze”. Why does she reference these  rivers in China? Why not include the Nile, the Amazon, or the Mississippi?

This is simply because  the poet is actually a Chinese- American. She wants to feel the root / origin by knowing her origin country. It gives her a sense of belonging towards her heritage.

3.  What is the tone of this poem?

The tone of this poem is actually quite melanchony and somber. For example , in stanza 4 line 2 .

“ Her Sobbing is inconsolable”

This line suggest that the mother is actually crying about being an immigrant who is in a foreign land.

I do think that the poem is reflective on the Chinese tradition. For example , there are words such cauldron , Wei, Yangtze , Uncle Wu .