A Date with a Literary Scholar (Refaat Al-Areer)

In Monday, 21 Oct. 2013 our literature class had held a talk by a blogger from Gaza name Refaat Al-Areer in Bilik Falimbani, FBMK, UPM. He is the one who manage a blog entitled thisisgaza.wordpress. He is from Gaza, Palestine.

             

            He use his blog to express his thought and feeling about Palestinians. He used his blog to represent himself as a poet to the outside world. The emcee of the talk is Khairil Anuar B. Shariff. Mr. Refaat gave us a lot of information about what happening in Gaza before this and right now. He also gave us the inspiration to be a good writer.

           

             We do not have to follow the specific rules to be a writer but we need to follow our gut. First, we have to noticing our determination to write and slowly trying to develop that skill. After noticing it we need a lot of practice because a good writer is someone that never stopping from practicing their works and skills. On top of that, do not afraid of failure because failure is the way to success.

Dr. Haslina introduced the speaker, Refaat Al-Areer to the students.

Mr. Refaat Al-Areer gave the talk.

Our emcee, Khairil Anuar opened the Q and A session to the students to give us the opportunity to ask the speaker about something that we do not understand.

There are some students who asked question.

Q and A session

1.   The speaker favorite poet and why he likes him?

Refaat Al-Areer really loves the literary works by John Donne. He is the role model and his inspiration in literature field. He likes how John Donne plays with words and he is also originally great with poetry. But in terms of romantic poetry, he chose T.S Elliot.

http://www.rugusavay.com/john-donne-quotes/

1.   Before the war, what the style of Palestinians poets?

Before the war, the poems Palestinians poets are produce is more about their personal life and feeling. But they still touch the political conflicts that occur during that time. So, even after the war they have almost the same pattern of poems. After the war, there are more poets that want to dedicate their thought and feeling about Palestine and toward Palestinians.

1.   How do you know the others feeling when you trying to produce a poem that related to them?

Being a poet means you are able to be anybody else. For example is William Shakespeare. He can produce hundreds of literary works with hundreds of characters that he never been one of them. A poet does not have to be the person that was literally exposed and you do not have to be the person that has touch by the crime in able to write but it is enough to live in those circumstances. Like in his poem entitled “Fresh Baked Souls”.

“Fresh Baked Soul”

As fire balls and sparks descend,

And the little ones rejoice,

Look up, and cheer, unable to comprehend,

Sooner than they expected

They will be blown

(It’s none of their wishes

If only they had known!)

And more freshly grilled balls of flesh ascend.

And fall on full dishes

And fill the boxes.

And the hollow minds.

The full bellies.

They look down. Rejoice. Cheer.

“Freshly baked!”

“Freshly baked!”

“Who wants freshly baked flesh for breakfast?”

“Throw me a piece.”

“Throw me four.”

“I have just eaten but crave for more.”

***

The hearts are not hearts.

The eyes can’t see.

There are no eyes there.

The bellies craving for more.

A house destroyed except for the door.

The family, all of them, gone

Save a photo album

That has to be buried with them

No one was left to cherish the memories

No one.

Except freshly baked souls in bellies.

Except for a poem.

By Refaat Al- Areer

1.   What the state of women and children education in Gaza?

In Gaza women get a good education right. There are 15 writers in Gaza and the majority of them are women with 12 writers. Besides, there are lots of females joining and studying in university rather than men. They are also very active in activism works. In Gaza, education is compulsory because everyone believe in education right.

http://www.gisha.org/item-gallery.asp?lang_id=en&p_id=1132

1.   How the situation in Gaza before the Israeli attacking?

Before the Israeli attacking, the Palestinians live depended on farming and agriculture. Their life is very simple. Most of the people are farmers. Besides, there are a lots of people pursued their study outside the Gaza like in Egypt and Jordan because there is no university in there during that time. But they only have some small colleges.

                          http://fasttimesinpalestine.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/maps-of-israel-palestine/

1.   What is the symbol of olive pictures in his blog?

Olive symbolizes Palestine in so many ways. It is everywhere in Palestinians culture. They use olive oil to cure every possibilities of disease or sickness. It is generally rooted between men and land. Olive symbolized the existence of Palestinians. It symbolize of happiness.

http://salutwineco.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/olive-oil/

Comment/remark:

            I think he had given a good talk about how to become a poet. You do not need the instruction to rule you to write a poem. You need to read and listen to a good poem and try to imitating them if you want to be a good writer and poet. You must have the desirable and the determination to write anything and you need to practice a lot. On top of that, you need to noticing your skill and trying to develop it and never quit even if you are facing the failure because J.K Rowling said that “you have to fail if you want to success”. Other than that, I also like the quote from the speaker about knowledge. “If knowledge is like a prey, if I could, I will catch them and put them in the cage like a bird”. It explains how meaningful an education is. He had convinced me that to be a writer you do not exactly need to develop the skill.

ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH By Wilfred Owen

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? 

Only the monstrous anger of the guns. 

Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle 

Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; 

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; 

And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all? 

Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes 

Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. 

The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; 

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, 

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

https://www.google.com.my/search?q=the+war&espv=210&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=LRheUpnfG5DtrQf0poHIDA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667&dpr=1#es_sm=122&espv=210&q=war+pictures&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=d2qL7g0hKUDZ5M%3A%3Brm0u_yvMLRiHRM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fcommons%252Fd%252Fd9%252FWar2.gif%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fen.wikipedia.org%252Fwiki%252FAnti-war_movement%3B2765%3B23

Anthem for Doomed Youth Note

        Our speaker asks us what sort of notice or holy ritual marks the deaths of soldiers who are slaughtered in battle. He then answers his own question, pointing out that there are no special occasions or pleasant ceremonies on the front but only the sounds of weapons and battle, which he compares to a demented sort of song and ceremony.

       Then he asks what ritual can be done to make those deaths a little easier to swallow. He concludes that only tears and the pale, drained faces of their loved ones will send these deceased boys off; the tenderness of patient minds will be like flowers on their graves. In the last image, our speaker shows us an image of civilians pulling down their blinds at dusk.

        "Anthem for Doomed Youth" is chock full of religious imagery, ‘What candles may be held to speed them all?’, ‘no prayer, no bell’ but it lacks the peaceful, contemplative feel you might expect. Instead, our speaker is bent on comparing religious rituals to the weapons of war, which is an alarming, but effective way of getting us to face facts.

http://www.shmoop.com/anthem-for-doomed-youth/summary.html

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1914warpoets.html

What is Drama?

                    ‘Drama’ is an Ancient Greek word meaning ‘act’ or ‘deed’. The Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle used this term in a very influential treatise called the Poetics. In this text, Aristotle classified different forms of poetry according to basic features he thought could be commonly recognized in their composition. He used the term ‘drama’ to describe poetic compositions that were ‘acted’ in front of audiences in a theatre.

       

          While Aristotle offered drama as a general term to describe forms of poetry that were ‘acted’, he identified different types of composition within this category, including comedy and tragedy. He regarded comedy as a form of drama because it represented acts that made audiences laugh and he considered tragedy a form of drama because it represented acts that made audiences feel pity or fear. The Roman theorist Horace introduced another view of these poetic forms when he suggested that their purpose was to either delight or instruct. Although various definitions and developments in drama must be considered in addition to Aristotle’s original assessment of dramas, many of the terms of classification he introduced are still used or debated today.

http://www.ehow.com/about_4612278_what-drama.html?ref=Track2&utm_source=ask

http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/faculties/learndrama/what_drama.htm

http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2001/drama/whatdram.htm

What is Poetry?

        What is poetry? At the most basic level, poetry is an experience produced by two elements of language like “sense” and “sound.” The “sense” of a word is its meaning. Poetry is derive from Greek word means  an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or its notional and semantic content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by its user and audience to differ from ordinary prose.

        Poetry in English and other modern European languages often uses rhyme. Rhyme at the end of lines is the basis of a number of common poetic forms, such as ballads, sonnets and rhyming couplets. However, the use of rhyme is not universal. Much modern poetry, for example, avoids traditional rhyme schemes. Furthermore, Classical Greek and Latin poetry did not use rhyme. In fact, rhyme did not enter European poetry at all until the High Middle Ages, when it was adopted from the Arabic language. The Arabs have always used rhymes extensively, most notably in their long, rhyming qasidas. Some classical poetry forms, such as Venpa of the Tamil language, had rigid grammars (to the point that they could be expressed as a context-free grammar), which ensured a rhythm.

        Compared with prose, poetry depends less on the linguistic units of sentences and paragraphs, and more on units of organization that are purely poetic. The typical structural elements are the line, couplet, strophe, stanza, and verse paragraph.

        Poetry is also visual, and so it’s a good idea to pay attention to how the words are assembled on the page. Our imaginations are often stirred by a poem’s visual presentation. Just like a person, poems can send all kinds of signals with their physical appearance. Their lines are all regularized and divided neatly into even stanzas. If the poem is about war, maybe it looks like a battle is going on, and the words are fighting for space. If the poem is about love, maybe the lines are spaced to appear as though they are dancing with one another. Often the appearance and meaning will be in total contrast, which is just as interesting.

http://www.poetry.org/whatis.htm

http://www.shmoop.com/poetry/how-to-read-poem/what-is-poetry.html

SONNET 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
   So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

   So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

William Shakespeare.

Exploration of Texts: "Turtle Soup" by Marilyn Chin

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

“Cauldron” is an ancient pot that usually use by ancient Chinese to boil the medicine or soup.  Through this word chosen we know that she is someone that very appreciate every single things about her ancestor land.

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?

She refers to “the Wei”, “the Yellow”, and “the Yangtze” because these rivers are the river where the Chinese civilization had started. The turtle represents as an ancient animal for the Chinese as their symbol of tradition. Through those references, we might say that the turtle had witnessed lots of glorious achievements in China civilization like “grazed on splendid sericulture”, through its journey in that river. She could not refer to the river like Mississippi, Nile, and Amazon because there is no big event that ever happened there. There are non-glorious cultures that we could dig among those rivers.

3.       What is the tone of this poem?

The tone of this poem is sadness and disappointments. We could see in the entire poem that the mood of the speaker is full of sadness because her mother no longer interested in preserve their sacred culture. The turtle. In the last stanza the speaker questioning about where are their ancestor belief had gone. “The songs, the rites, the oracles?”.