"Kitchen" by Banana Yoshimoto
What is the subject of this text?
What is loss, grief, and connection?
What is the subject of this text?
Explain how Mikage's character in Kitchen connects to this global issue.
Mikage's loss and her search for connectedness in a fast-paced society with shallow relationships demonstrate the fragmentation of society. The kitchen here is her haven: a special place in a chaotic society for her to find comfort and emotional support.
What is a possible extract page number(s) for Kitchen?
What is pages 3 to 5?
What is my global issue connecting Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and The War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy?
What is the effects of a fragmented society on emotional isolation?
How does the global issue appear in this text?
What is isolation through social disconnection?
How does the global issue appear in this text?
What is isolation through social apathy?
Explain how the photographer's character in The War Photographer connects to this global issue.
In War Photographer, the photographer is emotionally isolated because of his job; he has to witness suffering every day in a far-off land and come back to a fragmented and uncaring society that neither understands nor shares his experiences.
Why is this scene important?
This scene is where Mikage finds solace in the kitchen for the first time. It's her first step from overcoming her emotional isolation from her grieving process following the loss of her grandmother.
What is an authorial choice in "Kitchen" by Banana Yoshimoto that connects to this global issue?
What is stream of consciousness or symbolism?
What is an authorial choice in "The War Photographer" by Carol Ann Duffy that connects to this global issue?
What is caesura or juxtaposition?
How does this global issue a real-world issue we experience today?
The effect of a fragmented society on emotional loneliness, created from globalization & developing technologies, is a prominent growing issue in our world. We definitely need to pause and understand the effects of societal growth on our social & emotional well-being. Furthermore, to address this issue, we must learn to understand how strong, meaningful relationships can be developed despite this feeling of social fragmentation.
What is a possible extract page number(s) for The War Photographer?
What is lines 11 to 12?
"Home again to ordinary pain / which simple weather can dispel"
How do these authorial choices craft meaning in Kitchen?
The use of stream of consciousness allows readers to understand Mikage's thoughts directly through internal monologue, illustrating her feeling of disconnection and isolation in her grieving process.
Symbolism is used to represent the kitchen as a safe space for Mikage to reflect and understand her emotions. It is her place of refuge from a disconnected society outside.
How do these authorial choices craft meaning in The War Photographer?
Duffy uses caesura to create abrupt pauses in the poem, demonstrating the photographer's emotional struggles. These pauses are used to break the flow of the poem and contrast the photographer's emotions with the environment he is in where he's isolated from his loved ones.
Duffy uses juxtaposition to illustrate the contrast between the war environment and the photographer's life back at home. There is a disconnect between his reality and the world's indifference to his struggles.
Explain what this issue means to you.
This is a global issue that shows how the fast pace of modern life and a fragmented society can cause the feeling of social isolation in individuals, and also how individuals might struggle to communicate with other people or convey their emotions in a world that may not seem to "care."
Why is this scene important?
This scene demonstrates the difference between the extreme sufferings of war and the simple issues of life back at home. This emphasizes his physical and emotional isolation from his home and family.
What was the intention of representing this global issue in Kitchen?
Yoshimoto's intention was to illustrate the emotional impact of a fragmented society on individual's emotional health. Yoshimoto demonstrates the importance of a safe, healing space to counteract an individual's feeling of alienation from society.
What was the intention of representing this global issue in The War Photographer?
What is highlight the emotional burden of war?