similes & metaphors
What type of comparison is this? how do you know?
the morning air glides cool
like a constant washcloth
against my face
simile- compares air to washcloth using the word "like"
Identify the alliteration or personification. Which is it?
During the day
the deck belongs
to men and children
At nightfall
women make their way
up
During the day the deck- alliteration
What is the impact of the line break?
It helps that
the morning air glides cool
like a constant washcloth
against my face
Deep breaths
I'm the first student in class
deep breaths. While reading aloud, it forces the reader to pause just as someone would do with a deep breath--represents the pause of a deep breath
what year does the beginning of this book take places
1975
What is Ha not allowed to do at the beginning of the book?
touch the floor first on Tet because only male feet can bless it
What type of figurative language is this and what does it mean?
"this house is our bridge to the sea"
metaphor comparing house to a bridge
the house is only a temporary stop. They will not be living their permanently.
What is personification?
Come up with an example & explain what it means.
Answers will vary
Why might the author have broke the line in this way?
This is when the speaker is describing her baptism.
We line up in a hallway
too bright and too bare,
where my brothers await us
frowning,
all wearing the same
shapeless white gowns
emphasize or draw attention to their unhappiness or discomfort
What does the city of Saigon get renamed as?
Ho Chi Minh City,
Why do Ha and Mother go to President Thieu's long annual ceremony honoring war wives?
Because after the talk, each family gets food
gunfire falls like rain
simile. gunfire is abundant, constant
What type of poetry is this book written in?
What are two features of this type of poetry
free verse
no rhyme scheme/ set syllables or words in each line, parallelism, creative line breaks
Big cars
pass not often
Not a noise
Clean, quiet
loneliness
answers may vary.
loneliness. emphasizes the word's meaning- ALONE in a line
Why do they become Christians?
So that the neighbors will be more welcoming
What is Ha's choice item to take with her when they flee?
her doll
What kind of figurative language could this be? Who/ what is it comparing?
Fake tears of an ugly fish
ugly fish to the Vietnam President/ leader
What is Ha's fuzzy souvenir which she gets from the person who helps her onto the motorboat?
Why is this situation kind of ironic?
golden arm hair
Identify the parallelism... What is its impact?
Wish I could do what boys do
and let the sun darken my skin,
and scars grid my knees
Wish I could let me hair grow,
but Mother says the shorter the better
to beat Saigon's heat and lice
Wish I could lose my chubby cheeks
Wish I could stay calm
no matter what
my brothers say
Wish I could...
Wish I could...
Wish I could...
She has numerous wishes implying that she is unhappy and without a lot
Identify the parallelism. What impact might it have?
She talks about Uncle SOn and her father.
He's short, dark, and smiley,
not tall, thin, and serious
like Father in photographs.
Still, when classmates ask about my father,
sometimes short and smiley comes to mind before I can stop it.
He's short, dark, and smiley,
not tall, thin, and serious
Though they are different adjectives, using three for both show how she sees the two in similar way- as father figures
Why did Ha's mother and father move from North Vietnam to South Vietnam?
to escape communism
Mother measures rice grains left in the bin.
not enough to last till payday at the end of the month.
Her brows twist like laundry
being wrung dry
Why did the poet compare the brows to laundry rather than something else that twists?
to show how the mother has all these responsibilities and chores
irony:
what do we as readers know that Ha doesn't that makes this poem slightly comical?
A plump man runs onto the stage
SHOUTING
Everyone except us
greets him
HA LE LU DA
we know that they were saying hallelujah and not Hal le lu da
Identify the parallelism... What is its impact?
I now understand
when they make fun of my name,
yelling Ha-ha-ha down the hall
when they ask if I eat dog meat,
barking and chewing and falling down laughing
when they wonder if I lived in the jungle with tigers
when they...
when they...
when they...
there is a long list of insults and questions Ha is asked that are rude, disrespectful, and hurtful
What impact does this line break have on the poem? This is at the beginning of the book when Ha is talking about her school in Vietnam.
From now on
Fridays
Will be for
happy news.
No one has anything
to say.
The line "No one has anything" is also true. As in they are living in poverty
Mother has to work two jobs to get by. What are they?
A seamstress and a secretary for a Naval office