The Hands of the Blacks by Luis Bernardo Honwana

I don’t remember now how we got on to the subject, but one day, Teacher said that
the palms of the Blacks’ hands were much lighter than the rest of their bodies. This is
because only a few centuries ago, they walked around with them like wild animals, so
their palms weren’t exposed to the sun, which made the rest of their bodies darker. I
thought of this when Father Christiano told us after catechism that we were absolutely
hopeless, and that even the pygmies were better than us, and he went back to this thing
about their hands being lighter, and said it was like that because they always went about
with their hands folded together, praying in secret. I thought this was so funny, this thing
of the Blacks’ hands being lighter, that you should just see me now. I do not let go of
anyone, whoever they are, until they tell me why they think that the palms of the Blacks’
hands are lighter. Doña Dores, for instance, told me that God made Blacks’ hands lighter
so they would not dirty the food they made for their masters, or anything else they were
ordered to do that had to be kept clean.

Señor Antunes, the Coca-Cola man, who only comes to the village now and again
when all the Cokes in the cantinas have been sold, said it was a lot of baloney. Of course,
I do not know if it was really such, but he assured me, it was. After that I said, “All right,
it was baloney,” and then he told me what he knew about this thing of the Blacks’ hands.
It was like this: “Long ago, many years ago, God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Virgin
Mary, St. Peter, many other saints, all the angels that were in Heaven, and some of the
people who had died and gone to Heaven—they all had a meeting and decided to create
the Blacks. Do you know how? They got hold of some clay and pressed it into some
second-hand molds and baked the clay of creatures, which they took from the heavenly
kilns. Because they were in a hurry and there was no room next to the fire, they hung
them in the chimneys. Smoke, smoke, smoke—and there you have them, black as coals.
And now, do you want to know why their hands stayed white? Well, didn’t they have to
hold on while their clay baked?”

When he told me this, Señor Antunes and the other men who were around us were
very pleased and they all burst out laughing. That very same day, Señor Frias told me that
everything i had heard from them there had been just one big pack of lies. Really and
truly, what he knew about the Blacks’ hands was right—that God finished men and told
them to bathe in a lake in Heaven. After bathing, the people were nice and white. The
Blacks, well. They were made very early in the morning and at this hour, the water in the
lake was very cold, so they only wet the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet
before dressing and coming to the world.

But i read in a book that happened to mention the story, that the Blacks have hands
lighter like this because they spent their lives bent over, gathering the white cotton of
Virginia and i dont know where else. Of course, Doña Estefania did not agree when i told
her this. According to her, it is only because their hands became bleached with all that
washing.

Well, i do not know what to think about all this but the truth is that however

~1~
calloused and cracked they may be, Black hands are always lighter than the rest of him.
And that’s that!

My mother is the only one who must be right about this question of a Black’s hands
being lighter than the rest of his body. On the day that we were talking about it, i was
telling her what i already knew about the question, and she could not stop laughing.
When i was talking, she did not tell me at once what she thought about all this and she
only talked when she was sure that i wouldn’t get tired of bothering her about it. And
even then, she was crying and clutching herself around the stomach like someone who
had laughed so much that it was quite unbearable. What she said was more or less this:

“God made Blacks because they had to be. They had to be, my son. He thought they
really had to be. Afterwards, He regretted having made them because other men laughed
at them and took away their homes and put them to serve as slaves and not much better.
But because He couldn’t make them all white, for those who were used to seeing them
black would complain, He made it so that the palms of their hands would be exactly like
the palms of the hands of other men. And do you know why that was? Well, listen: it was
to show that what men do is only the work of men... that what men do is done by hands
that are the same—hands of people. How, if they had any sense, would know that before
anything else they are men. He must have been thinking of this when He made the hands
of those men who thank God they are not black!”

After telling me all this, my mother kissed my hands. As i ran off to the yard to play
ball, i thought that i had never seen a person cry so much as my mother did then.

~2~
THE SOUL OF THE GREAT BELL
BY LAFCADIO HEARN
The water-clock marks the hour in the
_Ta-chung sz'_,--in the Tower of the
Great Bell: now the mallet is lifted to
smite the lips of the metal monster,--the
vast lips inscribed with Buddhist texts
from the sacred _Fa-hwa-King_, from the
chapters of the holy _Ling-yen-King_!
Hear the great bell responding!--how
mighty her voice, though tongueless!-
_KO-NGAI!_ All the little dragons on the
high-tilted eaves of the green roofs shiver
to the tips of their gilded tails under that
deep wave of sound; all the porcelain
gargoyles tremble on their carven
perches; all the hundred little bells of the
pagodas quiver with desire to speak.
_KO-NGAI!_-all the green-and-gold tiles
of the temple are vibrating; the wooden
goldfish above them are writhing against
the sky; the uplifted finger of Fo shakes
high over the heads of the worshippers
through the blue fog of incense!
_KONGAI!_--What a thunder tone was
that! All the lacquered goblins on the
palace cornices wriggle their fire-colored
tongues! And after each huge shock, how
wondrous the multiple echo and the great
golden moan and, at last, the sudden
sibilant sobbing in the ears when the
immense tone faints away in broken
whispers of silver,--as though a woman
should whisper, "_Hiai!_" Even so the
great bell hath sounded every day for
well-nigh five hundred years,-_Ko-
Ngai_: first with stupendous clang, then
with immeasurable moan of gold, then
with silver murmuring of "_Hiai!_" And
there is not a child in all the many-colored
ways of the old Chinese city who does not
know the story of the great bell,--who
cannot tell you why the great bell says
_Ko-Ngai_ and _Hiai_!
* * * * * the molten iron. Therefore the moulds
~3~
Now, this is the story of the great bell in
the Ta-chung sz', as the same is related in
the _Pe-Hiao-Tou-Choue_, written by the
learned Yu-Pao-Tchen, of the City of
Kwang-tchau-fu.
Nearly five hundred years ago the
Celestially August, the Son of Heaven,
Yong-Lo, of the "Illustrious," or Ming,
dynasty, commanded the worthy official
Kouan-Yu that he should have a bell
made of such size that the sound thereof
might be heard for one hundred _li_. And
he further ordained that the voice of the
bell should be strengthened with brass,
and deepened with gold, and sweetened
with silver; and that the face and the great
lips of it should be graven with blessed
sayings from the sacred books, and that it
should be suspended in the centre of the
imperial capital, to sound through all the
many-colored ways of the City of Pe-
king.
Therefore the worthy mandarin Kouan-
Yu assembled the master-moulders and
the renowned bellsmiths of the empire,
and all men of great repute and cunning
in foundry work; and they measured the
materials for the alloy, and treated them
skilfully, and prepared the moulds, the
fires, the instruments, and the monstrous
melting-pot for fusing the metal. And
they labored exceedingly, like giants,-
neglecting only rest and sleep and the
comforts of life; toiling both night and
day in obedience to Kouan-Yu, and
striving in all things to do the behest of
the Son of Heaven.
But when the metal had been cast, and the
earthen mould separated from the
glowing casting, it was discovered that,
despite their great labor and ceaseless
care, the result was void of worth; for the
metals had rebelled one against the other,-
-the gold had scorned alliance with the
brass, the silver would not mingle with
had to be once more prepared, and the
fires rekindled, and the metal remelted,
and all the work tediously and toilsomely
repeated. The Son of Heaven heard, and
was angry, but spake nothing.
A second time the bell was cast, and the
result was even worse. Still the metals
obstinately refused to blend one with the
other; and there was no uniformity in the
bell, and the sides of it were cracked and
fissured, and the lips of it were slagged
and split asunder; so that all the labor had
to be repeated even a third time, to the
great dismay of KouanYu. And when the
Son of Heaven heard these things, he was
angrier than before; and sent his
messenger to Kouan-Yu with a letter,
written upon lemon-colored silk, and
sealed with the seal of the Dragon,
containing these words:--
"_From the Mighty Yong-Lo, the
Sublime Tait-Sung, the
Celestial and August,--whose reign is
called 'Ming,'--to Kouan-Yu the Fuh-yin:
Twice thou hast betrayed the trust we
have deigned graciously to place in thee;
if thou fail a third time in fulfilling our
command, thy head shall be severed from
thy neck. Tremble, and obey!_"
* * * * * upon a platform overlooking the toiling of
Now, Kouan-Yu had a daughter of
dazzling loveliness, whose name--Ko-
Ngai--was ever in the mouths of poets,
and whose heart was even more beautiful
than her face. KoNgai loved her father
with such love that she had refused a
hundred worthy suitors rather than make
his home desolate by her absence; and
when she had seen the awful yellow
missive, sealed with the Dragon-Seal, she
fainted away with fear for her father's
sake. And when her senses and her
strength returned to her, she could not rest
or sleep for thinking of her parent's
danger, until she had secretly sold some
of her jewels, and with the money so
~4~
obtained had hastened to an astrologer,
and paid him a great price to advise her
by what means her father might be saved
from the peril impending over him. So the
astrologer made observations of the
heavens, and marked the aspect of the
Silver Stream (which we call the Milky
Way), and examined the signs of the
Zodiac,--the _Hwang-tao_, or Yellow
Road,--and consulted the table of the Five
_Hin_, or Principles of the Universe, and
the mystical books of the alchemists. And
after a long silence, he made answer to
her, saying: "Gold and brass will never
meet in wedlock, silver and iron never
will embrace, until the flesh of a maiden
be melted in the crucible; until the blood
of a virgin be mixed with the metals in
their fusion." So Ko-Ngai returned home
sorrowful at heart; but she kept secret all
that she had heard, and told no one what
she had done.
* * * * *
At last came the awful day when the third
and last effort to cast the great bell was to
be made; and Ko-Ngai, together with her
waiting-woman, accompanied her father
to the foundry, and they took their places
the moulders and the lava of liquefied
metal. All the workmen wrought their
tasks in silence; there was no sound heard
but the muttering of the fires. And the
muttering deepened into a roar like the
roar of typhoons approaching, and the
blood-red lake of metal slowly brightened
like the vermilion of a sunrise, and the
vermilion was transmuted into a radiant
glow of gold, and the gold whitened
blindingly, like the silver face of a full
moon. Then the workers ceased to feed
the raving flame, and all fixed their eyes
upon the eyes of Kouan-Yu; and Kouan-
Yu prepared to give the signal to cast.
But ere ever he lifted his finger, a cry
caused him to turn his head; and all heard
the voice of Ko-Ngai sounding sharply
sweet as a bird's song above the great
thunder of the fires,--"_For thy sake, O
my Father!_" And even as she cried, she
leaped into the white flood of metal; and
the lava of the furnace roared to receive
her, and spattered monstrous flakes of
flame to the roof, and burst over the verge
of the earthen crater, and cast up a
whirling fountain of many-colored fires,
and subsided quakingly, with lightnings
and with thunders and with mutterings.
Then the father of Ko-Ngai, wild with his
grief, would have leaped in after her, but
that strong men held him back and kept
firm grasp upon him until he had fainted
away and they could bear him like one
dead to his home. And the servingwoman
of Ko-Ngai, dizzy and speechless for
pain, stood before the furnace, still
holding in her hands a shoe, a tiny, dainty
shoe, with embroidery of pearls and
flowers,--the shoe of her beautiful
mistress that was. For she had sought to
grasp Ko-Ngai by the foot as she leaped,
but had only been able to clutch the shoe,
and the pretty shoe came off in her hand;
and she continued to stare at it like one
gone mad.
But in spite of all these things, the
command of the Celestial and August had
to be obeyed, and the work of the
moulders to be finished, hopeless as the
result might be. Yet the glow of the metal
seemed purer and whiter than before; and
there was no sign of the beautiful body
that had been entombed therein. So the
ponderous casting was made; and lo!
when the metal had become cool, it was
found that the bell was beautiful to look
upon, and perfect in form, and wonderful
in color above all other bells. Nor was
there any trace found of the body of Ko-
Ngai; for it had been totally absorbed by
the precious alloy, and blended with the
well-blended brass and gold, with the
~5~
intermingling of the silver and the iron.
And when they sounded the bell, its tones
were found to be deeper and mellower
and mightier than the tones of any other
bell,--reaching even beyond the distance
of one hundred _li_, like a pealing of
summer thunder; and yet also like some
vast voice uttering a name, a woman's
name,--the name of Ko-Ngai!
* * * * *
And still, between each mighty stroke
there is a long low moaning heard; and
ever the moaning ends with a sound of
sobbing and of complaining, as though a
weeping woman should murmur,
"_Hiai!_" And still, when the people hear
that great golden moan they keep silence;
but when the sharp, sweet shuddering
comes in the air, and the sobbing of
"_Hiai!_" then, indeed, all the Chinese
mothers in all the many-colored ways of
Pe-king whisper to their little ones:
"_Listen! that is Ko-Ngai crying for her
shoe! That is KoNgai calling for her
shoe!_"
YUKI-ONNA
In a village of Musashi Province (1), there
lived two woodcutters: Mosaku and
Minokichi. At the time of which I am
speaking, Mosaku was an old man; and
Minokichi, his apprentice, was a lad of
eighteen years. Every day they went
together to a forest situated about five
miles from their village. On the way to
that forest there is a wide river to cross;
and there is a ferry-boat. Several times a
bridge was built where the ferry is; but the
bridge was each time carried away by a
flood. No common bridge can resist the
current there when the river rises.
Mosaku and Minokichi were on their way
home, one very cold evening, when a
great snowstorm overtook them. They
reached the ferry; and they found that the
boatman had gone away, leaving his boat
on the other side of the river. It was no
day for swimming; and the woodcutters
took shelter in the ferryman's hut, --
thinking themselves lucky to find any
shelter at all. There was no brazier in the
hut, nor any place in which to make a fire:
it was only a two-mat [1] hut, with a
single door, but no window. Mosaku and
Minokichi fastened the door, and lay
down to rest, with their straw rain-coats
over them. At first they did not feel very
cold; and they thought that the storm
would soon be over.
The old man almost immediately fell
asleep; but the boy, Minokichi, lay awake
a long time, listening to the awful wind,
and the continual slashing of the snow
against the door. The river was roaring;
and the hut swayed and creaked like a
junk at sea. It was a terrible storm; and the
air was every moment becoming colder;
and Minokichi shivered under his rain-
coat. But at last, in spite of the cold, he
too fell asleep.
He was awakened by a showering of
snow in his face. The door of the hut had
been forced open; and, by the snowlight
(yuki-akari), he saw a woman in the
room, -- a woman all in white. She was
bending above Mosaku, and blowing her
breath upon him;-- and her breath was
like a bright white smoke. Almost in the
same moment she turned to Minokichi,
and stooped over him. He tried to cry out,
but found that he could not utter any
sound. The white woman bent down over
him, lower and lower, until her face
almost touched him; and he saw that she
was very beautiful, -- though her eyes
made him afraid. For a little time she
continued to look at him;-- then she
smiled, and she whispered:-- "I intended
to treat you like the other man. But I
cannot help feeling some pity for you, --
~6~
because you are so young... You are a
pretty boy, Minokichi; and I will not hurt
you now. But, if you ever tell anybody --
even your own mother -- about what you
have seen this night, I shall know it; and
then I will kill you... Remember what I
say!"
With these words, she turned from him,
and passed through the doorway. Then he
found himself able to move; and he
sprang up, and looked out. But the
woman was nowhere to be seen; and the
snow was driving furiously into the hut.
Minokichi closed the door, and secured it
by fixing several billets of wood against
it. He wondered if the wind had blown it
open;-- he thought that he might have
been only dreaming, and might have
mistaken the gleam of the snowlight in
the doorway for the figure of a white
woman: but he could not be sure. He
called to Mosaku, and was frightened
because the old man did not answer. He
put out his hand in the dark, and touched
Mosaku's face, and found that it was ice!
Mosaku was stark and dead...
By dawn the storm was over; and when
the ferryman returned to his station, a
little after sunrise, he found Minokichi
lying senseless beside the frozen body of
Mosaku. Minokichi was promptly cared
for, and soon came to himself; but he
remained a long time ill from the effects
of the cold of that terrible night. He had
been greatly frightened also by the old
man's death; but he said nothing about the
vision of the woman in white. As soon as
he got well again, he returned to his
calling,-- going alone every morning to
the forest, and coming back at nightfall
with his bundles of wood, which his
mother helped him to sell.
One evening, in the winter of the
following year, as he was on his way
home, he overtook a girl who happened to
be traveling by the same road. She was a
tall, slim girl, very good-looking; and she
answered Minokichi's greeting in a voice
as pleasant to the ear as the voice of a
song-bird. Then he walked beside her;
and they began to talk. The girl said that
her name was O-Yuki [2]; that she had
lately lost both of her parents; and that she
was going to Yedo (2), where she
happened to have some poor relations,
who might help her to find a situation as
a servant. Minokichi soon felt charmed
by this strange girl; and the more that he
looked at her, the handsomer she
appeared to be. He asked her whether she
was yet betrothed; and she answered,
laughingly, that she was free. Then, in her
turn, she asked Minokichi whether he was
married, or pledge to marry; and he told
her that, although he had only a widowed
mother to support, the question of an
"honorable daughter-in-law" had not yet
been considered, as he was very young...
After these confidences, they walked on
for a long while without speaking; but, as
the proverb declares, Ki ga areba, me mo
kuchi hodo ni mono wo iu: "When the
wish is there, the eyes can say as much as
the mouth." By the time they reached the
village, they had become very much
pleased with each other; and then
Minokichi asked O-Yuki to rest awhile at
his house. After some shy hesitation, she
went there with him; and his mother made
her welcome, and prepared a warm meal
for her. O-Yuki behaved so nicely that
Minokichi's mother took a sudden fancy
to her, and persuaded her to delay her
journey to Yedo. And the natural end of
the matter was that Yuki never went to
Yedo at all. She remained in the house, as
an "honorable daughterinlaw."
O-Yuki proved a very good daughter-in-
law. When Minokichi's mother came to
die,-- some five years later,-- her last
words were words of affection and praise
for the wife of her son. And O-Yuki bore
~7~
Minokichi ten children, boys and girls,--
handsome children all of them, and very
fair of skin.
The country-folk thought O-Yuki a
wonderful person, by nature different
from themselves. Most of the
peasantwomen age early; but O-Yuki,
even after having become the mother of
ten children, looked as young and fresh as
on the day when she had first come to the
village.
One night, after the children had gone to
sleep, O-Yuki was sewing by the light of
a paper lamp; and Minokichi, watching
her, said:--
"To see you sewing there, with the light
on your face, makes me think of a strange
thing that happened when I was a lad of
eighteen. I then saw somebody as
beautiful and white as you are now --
indeed, she was very like you."...
Without lifting her eyes from her work,
O-Yuki responded:--
"Tell me about her... Where did you see
her?
Then Minokichi told her about the terrible
night in the ferryman's hut,-- and about
the White Woman that had stooped above
him, smiling and whispering,-- and about
the silent death of old Mosaku. And he
said:--
"Asleep or awake, that was the only time
that I saw a being as beautiful as you. Of
course, she was not a human being; and I
was afraid of her,-- very much afraid,--
but she was so white!... Indeed, I have
never been sure whether it was a dream
that I saw, or the Woman of the Snow."...
O-Yuki flung down her sewing, and
arose, and bowed above Minokichi where
he sat, and shrieked into his face:--
"It was I -- I -- I! Yuki it was! And I told
you then that I would kill you if you ever
said one work about it!... But for those
children asleep there, I would kill you this
moment! And now you had better take
very, very good care of them; for if ever
they have reason to complain of you, I
will
treat you as you deserve!"...
Even as she screamed, her voice became
thin, like a crying of wind;-- then she
melted into a bright white mist that spired
to the roof-beams, and shuddered away
through the smoke-hold... Never again
was she seen.

~8~
Lafcadio Hearn (Biography)
Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904), writer, translator, and journalist, was born 27 June
1850 on the island of Levkás (from which his middle name derived), Greece, second of
three sons born to Charles Bush Hearn, an Irish officer-surgeon in the British army, and
Rosa Antonia Cassimati, a Greek inhabitant of Cerigo. Patrick Lafcadio was brought to
Dublin at the age of two, but his parents’ marriage did not last and his mother returned to
Greece, leaving him in the care of an elderly great-aunt, Mrs Sarah Brenane. He suffered a
disfiguring eye injury while attending a boarding school in England; his claims of having
been partly educated in France cannot be substantiated. He used his Greek middle name,
Lafcadio, to the exclusion of his Irish given name, from his mid-twenties.

Emigrating to the USA, Hearn settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, working at various menial jobs
and then on the Trade List, a business weekly. Eventually he became a reporter for The
Cincinnati Enquirer and later for The Cincinnati Commercial, where he contributed prose
poems and scholarly essays on themes unusual for that time, such as life among urban
blacks. While in Cincinnati he translated stories from the French writer Théophile Gautier
under the title One of Cleopatra’s Nights (1882), which reflected the dominant influence
of French nineteenth-century masters, and Gustave Flaubert’s Temptation of St.
Anthony (published posthumously)

In 1877 Hearn went to New Orleans to write a series of articles on Louisiana politics for
the Commercial and remained there, writing for the Item (later the Times-Democrat),
contributing translations of French authors, original stories and sketches, and adaptations
from foreign literature. His growing interest in the esoteric and oriental was evident in other
books of his New Orleans era, Stray leaves from stray literature (1884) and Some Chinese
ghosts (1886); he also fell under the influence of the philosopher Herbert Spencer at this
time.The scope of his articles varied widely; he wrote on Buddhism and Islām and on
French and Russian literature. His editorials ranged from scientific topics to articles on
anti-Semitism in Russia and France.Chita (1889), an adventure novel about the only
survivor of a tidal wave, dates from this time.

His first marriage (1874), to Alethea (‘Mattie’) Foley, a black woman born into slavery,
was short-lived; they had no children. From 1887 to 1889, Hearn was in the West Indies
on assignment for Harper’s Magazine, which resulted in Two Years in the French West
Indies(1890) and his novel Youma (1890), a highly original story of a slave insurrection.

~9~
In 1890 Hearn traveled to Japan for Harper’s. He soon broke with the magazine and
worked as a schoolteacher in Izumo in northern Japan. Hearn’s articles on Japan soon began
appearing in The Atlantic Monthly and were syndicated in several newspapers in the United
States. These essays and others, reflecting Hearn’s initial captivation with the Japanese,
were subsequently collected and published in two volumes as Glimpses of Unfamiliar
Japan (1894).

Hearn’s most brilliant and prolific period was from 1896 to 1903, as professor of English
literature at the Imperial University of Tokyo. In four books written during this time—
Exotics and Retrospective (1898), In Ghostly Japan (1899), Shadowings (1900), and A
Japanese Miscellany (1901)—he is informative about the customs, religion, and literature
of Japan. Kwaidan (1904) is a collection of stories of the supernatural and translations of
haiku poetry. Three of the ghost stories formed the basis of a critically praised Japanese
film, Kwaidan,in 1965. Japan, an Attempt at an Interpretation (1904) is a collection of
lectures prepared for delivery at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Hearn died, however,
before he could return to the United States. This last and perhaps best-known work is a
departure from his earlier, idealized view of Japan

In Japan, Hearn reversed many of the radical attitudes of his youth and condemned the
Westernisation of Japan, while accepting its inevitability. His outstanding achievement was
to describe a country in the throes of Meiji transformation from its own perspective. Japan:
an attempt at interpretation (1904) was a late effort at definitive analysis. Hearn was also
an outstanding horror writer, whose work in the genre varied from the realistic descriptions
of his American journalism to translations of Japanese folktales.

Hearn married (1891) Setsuko Koizumi; they had three sons and a daughter. Adopting
Japanese citizenship and, with it, the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo, he was
successively a lecturer at Tokyo and Waseda Universities from 1896. He died of heart
failure in Tokyo on 26 September 1904.
Source: Lafcadio Hearn 2013. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 17 July, 2013,
from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/258314/Lafcadio-Hearn
Murray, Paul “Hearn, Patrick Lafcadio”. Dictionary of Irish Biography. (ed.) James McGuire, James Quinn.
Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

~10~
THE STORY OF THE AGED MOTHER (A Japanese Folktale)

Long, long ago there lived at the foot of the mountain a poor farmer and his aged, widowed mother. They
owned a bit of land which supplied them with food, and their humble were peaceful and happy.

Shinano was governed by a despotic leader who though a warrior, had a great and cowardly shrinking
from anything suggestive of failing health and strength. This caused him to send out a cruel proclamation.
The entire province was given strict orders to immediately put to death all aged people. Those were
barbarous days, and the custom of abandoning old people to die was not common. The poor farmer loved
his aged mother with tender reverence, and the order filled his heart with sorrow. But no one ever thought a
second time about obeying the mandate of the governor, so with many deep hopeless sighs, the youth
prepared for what at that time was considered the kindest mode of death.

Just at sundown, when his day’s work was ended, he took a quantity of unwhitened rice which is principal
food for poor, cooked and dried it, and tying it in a square cloth, swung and bundle around his neck along
with a gourd filled with cool, sweet water. Then he lifted his helpless old mother to his back and stated on
his painful journey up the mountain. The road was long and steep; the narrowed road was crossed and
recrossed by many paths made by the hunters and woodcutters. In some place, they mingled in a confused
puzzled, but hegave no heed. One path or another, it mattered not. On he went, climbing blindly upward –
ever upward towards the high bare summit of what is know as Obatsuyama, the mountain of the
“abandoning of aged”.

The eyes of the old mother were not so dim but that they noted the reckless hastening from one path to
another, and her loving heart grew anxious. Her son did not know the mountain’s many paths and his return
might be one of danger, so she stretched forth her hand and snapping the twigs from brushes as they passed,
she quietly dropped a handful every few steps of the way so that they climbed, the narrow path behind them
was dotted at frequently intervals with tiny piles of twigs. At last the summit was reached. Weary and
heartsick, the youth gently released his burden and silently prepared a place of comfort as his last duty to the
loved one. Gathering fallen pine needle, he made a soft cushion and tenderly lifting his old mother therein,
he wrapped her padded coat more closely about the stooping shoulders and with tearful eyes and an aching
heart said farewell.

~11~
The trembling mother’s voice was full of unselfish love as she gave her last injunction. “Let not thine eyes
be blinded, my son.” She said. “The mountain road is full of dangers. LOOK carefully and follow the path
which holds the piles of twigs. They will guide you to the familiar way farther down”. The son’s surprised
eyes looked back over the path, then at the poor old, shriveled hands all scratched and soiled by their work
of love. His heart smote him and bowing to the grounds, he cried aloud: “oh, Honorable mother, thy
kindness thrusts my heart! I will not leave thee. Together we will follow the path of twigs, and together we
will die!”

Once more he shouldered his burden (how light it seemed no) and hastened down the path, through the
shadows and the moonlight, to the little hut in the valley. Beneath the kitchen floor was a walled closet for
food, which was covered and hidden from view. There the son his mother, supplying her with everything
needful and continually watching and fearing. Time passed, and he was beginning to feel safe when again
the governor sent forth heralds bearing an unreasonable order, seemingly as a boast of his power. His
demand was that his subject should present him with a rope of ashes. The entire province trembled with
dread. The order must be obeyed yet who in all Shinano could make a rope of ashes?

One night, in great distress, the son whispered the news to his hidden mother. “Wait!” she said. “I will think.
I will think” On the second day she told him what to do. “Make rope twisted straw,” she said. “Then stretch
it upon a row of flat stones and burn it there on the windless night.” He called the people together and did
as she said and when the blaze and died, behold upon the stones with every twist and fiber showing perfectly.
Lay a rope of whitehead ashes. The governor was pleased at the wit of the youth and praised greatly, but he
demanded to know where he had? obtained his wisdom. “Alas! Alas!” cried the farmer, “the truth must be
told!” and with deep bows he related his story. The governor listened and then meditated in silence. Finally
he lifted his head. “Shinano needs more than strength of youth,” he said gravely. “Ah, that I should have
forgotten the well-know saying, “with the crown of snow, there cometh a wisdom!” That very hour the
cruel law was abolished, and custom drifted into as far a past that only legends remains.

~12~
Types of Conjunctions: Coordinating, Subordinating, and Correlative

Definition: Conjunctions are words that link other words, phrases or clauses. There are
three types of conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating and correlative conjunctions.

Coordinating
Coordinating conjunctions connect two words or groups of words with similar values. They
may connect two words, two phrases, two independent clauses or two dependent clauses.
For example, in each of the following sentences the coordinating conjunction “and”
connects equal words or groups of words:
Connects two words: John and Reggie stayed up all night practicing their guitars.
Connects two phrases: The squirrel scurried up the tree trunk and onto a low branch.
Connects two clauses: Several managers sat with their backs to us, and I could almost hear
them snickering at us lowly workers.
There are only seven coordinating conjunctions in the English language, and they are often
remembered by using the acronym “FANBOYS”: for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so.

Subordinating
Subordinating conjunctions connect two groups of words by making one into a
subordinating clause. The subordinating clause acts as one huge adverb, answering the
questions “when” or “why” about the main clause, or imposing conditions or opposition
on it.
Here are some examples of subordinating conjunctions changing a clause into adverbial
subordinating clauses in different ways:

 I can go shopping after I finish studying for my exam. (when)

 Because the night was young, Gertrude decided to take a walk. (why)
 I’ll give you a dime if you give me a dollar. (condition)
 Although he never figured out why, Hanna winked on her way out the door.
(opposition)
Note: The subordinating conjunction does not always come between the two clauses it
connects. Often, it comes at the beginning of the first clause.
Correlative
Correlative conjunctions are always used in pairs. They are similar to coordinating
conjunctions because they join sentence elements that are similar in importance.

~13~
The following are some examples of coordinating conjunctions:
Both, and: Both Rodney and Xing made the varsity team this year.
Neither, nor: Neither Rodney nor Xing made the varsity team this year.
Not only, but also: Not only did Rodney make the varsity team, but he also become one
of the strongest players.
Remember these three types of conjunctions - coordinate, subordinate and correlative
conjunctions - and you've got one part of speech down pat.

~14~
Conditional Sentences / If-Clauses Type I, II and III

Conditional Sentences are also known as Conditional Clauses or If Clauses. They are
used to express that the action in the main clause (without if) can only take place if a
certain condition (in the clause with if) is fulfilled. There are three types of Conditional
Sentences.

Conditional Sentence Type 1

→ It is possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled.

Form: if + Simple Present, will-Future

Example: If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.

The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don't use a
comma.

Example: I will send her an invitation if I find her address.

Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative. See Simple Present und will-
Future on how to form negative sentences.

Example: If I don’t see him this afternoon, I will phone him in the evening.

Use

Conditional Sentences Type I refer to the future. An action in the future will only happen
if a certain condition is fulfilled by that time. We don't know for sure whether the
condition actually will be fulfilled or not, but the conditions seems rather realistic – so
we think it is likely to happen.

Example: If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.

I want to send an invitation to a friend. I just have to find her address. I am quite sure,
however, that I will find it.

Example: If John has the money, he will buy a Ferrari.

I know John very well and I know that he earns a lot of money and that he loves Ferraris.
So I think it is very likely that sooner or later he will have the money to buy a Ferrari.

~15~
Conditional Sentence Type 2

→ It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.

Form: if + Simple Past, Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)

Example: If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.

Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative. See Simple Past und Conditional
I on how to form negative sentences.

Example: If I had a lot of money, I wouldn’t stay here.

Were instead of Was

In IF Clauses Type II, we usually use ‚were‘ – even if the pronoun is I, he, she or it –.

Example: If I were you, I would not do this.

Use

Conditional Sentences Type II refer to situations in the present. An action could happen
if the present situation were different. I don't really expect the situation to change,
however. I just imagine „what would happen if …“

Example: If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.

I would like to send an invitation to a friend. I have looked everywhere for her address,
but I cannot find it. So now I think it is rather unlikely that I will eventually find her
address.

Example: If John had the money, he would buy a Ferrari.

I know John very well and I know that he doesn't have much money, but he loves
Ferraris. He would like to own a Ferrari (in his dreams). But I think it is very unlikely
that he will have the money to buy one in the near future.

Conditional Sentence Type 3

→ It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.

Form: if + Past Perfect, Conditional II (= would + have + Past Participle)

Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.

~16~
Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative. See Past Perfect and Conditional
II on how to form negative sentences.

Example: If I hadn’t studied, I wouldn’t have passed my exams.

Use

Conditional Sentences Type III refer to situations in the past. An action could have
happened in the past if a certain condition had been fulfilled. Things were different then,
however. We just imagine, what would have happened if the situation had been fulfilled.

Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.

Sometime in the past, I wanted to send an invitation to a friend. I didn't find her address,
however. So in the end I didn't send her an invitation.

Example: If John had had the money, he would have bought a Ferrari.

I knew John very well and I know that he never had much money, but he loved Ferraris.
He would have loved to own a Ferrari, but he never had the money to buy one.

Exceptions

Sometimes Conditional Sentences Type I, II and III can also be used with other tenses.

So far you have only learned the basic rules for Conditional Sentences. It depends on the
context, however, which tense to use. So sometimes it's possible for example that in an
IF Clause Type I another tense than Simple Present is used, e.g.Present
Progressive or Present Perfect.

Conditional Sentences Type I (likely)

Condition
IF Clause Main Clause
refers to:

Future I …I will buy it.

Simple If the book is Imperative …buy it.

future action
Present interesting, …
Modal
…you can buy it.
Auxiliary

~17~
 Condition
IF Clause Main Clause
refers to:

…I will wake him

Future I
up.
action going Present
If he is snoring, … Imperative …wake him up.
on now Progressive
Modal …you can wake
Auxiliary him up.

…we will visit

Future I
him.
finished Present If he has moved into
Imperative …visit him.
action Perfect his new flat, …
Modal …we can visit
Auxiliary him.

…I will
Future I
congratulate her.

improbable should + If she should win …congratulate

Imperative
action Infinitive this race, … her.

Modal …we can

Auxiliary congratulate her.

Simple If he gets what he Simple

present facts …he is very nice.
Present wants, … Present

~18~
Conditional Sentences Type II (unlikely)

Condition refers
IF Clause Main Clause
to:

present / future Simple If I had a lot of Conditional …I would travel

event Past money, … I around the world.

consequence in Simple Conditional …I would have said

If I knew him, …
the past Past II hello.

Conditional Sentences Type II (impossible)

Condition
IF Clause Main Clause
refers to:

Past Conditional …I would not be

present If I had known it, …
Perfect I here now.

Past If he had learned for Conditional …he would not

past
Perfect the test, … II have failed it.

~19~
 7 RULES TO HAPPINESS –
JAPANESE STYLE

I’m a house crasher. I like to crash fellow bloggers homes, I’m especially drawn to small,
uncomplicated homes like bungalows and cottages. So last night I was visiting Japanese
homes. Their homes are exactly what I like – small, clean, orderly, uncomplicated,
and how there’s significance in everything. Yesterday, I was on such a journey when I
came across this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpF9UlzkQ1c
The 7 Rules for Happiness Japanese Style
1. Don’t step on the edges of the tatami mats. This is particularly true for me. While
I don’t have tatami mats, we do have one carpeted room in the house and the rule
is: absolutely no shoes! I consider it our prayer room. A holy room, the room
dedicated to G-d. Unfortunately, Tater missed the memo and no matter what I do
to keep him out of here he has on occasion used it as his indoor lavatory (a side-
effect to his thunderstorm terrors). I’m serious about this room – we’re putting him
on an indoor invisible fence and zapping some holy into him.

2. Honor your ancestors. Not only do we keep photos of our ancestors throughout
the house, we keep photos of others ancestors as well. Like this kindly old
gentlemanhe might of could have been related to me . . .maybe he was my great-
great grandfather? I never have seen any pictures of my paternal grandfather. You
can’t see through this picture of his picture how full of love and warmth his eyes

~20~
 are. Who knows what he experienced, what he saw, how many loved ones he
outlived, his eyes don’t reflect any bitterness or harshness, none of life’s batterings
seemed to have affected his soul. I can only imagine the stories he had to tell and
the wisdom he had to offer. Anyway, he’s somebody’s ancestor and I’m keeping
him.

3. Appreciate simple beauty. I’m an American-born of Guatemalan parents with a

Japanese identity problem married to an all-American hybrid. This is my
interpretation of ‘simple beauty’. Cowboy and the Natives gave me this painting
one year for mother’s day. She’s utterly, unspeakably, simply beautiful with those
peonies behind her ears!

4. Respect sacred places. This one is tricky living with Natives as the Natives have
their own sacred places. Sometimes those sacred places are the exact ones that are
supposed to be off-limits to them. For instance, the front yard is an area Cowboy
would like to consider sacred. He’d really like to assimilate with the neighbors
who have grass. Sometimes I think he suffers from lawn envy. Unfortunately, the

~21~
 places he thinks he’ll grow grass is our Natives sacred burial, building and
digging grounds. They love to dig, build river communities (we’re learning about
early civilization), and work on irrigation projects in this locale. Cowboy’s
considering sod, but I’m convinced it’ll give the Natives more material for their
maturing civilizations.

5. See How Art Reflects Nature. I was amazed at how much of nature is reflected
in the art that we have. Cowboy found this picture in a retirement community he
once worked at. It’s a handpainted water and acrylic picture of two
hummingbirds. It’s one of my favorite pieces. It really is very pretty. You’d have
to see it up close and personal to truly appreciate the skill and artistry involved.

6. Wear shoes outside. Wear slippers inside. I try to enforce this rule, not so much
because it’s “Japanese” of me, but because Natives will track in all kinds of
disgusting things. The problem is it all accumulates on one sad little rug by the

~22~
 front doorthe Japanese solution for this is a ‘genkan’. I think I know of a certain
Cowboy who can build me one.

7. Enjoy the 4 seasons. The seasonality of life: everywhere, in everything, all the
time. My Natives are a good reminder for this. Never again will I live through a
summer when I had a 10-year-old, a 7-year-old and a 2-year-old. As hard as my
days are sometimes, the Natives are growing up right before my eyes – I have to
remember not to blink because the season will be over all too soon.

~23~
Customs & Traditions of China

China is an extremely large country, and the customs and traditions of its people vary
by geography and ethnicity.

More than 1 billion people live in China, according to the Asia Society, representing 56
ethnic minority groups. The largest group is the Han Chinese, with about 900 million
people. Other groups include the Tibetans, the Mongols, the Manchus, the Naxi, and the
Hezhen, which is smallest group, with fewer than 2,000 people.

"Significantly, individuals within communities create their own culture," said Cristina De
Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College in London. Culture includes
religion, food, style, language, marriage, music, morals and many other things that make
up how a group acts and interacts. Here is a brief overview of some elements of the Chinese
culture.

Religion

The Chinese Communist Party that rules the nation is officially atheist, though it is
gradually becoming more tolerant of religions, according to the Council on Foreign
Relations. Currently, there are only five official religions. Any religion other than
Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism are illegal, even though the
Chinese constitution states that people are allowed freedom of religion. The gradual
tolerance of religion has only started to progress in the past few decades.

About a quarter of the people practice Taoism and Confucianism and other traditional
religions. There are also small numbers of Buddhists, Muslims and Christians. Although
numerous Protestant and Catholic ministries have been active in the country since the early
19th century, they have made little progress in converting Chinese to these religions.

Language

There are seven major groups of dialects of the Chinese language, which each have their
own variations, according to Mount Holyoke College. Mandarin dialects are spoken by
71.5 percent of the population, followed by Wu (8.5 percent), Yue (also called Cantonese;
5 percent), Xiang (4.8 percent), Min (4.1 percent), Hakka (3.7 percent) and Gan (2.4
percent).

~24~
Chinese dialects are very different, according to Jerry Norman, a former professor of
linguistics at the University of Washington and author of "Chinese (Cambridge Language
Surveys)" (Cambridge University Press, 1988). "Chinese is rather more like a language
family than a single language made up of a number of regional forms," he wrote. "The
Chinese dialectal complex is in many ways analogous to the Romance language family in
Europe. To take an extreme example, there is probably as much difference between the
dialects of Peking [Beijing] and Chaozhou as there is between Italian and French."

The official national language of China is Pŭtōnghuà, a type of Mandarin spoken in

the capital Beijing, according to the Order of the President of the People's Republic of
China. Many Chinese are also fluent in English.

Food

Like other aspects of Chinese life, cuisine is heavily influenced by geography and ethnic
diversity. Among the main styles of Chinese cooking are Cantonese, which features stir-
fried dishes, and Szechuan, which relies heavily on use of peanuts, sesame paste and ginger
and is known for its spiciness.

Rice is not only a major food source in China; it is also a major element that helped grow
their society, according to "Pathways to Asian Civilizations: Tracing the Origins and
Spread of Rice and Rice Cultures," an 2011 article in the journal Rice by Dorian Q. Fuller.
The Chinese word for rice is fan, which also means "meal," and it is a staple of their diet,
as are bean sprouts, cabbage and scallions. Because they do not consume a lot of meat —
occasionally pork or chicken — tofu is a main source of protein for the Chinese.

The Arts

Chinese art is greatly influenced by the country’s rich spiritual and mystical history. Many
sculptures and paintings depict spiritual figures of Buddhism, according to
the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Many musical instruments are integral to Chinese culture, including the flute-like xun and
the guqin, which is in the zither family.

Eastern-style martial arts were also developed in China, and it is the birthplace of kung fu.
This fighting technique is based on animal movements and was created in the mid-1600s,
according to Black Belt Magazine.

~25~
Ancient Chinese were avid writers and philosophers — especially during the Ming and
Qing dynasties — and that is reflected in the country’s rich liturgical history.

Customs and celebrations

The largest festival — also called the Spring Festival — marks the beginning of
the Lunar New Year. It falls between mid-January and mid-February and is a time to honor
ancestors. During the 15-day celebration, the Chinese do something every day to welcome
the new year, such as eat rice congee and mustard greens to cleanse the body, according to
the University of Victoria. The holiday is marked with fireworks and parades featuring
dancers dressed as dragons.

Many people make pilgrimages to Confucius' birthplace in Shandong Province on his

birthday, Sept. 28. The birthday of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, is observed by visiting
Taoist temples. It falls between late March and late April. Similar celebrations mark the
birthday of Mazu, the goddess of the sea (also known as Tianhou), in May or June. The
Moon Festival is celebrated in September or October with fireworks, paper lanterns and
moon gazing.

Japanese Traditions
Japan is known for its unique culture and heritage, which has been preserved by the
Japanese people since ancient times. The age-old Japanese traditions and customs which
give a unique character to the lifestyle of the Japanese people have to be experienced to
be truly appreciated. Some of the unique aspects of Japanese life are mentioned here as
an introduction to the traditions of Japan.

Japanese Gardens: The original Japanese gardens were inspired by Buddhist and Chinese
philosophy and later evolved to have their own distinct Japanese identity. The gardens
found in Japanese temples and shrines are inspired by the Shinto religion and the belief in
an ideal state of harmony. The Japanese attempt to recreate this idealized harmony in their
beautifully designed gardens that include aspects such as water, rocks, gravel, moss and
miniature plants or Bonsai. One of the most famous Zen Rock Gardens in Japan is the
Ryoan-ji Zen Rock Garden in Kyoto.

Japanese Architecture: Traditional Japanese Architecture has a distinct style deeply

influenced by Buddhism and Shintoism. Houses and temples made of wood, placed on
stilts to raise them above the ground, and with sloping roofs made of thatch or tiles create
a distinctive silhouette in traditional Japanese architecture. The use of lightweight wood
and bamboo to create Fusuma (sliding doors) and straw or woven grass to create Tatami
(mats) are other unique features of Japanese architectural design. People usually sat on the
~26~
floor and furniture only came into widespread use after the late-nineteenth and early
twentieth century.

Japanese Tea Ceremony: The Japanese ceremony of preparing and offering tea to revered
guests is a formal and stylized ritual, almost like a meditative performance. The art or skill
of preparing tea and all the elements of the tea ceremony have special and symbolic
meaning. Deeply influenced by Zen Buddhism, the Japanese tea ceremony has evolved into
a cultural ritual which means much more than the mere sampling of powdered green tea,
and is a unique part of Japanese traditions.

Japanese Cuisine: Japan is an island nation and seafood plays an important role in
Japanese cuisine. Rice and fish along with vegetables are eaten by most Japanese. Tofu or
soy bean curd is another popular and healthy dish often consumed by the Japanese people.
Japanese food such as Sushi (rice flavored with vinegar and combined with seafood or
seaweed and sometimes vegetables) and Sashimi (cut and sliced raw meat, usually seafood)
are forms of Japanese cuisine that have become famous worldwide. Teppanyaki or food
cooked on an iron griddle is another popular form of Japanese cuisine. Sake or Japanese
rice wine is also drunk at traditional meals as a toast to the health and long life of one's
dining companions.

Japanese Festivals: The Japanese people celebrate many festivals, most of which are of
the Buddhist and Shinto religions. Different temples or shrines across Japan have their own
specific Matsuri or festive holiday. Some festivals that began long ago are also celebrated
today in a modern form. These include Aomori Nebuta Festival, the Hadaka Matsuri
Festival and the Cherry Blossom Festivals, which are an integral part of Japanese culture.

Cherry Blossom Festivals: Every year in spring the Japanese people take time out to
appreciate the beauty of nature as the Cherry trees burst into full bloom and their lovely
pink flowers offer a wonderfully appealing sight. People picnic in the Cherry groves, drink
tea and Sake and enjoy music in the delightful ambience of the blooming Cherry flowers.
The Cherry Blossom festivals at Okinawa and at Matsuyama Castle in Ehime prefecture
are the best-known among many flower festivals across Japan. The natural beauty of the
Cherry blossom season is celebrated by the Japanese in their art and music, and even in the
designs of their traditional clothing, the Kimono.

Japanese Kimono: The traditional Japanese costume, the Kimono, is a graceful full-length
robe that falls from the wearer's shoulders to the ankles. The robe is tied around the middle
with a sash called the Obi. Kimonos for special occasions were made of rich fabric such as
silk, satin and brocade and feature designs inspired by nature such as Cherry blossoms,
autumn leaves, butterflies and pine trees. Kimonos are now worn mostly for ceremonial
occasions and events such as festivals and marriages.

Japanese Painting: Japan has a long tradition of painting and woodblock printing. Some
of the famous Japanese painters are Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) who is famous for
the Ukiyo-e or woodblock printing style of art. Another famous Japanese painter is
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) who is famous for a series of woodblock prints

~27~
depicting Mount Fuji. The best known among these is The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

Japanese Calligraphy: The Japanese script consists of characters which were

traditionally painted using smooth brushstrokes on handmade paper. The fine art of
calligraphy requires many years of practice and was considered essential learning for an
accomplished person in Japanese society.

Ikebana: The Japanese cultural practice of flower arrangement is a fine art that
encompasses the ideas of aesthetics, spirituality, discipline and harmony with nature. It is
believed to have evolved from the Buddhist practice of offering flowers in memory of
those who have passed away. The emphasis on minimalism, attention to the line and form
of the plants or flowers used in an arrangement and the harmony of the overall
arrangement exemplify this Japanese tradition.

There are many more fascinating aspects of traditional Japanese culture, such as viewing
Mount Fuji, the Samurai Code, Sumo Wrestling and the role of the Geisha. You can find
out more about these uniquely Japanese traditions when you visit this fascinating country.

~28~
Outline
An outline, also called a hierarchical outline, is a list arranged to
show hierarchical relationships and is a type of tree structure. It is used[1] to present the
main points or topics of a given subject, often used as a rough draft or summary of the
content of a document.[2] Preparation of an outline is an intermediate step in the process of
writing a scholarlyresearch paper, literature review, thesis or dissertation. A special kind
of outline (integrated outline) incorporates scholarly sources into the outline before the
writing begins. [3]
Writers of fiction and creative nonfiction, such as Jon Franklin,[4] may use outlines to
establish plot sequence, character development and dramatic flow of a story, sometimes in
conjunction with free writing.
Merriam-Webster's manual for writers and editors (1998, p. 290) recommends that the
section headings of an article should, when read in isolation, combine to form an outline
of the article content. Garson (2002) distinguishes a 'standard outline', presented as a
regular table of contents from a refined tree-like 'hierarchical outline', stating that "such an
outline might be appropriate, for instance, when the purpose is taxonomic (placing
observed phenomena into an exhaustive set of categories). ... hierarchical outlines are rare
in quantitative writing, and the researcher is well advised to stick to the standard outline
unless there are compelling reasons not to."[5]

~29~
Elements of a Short Story

A short story is a short work of fiction. Fiction, as you know, is prose writing about
imagined events and characters. Prose writing differs from poetry in that it does not depend
on verses, meters or rhymes for its organization and presentation.
Novels are another example of fictional prose and are much longer than short stories. Some
short stories, however, can be quite long. If a a short story is a long one, say fifty to one
hundred pages, we call it a novella.
American literature contains some of the world's best examples of the short story. Readers
around the world enjoy the finely crafted stories of American writers such as O. Henry,
Stephen Crane, Jack London, Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe.
What makes these authors such remarkable short story writers? They are true masters at
combining the five key elements that go into every great short story: character, setting,
conflict, plot andtheme.
The ELLSA web-site uses one of these five key elements as the focus of each of the five
on-line lessons in the Classics of American Literature section. In each lesson, you will
explore a single American short story from the USIA Ladder Series and discover how the
author uses a certain element.

Character
A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of a
short story or other literary work.

Setting
The setting of a short story is the time and place in which it happens. Authors often use
descriptions of landscape, scenery, buildings, seasons or weather to provide a strong sense
of setting.

Plot
A plot is a series of events and character actions that relate to the central conflict.

Conflict
The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short story. The main character
is usually on one side of the central conflict.

On the other side, the main character may struggle against another important character,
against the forces of nature, against society, or even against something inside himself or
herself (feelings, emotions, illness).

Theme
The theme is the central idea or belief in a short story.

~30~
Makato and the Cowrie Shell

Once upon a time there was a boy named Makato. He was an orphan, and had no friends
or family to take care of him. Because he had to make his own living he did all kinds of
odd jobs: chopping wood, feeding pigs, clearing and cleaning. He didn't mind to work hard,
and despite his small wages he was satisfied with his life.

He was only 4 when his mother passed away, but he remembered some stories she had told
about the kind-hearted king of Sukhotai. Ever since he was small he wanted to meet this
king. One day, when helping a friend to find food for elephants, he found so many branches
that the friend offered him a job to become the assistant of the King's mahout. He worked
hard cleaning elephants sheds and finding food. One fine morning Makato's patience and
hard work got rewarded: he was to accompany the King's elephant an a parade. As the king
mounted the beast, in his splendid, shiny costume, he dropped a tiny cowrie shell. Makato
picked it up and held it out to the king. who told him to keep it.

At the time the people of Sukhotai used cowrie shells as money, and although one little
cowrie had little value, he wanted to use it wisely. He went to the market to buy seeds, yet
quickly realized he could not even buy the smallest bag of seeds, while he noticed a lettuce
seed stall.

"Lady, if I dip my finger into this pile of seeds, can I take those that stick to my finger for
one cowrie?", he asked. "Well why not", replied the sales lady, amused by his suggestion.
Makato carefully scraped the seeds from his finger and planted them, watering the tiny
sprouts daily, until the garden was covered in fresh, green lettuce. Proud as he was, he
offered to king his first produce.

"Where did you get these, my boy?" the king asked surprised, and Makato told him the
story. He king was impressed by so much intelligence and industry that he offered him a
fixed position at the palace.

~31~
The Ramayana Story

Dasharatha was the King of Ayodhya and had three wives and four sons. Rama was the
eldest and his mother was Kaushalya. Bharata was the son of Dasharatha’s second and
favorite wife, Queen Kaikeyi. The other two were twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughna
whose mother was Sumithra. In the neighboring city the ruler’s daughter was named Sita.
When it was time for Sita to choose her bridegroom (at a ceremony called a swayamvara)
princes from all over the land were asked to string a giant bow which no one could lift.
However, as Rama picked it up, he not only strung the bow, he broke it. Seeing this, Sita
indicated that she had chosen Rama as her husband by putting a garland around his neck.
Their love became a model for the entire kingdom as they looked over the kingdom under
the watchful eye of his father the king.

A few years later, King Dasharatha decided it was time to give his throne to his eldest son
Rama and retire to the forest. Everyone seemed pleased, save Queen Kaikeyi since she
wanted her son Bharata to rule. Because of an oath Dasharatha had made to her years
before, she got the king to agree to banish Rama for fourteen years and to crown Bharata,
even though the king pleaded with her not to demand such a request. The devastated King
could not face Rama and it was Queen Kaikeyi who told Rama the King’s decree. Rama,
always obedient, was content to go into banishment in the forest. Sita and Lakshmana
accompanied him on his exile.

One day Rama and Lakshmana wounded a rakshasas (demon) princess who tried to seduce
Rama. She returned to her brother Ravana, the ten-headed ruler of Lanka. In retaliation,
Ravana devised a plan to abduct Sita after hearing about her incomparable beauty. He sent
one of his demons disguised as a magical golden deer to entice Sita. To please her, Rama
and Lakshmana went to hunt the deer down. Before they did though, they drew a protective
circle around Sita and told her that she would be safe for as long as she did not step outside
the circle. After Rama and Lakshmana left, Ravana appeared as a holy man begging alms.
The moment Sita stepped outside the circle to give him food, Ravana grabbed her and
carried her to his kingdom in Lanka.

Rama then sought the help of a band of monkeys offer to help him find Sita. Hanuman, the
general of the monkey band can fly since his father is the wind. He flew to Lanka and,
finding Sita in the grove, comforted her and told her Rama would come to save her soon.
Ravana’s men captured Hanuman, and Ravana ordered them to wrap Hanuman's tail in
cloth and to set it on fire. With his tail burning, Hanuman escaped and hopped from house-
top to house-top, setting Lanka on fire. He then flew back to Rama to tell him where Sita
was.

Rama, Lakshmana and the monkey army built a causeway from the tip of India to Lanka
and crossed over to Lanka where a cosmic battle ensued. Rama killed several of Ravana’s
brothers and eventually confronted the ten-headed Ravana. He killed Ravana, freed Sita
and after Sita proved here purity, they returned to Ayodhya where Bharata returned the
crown to him.

~32~
 Vision by Feraya

A country of great beauty

People so gentle and kind

There is also ugliness

And cruelty
Fleeing and hiding
And foraging for food
To survive

Our people are in pain

Suffering like no hell on earth
Darkness and despair
Surround them

And freedom is out of reach

Beaten and battered by life

Death and diseases
Of the mind and spirit

Swallowed up by gloominess
And bitterness
How can they carry on?

Each of us has a role to play

To help our countrymen

Not by hatred and blame
Not by giving false hope
Or ideas
Or concepts

But to see the big vision

A vision that’s not small or limited

A vision that’s vast and spacious

So that Burma’s people may rise up

Like a beautiful lotus

From a muddy pond.

~33~
Feraya
Born in Kalaw, Shan State and referring to herself as simply “Feraya,” the writer has a
collection of powerful poems on a variety of issues plaguing her homeland. “Genocide is
not the Answer” is a particularly poignant piece as Feraya shows her support of diversity
by calling ethnic groups “the jewels of Burma.” Her strong views of the country treating
the ethnic groups poorly by “stifling them, controlling them, oppressing them” come
through in her writings and help to paint an image of the ongoing ethnic battles in the
country.

~34~
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES
A propaganda technique is an improper appeal to emotion used for the purpose of swaying
the opinions of an audience. The following propaganda techniques are common:

1. Bandwagon: This technique involves encouraging people to think or act in some way
simply because other people are doing so. For example: "All your neighbors are rushing
down to Mistri Motors to take advantage of this year-end sale. You come, too!"

2. Snob appeal: This technique involves making a claim that one should act or think in a
certain way because of the high social status associated with the action or thought. For
example: "Felson’s Furs – the feeling of luxury, for those who can afford the very best."

3. Vague, undefined terms: This technique involves promoting or challenging an opinion

by using words that are so vague or so poorly defined as to be almost meaningless. For
example: "Try our new and improved, all-natural product."

4. Loaded words: This technique involves using words with strong positive or negative
connotations, or associations. Name-calling is an example of the use of loaded words. So
is any use of words that are charged with emotion. For example: "No really intelligent voter
would support his candidacy."

5. Transfer: This technique involves making an illogical association between one thing
and something else that is generally viewed as positive or negative. For example: " The
American pioneers worked hard because they cared about the future. If you can about the
future of your family, then see your agent at Pioneer Insurance."

6. Unreliable testimonial: This technique involves having an unqualified person endorse

a product, action, or opinion. For example: "Hi, I’m Bart Bearson. As a pro-football
quarterback, I have to be concerned about my health. That’s why I take Pro-Ball Vitamin
Supplements."

Avoid using propaganda techniques in your own speech and writing, and be on the alert for
these techniques in the speech and writing of others. Look for these techniques when
watching television or looking a published ads (magazines or newspaper).

~35~
Techniques and Devices Used by Authors in Writing a Story
Flashback
an interruption in the story so that the author can relate an event from the past (often used
to fill in background information about plot or character) -- flash forward and flash
sideways are also part of this technique

Foreshadowing
a technique authors use to give the reader early clues about what will happen later in a piece
of fiction -- not noticed until after the fact by the reader, deliberately planned by the writer

Figurative Language
literary devices that communicate ideas beyond the ordinary, literal meaning of words

Allusion
a brief reference by the author, direct or indirect, to a person, place or event, or to another
literary work or passage. the reader or hearer makes the connection on his or her own --
inside joke or reference because you can still participate and 'not get it' but adds depth if
you do

Irony
a device where there is a contradiction between the literal (or expected) and the underlying
meaning

simile
a direct comparison of 2 unalike things using like or as

metaphor
indirect comparison of 2 unalike things often in verbs or adjectives

personification
when an author gives an inanimate object human characteristics

Verbal Irony
a contradiction -- what's said vs what's meant -- words are used

Dramatic Irony
a contradiction -- what a character knows vs what the audience knows

Situational Irony
a contradiction -- what's expected vs what happens

Story within a Story

the placement of one tale that's put in another -- narrative technique

~36~
The Tale of the Two Brothers

Once there were two brethren, of one mother and one father; Anpu was the name of the
elder, and Bata was the name of the younger. Now, as for Anpu he had a house, and he had
a wife. But his little brother was to him as if he were a son; he it was who made for him his
clothes; he it was who followed behind his oxen to the fields; he it was who did the
ploughing; he it was who harvested the corn; he it was who did for him all the matters that
were in the field. Behold, his younger brother grew to be an excellent worker, there was
not his equal in the whole land; behold, the spirit of a god was in him.
Now after this the younger brother followed his oxen in his daily manner; and every
evening he turned again to the house, laden with all the herbs of the field, with milk and
with wood, and with all things of the field. And he put them down before his elder brother,
who was sitting with his wife; and he drank and ate, and he lay down in his stable with the
cattle. And at the dawn of day he tookbread which he had baked, and laid it before his elder
brother; and he took with him his bread to the field, and he drove his cattle to pasture in
the fields. And as he walked behind his cattle, they said to him, "Good is the herbage which
is in that place;" and he listened to all that they said, and he took them to the good place
which they desired. And the cattle which were before him became exceeding excellent, and
they multiplied greatly.

Now at the time of ploughing his elder brother said unto him, "Let us make ready for
ourselves a goodly yoke of oxen for ploughing, for the land has come out from the water,
it is fit for ploughing. Moreover, do thou come to the field with corn, for we will begin the
ploughing in the morrow morning."
Thus said he to him; and his younger brother did all things as his elder brother had spoken
unto him to do them.

And when the morn was come, they went to the fields with their things; and their hearts
were pleased exceedingly with their task in the beginning of their work. And it came to
pass after this that as they were in the field they stopped for corn, and he sent his younger
brother, saying, "Haste thou, bring to us corn from the farm."
And the younger brother found the wife of his elder brother, as she was sitting tiring her
hair. He said to her, "Get up, and give to me corn, that I may run to the field, for my elder
brother hastened me; do not delay."
She said to him, "Go, open the bin, and thou shalt take to thyself according to thy will, that
I may not drop my locks of hair while I dress them."

The youth went into the stable; he took a large measure, for he desired to take much corn;
he loaded it with wheat and barley; and he went out carrying it. She said to him, "How
much of the corn that is wanted, is that which is on thy shoulder?"
He said to her, "Three bushels of barley, and two of wheat, in all five; these are what are
upon my shoulder:" thus said he to her.
And she conversed with him, saying, "There is great strength in thee, for I see thy might
every day."
And her heart knew him with the knowledge of youth. And she arose and came to him, and
conversed with him, saying, "Come, stay with me, and it shall be well for thee, and I will

~37~
make for thee beautiful garments."
Then the youth became like a panther of the south with fury at the evil speech which she
had made to him; and she feared greatly. And he spake unto her, saying, "Behold thou art
to me as a mother, thy husband is to me as a father, for he who is elder than I has brought
me up. What is this wickedness that thou hast said to me? Say it not to me again. For I will
not tell it to any man, for I will not let it be uttered by the mouth of any man."
He lifted up his burden, and he went to the field and came to his elder brother; and they
took up their work, to labour at their task.

Now afterward, at eventime, his elder brother was returning to his house; and the younger
brother was following after his oxen, and he loaded himself with all the things of the field;
and he brought his oxen before him, to make them lie down in their stable which was in
the farm. And behold the wife of the elder brother was afraid for the words which she had
said. She took a parcel of fat, she became like one who is evilly beaten, desiring to say to
her husband, "It is thy younger brother who has done this wrong."
Her husband returned in the even, as was his wont of every day; he came unto his house;
he found his wife ill of violence; she did not give him water upon his hands as he used to
have, she did not make a light before him, his house was in darkness, and she was lying
very sick. Her husband said to her, "Who has spoken with thee?"

Behold she said, "No one has spoken with me except thy younger brother. When he came
to take for thee corn he found me sitting alone; he said to me, 'Come, let us stay together,
tie up thy hair;' thus spake he to me. I did not listen to him, but thus spake I to him: 'Behold,
am I not thy mother, is not thy elder brother to thee as a father?' And he feared, and he beat
me to stop me from making report to thee, and if thou lettest him live I shall die. Now
behold he is coming in the evening; and I complain of these wicked words, for he would
have done this even in daylight."
And the elder brother became as a panther of the south; he sharpened his knife; he took it
in his hand; he stood behind the door of his stable to slay his younger brother as he came
in the evening to bring his cattle into the stable.

Now the sun went down, and he loaded himself with herbs in his daily manner. He came,
and his foremost cow entered the stable, and she said to her keeper, "Behold thou thy elder
brother standing before thee with his knife to slay thee; flee from before him."
He heard what his first cow had said; and the next entering, she also said likewise. He
looked beneath the door of the stable; he saw the feet of his elder brother; he was standing
behind the door, and his knife was in his hand. He cast down his load to the ground, and
betook himself to flee swiftly; and his elder brother pursued after him with his knife. Then
the younger brother cried out unto Ra Harakhti, saying, "My good Lord! Thou art he who
divides the evil from the good."
And Ra stood and heard all his cry; and Ra made a wide water between him and his elder
brother, and it was full of crocodiles; and the one brother was on one bank, and the other
on the other bank; and the elder brother smote twice on his hands at not slaying him. Thus
did he. And the younger brother called to the elder on the bank, saying, "Stand still until
the dawn of day; and when Ra ariseth, I shall judge with thee before Him, and He discerneth
between the good and the evil. For I shall not be with thee any more for ever; I shall not be

~38~
in the place in which thou art; I shall go to the valley of the acacia."
Now when the land was lightened, and the next day appeared, Ra Harakhti arose, and one
looked unto the other. And the youth spake with his elder brother, saying, "Wherefore
earnest thou after me to slay me in craftiness, when thou didst not hear the words of my
mouth? For I am thy brother in truth, and thou art to me as a father, and thy wife even as a
mother: is it not so? Verily, when I was sent to bring for us corn, thy wife said to me, 'Come,
stay with me;' for behold this has been turned over unto thee into another wise."

And he caused him to understand of all that happened with him and his wife. And he swore
an oath by Ra Har-akhti, saying, "Thy coming to slay me by deceit with thy knife was an
abomination."

Then the youth took a knife, and cut off of his flesh, and cast it into the water, and the fish
swallowed it. He failed; he became faint; and his elder brother cursed his own heart greatly;
he stood weeping for him afar off; he knew not how to pass over to where his younger
brother was, because of the crocodiles. And the younger brother called unto him, saying,
"Whereas thou hast devised an evil thing, wilt thou not also devise a good thing, even like
that which I would do unto thee? When thou goest to thy house thou must look to thy cattle,
for I shall not stay in the place where thou art; I am going to the valley of the acacia. And
now as to what thou shalt do for me; it is even that thou shalt come to seek after me, if thou
perceivest a matter, namely, that there are things happening unto me. And this is what shall
come to pass, that I shall draw out my soul, and I shall put it upon the top of the flowers of
the acacia, and when the acacia is cut down, and it falls to the ground, and thou comest to
seek for it, if thou searchest for it seven years do not let thy heart be wearied. For thou wilt
find it, and thou must put it in a cup of cold water, and expect that I shall live again, that I
may make answer to what has been done wrong. And thou shalt know of this, that is to say,
that things are happening to me, when one shall give to thee a cup of beer in thy hand,
and it shall be troubled; stay not then, for verily it shall come to pass with thee."

And the youth went to the valley of the acacia; and his elder brother went unto his house; his
hand was laid on his head, and he cast dust on his head; he came to his house, and he slew
his wife, he cast her to the dogs, and he sat in mourning for his younger brother.
Now many days after these things, the younger brother was in the valley of the acacia; there
was none with him; he spent his time in hunting the beasts of the desert, and he came back
in the even to lie down under the acacia, which bore his soul upon the topmost flower. And
after this he built himself a tower with his own hands, in the valley of the acacia; it was full
of all good things, that he might provide for himself a home.

And he went out from his tower, and he met the Nine Gods, who were walking forth to
look upon the whole land. The Nine Gods talked one with another, and they said unto him,
"Ho! Bata, bull of the Nine Gods, art thou remaining alone? Thou hast left thy village for
the wife of Anpu, thy elder brother. Behold his wife is slain. Thou hast given him an answer
to all that was transgressed against thee."
And their hearts were vexed for him exceedingly. And Ra Harakhti said to Khnumu,
"Behold, frame thou a woman for Bata, that he may not remain alive alone."
And Khnumu made for him a mate to dwell with him.

~39~
She was more beautiful in her limbs than any woman who is in the whole land. The essence
of every god was in her. The seven Hathors came to see her: they said with one mouth, "She
will die a sharp death."

And Bata loved her very exceedingly, and she dwelt in his house; he passed his time in
hunting the beasts of the desert, and brought and laid them before her. He said, "Go not
outside, lest the sea seize thee; for I cannot rescue thee from it, for I am a woman like thee;
my soul is placed on the head of the flower of the acacia; and if another find it, I must fight
with him."
And he opened unto her his heart in all its nature.
Now after these things Bata went to hunt in his daily manner. And the young girl went to
walk under the acacia which was by the side of her house. Then the sea saw her, and cast
its waves up after her. She betook herself to flee from before it. She entered her house. And
the sea called unto the acacia, saying, "Oh, would that I could seize her!"

And the acacia brought a lock from her hair, and the sea carried it to Egypt, and dropped it
in the place of the fullers of Pharaoh's linen. The smell of the lock of hair entered into the
clothes of Pharaoh; and they were wroth with the fullers of Pharaoh, saying, "The smell of
ointment is in the clothes of Pharaoh."
And the people were rebuked every day, they knew not what they should do. And the chief
fuller of Pharaoh walked by the bank, and his heart was very evil within him after the daily
quarrel with him. He stood still, he stood upon the sand opposite to the lock of hair, which
was in the water, and he made one enter into the water and bring it to him; and there was
found in it a smell, exceeding sweet. He took it to Pharaoh; and they brought the scribes
and the wise men, and they said unto Pharaoh, "This lock of hair belongs to a daughter of
Ra Harakhti: the essence of every god is in her, and it is a tribute to thee from another land.
Let messengers go to every strange land to seek her: and as for the messenger who shall go
to the valley of the acacia, let many men go with him to bring her."

Then said his majesty, "Excellent exceedingly is what has been said to us;" and they sent
them.
And many days after these things the people who were sent to strange lands came to give
report unto the king: but there came not those who went to the valley of the acacia, for Bata
had slain them, but let one of them return to give a report to the king. His majesty sent
many men and soldiers, as well as horsemen, to bring her back. And there was a woman
amongst them, and to her had been given in her hand beautiful ornaments of a woman. And
the girl came back with her, and they rejoiced over her in the whole land.
And his majesty loved her exceedingly, and raised her to high estate; and he spake unto her
that she should tell him concerning her husband. And she said, "Let the acacia be cut down,
and let one chop it up."
And they sent men and soldiers with their weapons to cut down the acacia; and they came
to the acacia, and they cut the flower upon which was the soul of Bata, and he fell dead
suddenly.

And when the next day came, and the earth was lightened, the acacia was cut down. And
Anpu, the elder brother of Bata, entered his house, and washed his hands; and one gave

~40~
him a cup of beer, and it became troubled; and one gave him another of wine, and the smell
of it was evil. Then he took his staff, and his sandals, and likewise his clothes, with his
weapons of war; and he betook himself forth to the valley of the acacia. He entered the
tower of his younger brother, and he found him lying upon his mat; he was dead. And he
wept when he saw his younger brother verily lying dead. And he went out to seek the soul
of his younger brother under the acacia tree, under which his younger brother lay in the
evening.

He spent three years in seeking for it, but found it not. And when he began the fourth year,
he desired in his heart to return into Egypt; he said "I will go to-morrow morn;" thus spake
he in his heart.
Now when the land lightened, and the next day appeared, he was walking under the acacia;
he was spending his time in seeking it. And he returned in the evening, and laboured at
seeking it again. He found a seed. He returned with it. Behold this was the soul of his
younger brother. He brought a cup of cold water, and he cast the seed into it; and he sat
down, as he was wont. Now when the night came his soul sucked up the water; Bata
shuddered in all his limbs, and he looked on his elder brother; his soul was in the cup. Then
Anpu took the cup of cold water, in which the soul of his younger brother was; Bata drank
it, his soul stood again in its place, and he became as he had been. They embraced each
other, and they conversed together.

And Bata said to his elder brother, "Behold I am to become as a great bull, which bears
every good mark; no one knoweth its history, and thou must sit upon my back. When the
sun arises I shall be in the place where my wife is, that I may return answer to her; and thou
must take me to the place where the king is. For all good things shall be done for thee; for
one shall lade thee with silver and gold, because thou bringest me to Pharaoh, for I become
a great marvel, and they shall rejoice for me in all the land. And thou shalt go to thy village."
And when the land was lightened, and the next day appeared, Bata became in the form
which he had told to his elder brother. And Anpu sat upon his back until the dawn. He came
to the place where the king was, and they made his majesty to know of him; he saw him,
and he was exceeding joyful with him. He made for him great offerings, saying, "This is a
great wonder which has come to pass."

There were rejoicings over him in the whole land. They presented unto him silver and gold
for his elder brother, who went and stayed in his village. They gave to the bull many men
and many things, and Pharaoh loved him exceedingly above all that is in this land.
And after many days after these things, the bull entered the purified place; he stood in the
place where the princess was; he began to speak with her, saying, "Behold, I am alive
indeed."
And she said to him, "And, pray, who art thou?"
He said to her, "I am Bata. I perceived when thou causedst that they should destroy the
acacia of Pharaoh, which was my abode, that I might not be suffered to live. Behold, I am
alive indeed, I am as an ox."
Then the princess feared exceedingly for the words that her husband had spoken to her.
And he went out from the purified place.

~41~
And his majesty was sitting, making a good day with her: she was at the table of his majesty,
and the king was exceeding pleased with her. And she said to his majesty, "Swear to me by
God, saying, 'What thou shalt say, I will obey it for thy sake.'"
He hearkened unto all that she said, even this. "Let me eat of the liver of the ox, because
he is fit for nought!" thus spake she to him. And the king was exceeding sad at her words,
the heart of Pharaoh grieved him greatly. And after the land was lightened, and the next
day appeared, they proclaimed a great feast with offerings to the ox. And the king sent one
of the chief butchers of his majesty, to cause the ox to be sacrificed. And when he was
sacrificed, as he was upon the shoulders of the people, he shook his neck, and he threw two
drops of blood over against the two doors of his majesty. The one fell upon the one side,
on the great door of Pharaoh, and the other upon the other door. They grew as two great
Persea trees, and each of them was excellent.
And one went to tell unto his majesty, "Two great Persea trees have grown, as a great marvel
of his majesty, in the night by the side of the great gate of his majesty."
And there was rejoicing for them in all the land, and there were offerings made to them.

And when the days were multiplied after these things, his majesty was adorned with the
blue crown, with garlands of flowers on his neck, and he was upon the chariot of pale gold,
and he went out from the palace to behold the Persea trees: the princess also was going out
with horses behind his majesty. And his majesty sat beneath one of the Persea trees, and it
spake thus with his wife: "Oh thou deceitful one, I am Bata, I am alive, though I have been
evilly entreated. I knew who caused the acacia to be cut down by Pharaoh at my dwelling.
I then became an ox, and thou causedst that I should be killed."
And many days after these things the princess stood at the table of Pharaoh, and the king
was pleased with her. And she said to his majesty, "Swear to me by God, saying, 'That
which the princess shall say to me I will obey it for her.'"
And he hearkened unto all she said. And he commanded, "Let these two Persea trees be cut
down, and let them be made into goodly planks."
And he hearkened unto all she said. And after this his majesty sent skilful craftsmen, and
they cut down the Persea trees of Pharaoh; and the princess, the royal wife, was standing
looking on, and they did all that was in her heart unto the trees. But a chip flew up, and it
entered into the mouth of the princess; she swallowed it, and after many days she bore a
son. And one went to tell his majesty, "There is born to thee a son."

And they brought him, and gave to him a nurse and servants; and there were rejoicings in
the whole land. And the king sat making a merry day, as they were about the naming of
him, and his majesty loved him exceedingly at that moment, and the king raised him to be
the royal son of Kush.

Now after the days had multiplied after these things, his majesty made him heir of all the
land. And many days after that, when he had fulfilled many years as heir, his majesty flew
up to heaven. And the heir said, "Let my great nobles of his majesty be brought before me,
that I may make them to know all that has happened to me."
And they brought also before him his wife, and he judged with her before him, and they
agreed with him. They brought to him his elder brother; he made him hereditary prince in
all his land. He was thirty years king of Egypt, and he died, and his elder brother stood in

~42~
his place on the day of burial.

Excellently finished in peace, for the ka of the scribe of the treasury Kagabu, of the treasury
of Pharaoh, and for the scribe Hora, and the scribe Meremapt. Written by the scribe Anena,
the owner of this roll. He who speaks against this roll, may Tahuti smite him.

~43~
Idiomatic Expressions
An idiomatic expression are common phrases or sayings whose meanings cannot be
understood by the individual words or elements. Examples of these idioms are "Baker's
Dozen", "Funny Farm" and "Cold War".

Idiomatic expressions are also non-standard speech, slang or dialect that are natural to
native speakers of a language. Examples of these idioms are "Apples and Pears" for stairs
and "Ruby Murray' for curry

Examples of Idiomatic Expressions

" Between a rock and a hard place " Meaning - In a very difficult situation when any
resolution will be unpleasant
" Blow your top " Meaning - To lose your temper
" Break a leg " Meaning - Used to wish good luck to stage performers before an opening
" By the skin of your teeth " Meaning - Complete a task at the very last minute
" Drop someone a line " Meaning - To write to someone
" Excuse my French " Meaning - An apology for swearing
" Fire someone " Meaning - To end someone's your employment
" Get your wires crossed " Meaning - A misunderstanding
" Have an axe to grind " Meaning - To have an ulterior motive or a long term grudge against
someone
" Hit the sack " Meaning - To go to bed
" Keep an eye out for " Meaning - To look after another

~44~
The Country’s Good Son
by Minn New Thein

Lin Aung’s mother had a shop in the Mingaladon market, where she sold slippers. Lin Aung
helped his mother in the shop during his school holidays. As the Mingaladon market was
an army
market, soldiers could be seen shopping there daily. It was more crowded on
Sundays. Many
soldiers could be seen moving about busily.
It was Sunday, and Lin Aung was sitting in front of the shop; “Younger Brother, do you
have
real ‘Sin-kye’ No. 9?” A young man, wearing trousers, entered and asked him. Quickly Lin
Aung took
a pair of ‘Sinkye’ No. 9 slippers and showed them. “How much are these slippers, Young
Brother?”
Twenty -one Kyats, Elder Brother.” “Can I take only the right side slipper and pay you ten
Kyats and
fifty pyas?”
The young man’s question made Lin Aung’s eyes become wide. If he sold only the right
side,
how could he sell the left side? And why did he want only one slipper? “You can’t do that.
If I sell
only the right side, the one left in the shop will become useless. “Yes, but I want only the
right side.
But wait, I’ll go and look for a partner.” Lin Aung was left behind, looking at the back of
the young
man, who walked away, limping.
Soon, the young man came back. He had another young man with him. The first young
man
asked Ling Aung for the slippers, and gave the left side slipper to the young man who had
come with
him. He lifted the leg of his trouser and put on the slipper. Then he nodded with satisfaction.
Only then did Lin Aung understand. They were buying and sharing one pair of slippers.
The
first young man had a false left leg, and second young man had a false right leg. So
everything was
all right because there was one who wanted only the right side, and another who wanted
only the left
side.
Lin Aung was sorry to see the condition of the two young men. They were quite young,
and
they each had a leg missing. “Don’t you feel sad that you have only one
leg?” Lin Aung as
inquisitive and asked them. “Why should we be sad?” the first young man smiled. “We are
soldiers
who offered even our own lives for our country. We are proud to lose a

~45~
leg in protecting our
country.”
When Lin Aung heard the first young man’s answer, he respected them. They were very
different from the young drug addicts about whom he had often read in the newspapers.
They were
wasting their lives and killing themselves.
These young men were the country’s good sons who were protecting the country from its
enemies. Their aims and intentions were as different from those of the addicts as east from
west,
north from south. Although these young men had one leg missing, they still wanted to serve
their
country. The two young soldiers told Lin Aung that they planned to work in the disabled
soldiers’
cooperative shop.
“I respect you and honor you. You good sons of the country are the jewels of our country.
When I grow up, I will try to be a good son of the country like you.”
The two young soldiers smiled to hear Lin Aung’s words. “We admire your intention. Our
country’s future will really be bright if there were more young people in our country with
the same
aim and intention as yours. All right, we will go now.”
The two young soldiers said goodbye to Lin Aung and went away. Lin Aung was filled with
the desire to become a good son of the country.

~46~
Writing an Editorial

CHARACTERISTICS OF EDITORIAL WRITING

An editorial is an article that presents the newspaper's opinion on an issue. It reflects the
majority vote of the editorial board, the governing body of the newspaper made up of
editors and business managers. It is usually unsigned. Much in the same manner of a
lawyer, editorial writers build on an argument and try to persuade readers to think the
same way they do. Editorials are meant to influence public opinion, promote critical
thinking, and sometimes cause people to take action on an issue. In essence, an editorial
is an opinionated news story.

Editorials have:

1. Introduction, body and conclusion like other news stories

2. An objective explanation of the issue, especially complex issues
3. A timely news angle
4. Opinions from the opposing viewpoint that refute directly the same issues the writer
addresses
5. The opinions of the writer delivered in a professional manner. Good editorials engage
issues, not personalities and refrain from name-calling or other petty tactics of
persuasion.
6. Alternative solutions to the problem or issue being criticized. Anyone can gripe about a
problem, but a good editorial should take a pro-active approach to making the situation
better by using constructive criticism and giving solutions.
7. A solid and concise conclusion that powerfully summarizes the writer's opinion. Give
it some punch.

Four Types of Editorials Will:

1. Explain or interpret: Editors often use these editorials to explain the way the
newspaper covered a sensitive or controversial subject. School newspapers may explain
new school rules or a particular student-body effort like a food drive.
2. Criticize: These editorials constructively criticize actions, decisions or situations while
providing solutions to the problem identified. Immediate purpose is to get readers to see
the problem, not the solution.
3. Persuade: Editorials of persuasion aim to immediately see the solution, not the
problem. From the first paragraph, readers will be encouraged to take a specific, positive
action. Political endorsements are good examples of editorials of persuasion.
4. Praise: These editorials commend people and organizations for something done well.
They are not as common as the other three.

Writing an Editorial

1. Pick a significant topic that has a current news angle and would interest readers.
2. Collect information and facts; include objective reporting; do research

~47~
3. State your opinion briefly in the fashion of a thesis statement
4. Explain the issue objectively as a reporter would and tell why this situation is
important
5. Give opposing viewpoint first with its quotations and facts
6. Refute (reject) the other side and develop your case using facts, details, figures,
quotations. Pick apart the other side's logic.
7. Concede a point of the opposition — they must have some good points you can
acknowledge that would make you look rational.
8. Repeat key phrases to reinforce an idea into the reader's minds.
9. Give a realistic solution(s) to the problem that goes beyond common knowledge.
Encourage critical thinking and pro-active reaction.
10. Wrap it up in a concluding punch that restates your opening remark (thesis
statement).
11. Keep it to 500 words; make every work count; never use "I"

A Sample Structure

I. Lead with an Objective Explanation of the Issue/Controversy.

Include the five W's and the H. (Members of Congress, in effort to reduce the budget, are
looking to cut funding from public television. Hearings were held …)

 Pull in facts and quotations from the sources which are relevant.
 Additional research may be necessary.

II. Present Your Opposition First.

As the writer you disagree with these viewpoints. Identify the people (specifically who
oppose you. (Republicans feel that these cuts are necessary; other cable stations can pick
them; only the rich watch public television.)

 Use facts and quotations to state objectively their opinions.

 Give a strong position of the opposition. You gain nothing in refuting a weak
position.

III. Directly Refute The Opposition's Beliefs.

You can begin your article with transition. (Republicans believe public televison is a
"sandbox for the rich." However, statistics show most people who watch public television
make less than $40,000 per year.)

 Pull in other facts and quotations from people who support your position.
 Concede a valid point of the opposition which will make you appear rational, one
who has considered all the options (fiscal times are tough, and we can cut some of
the funding for the arts; however, …).

~48~
IV. Give Other, Original Reasons/Analogies

In defense of your position, give reasons from strong to strongest order. (Taking money
away from public television is robbing children of their education …)

 Use a literary or cultural allusion that lends to your credibility and perceived
intelligence (We should render unto Caesar that which belongs to him …)

V. Conclude With Some Punch.

Give solutions to the problem or challenge the reader to be informed. (Congress should
look to where real wastes exist — perhaps in defense and entitlements — to find ways to
save money. Digging into public television's pocket hurts us all.)

 A quotation can be effective, especially if from a respected source

 A rhetorical question can be an effective concluder as well (If the government
doesn't defend the interests of children, who will?)
Go to the library or any computer lab and complete the “webquest” located at

http://library.thinkquest.org/50084/index.shtml
http://library.thinkquest.org/50084/editorials/index.html

~49~
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

The story takes place in Baghdad during the Abbasid era. Ali Baba and his elder brother
Cassim are the sons of Ali Baba and forty thievesa merchant. After the death of their father,
the greedy Cassim marries a wealthy woman and becomes well-to-do, building on their
father's business - but Ali Baba marries a poor woman and settles into the trade of a
woodcutter.

One day Ali Baba is at work collecting and cutting firewood in the forest, and he happens
to overhear a group of forty thieves visiting their treasure store. The treasure is in a cave,
the mouth of which is sealed by magic. It opens on the words "Open, Simsim", and seals
itself on the words "Close, Simsim". When the thieves are gone, Ali Baba enters the cave
himself, and takes some of the treasure home.

Ali Baba borrows his sister-in-law's scales to weigh this new wealth of gold coins.
Unbeknownst to Ali, she puts a blob of wax in the scales to find out what Ali is using them
for, as she is curious to know what kind of grain her impoverished brother-in-law needs to
measure. To her shock, she finds a gold coin sticking to the scales and tells her husband,
Ali Baba's rich and greedy brother, Cassim. Under pressure from his brother, Ali Baba is
forced to reveal the secret of the cave. Cassim goes to the cave and enters with the magic
words, but in his greed and excitement over the treasures forgets the magic words to get
back out again. The thieves find him there, and kill him. When his brother does not come
back, Ali Baba goes to the cave to look for him, and finds the body, quartered and with
each piece displayed just inside the entrance of the cave to discourage any similar attempts
in the future.

Ali Baba brings the body home, where he entrusts Morgiana, a clever slave-girl in Cassim's
household, with the task of making others believe that Cassim has died a natural death.
First, Morgiana purchases medicines from an apothecary, telling him that Cassim is gravely
ill. Then, she finds an old tailor known as Baba Mustafa whom she pays, blindfolds, and
leads to Cassim's house. There, overnight, the tailor stitches the pieces of Cassims' body
back together, so that no one will be suspicious. Ali and his family are able to give Cassim
a proper burial without anyone asking awkward questions.

The thieves, finding the body gone, realize that yet another person must know their secret,
and set out to track him down. One of the thieves goes down to the town and comes across
Baba Mustafa, who mentions that he has just sewn a dead man's body back together.
Realizing that the dead man must have been the thieves' victim, the thief asks Baba Mustafa
to lead the way to the house where the deed was performed. The tailor is blindfolded again,
and in this state he is able to retrace his steps and find the house. The thief marks the door
with a symbol. The plan is for the other thieves to come back that night and kill everyone
in the house. However, the thief has been seen by Morgiana and she, loyal to her master,
foils his plan by marking all the houses in the neighborhood with a similar marking. When
the 40 thieves return that night, they cannot identify the correct house and the head thief
kills the lesser thief. The next day, another thief revisits Baba Mustafa and tries again, only
this time, a chunk is chipped out of the stone step at Ali Baba's front door. Again Morgiana

~50~
foils the plan by making similar chips in all the other doorsteps. The second thief is killed
for his stupidity as well. At last, the head thief goes and looks for himself. This time, he
memorizes every detail he can of the exterior of Ali Baba's house.

The chief of the thieves pretends to be an oil merchant in need of Ali Baba's hospitality,
bringing with him.

Forty thieves hiding in oil jarsmules loaded with thirty-eight oil jars, one filled with oil, the
other thirty-seven hiding the other remaining thieves. Once Ali Baba is asleep, the thieves
plan to kill him. Again, Morgiana discovers and foils the plan, killing the thirty-seven
thieves in their oil jars by pouring boiling oil on them. When their leader comes to rouse
his men, he discovers that they are dead, and escapes.

To exact revenge, after some time the thief establishes himself as a merchant, befriends Ali
Baba's son (who is now in charge of the late Cassim's business), and is invited to dinner at
Ali Baba's house. The thief is recognized by Morgiana, who performs a dance with a dagger
for the diners and plunges it into the heart of the thief when he is off his guard. Ali Baba is
at first angry with Morgiana, but when he finds out the thief tried to kill him, he gives
Morgiana her freedom and marries her to his son. Ali Baba is then left as the only one
knowing the secret of the treasure in the cave and how to access it. Thus, the story ends
happily for everyone except the forty thieves and Cassim.

Read more at
http://www.kidsgen.com/stories/arabian_tales/ali_baba_and_forty_thieves.htm#7F3cSCR
3Qurkw29F.99

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Short Version)

Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter was in the forest when he saw forty thieves stop in front of a
cave.
The leader said “Open Sesame!” and before Ali Baba’s amazed eyes the sealed mouth of
the cave magically opened and the men disappeared inside. To come out and close the
entrance, the leader said “Close Sesame” and the cave sealed itself once more. Trembling
with excitement Ali Baba waited till the thieves had left and then entered the cave after
saying the magic words. To his delight he found lots of treasure.
Ali Baba told his brother Kasim about the wondrous cave. Kasim set off to get some
treasure for himself too. Sadly, he forgot the words to leave the cave and the thieves killed
him. Ali Baba discovered his brother’s body in the cave. With the help of a slave girl called
Morgiana, he was able to take Kasim’s body back home and bury it.
Realising that someone else knew about their cave the thieves tracked Ali Baba down. The
leader, disguised as an oil seller stayed with Ali Baba. He had brought along mules loaded
with forty oil jars containing the other thieves. Clever Morgiana knew who the oil seller
really was and poured boiling oil into the jars killing the other thieves. While dancing in
front of the leader of the thieves Morgiana stabbed him. Ali Baba was saved and lived
happily ever after.

~51~
 Elements of Poetry
POETRY ASSUMPTIONS

Readers of poetry often bring with them many related assumptions:

 That a poem is to be read for its "message,"

 That this message is "hidden" in the poem,
 The message is to be found by treating the words as symbols which naturally do
not mean what they say but stand for something else,
 You have to decipher every single word to appreciate and enjoy the poem.

There are no easy ways to dispel these biases. Poetry is difficult because very often its
language is indirect. But so is experience - those things we think, feel, and do. The lazy
reader wants to be told things and usually avoids poetry because it demands commitment
and energy. Moreover, much of what poetry has to offer is not in the form of hidden
meanings. Many poets like to "play" with the sound of language or offer an emotional
insight by describing what they see in highly descriptive language. In fact, there can
many different ways to enjoy poetry; this reflects the many different styles and objectives
of poets themselves. For an overview of the many ways to read a poem, click here.
Finally, if you are the type to give up when something is unclear, just relax! Like we just
said, there can be many different approaches to examining poetry; often these approaches
(like looking for certain poetic devices or examining the meaning of a specific phrase) do
not require a complete and exhaustive analysis of a poem. So, enjoy what
you do understand!

FIRST APPROACHES

Read the poem (many students neglect this step). Identify the speaker and the situation.
Feel free to read it more than once! Read the sentences literally. Use your prose reading
skills to clarify what the poem is about.Read each line separately, noting unusual words
and associations. Look up words you are unsure of and struggle with word associations
that may not seem logical to you.Note any changes in the form of the poem that might
signal a shift in point of view. Study the structure of the poem, including its rhyme and
rhythm (if any). Re-read the poem slowly, thinking about what message and emotion the
poem communicates to you.

~52~
STRUCTURE and POETRY

An important method of analyzing a poem is to look at the stanza structure or style of a

poem. Generally speaking, structure has to do with the overall organization of lines
and/or the conventional patterns of sound. Again, many modern poems may not have any
identifiable structure (i.e. they are free verse), so don't panic if you can't find it!

STANZAS: Stanzas are a series of lines grouped together and separated by an empty line
from other stanzas. They are the equivalent of a paragraph in an essay. One way to
identify a stanza is to count the number of lines. Thus:

 couplet (2 lines)
 tercet (3 lines)
 quatrain (4 lines)
 cinquain (5 lines)
 sestet (6 lines) (sometimes it's called a sexain)
 septet (7 lines)
 octave (8 lines)

FORM: A poem may or may not have a specific number of lines, rhyme scheme and/or
metrical pattern, but it can still be labeled according to its form or style. Here are the
three most common types of poemsaccording to form:

1. Lyric Poetry: It is any poem with one speaker (not necessarily the poet) who
expresses strong thoughts and feelings. Most poems, especially modern ones, are lyric
poems.

2. Narrative Poem: It is a poem that tells a story; its structure resembles the plot line of
a story [i.e. the introduction of conflict and characters, rising action, climax and the
denouement].

3. Descriptive Poem: It is a poem that describes the world that surrounds the speaker. It
uses elaborate imagery and adjectives. While emotional, it is more "outward-focused"
than lyric poetry, which is more personal and introspective.

In a sense, almost all poems, whether they have consistent patterns of sound and/or
structure, or are free verse, are in one of the three categories above. Or, of course, they
may be a combination of 2 or 3 of the above styles! Here are some more types of poems
that are subtypes of the three styles above:

Ode: It is usually a lyric poem of moderate length, with a serious subject, an elevated
style, and an elaborate stanza pattern.

~53~
Elegy: It is a lyric poem that mourns the dead. [It's not to be confused with a eulogy.]It
has no set metric or stanzaic pattern, but it usually begins by reminiscing about the dead
person, then laments the reason for the death, and then resolves the grief by concluding
that death leads to immortality. It often uses "apostrophe" (calling out to the dead person)
as a literary technique. It can have a fairly formal style, and sound similar to an ode.

Sonnet: It is a lyric poem consisting of 14 lines and, in the English version, is usually
written in iambic pentameter. There are two basic kinds of sonnets: the Italian (or
Petrarchan) sonnet and the Shakespearean (or Elizabethan/English) sonnet. The
Italian/Petrarchan sonnet is named after Petrarch, an Italian Renaissance poet. The
Petrarchan sonnet consists of an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). The
Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains (four lines each) and a concluding
couplet (two lines). The Petrarchan sonnet tends to divide the thought into two parts
(argument and conclusion); the Shakespearean, into four (the final couplet is the
summary).

Ballad: It is a narrative poem that has a musical rhythm and can be sung. A ballad is
usually organized into quatrains or cinquains, has a simple rhythm structure, and tells the
tales of ordinary people.

Epic: It is a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a legendary or
historical hero.

Qualities of an Epic Poem:

 narrative poem of great scope; dealing with the founding of a nation or some other
heroic theme requires a dignified theme requires an organic unity requires orderly
progress of the action always has a heroic figure or figures involves supernatural
forces
 written in deliberately ceremonial style

Other types of poems include:

Haiku: It has an unrhymed verse form having three lines (a tercet) and usually
5,7,5 syllables, respectively. It's usually considered a lyric poem.

Limerick: It has a very structured poem, usually humorous & composed of five lines (a
cinquain), in an aabba rhyming pattern; beat must be anapestic (weak, weak, strong)
with 3 feet in lines 1, 2, & 5 and 2 feet in lines 3 & 4. It's usually a narrative poem based
upon a short and often ribald anecdote.

For more about poetic forms, see the Open School Notes on Poetry Forms.

~54~
SOUND PATTERNS

Three other elements of poetry are rhyme scheme, meter (ie. regular rhythm) and word
sounds (like alliteration). These are sometimes collectively called sound play because
they take advantage of the performative, spoken nature of poetry.

RHYME

Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds. In poetry, the most common kind of rhyme is
the end rhyme, which occurs at the end of two or more lines. It is usually identified with
lower case letters, and a new letter is used to identify each new end sound. Take a look at
the rhyme scheme for the following poem :

I saw a fairy in the wood,

He was dressed all in green.
He drew his sword while I just stood,
And realized I'd been seen.

The rhyme scheme of the poem is abab.

Internal rhyme occurs in the middle of a line, as in these lines from Coleridge, "In mist
or cloud, on mast or shroud" or "Whiles all the night through fog-smoke white" ("The
Ancient Mariner"). Remember that most modern poems do not have rhyme.

NOTE: Rhyme (above) and rhythm (below) are two totally different concepts!

RHYTHM AND METER

I recommend starting with this podcast on rhythm and meter.

~55~
Meter: the systematic regularity in rhythm; this systematic rhythm (or sound pattern) is
usually identified by examining the type of "foot" and the number of feet.

1. Poetic Foot: The traditional line of metered poetry contains a number of rhythmical
units, which are called feet. The feet in a line are distinguished as a recurring pattern
of two or three syllables("apple" has 2 syllables, "banana" has 3 syllables, etc.). The
pattern, or foot, is designated according to the number of syllables contained, and
the relationship in each foot between the strong and weak syllables.Thus:

__ = a stressed (or strong, or LOUD) syllable

U = an unstressed (or weak, or quiet) syllable

In other words, any line of poetry with a systematic rhythm has a certain number of feet,
and each foot has two or three syllables with a constant beat pattern .

a. Iamb (Iambic) - weak syllable followed by strong syllable. [Note that the pattern is
sometimes fairly hard to maintain, as in the third foot.]

b. Trochee (Trochaic): strong syllable followed by a weak syllable.

c. Anapest (Anapestic): two weak syllables followed by a strong syllable.

e.g.
In her room at the prow of the house
Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed...

From "The Writer", by Richard Wilbur

d. Dactyl (Dactylic): a strong syllable followed by two weak syllables.

DD

~56~
Here's another (silly) example of dactylic rhythm.
DDDA was an / archer, who / shot at a / frog
DDDB was a / butcher, and / had a great / dog
DDDC was a / captain, all / covered with / lace
DDDD was a / drunkard, and / had a red / face.

e. Spondee (Spondaic): two strong syllables (not common as lines, but appears as a
foot). A spondee usually appears at the end of a line.

2. The Number of Feet: The second part of meter is the number of feet contained in a
line.

Thus:
one foot=monometer
two feet=dimeter
three feet=trimeter
four feet=tetrameter
five feet=pentameter
six feet=hexameter (when hexameter is in iambic rhythm, it is called an alexandrine)

Poems with an identifiable meter are therefore identified by the type of feet (e.g. iambic)
and the number of feet in a line (e.g. pentameter). The following line is iambic
pentameter because it (1) has five feet [pentameter], and (2) each foot has two syllables
with the stress on the second syllable [iambic].

That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold

Thus, you will hear meter identified as iambic pentameter, trochaic tetrameter, and so on.

3. Irregularity: Many metered poems in English avoid perfectly regular rhythm because
it is monotonous. Irregularities in rhythm add interest and emphasis to the lines. In this
line:

~57~
The first foot substitutes a trochee for an iamb. Thus, the basic iambic pentameter is
varied with the opening trochee.

4. Blank Verse: Any poetry that does have a set metrical pattern (usually iambic
pentameter), butdoes not have rhyme, is blank verse. Shakespeare frequently used
unrhymed iambic pentameter in his plays; his works are an early example of blank verse.

5. Free Verse: Most modern poetry no longer follows strict rules of meter or rhyme,
especially throughout an entire poem. Free verse, frankly, has no rules about
meter or rhyme whatsoever! [In other words, blank verse has rhythm, but no rhyme,
while free verse has neither rhythm norrhyme.] So, you may find it difficult to find
regular iambic pentameter in a modern poem, though you might find it in particular lines.
Modern poets do like to throw in the occasional line or phrase of metered poetry,
particularly if they’re trying to create a certain effect. Free verse can also apply to a lack
of a formal verse structure.

How do I know if a poem has meter? How do I determine the meter?

To maintain a consistent meter, a poet has to choose words that fit. For example, if a
poet wants to write iambic poetry, s/he has to choose words that have a naturally iambic
rhythm. Words like betray and persuade will work in an iambic poem because they are
naturally iambic. They sound silly any other way. However, candle and muscle will work
best in a trochaic poem, because their natural emphasis is on the first syllable. (However,
a poet can use trochaic words if s/he places a one syllable word in front of them. This
often leads to poetic feet ending in the middle of words - after one syllable - rather than
the end.) It's not surprising that most modern poetry is not metered, because it is very
restrictive and demanding.

Determining meter is usually a process of elimination. Start reading everything

in iambic by emphasizing every second syllable. 80 to 90% of metered poetry is iambic.
If it sounds silly or strange, because many of the poem's words do not sound natural, then
try trochaic, anapestic or dactylic rhythms. If none of these sounds natural, then you
probably do not have metered poetry at all (ie. it's free verse).

~58~
If there are some lines that sound metered, but some that don't, the poem has
an irregular rhythm.

For more help, try this review of metered poetry.

For more about verse, see the Open School Notes on Verse.

For more about poetic rhythm, meter and rhyme, see the Open School Notes on rhythm,
meter and rhyme.

WORD SOUNDS

Another type of sound play is the emphasis on individual sounds and words:

Alliteration: the repetition of initial sounds on the same line or stanza

- Big bad Bob bouncedbravely.
Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds (anywhere in the middle or end of a line or
stanza) - Tilting at windmills
Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds (anywhere in the middle or end of a line
or stanza) - And all the air a solemn stillness holds. (T. Gray)
Onomatopoeia: words that sound like that which they describe - Boom! Crash! Pow!
Quack! Moo!Caress...
Repetition: the repetition of entire lines or phrases to emphasize key thematic ideas.
Parallel Stucture: a form of repetition where the order of verbs and nouns is repeated; it
may involve exact words, but it more importantly repeats sentence structure - "I came, I
saw, I conquered".

MEANING and POETRY

I said earlier that poetry is not always about hidden or indirect meanings (sometimes
called meaning play). Nevertheless, if often is a major part of poetry, so here some of the
important things to remember:

CONCRETENESS and PARTICULARITY

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In general, poetry deals with particular things in concrete language, since our emotions
most readily respond to these things. From the poem's particular situation, the reader may
then generalize; the generalities arise by implication from the particular. In other words, a
poem is most often concrete and particular; the "message," if there is any, is general and
abstract; it's implied by the images.

Images, in turn, suggest meanings beyond the mere identity of the specific object. Poetry
"plays" with meaning when it identifies resemblances or makes comparisons between
things; common examples of this "figurative" comparison include:

 ticking of clock = mortality

 hardness of steel = determination
 white = peace or purity

Such terms as connotation, simile, metaphor, allegory, and symbol are aspects of this
comparison. Such expressions are generally called figurative or metaphorical language.

DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

Word meanings are not only restricted to dictionary meanings. The full meaning of a
word includes both the dictionary definition and the special meanings and associations a
word takes in a given phrase or expression. For example, a tiger is a carnivorous animal
of the cat family. This is the literal or denotative meaning. But we have certain
associations with the word: sinuous movement, jungle violence, and aggression. These
are the suggestive, figurative or connotative meanings.

FIGURATIVE/CONNOTATIVE DEVICES

1. Simile is the rhetorical term used to designate the most elementary form of
resemblances: most similes are introduced by "like" or "as." These comparisons
are usually between dissimilar situations or objects that have something in
common, such as "My love is like a red, red rose."
2. A metaphor leaves out "like" or "as" and implies a direct comparison between
objects or situations. "All flesh is grass." For more on metaphor, click here.
3. Synecdoche is a form of metaphor, which in mentioning an important (and
attached) part signifies the whole (e.g. "hands" for labour).
4. Metonymy is similar to synecdoche; it's a form of metaphor allowing an object
closely associated (butunattached) with a object or situation to stand for the thing
itself (e.g. the crown or throne for a king or the bench for the judicial system).
5. A symbol is like a simile or metaphor with the first term left out. "My love is like
a red, red rose" is a simile. If, through persistent identification of the rose with the

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 beloved woman, we may come to associate the rose with her and her particular
virtues. At this point, the rose would become a symbol.
6. Allegory can be defined as a one to one correspondence between a series of
abstract ideas and a series of images or pictures presented in the form of a story or
a narrative. For example, George Orwell's Animal Farm is an extended allegory
that represents the Russian Revolution through a fable of a farm and its rebellious
animals.
7. Personification occurs when you treat abstractions or inanimate objects as
human, that is, giving them human attributes, powers, or feelings (e.g., "nature
wept" or "the wind whispered many truths to me").
8. Irony takes many forms. Most basically, irony is a figure of speech in which
actual intent is expressed through words that carry the opposite meaning.

o Paradox: usually a literal contradiction of terms or situations

o Situational Irony: an unmailed letter
o Dramatic Irony: audience has more information or greater perspective than
the characters
o Verbal Irony: saying one thing but meaning another
 Overstatement (hyperbole)
 Understatement (meiosis)
 Sarcasm

Irony may be a positive or negative force. It is most valuable as a mode of perception that
assists the poet to see around and behind opposed attitudes, and to see the often
conflicting interpretations that come from our examination of life.

For more on irony, read the FVDES Notes on Irony.

For more about words used for "sound play," see the Open School Notes on Figurative
Language.

POETRY AS A LANGUAGE OF INDIRECTION

Thus, if we recognize that much of the essential quality of our experience is more
complex than a simple denotative statement can describe, then we must recognize the
value of the poet's need to search for a language agile enough to capture the complexity
of that experience. Consider this four-line stanza:

O Western wind, when wilt thou blow

That the small rain down can rain?
Christ, that my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again!

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The center of the poem is the lover's desire to be reunited with his beloved (lines 3 and
4). But the full meaning of the poem depends on the first two lines also. Obviously, the
lover associates his grief with the wind and rain, but the poet leaves to implication, to
indirection, just how the lover's situation and the wind and rain are related. We note that
they are related in several ways: the need for experiencing and manifesting love is an
inherent need, like nature's need for rain; in a word, love, like the wind and rain, is
natural. Secondly, the lover is living in a kind of drought or arid state that can only be
slaked by the soothing presence of the beloved. Thirdly, the rising of the wind and the
coming of the rain can neither be controlled nor foretold exactly, and human affairs, like
the lover's predicament, are subject to the same sort of chance.

Undoubtedly, too, there are associations with specific words, like "Western" or "small
rain" that the reader is only half aware of but which nonetheless contribute to meaning.
These associations or connotations afford a few indirections that enrich the entire poem.
For example, "small rain" at once describes the kind of rain that the lover wants to fall
and suggests the joy and peace of lover's tears, and "small" alone might suggest the
daintiness or femininity of the beloved.

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 Adjective Complement

An adjective complement is a phrase that modifies an adjective. It follows the adjective in

the sentence and gives more information about the adjective. It is either a noun clause or
a prepositional phrase.
Everyday Examples of Adjective Complements
 You are amazing in gymnastics.
 Mary is very bright in applied physics.
 He is loving to his pets.
 The company was anxious to sell all of last year’s stock.
 I am addicted to ice cream.
 Were you delighted to be chosen for the part?
 Geoffrey is afraid of spiders and snakes.
 I am sorry to hear the sad news about your grandfather.
 Zach is eager for his birthday to arrive.
 It was pointless to argue further.
 Denise is undecided when it comes to choosing music for the party.
 The coach was hesitant to tell the team about the injury.
 She is likely to be nominated for a Golden Globe.
 I am curious what my surprise will be.
 The whole town was shocked by the extent of the devastation.
 She was selfish not to share her good fortune with us.
 Larry is kind to all his employees.
 Are you excited to go to France next year?
 She was startled at the sudden clap of thunder.
 They were hesitant to let their daughter go there alone.
 It was very obvious that this was the murder weapon.
 The award winning star is difficult to get along with.
 He is interested in designing video games.
 I'm sure to have turned the water off before we left.
 Mom was so happy they finally got married.
 It was wrong of him to tell you the secret.
 Lydia was glad to be living on her own.
 I am so happy to hear your news about your promotion.
 The teacher was delighted with her students’ progress.
 She was fascinated with the cocoons and butterflies.
 It is illegal to leave a car running in some states.
 We are optimistic about the future of the planet.
 The employees were surprised to see Golda get the promotion.
 It is unbelievable that she got accepted at Princeton.
 He was pleased that all his plants in the garden bore fruit.
 My dog is very sad about me leaving him home alone.
Complements in Quotes
 "Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality." - Jules de Gaultier

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 "Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke." - Lynda Barry
 "Libel actions, when we look at them in perspective, are an ornament of a civilized
society." - Henry Anatole Grunwald
 “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. - Abraham Lincoln
 “I was probably more scared of my high school exams than I was of the Oscars. At the
time you think it's everything and if you don't do well, your life's over. Opportunities are
gone. So the more you do it, the less the fear is present.” - Hugh Jackman
 “I'm always rather nervous about how you talk about women who are active in politics,
whether they want to be talked about as women or as politicians.” - John F. Kennedy

Read more at
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/adjective-complement
examples.html#O5MMRWvH8oAtXCGv.99

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Informative Speaking
Informative speaking generally centers on talking about people, events, processes, places,
or things. Informing an audience about one of these subjects without being persuasive is
often a difficult task to complete. For example, a speech informing an audience about
growing peace lilies as houseplants might ultimately persuade the audience to buy and
grow peace lilies. All speech has an effect that might enable individuals to self-persuade
themselves. The line walked during an informative speech, as opposed to a persuasive
speech, is to not make persuasion an explicit and obvious goal. An informative speech on
peace lilies might cover both the advantages and disadvantages of these houseplants; a
persuasive speech would take a firm position on the virtues of peace lilies.
Tips for informative speaking:
Analyze the audience. What can the audience be reasonably expected to know? If
talking to a field of medical professional about cloning, they likely know the basics of
DNA. An audience of lay people might not be so fluent in the language of biomedical
engineering, and so basic concepts like this will have to be explained. Never presume that
an audience has a thorough background in the subject.
Use appropriate language. What are the norms for speaking style for the audience? If
they expect lots of jargon and specialized language, the speech should be peppered with
such language or else the audience will feel like they are being talked down to. If the
audience is unfamiliar with these technical terms, avoid using them or introduce them
with an explanation of what they mean.
Explain the importance of the topic. Why should the audience listen? Will this
information improve their lives in some meaningful way? Especially with a captive--
involuntary--audience, a speaker must establish a connection between their topic and the
interests of the audience.
Express interest in the subject material. Why should an audience listen if the speaker
seems just as bored as they do? A speaker who confesses their own interest in the topic
might activate the audience to share a similar interest.
Show, don't tell. Don't most people learn through doing or seeing? Being told about a
process, like cloning, could be informative, but probably not have as great an impact as
being shown the process with pictures or perhaps even lab equipment. Informative
speeches often benefit from a demonstration or visual aid. Technology can assist
"showing" when the subject is not easily brought physically into the room (imagine the
troubles of an informative speech on the sun if a prop was required!)
Be specific. Informative speeches thrive on detail, and dive on generalities. If speaking
about basket weaving, carefully note what types of weaving materials work and do not
work for basket making. Audiences are often impressed by detail, but be careful not to
become so detail-oriented that the big picture of the speech is lost (missing the forest for
the trees).

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