Mod A - All Flashcards
Mother - Vuong Pham
(theme)
sacrifice
Mother - context
is a recollection of the past, piecing together his mother’s past through her eyes after she migrated to Australia due to the fall of Saigon
Mother - Quote 1
“i pluck her grey hairs”
Mother - Quote 1, Analysis
- first person (present)
- grey hairs = symbol (wisdom, time passing)
- intimate imagery: close relationships, passing down knowledge through language of story telling
Mother - Quote 2
“jigsaw-puzzle pieces of memory / lock together, my past made whole”
Mother - Quote 2, Analysis
the extended metaphor of the jigsaw represents how identity & culture are pieced together
Mother - Quote 3
“my mother among them fled/ with nothing but me, growing inside”
Mother - Quote 3, Analysis
- hopeful image
- symbol of life & promise
- link back to ‘old life’ (piecing together his mother’s identity)
Translucent Jade - Maureen Ten (theme)
gift of culture
Translucent Jade - context
explores the impact of migration on cultural identity & the effect of giving your child an English name to try and assist with assimilation into a new country
Translucent Jade - Quote 1
“my grandfather made me a gift when i was born”
Translucent Jade - Quote 1, Analysis
gift when she was born (chinses name)
- lost & found
- handing down culture
Translucent Jade - Quote 2
“i used it for a while…here her gift sparkled & sang, replaced, the other”
Translucent Jade - Quote 2, Analysis
Gift #2 - English name is appealing compared to chinses name
- effect of being a 2nd generation migrant
- unconscious assimilation (moving away from chinses culture)
Translucent Jade - Quote 3
“chinses name”
Translucent Jade - Quote 3, Analysis
- extended metaphor
- comes to understand importance of hybrid culture
Home - Miriam Wei Wei Lo (theme)
search for belonging
Home - context
explores the complex issue of what constitutes as a home for migrants & the future generations
Home - Quote 1
“one day i will find it”
Home - Quote 1, Analysis
first section title
- linking to wanting to find a home, belonging & identity (‘place in the world’)
- not yet in ‘now but not yet’ (religious connotations)
Home - Quote 2
“translating this corrupt language of my body / the dark, bitter words of my heart / into pure language of that other place / where every word is a radiant arrival”
Home - Quote 2, Analysis
- juxtaposition between light & dark imagery (‘other place’ = heaven & symbol of connection to past culture)
- poet uses her religious context to make sense of the conflict she has within her identity
- ‘corrupt’ - infiltrating (posses, religious link)
Home - Quote 3
“if there must be a place, a tent for the body / on this earth, i’ll take this one”
Home - Quote 3, Analysis
- tent is a metaphor = biblical allusion (human body is a temporary home & heaven is the eternal home)
- clash of values –> seeking a greater understanding of culture (reinforces complexity of migrant experience)
