Paraphrase: “I talked long and hard in the universal language of nature.”
Connotations:
- Gibberish: ethnic landmarks in Oregon => language of land itself
- Isocolon: rhythm (“know, know, know”)
Attitude/Shift:
-Slight move towards more abstract
-Consistent wit
Tentatively, I uttered,
“Chemawa? Chinook?”
and the pines said
“Clackamas, Siskiyou.”
And before long, everything else
chimed in with their two cents’ worth
and we had a fluid and fluent
conversation going,
communicating, expressing,
echoing whatever we needed to
know, know, know . . .
Title Revisited: Urges everyone to try something new – break free from tradition (“boot” it far away)
Theme: There is a universal language among all things that transcends physical or mental divisions – opening up much more than any nuanced “human language” ever will. Nothing is strictly defined.
What was it like?
Well, just listen:
Ah, the exquisite seasonings
of syllables, the consummate consonants, the vigorous
vowels of varied vocabularies
clicking, ticking, humming,growling, throbbing, strumming—
coming from all parts of orifices, surfaces,
in creative combinations, orchestrations,
resonating in rhythm with the atmosphere!
Paraphrase: “The universal language is really cool.”
Connotations:
-Apostrophe: explains it more plainly/mixes it up
-Alliteration: sounds of universal language
-Asyndenton: rhythm + rhyme
-Parallel structure + exclamation: buildup of tension
Attitude/shift:
-swelling of emotion, climax
-shift towards more profound
Paraphrase: “After that experience, everything changed”
Connotations:
-microanalysis: reflects on whole
-italicized “we” – emphasis on belonging
Attitude:
-more didactic, more direct
Paraphrase: “The is much more to life than what we can put into words.”
Connotations:
- Rhyme = rhythm
- microanalysis: nothing is as it seems
- obsession with yellow?
Attitude/Shift:
-definite transition => moralizing: expansion of mind
I could have remained there
forever—as I did, a will.
And when I resumed my way,
my stay could no longer be
“ordinary”—
as they say,
as we say, in English.
For on the road of life,
in the code of life,
there’s much more to red than
“stop,”
there’s much more to green than
“go,”
and there’s much, much more to yellow than
“caution,”
for as the yellow
sun clearly enunciated to me this morning:
“Fusao. Inada.”
FINALLY DOOONNNNEEE! XP
Paraphrase: “I was so tired of English, I decided to seek a different, even more universal language.”
Connotations:
-LOL moments: “had had it with the habit”
-Metaphor: English = heroin (Alder Wright 1874)
-Cliché’s: “cold turkey,” “on the spot,” “burned out = restraint
Attitude:
-More emotional (pathos)
-TTTC => inner turmoil
Slight Shift: more aggressive/defensive
Until last night, that is.
Yes, I had had it
with the habit.
I was exhausted,
burned out,
by the habit.
And I decided to
kick the habit,
cold turkey,
right then and there
on the spot!
And, in so doing, I kicked
open the door of a cage
and stepped out from confinement
into the greater world.
TPCASTT
Paraphrase: “But I’m no complaining – I luv English”
Connotations:
- Repetition of “Wong” + England = English: humor
- metaphor to drugs or drinking: addiction (qualifier both ways)
Attitude/Shift:
-Obvious tone shift towards restraint (loyalty, “foreign” perspective)
-Straight and simple
Title: “Kicking the Hobbit” or “Kicking the Rabbit”
-both involve rejecting something widely accepted as universal/ubiquitous
-involves breaking a pattern/mindset
Late last night, I decided to
stop using English.
I had been using it all day—
talking all day,
listening all day,
thinking all day,
reading all day,
remembering all day,
feeling all day,
and even driving all day,
in English—
when finally I decided to
stop.
Paraphrase: “I decided to stop using English one night because I had been using it everywhere.”
Connotations:
-Epistrophe (“all day”) – emphasis of the omnipresent nature of English
-Parallel construction – jazzy rhythm + balance
-Interruption – expansion of idea
-Period – finite ending
Attitude:
-weary and resigned
-matter-of-fact statements
Paraphrase: “I went to an isolated spot to listen to the language of nature itself – a language I was also a foreigner to.”
Connotations:
- metaphor: “main” highway to “dark country” road
- polysyndeton: “drives it forward,” connotes length
-ellipsis: sudden pause = greater effect of “stahp” (rhythm)
- personification: ubiquitous nature
- weird onomatopoeia: (1+3+3+3+3 = 13) jazzes it up!
- double meaning: “foreigner”
Attitude:
-flowery
-turning witty and light-hearted (slight shift)
Now don’t get me wrong:
There’s nothing “wrong”
with English,
and I’m not complaining
about the language
which is my native tongue.
I make my living with the lingo;
I was even in England once.
So you might say I’m actually
addicted to it;
yes, I’m an Angloholic,
and I can’t get along without the stuff:
It controls my life.
So I pulled off the main highway
onto a dark country road
and kept on going and going
until I emerged in another nation and . . .
stopped.
There, the insects
inspected my passport, the frogs
investigated my baggage, and the trees
pointed out lights in the sky,
saying,
“Shhhlllyyymmm”—
and I, of course, replied.
After all, I was a foreigner,
and had to comply . . .
Hi, my name is Alex Kohn. I will be weading "Eatin with Sticks"
The JAZZ CLUB
IMPROV TIME!!!!
Catie and Kenny
~Like a Baus
Lawson Fusao Inada
Poet, Writer, and Educator
Born in 1938 (Age 2013-1938 = 75 years)
Born as a 3rd generation Japanese-American
Sent to internment camps with his family in 1942 when the U.S. entered WWII
Loved JAZZ music growing up and attended the University of Iowa Writers Workshop
-Met his wife Janet there
Eventually graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Oregon
POST-COLLEGE
Went on to teach Southern Oregon University for 5 years
Wrote the first volume of poetry by an Asian American published by a major publishing house-Before the War: Poems as They Happened
Also went on to complete two other collections:
-Legends from Camp-Drawing the Line
Became 5th poet laureate of Oregon
JAZZ INFLUENCES
Very fond of Jazz music and his connection to the rhythm and repetition of the music is evident in his poetry
- Witty puns and phrases in his works = jazz riffs/improv
Recites and performs his poetry in front of jazz groups and soloists
Technician Mission
Epistrophe - rhythm
• “Talking all day,/ listening all day,/ thinking all day,/ reading all day,/ remembering all day,/ feeling all day,/ and even driving all day”
Interrupted sentences
• Many lines end interrupted with dashes gives a more colloquial feel
Creates unbalanced rhythm = Jazzzzzy
Type of Verse:
•No rhyme (except for 1 couplet)
•Free Verse: No meter
•Unequal stanza lengths
•Short, colloquial sentences
•Enjambed Lines
Exclamatory - for stress (either simple or profound)
•“On the spot!”
•“Resonating in rhythm with the atmosphere!”
Alliteration – creates a balanced rhythm = traces of jazz
•“seasonings of syllables”
•“consummate consonants”
•“vigorious vowels of varied vocabularies”
Eatin' with Forks
Patterns and Devices
Onomatopoeia - emphasizes "universal language/nature concept"
•“Shhllyymmm”
•“Chemawa? Chinook?... Clackamas, Siskiyou”
Imperative sentences:
•“Stop... Go... Caution” – references tangible/relatable (stoplight)
By Justin Davies & Alex Corn
Form/Type/Rhythm
"Jazzy" Contemporary Poetry:
• Very colloquial in style
• Not defined traditionally
(ballad, sonnet, epic, etc.)
• Ethnically Focused
• A little scattered/hard to follow
Rhythm:
• irregular
"talking all day"
"listening all day"
"thinking all day"...etc.
I mean one can become ambitious
enough to pick up some sticks.
They won't run away, they do stick together.
Of course, without enough experience
you need to grab a stick helper and
maybe, exchange tips with the waiter.
Lets be honest,
feasting with forks
is the only natural way to eat.
Sure it may be simple as pie,
but it makes sense
to eat something simple
with something simple,
that way everything surrounding pie
will maintain its ease. Ease like cheese.
However this is a waste
of precious time, because
lets not forget that the art of eating
lies within the food itself.
Which is some food for thought,
why try to carefully embrace
your food when a quick schwiggidy stab
of the fork will do the trick?
No time or focus is lost on
the matter at hand
or at plate.
But don't eat too fast,
Don't use a stick..
FEAST WITH FORKS
You don't want to burn your tongue,
get mad and blow off some steam.
Maybe some don't
Understand whats at stake
when eating steak.
All the cash your forking over,
A couple dollars and some cents,
some say its crazy but I think it makes cents
and no need to change the style.
But really, its all worth it to use
that glorious piece of
silverware, just come to a silver lining.
INTERMISSION
READ ALOUD!!!!!!
"Kicking the Habit" ~Lawson Fusao Inada
THE JAZZ CLUB PRESENTS:
CATIE RYAN
(a.k.a "Jazz Cat")
Reid Barkell
Justin Davies
Aryon Jafari
Alex Kohn
Catherine Waczek
Kenneth Xu