This short story "No Visitors Allowed" by John Machado is listed under the theme of 'The perceptions of children in the multi-cultural environment'. In John Machado's stories, the part played by memory is all- important. There is a wish to retrace one's steps to look back at the child one was, to assess without sentimentality where the meaning lay.

This story recounts emotionally the stages in the dying of the father of a household. The 17-year old narrator's scrupulous attention to the wild cat outside his house which he wants to shoot, and to life in the rubber estate where he briefly worked, serve as a mask for the confusing emotions regarding his father's impending death. Machado here, letting the details of actions totally unconnected with the father's dying become the vehicle of emotion. But as death approaches like the night, Machado skilfully allows his narrator nostalgic memories of past incidents in which father and son enjoyed each other's company. 

THEMES

Filial Piety

Sub themes

 ü  Love between father and child

 ü  Responsibility of a son

SETTINGS

·         Place

1.      government quarters (pg180)

2.      hospital ward

3.      estate (the monkey died)

4.      school (mother’s working place)

·         Time

1.      Day and night weekly

2.      During pre-independence era

·         Community

1.      Educated community

2.      Loving community

3.      Responsible community

4.      Community where family is the priority

MAIN EVENTS

        i.            Machado visits his parents in the hospital. Father tells him that he has a slight pain in his chest and also feels a little dizzy.

      ii.            Back home, he read “Bonjour Tristesse”. He thought that he would get the tom cat that night. He thought of the greenhouse first, then the green eyes. He also thought about the old man who owns an estate, countless rocks and an oversized bull frog in his museum.

    iii.            The next morning, Mother calls and tells that Father is unconscious. Machado didn’t believe it. Father was just asleep.

    iv.            Machado shot a monkey at midnight then asked his mother if she heard anything last night. He was also looking forward to spend some time with his dad.

      v.            Machado finds out his father has aortic stenosis from his father’s old friend.

    vi.            Later after Christmas, Machado’s dad passes away.

CHARACTERISATION

CHARACTER	CHARACTERISTICS AND TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
Narrator	·         Loves his father. He is always caring for his dad like how he rushed to the hospital when he found out his dad is sent there ·         Never gives up on his father. He visits his father every day without fail ·         Responsible. He helps his father in the hospital like aiding him to pee ·         Brave. ·         Observant. ·         Impulsive. He shot the monkey at midnight for no particular reason ·         Optimistic. ·         Smart.
Father (in the hospital, has aortic stenosis)	·         Sickly. He is diagnosed with aortic stenosis, needs a breathing machine to helps him breathe.   ·         Secretive. ·         Optimistic. He is always convincing his son that he feels better and he tries to be at his best even though it is hard. (pg 192)
Mother	·         Always worried. She refused to go back and wants to stay by her husband’s side. She finally give in and went back after being cajoled by narrator. ·         Caring. She stops teaching to aid and accompany her husband and gives calls to her son to update him about the Father’s condition ·         Religious. She wants to call the priest to pray for her husband’s health.

At Tea - Thomas Hardy

The kettle descants in a cosy drone,
And the young wife looks in her husband's face,
And then at her guest's, and shows in her own
Her sense that she fills an envied place;
And the visiting lady is all abloom,
And says there was never so sweet a room.

And the happy young housewife does not know
That the woman beside her was first his choice,
Till the fates ordained it could not be so....
Betraying nothing in look or voice
The guest sits smiling and sips her tea,
And he throws her a stray glance yearningly.

MEANING OF DIFFICULT WORDS

1.      Descants – a melody or counterpoint accompanying a simple musical theme and usually written above it / a song or melody.

2.      Drone – to make a dull, continued, low, monotonous sound; hum; buzz.

3.      Ordained – to destine or predestine / to enact or establish by law, edict / to decree; give orders for

POETIC/LITERARY DEVICES

This poem, in fact, is the equivalent of “flash fiction.” The poet quickly sets the scene, identifies the players and wastes no time in telling the observer what exactly is going on. Like each little poem in his “Satires” series, the rhyming scheme is ABABCC (alternate lines in the first four rhyme; last two of lines five and six rhyme).

Diciton: –

“And he throws her a stray glance yearningly.” Using the verb “throws” figuratively, the poet shows the desperation of the husband and just how fates have wrecked the husband’s true happiness as he yearns for another. The husband obviously would prefer to throw himself at the guest. 

Figures of speech

1.      Metaphors –

·         “The kettle descants in a cosy drone” The kettle is a metaphor for a musical instrument that plays above the main melody.

2.      Personification –

·         “Till the fates ordained it could not be so…”  An example of personification, the “fates” treated the poor guy badly and he was destined to marry another and doomed to pretend nothing was amiss.

3.      Hyperbole –

·         “And the visiting lady is all abloom” She is as a flower. The poem clearly conveys the idea of her being animated and beautiful from the single word “abloom.”

STANZA BY STANZA ANALYSIS

Stanza 1:

The poet starts the poem by describing the background/atmosphere of the surrounding. The kettle as if a musical instrument, gives out a melodic tune. The host, the young wife, looks at her husband and her guest’s face, to make sure she had done a good job by serving tea. She is satisfied with her work. The guest, a lady, is said to be “abloom” which could meant that the visiting lady is joyful or content and she gives out a comment saying the room is well furnished and it is very sweet.

Stanza 2:

As the poem unravels, Hardy tells us that there is a secret between the trios. The young wife is oblivious to the fact that her husband used to want the lady guest. Or still wants her, we are not sure about it. The woman is said to be his first choice until there is a twist of fate. The guest pretends that nothing had happened between herself and the husband by controlling her look and voice around the lady of the house. The last line, “And he throws her a stray glance yearningly”, tells us that maybe the husband still wants the lady guest after all by giving her looks.

CRITICAL APPRECIATION

This is an interesting story describing a situation that might happen to anyone at anywhere. The poem started with a warm and cosy setting with the kettle as a musical instrument at the background. The young housewife is said to be serving her visiting guest with tea with her husband present as well. The housewife is contented with her effort and feels like she just brightened up the place or lifted the atmosphere. The housewife also feels that people will envy her because people would want to be in her place. There is no hint of sadness or secretive motives by any of the character in the story. We are led by the thought of the peace during tea among the characters.

The visiting lady guest was all bubbly and joyful, exclaims that she has never seen such a room so sweet, or well furnished. We can say that she is full of praise or thanking the couple for inviting her for tea. Then the secret lurks in between the peaceful tea time. The poet tells us that the young wife does not know that the visiting lady was her husband first choice. The first choice here can be referred to first love or the first lady that catches the husband’s eyes and he wants to marry her. An uneventful turnout that fate isn’t on their side and the husband marries the current wife. The enjambment at line 9, “till the fates ordained it could not be so…” hints that the husband still has the feelings for the visiting lady that could not be his or there is a sense of regret in him.

The visiting lady who knows about the husband’s feeling towards her, acts as if she didn’t know about it and hides her emotions well. She pretends that they never had any history and this I think angers the man. He throws her a yearning glance. The diction used here shows the desperation of the husband and just how fates have wrecked the husband’s true happiness as he yearns for another. The husband obviously would prefer to throw himself at the guest. 

READING MATERIAL

“At Tea,” by Thomas Hardy is the first in his Fifteen Glimpses” where the author has a bit of fun by poking fun at human nature. In two 6-line stanzas,  Hardy sets the scene of a sad, but secret, love triangle wrapped around a happy young wife, her female guest for tea, and her husband.

The scene is set as a tea kettle “descants in a cosy drone.” The tea kettle is somewhat of “background music” in what will become a dialog-free peroration of not so much “if looks could kill,” but rather “if they could but read each other’s mind.” For example, in line two, “…the young wife looks in her husband’s face/…and shows in her own/her sense that she fills an envied place.” In a sort of cameo close-up, the reader knows right away that the hostess has done well.

The guest (a visiting lady friend) “is all abloom,” and in the only reference to conversation in the poem, “…says there was never so sweet a room.”  So the young wife thinks that all is well, but “…does not know/That the woman beside her was his (hubby’s) first choice.” Poor guy, “…the fates ordained it could not be so…”  But the guest, the woman the husband covets, “sits smiling and sips her tea,/And he throws her a stray glance yearningly.”

If “At Tea” were a modern soap opera, a good point to “flash back” might be number four in Hardy’s satires, “In the Room of the Bride-Elect.” The short poem in the same sad and satirical style of “At Tea” could well be about the guest, who was the subject of the husband’s sad yearning.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.helium.com/items/2121552-poetry-analysis-at-tea-by-thomas-hardy

http://www.bachlund.org/At_Tea.htm

920/1 Poetry and Short Stories STPM 2013

This question paper is set by MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL (also known as MPM). Comments are much appreciated. 

SECTION A : Critical Appreciation

(25 marks)

Answer only one question from this section.

 1     

Aunt Jennifer's Tigers

 Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,

Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.

They do not fear the men beneath the tree;

They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

Aunt Jennifer's finger fluttering through her wool

Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.

The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band

Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.

When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie

Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.

The tigers in the panel that she made

Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

Adrienne Rich

With close reference to the poem above, discuss how the poet uses symbolism and imagery to depict women and their position in society.

As I have posted before http://literatureforstpm.blogspot.com/search/label/Aunt%20Jennifer%27s%20Tiger contains notes and references you can relate to when you answer this question. 

Or

2                

SHORT STORIES: Malaysian Short Stories

"I'm thinking of stopping my son", she shouted above the noise of the tap. [page 142]

...

It was midday when she hung to dry the last handkerchief. The newly surfaced road that had looked so cool an hour before now scorched her bare feet. She regretted her vow to walk barefoot for the rest of her life. She remembered how she had thrown herself on the coffin and shrieked, "I'll wear no slippers! No other man will wear me! No other man!" [page 143]

K.S. Maniam: The Dream of Vasantha

With close reference to the passage, discuss the emotions felt by Vasantha and what these emotions reveal of her personality? 

Version of book used is Malaysian Short Story, edited by Llyod Fernando, publised 2005 by Maya Press Sdn. Bhd.

SECTION B : Poems

(25 marks)

(For this section you must base your answer on the prescribed poems in the syllabus)
Answer the question below.

3 With close reference to any two poems, illustrate how irony is used to comment on life and relationships.

There are numerous ageing themed poems that can be used to answer this question such as When You Are Old, On Growing Old and Sonnet 73. Link for When You Are Old; http://literatureforstpm.blogspot.com/2013/05/on-growing-old-john-masefield.html

SECTION C : Short Stories: Malaysian Short Stories

(25 marks)

(For this section you must base your answer on the prescribed short stories in the syllabus)
Answer the question below.

3 With close reference to any two short stories in Malaysian Short Stories, discuss issues relating to the themes of multiculturalism. 

Most popular choice of two short stories are Pasang by Pretam Kaur [ http://literatureforstpm.blogspot.com/search/label/Pasang ] and Through The Wall also by Pretam Kaur.

© Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia 2012

Love's Philosophy - P.B. Shelly

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In another's being mingle--
Why not I with thine?

See, the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower could be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me? 

POETIC/LITERARY DEVICES

1.      Personification

·         Fountains mingle with the river

·         Winds of heaven mix forever with a sweet emotion

·         The mountains kiss high heaven

·         The waves clasps one another

·         Moonbeams kiss the sea

2.      Metaphors

·         No sister flower could be forgiven if it disdained its brother- it describes that no man should go against one another for a brother will look on to another brother.

3.      Rhetorical question

·         If thou kiss not me?- simply says that what is the use of all the relationships in the nature worth if you’re not with me (a man and woman’s relationship)

STANZA BY STANZA ANALYSIS

STANZA 1: P. B. Shelly expresses that everything in the nature are in union. “The fountains mingle with the river and the rivers with the ocean”. He wants to have an intimate relationship with the girl. He claims that the world is held by a “law divine” so nothing in the world is single. He’s advocating his intention on having a relationship with her.

STANZA 2: The mountains are touching high heaven and the waves clasps one another. He means that every nature is embracing each other. No man can be forgiven if he hates another man. He’s proposing that all men should be in a good term with each other. He said that what is the use of nature embracing each other if you(lover) don’t reciprocate my love?

CRITICAL APPRECIATION

What the author is trying to imply is that love is in vain if it’s a ‘one-sided’ love. Love is interdependent. There is also a message that the natural world is on the side of love. The thing that Shelly was stressing on was that love and everything about and in it is sweet. But if it’s only a one-sided love or affection, then it would be all worthless. Shelly uses nature mingling with each other (divine thing) to press on that a man and woman should be together, that nature and man are destined to have a pair.

READING MATERIAL

This is a simple little love poem in two 8-line stanzas with an ABABCDCD rhyme scheme. It is, at heart, a plea for his girlfriend to kiss him, but his persuasion takes the form of pointing to a range of natural and cosmic conjunctions that involve, on a "macro" scale, what he wishes to do on a "micro" one. The first stanza begins:

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion;

The logic points, in his view, to the inevitability of mingling and mixing "by a law divine" which applies to what his girlfriend should do as well, because "Nothing in the world is single".

The second stanza is, in effect, a repetition of the first, although here "mingle" and "mix" are replaced by "kiss" and "clasp" as the keywords. It should also be noted that the examples move up a gear from rivers and winds to sunlight and moonlight in the lines:

And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;-

Shelley does not mince his words when he relates mountains kissing the sky and moonbeams kissing the sea directly to his personal circumstances in the final lines:

What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me? 

As a "philosophy", Shelley's poem might lack something in terms of its rigour, especially as his argument from the universal to the specific is logically unsound, but that does not matter when the poem is considered for what it is, namely a cleverly constructed love poem that is typical of its kind in that the lover's regard of the universe is entirely coloured by his emotions. He can see nothing around him that does not back up his argument and ignores everything that does not, of which there would be plenty of examples if he chose to look for them.

There is also the message that the natural world is on the side of love, which is true in a sense but not quite the one that Shelley is stressing here. For him, the mingling, clasping and kissing is "sweet work" that would be worthless if his girlfriend does not succumb to him. This is, of course, an absurd position to take but it is again typical of someone who is deeply in love and single-minded in their quest.

This short poem throws so many examples at the reader that he or she might almost be taken in by its faulty logic. If the reader is in the throes of love themselves, they might indeed accept the argument. This is, after all, "Love's Philosophy", which does not have to follow the rules that apply in all other circumstances. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.helium.com/items/2300739-poetry-analysis-loves-philosophy-by-percy-bysshe-shelley

MALAYSIAN SHORT STORY Pasang - Pretam Kaur

This is a short recap of the story Pasang by Pretam Kaur:-

Introduction
1. Chranpal begs his mother for money to buy a top but he failed
2. Talks about the village boys; Ramasamy, Kanda and Ali. The way the game is played is futher elaborated

Rising Action
1. Chranpal bought a top after begging his father for money
2. He customises the top (drove a thumb-tack right into the uppermost point of the top)
3. Chranpal joins the village boys to play. After a while, Chranpal's mother called him home but he continued playing.

Climax
Ramasamy aimed and swung his top towards Chranpal's. Chranpal's new top broke.

Falling Action
1. His heart broke when he saw the broken top as the boys praised Ramasamy for his cleverness. Ramasamy apologised to Chranpal.

Resolution
Chranpal walks away in regret, disappoinment and anger that his top is broken. He thinks about how lonely he would be during the long top season without his top.

Theme

Perceptions of children in a multicultural environment

Sub theme

Culture of games; Peer pressure

Settings

Place ► kitchen of Chranpal's house | Malay shop that sells top | on the narrow road

Time ► Hot sunny day | in the 80's

Community ► A multicultural community | A community that stresses on education

Main events

o Chranpal wants to buy a top, mother doesn't allow him

o His father gave him 10 cents to buy a top after he promised to study

o He remodelled and decorated his top

o The intense fight between Chranpal and the boys. He tries to back away, but the others forced him to end his game although his mother called for him

o His top broke into two halves when Rama's top hit Chranpal's

Characteristics

A Poison Tree - William Blake

I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole,
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

MEANING OF DIFFICULT WORDS

1.      Wrath - strong, stern, or fierce anger; deeply resentful indignation; ire.

2.      Deceit – distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating

3.      Wiles – Trick, trap

4.      Veiled – conceal, lacking clarity or distinctness

POETIC/LITERARY DEVICES

1.      Personification 

-       Waters the wrath with fear

-        I told my wrath, my wrath did end

2.      Metaphor 

-The tree is considered as a wrath/anger

-"Till it bore an apple bright", the apple is a metaphor for the "fruit" of his grudge.

3.      Alliteration 

-sunned and smiles

-friend and foe

-bore and bright

4.      Imagery

- Throughout the poem

5.      Irony

-the foe beneath the tree of hatred

6.      Repitition

-“I was angry with my friend… I was angry with my foe”

7.      Allusion

-"Garden.. apple...tree" alludes to Adam & Eve, the Garden of Eden.

STANZA BY STANZA ANALYSIS

Stanza 1: William Blake speaks of someone, his friend and his foe, whom has he is angry with. When he says ‘I told my wrath, my wrath did end’ after he said he was angry with his friend, he is saying he was able to get over being angry with his friend and forgot about it. Although, it is quite the opposite when he mentions’ I told it not, and my wrath did grow’. Blake is saying that with his enemy, he allowed himself to get angry, and therefore, his wrath did grow.

Stanza 2: In this stanza, Blake begins to make his anger grow and he takes pleasure in it, comparing his anger with something, in this case, a tree or plant. The speaker says he ‘sunned it with smiles’ and ‘and with soft, deceitful wiles’. This means he is creating an illusion with his enemy saying he is pretending to be friendly to seduce and bring him closer.

Stanza 3: ‘And it grew both day and night’ and ‘til it bore an apple bright’ are meaning that his illusion with his enemy is growing and growing until it became a strong and tempting thing. His illusion has a metaphor and it is an apple. After, his foe believes it shines, which means he thinks it’s true and means something, and takes Blake illusion seriously. ‘And he knew it was mine’ suggests that he really thinks Blake is his friend.

Stanza 4: Being the last stanza, Blake needed to come up with a conclusion. He has used the two lines ‘in the morning glad I see’ and ‘my foe outstretched beneath the tree’ to say that his foe finally fell to his tempting illusion and metaphorically, consumed his poison apple and died. So, obviously, his malicious intentions were hidden behind illusion and he prevailed over his enemy.

CRITICAL APPRECIATION

In the first stanza, the consequence of allowing anger to continue instead of stopping it as it begins is shown. This consequence is simply that it will continue to grow. However, as the poem progresses, it is seen that this continued growth of anger can yield harmful results as the enemy, or foe, is lured toward the tree and eats of its fruit, the poison apple. This kills his foe, as he is seen outstretched beneath the tree, a sight the speaker is glad to see the next morning. These final two lines explain one of the main themes of the poem, which is that anger leads to self-destruction. The speaker’s anger grows and eventually becomes so powerful that it has changes from simple anger with another person, to desire to see them dead. One of the subjects of Blake’s work was the underworld, or Hell, and knowing this, it can be seen that the destruction which results from anger is not physical, but spiritual. In addition, the death of the foe, which the speaker is glad to see, does not spiritually affect the foe as the speaker is affected, but only physically harms the foe.

READING MATERIAL

Interpretation and Symbolism

After reading such an amoral poem, the search for hope or alternate meaning begins. A metaphor lives inside the poem, but instead of making the poem less wicked, the analogy confuses and questions faith.

Symbolically, the speaker represents God, the foe and garden represent Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the tree represents the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis. If this analogy is true, it shows God rejoicing in killing his enemies, which most people think the God they know would never do.

Blake’s poem is peculiar even for today’s standards, and his analogy may be ruthless and insensitive, but he does get the reader thinking. By looking further into the poem, we find that the speaker nourishes and feeds his wrath, which symbolically is the tree from the Garden of Eden. Is Blake suggesting that God fed his wrath and anger into the tree and intended for man to eat from it? If so, He is creating a world doomed to His wrath and anger, an idea just about anybody would shutter at.

Note:

William Blake was an English Dissenter and Dissenter members broke away from the Anglican Church. Dissenters believed that the policies of the Anglican Church were wrong and so opposed it. Blake began writing a collection of poems called Songs of Experience to protest the Anglican Church's policy of stifling "sinful" emotions in people, such as anger. A Poison Tree is a good example of this because it shows how Blake believed that stifling anger would only cause the anger to grow. In fact, Blake even decided to call the original draft of a Poison Tree, "Christian Forebearance." However, the English government did not tolerate the radical actions of the English Dissenters and they persecuted them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Poison_Tree

http://www.eliteskills.com/analysis_poetry/A_Poison_Tree_by_William_Blake_analysis.php

http://authspot.com/poetry/poetry-analysis-a-poison-tree-by-william-blake/#ixzz23518lsSo

MALAYSIAN SHORT STORY A Certain Cry - Cynthia Anthony

A Certain Cry written by Cynthia Anthony is a story of two man hunting for frogs, mainly to highlight on the traditions of rural folks.

THEMES

Customary life of rural folks [customs and traditions]

Sub themes

Preserving the tradition

SETTINGS

·         Place

1.      government quarters

·         Time

1.      dawn and night

2.      In November

·         Community

1.      Rural/customary community

MAIN EVENTS

CHARACTERISATION

CHARACTER	CHARACTERISTICS AND TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
Mick	·         Barbaric and merciless. He would bash the frogs’ head on the concrete and open their underside ·         Good frog hunter. He simply grabbed the frogs and he managed to catch it ·         Impatient as he waits for Jiga to return
Mick’s father	Believes in rituals. Like the sadistic manner of animal slaughter. He thinks that “it is all right because it is our way”
Jiga	·         Merciful. Jiga released the baby frogs back to where they came from ·         Selfless. He saves the author from drowning
Author/ narrator	Good cook. He took over the cooking of frogs. He’s a better cook than Jiga and Mike