Los Vendidos; My Beatles; Haiku
Let's take a look at the short plays Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez (we will cover more Central and South American culture in a while) and My Beatles by Satoh Makoto. Use either play form for a scene of your own (perhaps joining your thoughts from today about Asia or your own identity/culture...); Please sign up for roles so I don't have to beg you to participate.
When we finish reading these plays, we will begin our examination of Asian culture with Japan.
Haiku, as you probably know, is a short, closed form of poetry originating in Japan. It is traditionally a poem about nature (and our relationship to nature), as opposed to senryu which is a poem form specifically about human nature. In American translation of the poem, the form should be fewer than 17 syllables (often 10 words or fewer), and haiku avoids metaphor, personification, or other such poetic devices. Instead, two ideas are balanced in harmony through juxtaposition.
Haiku uses a seasonal or keyword called kigo. Each season has its own kigo.
Winter imagery, for example, often depicts grief, death, distance, and serenity. Spring is birth and new beginnings, summer is life, autumn is gathering, reconciliation, the harvest, old age or retirement, reminders of loss/sadness/melancholy, etc. Take a look at some kigo and see if you can use it as a central image in your own haiku:
Spring kigo:
balmy night, departing spring, tranquility, vernal equinox, lengthening days, muddy road, melting snow, lingering snow, slush, thin mist, haze, moon, flood, Memorial Day, Easter, Passover, kite, balloon, wild geese returning, any baby animal, nightingale, hawthorn, pussy willow, tulip, snowdrop, plum blossom, cherry blossom, violet, Mother's Day, April Fool's Day
Summer kigo:
Summer solstice, summer evening, summer morning, slow day, short night, summer fog, lightning, sudden shower, summer dew, cloud peaks, scorching/blazing sun, bare feet, awning, sunburn, sunglasses, ice tea, sweat, cactus flower, summer grove, lake, fly, swatter, carnation, marigold, gardenia, moth, cicada, perfume, waterfall, fan, independence day, weeding, blue cornflower, honeysuckle, cherry, strawberries, blackberries, sunflower, snapdragon, potato, carrots, melons, lotus
Winter kigo:
Freezing rain or freezing drizzle, sleigh rides, snowfall, blizzard, snow or ice sculptures (snowmen, etc.), football playoffs: "The Super Bowl", ice fishing, ice hockey, ice skating, polar plunges, sledding, tobogganing, snowboarding, skiing, snowshoeing, snow shoveling, candles, firewood, fireplaces, etc., Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Earth Day, The Epiphany (Episcopal, Catholic), Groundhog Day, Hanukkah, Martin Luther King Jr., Day, Lincoln's Birthday (12th February), President's Day, Pearl Harbor Day, St. Valentine's Day, Washington's Birthday (22nd February), midterms, blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, juncos, mockingbirds, owl, sparrows, crows, tufted titmouse, woodpeckers, poinsettia, Norway pines
Autumn kigo:
Lingering summer, short day, wild geese, crows, woodpecker, red dragonfly, raking/burning leaves, rose of sharon, BBQ, pomegranate, pumpkin, fallen leaves, shrike (bird), black cat, mushroom gathering, gleaning, harvest, corn field, deer, Labor Day, Halloween
Activity: Write a page of haiku. Each haiku should be 10 words or fewer, with 17 or fewer syllables. Two strong images are juxtaposed to create a meaning. Ex. Dead cat//open mouthed//to the pouring rain. Two images use the middle line as a fulcrum: Dead cat open mouthed; and open mouthed to the pouring rain. Aim for this kind of connection.
Bring your page of haiku back with you to our next class to workshop/share.
When we finish reading these plays, we will begin our examination of Asian culture with Japan.
Haiku, as you probably know, is a short, closed form of poetry originating in Japan. It is traditionally a poem about nature (and our relationship to nature), as opposed to senryu which is a poem form specifically about human nature. In American translation of the poem, the form should be fewer than 17 syllables (often 10 words or fewer), and haiku avoids metaphor, personification, or other such poetic devices. Instead, two ideas are balanced in harmony through juxtaposition.
Haiku uses a seasonal or keyword called kigo. Each season has its own kigo.
Winter imagery, for example, often depicts grief, death, distance, and serenity. Spring is birth and new beginnings, summer is life, autumn is gathering, reconciliation, the harvest, old age or retirement, reminders of loss/sadness/melancholy, etc. Take a look at some kigo and see if you can use it as a central image in your own haiku:
Spring kigo:
balmy night, departing spring, tranquility, vernal equinox, lengthening days, muddy road, melting snow, lingering snow, slush, thin mist, haze, moon, flood, Memorial Day, Easter, Passover, kite, balloon, wild geese returning, any baby animal, nightingale, hawthorn, pussy willow, tulip, snowdrop, plum blossom, cherry blossom, violet, Mother's Day, April Fool's Day
Summer kigo:
Summer solstice, summer evening, summer morning, slow day, short night, summer fog, lightning, sudden shower, summer dew, cloud peaks, scorching/blazing sun, bare feet, awning, sunburn, sunglasses, ice tea, sweat, cactus flower, summer grove, lake, fly, swatter, carnation, marigold, gardenia, moth, cicada, perfume, waterfall, fan, independence day, weeding, blue cornflower, honeysuckle, cherry, strawberries, blackberries, sunflower, snapdragon, potato, carrots, melons, lotus
Winter kigo:
Freezing rain or freezing drizzle, sleigh rides, snowfall, blizzard, snow or ice sculptures (snowmen, etc.), football playoffs: "The Super Bowl", ice fishing, ice hockey, ice skating, polar plunges, sledding, tobogganing, snowboarding, skiing, snowshoeing, snow shoveling, candles, firewood, fireplaces, etc., Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Earth Day, The Epiphany (Episcopal, Catholic), Groundhog Day, Hanukkah, Martin Luther King Jr., Day, Lincoln's Birthday (12th February), President's Day, Pearl Harbor Day, St. Valentine's Day, Washington's Birthday (22nd February), midterms, blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, juncos, mockingbirds, owl, sparrows, crows, tufted titmouse, woodpeckers, poinsettia, Norway pines
Autumn kigo:
Lingering summer, short day, wild geese, crows, woodpecker, red dragonfly, raking/burning leaves, rose of sharon, BBQ, pomegranate, pumpkin, fallen leaves, shrike (bird), black cat, mushroom gathering, gleaning, harvest, corn field, deer, Labor Day, Halloween
Activity: Write a page of haiku. Each haiku should be 10 words or fewer, with 17 or fewer syllables. Two strong images are juxtaposed to create a meaning. Ex. Dead cat//open mouthed//to the pouring rain. Two images use the middle line as a fulcrum: Dead cat open mouthed; and open mouthed to the pouring rain. Aim for this kind of connection.
Bring your page of haiku back with you to our next class to workshop/share.
HOMEWORK: Complete any reading of the packets given to you today.
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