Response to a poem with a poem

An Older Scholar's Advice
by Ha Jin

After you get your master's degree
you will have to work hard for some years
to be promoted to a lectureship. Then you can relax.
Don't you think that if you go on working in that way
you can get your professorship. First,
you must have enough teaching experience.
In my school, only after having taught for 24 years
will you be qualified for consideration as an associate professor. Second,
you must publish enough papers.
It is not hard to write them but it is not easy
to publish them. In fact, you can publish anything
if you have connections. My colleagues told me that
publications is also an important filed of study.
Well, if you "study" it thoroughly
you may be able to get your papers out,
but you will have to pay a lot for it.

For me the most practical thing to do now
is not to worry about my professorship.
So many lecturers are not qualified for it
until they are qualified for retirement
or for death. I just ignore it for the time being.
In the morning I practice Tai Chi.
In the evening I watch TV and go to bed early.
I have to quit smoking but drink two cups of wine
everyday. Wine can warm your blood.
Don't indulge yourself in sex.
It will weaken your young kidneys.
As long as you are in good health,
as long as you live longer than others,
eventually you will get you professorship.

You can wait for that.

A Younger Scholar's Advice
by Albert Dang

After you get your High School diploma
you will still have to work hard for some years
to be promoted to a college degree. Then you can relax.
Don't think that if you go on working in that way
you can get your degree. First,
you must have enough course credit.
In my school, only after obtaining 120 credits
will you be qualified for consideration
as a graduate student. Second, you must write enough papers.
It is not hard writing them but it not easy
trying to start them. In fact, you can start anything
if you have the right creativity. My classmates told me that
starting papers is an important skill to learn.
Well, if you "learn" it thoroughly
you may be able to get your papers done,
but you will have to restart a lot.

For me the most practical thing to do now
is not to worry about my graduation.
So many students are not qualified for it
until they are qualified for their 30s
or for their 40s. I just ignore it for the time being.
In the morning i eat cereal.
In the evening I play video games and go to bed late.
I have to quit procrastinating but I have to study everyday.
Studying can make you smarter.
Don't indulge in junk food.
It will weaken your heart.
As long as you are in good standing,
as long as you are in better health than others,
eventually you will graduate.

Asian American Poet: Suji Kwock Kim

To concur with my classmate, I too found myself talking along time to decide which Asian American Poet to choose from. But after deciding, the Asian American poet of choice for me was Suji Kwock Kim.

Suji Kwock Kim is a Korean American poet and playwright born in 1969, she earned her education in Yale and has has ever 22 reprints on her work done in several languages including, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Italian, German, Arabic, and Bengali.

The poem I have decided to write about is:

Fugue for Eye and Vanishing Point

Give me the clarity, the sharpness
of a season when things are plainly
themselves. No smear of dreaming on the dirt.
Let my eye see without seeking more
than what's there, and find what is
is sweet. Bleach-fumes. Urine. Cement.
Bus-exhaust. Oil glittering on pistons.
Soiled needles wrapped in butcher paper.
Infinite engine trapped in skin.

Like All Poetry I had to read and read and read to be able to paint a picture, an image that would be painted so bright and clear that the poets intangible thought would become mine. And as I read the poem, I began to draw the following parallel (or I think it was).

In the poem the poet write about how she wished she can see the world in clearly and visibly, without putting thought stressing the "infinite engine trapped in skin", literally the mind or imagination. when one looks at concrete, urine or the stench of bleach... it is what it is. but love, emotion, and all those things in life that are unexplainable.

With souch a limited number of Asian American Poets it is important to understand the cultural loss others don't encounter. each poet and culture is different and fision between the two creates a third. A third we should all be exposed to.

-Rafael De La Torre

Movie Review 2: Mongol (2007)

I have decided to continue my trend and reviewing Asian American influenced films, and am very satisfied with the contents Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan.

This movie does well in producing the fictional persona Temudjin (birth name).


I really did enjoy this movie, it was very well shot, with beautiful shots of the environment and it felt very real. the culture was very well recreated for the time period. and I was very intrigued to learn that he was more of a man of honor when it came to his country and his men. As well as very respectful of the lives of women and children.

Unfortunately, in American textbooks, I was taught that he was a barbaric person and was unruly, it came to a shocking discovery when I saw the other side in this film. although I have not done full research on his history, I will now make sure i get the full and real story.

as for the film I give it a 4/5

I disliked the fact that they cut out much of how he later then became the khan of his people, they focus more on his early life than on the path to legend.

-Rafael De La Torre

Mirrors Edge and AAS

So you maybe be wondering why I am writing a review on EA's Mirror's Edge. Simply because i have decided to focus on the lack of Asian role models in pop culture in American and the controversy the public brought up after its release.

To start: Mirror's Edge is an amazing game, its new and fresh. it features a new POV of FPS gaming and it is highly entertaining. and it features the upcoming sport of Parkour or as many know it here as Freerunning.

I must say that this is one game that I choose to play over and over again without getting tired of because you always wanna keep going faster and faster, and its almost impossible. In addition, they brought in new elements than what we are use to. the main protagonist (you) is a Female and Asian character. There are just not many games out there that focus on Asian American Roles, Especially EA, a very Americanized company.

Secondly there was some controversy that relates to the issues Asian American women face everyday. I'm talking about what kim wong brought up several times: How in general Asian women are pictured as exotic figures. Now by looking at the image above we see a very regular depiction of a Asian female rolemodel, as a runner in the game she is slender and fit. but when some fans got a hold of a picture and photoshop, well look what they did:

If you notice, our protagonist is curvier in the bust area and her face was made to look a lot more younger or should i say childish. the developers did have something to say thought:

"We really wanted to get away from the typical portrayal of women in games, that they're all just kind of tits and ass in a steel bikini. We wanted her to look athletic and fit and strong [enough] that she could do the things that she's doing."

Althought they made every attemp to escape this stereotype, many people just dont get it. its all about exotification and eye candy to sell and dont realize what they do in the progress.

-Rafael De La Torre

Returning to my Roots

I take a lot of pride in my roots. A lot of us regardless of what ethnic background has roots planted somewhere on American soil. Mine just happens to be at a local park on the edge of San Francisco's Chinatown.



Woh Hei Yuen

It all began when my dad wanted me to get afterschool tutoring. Before the park, it was a former Chinese cemetary. Odd, I know.

For a good year at the tutoring facility, I watched that park develope into what it would shape into...

...our base.

A lot of kids would make their longtime friends at school but for me and a bunch of my close friends, it would be at this very park.

In the late 90's, Chinatown parks have been the home bases for a lot of notoriety. Willie Wong Playground (formerly known as the notorious 'Chinese Playground') was and probably still a homebase for the petty gangs of Chinatown and even plays an important role of "roots" in Bill Lee's book that was named after the park. Chinese Center is another park, not as famous as CP but a home turf for a few small gangs during the afterhours.

Woh Hei Yuen was what I call, the anti-gang park. This park was where I met most of my close friends because of random games of tag, dodgeball, four square and even the whole Pokemon card craze. It was at this park that our inner circle of friends expanded but honestly, we wern't a gang. We were just a group of 11 to 13 year olds that happen to know each other and establish friendships that seem like brotherhoods and sisterhoods now. It was more of a "clique" thing.

By the time I had hit 15, everyone had left the park. We all grew out of it and simply became to busy with growing up. Those carefree summers and afterschool hours became a memory. For a good duration of the years that followed the park was empty, hollow...lifeless.

No more kids running around trying to tag one another. No more kids dodging the full speeded ball. No more preteen love that we had all endured. Nothing but benches, structures and sand.

Today my friend and I walked by there and talked about the good old days. The park was empty still and we wish there was someway we could relive that experience again. (without getting kicked out of it for being too old) I told my friend..."I guess it's no different than that old cemetary it used to be"

Many hours later, I was on my way back to my car and I wanted to walk by the park for a possible one last time. It was dark and the park was lit up by the lamps. I hear laughing, yelling, enjoyment, innocence. It felt like my upbringing as a developing Chinese American was flashing before my eyes. I see a small group of kids playing tag and enjoying what my friends and I had enjoyed in the past.

It's a new Chinese American generation that has planted their seeds into the sands of our dying roots.

Asian American Poet

I guess it took me awhile to decide what poet I kind of really want to write about, and I decided to write about Jessica Hagedorn not only because she an outstanding poet, but some of the stuff she writes I can sort of relate to what she is writing about.

Jessica Hagedorn is a Filipino American that was born in the Philippines in 1949. Her father was both Filipino and Spanish, while her mother was Scots, Irish, French, and Filipino, and was known to have one Chinese ancestor. Hagedorn moved to the US at the age of 13 at the year 1963, and began to take lessons in acting and soon became interested in the performing arts which lead her to multimedia work. Hagedorn applies the knowledge that she has learn from the past into the poems that she writes creating her own style writing and performances. Her style includes the mixture of song, poetry, images, and spoken dialogue. In order to improve her literary and multimedia skills Hagedorn moved to New York in 1978. Her novels and poems such as Dogeaters or Something About You, to give people a better understanding about how American culture affects Filipino culture or what Filipino culture is really about. She gives Filipinos a voice to show others what being a Filipino really is really about. Jessica Hagedorn now resides in New York with her family and still continues to be a poet, writer, musician, and play artist.

The poem Sorcery, I believe that Hagedorn tries to tell the readers not to always believe in what you see especially women that a beautiful on the outside. Within that beauty may lay a cheat or “witch” trying seduce you with her charms in order to gain something from you. The poem Something About You in my opinion helps expresses Hagedorns life such as all the people that has helped her in the past, and people in the present. The phrase “and this for” represents her thanks to those who had help her become what she is now. The poem Stigmata, I think gives the readers an outlook of what other people think about other racists, stereotypes. Like “IF HE'S PAINTED GOLD, HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW HE'S BLACK?” Hagedorn is trying to tell us society only looks at people from the outside and determines what they are just from that. Another meaning that I’ve thought of is that some people try to show that they’re different from what others expect like the black man painted gold, he wants to show people he’s different.

Photo: http://www.nationalbook.org/graphics/nba2005/dinner/photos/hagedorn.jpg

Asian American Poet

I have chosen Ha Jin for my Asian American poet for this unit in our class. He was born on February 21, 1956 in Liaoning, China. His real name is Jin Xuefei, Ha Jin is the pen name he has chosen for himself. "Ha" comes from the name of his favorite city, Harbin. When he was 14 he served in the People's Liberation Army in China, until he was 20. His father at that time was a solider as well. When he was released from the army he decided to teach himself English while working the night shift as a railroad telegrapher. He then later got his BA and MA from Chinese universities. It was in 1985, that he decided to move to the United States to pursue graduate work in English at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Ha Jin decided to stay in the U.S. after the Tienanmen Massacre in 1989. The poems he has written since he began his studies in America deal mostly with the experiences of people in China during the Cultural Revolution- "experiences," as he writes, "not strictly personal, although in most cases ... stimulated by memory of hard facts which cannot be worn away by time."

In many of his poems we can hear the people of China concerned about their fate, one that no one can understand or change. Ha Jin remarks: " If not every one of these people, who were never perfect, is worthy of our love, at least their fate deserves our attention and our memory. they should talk and be talked about." The motivation behind many of his poems are letting silenced people's voices be heard. He wants to bring attention to people who are oppressed and too afraid to let their voices be heard. By bringing attention to these people, we can all learn the mistakes of the past and not allow it to repeat itself. Many of his poems also deal with the theme of individuality and how they matter more than the collective whole. Rather than just a nation, a nation of individuals who are all equally important.

I chose Ha Jin to be my author because it did not really matter to me that much who I picked as my author at first, so i just googled Asian American Poets. His name caught my eye because it had a nice ring to it. As started to research who he was and such I was glad I picked him because half of my family is Chinese and their parents came from China to American to escape all the chaos that was happening. I thought it would be good to see what their lives were like back then and as well as their lives in America today.