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Poetry Explication By: Chan Bao Qiong Johnny Voo Kai Lik Lau Chin Chin
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A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Nov 18, 2014

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Page 1: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Poetry Explication

By:Chan Bao QiongJohnny Voo Kai LikLau Chin Chin

Page 2: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

A Death in The Ward

By Wong Phui Nam

Page 3: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Let Us Know The Poet…

Page 4: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)
Page 5: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Wong Phui Nam

• Date of Birth : September 1935 • Place of birth : Kuala Lumpur• Education :– early in two Chinese schools in Kuala

Lumpur's Chinatown. –Batu Road School– Victoria Institution in 1949–University of Malaya in Singapore for a BA

(Hons) in Economics

Page 6: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• Occupations:–Assistant Controller of the Industrial

Development Division of the Ministry of Commerce in Kuala Lumpur– joined the Malaysian International

Merchant Banking Ltd

Page 7: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• After he retired in 1989,–he wrote a poetry column for The New

Straits Times and taught briefly at a private college. –He is now a training and marketing

consultant in a private company.

Page 8: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Background of Poet

Page 9: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• When Phui Nam was four years old, his mother died of kidney failure.

• His father died five years later in April 1944, during the Japanese Occupation.

• These had affect him a lot in his early writing.

Page 10: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

In Poetry…

Page 11: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• had dabbled in poetry while at the V.I. but had not shown his works to anyone.

• was inspired by the Singapore poet Edwin Thumboo who had just published his first work Rib of Earth

• edited the student journal The New Cauldron

Dabble in- take part in an activity in a casual or superficial way.

Page 12: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• later chiefly responsible for two anthologies Litmus One: – Selected University Verse, 1949-1957 – Thirty Poems

• Most of the poems Phui Nam wrote during the sixties first appeared in Bunga Emas, an anthology of Malaysian literature edited by fellow Victorian T. Wignesan.

Page 13: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• 1968:–They were subsequently collected in

book form and published as How the Hills are Distant (Tenggara Supplement) by the Department of English, University of Malaya.

Page 14: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• 1970s & the early 1980s:– remained relatively silent

• 1989:–2nd volume Remembering Grandma and

Other Rumours was published by the English Department, National University of Singapore.

• 1993:–His Ways of Exile was published by Skoob.

Page 15: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• Phui Nam's poems have appeared in –Seven Poets– The Second Tongue–The Flowering Tree–Young Commonwealth Poets '65–Poems from India, Sri Lanka, Singapore

and Malaya

Page 16: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Synopsis

• The poem is about

–A death occurred in a ward–The writer witness a death when

he was admitted in the hospital

Page 17: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• First Stanza–The old Manickam gave up to

continue survive.• Second Stanza–The condition before Manickam

died–He kept on retching.(make the sound

and movement of vomiting)

Page 18: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• Third Stanza–The writer was admitted in the

ward, together with old Manickam• Fourth Stanza–The writer was admitted in the

hospital because he got jaundice.–He did not want to be in the ward. –It told the time, that is on 6 p.m.

Page 19: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• Fitfh Stanza–Decribes the acts of medical

personnel on Manickam’s death• Sixth Stanza–The writer imagined he was dead

and wondered the condition during his death–Describes the condition after

Manickam’s death

Page 20: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• Seventh Stanza–Describes the scene in the ward in the

morning– The writer however hoped to continue

survive.• Eighth Stanza– The writer recalled back the death

happened around him.–Describe the situation during in the public

morgue.

Page 21: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Theme

• The MAIN theme:–The sufferance of old folk to face their

death• They had to face with pain during

sickness• They feel despair to survive• They are worried about their death

Page 22: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• Sub-theme:Caring on old folk–Manickam felt hopeless to survive–His people should give support to him

Treat the dead people in good manner– The medical personnel do not to be gentle

to Manickam’s body after he died– They should not have that attidude

Page 23: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Setting

• Place:–Ward in a hospital–Public morgue

• Time:–Before and after 6 p.m.

Page 24: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Point of view

• First Person of view

– “All day I dreamt fitfully, laid out in bed.”

(3rd stanza 1st line)– He express his feeling and thoughts when he was

admitted in the hospital.

Page 25: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Poetry Devices

• Pattern• Personification• Imagery• Symbols• Metaphor• Hyperbole

Page 26: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Pattern

• Has 8 stanzas• 4 lines in each stanza = Quantrain• Free style • Free rhythm• Tone = sorrow

Page 27: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Personification

• A process of assigning human characteristics to non-human objects

• Examples:– “All of his sixty-seven years were locked

inside his skull.” (2nd stanza, 3rd and 4th lines)– “The fluorescent lamps from their high ceiling

hurt our eyes.”(3rd stanza, 2nd and 3rd lines)

Page 28: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Imagery• Images, pictures or sensory content which find

in a poem• Examples:– “…useless match-sticks of his legs.”(1st stanza, 3rd and 4th lines) –Match-sticks of his legs = his legs are as thin

as match-sticks, give us visual of old Manickam’s legs

Page 29: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

–“…We were clay-skinned…”(3rd stanza, 3rd line)

–Clay-skinned = our skin like the clay the skin is as rough as the

clay

Page 30: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Symbolism

• A thing that represents or stands for something else

• Examples:– “…We were clay-skinned, great deformed

caterpillars”(3rd stanza, 3rd line)– “…the splendour of the breaking light at a dawn,

of the spirit newly risen.”(7th stanza, 3rd and 4th lines)

Page 31: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

• clay-skinned – the poet and Manickam were old

• great deformed caterpillars– The poet and Manickam were very weak

• the splendour of the breaking light at a dawn–hope

Page 32: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Metaphor

• Compares one thing to another directly• When the poet uses metaphor, he or she will

transfer the qualities and associations of one object to another so that it is more vivid.

• Examples:

Page 33: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

– “Sunk among dry sheetsHe began to give up on the useless match-sticksof his legs.”

(1st stanza, 2nd until 4th lines)

~Manickam felt hopeless to continue his life.

Page 34: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

– “We were clay-skinned, great deformed caterpillars”

(3rd stanza, 3rd line)

~Both the poet and Manickam were old and weak.

– “I dreamt I rose beating moth-like against the window panes.”(4th stanza, 3rd line)

~The poet did not want to be in the ward.

Page 35: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Hyperbole

• It is one of speech that are entirely exaggerated in order to make a point

• Examples:– “We were clay-skinned…”(3rd stanza, 3rd line)– “-how it stank to high heaven!”(8th stanza, 4th line)

Page 36: A Death in the Ward(Chan Bao Qiong, Johnny Voo Kai Lik, Lau Chin Chin)

Moral Values

• Caring– We should care about sick old folk and encourage

them to continue their life.• Respect– We should respect the dead people by to be

gentle on their body.• Take care on our health– We should always take good care on ourselves so

that we would not get sick easily, unlike the poet and Manickam