1. Chinese Banquet- Kitty Tsui
This poem is a kind of explanation to the person who was not invited, which half way through the poem we find out it is her partner. The poem begins with two contradicting ideas, she states "for the one who was not invited it was not a formal affair..." and later mentions it again that it was not a formal affair, however, she mentions that every women twelve or older is wearing a long gown and a corsage except her.
An internal contradiction is when her mother tells her that she is twenty six and not getting any younger, what is she going to do with her life? This question is emphasized by asking it twice and Tsui also states twice that her mother does not even ask when she is getting married anymore. Her mother knows that she is gay, but is not willing to accept it. Not only is her mother not willing to accept it but her whole family and that is why she was not invited to the Chinese banquet.
4. Before reading Chinese Banquet I imagined it would describe the Chinese culture, a celebration of something and I thought it was going to describe their customs.
At the beginning of the poem it starts off stating that it is not a formal affair. When reading that I imagined a Chinese family out at a park having lunch, but as i kept reading I learned that I was not close to what it really was about. She continues to explain how all the women are dressed in gowns, meaning it is a formal affair.
After reading that I predicted that it must be a special celebration, like the equivalent of a quinceañera. But it was not, it seemed like it was simply a family reunion. As I continued reading it all made sense when I realized that the author is writing this letter to her partner as a way of an explanation or an apology letter of why she was not invited. The author tried to disguise the importance of this event by mentioning twice that it was informal.
The poem was not what I expected and it made me change my approach to it from thinking that I was going to learn about Chinese culture to an emotional one where I felt sympathy for the author.
In the poem "Chinese Banquet," I too wrote about the contradiction between formal and informal but you brought it out much better. You said "she states "for the one who was not invited it was not a formal affair..." and later mentions it again that it was not a formal affair, however, she mentions that every women twelve or older is wearing a long gown and a corsage except her." I did not even think about the contradiction of the gowns. In her poem she makes the relationship between her and her relatives seem formal by pointing out the distance between them, almost as if they are strangers, just making conversation where it is due. I see now how the poem is a letter like you said "to the one who was not invited." Thanks for helping me see it in that perspective. It does seem more like an apology letter now. I like how you brought out "The author tried to disguise the importance of this event by mentioning twice that it was informal." This helps me understand the poem a lot more.
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Chinese Banquet," I had a totally different perspective on the type of relationship between her, and her mother. I like the examples you used, and your insight gave me a whole new picture of what the poem was also about. I had a better understanding of certain lines you said "for the one who was not invited it was not a formal affair". I didnt even think about that until you brought it to my attention. I thought the mother had a good relationship with her daughter, but had lots of expectations from her at a young age.I'm glad to see your interpretation it made me realize other things about this particular poem. Great Post!
ReplyDeleteI thought you had a very insightful interpretation of "Chinese Banquet," especially the first few lines. I did not even consider the first italicized line to be a part of the poem, but more of a sort of forward to the poem, almost as if it were a dedication. From what I understand from your interpretation, it almost seems like she is talking about herself. She is the only one not wearing formal attire, but all the other adult women are. She is insinuating immediately that she does not fit in with her family members. Later on in the poem, we learn that her partner is the one who is not invited to this family gathering. After reading that, I assumed that the italicized line was sort of a dedication of the poem to her partner. She was thinking about her – daydreaming about her – while with her family, “dreaming of the cloudscape in your eyes” (555). She cannot discuss her partner with her family because they are not accepting of her, which is why she was not invited.
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