Thank You Thinkers

A Poem of Thanks to 4.1/4.4 VSS Lit Students

My goal at the end of the term
Was not only that you'll learn,
But see the beauty that literature can be,
Appreciate every line in poetry,
Read lines dramatically,
And see beyond mere words
As you capably analyzed prose.

Now as I look back
I see much more than that!
You were like literary devices,
Bringing the book to life in our classes!
Ever so willing to read
Shooting eager hands in the air
Hoping loudly that I take heed

And so it was 4.1/4.4 became a little Bonasse
When Bolo didn’t fight for Eulalie
And Ivan Morton come jus so jus so
And he fountain pen win she
What about the day the Spirit come?
Bee preach with power, the Spirit take over
Everybody was responding:
Who jumping, who singing, who clapping
Bell ringing!
Then we had Bonasse election
With stupidy Rufus,
White man Richardson and smart boy Morton

So thank you thinkers for your contribution
Narrators, actors, readers, listeners,
Bloggers, facebookers,
Sharers of articles, jokes and props
To all students who made our class memorable:
Thank you ever so much!

So nobody ain't fighting?

When Bolo ask jumbie-bird to crow
No stickfighter will go
So he stop dancing
Music stop playing
Then Bolo asking:
'So nobody ain't fighting?'
So Bolo gone mad
And mash up all them drum
With the stick in he hand!



Bolo had to get on so??
Share your views, I want to know

I hear the calf moo

The calf in The Wine of Astonishment is an image of HOPE. Can you think of anything within the novel that reflects hope?

Forgive My Guilt

"Two birds on golden legs slim as dream things

Ran like quicksilver on the golden sand"

Share your story: "I am sure of one sin I have done" What childhood sin have you commited against nature without thinking about the consequences?

Bee, a man alone in front all this hard, red earth

Bee's physical struggle with the earth seems to reflect his spiritual conflict and frustration. He is in the hot sun with "his back wet down with perspiration". He exerts much physical effort "lifting up the iron fork in the air and bringing it down and burying it in the earth and lifting up the fork again, sinking it into the earth with his strength as if it was the earth that hurt him and he wanted to stab it, stab it, stab it until he kill it".

Eva is looking at Bee. She wonders "if all this digging and uprooting and sweating and grunting going to bring forth anything, or if all a man could do is dig and uproot and bury seeds in the earth and pray and hope things grow...".

This image of struggle, frustration and even the violence of wanting to stab and kill the land is reflected in other events throughout the novel. Can you think of any?

And what Winston want to do? He want to be a policeman.

" 'Go,' Bee say, very soft. And the boy there with his tall uneasiness. 'Go. You have nineteen years. I can't hold you here. Go!' Bee say, his voice low, stifling.

...'Go!' he say again, his voice rising and breaking as his vexation get the uper hand of him. And Winston stand up in front of him, wanting to move and don't know how to move. 'Go!' And before Winston could do anything, Bee turn to Taffy, 'And you? You don't want to go too? You don't want to be a police too to arrest your own people? You don't want to be one too?'"
--Chap 4 The Wine of Astonishment

Why is Bee so upset when his eldest son Winston wants to sit the police examination?

Where does Eva work?

Eva is no doubt a loving mother, supportive wife, and a spiritually strong, resilient woman. In The Wine of Astonishment, does Eva work outside the home? Prove your response.

Letter to the Brethren

Brethren,

I know our Lord has made us see hard things and make us to drink the wine of astonishment...I know that we have been like lost sheep and the shepherds have caused us to go astray...I know that we dont know if we is black or white!!

But praise the Lord for the rain brethren!! And the one day meh son eh come, de Spirit come!

I wish alyuh coulda tell meh son what happen that Sunday...I wish Bolo did know!

Love,
Old Mother Raymond

We have five children

"Winston and Taffy is nearly men, and Joyce is fifteen...But we have two other children: Gem is four...but Reggie is a boy-child, eight years old..."

Out of Bee and Eva's five children, which one is your favourite?

Bolo: A Hard Question

"And every Sunday Bolo is there in church, tall, unbending, his face stiff, his eyes burning. He not singing the hymns; he not praying. He is just there like a hard question staring in everybody face" Chap 3 The Wine of Astonishment

In your own words, what question is Bolo really representing?

Eulalie look for trouble!

Do you agree with Eva? Did Eulalie look for trouble when she chose Ivan Morton? Or do you sympathize with her?

"hummingbird briskness tamed down..."

Have you ever noticed a hummingbird humming about? Did you ever find yourself following the bird with your eyes and staring at its brisk wings? Were you ever captivated by its vibrancy, beauty and even its little hum?

So you've read The Wine of Astonishment. Yes, of course you've read it and this is your second reading of the book during class time! =) In your opinion, whose hummingbird briskness has been tamed and how so?

Union Jack

How does this image relate to The Wine of Astonishment?

Facebook Group

We're now on facebook! Simply search "No Dogears" and join us!

Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that. mighty heart is lying still!

William Wordsworth

Wordsworth

William Wordsworth

(7 April 1770 - 23 April 1850) Wordsworth was a major English Romantic Poet who helped to launch the Romantic Age in English Literature.

• Wordsworth grew up in the countryside and did not see the city until he was 18!


• He lost his mother when he was 8 then his father 5 yrs after.


• Wordsworth married four (4) times!


• When he died, he was considered by many to be the greatest poet in the world!

Background of Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

This poem was written in 1802 about an experience Wordsworth had with his sister on Westminster Bridge. The coach they were travelling on paused on the bridge and the view of the city in the early morning seemed to have impressed Wordsworth. His sister wrote in her journal:

"It was a beautiful morning. The city, St. Paul's, with the river, and a multitude of little boats, made a most beautiful sight as we crossed Westminster Bridge. The houses were not overhung by their cloud of smoke, and they were spread out endlessly, yet the sun shone so brightly, with such a fierce light; that there was something like the purity of one of nature's own grand spectacles."

So where was Wordsworth going? I'm glad you asked! First we must go 11 years earlier when Wordsworth had an affair with a French girl, Annette Vallon, and had an illegitimate daughter Anne Caroline. Because of lack of money and Britain's tensions with France, he returned alone to England the next year although he had expressed to Annette a wish to marry her.

In 1802, he was able to return to France to see Annette. However, Wordsworth now wished to marry his childhood friend, Mary Hutchinson. So the purpose of his journey was to discuss his obligations to Annette and Caroline and free his conscience to marry Mary. Although many doubt his desire to marry Annette, he supported her and his daughter as best he could in later life.

Cheep! Cheep!

What is significant about this image?

Stickfighting

"The whole village talk 'bout him. They say that in the stickfighting ring, the gayelle, it don't have a man to stand up in front of him. They say he don't fight just to win battles for himself, for him stickfighting was more the dance, the adventure, the ceremony to show off the beauty of the warrior." Chapter 2: The War Still Fighting The Wine of Astonishment

Have you ever witnessed a stickfighting competition? To see the dance of the stickfighter, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVle9Cs3Tqg&feature=related

Tongue Twisters

• Sometimes what children wonder can make us wonder how they wonder such interesting wonders.


• Bad money mad bunny. Try to repeat this as fast as you could.


• The trickiest tongue twister in the English language is apparently, "Sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick". Give it a try and see for yourself. What literary device is this?

These tongue twisters were submitted by Martin Philbert.

The Wine of Astonishment

Psalm 60:3

You have showed your people hard things: you have made us to drink the wine of astonishment.

How is this title appropriate?

And I never get weary yet!

"I never get weary yet
I never get weary yet
Forty long years I work in the field
And I never get weary yet"

Do you know this song? If you're never heard it before, you could listen to it here: http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pJtQp9mgVY

So you've read Chapter 1 of The Wine of Astonishment, how are these lyrics significant?

"..and be as little vain"

Comic strip submitted by: Akil Bernard
"BRAVE flowers--that I could gallant it like you, And be as little vain!" --A Contemplation Upon Flowers
What does this line mean?

"Son of the Soil"

In what ways has Ivan Morton transplanted himself from the soil that has nurtured him?

BEE, the Christ-figure

"Bee there too, standing up by the kitchen door, with his two hands stretch out across the door like Jesus Christ had his hands when they try crucify him on the cross..." Chap 1

Bee is established as a Christ-figure at his very first appearance in the novel The Wine of Astonishment. As the plot develops, what evidence is given to show this Christ-likeness?

Bonasse

The Wine of Astonishment is set in Bonasse, Trinidad. Do you know this area? Have you been here before?

"taking the pounding"

"Evening, as I say. I sit down on the stool in front of the mortar, lifting the pestle and watching my hands bring it down to crush the plantains lying down there to take the pounding that will break them down, mix them up and make them stiff and good for eating; and I wondering if the world is a mortar and we is the plaintains below the pestle, taking the pounding".

The Wine of Astonishment Chap 1 p 4

Earl Lovelace

Name: Earl Lovelace

Date of birth: 13 July 1935

Place of Birth: Toco, Trinidad

Current Address: Matura, Trinidad (With the exception of some brief periods, Lovelace is one of the few Caribbean writers who has never left the region)

Novels:

While The Gods Are Falling (1965)

The Schoolmaster (1968)

The Dragon Can’t Dance (1979)

The Wine of Astonishment (1983)

Salt (1996)

Is Just A Movie (2011)

A Contemplation Upon Flowers

Brave flowers—that I could gallant it like you,
And be as little vain!
You come abroad, and make a harmless show,
And to your beds of earth again.
You are not proud: you know your birth:
For your embroider’d garments are from earth.

You do obey your months and times, but I
Would have it ever Spring:
My fate would know no Winter, never die,
Nor think of such a thing.
O that I could my bed of earth but view
And smile, and look as cheerfully as you!

O teach me to see Death and not to fear,
But rather to take truce!
How often have I seen you at a bier,
And there look fresh and spruce!
You fragrant flowers! then teach me, that my breath
Like yours may sweeten and perfume my death.

Henry King, Bishop of Chichester (1592-1669)