Day 9
Tues. Nov. 22
Looking ahead: “voice” in Challenge 2
Poetry: introduction to image and metaphor
Homework:
➤ Read translation of “feed”
Read the translation of the first chapter of M. T. Anderson’s Feed, by Zhihang and Jiyuan. As you read, think about the question of voice. In the translation (without reference to the original) do you get a sense of the speaker’s character (personality) through the way they talk? Be ready to give an example of one sentence in the translation that for you really conveys a sense of voice. Also, if there are places where the style of the translation doesn’t seem appropriate for the type of person you understand the speaker to be, be ready to share one sentence where that is the case.
➤ Read my “bouquet of Poetry” and come ready to share some observations
A bouquet of poems
Read the little collection of modern English poems I’ve prepared. You don’t need to spend hours trying to understand them; just read them over and get a general impression. Come ready to share any observations you have about the conventional language of modern English poetry. Are there particular types of words / phrases / sentence structures that you often see? Are there particular types of words / phrases / sentence structures that you don’t often see, or never see at all?
➤ Find and share an example of an image and a metaphor in Chinese
Please find an example of an interesting metaphor that contains an image in a literary work in Chinese that you find particularly striking. Upload your example in a Word document in the folder “Examples of image and metaphor in Chinese” on SharePoint.
➤ Translate Billy Collins, “Introduction to Poetry” and the W. H. Auden excerpt
This is due at 7am on Thursday (China time)! Please upload this assignment to SAKAI.
WARNING: Do not search these online and look for translations that already exist! It will spoil the fun. Translate based on your own understanding and intuition.
Translate Billy Collins’ poem “Introduction to Poetry,” which is in the “Bouquet of poems” I shared with you. As you translate, focus on image and metaphor — do your best to understand what the reader is to supposed to imagine and recreate those images in the reader’s mind in Chinese. Upload your translation to Sakai.
Also, just for the heck of it: Translate the two stanzas of the Auden poem that I shared with you in class. Don’t try to translate this as a rhyming poem or metered poem—focus just on conveying the images and the metaphors vividly. Upload your translation to Sakai.
➤ Before Class: Read classmates’ translations
Read your classmates’ translations of the Billy Collins poem and the excerpt from the Auden poem, which I’ll share with you Thursday morning China time. For each, pick the translation you think is best and come ready to tell us and to explain the reason behind your choice.