Cataclysmical Vengeance
Cataclysmical Vengeance
An Analysis of a 21st Century Philippine Literature entitled
The Haiyan Dead
by Merlie Alunan
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the subject of
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
by
Perez,Micko M.
Garcia , Abby O.
Purio, lei louise C.
Ramos,Beverly A.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 3
BACKGROUND 4
COPY OF THE LITERARY TEXT 5-7
ANALYSIS 8-9
SUMMARY 10
REFERENCES 11
INTRODUCTION
“Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it present.”
We can look back at our past, but we can’t live with our past anymore. Life is short that’s why we should enjoy it while we have a chance. We should appreciate our present and take care of it. We can’t control everything that may happen that’s why we need to be alert and prepared. There are happenings in our life that may change our lives in a quick.
Typhoon Haiyan or in Philippines, also known as Bagyong Yolanda, is considered as the deadliest typhoon happened in the Philippine history that killed around 6,300 people. With this happening, a poet survivor, writes a poem that tells a story about an event in their life that they don’t expect to be their last.
Those unexpected things sometimes are the ones that made a great impact in our lives and leaves a great mark in the history.
BACKGROUND
· Authorial information:
MERLIE M. ALUNAN
A Filipina poet, Merlie M. Alunan (born December 14, 1943, in Dingle, Iloilo) who currently lives in Tacloban City. She graduated from Silliman University with an MA in Creative Writing in 1974. She is now a professor at the Creative Writing Center University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College.
AWARDS
· Lillian Jerome Thornton Award for Nonfiction
· Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature
· National Book Award
· Sunthorn Phu Literary Awards
· Ani ng Dangal
WORKS
· Heartstone, Sacred Tree, Anvil, 1993
· Amina among the angels, University of the Philippines Press, 1997
· Selected poems, University of the Philippines Press, 2004
· Kabilin: 100 Years of Negros Oriental, Negros Oriental Centennial Foundation, 1993
· Fern Garden: An Anthology of Women Writing in the South, Committee on Literature, National Commission on Culture and the Arts, 1998
· Anthologies
· Songs of ourselves: writings by Filipino women in English, Editor Edna Zapanta-Manlapaz, Anvil Publishing, 1994
· Textual information:
The Haiyan Dead was published on January 6, 2014
COPY OF THE LITERARY TEXT
THE HAIYAN DEAD
By: Merlie Alunan
Do not sleep.
They walk our streets
climb stairs of roofless houses
latch less windows blown-off doors
they are looking for the bed by the window
cocks crowing at dawn lizards in the eaves
they are looking for the men
who loved them at night the women?
who made them crawl like puppies?
to their breasts babes they held in arms
the boy who climbed trees the Haiyan dead
are looking in the rubble for the child
they once were the youth they once were
the bride with flowers in her hair
red-lipped perfumed women
white-haired father gap-toothed crone
selling peanuts by the church door
the drunk by a streetlamp waiting
for his house to come by the girl dreaming
under the moon the Haiyan dead are
looking for the moon washed out
in a tumult of water that melted their bodies
they are looking for their bodies that once
moved to the dance to play
to the rhythms of love moved
in the simple ways--before wind
lifted sea and smashed it on the land—
of breath talk words shaping
in their throats lips tongues
the Haiyan dead are looking
for a song they used to love a poem
a prayer they had raised that sea had
swallowed before it could be said
the Haiyan dead are looking for
the eyes of God suddenly blinded
in the sudden murk white wind seething
water salt sand black silt--and that is why
the Haiyan dead will walk among us
endlessly sleepless-
ANALYSIS
A. Literary Genre
The Haiyan Dead is an example of a poem because it was written in lines, it uses unfamiliar words and imagery.
B. Analysis Guides
Tone
In each line, we observed that there is tone of sadness implied by the author and it is like a tone of longing for the past. The Haiyan Dead missed the people they were once with as they watch them, but now it already impossible to embrace them again. They are longing for their home and the place where they were born and grow, the place which they considered their home and the place where they build a lot of many memories but this place is already a place that we can now considered as a grave of thousand people.
Point of View
The author’s point of view explains the experiences and hardship of those victims of the Typhoon Yolanda. The author put herself into the shoes of those Haiyan dead like she was one of them. She does not only reiterate her experiences and her point of view but also the point of view of all the people affected by the Typhoon Haiyan and the damages it created in the properties of all the resident.
Diction and Style
The author’s style of writing is impressive because if you don’t dig deeper on the message of each line, you won’t clearly understand the poem. The diction of each word emphasizes the message of the poem.
Images and Symbols
The author used images and symbols so that the readers will easily understand the poem. These usage of symbols and images also shows the creativity and skills of the author. According on the 22nd line, the word tumult symbolizes danger/destruction because in 22nd line it means that the dangerous water or the strong rainfall melted the bodies or flooded the bodies of those Haiyan dead.
Sound Effects
There are no sound effects observed because the “The Haiyan Dead” is a free verse poem because it has no meter and there also no rhyming of the last words in each line.
Theme
The theme of the poem “The Haiyan Dead” shows the experiences and hardship not only of those who died at the occurrence of Typhoon Yolanda but also those who lived on Tacloban Region because they are the most affected of that landfall.
Reader’s Response
At first, it’s hard for us to understand the poem “The Haiyan Dead” because of the unfamiliar words used by the author and the “kalalaliman” of the message but with the help of context analysis and other guides provided, we clearly understand the message of the poem.
C. Contextual Analysis
Biographical Context
We can apply biographical context analysis for this poem because as we observed, the poem describes or convey the experiences of the author about the Typhoon Haiyan and she stated her point of view and interpret the possible viewpoint of those victims after they die.
Regional Context
Regional context analysis is also applicable because it’s not only about the author’s experiences, it is also about what Tacloban city and other close cities experienced when this typhoon takes its landfall.
SUMMARY
Life is an adventure of our own design intersected by fate and a series of lucky and unlucky accidents. The “Haiyan Dead” is a term for those people who died because of Typhoon Yolanda with the international name “Haiyan” where this term originated. They are those who faced their unlucky fate and meet their deaths unexpectedly. Those who survived the landfall of the Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines is considered lucky but at the same time unlucky.
REFERENCES
1. | Louie John A. Sanchez, Miguel Antonio N. Lizada, Roy Tristan B. Agustin, Jose Marie B. Cuartero | 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World | The Haiyan Dead | Phoenix Publishing House Phoenix bldg, 927, Quezon Ave, Quezon City, 1121 Metro Manila |
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