BBL 3211 EXPLICATION OF ‘AH MAH’ INSTRUCTOR: DR WAN ROSELEZAM BT. WAN YAHYA Assoc. Professor

EXPLICATION OF ‘AH MAH’ Grandmother was smaller than me at eight. Had she been child forever? Helpless, hopeless, chin sharp as a knuckle, fan face hardly half-opened, not a scrap of fat anywhere, she tottered in black silk, leaning on handmaids, on two tortured fins. At sixty, his sons all married, grandfather bought her, Soochow flower song girl. Every bone in her feet had been broken, bound tighter than any neighbor’s sweet daughter’s. Ten toes and instep curled inwards, yellow petals of chrysanthemum, wrapped in gold cloth. He bought the young face, small knobby breasts he swore he’d not dress in sarong of maternity. Each night he held her feet in his palms, like lotus in the tight hollows of celestial lakes. In his calloused flesh, her weightless soles, cool and slack, clenched in his stranger’s fever.

EXPLICATION OF ‘AH MAH’ 1.Describe the theme of the poem above. Provide evidence from the text to support your answer. The theme of this poem is about female oppression in Chinese culture in terms of its cultural practice of foot binding. It is mentioned in the phrases “Every bone in her feet had been broken”, “she tottered in black silk” in stanza 3 and “Ten toes and instep curled inwards” in stanza 6. Grandma has to totter when she is walking because her feet become smaller than normal feet. Her feet bones are broken and become deform because they have been “bound tighter than any neighbor’s sweet daughter”.

EXPLICATION OF ‘AH MAH’ 2.Who is the speaker in this poem? What is the speaker’s attitude in the poem? Provide evidence from the text to support your answer. The speaker of the poem may be a young girl who is observing her grandma and describing her physical appearance. The speaker’s attitude is one of sympathy and curiosity towards her grandma. She describes her grandma as “smaller than me at eight. Had she/ been child forever”. This suggests that perhaps, her grandma is smaller than her, and she is wondering about it. She also describes that her grandma has a small face “as a knuckle, fan face” and skinny “not a scrap of fat anywhere”” and walked or hobbled “on two tortured fins”.

EXPLICATION OF ‘AH MAH’ 3.Describe visual imagery depicted in the poem. Provide evidence from the text to support your answer. An imagery of hopelessness is portrayed in the poem, describing the life which grandma is going through. This is suggested in the phrase “Helpless, hopeless” which indicates how grandma appears to the speaker. The culture of foot binding which deformed the feet of the woman and left her helpless as “she tottered/ in black silk, leaning on/ handmaids, on two tortured fins” suggest that, grandma cannot walk properly like others. She has to rely on the servants to help her in daily life.

EXPLICATION OF ‘AH MAH’ Paraphrase is a rewording or restatement – a sort of translation into the same language – of material that may in its original form be somewhat obscure to a reader. Paraphrase the description of “Ah Mah’ in stanzas 1 and 3 in your own words. The poem is about a grand child(the speaker) who is describing the grandmother. The grandmother is a timid woman who is smaller than the speaker. The grandmother is always weak and unable to do much. When she walks, she staggers in her own aching feet holding on to handmaids for help. The grandfather bought the grandmother a city call Soochow in China. At that time, grandmother was young flower song girl. Her job was to entertain men. When she was a young maiden, her feet were bound tight. This caused the bones to break. The toes curled inward being wrapped in golden cloth. The grandfather needed her to accompany him. She was just a child when he took her home. Every night he held her dainty feet in his palms and admired them.