1. The Carp
lyrical poetry

2. Vocab
Lyric poetry: poems that express the thoughts and feeligns of a poet
Stanza: two or more lines of poetry that make up the smaller groupings within the poem

3. Ancient Chinese poetry
Earliest poems in Chinese culture date abck to 1000 BC
Poems come from the Book of Songs
Contain powerful, figuratively, and connotativeyly charged language rich with cultural and emotional significance
Ex: “My heart within is sore”
Poems reflect Confucianism
Humility, morality, reverence, social order

4. Lyric poetry vs epic poetry
The two youths got into their boats, Whose shadows floated about [on the water]. I think longingly of them, And my heart is tossed about in uncertainty.
The two youths got into their boats, Which floated away [on the stream]. I think longingly of them, Did they not come to harm?

5. confucianism Regarded as philosophy and religion
A set of all-encompassing humanist beliefs
Practicioners seek to act humanely and ethically at all times

6. vocab Cadence: the internal rhythm of a poem
Free verse: poetry with no set meter; can be either rhymed or unrhymed
Symbolism: attaching a deeper meaning, beyond the literal definition, to a person, object, or place

7. Is still expressive of the emotions and perceptions of the poet
Modern Chinese poetry
Is still expressive of the emotions and perceptions of the poet
Is different from ancient poetry by also focusing on the conditions that led to those emotions

8. Yun wang Contemporary Chinese-American poet, author, and physicist
Her father was tortured, imprionsed, and sent away from his family when she was a child
Considered “outside” of the teachings of Mao Zedong

9. The carp

10. What type of poem is “the carp” considered?

11. How does reading this in free verse change your experience?
Are you able to understand it better?
Are you able to connect to the author?
Do you feel like you have a more accurate and in depth look at the author’s thoughts and feelings?

12. Stanzas 2-4
Waves of mountains surrounded us. I grew up yearning for the ocean. Smoke arose from green mountains to form clouds each morning. My father named me Cloud.
When a son was born to Confucius, the king of Lu sent over a carp as present. Confucius named his son Carp.
The wise say a carp leaping over the dragon gate is a very lucky sign. My father says he named me Cloud because I was born in the year of the dragon: there are always clouds following a dragon. Confucius' son died an early death. My father has only three daughters.

13. symbolism What is the most important symbol in “The Carp”?
My father was the school principal. The day I was born, he caught a twenty-pound carp. He gave it to the school kitchen. All the teachers and boarding students tasted it.

14. Sharing is important in Communism
Indicvdual ownership is frowned upon

15. When a son was born to Confucius, the king of Lu sent over a carp as present. Confucius named his son Carp.
The wise say a carp leaping over the dragon gate is a very lucky sign. My father says he named me Cloud because I was born in the year of the dragon: there are always clouds following a dragon. Confucius' son died an early death. My father has only three daughters.

16. “When a son was born to Confucius, the king of Lu sent over a carp as present. Confucius named his son Carp.
The wise say a carp leaping over the dragon gate is a very lucky sign. My father says he named me Cloud because I was born in the year of the dragon: there are always clouds following a dragon. Confucius' son died an early death. My father has only three daughters.”
The carp represents:
Perseverance
Luck
Success
This is ironic, considering Confucious named his son Carp, but his son died an early death

17. “They caught me. My father was beaten to near death
“They caught me. My father was beaten to near death. Some of them were students, whose parents were peasants. Some of them were teachers, who used to be his best friends. They had tasted the carp.” What themes does this final line connect for you?

18. “They caught me. My father was beaten to near death
“They caught me. My father was beaten to near death. Some of them were students, whose parents were peasants. Some of them were teachers, who used to be his best friends. They had tasted the carp.” What themes does this final line connect for you? the loss of innocence the flawed nature of human beings

19. Is the feeling in the last line different than the first?
“My father was the school principal. The day I was born, he caught a twenty- pound carp. He gave it to the school kitchen. All the teachers and boarding students tasted it.” “My father still goes fishing, the only thing that seems to calm him. The mountains are sleeping waves. My father catches very small fish. My mother eats them. My friends laugh at me, when I tell them that once upon a time, my father caught a carp weighing twenty pounds.”