1. English Language Arts Grade 12 Readings Theme – Adolescence
Elegy for Wong Toy
English Language Arts
Grade 12 Readings
Theme – Adolescence
Barbara Kanellakos

2. An ELEGY is a song, poem, or speech expressing grief or sorrow for one who is dead.
An ELEGY is also a reflective poem usually depressing in tone.
An ELEGY can also mourn the loss of a way of life rather than the loss of an individual, as evident in Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”.

3. Elegy for Wong Toy Backgrounder
Robert Kroetsch’s
Elegy for Wong Toy Backgrounder
English Language Arts
Grade 12 Readings

4. This poem is a tribute to a man who ran the café in Heisler, the town where the poet grew up.
The poem captures the spirit of adolescence that the poet associates with the café and contrasts it to the stoic, silent Wong Toy, whom they called Charlie.
Isolated from the rest of the community, Wong Toy is more than a café owner and far more than a stereotype.

5. Kroetsch calls him “one of my fathers” and the poem is a gift greater than the lavish Valentine chocolate box that “no one ever took home.”
The memories of the café and his adolescence are presented through strong images that evoke emotion.
The poem could have been placed into “Innocence and Experience” or “A Sense of Place,” but it has been included in “See Into the Life” because of its insights into life that the poet has shaped into this poetic text.

6. As part of the poem, with the idea of adolescence in mind, the poet makes reference to sexual-awakening (“horny youth,” “the almost naked girl in the white leather boots…, “the first touch of Ellen Kiefer’s young breasts”).

8. Vocabulary Enrichment
Elegy for Wong Toy
Vocabulary Enrichment
English Language Arts
Grade 12 Readings
Theme – Adolescence
Barbara Kanellakos

9. DARE → Means to have sufficient courage
(to be bold enough)
→ To overcome a challenge – especially to
prove courage
KINDRED → A group of related individuals
→ Of a like nature or character
(resemblance in character - i.e. traits)
IRON BACHELORHOOD → A symbol of strength
or firmness (man of iron; iron will)
PERPLEXED → Filled with uncertainty (confusing or
complicated)
HORNY YOUTH → To be excited sexually
LONGING → A strong desire especially for
something unattainable or difficult to obtain

10. ENDURING → The ability to withstand (to last
or persist)
→ Enduring also means to tolerate.
ABACUS → An instrument for making
calculations by sliding counters
along rods of grooves.
MEADOWLARKS → A songbird related to the
orioles
FEROCIOUS → Extremely intense (sometimes
meaning fierce or savage)

11. Paradox → A statement that seems
contrary to commonsense and
yet it is perhaps
true.

13. English Language Arts Grade 12 Readings Theme – Adolescence
“Elegy for Wong Toy”
English Language Arts
Grade 12 Readings
Theme – Adolescence
Barbara Kanellakos

14. Facts
Remember that facts are indisputable truths – knowledge that is certain and incontestable.
Facts can be verified by measurement, observation, or personal experience.
Facts are reality.

15. Opinions
An impression is a belief that you hold and judgements that you make about the events in the world around you.
Opinions are arguable. Being able to argue for, and defend, your opinion is one of life’s most useful skills.

17. English Language Arts Grade 12 Readings
Elegy for Wong Toy Responding to the Reading A Focus for Class Discussion
English Language Arts
Grade 12 Readings
Barbara Kanellakos

18. Questions 1 Responses How does this poem make you feel?
What impression do you get of Wong Toy? Of the poet?
Do you think you would like to read more poems by this writer? Why or why not?
Do you think this a good poem? Why or why not?

19. Questions 2 Responses What don’t you like about it?
What lines in the poem do you consider to be the most important? Why?

20. Additional Questions for Discussion
What is theme of the poem?
What message did you take away from the theme?
If you were to draw the theme symbolically, what would you draw? Why?
What information is revealed
about the setting?
How does the setting impact the
“voice” of the poem?
What most surprised you in the poem?

21. Additional Questions for Discussion
What is the saddest sentence in the poem? Why?
What sentences cause the most intense feelings?
If you were to describe Charlie in two to three words, what would they be?
Why? The poet?
What idea or image meant the most to you as you read through the text? Why?
What connections can you make between the poem and your life?