Elegy for Wong ToyElegy for Wong Toy

English Language Arts Grade 12 Readings

Theme – AdolescenceBarbara KanellakosBarbara Kanellakos

• An ELEGYAn ELEGY is a song, poem, or speech expressing grief or sorrow for one who is dead.

• An ELEGYAn ELEGY is also a reflective poem usually depressing in tone.

• An ELEGYAn 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”.

Elegy for Elegy for Wong ToyWong ToyBackgrounBackgroun

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English Language

ArtsGrade 12 Readings

Robert Robert Kroetsch’sKroetsch’s

• 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.

• 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.

• 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”).

Elegy for Wong ToyElegy for Wong Toy

Vocabulary Enrichment

English Language Arts Grade 12 Readings

Theme – Adolescence

Barbara KanellakosBarbara Kanellakos

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

ENDURINGENDURING → The ability to withstand (to last or persist) → Enduring also means to tolerate. ABACUSABACUS → An instrument for making calculations by sliding counters along rods of grooves. MEADOWLARKS MEADOWLARKS → A songbird related to the oriolesFEROCIOUS FEROCIOUS → Extremely intense (sometimes

meaning fierce or savage)

Paradox Paradox → A statement that seems

contrary to commonsense and

yet it is perhaps

true.

““Elegy for Wong Toy”Elegy for Wong Toy”

English Language Arts

Grade 12 Readings

Theme – Adolescence

Barbara KanellakosBarbara Kanellakos

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.

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.

Elegy for Wong ToyElegy for Wong Toy

Responding to the Responding to the ReadingReading

A Focus for Class Discussion

English Language ArtsEnglish Language Arts

Grade 12 ReadingsGrade 12 Readings

Barbara KanellakosBarbara Kanellakos

Questions 1 ResponsesQuestions 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?

Questions 2 ResponsesQuestions 2 Responses

• What don’t you like about it?

• What lines in the poem do you consider to be the most important? Why?

Additional Questions for Additional Questions for DiscussionDiscussion

• 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?

Additional Questions for Additional Questions for DiscussionDiscussion

• 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?