The Analysis Of Life Senses Through Thanhha Lai’s Five Poems

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It has been proved by Supervisor,

Drs. Parlindungan, M.Hum. NIP. 19630216 198903 1 003

Submitted to Faculty of Cultural Study, University of North Sumatera in partial fulfillment of the requirements for DIPLOMA (D-III) in English

Approved by

Head of Diploma III English Study Program,

Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A. NIP. 19521126198112 1 001

Approved by the Diploma III English Study Program Faculty of Cultural Study, University of North Sumatra as a Paper for the Diploma (D-III) Examination


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Accepted bythe Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the D-III Examination of the Diploma III English Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Study, University of North Sumatera.

The examination is held on July 2013

Faculty of Cultural Study, University of North Sumatera Dean,

Dr. Syahron Lubis, M.A. NIP. 19511013197603 1 001

Board of Examiners:

1. Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A. (Head of ESP) (...) 2. Drs. Parlindungan, M.Hum. (Supervisor) (...) 3. Drs. Chairul Husni, M.Ed.TESOL. (...)


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AUTHOR'S DECLARATION

I, MARIANA declare that I am the sole author of this paper. Except where the reference is made in the text of this paper, this paper contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a paper by which I have qualified for or awarded another degree.

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of this paper. This paper has not been submitted for the award of another degree in any tertiary education.

Signed : ...……….……….


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COPYRIGHT DECLARATION

Name : MARIANA

Title of Paper : The Analysis Of Life Senses Through Thanhha Lai’s Five Poems

Qualification : D-III / Ahli Madya Study Program : English

I am willing that my paper should be available for reproduction at the discretion of the Librarian of the Diploma III English Department Faculty of Cultural Study USU on the understanding that users are made aware of their obligation under law of the Republic of Indonesia.

Signed : ….……….. Date : 2013


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ABSTRAK

Kertas karya yang berjudul The Analysis of Life Senses Through Thanhha Lai’ s Five Poems ini mendeskripsikan hasil analisis dari lima puisi yang terdapat dalam buku Inside Out $ Back Again, karya Thanhha Lai. Dalam pengerjaannya, penulis menganalisis tentang makna kehidupan, terutama kengerian hidup, solidaritas dan cinta, dengan lebih dahulu memahami tentang Sense, Feeling, Tone dan Itention yang terdapat dalam puisi. Tujuan dari penulisan kertas karya ini adalah untuk menganalisis dan menyimpulkan hasil analisis makna kehidupan dari kelima puisi tersebut. Kertas karya ini menggunakan metode kualitatif deskriptif, dan dari pembahasan tersebut makna kehidupan yang telah disebutkan diatas dapat dideskripsikan sesuai dengan aplikasi yang terdapat dalam puisi Thanhha Lai’s Five Poems.


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ABSTRACT

This paper entitled The Analysis of Life Senses Through Thanhha Lai’ s Five Poems describes the result of the analysis of five poems found in the Inside Out $ Back Again verse novel, by Thanhha Lai. In doing this paper, the writer analyze the life senses, mainly about the terrible life, solidarity, and love, but it is important to know about the Sense, Feeling, Tone and Intention, firstly in the poems. The purpose of writing this paper is to analyze and conclude the result of analysis of life senses of the five poems. This paper is written using descriptive qualitative method, from the analysis the life senses as the writer told before could be described as the applications in the poems.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Bismillahirrahmaanirrahiim.

First of all, I would like thanks The Almightly Allah SWT, for giving me His blessing, mercy and guidance. Because His pure will, I can immediately accomplish this thesis.

I would like to express a deep gratitude, lov, appreciation, and thanks to :  The Most influencing people in my life, my parents, Mr.Sumiran and

Mrs. Sukarsih, I would like to express my great regard to both of my parents who grow me up, guide and take care of me and non stop praying. I present this paper for you.

 My beloved siblings Brother Supri, Edi, Sis. Atik, Brother Supra, my beloved younger brother Ridho . In addition to all of my brother and sisters in law, my nephews and nieces. For them, I will do my best.

Drs. Parlindungan, M.Hum as my supervisor and ... as mt reader. Thank you for the valuable time in my giving corrections and constructive critics in finishing this paper.

Dr, Mathius C.A. Sembirig, M.A as the head of Diploma III English Study Program, who gives me a lot of knowledge.

Dr. Syahron Lubis, M.A. as the Dean of Faculty of Culture Studies, University of North Sumatera.

 All lecturers in Diploma III English Study Program for giving me advices and knowledge.


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 All my friends in SOLIDAS, in Teater ‘O’, English Club, my friends in the Faculty of Culture Science, my bosses and all my friends in PT Nutrifood Indonesia.

 Thank you very much to my tender boy Muhammad Syahriyal on his big support, caring, helpful efforts, and his love in finishing this paper.

 My best friends Indah and Uci (It is difficult to explain about the kindness of both of you), Winda (For helping in choosing the poems), Atikha ( For inspiring me put the verse novel in my paper ), Siti Roma Diana ((Buk Aji) Wish it become true), Hetty Meilani, Ardo (As my alarm), and all of my friends in class. Thank you for your support, cares and other things that help me to complete this paper. Thank you for the nice friendship during our study. I will be missing the days we spent together.

 Papi’s daughters : Dwi, Mariyati, Carol, Anita, Rizky, and Christine, see you at the graduation ceremony guys.

Finally, I do realize that this paper is stil far from being perfect. Therefore I welcome any constructive criticts and suggestions towards this paper.

Medan, The writer,

MARIANA


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ... i

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION ... ii

ABSTRACT ... iii

ABSTRAK ... iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ... v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vii

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background ... 1

1.2 Problem of Study ... 3

1.3 Scope of Study ... 3

1.4 Purpose of Study ... 3

1.5 The Method of Study ... 3

2. GENERAL REMARKS 2.1 Defenition of Poetry ... 5

2.2 Theme ... 6

2.3 Sense ... 7

2.4 Feeling ... 8

2.5 Tone ... 8

2.6 Intention ... 9

2.7 Life Senses ... 10

a. Solidarity ... 10

b. Terror ... 12

c. Love ... 13

3. ANALYSIS 3.1 Solidarity ... 17

3.2 Terrible Life ... 20

3.3 Love ... 23

4. CONCLUSION & SUGGESTION 4.1 Conclusions ... 25

4.2 Suggestions ... 25

REFERENCES ... 26

APPENDICES A. Thanhha Lai’s Five Poems ... 27


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ABSTRAK

Kertas karya yang berjudul The Analysis of Life Senses Through Thanhha Lai’ s Five Poems ini mendeskripsikan hasil analisis dari lima puisi yang terdapat dalam buku Inside Out $ Back Again, karya Thanhha Lai. Dalam pengerjaannya, penulis menganalisis tentang makna kehidupan, terutama kengerian hidup, solidaritas dan cinta, dengan lebih dahulu memahami tentang Sense, Feeling, Tone dan Itention yang terdapat dalam puisi. Tujuan dari penulisan kertas karya ini adalah untuk menganalisis dan menyimpulkan hasil analisis makna kehidupan dari kelima puisi tersebut. Kertas karya ini menggunakan metode kualitatif deskriptif, dan dari pembahasan tersebut makna kehidupan yang telah disebutkan diatas dapat dideskripsikan sesuai dengan aplikasi yang terdapat dalam puisi Thanhha Lai’s Five Poems.


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ABSTRACT

This paper entitled The Analysis of Life Senses Through Thanhha Lai’ s Five Poems describes the result of the analysis of five poems found in the Inside Out $ Back Again verse novel, by Thanhha Lai. In doing this paper, the writer analyze the life senses, mainly about the terrible life, solidarity, and love, but it is important to know about the Sense, Feeling, Tone and Intention, firstly in the poems. The purpose of writing this paper is to analyze and conclude the result of analysis of life senses of the five poems. This paper is written using descriptive qualitative method, from the analysis the life senses as the writer told before could be described as the applications in the poems.


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1.INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background of study

Thanhha lai’s five poems are a series of poems in the Inside Out & Back Again written and arranged by a poet named Thanhha Lai, a young girl chronicles the life - changing year of 1975 when she, her parents and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.

In this paper, the writer has chosen Thanhha Lai’s verse novel as the subject of this paper. The writer is interested in true story happened in the series or the poems even the poet was incapable of feeling the truth. Because she always tends to embellish any memory, so she thought it was safe and best to tell her story as fiction with her real shadow hovering over the manuscript. In these five poems we get knowledge about the terrible of life, love and solidarity. This verse novel is also interested to read.

Poetry is the shortest category than other four genres of Literature based on Robert and Jacob in their book Literature: An introduction to reading and writing (1995: 2) say, “Literature is classified into four genres: prose fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction prose. About literature,” Taylor (1981: 1) says “literature, like other arts, is essentially an imaginative act of writer’s imagination of selecting, ordering, and interpreting life experiences.” So generally literature is a mirror of human life that portrays the human feeling, thought, imagination, and perception can be viewed based on personal judgment.

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning. Richard


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Gill (1985:4) says that poetry is both a specially made object and an important form of communication between people. We must remember that these are not two separate elements within any poem. Poetry communicates in and communication between people that make it different from ordinary speech or writing. By reading a poem, the intention of a poet can be understood.

In this paper, to understand the Life Sense of the poems, we must be able to understand some elements like:  

a. Definition b. Theme c. Meaning

d. Subject Matter (Content), divided into :  Sense

 Feeling  Tone  Intention

Burton and Chacksfield (1979:1) say “The reader of a poem must learn to concentrate on the poet’s meaning on the special ways in which he uses language to convey the meaning.” And we need the ability to identifying the element of poetry if we want to analyze it. In this paper, the writer uses descriptive qualitative method. Because using many books to finish out this paper, so the writer uses the kind of library research. The writer also uses intrinsic approach by Wellek and Warren (1994:24) which is the approach taken the data from text itself.


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1.2 The Problem of Study

Based on the background, the problem of study is: How the terrible life and solidarity found in the Thanhha Lai’s Five Poems (Inside Out & Back Again verse novel) portray Life Senses.

1.3 The Scope of Study

In Inside Out & Back Again verse novel so many topics that can be discussed. In this paper, the writer just focuses on how the terrible of life, solidarity and li senses in (chronicles the life – changing) the on tortuous journey from Saigon to Montgomery, Alabama were portrayed as Life Senses.

1.4 Purpose of the Study

In writing this paper, the purpose of this study is to analyze and to describe the Life Senses that can be found in Thanhha Lai’s verse Novel “Inside Out & Back Again”.

1.5 The Method of The Study

The writer uses descriptive qualitative method. The first step was the writer read and understood the Thanhha Lai’s Five Poems. Then, she read and collected some literary books especially books that relevant to the topic that can support the analysis and as reference in finishing this paper. She also searched and collected data from the internet to enrich an accurate data. Finally, she described and analyzed the data and made the conclusion.


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2. GENERAL REMARKS

2.1 Definition of Poetry

Poetry is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by its user and audience to differ from ordinary prose. It may use condensed or compressed form to convey emotion or ideas to the reader or listener’s mind or ear, it also may use devices such as assonance and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poems frequently rely for their effect on imagery, word association, and the musical qualities of the language used. Because of its nature of emphasising linguistic form rather than using language purely for its content, poetry is notoriously difficult to translate from one language into another. In poetry, it is the connotations and the “baggage” that words carry (the weight of words) that are most important. Because of that, readers often have different meaning of a poem. While there are reasonable interpretations, there can never be a definitive interpretation.

Poetry differs from prose in several significant respects. Both may employ the same subjects matter and attempt to evoke the same emotions, but poetry usually is more intense, less direct, more suggestive and ambiguous. Both poetry and prose have rhythm, but the rhythm and poetry is more mark and regular. The language of poetry is essentially imagery, and most good poems are, on one level, structures of images.


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The readers may have found from their reading of poetry in their own language that they can often enjoy a poem without fully understanding its meaning. It is possible to pay more attantion on to the way a poet says something rather than to what he actually has to say. Enjoyment, however, must not be confused with appreciation. It is one thing o gain pleasure from a poem and quite another to be able to say why they liked it. Before the readers can say why they like a poem, it is first necessary to understand its meaning well. Reading a poem is not from every line, but from every sentence.

To understand a poem the readers must read it carefully and should observe three important rules:

a. Do not read lazily so that the readers misread the poem altogether. b. Always look for a simple explanation, and do not be afraid to express it.

c. As far as the readers can, avoid putting their own ideas and feeling into the poem. Examine closely what the poet has actually written.

2.2 Theme

William Kenney (1966:88) states that to put the matter simply, theme is the meaning of the story. But any experienced reader of fiction will realize that this is not a very informative definition, and even less experienced readers, upon thinking it over, may begin to wonder in what sense a story can mean anything. Our definition, then, is only a first step towards understanding what theme is. According to Burton Goodman (1968:12), theme is the main idea or the main point in a story. A theme must represent the whole part of the story, because theme is a basic development of a whole story. Actually it is not easy to find out


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the theme in poetry. The reader has to read the poetry and understand what the story tells about.

Staton (2007:7) states that theme gives a strong explained about the unity of what is happening in the story, and tells about the story of life in a common context. The purpose of theme is to give a shape and effect in our mind, so make the story easy to remember. A good theme has to represent the entire story in the novel. Sometimes the theme shapes in to the fact that comes from the human experience. It is explored by the story and then gives impression for each of event in life. The theme of the novel is more than its subject matter, because an author’s technique can play as strong a rule in developing a theme as the action of the characters do. Sometimes because of the length of novels and the various characters, conflicts, and scenes, found within them, reader can look at different aspects of the work to uncover different interpretations of the meaning of the tale. 2.3 Sense

In analysing the Sense of poem it is better for us to analyse from every stanza. Because of every stanza has its own different idea. There are, broadly speaking, two main ways of thinking about poetry. One approach is to concentrate on the poet himself. Underlying this approach very often is the idea the idea that poetry is primarily an expression of the poet’s emotion. The Focus of our attention as critics in this approach is on what can poem tell us about the poet’s innermost being as revealed in the work: we had the poem in order to earn about the figure behind it.


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The second approach, and the one we shall be following throughout this section, concentrate on discussing the poem itself. The focus of our attention here is on the words on the page. Such an approach involves a very different conception of poetry from that outlined above: there the poet is regarded as an elusive, mysterious figure behind the text; here the emphasis is on the poet as ‘a maker’.

An assessment is impossible to be done if the main rule is not complete yet, that is he deep understanding that be continued by analysing based on any kind of theory. Structural Theories are used to appreciate a creation, is it sistematically or not. A creation could be assesed with ‘good’, ‘excelent’, or ‘great’, when the whole elements are completely perfect, the main aim of a poem. No useless words created by the poet, no word can stand alone out of the other elements, denotation or language manner, and the imagery aspect that is attended. At the same time the words are related to rhytme that substantiate sense dimension and repetition aspects (like: stanza, assonance, alliteration, and refrain) those are be attended to form totally structure, music effect, and sense assertment. 2.4 Feeling

Feeling as its own meaning is what we feel, in this case is what the poet feels of something that become background in writin a poem. Feeling can be portrayed as happiness, sadness, horribility, hate, love or many else.

2.5 Tone

Tone is one of three terms that is in relation to technical words. Tone is technical word standing for the poise, mood, voice manner, attitude and outlook


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of a pet, but because it is concerned with two things, it should be discussed in words from that boarder human vocabulary. For instance, the ton of a poem is cold, cynical, bitter, troubled, uncertain, eager, bragging, gleeful, resigned or protesting. There are of course, many others. Every poem has a tone. The tone might be difficult to characterise, or you may be uncertain as to whether, for example a poem is serious or amusing, but if it is a poem it almost certainly must take up an attitude or outlook, or have a mood, voice or manner. Therefore, it is wise to discuss tone before all the other terms, whether they come from the technical or broader human vocabulary.

In the poetry we must decide what the tone is by attending to the words and trying to hear in them their tone. Once we feel we have pick up the tone, we can try reading the poem aloud to test out our judgement. (Richard Gill, 1985:9).

(Peerine, 1974:702) Tone in literature may be defined the writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward is subject, his audience or himself. In addition to, (Siswantoro,2002:115) by a poem a poet can express his/her internal personality to the external world in rensponsing every problem around him/her. It could be well manner, friendly, but it also could be hate, contemplative, fierce, or apathetic tone. A poet with the whole of her/his extraordinary ability expresses those feelings in a poem.

2.6 Intention

Intention is certain feelings of the readers when reading a poem. A poem conveys an experience or attempts to arouse certain feelings of the readers. After reading a whole poem and then write the general meaning and the detailed


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Meaning, so next step is deciding what feelings the poet is trying to arouse in the readers. A poem may affect different people in a great variety of ways and it is often impossible to define a poet’s true intentions, however, the most important thing is to understand and explain a poet’s purpose to be. Just as it is impossible to give the meaning of a poem without reading it carefully, it is impossible to appreciate the poem if unable.

2.7 Life Senses

a. Solidarity (Altruism): Helping Others

Michael J. Sacks and Edward Krupat(1988:330) state that Altruism is a special form of prosocial behavior. Unlike instances of helping where a person might believe that the potential cost are low and the possibility for gaining rewards are high, altruistic behavior are involves helping-sometimes even taking great risk- even though the act is not likely to be rewarded, recognized, or even appreciated. While some forms of helping may involve selfish motives, the altruistic act is selfless. It involves placing another person’s interest above one’s own, and acting in that person behalf without a desire or expectation of being repaid in` any form.

David G. Myers (1976:538) outlines three complementary theories that explain why do people help others. First is, social-exchange theory assumes that helping, like other social behaviors, is motivated by a desire to minimize costs and maximize rewards. Other psychologists believe that a genuine altruistic concern for another’ welfare also motivates people. About social exchange, socially shared


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belief. Widely held ideas and values, including our assumption and cultural ideologys. Our social representation help us make sense of our world.

Social Norms also mandate helping. The reciprocity norm simulates us to return help, not harm, to those who helped us. The social-responsibility norm beckons us to help needy people, even if they cannot reciprocate, so long as they are deserving.

Evolutionary Psychology assumes two types of altruism: devotion to kin and reciprocity. However, most evolutionary psychologists believe that the genes of selfish individuals are more likely to survive than the genes of self sacrificing individuals and that society must therefore teach altruism. There are two types of Evolutionary Psychology, they are Kin Protection and Reciprocity.

Kin Protection: Our genes dispose us to care for relatives in whom they reside. Thus one form of self-sacrifice that would increase gene survival is devotion to one’s children. Parents who put their children’s welfare ahead of their own are more likely to pass their genes on than parents who neglect their children. Although Evolution favours altruism towards one’s children, children have less at stake in the survival of their parents’ genes. Thus, parents are generally more devoted to their children than their children are to them. The point is not that we calculate genetic relatedness before helping but that nature programs us to care about close relatives.

Reciprocity: Genetic self—interest also predict reciprocity. An organising help another, biologist Robert Trivers argues, because it expects help in return (Binham,1980).


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Above of all, here the writer also would like to outline some situation that guides when will we help? Most of people only notice someone when someone gets an accident around him/her, it is called noticing. Once we notice an ambiguous event, we must interpret it. One of the reason why do people only do notice on someone who needs help is because of Bystander effect. Bystander effect is the finding that a person to likely to provide help when there are other bystanders. Beside that Assuming Responsibility is one of answer when will we help. Social psychologist has twofold obligation; to protect the participants and to enchance human welfare by discovering influences upon human behavior. Such discoveries can alert us to unwanted influences and show us how we might exert positive influences. The ethical principle thus seems to be: After protecting participants’ welfare, social psychologist fulfill their responsibility to society by doing such research.

b. Terror

Terror means feeling of extreme fear. It could be person, thing or situation that makes people very afraid. Meawhile, terrorism ia a term that is usually used of violence for political purpose.

One of the oddities of the ‘War on Terror’ is that there remains no clear, universally agreed-upon definition of its key referent, terrorism. Notwithstanding such indeterminacy, the term operates doubly in a descriptive and prescriptive capacity. Terrorism both describes a form of (illegitimate) political violence and a primary justification for (legitimate) political violence. In the context of the ‘War on Terror’, connotations of epic and indiscriminate brutality accrue to that


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political violence branded terrorism, while its purported opposite is held to be limited by the humane values of states united in opposition to terrorism.

As we talk before that terrorism ia a term that is usually used of violence for political purpose. Let’s talk about violence first. Violence is a term that we will utilize to refer only to harm doing that is direct and that causes injury throgh the use of physical force , whether on an individual or at a large scale level. We speak of wars as effect of “massive violence”, or of “violent pisoners” wh are in jail for murder or assault. But harm doung is not always this clear and obvious, and we will therefore use the term aggression as a more general label that captures the many forms and elements of harm doing.

c. Love

As we know that the feeling of love is not directly come to us. It needs process until we find that is love. The first we feel before we falling in love is the feeling of like. Why do we like some people more that others? Basically, research shows that we are attracted to people who bring us maximum rewards of gratification at a minimum expense. For example, we are more attracted to people who are nearby to those who are farther away.(Zimbardo,1979:450)

In saying the word love, people can interpret it in many ways or different meanings. Research identify ways that people commonly define love. These love styles are idealized types; each individuals may define love in a way that combines more than one style.((Lee, 1979) Hendrick and Hendrick,1922:250)


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Types of Love 1. Passionate Love

Passionate love is known as a common love as we usually experience. In falling in love with our lover, it is jealous, miss him or her, feel angry with him or her bad attitude or something else. So, in Passionate Love we are just feel that she or he is our own and we like her or him because of her or his physically.

In Social Psychology by Taylor, Shelley E., Peplau Letitia Anne & David o. Sears, said that Passionate Love has been described as “ wildly emotional state: tnder and sexual feelings, elation and pain, anxiety and relief, altruism and jealousy coexist in a confusion of feelings.((Berscheid & Walters, 1978, p:177), Taylor, Shelley E., Peplau Letitia Anne & David o. Sears, 2000:253)

According to Hartfilled the definition of Passionate Love is a state of intense absorption in someone. It include intense physiology arousal, physiology interest and caring for the needs of another. (Feldman,1995: 220).

About passionate love, drawing from ancient philosophy and literature , sociologist John Alan Lee(1988), and psychologist Clyde Hendrick and Susan Hendrick (1993) identify three primary love styles- eros (passion), ludus (game playing), and storge (friendship)- which like the primary colors, combine to form secondary love styles.

What factors nurture liking and loving? Let’s start with those that help initiate attraction: proximity, physical attractiveness, similarity, and feeling liked. In this case, our focus to friendship relation.


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Proximity: Geographical nearness. Proximity (more precisely, functional distance”) powerfully predicts liking. But it is not fully happen because as usual we will more love someone who is near us, or even will more love someone who is far from us. It is like Harburg(1947) says that when I am not near the one I love, I love the who I am near.

Physical Attractiveness: The belief that looks matter little may b another instance of our denying real influences upon us, for there is now a file drawer full of research studies showing that appearance does matter. The consistency and pervasiveness of this effect is disconcerting. Good looks are great asset.

Similarity: Similarity makes relationship long lasting, in any kind of similarity. Aristotele said that ...and there are friends who have came to regard the same things as good and the same things as evil , they who are friends of the same people, and they who are enemies of the same people....We like those who resemble us, and are engaged in the same pursuits.

Liking Those Who Like Us: It is common for us to like someone who likes us, but it is impossible to like someone who dislikes us. In addition to, Marlen Dietrich (1901-1992) says that the average man is more interested in a woman who is interested in him than he is in a woman with beautiful legs.

2. Companionate Love

After knowing the definition about the Passionate Love, it is necessary for us to know about other kinds of love, that is companionate love. Most people do not experience the excitements of passionate love when it comes to the love they feel for their parents, siblings, other relatives, or best friends, instead,


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companionate is relatively stable and invariant. ((Brehm,1988), Feldman,1995 : 222)

Different with passionate love which reinforce about the emotions and physiologically arousal, another about the companionate love is said that the affection we feel for those with whom our lives are deeply intertwined. ((Berscheid $ Walters,1978:177), Taylor, Shelley E., Peplau Letitia Anne & David O. Sears, 2000:253)

In companionate Love, the love between the lovers do normally without any distinctive excitements. It flows naturally, because feeling is more important than emotion. This makes the companionate Love is different with the Passionate Love.

In build a relationship, for the first time it is difficult to find a kind of companionate love, because in general what we see is the love happens in all excitements, affections or tender etc. That is passionate love. But if in their relationship there are two lovers seemed like to find her or his soul mate it can change their way of love from passionate into companionate.


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3.

THE ANALYSIS

3.1 Solidarity

Altar is as a place where Buddhists pray. As we know that Buddhist is one kind of religion, in which has its own way to do pray to God. It is as a place where they can gather to do any kind of traditional ceremony or routine pray. At this poem told that the Mother prepares altar for any kind of ceremony for the Father’s return. About altar, it is a symbol of solidarity, in which Social norms teach us to value the other belief in social life, for the aim to get the reciprocity, when the other people with different belief do the obligation as religious human being, finally.

This day

Mother prepares an altar,

(Missing in Action, stanza 4, line 1-3)

Tét, as has been told in the almost whole of poems, that the main setting takes place in the South Vietnam, part of Asian, South East of Asian exactly. As we know that Asian place greater value on collectivism than western cultures. They give more priority to the goals and welfare of their groups- family, clan, work group. Back to ‘Tét’. It is a kind of celebration for Buddhist in Vietnam, like celebrating New Year’s the December holidays, everybody’s birthday, and the fourth of July in one explosive bash. There are some traditions in which people usually do in this celebration. They are:


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- Male’s foot must be the first to touch the ground on the first day of the New Year to bless the home and bring luck.

- The older family members give younger ones bright red envelopes stuffed with brand-new, crisp, good-luck money called tiên lì xì.

- Every house has a tangerine tree dropping with orange fruit to bring in luck. - Every house has branches of peach blossoms or pots of yellow chrysanthemums

to denote spring.

- They snack on watermelon seeds dyed red, again to symbolize luck, and the trick calls for cracking a seed, splitting the shell, ad pulling out the crunchy, white meat-all with your teeth. The streets are covered with red shells during this time.

All of Vietnam shuts down for at least two weeks because most workers have gone home to their ancestral land.

Those are the symbols of social exchange that happen in the daily life. She displays his portrait

taken during Tét

the year he disappeared.

(Missing in Action, stanza 5, line 1-3)

In one of stanza at the poems tell that every member of family wishes, hopes and prays for the Father’s return. As we talked before in the reason why do we help? Evolutionary Psychology discuss about Kin Protection. We know, however, that parents are generally more devoted to their children than their children to parents. But in this case, the whole members of the family are really solid in praying the return of Father I, as specially the children. They are sincerely in waiting and accompanying their Mother in doing pray.

Each of us bows and wishes


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and hopes and prays.

(Missing in Action, stanza 7, line 1-4)

The social-responsibility norm touches the Bother Quang’s heart, the Brother of Figure, as the citizen to do something to their country, South Vietnam that needed to be rebuilt. The norm of social responsibility is a belief that people should help those who needed help, without regard to future exchange. An expectation that people will help those dependent upon them. He has a willing to rebuild the country based on his own willingness without any compulsion from others.

Brother Quang says,

How we can scramble away like rats,

without honor, without dignity, when everyone must help rebuild the country?

(Should We, stanza 5, line 1-6)

The poet tells about the commander that shows his solidarity because of his social – responsibility norms appear in his mind. As the commander he is obligate to the safety of people bellow deck who upon him. He asks every bellow deck to avoid the obvious escape path where the Communist are dropping all the bombs they have left.

The commander has ordered everyone below deck

even though he has chosen a safe river route

avoiding the obvious escape path through Vung Tau,

where the Communists are dropping all the bombs they have left.

(Saigon is Gone, stanza 2, line 1-9)

Solidarity can be seen even the object is not exist. But the faithfulness and the social norms demand us to keep respecting the country even it has been


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collapse. As the common know that at April 30, 1975 that Saigon, South Vietnam has been collapse on the Communist crashed. It is as a symbol of the biggest collapse of United State of America along the history.

After two weeks the commander calls all of us above deck for a formal lowering of our yellow flag

with three red strips.

(Last Respect, stanza 1, line 1-6)

Solidarity cannot be shown only with notice an event happen in front of us. We must interpret it, as the real reaction that we saw before. But at this poem the citizen do the real extreme act that show disaffection of loosing country that has been crashed by the Communist and finally become collapse.

One woman try to throw herself overboard,

screaming that without a country she cannot live.

as the wrestle her down, a man stabs his heart with a toothbrush.

(Last Respect, stanza 3, line 1-7)

3.2 Terrible Life

At first, the writer focuses on ‘He’ which is referred to the Father of Figure I. He left home for a navy mission, to faith Communist, Communist here refers to Vietnamese Communist. He was captured by Communist, and then called as Missing in Action; it is one real act of North Vietnam aggression in the Kinship War.

He was captured on Route I

an hour south of the city by moped.


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We recognize massive violence as a kind of violence. Communist (America calls the Communist as Viet Cong). Viet Cong do big bombardment around South Vietnam, make the situation become more anxiety.

I listen to the swish, swish

of Mother’s handheld fan, the whispers among adults,

the bomb is the ever greater distance. (Saigon is Gone, stanza 1, line 1-5)

Terrible situation is not always really real. It is only people’s hallucination who thought that the helicopter that approaches them is Communist.

We hear a helicopter circling circling near our ship.

(Saigon is Gone, stanza 5, line 1-3)

Terrible people who are told before as Communists mentioned clearly, finally. They are the subject of the terrible situation happen in Saigon. They are FPN at first ( Front Pembela Nasional) that claim themselves as the national front from all the elements that against the government system before. The army organization called as Angkatan Bersenjata Pembebasan Rakyat (ABPR). According to the North Vietnamese Army’s formal story, APBR is under the Hanoi leadership. In the recent time, American call them as Viet Cong, comes from Vietnamese means Vietnamese Communists (Việt Nam Cộng Sản), and as usually they also call them as “Charlie”.

People run and scream, Communists!


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Again, a stanza show their massive violence, the Communists crash precidental palace and planted on the roof with their flag. Their main aim of the long awaiting in wartime finally attained, master South Vietnam.

He salutes he commander and shouts,

At noon today the communists crashed their tanks

through the gates

of the presidential palace and planted on the roof a flag with one huge star.

(Saigon is Gone, stanza 12, line 1-8)

The effect of massive violence causes the real worse effect. It is the collapse of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. The place where the poem takes place.

It’s over; Saigon is gone.

(Saigon is Gone, stanza 13, line 3-4)

The worse situations are portrayed in which add how terrible the situations happened in the past, at the War time in Saigon, exactly. The Figure I, one of Vietnamese, who was also the victim of massive violence. In this stanza is told that the Figure is really fear in the situation, the last seconds when the Saigon is collapse.

of a burned, naked girl running, crying down a dirt road

(War and Peace, stanza 2, line 1-3)

It is still talking about the last seconds when the Saigon is collapse. People around Figure I were climbing, screaming, desperate to get on the last helicopter out of Saigon. Not only Vietnamese, the American who are still survive in Saigon, are flight with the helicopter to the USS Midway Deck Carrier.


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Meanwhile, Viet Cong troops who wore black pajamas and sandals, lead by Commander Ho Chi Minh keeps approaching to Saigon. Thousands of hopeless people are desperate in front of the of people climbing, screaming, close gate of USA embassy. They only have one aim, that is flight out of Saigon.

desperate to get on the last helicopter out of Saigon

(War and Peace, stanza 3, line 1-4) 3.3Love

Companionate Love is found where the Father of Figure I was captured in navy mission then called as Missing in Action for nine years, for that the Mother of Figure I chants for the Father’s return as symbol of faithfulness of a wife to her soulmate who has became her companionate love which is one of the characteristic is emphasizing feeling of loyalty than emotion.

to chant for his return,

(Missing in Action, stanza 4, line 3)

Both of Passionate and Companionate love are portrayed in this stanza. Hendrick & Hendrick,1992:92 said that if relationship built on a sufficient number of shared endeavors and positive experiences, presumably after passionate love withers, a steady state of enduring companionate love will take its place. If such experiences are not available; the love affair will often terminate. As a soulmate, the Mother of Figure I is loyal in waiting for her husband return, but because of the long time of waiting, makes she cannot bear the missing.

She cannot bear to look into Father’s forever young eyes.


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(Missing in Action, stanza 9, line 1-4 )

Passionate love is portrayed in friendship relationship. Titi is the best friend of Figure I, (look at pg.10; Inside Out & Back again), in the anxiety situation Figure I still remember about her best friend, about her safety, who has the similarity with her, they have the same pursuit, that is planting flower seed that they have gathered before at the last fall.

I hope TiTi got out.

(Saigon is Gone, stanza 3, line 1)

Figure I show her love to a tree, papaya tree, in which she wants that her new teacher in Alabama, Miss Scott tells about papaya in front of her new friends. Sometimes love is not only given to someone or some people, human as the perfect human being loves other things around him/her like any kinds of animals or plants, in this case to papaya tree.(look at pg.8: Inside Out & Back Again). The big love of Figure I, makes her take care the papaya tree from the first growth until the fruits are ripening.

She should have shown something about papaya and Tét.


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4. THE CONCLUSION AND THE SUGGESTION

4.1 The Conclusions

After finishing analysis of Thanhha Lai’s Five Poems, the writer makes the conclusions. Those are as follows:

a. Terrible Life, Solidarity, and Love are parts of Life Senses found among Thanhha Lai’s poems in which applied in the daily life in the War Time in Saigon until Peacetime in Alabama by Kim Há’s family.

b. The descriptions of each Life Senses are clear because every part of Life Senses above is described in every subtitle.

4.2The Suggestions

In relation to the conclusion above, suggestions are put forward as follows:

a. In analyzing the Life Senses in a poem, the first step is to understand about Sense, Feeling, Tone and Intention in it.

b. The writer hopes the readers have to learn about the theory of poetry and the readers should have more practice in analyzing poetry.

c. The writer hopes that this paper can be a source book that will enrich knowledge about poetry and it will be precious contribution academically.


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REFERENCES

Alexander, L.G.1970. Poetry and Prose Appreciation for Overseas Students. London: Longman

Chapman, Raymond.1982. The Language of English Literature. London: Edward Arnold Ltd.

Gill, Richard.1985. Mastering English Literature. London: Macmillan Education LTD

Lai Thanhha.2011. Inside Out & Back Again. United States of America: Harper. Myer, David G.1996. Social Psychology.United States of America: The

McGraw-Hill Companies,Inc.

Peck, John and Martin Coyle. 1984. Literary Term ad Critism. London: Macmillan Education LTD

Robert, Edgar V and Henry E. Jacobs.1987. Literature ; An Introduction to Reading and Writing . New Jersey : Pretice Hall, Inc.

Saks, Michael J. And Edward Krupat.1988. New York: Harper $ Row, Publishers. Siswantoro.2002. Apresiasi Puisi – Puisi Sastra Inggris. Surakarta :

Muhammadiyah University Press 2002.

Taylor, Richard.1981.Understanding the Element of Literature. Hongkong ; The Macmilan Company.

Welleck, Rene and Austin Waren.1956. Theory of Literature. New York : Hercourt Brace and World, Inc.


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APENDICES

A. THANHHA LAI’S FIVE POEMS

Missing in Action

Father left home on a navy mission on this day

nine years ago when I almost one. He was captured on Route I

an hour south of the city by moped.

That’s all we know. This day

Mother prepare in altar to chant for this return, offering fruits

incense, tuberoses,

and glutinous rice. She displays his portrait taken during Tet

the year he disappeared. How peaceful he looks, smiling,

peacock tails at the corner of his eyes. Each of us bows and wishes and hopes and prays.

Everything in the altar remains for the day


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excepts the portrait. Mother locks it away as soon as her chant ends. She cannot bear

to look into Father’s forever young eyes.

March 17

Should We?

Mother calls a family meeting.

Ong Xuân has sold leaves of gold

to buy twelve airplane tickets. Ba Nam has a van

ready to load twenty-five relatives toward the coast. Mother asks us,

Should we leave our home? Brother Quang says,

How can we scramble away like rats,

without honor, without dignity, when everyone must help rebuild the country? Brother Khoi says,

What if Father comes home and finds his family gone? Brother Vu says,

Yes, we must go.

Everyone knows he dreams of touching the same ground where Bruce Lee walked. Mother twists her brows. I’ve lived in the North.


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At first, not much will happen, then suddenly Quang

will be asked to leave College. Ha will come home

chanting the slogans of Ho Ci Minh

and Khoi will be rewarded for reporting to his teacher everything we say in the house. Her brows twist

so much we hush.

April 17

Saigon is Gone

I listen to the swish, swish

of Mother’s handheld fan, the whispers among adults,

the bomb is the ever greater distance. The commander has ordered

everyone below deck even though he has chosen a safe river route

avoiding the obvious escape path through Vung Tau,

where the Communists are dropping all the bombs they have left.

I hope TiTi got out. Mother is sick

with waves in her stomach Even though the ship barely crips along. We hear a helicopter circling circling near our ship.

People run and scream, Communists!

Our ship dips low

as the crowd runs to the left, and then to the right.


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This is not helping Mother. I wish they would stand and hush.

The commander is talking : Do not be frightened! It’s a pilot for our side

who has jumped into the water, letting his helicopter

plunge in behind him. The pilot

appears behind deck, wet and shaking.

He salutes he commander and shouts,

At noon today the communists crashed their tanks

through the gates

of the presidential palace and planted on the roof a flag with one huge star. Then he adds

what no one wants to hear : It’s over;

Saigon is gone.

April 30 Late Afternoon.

Last Respects

After two weeks the commander calls all of us above deck for a formal lowering of our yellow flag

with three red strips. .


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One woman try to throw herself overboard,

screaming that without a country she cannot live.

as the wrestle her down, a man stabs his heart with a toothbrush. I don’t know them

so their pain seems unreal next to Brother Khoi’s whose eyes are as wild as those of his broken chick. I hold his hand :

Come with me. He doesn’t resist Alone

at the back of the ship

I open Mother’s handkerchief. Inside lies my mouse-bitten doll, her arms wrapped around

the limp fuzzy body of his chick. I tie it all into a bundle.

Brother Khoi nods, and I smile,

but I regret

not having my doll

as soon as the white bundle sinks into the sea.

May 14

War and Peace

Miss Scott shows the class photographs

of a burned, naked girl running, crying

down a dirt road

of people climbing, screaming, desperate to get on


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out of Saigon of skeletal refugees, crammed aboard a sinking fishing boat, reaching up to the heavens for help

of mounds of combat boots abandoned by soldiers of the losing side. She’s telling the class where I’m from.

She should have shown something about papaya and Tet.

No one would believe me but at times

I would choose wartime in Saigon over

peacetime in Alabama.


(45)

B

T Thanh Ha She was b At the Fal remains m Montgome them. Tha along with B graduated 1988 work Register,

B. THE BIO

Thanhha's r a` professio born on Mar

ll of Saigon missing). M ery, Alabam anhha spoke

h one of her Before high from Unive ked about t covering L

OGRAPHY

eal name i onally for it rch 18 1965

April 30, 1 Mother and c

ma, because e nearly any r brothers gr school, the ersity of Te

two years f Little Saigo

Y OF THE

is Tru+o+n ts meaning 5 in Da Nan 1975, her so children fle e one man t y English an rade.

e family h exas, Austin

for the Oran on, the loca

AUTHOR

ng Thi. Min "Gio`ng So ng. She is th oldier father ed to the U there was w nd was "the

had moved n with a deg nge County al Vietname

R OF THAN

nh Ha`, alt o^ng Xanh he youngest

r was Missin United State

willing to sp e first Asian

to Fort Wo gree in jour y, Californi ese commun

NHHA LAI

though she h" or Teal R

of nine sib ng in Action es and mov

ponsor all t n" in her sc

orth, Texas rnalism and ia newspape nity. She e

I uses River. lings. n (and ved to ten of hool" s. Lai from er The arned


(46)

Master of Fine Arts from New York University and settled in New York City, where she teaches at Parsons The New School for Design (on leave this year).

Lai’s tortuous journey from Saigon to Montgomery, Alabama would forever shape Lai’s outlook on life. Upon arriving in Alabama, Lai was forced to acclimate herself to a life unknown. Customs that were natural in Alabama were completely foreign to Lai and her family. Lai faced immense prejudice from her fellow classmates. It would be ten years before Lai learned to speak English in a way that satisfied her.

Lai pushed through, though, and graduated from the University of Texas. Shortly after graduating, Lai worked for the Orange County, California newspaper The Register,where she covered news surrounding the small Vietnamese communities of Little Saigon in Garden Grove and Westminster, CA for two years.

Thanhha Lai has written exactly one novel, Inside Out & Back Again, so to fill up this bio space she is retyping her name to include its diacritical marks: Thanhhà Lại. Such a change has no meaning for English readers but it does thrill her mother because a Lại mustn’t ever be mistaken for a Lai. These tiny pesky marks, not to be confused with accent marks, will be a main feature in Lại’s next novel, Listen, Slowly.  She just submitted the first draft after typing 80 pages in two weeks, so excuse her if this bio lacks focus. Lại can often be heard muttering to herself, “la révision est toute.”

The novel sprung Lai to literary stardom as she went on to win the 2011 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and was runner-up for


(47)

a Newbery Honor. The novel told in verse is semi-autobiographical and thus holds a special place in Thanhha Lai’s heart. The novel mirrors her experiences as a young Vietnamese girl living in a mostly white America. Lai hopes to teach children and their parents that different isn’t bad, and she urges her own five-year-old daughter to “go stand next to [that person] and observe. That person just brought another world to your door without you having to travel” (Wolff 17). Thanhha has done exactly that for readers with her book, Inside Out and Back Again.

Thanhha Lai's novel for young people, Inside Out & Back Again, conveys the wonders of being rescued in 1975 during an operation led by the USS Kirk. Last year, NPR shared other tales of that operation from refugees and U.S. sailors.

During her time at The Orange County Register, Lai stated that she “got this insane idea that [she] should quit and write fiction” (HarperCollins 5). She did just that. Before beginning her debut novel Inside Out and Back Again, Lai began writing a novel that she describes as being “whiplashed by hundreds of overly dramatic, showy sentences” (Wolff 9). Lai had been writing that novel for fifteen years before she switched gears and decided to get “inside the mind of a 10-year-old girl who feels as much as any adult but can’t express the emotions yet” (Wolff 14). In doing so, Lai focused on simple imagery in a process she likens to “boiling down sap to make syrup” (Wolff 13). What came from this process of getting to the core of her characters was her first novel Inside Out and Back Again, published in 2011 by HarperCollins.


(48)

Lai currently resides in New York City with her husband Henri Omer and their five-year-old daughter. She teaches writing at Parsons: The New School for Design and hopes to one day own urban chickens.

In 1991, during a beauty contest in a refugee camp in the Philippines, she sang for the first time in front of an audience as part of the talent competition. She won a $150 prize and discovered to her surprise that many people liked her voice. That same year, she resettled in Utica New York, but soon found that there are more opportunities in the West Coast so she moved to Southern California where she still resides today.  


(1)

One woman try to throw herself overboard,

screaming that without a country she cannot live.

as the wrestle her down, a man stabs his heart with a toothbrush. I don’t know them

so their pain seems unreal next to Brother Khoi’s whose eyes are as wild as those of his broken chick. I hold his hand :

Come with me. He doesn’t resist Alone

at the back of the ship

I open Mother’s handkerchief. Inside lies my mouse-bitten doll, her arms wrapped around

the limp fuzzy body of his chick. I tie it all into a bundle.

Brother Khoi nods, and I smile,

but I regret

not having my doll

as soon as the white bundle sinks into the sea.

May 14 War and Peace

Miss Scott shows the class photographs

of a burned, naked girl running, crying

down a dirt road

of people climbing, screaming, desperate to get on


(2)

out of Saigon of skeletal refugees, crammed aboard a sinking fishing boat, reaching up to the heavens for help

of mounds of combat boots abandoned by soldiers of the losing side. She’s telling the class where I’m from.

She should have shown something about papaya and Tet.

No one would believe me but at times

I would choose wartime in Saigon over

peacetime in Alabama.


(3)

B

T Thanh Ha She was b At the Fal remains m Montgome them. Tha along with B graduated 1988 work Register,

B. THE BIO

Thanhha's r a` professio born on Mar

ll of Saigon missing). M ery, Alabam anhha spoke

h one of her Before high from Unive ked about t covering L

OGRAPHY

eal name i onally for it rch 18 1965

April 30, 1 Mother and c

ma, because e nearly any r brothers gr school, the ersity of Te

two years f Little Saigo

Y OF THE

is Tru+o+n ts meaning 5 in Da Nan 1975, her so children fle e one man t y English an rade.

e family h exas, Austin

for the Oran on, the loca

AUTHOR

ng Thi. Min "Gio`ng So ng. She is th oldier father ed to the U there was w nd was "the

had moved n with a deg nge County al Vietname

R OF THAN

nh Ha`, alt o^ng Xanh he youngest

r was Missin United State

willing to sp e first Asian

to Fort Wo gree in jour y, Californi ese commun

NHHA LAI

though she h" or Teal R

of nine sib ng in Action es and mov

ponsor all t n" in her sc

orth, Texas rnalism and ia newspape nity. She e

I

uses River. lings. n (and ved to

ten of hool"

s. Lai from er The arned


(4)

Master of Fine Arts from New York University and settled in New York City, where she teaches at Parsons The New School for Design (on leave this year).

Lai’s tortuous journey from Saigon to Montgomery, Alabama would forever shape Lai’s outlook on life. Upon arriving in Alabama, Lai was forced to acclimate herself to a life unknown. Customs that were natural in Alabama were completely foreign to Lai and her family. Lai faced immense prejudice from her fellow classmates. It would be ten years before Lai learned to speak English in a way that satisfied her.

Lai pushed through, though, and graduated from the University of Texas. Shortly after graduating, Lai worked for the Orange County, California newspaper The Register, where she covered news surrounding the small Vietnamese communities of Little Saigon in Garden Grove and Westminster, CA for two years.

Thanhha Lai has written exactly one novel, Inside Out & Back Again, so to fill up this bio space she is retyping her name to include its diacritical marks: Thanhhà Lại. Such a change has no meaning for English readers but it does thrill her mother because a Lại mustn’t ever be mistaken for a Lai. These tiny pesky marks, not to be confused with accent marks, will be a main feature in Lại’s next novel, Listen, Slowly.  She just submitted the first draft after typing 80 pages in two weeks, so excuse her if this bio lacks focus. Lại can often be heard muttering to herself, “la révision est toute.”

The novel sprung Lai to literary stardom as she went on to win the 2011 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and was runner-up for


(5)

a Newbery Honor. The novel told in verse is semi-autobiographical and thus holds a special place in Thanhha Lai’s heart. The novel mirrors her experiences as a young Vietnamese girl living in a mostly white America. Lai hopes to teach children and their parents that different isn’t bad, and she urges her own five-year-old daughter to “go stand next to [that person] and observe. That person just brought another world to your door without you having to travel” (Wolff 17). Thanhha has done exactly that for readers with her book, Inside Out and Back Again.

Thanhha Lai's novel for young people, Inside Out & Back Again, conveys the wonders of being rescued in 1975 during an operation led by the USS Kirk. Last year, NPR shared other tales of that operation from refugees and U.S. sailors.

During her time at The Orange County Register, Lai stated that she “got this insane idea that [she] should quit and write fiction” (HarperCollins 5). She did just that. Before beginning her debut novel Inside Out and Back Again, Lai began writing a novel that she describes as being “whiplashed by hundreds of overly dramatic, showy sentences” (Wolff 9). Lai had been writing that novel for fifteen years before she switched gears and decided to get “inside the mind of a 10-year-old girl who feels as much as any adult but can’t express the emotions yet” (Wolff 14). In doing so, Lai focused on simple imagery in a process she likens to “boiling down sap to make syrup” (Wolff 13). What came from this process of getting to the core of her characters was her first novel Inside Out and Back Again, published in 2011 by HarperCollins.


(6)

Lai currently resides in New York City with her husband Henri Omer and their five-year-old daughter. She teaches writing at Parsons: The New School for Design and hopes to one day own urban chickens.

In 1991, during a beauty contest in a refugee camp in the Philippines, she sang for the first time in front of an audience as part of the talent competition. She won a $150 prize and discovered to her surprise that many people liked her voice. That same year, she resettled in Utica New York, but soon found that there are more opportunities in the West Coast so she moved to Southern California where she still resides today.