Misty Poet’s Project

1. Misty Poet’s Project Hari: #1 Griffin: #2 & 3 Tom: # 4 & 5

2. #1: Tiananmen Square Massacre • What was the Political Situation Before the Event? • In 1976, China was led by Mao Zedong, but was split into the Maoists and the old guard cadres. The Maoists were led by the Gang of Four and Deng Xiaoping was a member of the old guard cadres. • After Mao died , the Gang of Four was arrested. • Mao’s successor, HuaGuofeng, and Deng Xiaoping fought for power and Deng won. • Deng appointed Hu Yaobang as his General Secretary of the CPC and Zhao Ziyang as his premier (previously held by HuaGuofeng)

3. #1 (Continued) • What Occurred? • In May 1989, young Chinese students protested in Beijing due to the death of Hu Yaobang, the General Secretary who was forced to resign because he advocated freedom of speech and press. After initial nonaggression from the Chinese government, they decided on June 4, 1989 to stop the protesting. The Chinese troops attacked the protestors in Tiananmen Square and 7,000 to 10,000 civilians were killed.

4. #1 (Continued) • What was the result? • Many protestors were either killed or imprisoned. • Martial law, or the deployment of soldiers, was enforced in Beijing. • Zhao Ziyang was expelled from the party and Jiang Zemin replaced him. • What was the remainder of world’s reaction? • The remainder of the world was deeply disturbed by China’s actions. • Allwestern governments imposed economic sanctions on China and the World Bank suspended foreign loans to China.

5. #2- Meaning of Poem’s Title • The title of this poem is “Testament”. A testament is a will or a statement of one’s beliefs. In many cases, a testament may go against a greater authority, such as the government. When this is the case, punishment is inevitable; much like it is in this poem. The unidentified character in the poem has made a testament that exploited the flaws of the Chinese government. Because of this, the character faces the punishment of death by communist China, but he will not go back on his beliefs. He made a testament and will stand by it.

6. #3: Passages That Enforce Title • “Perhaps the time has come. I haven’t left a will, just one pen, for my mother” • When referring to “the time”, the speaker means the time of his death. He is dying because of the testament he made. This individual may encounter death, but his ideas will live on. This is seen when he only leaves the pen behind for his mother. The mother will continue to spread his testament, even when he is gone. • “The horizon still divides the living form the dead, but the sky’s all I need” (Explanation on Next Slide)

7. #3 (Continued) • The sky is all the speaker needs because that’s where his soul will go after his body is shot down. He will join the rest of the dead for the testament he made. The speaker has an unbreakable calm when he comes to this confrontation with death. This is because he knew he’d be killed for his testament, but it is worth it. He’d rather be dead and free than live and be controlled. • “I won’t kneel on the earth-the firing squad might block the last free breaths of air” • The speaker of this poem stands up for his beliefs till the end. He will not cower, even when face-to-face with death; that is how strongly he feels about his testament. The speaker wants to die with dignity and show that he will always believe what he believes. He will stand up tall and breathe all the “last free breathes of air” he can.

8. #4: Theme The theme of this poem is to never back down and to always stand up for what one truly believes in. • “I wont kneel on the earth……breaths of air”. • This quote portrays how the narrator will never back down even if the firing squad of soldiers comes. • “From starry bullet holes the blood-red dawn will flow” • This quote shows that there will be a cost to this rebellion/protest because people will die. • “Im no hero” • This passage shows how he is not unique, but just a normal citizen and he is standing up for his freedom and rights.

9. #5- Symbols • Horizon- The horizon symbolizes the two sides, both the communists and the rebels who wanted democracy. It helps show the disparity between the two sides. • Blood red dawn- This symbolizes all of the blood that was spilled at the Tiananmen square massacre. • Starry bullet holes- The bullet holes symbolize the merciless actions of the soldiers. The soldier shot to kill everyone with no preferences. • Last Breaths- The last breaths symbolize the spirit of the protesters and how it was stomped out and destroyed when the soldiers started to shoot. • Kneel on the earth- This symbolizes how the author was unyielding and would not give into demands.