'We are the tenants'

 “We are the tenants”

• With close reference to the text, discuss the poet’s use of imagery to describe the North.

The poem 'We are the tenants' by Kapha Kassabova describe the immigrant experience of arriving in New Zealand. This poet uses imagery effectively to describe the North as a disappointment place. For example, the imagery in the second stanza used a simile; 'their lives were temporary just like ours', 'We have arrived in the o just as we arrived in the South before' This technique capture a negative picture of the North as a temporary place as they are always moving around packing their things to move into other places and start a new life. As they move over a new place they're receiving old mails that were old people mails. The author also used juxtaposition and repetition in the second stanza; 'We have been nowhere forever', 'We are the ones possessed by arrival', 'We wake up with the cockroaches of the strange mornings'. The technique juxtaposition is used in the first sentence giving us the message of the tenants that they're always arriving but never stayed. The word 'cockroaches' imply the feeling of revulsion and the 'strange' connoting the feeling of uncomfortable and disappointment of their everyday life. The metaphor in the third stanza 'We are the tenants of imaginary floors' suggest the idea of imagining the life they want and having a temporary place to live in and hopelessness. Lastly, the poet finishing with the strike of a metaphor comparing their world to the 'kingdom of some Pied Piper' which compare their life to the ancient german tale and they have no control to anything.

Compare and Contrast

Both Lament and Dreamers use the sea theme to develop the idea of grief and sadness. The poem "Lament' by Glenn Colquhoun discuss them in relation to losing someone that is important to their life that he even wrote in the poem that 'It does not matter if I am happy' giving us the idea of sadness and not letting go. However, the Dreamers give us the idea of letting go and acceptance.  Colquhoun poem has an indifferent tone and melancholic mood where Turner prose is the more sympathetic mood and having the idea of hope. Both poem and prose use the language features of simile and metaphor.

Unfamilliar

In the poem “Lament” one aspect of style which effectively conveys the idea of sadness is a metaphor. Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. For example in the poem  “It does not matter if I am sad, if my eyes are grey rocks in a stream or if my chest is a suitcase I have to sit upon”. Which explains that it does not matter if he's sad because Buck is gone and it is effectively used to manifest his grief. The effect of the reader is that they can relate in the poem which conveys sadness. Colquhoun also uses the language features of repetition to convey the idea that he doesn't care anymore to anything because Buck is gone. 

Character Strength ( Kiah Uri)

Gratitude:

• What circumstances make it most likely you will experience gratitude? What circumstances make it most likely you will express gratitude?

I mostly express my gratitude when someone is giving me something or they do something that makes me feel so grateful or happy because I feel so thankful and special when they show some kindness with me and I do the same thing with them.

• Are there people to whom you have not adequately expressed gratitude, as an oversight or intentionally holding it back (e.g., family, friends, co-workers, mentors, community members)? If so, why?

I do not show mostly my gratitude with people I just meet, because I don't know them well and I can't trust them. I don't feel like expressing myself with someone that will don't like me when they know about myself and they will judge me about some things so I really don't feel showing my gratitude with people I just meet.

• To what degree do you express gratitude to others out of a deep feeling of appreciation as opposed to a social convention?

I express my gratitude to others by being kind with them and appreciate their efforts for me because if someone shows their kindness with me it makes me feel loved and special. I always give a gift or something that makes them so thankful and great so they will always feel the gratitude or kindness that I have. 

Love:

• Who are the people who matter most to you across each of the domains of your life (friends, family, partners, co-workers)? How do you express love in a healthy way with each group? How does your love express itself differently?

I express my love to my family by being kind to each other, trusting each other and respecting each other. For my parents, I always show my love with them by honouring them, caring, respecting them, sweet words that make them feel loved, gifts, and making them proud of me by studying hard. For my siblings I just make them laugh, being kind and also respecting them. For my friends, I trust them, respect, make them laugh, communicating with them always, and care for them. Ging and taking love is important because you also need to receive love from others, not just you giving them. 

• What are the ways in which you express love to others, and how is it received?

I mostly express my love to others with words and action because I feel like it more matters when you do something for them rather than giving them what they want. 

• How well do you receive love? It is often easier to give than to receive, but good relationships are a two-way street. Do signs of love make you uncomfortable or afraid of what others may expect from you?

For me I know that received love when someone shows that they respect me, they care for me, love me, being kind, they trust me and they do things that make me feel so special and happy. 

Kindness:

• What is some way you have observed the expression of kindness and compassion by different people in different situations?

I think that by helping others and being nice to them. 

• How are your kind acts received by others?

Helping them when they are in needs and by being nice to them at all times. Being kind for is the nicest thing to show with other people.

• What character strengths the best support your expressions of kindness?

I think respect because when you show your kindness with others it means that you're also respecting them and makes them feel like they are worth it to respect.