Vince Gotera’s Poem “Beetle on a String” refers to the Philippines cultural traditions of a father teaching his son how to catch and tie beetles as pets. The author explains it to be a Filipino children’s sport. This is a cultural aspect of the Philippines is with very strong family values and traditions. It is about the postcolonial occupation of America who influenced his language by using the American interpretation of “lasso” instead of leash.
Bistik instead of beefsteak, boondocks from the tagalog word of bundoks. You feel that the writer feels guilty about the beetles and his own Filipino Culture because he now understands how the bugs felt. “They wer
...e tied for the wings to Subside and close, then loop a thread between thorax and carapace tying it off. Not to Too tight-to allow the insect to fly on a two-foot lasso. ” The bugs being tied is a metaphor of how he feels about his own country and how it still has a hold on him even n America.
The author feels like that beetle that has been tied to the round knobs of his dresser drawer only to strain his body to shift in an immovable weight. Unable to get away from looping predators banging himself harder and harder against the dead wood of his dresser. The dresser represents his own country of the Philippines and he wonders if it is the Philippines that is now holding his string and stifling him.
- Tattoo essays
- Academia essays
- Higher Education essays
- Language Learning essays
- Studying Business essays
- Education System essays
- Study essays
- First Day of School essays
- Scholarship essays
- Pedagogy essays
- Curriculum essays
- Coursework essays
- Studying Abroad essays
- Philosophy of Education essays
- Purpose of Education essays
- Brainstorming essays
- Educational Goals essays
- Importance Of College Education essays
- Brown V Board of Education essays
- The Importance Of Higher Education essays
- Online Education Vs Traditional Education essays
- Academic And Career Goals essays
- Academic Integrity essays
- Brown Vs Board Of Education essays
- Distance learning essays
- Technology in Education essays
- Vocabulary essays
- Writing Experience essays
- Importance of Education essays
- Early Childhood Education essays
- Academic Degree essays
- Academic Dishonesty essays
- School Uniform essays
- Academic writing essays
- Cheating essays
- Bachelor's Degree essays
- MBA essays
- College Life essays
- Grade essays
- Diploma essays
- Phonology essays
- Sentence essays
- Filipino Language essays
- Pragmatics essays
- Millennium Development Goals essays
- History Of Education essays
- Graduate School essays
- Middle School essays
- School essays
- Special Education essays