Francesgladys Pulido
Part 1) Short Story: "Diary of a Madman” into a lyrical poem
I feel it, I know it, I’m their prey,
I FEEL it I KNOW it, They conspire,
I FEEL it, I KNOW it, they look at me with craze,
I FEEL IT, I KNOW IT, THEY WISH TO SWALLOW ME ENTIRE.
My story of thirty years of confusion and societal delusion
Expresses the illumination of a cannibalistic nation
Who only desires to devore and dig their teeth into our our vulnerable holes
But I dare to defy their agenda and not spend a-nother day in this craze
No, No, No I will survive their lies and fight back their attacks
For the moon has given me truth even about the youth
Who savory the flavor of the veins in my skin
The evil and twisted bark of the canine creature who dreams of this dinner win
The corrupt stares and glances of the children prancing
As they talk express their evil little plan to satisfy their appetites manifestation
Haunts me and taunts me as they develop their machination
But it’s not just the townspeople and their pernicious ways
Unfortunately my family too has gone astray
Sinister Yes but Understandable No
If only there was someone I could confide in my terrible woes
Many Sleepless nights where I just could not find sleep
I stayed up late only to weep
So I decided to read and see to tranquilize my mind
But unfortunately it did not work because I discovered a message that was sublime
As a shocking truth I discovered to be engraved
In the minds of the people who would send me to the grave
As I could not believe my eyes as they saw the words bounce and change
And go from “Virtue and Morality” to something strange
They changes to the words “Eat People” along the line
And that along with Chinese History it should be fine
At that moment I knew that it all made sense
If only my brain would stop spinning so I could condense
At that moment I remembered so many things
And all of my memories started to ring
My sister was a victim too
Of my brother’s cannibalistic instincts for human food
My mother is also trying eat me as well
I’m sure her and my brother’s plan are going swell
For they both feasted on my innocent sister
Something disturbing cruel and sinister
But what I don't understand is this
Just how they are plotting against me, really anybody is somebody they can’t miss
Today it maybe me tomorrow it may be you
But another important message that you can serve your brain so it can chew
Is that there might still be hope
Within future generations to cope
Save the Children I say
SAVE the CHILDREN and they may
SAVE THE CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE GENERATIONS
AND HELP AVOID THE LACERATIONS THAT WERE ONE DAY IMPOSED ON US
Second Part: Analysis
I have been able to achieve the task of transforming Lu Xun’s “Diary of a Madman” into
a lyrical poem that expresses the pathos found in his text. In this poem I used negative emotion
to portray his paranoia and unstabilized train of thought. I chose to write a lyrical poem because I
thought it would be the best way to manifest all the emotion that Lu Xun used and to give justice
to his message, a message I did not want to alter. I knew I wanted to do these piece because I feel
like any piece that uses cannibalism will be a powerful one, mainly due to the fact that I find
cannibalism to be a very powerful theme. I have a high appreciation for poetry because I feel like
poetry just shouts emotion in beautiful and mysterious ways.
Switching from short story prose to poem was somewhat smooth but it required a lot of
thinking to form couplets, and in some verses it was very hard to form couplets. That’s why I
took the main themes presented in the prose, such as cannibalism, and squeezed them out into
concentrated couplets that focused on that theme. I also wanted it to seem surrealistic instead of
realistic so that way the audience could get a hint that there is a deeper picture. I did a very
intentionally structure to also shout to the audience what it must’ve been like inside his head. For
instance, I included little to none punctuation to show how this all was one thought that suddenly
kept on changing and changing just how anyone who suffers paranoia feels. I slightly changed
the language to help change the tone to a more cynical, delusional, and emotion one. I feel like
my transformation makes my character seem a bit more crazier and more of a lunatic especially
with the word use and the changing of tone that my poem goes through. I followed to order of
events present in the short story so that my piece can show all the thoughts someone with
paranoia goes through. I also used word font to help certain parts of my poem stand out and
shock the audiences’ state of mind. I feel like these factors would help contribute to my success
and do justice to Lu Xun text.
Overall I wanted my audience to be intrigued just how I was intrigued to read his story.
His use of symbolism and cannibalism was so important in his piece that I just had to keep it. In
a way my poem enhances the event that is being criticize his piece. Success of transformation
really lies within the audience and their interpretation of my poem. I want my audience to feel
like they are inside the mind of a crazy man, or even how it would feel to be inside the mind of a
“lunatic” who tries to tell people a truth they can not see.. However I feel highly confident that
with the poetic methods and rhetorical tools I used the audience will understand my message and
appreciate my interpretation.
The goal of this assignment is to teach you, in a fun and creative way, to comprehend the
differences and transformation between genres.
A theorist of World Literature, Franco Moretti, applies the naturalist Charles Darwin’s (1809-
1882) theory of evolution onto the history of World Literature. Moretti says that, among the
works of World Literature, “forms just don’t change, but change by always diverging from each
other.” This exercise, will help you grasp the ways that exchange and transformation between
genres happen between literatures, through geography and time.
Also it will help you understand the process of creative writing and by showing you how genres
work, aid you in the process of close reading. The development of these skills are designed to
help you in your final 'Text Analysis' assignment.
