LEARNING KIT IN ENGLISH

GRADE 8
3RD QUARTER

(WEEK 3)

NAME:
GRADE & SECTION:
MS. MARY CRIS B. GENIL
PERUSE AND READ
U Sam Oeur is a Cambodian poet who survived four years of living in Pol Pot's concentration camps, along with his wife,
son, and mother-in-law. His twin daughters died at birth due to strangulation by the camp's "midwives." Pol Pot was the
ruthless dictator and leader of the Khmer Rouge, the Communist Party of Kampuchea (Cambodia), which took control of
and ruled Cambodia from April 1975 until January 1979.
While confined in concentration camps, U Sam Oeur was forced to do hard labor in a collective farm in Cambodia. To
escape death, he destroyed all the manuscripts of his literary works and pretended to be illiterate.
Find out how the poet expressed his feelings and thoughts about the dictatorship in his country.
Searching for Dad
A Poem by U Sam Oeur
Translated by Ken McCullough
(Cambodia)

When I left, dad sat on his bed,

wanting to go through his shakes in private.
With no food or water, dad lived on Buddha
while his body became covered with sores.

He refused to leave. He wanted to meditate

Pol Pot separated me from my Teacher.
When I return, I find he is gone.
Dad, what miseries did you suffer?

In "75, it was ashrams everywhere.

Old men and women who were fed up
with reincarnating into this life of pitfalls
sought ways to reach Nirvana.

Now, in 79, I see only aquatic bushes.

I break into a cold sweat. I get dizzy;
No matter what the ideology du jour,
there is always the same lament.

Oh trees in whose roots the fish spawn,

in the dry season of 75, my dad was still here.
He was alive under the sanctuary of worship.
Now in what grave does his skeleton lie?

He was a builder, followed the precepts, gave alms.

He built temples, chateaux, palaces, stupas.
Yet Pol Pot killed him.
Annihilated his genius without regret.
O grasses, your grandson begs you-
if the grandfather grasses know
the whereabouts of my father's grave,
shall shave my head in thanks.
O grass of thickets, grass
of sticking burrs, where is
the skeleton concealed?
Tell--- and I shall ask no more of you.
The horizon is like the hem of a mosquito net, pelican feet
like duck feet. We've been living in misery
because of our king, eclipsed because ladies adore diamonds,
our forest turned to deserts out of ignorance.
Oh, God! Why Cambodia?

PROBE WORD MEANINGS

Deducing Meanings Used in Context
Deduce the meaning of the underlined words used in the poem. Select your answers from the definitions found in the
box.
a. a dense group of bushes or trees
b. wipe out completely
c. to spend time in quiet thought for religious purposes or relaxation
d. danger or problem
e. being born again
f. rules that say how people should behave
g. a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter
h. to lay eggs
i. a rough covering of a nut or seed
j. a system of ideas and ideals

__C_1. He refused to leave. He wanted to meditate.

___E-D__2-3. Old men and women who were fed up with reincarnating into this life of pitfalls sought ways to reach
Nirvana.
__J___4. No matter what the ideology du jour, there is always the same lament
_H____5. Oh trees in whose roots the fish spawn, in the dry season of "75, my dad was still here.
___G__6. He was alive under the sanctuary of worship.
__F___7. He was a builder, followed the precepts, gave alms.
__B___8. Annihilated his genius without regret.
___A-I_9-10. O grass of thickets, grass of sticking burrs, where is the skeleton concealed?

LITERARY POINT
Traditional Khmer Poetry
The poem "Searching for Dad" by U Sam Oeur is an example of a traditional Khmer poem. Khmer poetry is usually
chanted in a stirring manner by the poet who uses a two-stringed guitar to accompany himself, following a fixed
structure with a complicated rhyme pattern.
In reading or reciting a Khmer poem, the narrative parts are delivered in a natural speaking fashion while parts full of
emotion are sung in operatic style.
The principal feelings that prevail in a traditional Khmer poem are grief and despair.
"Searching for Dad" is a poem/song of lament for a missing father. In the passionate expression of the speaker's grief, he
makes use of the literary element tone and the literary technique apostrophe.
Tone
Tone refers to the definitive attitude or perspective that a poet adopts toward his/her subject. It represents a variety of
emotions ranging from formal, somber, and critical to witty, humorous, and sarcastic. It also helps to define the writer's
feeling toward a particular subject which, in turn, influences the reader's understanding of a piece of work.
Since the poem is a song of lament, the tone of the poem is one of sorrow, distress, and protest about injustice. The
poet expresses a deep sadness over the disappearance of his father who was kidnapped by Communist forces. With the
line "… dad sat on his bed," the poet shows a touching note of affection. The very personal use of the word dad instead
of father suggests a strong bond which captures the kind of relationship the speaker has with his father.
In addition, the speaker is empathetic and considerate toward his father's desire for privacy. The father does not want
the poet to see him in his humiliating condition as expressed in these lines: "wanting to go through his shakes in private"
and "while his body became covered with sores."
Overall, the tone of the writer in the given example above is one of compassion, respect, and thoughtfulness.
Apostrophe
Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which an absent person or abstract object is addressed as though it were present and
alive. The term comes from the Greek word apostrophos meaning "turning away. The perception is kept alive when a
narrative or a dramatic moment is broken in order for the speaker to address directly someone who is not present.
Examples:
1. "O grasses, your grandson begs you
if the grandfather grasses know
the whereabouts of my father's grave,
I shall shave my head in thanks."
2. "O grass of thickets, grass
of sticking burrs, where is
the skeleton concealed?
Tell--- and I shall ask no more of you."
3. "Oh trees in whose roots the fish spawn,
in the dry season of 75, my dad was still here.
He was alive under the sanctuary of worship.
Now in what grave does his skeleton lie?"

GRAMMAR POINT
Modals for Expressing Opinions
Aside from expressing politeness, there are modal verbs that speakers or writers can se to convey the different degrees
of certainty or modality of their opinions or arguments. These verbs are helpful in structuring one's speech or writing
The table below lists the modal verbs to show the different degrees of certainty or modality of one's opinions.
Degree of Certainty/Modality Modal Verbs
Strong Shall, can, must
Moderate Should, would, can, ought to
Tentative May, might, could

The following are examples of sentences showing the different degrees of modality.
Strong:
1. Peace shall be achieved in war-torn countries.
2. Families and friends separated by political ideology can be peaceful again,
3. We must not allow warlords to control nations!
Moderate:
1. People should always seek and work for peace.
2. If people would work for peace, life would be better.
3. The leaders in war-ravaged areas ought to provide a safe shelter for its people.
Tentative:
1. The victims of war may not show physical trauma, but they are emotionally scarred.
2. Children who are victims of war might suffer undue emotional shock.
Grammar Practice 1
Complete the following sentences by filling in the blanks with modals depending on the appropriate degrees of
modality. Choose your answers from the words in the box.
Can would shall must
Could should might

1. “I ____must_____ be the one to shoot you then, or you me.”

2. “______would_____ you count me as a friend?”
3. “How _____shall_______ this happen to us- my friend, my foe?”
4. “If the grandfather grasses know the whereabouts of my father’s grave, I ______can______ shave my head in
thanks.”
5. “_____should_______ I continue to be tormented looking for my father’s grave?”
6. How ___would_________ you feel if your father were missing?
7. We _____can_______ take care of our parents in their old age.
8. Children ___might_________always look after the welfare of their elders.
9. How the children ____can________ suffer for the mistakes of their elders!
10. ___could_________ something be done to reverse the effects of war on children?

Grammar Practice 2
Go over the sentences in Grammar Practice 1, then identify the degree of certainty o modality that is expressed by the
modals. Write your answers on the spaces provided.
1. _strong_____________ 6.Moderate
2. Moderate___________ 7.Strong
3. Strong______________ 8. _Tentative
4. _strong__________________ 9. __strong
5. __moderate___________ 10.tentative

Grammar Practice 3
Observe the appropriate degree of modality in constructing your own sentences using following modals.
1. Must
__you must stop playing an computer games
___________________________________________________________________________
2. May
_may I borrow your
pen?____________________________________________________________________________
3. Might
_i wished I might finish my study
________________________________________________________________________
4. Ought to
 _you ought to stop playing cellphone
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Shall
Shall I eat junkfood
_____________________________________________________________________________