MAORI POETRY POWERPOINT SEMINARS

 Class will be split into four groups. Each group will be given a poem with a series of questions.  Groups will work together in the computer lab answering the attached questions and analysing the poem.

 Each group will recite their poem and present their analysis in a PowerPoint presentation to the class.  All PowerPoint presentations will be put on the Year 13 English page of the wiki.  Students will be given a copy of the poems to annotate during each presentation.

 Attack the question.  Quote the best example.  Explain it clearly.  Unpack the information in more detail.

 State specifically the language feature and quote it. Use correct terminology.  state what quotation means.  State what the quotation suggests// why the writer chose that technique// what is implies// connoted//hinted at// alluded to// why it is effect.

 “They (poets) can amaze us like a thunderstorm.”  Analysis: The phrase “like a thunderstorm” is a simile. It means that poets can invent phases that get our attention. It is effective because “thunderstorms” suggests something powerful and sometimes violent. It can refer to a bright flash, something sudden that grabs our attention. It implies that there is a “wow factor” in poetry.

 Words you do not understand  Striking features  Colloquial language  Maori words  Language features  Anything that sticks out to you

 In line 25 Tuwhare uses the words “Mere” and “Taiaha” to emphasise the proud tone of the persona. By mentioning these traditional Maori weapons, Tuwhare reminds the reader of the figure’s warrior culture, which as a consequence of being “glaciated” has been deprived from him. While trapped on his “bloody pedestal” the Maori figure is unable to embrace his fearsome ancestry and longs to “show the long hairs how to knock out a tune on the souped-up guitar.” The persona is empowered by the thought of his ancestral weaponry, which he sees as a means to intimidate the “long hairs.” Moreover Tuwhare’s phrase “Taiaha held at the high port” connotes sexual dominance, the long weapon resembling a phallic symbol, which is significant as the figure expresses his desire to “fix the ripe kotiro too with their mini-piupiu-ed bums twinkling.” Additionally the persona’s pride and confidence has grown throughout the poem, from a self- degrading “Hori-in-george” to a dominant Maori figure.  Each section of this sexy++ answer is in a different colour to easily identify it’s structure.

Step one Annotate poem.  Words you do not understand  Striking features  Colloquial language  Maori words  Language features  Anything that sticks out to you

Step two  Answer attached questions.  Use these as ideas to develop for your PowerPoint presentations.  Use the internet to research any Maori or other words you do not understand (

Step three  Discuss in your group who will recite your poem to the class on Tuesday.  Organise which role each member of the group will play in the seminar. E.g. 1.Recites poem. 2.Discusses the different language features used in the poem and their effects. 3. Discusses the poets choice of language and structure of the poem. 4. Outline the major themes explored in the poem.

Alternatively  You could base your seminar around discussion of the attached questions.  I have included a PowerPoint slide of each of the poems to help you get started but feel free to present it anyway you like!

Tihei Mauriora I called Kupe Paikea Te Kooti Rewi and Te Rauparaha I saw them grim death and wooden ghosts carved on the meeting house wall In the only Maori I knew I called Tihei Mauriora. Above me the tekoteko raged. He ripped his tongue from his mouth and threw it at my feet. Then I spoke. My name is Tu the freezing worker. Ngati DB is my tribe. The pub is my marae. My fist is my taiaha. Jail is my home. Tihei Mauriora I cried. They understood the tekoteko and the ghosts though I said nothing but Tihei Mauriora for that is all I knew.

“Whakatu” Keri Hulme Eh man! They like us on the chains we do a good killing job and we look so happy Hei tama tu tama tama go away They like us in the factories cleaning floors and shifting loads hei tama tu tama they like us driving trucks and dozers and working on the roads hei tama tu tama Hey boy! They like us in the pubs we drink up large and we look so happy Hei tama tu tama tama go away E tama! They like us they like us drinking shouting singing when it’s someone else’s party or swinging plastic pois in a piupiu from Woolworths and thumping hell outa an old guitar Because we look so happy Hei tama tu tama tama go away Aue, tama go away.

They bear patches on their jackets hiding scars and wounds finding their own direction, discipline orders How do we prosecute those already punished how do we fine those lost in the streets of no direction How do we heal those slashed in the flesh when they are slashed in spirit To a fish in the sea to a bird in the sky to a deer in the forest all men are dangerous, brutes, intruders vagrants Gone the steady roar of the sea the echo of the hills the voice of the elder invoking the ancestors rebuking the young the tracks that cling to the hillside where barefooted they walked out and rode away on bikes Gone the tohunga who healed from within with his remedy of aroha Gone Their boots their jackets no longer hide their scars

My beloved grandchild, inheritor from my ancestors, let me speak in your ear in hope you may be inspired. You were created by the unseen, yes, the unseen, therefore what you see and hear, what you say – let them well from the unseen, your inner being. My child, base your mana on the mana handed down to you. Pay heed to the dignity of the people, people made in His image, His excellent image. Care for them in body, care for them in spirit, so that body and spirit will be in harmony. Wrap them in the warm cloak of wisdom. My child, you are only a moment between two eternities – past and future, so hasten, and come to terms with the circumstances of your time, Seek the knowledge of the Pakeha, consume it as an appetiser for your true course which is the wisdom of your ancestors. Let your deeds be as wide as the earth to justify a place in the sky. A gift of words indeed, grandmother – I weep for you and for you all.