Suggested answers for the high school graduation Literature exam.

On the morning of July 7th, candidates took the Literature exam. The exam required candidates to analyze the lyrical beauty of the girl in the poem "Waves" by Xuan Quynh.

Part I: Reading Comprehension

Question 1The birth of a river occurs as follows: “From cracks in the earth, cool and fresh water gushes forth. From a small stream, the water mixes with fresh water falling from the sky and seeps into the earth to create a small stream that flows continuously until a river is born.”.

Question 2. “The final gift” water gives to humankind before merging into the sea: “The world’s greatest agricultural regions.”.

Question 3The flow of water and human life are closely related:

– The flow of water is constantly changing, just as human life is full of ups and downs and fluctuations.

– The flow of water is intimately connected to human life: Witnessing children playing in the park, witnessing a father and his young son playing catch.

– It prompts reflection on the relationship between the changeable and the unchanging, between the eternal and the temporary.

Question 4The journey of water from river to sea is a long and arduous one, from which the following lessons about the meaning of life are suggested:

– Life is about contributing to society.

– Life must be lived with aspirations, dreams, ambitions, and noble ideals.

Life requires experiences, so people need to be brave enough to face difficulties and challenges in order to grow.

Part II: Essay Writing

Question 1: Essay topic on social commentary: Contribution

Contribution is the offering of one's noblest qualities to the common cause of a group or community. Contribution can be expressed through material and spiritual contributions. It is not only manifested in grand gestures but also in small, simple things in life.

– Living a life of dedication is essential because:

+ It helps each person become more selfless, tolerant, empathetic, and compassionate towards others. Those who contribute to society will be respected and highly valued by those around them. Contribution itself is the driving force and foundation that motivates people to overcome difficulties, obstacles, and the ups and downs of life, enabling them to contribute more to the community and society.

+ Living a life of dedication contributes to mending and strengthening relationships within families and society, helping families and society become more stable, progressive, and developed.

– Criticizing selfish and petty lifestyles that prioritize personal gain over collective and community interests, as well as those who "contribute" for the sake of fame, self-interest, and personal gain.

– Students relate this to their own experiences and draw lessons about awareness and action: To be able to contribute, each person needs to establish for themselves ideals, goals, and a healthy, noble, righteous, and civilized lifestyle; they need to cultivate a pure, selfless, and sincere spiritual and emotional life; and they also need life skills so that their contribution is truly meaningful and becomes a noble act. However, people need to know how to harmoniously handle the relationship between the individual and the collective, between personal interests and the collective good…

Question 2: Make sure to correctly identify the issue to be discussed:

– My feelings about the poem

– From that, comment on the feminine beauty in Xuan Quynh's poetry.

Developing the argumentative topic:

– Introduction of the author, the work, and the excerpt:

+ Author Xuan Quynh: A representative poet of the generation of young poets during the resistance war against the US. Her poetry is the voice of a compassionate woman's soul, always yearning for love and everyday happiness.

+ The work: Circumstances of its creation: "Waves" was composed in 1967, during a field trip to the Diem Dien coastal area, Thai Binh province, when the resistance war against the US was raging fiercely. The poem was published in the poetry collection "Flowers Along the Trenches".

This excerpt, located in the middle of the poem, reveals the anxieties and reflections on the origins of love, as well as the intense and poignant longing of a woman in love. This is a remarkable passage, typical of Xuan Quynh's poetic style.

Content analysis:

– The opening stanza of the excerpt: “Before the countless waves of the sea / I think of you, I think of the vast ocean / Since when have the waves risen?” The lyrical persona “I” reflects on the origin of “Waves,” which is also a search for the origin of love.

– The middle stanza of the excerpt: “Waves begin from the wind/ Where does the wind begin? I don’t know either/ When will we fall in love?” The lyrical persona “I” explains and interprets the origin of “waves” as well as of love, thereby showing that the origin of love, like waves, is vague, mysterious, and cannot be explained by ordinary reason.

– The final stanza of the excerpt: “The wave in the depths / The wave on the surface / Oh, the wave longs for the shore / Day and night it cannot sleep / My heart longs for you / Even in my dreams I am awake.” The lyrical persona “I” expresses her longing through both direct and indirect means.

Nostalgia encompasses both space and time: "deep in the heart – the surface of the water, day – night".

+ The constant longing exists not only while awake but also while asleep, creeping into dreams, into the unconscious and subconscious ("even in dreams I am awake"). The poem also reflects the woman's anxiety and apprehension about the fragility and changeability of love.

+ The exaggerated yet accurate and sincere way of expressing the longing for an intense love ("Unable to sleep day and night").

+ Borrowing the image of waves to express longing is not enough, not satisfying, so the poet directly reveals his longing ("My heart longs for you").

Thus, through the imagery of waves, the lyrical persona reveals a longing that is intense and poignant, encompassing space and time, and present in both conscious and subconscious mind.

Comments on the feminine beauty in Xuan Quynh's poetry:

+ It is the beauty of a woman's soul, a combination of traditional and modern qualities. The woman in the poetry is both gentle, kind, loyal, and yet bold, passionate, and always steadfast in her belief in the power of love. This contributes to the strong appeal of Xuan Quynh's poetry when writing about a common and familiar theme of love.

From the various emotional nuances of love, and the way the poet interprets love, the reader recognizes that feminine beauty is also the voice of a compassionate, kind, sensitive woman's soul, always yearning for love and everyday happiness.

Overall assessment:

The poem features a pair of parallel and intertwining images: "waves" and "you." "Waves" serves as both an image and a symbol of the woman's soul and love.

+ The five-word verse form, the rhythmic breaks and sound combinations create a rhythm that is sometimes gentle and sometimes rapid; the poetic language is simple, natural, rich in emotion, and organized in a call-and-response style, creating an association with endless, undulating waves; the tone is both heartfelt and profound…

+ Metaphors, personification, contrasts, rhetorical questions, and repetition of words and syntax contribute to creating a passionate, intoxicating rhythm, suitable for expressing anxiety, worry, and intense longing: "I think of the vast sea / I think of you, me," "the wave" (three times), "in the depths - on the surface of the water"...

The three stanzas above express the anxieties and concerns of women about the origins of love, as well as their intense and passionate longing when in love, contributing to a clearer understanding of the distinctive features of Xuan Quynh's poetic style.

Author: Pham Phan - Date written: July 7, 2021

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