frenchlitmarvelliblog-blog

[frenchlitmarvelliblog-blog]

Overview of OXO:

Pierre Alferi has published four books of poetry in his native French: Oxo is the translation into English by Cole Swensen of his third book (Kub Or, 1994). Although it would have been interesting to have the French original on the page opposite the translated text, it's evident from the acknowledgement that poet and translator have worked in close collaboration. (Also one can make out the case for exclusion of the originals on aesthetic grounds because, for this book to work, its presentation must remain visually sparse and tightly conceived.) The language style that results is informal, American and spare. 

The book's structure relies on the notion of the bouillon cube, with each poem two dimensionally reflecting a side – but this is no conventional regular hexahedron, rather one reliant on cube as in root, in this case a cube root of seven. Each poem is made up of seven lines of seven syllables, with each section containing seven poems. These comprise the 'cube' which Alferi offers to imaginative dissolution.

In Hebrew the number seven represents completeness and totality; in Oxo, the poet seeks to make complete, to give shape, pattern to disparate experiences of daily city life – the seven sections represent the completeness, the totality of the ordering system. The floating impressions of a succession of external and internal experiences require structure if sense is to follow, poet and reader work side by side as the generators of such order and understanding.

[frenchlitmarvelliblog-blog]

Analysis of OXO by Pierre Alferi:

OXO (Kub Or in French) refers to a bouillion cube brand name. Pierre Alferi related his masterpiece to a bouillion cube which has seven sides, as each of the seven poems have seven lines, with each line containing seven syllables, one can infer that the author’s work resembles the said geometric shape. With this in light, let us analyze this award-winning workmanship of Alferi. 

Let us look into the composition of Alferi’s work. OXO is one of those literary pieces that are perfectly intricate and digestible at the same time. Alferi used contemporary concepts, like cola, machines and even the ozone layer to elaborate his trench-deep ideas, each word tickling and activating the reader’s imagination that results to a profound understanding of the text. The relationship of each title with each poem and that of the poems with each other, also extends and expands the audience’s comprehension of the said literary piece. For example, in the first part of Alferi’s work, the “Preface”:

“Here is seven times seven 

Times seven times seven a 

Far- fetched grunge idea for 

You in hard cubes of almost 

Anything goes like on T. 

V, in fact it’s almost as 

Good as compacting the trash” 

Here, Alferi introduced his literary work by stating its structure and complexity, to give readers some clues on what to expect as they read through the literary piece. The first two lines explain the seven-seven-seven structure of the poems. The remaining five lines explain how concepts in the poems are constantly hidden and discovered to the audience, as you would compare the intersecting lines of T, which pertains to ideas being discovered with the separating lines of V, which refers to ideas being hidden. Alferi knitted simple, contemporary words into complex poems to unveil complicated ideas.

All throughout the book, Alferi uses the ordinary inconveniences to display the complicated journey of life. The relationship of man with its environment seemed to explain its deep abyss. For example, in the poem “Rock”:

no what’ll get you are the 

smoke machines just kill you kill 

the thrill let’s skip over the 

swaying fan and go on to

the best part the way he tunes 

the strings then adopts the pose of ulysses 

Here, smoke machines refer to our modern technology that seems to “kill you” because of its physical and emotional disadvantages. In light of this, Alferi inferred that instead of letting our modern technology capture our lives, we should “skip over the swaying fan”, or the routinary boredom of life, and get to the “best part”, which is moving on to the music and harmony of life.

In connection, to prove that the poems in the book are connected to each other, let us look onto one poem, “Regular”:

if it’s true that it (OXO) contains 

quite naturally the enzyme 

necessary for modern 

life then this built in leak-proof 

agent protect enriches 

the ozone layer at the 

low low price of regular 

This poem seems to be the resolution for the “Rock”. Alferi inferred that we should be contented with what we are given. In this case, the “it” refers to “OXO”, which means that the ideas and concepts of life presented by him, if it would help us, should allow us to be contented and prevent ourselves from destroying our own worlds.

[frenchlitmarvelliblog-blog]

Selfless & Compassionate

Name: Angelika Belle Celeste

Age: 17 years old

Birthday: December 11, 2001

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Hobbies: Binge Watching, Online Shopping, Sleeping, Praying

Interesting fact: I can read and write hangul. 

Personal Reflection: Literature isn't just about instructing individuals with the writings and stories that it tells yet it is something that we ought to gain from and live by it in order to associate and speak with others fruitfully.

[frenchlitmarvelliblog-blog]

Athletic & Smart

Name: Arsen Rae Ante

Age: 18 years old

Birthday: August 27, 2000

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Hobbies: Swimming, Taekwondo, Gaming

Personal Reflection: 21st Century Literature gave me a chance to explore literature in the contemporary era from different countries. I learned so many things, such as but not limited to: culture, morals, values, and style of writing. I am also able to trace the history of different countries through their respective literary works. All of these literary piece elevated my critical thinking skills and analyzation. This I am very thankful for, especially being blessed with such talented teacher.

[frenchlitmarvelliblog-blog]

Fun Yet Mature

Name: Cairon Joshua Fajardo

Age: 17 years old

Birthday: June 22, 2001

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Hobbies: Music Production, Chess, Socializing, Reading

Interesting fact: I’m a music producer. 

Personal Reflection: 21st Century Literature allowed me to develop my skills in reading comprehension, analyzation and interpretation. Reading complicated literary pieces like “OXO” by Pierre Alferi, made me realize that what I seemed to understand in the text isn’t always its true meaning. Digging deep in between the lines with the use of imagination allowed me to understand intricate literature. Also, I understood the context of our society more because of the contemporary literary works I have read. This is what 21st Century Literature gave me, and will continue to give me.

[frenchlitmarvelliblog-blog]

Dancer and Loverboy

Name: Rigil Kent Constantino

Age: 18 years old

Birthday: April 20, 2000

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Hobbies: Dancing, Video Games, Praying

Interesting fact: My name was named after a star found in the southern hemisphere of our planet. It is also called "Alpha Centauri".

Personal Reflection: 21st Century Literature gave me new perspective on life. It gave me a reason to look at life differently and it made me realize how complex and beautiful our literature really is. The literature OXO is the best literary piece i have ever read because its simplicity created a way for the readers to look at it differently. What amazed me the most is that how complex the literary are, our teacher made it simple to understand.

[frenchlitmarvelliblog-blog]

Cute and Dragon_Slayer

Name: Patrick Noel Escasinas

Age: 18 years old

Birthday: July 31, 2000

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Hobbies: Mountain Climbing, Swimming, Running, Rowing, Magmahal, Reading

Interesting fact: I can speak 7 languages and Arabic was the hardest to learn. 

Personal Reflection: 21st literature gave me a chance to discover new perspective in different culture thus, helping me as a student to have a deeper understanding in expressing myself through words with that I am thankful for our 21st teacher whom guided us in this journey.