This course "Literary Studies in English" (TSLB1124) is offered in the second semester of the preparatory programme for the students of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) in the Institute of Teacher Education in Malaysia. Topic 2b includes a discussion of the poem "Suicide Note" by Janice Mirikitani.

1. Poem “Suicide Note”
by Janice Mirikitani
Lecturer:
DR. Yee Bee Choo
IPGKTHO
TOPIC 2b

2. Identifying subject, persona and addressee
Analysing themes
Identifying poetic devices
Appreciating language and style
Reflecting on relevance of poem
Expressing personal responses to literary texts
Reviewing poetic devices in the poem
COURSE CONTENTS

3. Poem “Suicide Note” by Janice
Mirikitani
How many notes written . . .
ink smeared like birdprints in snow.
not good enough not pretty enough not smart enough
dear mother and father.
I apologize
for disappointing you.
I've worked very hard,
not good enough
harder, perhaps to please you.
If only I were a son, shoulders broad
as the sunset threading through pine,
I would see the light in my mother's
eyes, or the golden pride reflected
in my father's dream
of my wide, male hands worthy of work
and comfort.
I would swagger through life
muscled and bold and assured,
drawing praises to me
like currents in the bed of wind, virile
with confidence.
not good enough not strong enough not good enough
I apologize.
Tasks do not come easily.
Each failure, a glacier.
Each disapproval, a bootprint.
Each disappointment, ice above my river.
So I have worked hard.
not good enough.
My sacrifice I will drop
bone by bone, perched
on the ledge of my womanhood,
fragile as wings.
not strong enough
It is snowing steadily
surely not good weather
for flying - this sparrow
sillied and dizzied by the wind
on the edge.
not smart enough.
I make this ledge my altar
to offer penance.
This air will not hold me,
the snow burdens my crippled wings,
my tears drop like bitter cloth
softly into the gutter below.
not good enough not strong enough not smart enough

4. Poem “Suicide Note” by Janice
Mirikitani
Choices thin as shave
ice. Notes shredded
drift like snow
on my broken body,
covers me like whispers
of sorries.
Perhaps when they find me
they will bury
my bird bones beneath
a sturdy pine
and scatter my feathers like
unspoken song
over this white and cold and silent
breast of earth.

5. Identifying subject, persona and
addressee
• Subject:
• Persona:
• Addressee:

6. Identifying subject, persona and
addressee
• Subject: Suicide
• Persona: An Asian American college student
who commits suicide
• Addressee: Her parents

7. Analysing themes
1. Justice
• The persona grows up in a culture that prizes
men over women. She laments Asian-American
women possess less agency than their male
counterparts, which propels them to strive
even harder to please and earn the love of
their parents.

8. Analysing themes
2. Power
• The persona feels trapped and silenced by
the social and cultural conditions of the
world she inhabits, which renders her
powerless.
3. Freedom
• She believes that only through suicide can
she achieve the love of her parents and her
own personal freedom.

9. Analysing themes
4. Death
- The struggles the persona face with regards
to female agency and empowerment in her
cultures lead to her seeking death as a
solution.
- Suicide empowers the speaker by giving her
agency in changing her condition by leaving
an imperfect world for one devoid of the
problems and unfair expectations she
faces.

10. Analysing themes
5. Family Expectation
• The line “not good enough not smart enough not
pretty enough” makes the persona believes that
her parents view her as a weak and imperfect
daughter in doing anything.
• “How many notes written / ink smeared like
birdprints in snow” she can’t change the fact that
her parents look down upon her as being failed in
attaining high grades in exams.

11. Identifying poetic devices
1. Repetition
• “not pretty enough not good enough not
smart enough”suggests that she does not
liv e up to the cultural expectations of
being female but also that her womanhood
itself prevents her from ever winning the
approval of her father and mother.
- “I apologise” – The persona apologises to
her parents as she could not live up to her
parents’ high expectation before she
commits suicide.

12. Identifying poetic devices
2. Symbol
• “sparrow” represents freedom that she
yearns to have as the bird that she
believes freedom from the torment she
feels living within a patriarchal society.
• “altar” represents the sacrifice of her
life. As she stands on the ledge of her
building,, she commits suicide by
offering herself as a sacrifice at the
altar.

13. Identifying poetic devices
3. Simile
• ink smeared like birdprints in snow
• “Fragile as wings”
• “My tears drop like bitter cloth”
• “feathers like/an unspoken song”
• “drawing praises to me / like currents in the
bed of wind”
• “Choice thin as shaved / ice”

14. Identifying poetic devices
4. Metaphor
• The depths of her despair can be seen in these
lines:
“Each failure, a glacier.
Each disapproval, a bootprint.
Each disappointment,
ice above my river.”
• The persona is fully sapped of enthusiasm
after those ‘perceived’ failings. She feels that
she will never find success in school, and she
is never able to please her parents.

15. Appreciating language and style
Form
• written in a form of apology letter
to the persona’s parents
• Free verse
Language & Style
• Simple and repetitive words

16. Reflecting on relevance of poem
• The girl is not able to accept her
imperfections and thinks she cannot deal with
life. Instead of hoping that her problems
would eventually alleviate, she gives up hope
and opts for the easier way out.
• Everyone feels less than perfect at times, but
such feelings are usually dealt with in a
constructive way. But the poor girl feels like a
failure no matter what she did. Her parents
were so critical of her that she automatically
sees a dark cloud beside every silver lining. As
human beings we all need approval and
appreciation from our elders and peers.

17. Expressing personal responses to
literary texts
Based on the poem “Suicide Note” by Janice
Mirikitani, there are times when we feel like we
must be perfect in other to please others. No
matter if we did the best we could, if it isn’t
perfect, we felt like a failure. We want the
approval that comes with perfectness but
perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be
our best. Perfectionism is not about healthy
achievement and growth; it 's a shield.
Perfectionism is refusal to accept any standard
short of perfection.
Personal Response

18. Reviewing poetic devices in the
poem studied (Revision)
• Repetition
• Symbol
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Imagery

19. Tutorial 2b
Based on the poem “Suicide Note” by
Janice Mirikitani, rewrite a poem with
the title “Appreciation Note” to your
parents.

20. References
• http://jottedlines.com/literature/poem-
analysis-suicide-note-by-janice-mirikitani/
• https://writer.tools/subjects/p/poetry/mirikit
ani-suicide-note-analysis