Experiment

According to Charles Bernstein, “wreading” involves creative responses to given readings. Actions involved in wreading can include word rearrangements, as well as “locating or isolating certain key linguistic, figurative and rhetorical features of the poem.” I have never done wreading before, but I think its objective (to more deeply investigate a poem’s structure and understand it better) is very interesting. Therefore, using the poem “At the Air and Space Museum” by Linda Pastan, I carried out my own wreading experiments based on the experiments list (http://writing.upenn.edu/bernstein/wreading-experiments.html). I enjoyed doing them.

Original Poem

At the Air and Space Musuem
By Linda Pastan

At the Air and Space Museum
When I was
nearly six my

father

opened his magic

doctor bag:

two

tongue depressors fastened by

a rubber

band;

one flick

of his hairy wrist

and lo!

we invented

flight.

Homolinguistic Translation

Take a poem and translate it "English to English" by substituting word for word, phrase for phrase, line for line, or "free" translation as response to each phrase or sentence.

At the Atmosphere and Universe Gallery
By Linda Pastan

At the Atmosphere and Universe Gallery
When I was
approaching six my

masculine parental unit
uncovered his fantastical

physician container:
duo

flatteners for the muscular organ in our mouths tied by
a latex

tie;
a single movement

of his hirsute joint linking the hand and the forearm
and wow!

we created
the movement of an object or objects through the air

Dialect and idiolect

Translate or compose a poem or other work into a different dialect or idiolect, your own or other.

Go to Air and Space Museum
Linda Pastan write one

That time I almost six years old

My father open his damn cool doctor bag

Got two you know, the thing when you go to the doctor they ask you to stick out your tongue and they use it to check your mouth and throat

Then got rubber band tie two that thing together

Wah! Then he just move his hand one time

And then the thing fly!!! So cool

(The dialect is Singlish, an English-based creole frequently spoken in Singapore.)

Translation Exercise

You can use Google tr. in telephone fashion: tr. from one language to another to another and back to original language.

In Chinese:
在航空航天博物馆
由琳达·帕斯坦

当我是
近六个我的

父亲
打开他的魔法

医生袋：
二

压舌器紧固
橡胶

带;
一个轻弹

他的毛茸茸的手腕
和洛！

我们发明了
飞行。

To Malay:
Di muzium aeroangkasa
Oleh Linda Pastan

Apabila saya
Hampir enam daripada saya

Bapa
Buka sihirnya

Beg doktor:
Dua

Tongkat pengikat
Getah

Dengan;
Serpihan

Pergelangan tangannya yang berbulu
Dan Luo!

Kami menciptanya
Terbang.

Back to English:
In the aerospace museum
By Linda Pastan

When I
Nearly six of me

Father
Open his magic

Doctor bag:
Two

Binder rods
Rubber

By;
Debris

Her hairy wrist
Dan Luo!

We created it
Fly.