• to share his personal experiences and what happened to him

• Story by James Baldwin about the black urban experience inspired him to share his own story and experiences

The writer was inspired by the toys in the shop and he wanted to buy toy gifts for his son. The poem was a reflection of his childhood experience.

• when his English teacher recognised his writing skills and encouraged him

• struggles after army and the thoughts of his teacher's words

• reading the short story by James Baldwin

He was homesick and being at the Tekka shop reminded him of how he spent his childhood. This inspired him to write the poem and submit it for the competition.

• an outlet to express how they feel during the COVID-19 pandemic

• others write to spotlight / document how others feel during the pandemic (to be the voice to a group who might not be represented --> migrant workers)

He was motivated to compose the poem with the intent to submit it for a poetry writing competition.

Winning the first prize in the competition encouraged him to compile his poems as a collection to be published in future.

• The COVID-19 pandemic when life changed for most of us

• For people who have been SHN

• A way for people to cope with an unfamiliar situation

• A channel to express pent up frustrations

1. The earthquake and ensuing tsunami of 2011.

2. The nuclear disaster which followed right after.

3. His profession as a high school teacher and poet.

4. His parents' unwillingness to leave a place they identified as "home".

Similarity:

The Fukushima Poet expressed his heartache through poetic tweets. Jack eventually expressed his grief through a poem.

Difference:

The Fukushima Poet is used to expressing his emotions through poetry writing. Jack is a beginner in doing so.

His positive experiences as a child, writing since he was 16, the hardship that he had to go through during Covid-19, and being married without any children had a significant impact on him. These prompted him to write and grow as a writer.

Winning competition has inspired him to continue writing and publish a book in the future.

Difference: The migrant worker already started with a liking to write poems but Jack was reluctant to write poems at the start. He gradually developed the interest to write poems with encouragement from his teacher.

Similarity: Both Jack and the migrant worker used poetry as a medium to reflect and express their personal experiences.

Differences:

• age at which both of them started writing (as a child & after army)

• different types of neighbourhoods portrayed (Walter Dean Myers- positive. Jack- negative)

Similarities:

• encouragement from the teacher

• both wrote based on difficult times that they experienced (writing from trauma experienced)

• both had a 'eureka moment' - inspiration from the writing of someone else

• We think that this is similar to LTD

• Jack uses writing poetry as a way to process what has happened to his dog --> allowing him to come to terms with what happened

• Similarly, people wrote during COVID-19 because they faced an unfamiliar situation

• Writing can be seen as a coping mechanism --> this situation/problem can be solved. It can be under control. It can be dealt with.

Differences: Jack poses questions that reflects his thoughts but Samuel doesn't

Similarity:

The migrant and Jack lacked confidence in their writing. The migrant would hide his poems after writing them. Similarly, Jack felt that his writing was not like the usual poetry style. However, their level of confidence towards their writing later grew due to the experiences that they faced in their life.