1. Aimee Nezhukumatathil

2. Presented by:
FELIX-LEE ANDRADES, III
&
INDIA MCCLARY

3. Biography and Accomplishments
 Born in Chicago of Filipino and  Awards include:
Indian descent  Balcones Prize
 Graduated from Ohio State  At the Drive-In Volcano
University  Tupelo Press Prize
 Received degrees in
 ForeWord Magazine’s
English, Poetry, and Creative Book of the Year
Non-Fiction
 Global Filipino Award
 Author of three poetry
 Miracle Fruit
collections
 Miracle Fruit (2003)
 Snail’s Pace Press Prize
 Fishbone (2000)
 At the Drive-In Volcano
(2007)  Aimee’s first chapbook
 Lucky Fish (2011)

4. At the Drive-In Volcano
 Descriptions for her style of
poetry:
 Jovial and accessible
 Uses lush descriptions of exotic
foods and landscapes
 Uses her ethnic background to
give a unique expression on
love, loss, and nature.
 Notable LITERARY
ELEMENTS:
 Similes/Metaphors
 Symbolism
 Tone (Casual)
 Enjambment
 Blank Verse

5. How the Robin’s  Simile is used briefly when the poet explains the
Breast Became similarities between the robin’s breast and “…the
Red center of a tulip”.
“I know someone will say it  Archetypes (universal symbols) are used:
is more rust or even  Symbolic color (RED/ORANGE)
orange. The glow of a
campfire. A stub of  Used to bring forth images of blood or fire
cigarillo thrown on the
 Conjures emotional ideas of passion.
street. More like the center
of a tulip, a guitar of the  Noticeable when Aimee describes “…a
man I loved. Robins will robin’s breast first splashed red when it
never suffer a corpse to
remain unburied but
tried to pluck out the thorns from Christ’s
instead. cover the body brow…”
with leaves, bits of string…”  Tone seems to be reflective and optimistic:
 Given the symbolism found, it seems as though
the robin, the image of Christ, and the idea of
death itself are used to tell a pleasant story of re-
incarnation.

6.  Uses metaphors to describe feelings and the idea of an
engagement:
Flashlight  “When I tried to sugar my iced
Fish coffee, all the granules sank
bottom of the glass and stayed,
to the
no matter how hard I stirred. It’s like that.
“Ever since he Just when I think no one could or
placed would- he stays and stays, sweetens
the deal after all.”
a ring on  Uses metaphors to describe meaningful, powerful
my objects:
finger, I am  The symbolic ring is being compared to a flashlight fish:
drawn to the light  “Lite-Brite bacteria live under
of the flashlight fish…”
the eye
on my hand  Enjambment is slightly used:
and have  Enjambment is clear in the way the most of the lines carry
nearly driven off grammatical meaning on to the next without so much
punctuation
the road
 Tone is very dramatic and reflective:
hypnotized as  The heavy use of symbolism and metaphors help solidify the
if I am standing in idea of how powerful the relationship with her husband has
snow…” come to be

7. Fugu Soup  Vivid imagery is used to describe this culinary
delicacy:
Blues  “Consider the way the porcupine fish dies…when a
“Nothing good can cleaver comes near its head, it even winces…”
come out of eating  Tone is eloquently adventurous, but can also
something named
be urgent:
porcupine fish. It’s like
playing Russian  Aimee’s description of this traditional Japanese dish
seems to go back in forth between caution and wanting.
Roulette when you cook
it—the pulse of toxin in  Symbolism is abundant:
its sweet little body can  Japanese proverb is added as an introduction to her
kill thirty men…” poem:
 “Those who eat fugu soup are stupid. Those who don’t eat
fugu soup are also stupid”
 The idea of experiencing this dish is equivalent to life being
full of risks. Those who want to enjoy life completely are
compelled to play Russian Roulette. Eating fugu soup is an
experience one needs to have…even if it might prove to be
fatal. It’s all about seeking the thrill out of life itself.

8.  Tone is very casual and
conversational
First Fool
 Blank verse seems to be used:
 “In Ohio, the first fool is often jogging/the
“I thought it was a side slit in his shorts flapping/dangerously
Midwestern thing high and open—like wind/on the side of a
but here he is mountain. In Wisconsin…”
again: the first  Artistic and abstracts elements are
fool wearing shorts
in this entire town
included:
and it’s only fifty-  “They know better. The pale scissors of
two degrees here in this guy’s legs always cut me up. All that’s
Western New left of me is a paper snowflake—nothing
York…” but folds and tiny diamond holes.”

9. Works Cited
 Aimee Nezhukumatathil. 2011. Web. 29 Apr. 2011.
 Dr. Wheeler’s Website—Literary Vocabulary. 1998.
Web. 7 May 2011.
 Nezhukumatathil, Aimee. At the Drive-In Volcano.
North Adams: Tupelo Press, 2011. Print.