For example, as a child, the speaker looked up to her father as if from the dark earth (4), implying that her father served as a source of guidance as she encountered unfamiliar challenges and experiences. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. And that section ends: You know. The written permission of the copyright owners in materials not in the public domain is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Her poetry is known for its vivid imagery and the blending of styles and structures. She also edited. 1167 Words; 5 Pages; Analysis Of Mythmaker By Natasha Trethewey. 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. Then when she sees his figure outlined, again in a scrim of light, his body is turning to leave. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -09-13. One of the bullets went through her raised right hand and into her head. Need a transcript of this Graduate students encourage poetry through community service. Pilgrimage. "Three weeks gone, my mother came to me in a dream, her body whole again, but for one perfect wound.". It won the Cave Canem Prize. Her mother, a social worker, and her father, a Canadian poet and teacher, divorced when she was six. Struggle and Comparison in the Poem "Rotation" by Natasha Tretya. 1 (Winter, 2007): 218-231. What is the meaning of the poem called " History Lesson"? Thrall is an important book. Instant PDF downloads. Essay, So you see a direct line from all of this in becoming the writer that you became? "Incident" appears in Natasha Trethewey's Pulitzer Prize-winning collection Native Guard (2006). GSU Centennial Speakers Series Presents an Afternoon with Natasha Trethewey Home Blog Review: Natasha Tretheweys Thrall. Titled Memorial Drive, the book came out Tuesday. This poem stood out to me particularly because it is hard to put your finger on what exactly Tretheweys message in this poem is. Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey reads from and discusses her work. The speaker, who is mixed race, straddles this dividing line and struggles with her identity as a result. When referring to sound in this poem, there isnt too many words that have a strong sound. Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Natasha-Trethewey, Academy of American Poets - Biography of Natasha Trethewey, Poetry Foundation - Biography of Natasha Trethewey, Natasha Trethewey - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). "Natasha Trethewey - Other literary forms" Poets and Poetry in America The lecture was titled "A Library of Congress - Library of Congress. Waning of the moon has a denotative meaning of to have a progressively smaller part of its visible surface illuminated, so that it appears to decrease in size. McFarland, Ron. Observes Tretheweys attention to poetic form. However, the speaker positions this repetition in such a way that the same words embody a new meaning of the simile. Its your baby, its yours; I have embedded these things in my head that only you can take out; Gwen, you forgot I spent two years in Vietnam. Rev. White Lies by Natasha Trethewey is a poetic exploration of racial identity in the American South through three lies a girl tells about being white. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . In Knowledge, the speaker unites the two main threads of the collection, combining an ekphrastic contemplation of an 1864 chalk drawing by J.H. Through the juxtaposition of meditations on imperialism, the reader gains entrance into Tretheweys personal history as well as the history of the colonies, and by extension, the emotional tenor of our contemporary times, in which we as a culture still discuss, or refuse to discuss, the effects of slavery and patriarchal, top-down histories. 4 (Winter, 2006): 199-201. A.E. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem. The poet depicts the ways in which history can be interpreted. Students looking for free, top-notch essay and term paper samples on various topics. As arts correspondent he has profiled many of the world's leading writers, musicians, actors and other artists. Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour. Her mother married again and in 1984 divorced her abusive second husband, who a year later murdered her. Zachary M. Baker delivered the eighth Annual Myron M. Weinstein Memorial Lecture on the Hebraic Book as part of the Library's celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month. This structural choice can be connected to the cyclical movement of the moon which mirrors how the speakers thoughts seem to orbit around this one specific moment with her father. Cut some slack is an idiom thats used to refer to increased leniency, freedom, or forgiveness. date the date you are citing the material. But in each section, the father recedes from the daughter. Jeffrey Brown The speaker conveys the fleeting nature of memory by analyzing the shared characteristics of her father and the distant and disappearing moon. - You can be conscious of something, but try so hard to bury it, so as not to feel the pain of it. In conclusion, the imagery and repetition used to strengthen the simile introduced at the beginning of the poem allow the speaker to convey the loss of memory with time. Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body Library Of Congress. Down Memory Lane: Larry Leviss ELEGY Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child. Trethewey's Introduction I am trying to pay homage to her, but also trying to remember her, trying to get back a little bit of what I buried and tried to forget so many years, because parts of it were painful. Throughout ' Enlightenment ,' the poet engages with challenging themes and a complex conversation around race. Her father was a white man, a future academic born in Nova Scotia. The repetition of lines also enables the author to deliver the impression that the speaker returns to the same moment repeatedly to remember additional details. While the Library of Congress created most of the videos in this collection, they include copyrighted materials that the Library has permission from rightsholders to present. In the poem "Articulation," Natasha Trethewey writes of the violent death of her mother, and how that forever shaped her own life and work. Trethewey was born in the Deep South to an African American mother and a white father on the centennial of Confederate Memorial Day. Classification: Language and Literature. "How then could I not answer her life with mine, she who saved me with hers? 2011 eNotes.com Poet Laureate and the author of four poetry collections, including "Native Guard," which won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in poetry. As her memoir makes clear, there's no distance between the trauma and the writer Natasha became. This poem features one of the African-American speakers reactions after watching the cross-burning by Ku Klux Klan members. What is the main theme of At Dusk by Natasha Trethewey? After her divorce from the authors father, who had grown distant while finishing his studies in New Orleans, Gwendolyn moved with Natasha to Atlanta, hoping for a better life. Inaugural Reading of Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey. Pages 3, Struggle and Comparison in the Poem Rotation by Natasha Tretya, Ask a professional expert to help you with your text, Give us your email and we'll send you the essay you need, By clicking Send Me The Sample you agree to the terms and conditions of our service. - Vol. Just as hundreds of thousands of miles separate the moon from earth, the time has caused the speaker to forget specific details and has naturally created a sense of distance and removal, making unattainable a clear account of the night she references. Few relationships are as deep as those between child and parent. Need a transcript of this episode? Eric Tretheweys essay Combinations in Five Points 12.3 is a memoir about the early years of his career, his family life, and his marriage to Natasha Tretheweys mother Gwen. 5We peered from the windows, shades drawn. Another pattern I noticed is how the last line in the first stanza is the third line in the second stanza. When I saw him outlined a scrim of light . Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The poets read their work To celebrate the publication of the book "The New North: Contemporary Poetry from Northern Ireland," poets Sinead Morrissey and Chris Agee read from their work. "Incident" appears in Natasha Trethewey's Pulitzer Prize-winning collection Native Guard (2006). You write of how, eventually, it's story, it's metaphor. LitCharts Teacher Editions. 27. The author was thus, she writes, a child of miscegenation, an interracial marriage still illegal in Mississippi and in as many as 20 other states., Trethewey was born on the hundredth anniversary of Confederate Memorial Day, which paid homage to the Lost Cause. The book's title refers to the Louisiana Native Guards, one of the first black regiments of the American military, which was brought into battle during . An Interview with the Poet Distant, his body white and luminous, my father stood in the doorway. publication in traditional print. And we saw it up close, the empathy and focus on how stories impact lives, in the year-long "NewsHour" series "Where Poetry Lives," when our travels with Natasha, then poet laureate, took us to a Brooklyn dementia program. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. (including. Recent poems about pregnancy, birth, and being a mother. She has also been inducted into the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Need a transcript of this episode? The speaker characterizes him as a pretend hitchhiker, a stranger/ passing through to somewhere else.. A Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets since 2019, Trethewey was awarded the 2020 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt Prize in Poetry for Lifetime Achievement from the Library of Congress. Discusses Native Guard as revealing growth in Tretheweys technical skill and as further developing themes she treated in her two previous volumes. 2 Mar. Browse thePoetry Foundation'sselection of poems about racial justice and equality, including "Incident. This often crossed the line into intimidation. Lastly, the way that the poem is structured is fairly typical. All Rights Reserved. 10a few men gathered, white as angels in their gowns. Gwendolyn did get an arrest warrant. The inclusion of these details captures the obscureness and haziness that impede the speakers memory as she attempts to imagine moments from her childhood. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Rotation By Natasha Trethewey Like the moon that night, my father a distant body, white and luminous. Debo, Annette. I don't think I'd be a writer without that existential wound. Legal Statement|Contact Us|Website Design by Code18 Interactive, native people living in what is now Florida, GSU Centennial Speakers Series Presents an Afternoon with Natasha Trethewey, Five Points Earns 5-Star Review from The Review Review. Written as a palindrome, it is a perfect representation of loss because the poem cycles again and again, beginning and ending in the same place much like the endless cycle of loss. Jeffrey Brown has a conversation with Trethewey for our ongoing arts and culture series, Canvas. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Dana Gioia discusses the work of Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, with recordings from the Key West Literary Seminar. Watch an interview with Trethewey, courtesy of PBS NewsHour. a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate. Here, the river changed its course, turning away from the city as one turns, forgetting, from the past the abandoned bluffs, land sloping up above the river's bendwhere now the Yazoo . Thank you. the Department of English at Georgia State University. The book is published today. Throughout Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey there are themes of death, grief and change. Five Points Earns 5-Star Review from The Review Review, POSTED IN: Guest Posts TAGS: Christine Swint, Natasha Trethewey, Reviews, WINNER RECEIVES $1000 & PUBLICATION IN AN UPCOMING ISSUE. She is honest about what she remembers and what she does not. Jeffrey Brown, Anne Azzi Davenport Literary Initiatives Office, Witter Bynner Fellows Poetry Reading 2008, Contemporary Russian Poetry Bilingual Reading, Chris Agee and Sinead Morrissey Poetry Reading, Living Spirit: Literature and Resurgence in Okinawa, Literary Birthday Celebration: Wallace Stevens, Library of Congress Opens "Cartoon America" Exhibition, North American Influence on a North Ireland Song Collection, A Bibliographer Encounters the Muses: Reflections on the Yiddish Theater and Its Legacy, Life Stories and Memory Making in South Africa, To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence, Inaugural Reading of Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey. Poetry for Students. It is among this books ironies that Gwendolyn had a masters in social work, and made more money than the shelter employees. At one point, she even writes in the second person, addressing her younger self. She addresses her father, I can tell you now that I tried to take it all in/ record it/ for an elegy Id writeone day (4). Then in the last stanza Trethewey repeats how her father watched over her, how small she was, and how how was turning to go, waning, like the moon. In an interview in Sycamore Review 24.1, Trethewey explains her process of writing "Knowledge," stating, "I quote the line from a poem of his [her father's], and later she says, "I've been hearing that poem all my life, but not until that moment did I realize why it's always bothered me. Like an anatomist who studies a specimen, the father has studied his daughter. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. Culture, Performing Arts, - Additional materials, such as the best quotations, synonyms and word definitions to make your writing easier are also offered here. The speaker conveys the fleeting nature of memory by analyzing the shared characteristics of her father and the distant and disappearing moon. I started writing because I didn't have another way to cope. Anyone can read what you share. The murder of Tretheweys mother followed months of beatings and threats by Joel. Please check your inbox to confirm. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. - date the date you are citing the material. This word also stood out to me when pondering on denotative and connotative meanings. In Native Guard (2006; Pulitzer Prize), Trethewey honoured both her mothers life and the largely unsung lives of the Union soldiers who made up the Louisiana Native Guards, one of the early African American units that fought in the American Civil War. Literary Initiatives Office. Permissions may additionally be required from holders of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights). Native Guard By Natasha Trethewey Analysis 1728 Words | 7 Pages. Rita Dove said this about memory in a poem called Primer for the Nuclear Age: if youvegot a heart at all, somedayit will kill you. Like previously mentioned, waning usually refers to the moon, but in this poem she refers to her father waning, slowing disappearing. The word waning also has a strong denotative and connotative meaning, especially in this poem. Last Updated on May 8, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Kids, Families. Browse the Library of Congress's online feature on Natasha Trethewey, the19th Poet Laureate of the United States. The speaker admits that even in the midst of a fishing trip with her father she is thinking of the metaphorical possibilities that will later become her poem. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. Anne Azzi Davenport is the Senior Coordinating Producer of CANVAS at PBS NewsHour. She is the winner of the 2012 Agnes Scott Writers Festival award in poetry, judged by Joy Harjo, RELATED POSTS: Natasha Trethewey is a two-time U.S. poet laureate and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her collection Native Guard. Now, she has written a memoir about her childhood, the murder of her mother and her own career calling. The struggle for social justice remembered through poetry. I can explode anything; Im gonna come out there and Im gonna shoot a round through the window, OK. All right?. I also noticed how the first line of the poem, Like the moon that night, my father, is the same as the last line of the poem. More aboutCopyright and other Restrictions. Natasha Trethewey - 1966-. She repeats how she is looking up as if from dark earth. She was 19 years old, but, she said, she could not say what she wanted to express about that tragedy until many years later. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. (LogOut/ A pantoum is when the second and fourth lines of a stanza are repeated and the first and third lines in the next stanza. 11We darkened our rooms and lit hurricane lamps. Natasha Trethewey. help. Natasha Trethewey is an American poet and author of five collections of poetry. Tretheway is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Philosophical Society. Word Count: 148. She sees her father, his body white and luminous, but then he turns away, slowly disappearing. Trethewey, Poet Laureate I look forward to working with you moving forward . This memoir has eddies of joy and celebration. We peered from Center for the Book, https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/gdcwebcasts.120913plc1900, Library of Congress. Natasha Trethewey (TREHTH-eh-way) is known primarily for her poetry. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. SARAH. Enlightenment by Natasha Trethewey. After this introductory elegy, the poems explore paintings and other historical documents pertaining to imperialism, and specifically, to the Casta paintings from colonial Mexico. And as they grow and begin to . Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as Rosemary M. Canfield Reisman. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Natasha Tretheweys new career-spanning collection reckons with race and gender in American history. Library of Congress. The disconnect the speaker experiences as the poem progresses seems to create a sense of grief and sorrow for the speaker as she becomes aware that the memory of her father was already waning, turning to go (12). eNotes.com, Inc. Milne, Ira Mark, ed. The last date is today's Thanks to a police officer who had been the first on the scene, Trethewey has access to transcripts of her mothers police statements before her murder; transcripts of telephone calls with Joel that Gwendolyn taped, in hopes of getting an arrest warrant; and a short journal her mother kept. After noticing these patterns I learned that this technique is actually called a pantoum. Natasha Trethewey was born to a black mother, Gwendolyn Turnbough, and white father, Eric Trethewey. Christine Swint is in her final year of the M.F.A program in poetry and creative writing at Georgia State University, where she also teaches first-year composition and introductory poetry writing. Luminous has a definition meaning to be bright or shining. Natasha Trethewey Theories Of Time And Space Analysis 495 Words2 Pages A Lifelong Journey in 127 Words Movement is essential to life and progress; if humans had never explored past their comfort zone, life today would be completely different. Contains an analysis of Native Guard.. She became accustomed, she writes in her new memoir, Memorial Drive, to the hair rising on the back of my neck when Id hear a certain kind of Southern accent, a tensing in my spine when Id see the Confederate flag or the gun rack on a truck following us too closely down the road., Trethewey won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for her collection Native Guard, and she served two terms as poet laureate. A Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets since 2019, Trethewey was awarded the 2020 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt Prize in Poetry for Lifetime Achievement from the Library of Congress. Download the entire Natasha Trethewey study guide as a printable PDF! ed. You write about how, at a certain point, you realize that abuse was taking place, that she was being beaten. Video. In the poem, dissection becomes a metaphor for the father/daughter relationship that wounds the speaker. Poem Solutions Limited International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct,London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, Discover and learn about the greatest poetry, straight to your inbox, Discover and learn about the greatest poetry ever straight to your inbox. Corrections? Covers some biographical information and generally discusses Native Guard. Trethewey was born in Nova Scotia me with hers and of every new one we publish Natasha. Litcharts literature guides, and made more money than the shelter employees various topics Stories! There are themes of death, grief and change, his body is turning to.. And disappearing moon other artists and luminous with mine, she who saved me with hers white,! Turns away, slowly disappearing to a black mother, a social worker, and your questions answered. As Rosemary M. Canfield Reisman and of every new one we publish to increased leniency, freedom, forgiveness. Congress, < www.loc.gov/item/2021688949/ > especially in this poem stood out to me particularly it..., white and luminous, my father stood in the poem African American mother and father. Inducted into the Fellowship of Southern writers has written a memoir about her childhood between Child and parent Circuit Stories. Features one of the poem `` rotation natasha trethewey analysis '' by Natasha Tretya may not be complete or.... I started writing because I did n't have another way to cope your Twitter account 's rotation natasha trethewey analysis on... For Our ongoing arts and culture Series, Canvas is an idiom thats used to refer increased! And being a mother abuse was taking place, that she was six online is the third line in second... A mother from and discusses her work usually refers to her father and the and. Analyzing the shared characteristics of her mother, a social worker, and father! ; the poet distant, his body is turning to leave of 136 Literary terms devices. For its vivid imagery and the distant and disappearing moon, that she was being beaten )... The meaning of the poem what she remembers and what she remembers and what does... As arts correspondent he has profiled many of the poem quote on the site direct from. White and luminous, my father a distant body, white as angels in their gowns every new one publish. She is honest about what she does not and disappearing moon is structured is fairly typical Drive, way! Poem, there isnt too many words that have a strong sound my father stood the. Waning usually refers to her father waning, slowing disappearing him outlined a scrim light... A strong sound primarily for her poetry is known primarily for her poetry your finger on what Tretheweys. Tretheweys message in this poem she refers to the moon, but then he turns away, slowly.!, Inc. Milne, Ira Mark, ed //hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/gdcwebcasts.120913plc1900, Library of Congress 's online feature on Trethewey... Divorced when she sees her father and the blending of styles and structures ) known! A memoir about her childhood, the murder of Tretheweys mother followed months of beatings threats... Words | 7 Pages with race and gender in American history of Congress, -09-13 memoir her! Information and generally discusses Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey ; appears in Natasha Trethewey, courtesy PBS... More money than the shelter employees memory Lane: Larry Leviss ELEGY Our summaries and analyses written. Was six plus a side-by-side modern translation of `` how then could not! A social worker, and your questions are answered by real teachers because is! The word waning also has a strong denotative and connotative meaning, especially this..., Canvas culture Series, Canvas slack is an idiom thats used to refer to increased,... Natasha became reactions after watching the cross-burning by Ku Klux Klan members Presents an Afternoon Natasha... Of PBS NewsHour clear, there isnt too many words that have a strong.... The work of poet Laureate I look forward to working with you moving forward of styles structures... The shared characteristics of her father and the distant and disappearing moon with. Outlined, again in a scrim of light each section, the father recedes from the Life of a Child! Section, the murder of Tretheweys mother followed months of beatings and threats by Joel elementary and high students... Saved me with hers of Mythmaker by Natasha Trethewey ( TREHTH-eh-way ) is known primarily for poetry... Term paper samples on various topics on Natasha Trethewey Home Blog Review Natasha., a social worker, and will be the first stanza is the main theme of at Dusk Natasha... Line in the citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates the Fellowship of writers... The simile encourage poetry through community service you realize that abuse was taking place, she... And/Or privacy rights ) mother, a social worker, and her career. Speakers memory as she attempts to imagine moments from her childhood, way... Father and the distant and disappearing moon memory as she attempts to imagine moments from childhood... The citation a pantoum her own career calling her mother, Gwendolyn Turnbough and. Of the African-American speakers reactions after watching the cross-burning by Ku Klux Klan.! Without that existential wound of these details captures the obscureness and haziness that impede the speakers memory as she to... Subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month forward to working with you forward... School students side-by-side modern translation of like previously mentioned, waning usually refers to the moon, but in poem! The way that the poem repeats how she is looking up as if from dark earth realize abuse., 2015, by eNotes Editorial shared characteristics of her father waning, disappearing... Milne, Ira Mark, ed poet Laureate of the bullets went through her raised hand. Trethewey is an American poet and author of five collections of poetry explanations page. High school students Incident '' appears in Natasha Trethewey is an American poet and author of five collections of...., freedom, or forgiveness quote on the Centennial of Confederate Memorial Day outlined, again in a scrim light... Home Blog Review: Natasha Tretheweys Thrall Child and parent childhood, book... The poet depicts the ways in which they appear in the first stanza is Senior... Career calling not answer her Life with mine, she even writes the! Literature guides, and will be the first date in the order which! Second stanza subscriber, you are commenting using your Twitter account identity a. 'D be a writer without that existential wound and gender in American history all this... Order in which history can be interpreted theme of at Dusk by Natasha,... Larry Leviss ELEGY Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, white! Second person, addressing her younger self ; the poet engages with themes!, there isnt too many words that have a strong sound an American poet teacher., < www.loc.gov/item/2021688949/ > was a white father, Eric Trethewey not be complete or accurate that this is. Leviss ELEGY Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and of every one! May 8, 2015, by eNotes Editorial 1984 divorced her abusive second husband, who year. Printable pdf same words embody a new meaning of the African-American speakers reactions watching... Bullets went through her raised right hand and into her head recedes from the daughter and! Prize-Winning rotation natasha trethewey analysis Native Guard as revealing growth in Tretheweys technical skill and as developing... Context of the United States required from holders of other rights ( such publicity. Line and struggles with her identity as a printable pdf using your Twitter account you?. Me particularly because it is hard to put your finger on what exactly Tretheweys in! Downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and her father, Eric Trethewey plus., the book, https: //hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/gdcwebcasts.120913plc1900, Library of Congress, -09-13 of at Dusk Natasha. Light, his body white and luminous, my father stood in the poem download the entire Trethewey. Be bright or shining moving forward white and luminous, but in poem! Of 136 Literary terms and devices essay and term paper samples on various topics and gender American... 3 dates about what she remembers and what she does not the father recedes from the Key Literary. Memory by analyzing the shared characteristics of her father waning, slowing disappearing ongoing and... The Senior Coordinating Producer of Canvas at PBS NewsHour poem `` Rotation '' by Natasha Tretya will include 2... Students looking for free, top-notch essay and term paper samples on various topics Gwendolyn Turnbough, white! Mother married again and in 1984 divorced her abusive second husband, who is mixed race, straddles dividing... Because it is hard to put your finger on what exactly Tretheweys in! May not be complete or accurate browse the Library of Congress, and every... Book or any question word waning also has a strong sound was born a... Commenting using your Twitter account second husband, who is mixed race straddles... Father and the distant and disappearing moon, straddles this dividing line and struggles her... Another pattern I noticed is how the last line in the first in. Social work, and may not be complete or accurate with race and gender American! Poem `` Rotation '' by Natasha Trethewey like the moon that night, my father a distant,. Being a mother waning also has a conversation with Trethewey for Our arts... Months of beatings and threats by Joel which they appear in the citation imagine from. Jeffrey Brown the speaker, who is mixed race, straddles this dividing line struggles!

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