Elegy for Wong Toy
English Language Arts
Grade 12 Readings
Theme – Adolescence
Barbara Kanellakos
• An ELEGY is a song, poem, or speech
expressing grief or sorrow for one who is dead.
• An ELEGY is also a reflective poem usually
depressing in tone.
• An ELEGY can also mourn the loss of a way
of life rather than the loss of an individual, as
evident in Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a
Country Churchyard”.
Robert Kroetsch’s
Elegy for
Wong Toy
Backgrounder
English
Language Arts
Grade 12
Readings
• This poem is a tribute to a man
who ran the café in Heisler, the
town where the poet grew up.
• The poem captures the spirit of
adolescence that the poet
associates with the café and
contrasts it to the stoic, silent
Wong Toy, whom they called
Charlie.
• Isolated from the rest of the
community, Wong Toy is more than
a café owner and far more than a
stereotype.
• Kroetsch calls him “one of my fathers” and
the poem is a gift greater than the lavish
Valentine chocolate box that “no one ever
took home.”
• The memories of the café and his
adolescence are presented through strong
images that evoke emotion.
• The poem could have been placed into
“Innocence and Experience” or “A Sense of
Place,” but it has been included in “See Into
the Life” because of its insights into life that
the poet has shaped into this poetic text.
• As part of the poem,
with the idea of
adolescence in
mind, the poet
makes reference to
sexual-awakening
(“horny youth,” “the
almost naked girl in
the white leather
boots…, “the first
touch of Ellen
Kiefer’s young
breasts”).
Elegy for Wong Toy
Vocabulary Enrichment
English Language Arts
Grade 12 Readings
Theme – Adolescence
Barbara Kanellakos
DARE → Means to have sufficient courage
(to be bold enough)
→ To overcome a challenge – especially to
prove courage
KINDRED → A group of related individuals
→ Of a like nature or character
(resemblance in character - i.e. traits)
IRON BACHELORHOOD → A symbol of strength
or firmness (man of iron; iron will)
PERPLEXED → Filled with uncertainty (confusing or
complicated)
HORNY YOUTH → To be excited sexually
LONGING → A strong desire especially for
something unattainable or difficult to obtain
ENDURING → The ability to withstand (to last
or persist)
→ Enduring also means to
tolerate.
ABACUS → An instrument for making
calculations by sliding counters
along rods of grooves.
MEADOWLARKS → A songbird related to the
orioles
FEROCIOUS → Extremely intense (sometimes
meaning fierce or
savage)
Paradox → A statement that seems
contrary to commonsense and
yet it is perhaps
true.
“Elegy for Wong Toy”
English Language Arts
Grade 12 Readings
Theme – Adolescence
Barbara Kanellakos
Facts
• Remember that facts are indisputable
truths – knowledge that is certain and
incontestable.
• Facts can be verified by measurement,
observation, or personal experience.
• Facts are reality.
Opinions
• An impression is a belief that you hold and
judgements that you make about the
events in the world around you.
• Opinions are arguable. Being able to
argue for, and defend, your opinion is one
of life’s most useful skills.
Elegy for Wong Toy
Responding to the
Reading
A Focus for Class Discussion
English Language Arts
Grade 12 Readings
Barbara Kanellakos
Questions 1 Responses
• How does this poem make you feel?
• What impression do you get of Wong Toy? Of
the poet?
• Do you think you would like to read more poems
by this writer? Why or why not?
• Do you think this a good poem? Why or why
not?
Questions 2 Responses
• What don’t you like about it?
• What lines in the poem do you consider to be
the most important? Why?
Additional Questions for
Discussion
• What is theme of the poem?
• What message did you take away from the theme?
• If you were to draw the theme symbolically, what would you
draw? Why?
• What information is revealed
about the setting?
• How does the setting impact the
“voice” of the poem?
• What most surprised you in the poem?
Additional Questions for
Discussion
• What is the saddest sentence in the poem? Why?
• What sentences cause the most intense feelings?
• If you were to describe Charlie in two to three words,
what would they be?
Why? The poet?
• What idea or image meant the most to you as you
read through the text? Why?
• What connections can you make between the poem
and your life?