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Self-Addressing: A X-Cultural Poem
By Changming Yuan
In English, the speaker always uses
A proper pronoun to address self
In Chinese, the speaker calls self
More than one hundred different names
In English, there is a distinction between
The subject and object case of self
In Chinese, there is no change in writing
Be it a subject or an object
In English, the writer spells self with one
Single straight capitalized letter
In Chinese, the writer adds to the character
‘Pursuit’ a stroke symbolizing something
In English, “I” ask for democracy, freedom
Individuality, rule of law, among others
In Chinese, “我” is habitually avoided in making
A reply, either in writing or in speaking
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