Jaed Coffin
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Study Guide
Bibliography
Course Hero. "A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants: A Memoir Study Guide." Course Hero. 1 May 2020. Web. 28 Sep. 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/A-Chant-to-Soothe-Wild-Elephants-A-Memoir/>.
In text
(Course Hero)
Bibliography
Course Hero. (2020, May 1). A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants: A Memoir Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved September 28, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/A-Chant-to-Soothe-Wild-Elephants-A-Memoir/
In text
(Course Hero, 2020)
Bibliography
Course Hero. "A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants: A Memoir Study Guide." May 1, 2020. Accessed September 28, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/A-Chant-to-Soothe-Wild-Elephants-A-Memoir/.
Footnote
Course Hero, "A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants: A Memoir Study Guide," May 1, 2020, accessed September 28, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/A-Chant-to-Soothe-Wild-Elephants-A-Memoir/.
Jaed Coffin
2008
Nonfiction
Memoir, Philosophy, Religion
The story is told in the first person from the perspective of the author, Jaed Coffin, looking back on his own life experiences.
A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants is written in the past tense.
While in Thailand, author Jaed Coffin receives a book of poems in Thai and English. One poem, by an unknown author, is called "A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants." The poem tells of a group of wild elephants caught by a king's hunters and brought to his palace. The elephants are unhappy and wish to escape back to the wild, but a prayer chanted by the kingdom's monks calms them. The prayer tells the elephants that they should forget their sorrow and be proud to be at the palace; it is their karma. As such, the poem is a metaphor for the author's feelings about being out of place in both Thailand and the United States because of his mixed heritage. The subtitle indicates that the work is a memoir.
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