Poetry from Different Cultures & Traditions Essay
G.C.S.E English Language & Literature Coursework
Both "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" and "search for my tongue" show slight contrast. Although the poems are about the problems people will have to overcome if they are slightly different to everyone else. Cultural identity is also an important theme in the two poems, language problems as well as lifestyle problems these are all widely expressed by the poets. Both poets show through their poems how problematic it can be to be from a different culture and live in a peculiar environment. In Sujata Bhatt's poem, "Search for my tongue" she explains to the audience what it is like to speak and think in two languages and this leads her to losing her mother tongue whereas in Moniza Alvi's poem, "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" she shows the audience how having parents from two dissimilar cultures can make life very confusing. But together the poems give a sense of incongruity and a feeling that you don't belong here. The poems also show your original culture is always there, and that it isn't completely lost, for example in "Search for my tongue" the poet is confident that the mother tongue is still with her and in "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" the poet shows your original culture can never be forgotten. The character in Moniza Alvi's poem is shown as a person "of no fixed nationality" and someone who lives in two worlds, whereas Sujata Bhatt shows someone of a fixed nationality who has two tongues. On the other hand both poems talk about their cultural and personal identity.
G.C.S.E English Language & Literature Coursework
Both "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" and "search for my tongue" show slight contrast. Although the poems are about the problems people will have to overcome if they are slightly different to everyone else. Cultural identity is also an important theme in the two poems, language problems as well as lifestyle problems these are all widely expressed by the poets. Both poets show through their poems how problematic it can be to be from a different culture and live in a peculiar environment. In Sujata Bhatt's poem, "Search for my tongue" she explains to the audience what it is like to speak and think in two languages and this leads her to losing her mother tongue whereas in Moniza Alvi's poem, "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" she shows the audience how having parents from two dissimilar cultures can make life very confusing. But together the poems give a sense of incongruity and a feeling that you don't belong here. The poems also show your original culture is always there, and that it isn't completely lost, for example in "Search for my tongue" the poet is confident that the mother tongue is still with her and in "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" the poet shows your original culture can never be forgotten. The character in Moniza Alvi's poem is shown as a person "of no fixed nationality" and someone who lives in two worlds, whereas Sujata Bhatt shows someone of a fixed nationality who has two tongues. On the other hand both poems talk about their cultural and personal identity.
