The structure of the poem is a free verse this means there is no set structure. This reflects the confusion about her identity. The lines are short, this also shows her confusion.
There are lots of images in the poem to do with colour, ‘peacock-blue’, apple green saree’ this shows how colour full and bright Pakistan is and compared to the dull denims and corduroy of Britain.
Some of the images about Pakistan are not very good ‘camel skin lamp’ she thinks about how cruel it is to kill a camel for a lamp. In the poem they are good and bad images of Britain she wants to be like everyone else in Britain wearing denim and corduroy.
I think that the poet achieved her purpose because it made me think about how difficult it is for mixed race people living in Britain.
The poem is about a girl who was born in Pakistan. She came to England when she was small. When she got older she received gifts from her aunts in Pakistan. She received traditional Pakistani clothes. When ever she thought about her nationalities she did not feel whole.
The poem was written to show how the girl felt when her friends laughed at her clothes. It was written because if we were in that situation what would we do? Would we be unhappy or happy? This confused her about her split identity of half Asian, half British.
There are a lot of different emotions in the poem. The girl feels confused about her nationalities. She says, ‘my costume clung to me’, when she tries on the salwar kameez she feels like it doesn’t suit her. It’s like wearing a costume. The girl feels embarrassed when her friend asks her to see her ‘weekend clothes’.
The structure of the poem is a free verse this means there is no set structure. This reflects the confusion about her identity. The lines are short, this also shows her confusion.
There are lots of images in the poem to do with colour, ‘peacock-blue’, apple green saree’ this shows how colour full and bright Pakistan is and compared to the dull denims and corduroy of Britain.
Some of the images about Pakistan are not very good ‘camel skin lamp’ she thinks about how cruel it is to kill a camel for a lamp. In the poem they are good and bad images of Britain she wants to be like everyone else in Britain wearing denim and corduroy.
I think that the poet achieved her purpose because it made me think about how difficult it is for mixed race people living in Britain.
