Compare and contrast the ways in which two poems from other cultures and traditions convey their message. Consider how the writers achieve their intention.

Compare and contrast the ways in which two poems from other cultures and traditions convey their message. Consider how the writers achieve their intention. Someone's culture is heir way of life and how they do things. Culture is like a religion where if you're in a family that's very religious then you have to go along with the things they do: - e.g. dress in certain clothing and pray when you're told to. The themes are the way that someone fits into a certain living state. The writer conveys the message that they're trying to get across in different ways. They use powerful language which paints a picture in your head of what's going on in the poem. The writer's tone is judged by if they're writing a positive or negative poem. If it's positive then they'll come across all relaxed and light hearted whereas if it's negative they'll use a much more stern tone and make the reader have a change in emotion and feeling, e.g. sympathy. The writer sets out to get a message across to the reader; this is called the writer's intention. The two poems studied were 'Blessing' and 'Scavengers'. In 'Blessing' the issue of poverty is addressed in a 3rd world country and how aid is desperately needed. The writer for this poem is Imtiaz Dharker. Part of that is included in 'Scavengers' where the scavengers are lower down in society but the children in 'Blessing' are lower down than them and are

  • Word count: 1171
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare and contrast the 'Blessing' by Imtiaz Dharker with 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' by Moniza Alvi. How do the two poems give us an insight into other cultures?

Compare and contrast the 'Blessing' by Imtiaz Dharker with 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' by Moniza Alvi. How do the two poems give us an insight into other cultures? I am going to compare two poems from different cultures, one of which is 'Blessing' by Imtiaz Dharker which is about people living in India with very little fresh water and the other poem 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' by Moniza Alvi, which is in relation to girl's heritage living in the UK who receives clothes as presents from some relatives in Pakistan. Culture is a general term for huge range of ideas such as art, traditions, knowledge and belief that is shared b country, race or a group of people. The author of 'Presents form my ..........' Moniza Alvi was born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1954. She moved to England when she was few months old. Since then she did not return to Pakistan until after the publication of 'Present form my aunt in Pakistan'. She is the daughter of English mother and Pakistani father. 'Presents form my ..........' is an autobiographical poem. The speaker in the poem who is of mixed race, describe the gifts of clothes and jewelry sent to her in England by her Pakistani relatives. She is drawn to the loveliness of these things, but feels awkward wearing them. She feels more comfortable in English clothes. The poet is torn between two cultures that she feels she belongs to

  • Word count: 1767
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare the ways an event is described in blessing with one other poem.

"Compare the ways an event is descried in blessing with one other poem." In 'Blessing' there is one main event; a municipal water pipe bursts upon a dry desert like country suffering from drought. In this essay I will be comparing the way Imtiaz Dharker describes the main event in 'Blessing' and the way Grace Nichols describes the main event in 'Island Man.' 'Blessing' is a poem about a hot, dry country, suffering from water drought and poverty, and how one day a miracle happens and a water pipe bursts spreading excitement and happiness everywhere. 'Island Man' is about a man who has come from peaceful island life to a busy city life in London, and how he always dreams of his island until he wakes up each day and remembers he is no longer there. I believe the structure of the stanzas in blessing are very closely related to the theme of water in Blessing. For example the first stanza is 2 lines long; this could symbolize the fact that there is drought, poverty, and very little; how there 'never is enough water'. The second stanza is 4 lines long and the stanza speaks of little but some water- 'imagine the drip of it'. The third stanza is the longest and here is when the municipal pipe bursts. It is 11 lines long and this could illustrate the huge flow of water and bursts of excitement that occur as the water flows free. 'Silver crashes to the ground and the flow has found

  • Word count: 968
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare The Ways In Which Imtiaz Dharker (Blessing) and Arun Kolatkar (An Old Woman) Write About The Startling Effects Of A Simple Incident.

Carr Hill High School Tim McHugh Assignment 2 Dec 03 Group SET Compare The Ways In Which Imtiaz Dharker (Blessing) and Arun Kolatkar (An Old Woman) Write About The Startling Effects Of A Simple Incident. The "Blessing" written by Imtiaz Dharker and "An Old Woman" by Arun Kolatkar are poems set in India, which have similar themes although the events described are quite different. Both poems explore what happens after an unexpected experience. In "Blessing" the poet talks about the dryness in the settlement. Then a water pipe suddenly bursts and the mood and pace changes. In "An Old Woman" an old beggar woman says she will take a man to the horseshoe shrine for a fifty paise coin. Half way through the poem, the man's perspective changes and he wonders how this old woman has kept alive this long. Neither of these poems has any particular rhyme or rhythm and both are written in free verses. However, structurally both poems are very similar. Both of the poems begin with a description of what is happening. In "Blessing" the first line is "The skin cracks like a pod" this is a good example of a simile; it puts the picture in your head that it is a very dry place. The second line tells you straight up that there is a drought. "An Old Woman" starts with the lines "An old woman grabs hold of your sleeve and tags along." The internal rhyme of "tag" and "grab" emphasises

  • Word count: 814
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Discussion of Imtiaz Dharkers 'Blessing'.

Blessing Imtiaz Dharker's poem can be interpreted in two ways. One, simplistic reading might suggest that the poem is simply a description of an event when a pipe bursts and people run excitedly for the water. A deeper reading, however, would see the poem as being less happy and almost disturbing in places due to not just its theme but also its setting and characters. Under the apparent good fortune and excitement of the scene are ideas about the poverty of the people in the poet's native country. Either way the attitude to water in the poem should make people in western civilisation wonder at how much they all take for granted, and how too often the earth's resources are wasted. Dharker paints for the reader a vivid scene using strong imagery. For instance, after opening with a powerful visual image, the poet goes on to make us hear the smallest noise 'echo/ in a tin mug', before increasing the sound level with the 'roar of tongues' as people descend on the pipe. It is at this time the reader realises the irony in the title 'Blessing'. The people are not really blessed - they have little water of their own. Only superstition could lead them to count this 'municipal pipe' burst as a blessing. In reality it shows the poor state of the pipes that should be carrying water to the people. The fact that the people live in 'huts', that the children are 'naked' and that

  • Word count: 538
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Show how the pots create a strong sense of place in Island man and another poem form the culture section from you anthology.

Robert Scott English Anthology Course Work Show how the pots create a strong sense of place in Island man and another poem form the culture section from you anthology. In my opinion Grace Nichols creates a particularly strong sense of place in island man using a wide range of techniques, which span from imagery to alliteration. Above the first stanza theirs a short caption that I think sets the mood for the poem beneath, I believe it to be a successful attempt to geode the reader into Grace Nichole's desired direction it says "For a Caribbean island man in London who still wakes up to the sound of the sea" the reason for inserting this caption I think is to set a vivid comparison between the two stated locations "Caribbean Island and London" therefore what's interpreted to be a tropical paradise is being compared with the commonly accepted bland grey London city which in turn creates an extremely strong sense of place and surroundings before the poem even starts. The last piece of decryption before the poem is describing the Caribbean island, and the first word of the poem is "morning" after reading the caption nine times out of ten I think the reader will still be picturing the island and the reality of discovering the man was dreaming and he's infect in London becomes ever more apparent, the where about of the protagonist is no longer questionable a sense of place has

  • Word count: 854
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

The two poems that I have chosen to analyse are 'Blessing' by Imtiaz Dharker and 'An Old Woman' written by Arun Kolatkar.

Poetry from other Cultures Question 2 Culture means the beliefs, traditions, and customs of people within a society. Fundamental aspects of a culture are faith, values, and history. People that share a culture also share its beliefs and ways of life, which are different to others. Poetry is an effective way of describing and exploring a culture, and events within it, because certain aspects can be expressed with vivid descriptions, and imagery that would be unsuitable in other types of text. Some cultures have also used poetry as a form of storytelling, describing events that happened to their ancestors, or even themselves. Poems can be concise and leave some details to the imagination of the reader, therefore they are easier to remember, and remain in the readers mind for longer, which makes them more memorable. The two poems that I have chosen are 'Blessing' by Imtiaz Dharker and 'An Old Woman' written by Arun Kolatkar. I selected these poems because they are both set in poor, third-world countries, and the people within their communities value so strongly items that are take for granted in developed countries. In 'An Old Woman', a beggar woman is trying desperately to get 'a fifty paise coin', which is equivalent to less than 1 pence, off a tourist. This amount of money is frequently, and carelessly dropped on the floor without a second glance, in countries such as our

  • Word count: 2080
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

What Could Shakespeare Be Saying About Honour and The Difference Between Male And Female Honour?

Much Ado About Nothing What Could Shakespeare Be Saying About Honour and The Difference Between Male And Female Honour? Much Ado About Nothing is exactly that. It is a lot of dishonour and angst over something which never happened. So what did Shakespeare think about the gullibility and prejudices of the men and women of his time? All of the characters in the play are either honourable people unwittingly doing dishonourable things or dishonourable people deliberately doing honourable things, for example Don John: "Lady Hero hath been falsely accus'd, the Prince and Claudio mightily abus'd, and Don John is the author of all, who is fled and gone." (5.3.102.5-9) I think this play is typical of William Shakespeare's writing because he is challenging the opinions and social prejudices of the time he lived in. Another strong example of Shakespeare's free-thinking and non-stereotypical characters is 'The Taming Of The Shrew' where the heroine of the story is at first a strong-willed and outspoken young woman, similar to Beatrice, who through out the course of the play is beaten, starved and mentally abused until her husband Petruchio is satisfied that he has 'tamed' his wife's unladylike ways. As at the time this would not have been an uncommon occurrence then perhaps this play was a personal attack on events which Shakespeare may have been forced to play witness to at

  • Word count: 3485
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Comparing Texts - 'Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People In A Mercedes' - by Lawrence Ferlenghetti and 'Blessing' - By Imtiaz Dharka.

Lorna Greville 10 FP Comparing Texts- 'Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People In A Mercedes' -by Lawrence Ferlenghetti and 'Blessing' - By Imtiaz Dharka Each poem is presented in a very different way to one another, both in appearance, content and structure, and yet, at the broadest level, a similar theme is present. The first and most obvious difference is the appearance, the layout. in 'Two Scavengers...' the lines are alternating from right hand justified to left, giving the impression of opposites and contrast. However in 'Blessing' the layout is much simpler, perhaps reflecting the way of life that the poem talks about. In 'two scavengers...' the nature of this theme focuses on the on the society of a 'democracy' and shows the contrasts between the two groups of people. It separates them into these groups by placing the 'beautiful people in a Mercedes' on a metaphorical pedestal. It creates this separation between the fantasy of, perhaps, the infamous 'American dream' and the reality of American life. Whereas in 'Blessing' the deprivation is much simpler, it is a physical lacking in, specifically water. It describes the yearning for and end to a drought and then the sheer joy when the monsoon finally comes. The difference between fantasy and reality is effectively shown throughout 'two scavengers...' using various poetic and litery- devices, such

  • Word count: 967
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Comparing language: Blessing and Night of the Scorpion

Language used to show different people in different cultures 'Night of the Scorpion is set in a Mud hut, located in a village against a rainy night. The speaker is the poet which explores the Hindu tradition of reincarnation. The speaker appears to have a disbelieving attitude towards the culture explored and doesn't believe in reincarnation. One recurring theme in Night of the Scorpion is the strength of the memories of the event as the speaker is able to recall the night the scorpion bit his mother perfectly which emphasizes his love for his mother. 'Blessing' is set in Dharavi, Mumbai against a background of a dry drought against a background of dehydration. The speaker is an omniscient narrator and tells of a municipal water pipe bursting to the release of fresh drinking water. The speaker has a celebratory attitude towards the events and cultures explored. One recurring theme in Blessing is the struggling nature of the villagers who have little water all year round before being finally blessed. Throughout blessing, various techniques are used to give a sense of a celebratory attitude. For example the title itself - 'blessing'. The title itself is an extended metaphor for water which clearly emphasizes the importance of water and also the preciousness. Blessing can also be associated with the religious imagery used in the poem: 'kindly God'. This puts forward the idea

  • Word count: 525
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay