From Moniza Alvi's poetry, how do we learn about the challenges of living between two cultures?

From Moniza Alvi's poetry, how do we learn about the challenges of living between two cultures? Moniza Alvi writes many poems based on the difficulties she faces whilst living between two cultures and I am going to explore these difficulties through the following poems: - "The Sari", "Throwing out my Fathers Dictionary", "an Unknown Girl" and "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan." Firstly, I am going to discuss her poem "The Sari" which is a metaphorical poem telling us what happened to her in early life. The poem begins, "Inside my mother I peered through a glass porthole", which creates an image of a baby in the womb. It then continues to say, "the world beyond was hot and brown", which suggests that she was born in Pakistan. The second stanza represents her Pakistani life consisting of a father, servants and animals; "They were all looking in on me - Father, Grandmother, the cook's boy, the sweeper-girl, the bullock." This shows us the differences between the Pakistani and English culture and also what her life would have been like if she had stayed in Pakistan. The phrase "the bullock with the sharp shoulderblades" uses a repetition of soft consonants suggests a feeling of calmness at being somewhere she knows she belongs. The third stanza links her Pakistani and English roots, "My English grandmother took a telescope and gazed across continents", giving the notion that

  • Word count: 1703
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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comparison between presents from pakistan and blessings

Comparison - 'Blessing' vs. 'Presents From Pakistan' Kashif Hussain I am going to compare and contrast two poems, which are called 'Blessing' by Imtiaz Darker and 'Presents From Pakistan' by Moniza Alva. The two poems are similar because they both give a view of how they feel but differ because they talk about different incidents. One of the poems is about a country in southwest Asia and the other is about personal feelings. The poets are also linked with the countries. I know this because of their names therefore their parents or relative can be from Pakistan or India or around the same end. The poets show how s feels about other countries and how it affects them and their culture. Culture can be made up in different ways. Like Islam only allows Muslims to enter Saudi Arabia. This makes up a religious culture. Some people live by their race or ethnicity like in north Europe many people like to live with people from there and people who are the same colour as them. In some countries some people don't mind, they just live with a normal life style in their own world. In central Africa the majority of people live with a similar culture but they are differed because of the languages spoken. I am going to explore the elements of the poems, to see how they go along with cultures and how they give us an insight to other cultures. First of all the poem 'Blessing' is a poem that

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Discussion of Arthur Millers' The Crucible.

The crucible is a play full of adversity and hysteria where innocent citizens of Salem are wrongly accused and condemned for witch craft; this can be linked back to 1950's America where normal people were unscrupulously being accused of being communist, they called this search for communists McCarthyism. As characters in the play buckle under pressure they begin revealing some of their deeply hidden qualities. Throughout the play Miller unmistakeably makes connections between Salem and hell. Through Proctor Miller relates intense heat and pressure of hell to that in the crucible. Arthur Miller wrote the play so that people could realise what could happen if a community becomes paranoid, in addition to this, miller himself was interrogated and falsely accused of being a communist and he was required to state the names of any others that were supposedly involved in the communists act. Miller responded to the accusation and the proposal with a speech worthy of John Proctor 'Mr Chairman, I understand the philosophy behind the question and I want you to understand that I am not protecting communists or the communists' party. I could not use the name of his or her person and bring trouble upon them'. Basically if you associated with somebody that was accused of being a communists you would be prosecuted as well, they called this guilty by

  • Word count: 1151
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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English Literature Poems

English Literature Poems Compare the methods that 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' employs to highlight the importance of cultural identity with another poem? I have chosen to compare 'Presents' and 'Hurricane' as both poems highlight the importance of cultural identity in society. Both poets 'Alvi' and 'Nicholas' employ many different and similar methods to illustrate the importance of cultural identity. The poem 'Presents' is about the writer herself at a younger age feeling insecure as she is of dual heritage (mixed race) 'in my English Grandmother's dining - room. In the poem the poet begins to conflict with herself as she believes that she is not of one set race 'I was there of no fixed nationality'. Throughout the poem the poet begins to show her insecurity as she begins to respond to the presents her aunties bought her from her native land negatively 'I could never be as lovely as those clothes'. A t the end of the poem the Alvi is unable to resolve her problem as she finishes the poem feeling rather down saying 'I was there of no fixed nationality'. The poem 'Hurricane' is rather similar in the way that it is again autobiographical. In the poem the writer is also in conflict with herself as she has left her motherland Guyana to move to England. At first the poet dreaded England but as soon as there was news of a Hurricane she began to feel much at home as

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Explore the ways in which two or three of these poems present the experience of living between two cultures and the difficulties it causes.

Explore the ways in which two or three of these poems present the experience of living between two cultures and the difficulties it causes. The two poems I am choosing are "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" and "Search for My Tongue". "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" is written by Moniza Alvi, a woman who was born in Pakistan but moved to England at an early age. Her mother was from England and white, her Father was Pakistani and so black. This makes Moniza 'half-caste', as well as the aunts in poem being from her father's side. Her poem begins with a description of the gifts her aunts send her; "They sent me a salwar kameez peacock-blue, and another glistening like an orange split open..." The gifts are clothes in the typical Pakistani style, long tunic and loose trousers of blue and orange. Yet her indisposition towards the clothes is hinted at by her description of the first set of clothes. Peacock blue suggests that she feels like a peacock in them, showing off and flamboyant, something she doesn't want to be. They make her uncomfortable and self conscious. The next set of clothes show us the passage of time for Alvi with more clothes from her aunts. Yet as in England, and as she puts it, school, fashions change. The salwar bottoms are now broad and stiff then narrow towards the bottom. She tries on the clothes in sitting room, unwrapping them with her

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Poetry From Other Cultures

Compare and contrast The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping with Presents from my Aunt in Pakistan. How do the two poets convey their feelings about being outsiders in Britain? The poets have written about the subject which is clothes, they have used this to symbolise how different races & religions in different societies have different styles. In "The Fat Black Woman goes shopping" it tells us how she doesn't fit in because she cannot find "accommodating clothes" that fit her and are to her liking. She also talks about the way "de pretty face sales gals" react to her being a larger size than the rest of them and how she feels aggravated because the fashion stores she wants to shop in do not have "soft and bright and billowing" clothes that she wants and searches for. On the other hand the poem "Presents from my Aunt in Pakistan" is showing how she feels that she doesn't deserve to be in the clothes her Aunt has sent over to her, as it makes her feel uncomfortable because she "longed for denim and corduroy." Also the expectations that are upon her having to wear the clothes are leading her into that uncomfortable feeling she felt because it is making her feel pressured and embarrassed "...and I was aflame," because she is so used to the English cultured clothing rather than her Pakistan clothing that is to conspicuous and tight "My costume clung to me..." making her stand out to

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How can the arrival of something from another culture challenge someone's thinking? Discuss this with references of 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan.

How can the arrival of something from another culture challenge someone's thinking? Discuss this with references of 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan. The poet looks at the issue of a young girl who has been split into two different cultures. The two cultures have torn her apart, being in a western culture has also changed how she feels about life, 'I was there-of no fixed nationality'. This quote shows how Alvi's general feeling of not belonging, which is the idea that the poem explores. Although the poet comes from an Asian background, she desperately wants to be able to fit in and be able to wear the clothes, which her friends wear. Alvi describes that the school friend is not impressed by her wardrobe clothes, which is filled full of the Salwar Kameez. She feels let down by how it is important to be able to fit in. The arrival of the presents brings Alvi to imagine and to have a flash back, to see her grandmother and Aunt in 'Shaded rooms'. Alvi uses bright colours to describe the gifts from her Aunts, 'glistening like an orange split open'. This describes the 'Salwar kameez' given to her. The colours and imagery give the reader a sense of splendour in contrast with the plain 'cardigans from Marks and Spencers'. Also the presents from my Aunts also mirror how she feels mentally about the Pakistan culture. 'Candy-striped glass bangles snapped, drew blood'. Initially

  • Word count: 596
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare the way in which two poets present a culture

Compare the way in which two poets present a culture Many poets present their own cultures in many different ways. "Search for my tongue" by Sujata Bhatt is about an Indian woman who moved to the United States. She feels out of place, and the poet explains what it is like to speak and think in two languages. We see that she wonders whether she might lose the language she began with, fearing that she is not herself. We also find out that her mother tongue remains with her in her dreams, but sometimes fails to come to surface. However, by the end, she is confident that it will always be part of who she is. "Presents from My Aunt in Pakistan" is about a girl who was born in Pakistan. She came to England when she was young. When she gets older she received gifts from her aunts in Pakistan. She gets various traditional Pakistani clothes. Whenever she thought about her nationality she did not feel whole. The poem was written to show how the girl felt when her friends saw her clothes. The poem is written in free verse: the phrases are arranged loosely across the page. It is divided into stanzas of varying length. This poem has many small details which are spotted by the reader. These details give an insight to their lives as children, whether the memories are good or bad, it is these memories that make them who they are. "Small tin boats" The main difference the poet uses is

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Analysis of the poem Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan

Analysis of the poem Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan is a poem about a young girl of mixed race and the difficulty she finds with fitting in, or feeling a part of either, the Pakistani or the English culture. The young girl in the poem is describing gifts that were sent to her in England from Pakistan. The presents from Pakistan are beautiful but the girl feels awkward wearing them, feeling that "denim and corduroy" would be more suitable. In contrast the relatives in Pakistan would like the conventional English "cardigans from Marks and Spencer." The poem is a sequence of personal memories. This is shown because the poem is written in the first person. The poem is written in the past as the poet is remembering the memories. When people are remembering things their minds often drift from one image to another in the way that the poem does. As a reader you have to wait until towards the end of the poem to discover the key message in this poem. The phrase "no fixed nationality" sums up the feelings of the poet, being "half-English" she struggles to feel comfortable with either culture. The poem explores this struggle. The "presents" referred to in the title are described in great detail in the opening sixteen lines. The variety of clothes and their colours and textured are recalled quite affectionately. Instead of being critical of the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Explore the feelings of two of the poets who now live in England but have their roots in another culture.

Explore the feelings of two of the poets who now live in England but have their roots in another culture. 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' and 'Hurricane Hits England' are two poems where the poets describe their new life in England but remember important connections with their past in the country where they were born. Grace Nicholls was born and brought up in the British colony of Guyana, but moved to England when she was 27. In her poem, 'Hurricane Hits England' she describes the effect of the violent storm, which hit England in 1987 and how this storm, awakened links with her past. Moniza Alvi was born in Pakistan and moved to England when she was a child. In 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' Alvi describes the Indian /Asian gifts which were sent from her homeland and she remembers how she reacted to these presents. In 'Hurricane hits England Nicholls uses imagery to make the storm come alive: "The howling ship of the wind" and trees Falling heavy as whales" gives the reader an idea of the violent nature/intensity of the storm. Nicholls connects the storm with the voices of her Caribbean past. Huracan, Oya and Shango are the Gods and Goddesses of wind, rain and thunder and she asks why they are visiting "An English coast?" Nicholls feels that although the storm is fearful bringing "blinding illuminations" and "cratered graves" it is also

  • Word count: 701
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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