Other Cultures Poems
"Is it always a positive benefit to live in two cultures at the same time?" How far do you think this is true of three poems? From the poems on the course, a reader can see that there are both negative and positive aspects of living in two different cultures. In presents from Aunts in Pakistan, the girl, who lives in England, gets clothes from her aunts, traditional Pakistani clothes. At first, the writer says "They sent me a Salwar Kameez, peacock blue, and another glistening like an orange split open", which shows that she achnologes the beauty of the clothes. However, the writer goes on to say, "I tried each satin-silken top, was alien in the sitting room." This shows that as she put the clothes on, she felt out of place in her house and she couldn't see herself in traditional Pakistani clothes like her family. She also said, In a simile, that the clothes showed her own lack of beauty: "I could never be as lovely as those clothes". The bright colours suggest the clothes are burning: "I was aflame, I couldn't rise up out of its fire", a powerful metaphor for the discomfort felt by the girl, who "longed for denim and corduroy", plainer but comfortable and not noticeable. Also she notes that where her Pakistani Aunties can "rise up out of its fire" - that is, "look lovely" in the bright clothes - she felt unable to, because she was "half-English". This might mean because she
Problems faced by the personas in the poems
Discuss the problems faced by the personas in each of the poems you have read. Discuss language, tone and structure. "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" illustrates the problem of a 13-year-old girl, originally from Pakistan, living in England. Although she lives in England, her family still pressure her into wearing her Eastern culture clothes. This however makes her feel uncomfortable, for even though she likes them she feels she isn't worthy of them for cannot classify herself as entirely from that one culture. It is as if she is torn between the two cultures of England and Pakistan, and feels an outsider wherever she goes, hence creating her problem of no real sense of belonging. Throughout the poem the language demonstrates the persona's problem, and one way this is done is by mentioning her salwar kameez and by describing its meaning to her. Firstly she describes it physically, mentioning the various colours it consists of such as "peacock-blue", "gold and black", "apple-green" and "silver-bordered", and even uses a simile and says its "glistening like an orange split open". These descriptions and comparisons are all positive, indicating how she does like the salwar kameez and finds it beautiful. The images of an orange split open and a peacock are both very attractive, creating pleasant imagery in the reader's mind as they imagine the sari being compared to these
aunts in pakistan
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
Presents from my aunts in pakistan on context structure and imagery.
G.C.S.E Writing and Literature Coursework Wednesday 28th November Poems from different cultures Compare and contrast "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" by Moniza Alvi with "Search for my tongue" by Sujata Bhatt, paying particular attention to how the writers use language, imagery and structure to put across the experience of feeling divided between different cultures. For this essay I have chosen to first write about the poem by Moniza Alvi called "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan". Moniza Alvi comes from a family of completely different cultures, a daughter of a Pakistani father and a British mother. As a baby of a few moths, she was brought over from Pakistan to Hatfield here in England, to be brought up here. Growing up Moniza always knew of her Pakistani roots, but still felt uncomfortable knowing that she was undecided on what her true identity was. As her father was Pakistan and her mother English, she was obviously not brought up in a religious way, and had been more brought up with her English roots by far than her Pakistan. Moniza still heard from her aunts in Pakistan, as they would send her gifts. The salwar kameez she describes as "peacock blue and another glistening like an orange split open", from the way she describes her clothes in the first stanza we can tell she thinks much of them. "My costume clung to me", this gives us the impression even though
An Unknown Girl, by Moniza Alvi - the experience of being female & seeking identity
"An Unknown Girl" An Unknown Girl, by Moniza Alvi, is another poem, which explores the experience of being female, but is more specific to seeking identity. From her name and the poem, I think she is from an Indian family, but now lives in England. It sounds like she has gone to India to visit and see if she truly is Indian or will live a better life in England. The poem generally, describes a young girl at a night market stall, who is hennaing people's body. Moniza Alvi is having her hand hennaed, with the picture of a peacock. As she sits patiently, she looks around and describes everything in her sight, using many poetic techniques, especially metaphors, which lead you into thinking about other meanings of what she has written. The poem, after the first couple of lines, begins with the phrase, "An unknown girl is hennaing my hand." This phrase is repeated throughout the poem. It keeps you thinking about the 'unknown girl'. Right from the start you think that this 'unknown girl', must be the girl hennaing, but the ending gives it a twist, and I think that the unknown girl is actually, Moniza Alvi, this I will explain at the end. This poem is very atmospheric and realistic, in the way it describes in great detail the area, using such techniques as, metaphors, similes and some internal rhyming. Examples of what I think are the most effective metaphors, are, "Studded
Comparison essay- on poems 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' written by Moniza Alvi and 'Half-Caste' written by John Agard
Beth Lloyd 10e Comparison Essay The poems 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' written by Moniza Alvi and 'Half-Caste' written by John Agard are both about people who feel socially excluded because of their faith or cultural background. 'Presents from my Aunts' is a very personal poem written by a girl who is having 'social' problems, whereas 'Half-Caste' is written by a man who has been called a 'Half-Caste' or 'Half a person' as it is described and is very offended and hurt by the fact that just because of his appearance people think he's different. 'Presents from my Aunts' starts with the line 'They sent me a salvwar kameez', in my opinion this line would not draw me towards the poem it would just make me think a Salwar Kameez is not an ordinary present. The poet uses a variety of colours to try and paint a picture for the readers; 'Half-Caste' also uses this technique. 'Peacock-blue', 'orange', 'gold and black', 'apple green' and 'silver' are all interesting colours which describe the clothes that this girl receives from her Aunts in Pakistan. As we can see these colours are not ordinary colours for an average outfit, these clearly must have some kind of different background or an explanation behind them. The last line in the first stanza is 'for my teens' this clearly states that as she is a teenager she doesn't think that she should be wearing these cultural clothes.
Media Assignment
Media Assignment Both the film 'East is East' and the poem, 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' deal with the issue of identity. All of the characters within 'East is East' are being brought up within mixed cultures and this causes problems within their lifestyles. Whilst the poem, 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' is an autobiography, it is written by a woman who was brought to England as a child, from Pakistan and felt confused in later life. Her culture became the significance of her life but she didn't know what culture was her culture and where her native home actually was. 'East is East' Is set in 1971 in the North of England at a place called Salford. We know it was set during the 70's because of the fashion we saw on the film and also there were certain radio reports. The main characters in the film are the parents and their children. The parents are both of different nationalities. George Khan is the father from Pakistan whilst the mother of the family is called Ella Khan and originates from England. Although the father of the family is from Pakistan, his name has been anglicised into an English name. This is probably so that he fits in more with his new home and can be classified by other people as part of the English community. George also has another wife who lives in Pakistan. This would be unacceptable in England and would definitely be illegal but in
Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan
Introduction The poem " Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" is about a young girl called Monzia Alvi, which additionally is the writer. She emphasises about her clothes and jewellery that her aunts have sent over from Pakistan. In her writing conveys an image of self-confidence and ambivalent about her self. The structure and language of this poem is spread out across the page to make the reader read the poem slowly. The have to read it loud as well to emphasis the image and to give a better feel and understanding. For example "I longed for denim and corduroy" This is read slowly to create an image to the reader that she is sad or homesick and ambivalent. However the language is a sequence of personal memories. It could be seen as repetition because she brings us back to the image of her memorise and sadness of her culture or background. The poet is clever because she illustrates that she can contrast her images to sadness and homesick for example "But often I admired the mirror-work tried to glimpse myself in the miniature glass circles, recall the story how the three of us sailed to England" This shows or conveys that she is homesick and confused, but her clothes remind her of her culture and reminiscing on her good times she had with her aunts. However she gives an imagery of her clothing or traditional name for example " Salwar Kameez" This is an example
Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan - review
Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan, is a twentieth century autobiographical poem. It is about a girl who is trying to decide whether she wants to adapt to the Pakistani way of living and dressing or stay with the English tradition. Although born in Pakistan, Moniza Alvi was brought up in England, the daughter of a Pakistani father and an English mother. This poem explores the dilemma of divided culture, divided families and a 'self' that feels the pull of somewhere else. Moniza Alvi finds it tough to decide between her own culture and the place where she has spent most of her life. Its hard for her to make her mind up and she has ambivalent feelings, and feels confused as there is both a good side and bad side to living in both countries 'England' and 'Pakistan'. The clothes that Moniza Alvi receives from her Aunts are very beautiful and she admires them but they make her feel as though she is not good enough to wear the clothes. "I tried each satin-silken top- was alien in the sitting-room. I could never be as lovely as those clothes." From this quote we know that the presents were very rich and delicate because of the way Moniza Alvi uses alliteration to emphasize that the material of the clothes were as soft as the words used to describe them.