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
.Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza Alvi
.'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' by Moniza Alvi We have studied the poem 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' by Monzia Alvi; she was of a mixed parentage. Her farther was Pakistani and her mother was English. She was born in Pakistan but then moved to England long before she could even remember. It is very difficult for people to move from one culture to another and having to adapt can be tough. This poem expresses her confusion and her search of her true identity throughout her life. The Pakistani clothes that her aunts send to her symbolise a small part of who she is expected to be, and a part she doesn't feel at-all comfortable with. Her poem is mostly about living in one culture but having long lost roots and memories from another. It describes her journey as she searches all aspects to try and reveal her true identity. Because she has no memories of her birthplace her poem describes how she desires to just fit in with everyone else and just feel almost unnoticed and 'normal'. 'Presents' is an autobiographical poem and is written in free verse. The lengths of the stanzas vary throughout as well as the line lengths which are thrown randomly across the page. Alvi uses these poetic strategies to show how she varies from confusion to resignation about where she belongs and her feelings of alienation. There are end stopped lines to describe her sudden emotions. It
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
Through my essay I attempt to explore three poems about nostalgia by three different poets. Theses three poems are "Half Past Two" by U.A. Fanthorpe, "An Unknown Girl" by Moniza Alvi and "Piano" by D. H. Lawrence.
Nostalgia is a universal theme for all world poets. Through my essay I attempt to explore three poems about nostalgia by three different poets. Theses three poems are "Half Past Two" by U.A. Fanthorpe, "An Unknown Girl" by Moniza Alvi and "Piano" by D. H. Lawrence. The first poem of my choice is "An Unknown Girl" by Moniza Alvi. This poem is about a strange encounter the poet has had with "an unknown girl" in India. This encounter left a strange strong impact on Moniza Alvi to the extent that she was always nostalgic for India. She felt that her experience there was a queer and illuminating kind of experience which became carved in her memory forever giving her the atmosphere and smell of the strange intriguing land. The setting of the poem is a bazaar in India. It is in a huge area filled with lights and noises. The place itself is crowded and "studded with neon". The poet has "an unknown girl" hennaing her hand. In "hennaing my hand" we have an alliteration adding nostalgic music to the poem as the poet yearned for the unique experience. The poet is sensuous engaging our sense of sight with her vivid descriptions and graphic details of the "bazaar". She also engages our sense of hearing with her alliterations. She also engages our sense of touch as in "a wet brown line" and description of the girl's "satin-peach knee". The whole procedure of "hennaing" is described
Compare the way in which the poet presents the people in 'Night of the Scorpion' and 'Presents from my Aunt in Pakistan'
Compare the way in which the poet presents the people in 'Night of the Scorpion' and 'Presents from my Aunt in Pakistan'. We live in a world of many cultures and each has it is own way of communicating and two very different poems reflect this. In order to compare and contrast the traditions which have become apparent within the poems; 'Night of the Scorpion' by Nissim Ezekiel and 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' by Moniza Alvi, further analysis must take place. With retrospect of the poem 'Night of the Scorpion', the content explains the reactions of the villagers and surroundings to an incident whereby the poet's mother was "stung by a scorpion". It is evident through comparison of the second poem; 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan', differences between cultures and traditions produce diverse reactions. A prime example of this is visible as Moniza Alvi feels "an alien in the sitting room" when wearing clothing originating from her native country. In relation to 'Night of the Scorpion', the poet Ezekiel attempts to identify with his personal memories of his mother as she "twisted through and through, groaning on the mat." Through deeper analysis, it became indisputable that Ezekiel merely narrated the experience as apposed to providing his individual viewpoint. Therefore, it became noticeable that the vocabulary required further interpretation, as the use of
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
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
People and culture
Name : Mark Burgess 25/0108 Task : Compare how 'What were they like' and 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan' present people and culture Texts : 'What were the like by Denise' Levertov and 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan' by Moniza Alvi In this essay I am going to compare to poems present people and culture. Whether it be using words, imagery or the tone of the poem. The two poems I will be comparing are 'What were they like' by Denise Levertov and 'presents from my aunts in Pakistan' by Moniza Alvi. Both people consider the prospect of loosing a culture but the will loose them in different ways to each other, through war and the pressures of society also peer pressure. In 'what were they like' by Denise Levertov we are first confused about what the poem subject matter may be until we delve into the meaning of the poem and explore the history of the Vietnamese war and the people and culture caught up in the conflict. After reading into the poem we can see that it is about how people after the Vietnamese war believed their culture would be lost forever and that they would need story tellers and educators to continue their cultures story. The poem considers issues that are still relevant today such as the possibility of the loss of the culture and tradition in Afghanistan and Iraq due to the ongoing hostilities. The poem heavily romanticises the war and the Vietnamese
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.
Presents from my Aunt in Pakistan and Search for my Tongue comparison
Year 10 GCSE Course Work Essay 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan' and 'Search for My Tongue' From reading both of the poems I can see that both of the poems describe how they have either lost or are losing part of their identity. Identity can mean anything from our age, gender, race, personality, religion, social position, language or even personality. Identity is either what makes a person different from other people but some elements of your identity might make you the same as other people such as your nationality or religion. Some of our identity can be set at birth and can't be changed in anyway this could be race. Whereas other elements such as social position can continuously change throughout your life. Some changes in or identity we welcome and some we don't. Both of these poems explore changes in their identity. In Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan the young female is telling us how she is changing in the way that she lives and dresses whereas in Search for My Tongue the poet I telling us how she is losing her identity by the loss of her first language. These two poems are laid out quiet differently, although they both use variable line length. In Presents from Pakistan the lines start all over the place and there is no certain point at which they have to start. In Search for My Tongue all the beginnings of the lines start at one place this is because the poem