culture identity
What is culture identity? Culture identity is appreciation and understanding of literature and who or what a person is, identical sameness and distinctive character. It also means what you are and how you live. In this essay I am going to write about "Search for my Tongue" by Bhatt and "Hurricane hits England" by Grace Nichols. I have chosen them because they use a mixture of poetic devices, which makes the poem lively and entertaining to read. Firstly the poem Search for my Tongue is about her feeling abandoned and heart-rending because she went to a place where she forgot how to speak her mother tongue while speaking the foreign language, which is upsetting for her since she is blissful about speaking her mother tongue. She also tells us in the poem about her experiences and what she has been happening to her. I know this because she uses a range of words for e.g. "lost and spit" this makes me think that she is losing her memory of how to speak her own language, as this is shameful for her because her mother tongue is part of her identity. She is also trying to get rid of the foreign language as she described it as "spit". The word spit creates an image of someone trying to get rid of something ugly in their mouth. Then again in the last part of the poem she is feeling glad and back to being natural because her mother tongue grew back in the night. I know this because she
Compare the Ways that Culture & Identity are Presented in from 'Search for my Tongue' and from 'Unrelated Incidents'.
Compare the Ways that Culture & Identity are Presented in from Search for my Tongue and from Unrelated Incidents Both poems have been set up in a way to give you an idea of what the language or accent is like, this gives you a flavour of what or how the poet feels. Unrelated Incidents has a Glaswegian dialect, and is written with phonetic spellings so that when you read it aloud you sound almost the same as the Glaswegian accent. Search for my Tongue has the actual language put in the centre of the poem, also written in brackets underneath the language in phonetic spelling. Both poems talk directly to the reader but Unrelated Incidents is more to a wider range of people, this is because it is written for the BBC news like a news bulletin on the way it is presented. Search for my Tongue is talking to the reader. Both poems are very different on the content and what it is about. Unrelated Incidents is very much about if it was read in Standard English that wouldn't be taken seriously "Lik wanna yoo scruff". Also it is putting across that this is just what the BBC newsreaders are rejecting today. If it was re-written in Standard English it wouldn't carry the same "Trooth" because it would be just someone talking normally on the news. Search For My Tongue is about the poet herself-Sujata Bhatt, explaining what it's like to have to speak two languages, she feels that she has
How does the poet express the difficulties of being in a minority
How does the poet express the difficulties of being in a minority? In the poem 'Search for my tongue' Bhatt has expressed how through her own personal experience she has found learning a new language to be difficult physically and emotionally. Throughout the poem she has conveyed how her 'mother language' Gujarati slowly started to erode, as she took on her 'foreign tongue' English. She shows this through not only the vocabulary of the poem but the structure etc too. The intention of the poem is to convey how although learning a new language is extremely difficult, your 'mother tongue' will always remain an essential part of your identity. Bhatt is worried that she is forgetting her mother tongue and that her second language will never be as natural. At the start of the poem Bhatt uses a second person address and conversational language 'You ask me what I mean' and rhetorical questions 'I ask you' which makes it sound like she is talking to the reader about her problem and asking them to empathise with her. When Bhatt says 'what would you do' it suggests a level of detachment as does the absence of imagery in the opening lines. The tone is quite negative and quite depressing. She sounds as if she is in despair. Towards the middle of the poem she uses Gujarati to show us her 'mother tongue' and emphasise its great difference from English. In the last part of the poem Bhatt
‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’ and‘Search for my Tongue’ both show people thinking about their roots - How does each poet convey her thoughts and feelings?
'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' and 'Search for my Tongue' both show people thinking about their roots. How does each poet convey her thoughts and feelings? Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan is about a girl who was brought up in England, however, was born in Pakistan. Her father is Pakistani and her mother is English. She feels torn between her two cultures. This poem explores the dilemma of a divided culture. Search for my Tongue is about a girl who has moved from her native country and now lives in a foreign land where she has to speak English in her everyday life. She thought she had forgotten Gujarati, her mother tongue but then the Gujerati comes out every time she thinks she had forgotten it. She speaks for many people who fear loosing there culture and mother tongue. There are quite a few similarities between the two poems. Both of the poems are about race, identify and roots. Sujata Bhatt does this in her poem by looking as language where as Moniza Alvi does this by associating race and identity with material things. The two poems are both autobiographical and written in first person. The shape of 'Presents my Aunts sent from Pakistan' is unfixed along one side, there are seven stanzas and they are in free verse. Moniza has done this to emphasise how her thoughts are unfixed between the two cultures. Her thoughts move between the two cultures, wandering in
Search For My Tongue by Sujata Bhatt - review
Search For My Tongue by Sujata Bhatt The Context Of The Poem Sujata Bhatt was born in the Indian state of Gujarat where her mother tongue was Gujarati. Later she moved onto United States where she learnt English. In and interview, she says " I have always thought of myself as an Indian who is outside India". Her mother tongue is for her and important link to her family and to her childhood. " That's the deepest layer of my identity". What Is The Poem About . The poet explains what it is like to speak and think into two languages. 2. She wonders whether she might lose the language she began with. 3. However, the mother tongue remains with her in her dreams. 4. By the end, she is confident that it will always be part of who she is. Structure & Sound The poem is written three sections: . The poet expresses how hard it is for her to know two languages but neglect the one that she feels most belongs to her 2. She explains these ideas in Gujarati. 3. She then translates her thoughts for us in English (so line 31-38 mean something similar to lines 17-30), showing that although her mother tongue dies during the day, it grows back in her dreams at night, becoming strong and producing blossoms. Try reading it aloud. Each line of Gujarati script is followed by a phonetic English version in brackets, so even if you don't know any Gujarati, you can still have a go. Do you
'Choose two or three poems which deal in some way with the experience of moving between different cultures and show how this is explained through language and imagery.'
English Coursework 'Choose two or three poems which deal in some way with the experience of moving between different cultures and show how this is explained through language and imagery.' For my essay I will be looking at two poems which deal with the experience of moving between different cultures, these are Half-Caste and Search for My Tongue. These poems are written from experience. John Agard the author of Half-Caste was born in Gugana and moved to Britain in 1977. He is half-caste himself and his poem expresses his feelings about the term half-caste. Sujata Bhatt the authoress of Search for My Tongue was born in India in 1956, her family moved to the United States of America in the 1960's and she now lives in Germany. In her poem Search for My Tongue she explains how she feels about having two different languages her birth language, Gujerati and her second language, German. Half-Caste and Search for My Tongue, create very vivid images, which makes it easier for the reader to interpret and understand both the poems and the authors' opinion on the different cultures. Half- Caste creates many images, by using descriptive language and humour. It creates such images as a man, 'standing on leg' and having 'half mih ear' because he is only half-caste so he only has half what a normal person would have but it also creates images about objects 'mix a red an green is a
Looking at the two poems, 'Search for My tongue' and 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan'; discuss the way culture is presented.
Looking at the two poems, 'Search for My tongue' and 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan'; discuss the way culture is presented. By Mark Sheppard This essay is comparing two cultural poems, both written by people who have been taken from their 'home' culture, to another one, which is different. The poems-'Search for My tongue' and 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan'- are similar in some ways, but different in others. This essay will compare the two cultures, and the similarities and differences. Moniza Alvi wrote 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan'. She was born in Pakistan in 1954 but was moved to England when she was a young child. As Moniza grew up in England she was separated from her origins and never felt entirely at home. This is shown in the poem - 'half-English' - When Moniza revisited Pakistan she felt very English - her cultural background was affecting her more than she realised. I feel that Moniza wrote the poem to show others how different it is to change cultures, to half belong to one and half belong to another culture. She mentions in a BBC interview her poem is autobiographical and reflects her growing up. At the start of the poem there is a strong sense of image, which helps to build up a feeling of adoration and beauty. We first see the idea of culture of culture in this poem in the clothing from Pakistan, which shows a rich sense of colour and
Examine how two poets explore the sense of suffering their cultures cause them.
Examine how two poets and explore the sense of suffering their cultures cause them. This essay will explore how the poets Sujata Bhatt who wrote 'Search for my tongue' and Moniza Alvi who wrote 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' describe the sense of suffering that the person in the poem's culture causes them. To explore the sense of suffering, the reader can look at the language, the structure, the tone, the attitude of the poem and other features in the poem. In the two poems, 'Search for my tongue' and 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' you can see that there is a sense of suffering. In 'Search for my tongue' you can see the suffering when the poets says 'Your mother tongue would rot, Rot and die in your mouth until you had to spit it out' (Lines 12-14) and in 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' when the poet says 'My costume clung to me and I was aflame' (Lines 22-23). These sentences show suffering, in 'Search for my tongue' the suffering is when the person in the poem can't decide what tongue, or language she should be using and she is suffering as she is trapped between two different choices and does not know which one to choose. In 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' the girl in the poem feels as if the costume that she is wearing from her original culture is setting her on fire as she is not used to it and does not feel comfortable in it. In 'Presents
Commentary on "A Different History " by Suajata Bhatt
A Different History By- Suajata Bhatt The poem ‘A Different History’ is set in India. In the first paragraph the poet describes how the world is developing at a fast pace and leaving behind culture, morals, value, spirituality etc. But India on the other hand has managed to sustain its tradition and modernity. “Great Pan is not dead; he simply emigrated to India Here, the gods roam freely Disguised as snakes or monkeys; every tree is sacred” Pan is the Greek god of nature. This reference to Greece and Pan could refer to two things. One of the possible interpretations is that- Rome, Greece and India are considered the hubs of spirituality and they have their own set of gods and goddesses. But over the years Greece has developed and consequently its people have lost faith in god. On the contrary, India continues to be highly spiritual and god fearing and the ‘Great Pan’ emigrating to India could connote how India continues to have faith and believe in god. Another explanation could be the love for nature and respect for the natural environment in India. Legend has it that Pan died due to the depletion of nature and animals in Greece. At the time this poem was written India was not a shade of what it is now and was known for its natural beauty and its peoples dependence and respect for nature. The next three lines seem to be mocking the Indian psyche of
"Search For My Tongue" and "Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan"
Sarah Belfield Comparison Of Two Poems A persons culture is their background and very important to someone's life and in both poems "Search For My Tongue" and "Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan" show the difficulties of having two different cultures . The first poem "Search" focuses on less visual effects such as language. She writes the beginning and of the poem in English but the middle is made up of Gujerati. Even though we cannot tell what the writing means it doesn't matter because we still get the same effect from it, the almost angriness and distress from the poet, Sujata Bhatt . The other poem "Presents" uses visual items like clothes to show the difference in cultures: "my costume clung to me I was aflame." Moniza Alvi sees her Pakistani clothes as a "costume" rather than normal clothes. She calls it this because they are so different to English clothes that when she wears them it's like she is putting on a play and she is an actress at the weekends. "I longed for denim and corduroy." Most people see Pakistani clothes as beautiful creations but she doesn't like them and would prefer to wear boring English clothes such as jeans. All through the poem "presents" the poet talks about the difference in the two cultures and explains that she feels she has "no fixed nationality" and like the other poet wants empathy form the reader and wants the reader to know how it