Compare the ways that culture and identity are presented in search for my tongue and one
Compare the ways that culture and identity are presented in search for my tongue and one Other poem In this essay I am going to compare the poems search for my tongue and half-caste to show how they both relate to culture but are different in the ways they approach the subject. Search for my tongue is about conflict between two cultures, English- we know this because it is written in English and Indian- we know this because of the seven lines of Gujerati used which is an Indian language. It also is about how you have to learn new language when you move to a different culture, and how you almost forget your 'mother tongue' '...your mother tongue would rot, Rot and die until you had to Spit it out' Half-caste also shows conflict between cultures but, it is shown in a different way. The poem is talking directly to you as if you have just made a comment or a snide remark about the fact the poet has a mixed cultural background, and gives you a reply using examples of the different meanings the term half-caste can have. 'You mean when light an shadow Mix in de sky' However having a mixed cultural background could be an advantage because if you lived in one culture, and moved to the other you wouldn't forget parts of the other as quickly as you would then if you only had one culture because you would be used to having two in your life. This is a way in which the poems are
For many poets, writing in English, English is a second language. Many poets feel trapped between two cultures. Choose poems from this selection which show this and write about them as fully as you can - Nothings changed
Poems from other cultures and traditions For many poets, writing in English, English is a second language. Many poets feel trapped between two cultures. Choose poems from this selection which show this and write about them as fully as you can. . Nothings changed 2. Unrelated Incidents 3. Search for my tongue In Nothings changed, this is an autobiographical poem. Tatamkhulu Afrika lived in Cape Town's District 6, which was then a thriving mixed-race inner-city community. People of all colours and beliefs lived together peacefully, and Afrika says that he felt 'at home' there. In the 1960s, as part of its policy of apartheid (or separate development) the government declared District 6 a 'whites only' area, and began to evacuate the population. Over a period of years the entire area was razed to the ground. Most of it has never been built on. The poem was written just after the official end of apartheid. It was a time of hope - Nelson Mandela had recently been released from prison, and the ANC was about to become the government of South Africa. Tatamkhulu Afrika's life story is a complicated one, but knowing something about it will help you to understand the feelings expressed in this poem. In Unrelated incidents, Tom Leonard was born in Glasgow, and has continued to live there. He has described his childhood upbringing as 'working class West of Scotland Irish Catholic'
“Search for my tongue”, “Unrelated Incidents” and “Half-Caste”
Poems from Other Cultures: Comparison The 3 poems "search for my tongue", "Unrelated Incidents" and "Half-Caste" are all about language or accents. "Search for my Tongue" is about what it is like to live in a foreign country, away from home, and the cultures you are used to living in. The poet is talking about that she has 'lost' her Mother tongue (Gujerati) due to the foreign languages she has to use everyday. The poet treats the word 'tongue' literally in this poem "It grows back, a stump of a shoot grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins, it ties the other tongue in knots, the bud opens, the bud opens in my mouth, it pushes the other tongue aside." At the end of the poem the poet realsies that she can never lose her mother tongue (see quote above). What makes this poem unique to the other two is that is contains foreign dialect, as well as English pronunciations. This gives the reader the opportunity to experience her dilemma of having "two tongues" "Unrelated Incidents" Like 'Search for my Tongue' this is a poem about language and power. "Search for my tongue" refers to a foreign language, "Unrelated Incidents" refers to accents and dialects, comparing a Broadband Scottish accent to that of a 'BBC News reader', or poshly spoken English. The poem is written on how it would sound, which emphasises the point that perhaps a southerner has difficulties
'A piece of art, as well as being a creation to be enjoyed, can also be a mirror...If a country or culture lacks such mirrors it has no way of knowing what it looks like, it must travel blind' (Margaret Atwood).
'A piece of art, as well as being a creation to be enjoyed, can also be a mirror...If a country or culture lacks such mirrors it has no way of knowing what it looks like, it must travel blind' (Margaret Atwood). Examine the ways in which three of four poems create a 'mirror' of national or cultural identity. The mirror, according to the Collin's English Dictionary is a "surface that reflects light without diffusion and produces an image of an object placed in front of it. A thing that reflects or depicts something else." Mirror used as a verb means, "to reflect, represent or depict faithfully. A person may use a mirror to see what they look like. His or her physical features are portrayed on the surface of the mirror. The saying "a mirror does not lie" although outdated as well as overused is nevertheless true. The mirror shows all blemishes, 'warts and all' (Oliver Cromwell). It also shows the true beauty and wonder of a person. It depicts the intricacies, which can be examined and scrutinised. Used as a guide one looks to make one look more presentable. The mirror is an instrument used in the process of self-improvement. The figurative mirror then, which Margaret Atwood refers to, should be thought of in a similar fashion. A piece of art or poetry should act as a looking glass within which cultures and nations can seek identity. Poetry should enable them to look at their
Discuss with reference to two or three poems, the dilemma's caused by experiencing different cultures
Discuss with reference to two or three poems, the dilemma's caused by experiencing different cultures. I have not yet experienced culture but culture does have many meanings to me, it can be culture in clothing, the food I eat, the society I am in, media and most of all the greatest aspect in culture to me is religion. My religion is Islam and we belong to one culture, which is 'Islam'. The dictionary defines culture as . The destructive practices and beliefs of a society. In this essay I am going to talk about three essays, which were written by three different women who have suffered dilemmas caused by experiencing different cultures. The first poem I am going to talk about is called 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan'. Moniza Alfi wrote this poem and in this poem she shows that she has faced dilemmas caused by experiencing different cultures. Moniza Alfis' culture is lattened but eventually it will re-emerge. "They sent me a salwar kameez peacock-blue, and another glisting like an orange split open." This quote shows the way the eastern people dress and that she is and western person and this is one of the dilemmas caused by experiencing different cultures. "I longed for denim and corduroy, my costume clung to me and I was aflame" Moniza Alfi is an Indian woman who grew up in England and this quote shows that she prefers western, English clothing. Moniza Alfi
Muliebrity- Sujata Bhatt. The writer seems unwilling to let go to the memory of this girl and that unwillingness is portrayed in several ways throughout the poem.
Muliebrity- Sujata Bhatt Bhatt portrays the woman character in the poem as a strong (' Power glistening through her cheekbones') woman who is not ashamed of her job as this is her means of income. The writer seems unwilling to let go to the memory of this girl and that unwillingness is portrayed in several ways throughout the poem. Firstly you notice the free verse format of the poem. This makes the poem flow, like a memory and shows the poet is unwilling to compromise her memory or ides of the girl in order to conform to a more 'poetic' structure. She wants to keep her memory intact. By constantly repeating 'I have thought so much' Bhatt is emphasizing that she thinks the girl constantly and the memory of her seems like a precious treasure to the poet. The most effective way in which Bhatt conveys the importance of the memory to her and how unwilling she is of letting it go, is through the phrases 'unwilling to user for a metaphor for a nice image' and 'most of all unwilling to forget her or to explain to anyone the greatness...' By stating that she wont turn the girl into a metaphor for something nice (perhaps something you've seen in a tourist photo), Bhatt is emphasizing that the girls greatness is so grand that turning her into anything else would not do her justice. She wants to remember the girl exactly like she was, not comparing her to something else. In the
Anaylis of Search for my Tongue
2 November 2006 Analysis of "Search for my Tongue" by Sujata Bhatt This poem has three sections, although it is only split into two stanzas. There are two parts of English, with a foreign language sandwiched in between. There is no rhyme scheme in the poem and no deliberate rhythm. It is written just like somebody speaking, and indeed when it starts with, "You ask me what I mean," it seems as though it is just carrying on from a previous conversation. The language is very simple, possibly because the English bits are meant to be the bits that are foreign to the author. "Search for my Tongue" is a poem about speaking a foreign language, and living in a foreign country, for a long period of time. It talks about losing the "mother tongue," and this being a bad thing. There are many ways of expressing this. In the first stanza, there is a lot of mention of "the mother tongue" and "the foreign tongue." This shows a very sharp contrast between the two languages the person speaks. We associate "foreign" with something very different and strange, which is what the new language is to her, where as a "mother" is probably the most familiar thing to the majority of people. This really shows the strangeness of speaking a new language. It then moves on to say that "if you lived in a place where you had to speak a foreign tongue- -your mother tongue would rot." The language used here is
Search for my toungue by Sasha Bhatt
Search For My Tongue by Sujata Bhatt Search For My Tongue is a poem written by Sujata Bhatt. She was in Ahmedabad, India, and learned to speak, read and write the English language when immigrating with her family to the United States. Because her primary language and dialect is Gujarati, the language used in her poems is very simple. The poem starts off with Bhatt answering a question, her answer explains what the question was and so shows that she is having a conversation with someone. She asks the person what would they do if they had two tongues. This is of course an analogy and is meant to represent language and culture, so the real question she asks is what would you do if you had two cultures and couldn't understand the foreign one "I ask you, what you would do if you had two tongues in your mouth". She further mentions the idea of tongues, and asks what the person would do if he/she had to languages, and lost their native language, their mother tongue, and was forced to know, live and speak the foreign tongue. "If you had two tongues in your mouth, and lost the first one, the mother tongue, and could not really know the other, the foreign tongue". She explains that if you were to live in a place spoken in foreign culture and language, then your culture, and your language would rot and die "And if you lived in a place you had to speak a foreign tongue". Bhatt uses
How do the poets represent the importance of 'roots' in their poetry? Consider how the social and cultural identity of the poets is paramount to the development of the main themes.
Other Cultures How do the poets represent the importance of 'roots' in their poetry? Consider how the social and cultural identity of the poets is paramount to the development of the main themes. The four poems that I will be comparing all describe how the poets feel about their roots, background and cultural heritage. Although they are all based on the same issue, they have many different features that are quite different. John Agard is the author of 'Half-Caste'. He was born in Guyana and then moved to Britain in 1977. In 'Half-Caste' the poet is feeling discriminated and he wants to put across that he is one person and by calling him half-caste, they are taking away half of his identity. The author of 'Search For My Tongue' is Sujata Bhatt. She was born in India in 1956 and then moved to the USA in the 1960s. She now lives in Germany. In 'Search For My Tongue' the poet can speak two different languages, her original language and her second language, English. She is saying that her original language is being forgotten, but then discovers that it is returning and progressing. 'Nothing's Changed' was written in South Africa in 1997 by Tatamkhulu Afrika. The poem is autobiographical and was written after apartheid had been abolished in 1994. In 'Nothing's Changed' the poet is saying that even though apartheid had been abolished, he still feels that racism is still around
Comparing 'Search for my tongue' with 'Presents from my aunt in Pakistan' Search for my tongue and Presents from my aunt in Pakistan are two poems that explore
yy Comparing 'Search for my tongue' with 'Presents from my aunt in Pakistan' Search for my tongue and Presents from my aunt in Pakistan are two poems that explore from a personal viewpoint what is like to grow up in unfamiliar and different culture. Both poems consider the conflict that exits when a person tries to fit into a new culture. Search for my tongue considers what it is like when you feel you are losing your culture while presents from my aunt in Pakistan considers how to regain ones culture. 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. When she had visited Pakistan she felt very English because her culture background was affecting her more than she realised. At the start of the poem there is a strong sense of image, which helps to build up a feeling of beauty. We first see the idea of culture in this poem in the clothing from Pakistan, which shows a rich sense of colour and beauty. When these clothes are later compared to with the 'cardigans form Marks and Spencer's' it is easy to see how one culture appears to 'splash out' with colour in the various items of clothing, like the Salwar Kameez. In the first stanza the beautiful clothing and strong visual continue but this beauty also has a dangerous side because the bangles she receives snap and cut her giving a