“identity is our sense of self.

“Identity helps define reality”

“If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up
as a different person?” -

“Integrity simple means not violating one's own identity.”

“To be idle requires a strong sense of personal identity.”

“Identity is such a crucial affair that one shouldn't rush into it.”

Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan and Search for my tongue both show people thinking about their 'roots'.
How does each poem convey their thoughts and feelings?

Compare the two poems, 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan' and 'Search for my tongue' -
Both poems shows people thinking about their roots and how each poem conveys their thoughts
and feelings.

Choose two poems that deal with the experience of living

between two cultures, and show how this experience is
reflected in the language of the poems.
Choose two poems that made you think about your own
sense of cultural identity, and explain what you found
interesting in the poems.
What the examiner will look for
When marking your essay, the examiner will look to see whether you
have appreciated and explored the:
• descriptions
• ideas
• attitudes and tones
They will also look to see if you have explored the techniques
[techniques: In English, we refer to literary techniques. Authors
deliberately use literary techniques to emphasies or make a particular
point. Examples are: alliteration, blank verse, dramatic irony, hyperbole,
imagery, metaphor, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, paradox, personification,
repitition, simile, symbolism. ] used by the poets.
When answering an exam question, keep these four criteria [criteria: A
set of benchmarks, or rules, on which something or someone can be
evaluated. ] in mind.
Eg:

In 'Night of the Scorpion' and 'Vultures', the use of description is

both vivid and surprising. The descriptions often lead the reader
to expect a certain conclusion or tone and then the poets' use of
description changes and this changes the reader's anticipation of
how the poems might develop; this is what makes the poems
thought-provoking and surprising.
The title 'Night of the Scorpion' sounds like the sort of name a
horror film might be given. This is misleading because this poem
is not like a horror film at all. Instead of the scorpion being the
enemy, the poet 's description of the scorpion's circumstances
leads us to feel sympathy for it. He has been 'driven' into the hut
by 'ten hours of steady rain'. The use of the word 'driven'
suggests that this is a last resort for the scorpion. He really does
not want to be there, but he's desperate to be dry and quiet, so
he crawls 'beneath a sack of rice'. At this point, we do not see the
scorpion as an object of fear or horror as the title of the poems
suggests. Ezekiel's sympathy for the scorpion is contrasted with
the moment that the scorpion stings his mother - 'flash' reflects
the sudden and shocking moment of the sting. His tail is
described as 'diabolic' and the neighbours call the scorpion 'the
evil one'; the repetition of the alliteration 'parting with his poison'
helps the reader feel the sudden and dangerous nature of the
sting because the P sounds quick and harsh.
Similarly, the title of the poem 'Vultures' leads the reader to make
assumptions about what the poem is about. In fact, the poem is
not really about vultures at all. The vultures are a symbol for an
idea that the poet wants to explore: the idea that love can be
found in unexpected places. The description of the vultures is
harsh and the imagery is of death and violence. The opening
alliteration helps set a tone that sounds negative - the dawn is
described as 'despondent' and drizzly. The hard sound of the D
rings through these opening lines - the vultures sit on a 'broken
bone of a dead tree'. Sunrise is 'sunbreak' and it's grey. There is
no anticipation that this will be a happy or sunny poem and yet,
unexpectedly, the vulture inclines his 'bashed in head' to nestle
affectionately against his mate. This one description of love is
immediately followed by more images of the repulsive and
macabre as the eating habits of the birds are described vividly
and stomach turningly.
Both poems use unexpected changes of mood to engage the
reader with the ideas of the poems. We start off feeling sympathy
for the scorpion, but are left thinking perhaps this really is a
diabolical creature. With the vultures, we feel that they represent
something depressing and violent and yet we are surprised by
the affection between the two birds. Both poets use description of
place and the activities being carried out in them to develop the
ideas explored in the poems. Again, these descriptions lead us to
question assumptions we might have made about the poems.
In 'Night of the Scorpion', the description of the activity of the
neighbours leads us to feel irritated by them even though they
have arrived to help the mother; they are described in a way that
makes them seem annoying, like flies:
'The peasants came like a swarm of flies'
This simile is continued: they 'buzz' and fuss and 'click', this
irritation is surprising because the neighbours are trying to help.
They bring equipment with them:
'More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,'
This repetition of 'more' also helps the audience to feel that the
neighbours are relentless and irritating as they try to help and
pray for the bitten mother. The lack of sympathy from the poet
can be heard in the repetition of 'they said'. He has disassociated
himself from their behaviour, which seems to him to be unhelpful.
Many of the lines in this section begin with 'may', which makes
what the neighbours say sound like a prayer or incantation and
the poet finds these incantations and superstitions pointless. His
descriptions make the mud hut sound claustrophobic. It is full of
lanterns and candles and shadows and clicking tongues and it
continues to rain. The repetition of 'and' helps to build this feeling
of pressure and tension. We can see why the scorpion would
want to escape the hut, and we feel that the poet would like to as
well.
The mud hut is alive with activity and pressure to do something.
In contrast, the charnel house of the second stanza in 'Vultures' is
surprisingly calm. Again a surprising image because even the
word 'charnel' conjures up images of death, and, in the context of
this poem, violence. Even more surprising is the personification
of love in the charnel house tidying up. This stanza begins with
one word - 'strange'. Set alone on a line, it causes the reader to
pause and evaluate. It is strange, not that love exists in a charnel
house - death does not mean that we stop loving people - but
that her behaviour is so ordinary; she tidies up, chooses a corner
and goes to sleep, 'her face turned to the wall!' Why? There are
implications here that after death, we tidy up our memories of
people, perhaps make them 'cleaner', but in the end, the idea of
death is a hard thing to face so we try to avoid it and turn away
from it. So, ultimately, perhaps this idea is not 'strange' at all.
The descriptions of places and people in these section of the
poems are highly descriptive and thought-provoking. In the mud
hut, the help offered by the neighbours is unwanted and the poet
feels it is pointless and intrusive. The atmosphere is busy and
irritating. In the charnel house description, there is an
atmosphere of calm and ordinariness. Both these descriptions
are surprising. In the 'Night of the Scorpion', you might think that
the help would be welcomed; in the charnel house, you are
surprised that love is so calm and serene in such abnormal
circumstances.
Another point of similarity between these poems is that they both
describe fathers. At first glance, the Commandant in 'Vultures'
has nothing in common with the father in 'Night of the Scorpion',
but closer inspection reveals more.
The father in 'Night of the Scorpion' is described as 'sceptic,
rationalist'. The simple sparse use of these two words reflects his
nature. He is logical and thoughtful, probably a man of few words
and the poet seems to admire these qualities in his father. But
when faced with the possible death of his wife, he becomes
illogical and desperate. The following list of all the things he tries
to do to help his wife is a sharp comparison with the usual
'rationalist' approach to his life. We suspect that the poet is not
impressed at this point. The reason for his sudden change of
character is because he loves his wife. He wants to help, but
does not know how. He is helpless and children do not like to see
that in their parents. We sympathise with the poet's
disappointment with his father.
The Commandant similarly loves his children. Although described
as an ogre; a man who 'roasts' other human beings, he is also
referred to as 'Daddy'. This childish word reminds us of his home
life as a father who wants to buy a treat for his children on his
way home from work and we understand how his children feel
about their father. We can see from the rest of the description
that the poet has no respect for this man. In fact, his description
leads the reader to hate him. He buys treats for his 'tender
offspring' while he smells of the equally tender people he has
barbarically committed to death that day.
The two fathers from these poems are alike in some ways - the
description of them shows that they are loved and admired, but
also that they are capable of things that are not admired. Again,
the descriptions in the poems develop sudden and contrasting
elements to their personalities.
Finally, both poems explore the many facets of love. 'Night of the
Scorpion' looks at the love a son has for his father and a husband
for his wife, but, ultimately, the love a mother has for her children.
The final three lines of the second stanza of 'Night of the
Scorpion' reveal this point. After all the fuss and worry of the
neighbours and the father, the mother finally says something.
Having been silent throughout the poem, she thanks God that
she was bitten and not her children. It is a simple and calm
thanks set aside from the frantic activity of the rest of the poem
by the use of a new stanza. The conclusion of 'Vultures' is more
ambiguous. The last stanza raises many questions about love. It
asks if it is a hopeful sign that a vicious and evil man can love his
children, that there is a 'tiny glow-worm' of love and compassion
in him. But it also asks if that is enough - the ogre can love his
 children, the vulture can love his companion, but if love is only felt
for family members then it means that acts of cruelty and violence
can be carried out against everyone who is not in the family.
For me, the conclusion of 'Vultures' is rather negative. The whole
tone of the poem and the use of imagery is negative and
depressing. I don't think the poets feel there is much hope that
the world will love everyone enough to end violence and acts of
atrocity. The message of 'Night of the Scorpion' is simpler - time
heals and love is a plain simple thing that does not announce
itself, it just is. For this, this conclusion is positive, but rather less
thought-provoking than that of 'Vultures'.
Question: Compare ‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’ with one other poem, showing how the poets
reveal ideas and feelings about their identity

Answer: Both poems reveal ideas and feelings about their identity. In ‘Presents from my
Aunts in Pakistan’ and ‘Search for my Tongue’, the poets put across the conflict they must
abide with when having a different cultural background to that which currently surrounds
them.

Moniza Alvi employs an array of metaphorical language to describe her feelings. An

example of when she uses metaphorical language in ‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’
is in the lines 7-8: “Candy-striped glass bangles snapped, drew blood”. This is of course a
metaphor for her broken links in Pakistan and the phrase “drew blood” emphasises on her
severe approach to this issue. Similarly, the poet Sujata Bhatt expresses her strong
feelings on this matter through the use of metaphoric language and imagery in ‘Search for
my tongue’. In fact – the poet even decides to include some Gujarati phonetics. What this
does is that it makes us able to hear the sounds of the poem, and the visual contrast to the
rest of the poem could be symbolic of the assumption that those with no fixed nationalities
are looked at in a different light to society. Moreover, she uses her two nationalities to
create an image of two tongues competing in her mouth in line 33: “it ties the other
tongue in knots”. The effect that this has is that it creates a somewhat unpleasant image
in the readers mind; and thus likely causing the reader to sympathise with the poet and
the subject matter.

A range of feeling and attitudes are also present right through both poems. In ‘Search for
my tongue’, the poet conveys her feeling of uncertainty. To further emphasise this, a note
of confusion is present right through the poem. For instance, at the start of the poem the
poet asks “what would you do if you had two tongues in your mouth” and near the end, in
line 38, the poet declares “I think I’ve lost my mother tongue”. In my opinion, here the
poet makes an attempt to reassure herself that having two tongues has made her a
stronger person rather than a social outcast. However, this isn’t the case with ‘Presents
from my Aunts in Pakistan’. In this particular poem, Moniza Alvi is deliberately informative
and commanding. It’s as if the sole purpose of the poem is to educate the reader about the
grief she has to put up with and how she does not feel like a member of society. The
quotes “and I was there – of no fixed nationality” and “My salwar kameez didn’t impress
the schoolfriend” are just some examples of her feeling of isolation. The impact that this
has is that it gives the reader a feeling of guilt and sorrow.
Another thing to note is the structure of the poems. They both seem to have a rather
diverse layout; in ‘Search for my Tongue’, the structure is fairly dense because the poem
consists of three full-length stanzas, whereas in ‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’ there
are seven short stanzas. I think the reason why Sujata chooses to have three long stanzas
is to accentuate on the visual outcast (the Gujarati scripture) and to also make the piece
conversational. The poem ‘Search For My Tongue’ directly addresses the reader numerous
times. For example, the quotes “if you had two tongues in your mouth” and “if you lived in
a place you had to speak a foreign tongue” show this. In fact, the poem opens with the
phrase “You ask me”. These lines are dialogical and have a major impact on the rest of the
poem. It creates a more personal atmosphere which will therefore appeal to the reader’s
emotions – escalating on the level of sympathy gained by the poet. On the other hand, the
poet who wrote ‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’ could have perhaps uses shorter
stanzas to show that she cannot speak fluently due to the cultural and social mix. It also
shows that her life is broken up into sections which don’t overlap; this could signify that
the two cultures are completely separate and do not tie in well together.

To conclude, both Moniza Alvi and Sujata Bhatta reveal similar ideas and feelings about
having two fixed nationalities. I found the poem ‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’
particularly interesting because it showed the evil whims of modern day society and the
effects one may have from this................?

To conclude, both Moniza Alvi and Sujata Bhatta reveal similar ideas and feelings about
having two fixed nationalities. I found the poem ‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’
particularly interesting because it showed the evil whims of modern day society and the
effects one may have from this. I thought the tragic end to the poem was amazing as it
showed that there was literally a physical barrier stopping her from being part of Pakistan,
and thus giving the poem a more factual tone overall.

In tro: Both poems explore and explain the fact of coping with two unlike cultures. We will be looking at how

each poet conveys their thoughts and feelings about their culture through their poems. We will also explore

the way the poets explore their 'roots'. Our group will also attempt to look at the following points in the

poems: the similarities and differences in the poems, the structural and presentational devices used and the

poet's use of language. 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

...gifts but feels awkward wearing them because she is more comfortable in English clothes. The poem is full of
associated, sometimes contrasting images. An example of a contrasting image is '... of no fixed nationality staring
through fretwork in the Shalimar gardens.' Fretwork is basically decorative carving and the Shalimar gardens is an
ornamental ark in Lahore, her hometown. The girl describes how life in England differs from life in Pakistan. She talks
about the salwar kameez as 'alien' but wanting cardigans from Marks and Spencer's. The way the women live is
somewhat different from that of England. For example her aunts were in shaded rooms, screened from male visitors
whereas the women in England go out freely. Last but not least she feels that she has lost her Pakistan identity.
There are many words and phrases in the poem that would agree with this statement. Some of which ...
intro ;

Both poems shows people thinking about their roots and how each poem conveys their thoughts and
feelings. In this essay I will be evaluating two poems from different cultures and traditions. Both poems
'Search for my tongue' and 'presents from my aunts in Pakistan' are about true identity and searching for
your roots. 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan' is mainly about a girl who is of mixed race and how she
describes the gifts of clothes and jewellery sent to her in England by her Pakistani relatives. There is no
rhyme scheme and the poem is written in free verse. Free verse simply means that the phrases are
arranged loosely across the page. It is divided into stanzas of varying length. The girl contrasts the beautiful
clothes and jewellery of India with English clothing

The views of conflict between language and identity in "Search for my

Tongue" and "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan".

Everyone has an identity; your age, personality and gender make up who you are. Your native language
and culture can affect how you see yourself and how others look at you. In “Search for my Tongue” it is
the poets original language that is central to her identity, whereas in “Presents from my Aunts in
Pakistan”, how she dresses and her family customs are the important ideas of identity.

The two poets structure their poems in very different ways to express their feelings about
their different languages, cultures and what makes up their identity. “Search for my Tongue” uses three
main stanzas to explain her problem. Lines 1-15 describe her being fluent in two languages, English and
an Indian language, Gujarati. Sujata Bhatt uses the picture of having

“two tongues in your mouth”

to explain it accurately. The middle stanzas, (Lines 16-30) in Gujarati are when she is dreaming in her
mother tongue. The final stanza, (Lines 31-end) is a translation of the Gujarati and describes her mother
tongue growing back everytime she feels she has lost it. This structure shows the problem of her identity
with the Gujarati in the middle, as it is her main problem. In contrast, “Presents from my Aunts…” has a
very random structure with varied line lengths to reflect on the poet’s confusion over her identity.

Read more in Poetry

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At the start of “Search for my Tongue” the poet uses a conversational tone like she is talking to the reader
for example,

“you ask me what I mean… I ask you, what would you do”

whereas, in “Presents from my Aunts…” uses conflict at the beginning to describe how Pakistan and
England contrast in every way possible. Like the bright colours of the salwar kameez, “peacock blue and
another glistening like an orange split open” are very different from the mainly dulled colours of Western
clothes she preferred to wear.

The middle stanza of “Search for my Tongue” in Gujarati is shown visually and emphasises a big
difference from English. It is also spelled phonetically in English so we can read it and see its difference to
English. Instead, “Presents from my Aunts…” uses the poet’s lack of knowledge about Pakistan to create
pain and uncertainty of where she belongs. Moniza Alvi feels uncomfortable when she tries on the
Pakistani clothes and feels an “alien in the sitting room” making her feel out of place in England.

Both poems use metaphorical language to show their ideas on their identity and language. “Presents from
my Aunts…” uses metaphors like

“there was a conflict, a fractured land”

to show her own feelings of not fitting in. The split in Pakistan is compared to the poet being split between
England and Pakistan and not feeling welcome in either country. However, in “Search for my Tongue” she
uses metaphorical language to describe her mother tongue growing back like a flower,

“Everytime I think I’ve forgotten… it blossoms out of my mouth’

Each poet uses different poetic techniques to add effect to their poem. In “Presents from my Aunts…” she
uses the line “candy stripped glass bangles snapped, drew blood” to suggest how like the bangles broke
so did her links with Pakistan. “My mother cherished her jewellery- Indian gold, dangling filigree. But it
was stolen from our car”. This could show how the theft of her mother’s jewellery in England could be a
metaphor for England stealing her Pakistani identity.

However “Search for my Tongue” uses many different techniques to add effect to the feelings within in the
poem. The repetition of

“Rot, rot and die in your mouth” and spit it out, I thought I spit it out’

strengthens the unpleasant image of a tongue dieing inside you. The final stanza has many uses of plant
imagery implying the two fighting tongues to be alive and growing stronger. The mother tongue is
described as a growing plant where it says “grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins”. Also the
repetition of “grows” and the word “strong” makes the mother tongue sound healthy and well built. The
repetition of “the bud opens- the bud opens in my mouth” shows suspense as the mother tongue trys to
take over the other. The poet then shows the native tongue as part of nature with a strong life of its own
with “it pushes the other tongue aside”. The final line “it blossoms out of my mouth” is the plant metaphor
completed with the image of the plant bursting out as a flower. “Search for my Tongue” is different from
“Presents from my Aunts…” as it uses many poetic techniques to give it its effect and to make it
believable. Whereas, “Presents from my Aunts…” uses mainly ideas of objects and people to compare
England and Pakistan. Although they are both different in this way the way they use poetic techniques
they still give a similar effect of feeling left out and different from people around them.

There are many similarities between how the two poets express their feelings. The woman in “Search for
my tongue feels uncertain of her real identity and thinks that by living in another country she may lose her
Indian culture and language. Similarly, the teenage girl in “Presents from my Aunts…’ feels she does not
know her “real” self and seems an

“alien in the sitting room”.

Both poets also feel stuck between different cultures and out of place in their countries. The difference
between the two poems is that in “Search for my Tongue” the woman’s tongue returns to her when she
thinks she has lost it,

“it blossoms out of my mouth”.

However in “Presents from my Aunts…” the teenage girl never finds her “real” self and still longs

“for denim and corduroy”

I enjoyed both of these poems but I preferred “Presents from my Aunts…” as I felt I could relate to it
better. This is because Moniza Alvi’s description of the confusion of her identity can be understood by
many of us, regardless of our background. Whereas, I feel “Search for my Tongue” is only easy to
understand if you have your own experience of her problem.
Read more: http://bookstove.com/poetry/searching-for-identity/#ixzz180udocko

Search for my Tongue and Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan both

show people thinking about their 'roots'. How does each poem convey
their thoughts and fe
Search for my Tongue and Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan both show people thinking about their 'roots'. How
does each poem convey their thoughts and feelings?

In "Search for my Tongue" and "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan", the poets are conveying to the reader the
strong feelings they have about their roots, and how it affects them in everyday life.

Both poems talk of women who have Asian roots, but are now living in other countries.

In Search for my Tongue the poet tries to express to the reader, how very strange it feels to have been brought up
with one language, and to have to give it up to make space for a new language.

Her language is something very important to her, it isn't just a language but it also represents her culture and identity.

The poet feels that, because, she has had to speak this new language, and live a new way of life, that she is losing
her native language, culture and identity.

The poet conveys her feelings by using strong images that show exactly how she feels.

'And if you lived in a place you had to speak a foreign tongue,

>From this stanza you can really picture the native, unused tongue, rotting, a

Moniza Alvi was born of mixed parentage, her father being Pakistani and her mother English.
She was born in Pakistan but moved to England at a young age. This poem expresses her
confusion in her search for her identity. The tradtional clothes that her aunts sent her from
Pakistan are a symbol of a part of her, but only a part of her, and one that she does not feel
entirely comfortable with.

The first stanza describes the clothes that were sent: two 'salwar kameez' outfits, which
consist of a tunic dress and trousers. The beautiful vivid colours are described, the second one
with the simile 'glistening like an orange split open'. Alvi tells us that the style of the salwar
trousers changed, just as fashions in England change: they were 'broad and stiff, / then narrow.'
The aunts also sent oriental pointed slippers, described as 'embossed', 'gold and black', as though
they were very decorative. There were also bangles that were 'Candy-striped', but Alvi relates
how these broke and 'drew blood'; this seems to be symbolic perhaps of the fact that her life in
Pakistan was cut short. The first stanza ends with a description of a green, silver-bordered sari
that the writer received as a teenager.
The second stanza relates how Alvi tried on these clothes 'each silken-satin top' - but felt 'alien'
in her sitting-room. There is a definite sense here that the two cultures conflicted. Alvi seems to
have felt a degree of inferiority when she says 'I could never be as lovely / as those clothes'. She
wanted the 'denim and corduroy' that were typical of England. She describes how the Pakistani
clothes 'clung' to her and uses the metaphor 'I was aflame', but, unlike the phoenix, she could not
rise from the fire, and thus could not take on the Pakistani identity. She contrasts herself with one
of her aunts, emphasising that she herself was 'half English, / unlike Aunt Jamila'.

The shorter third stanza focuses on a camel-skin lamp owned by her parents. Here again, there is
a conflict of ideas: Alvi wanted the lamp, but looking at it in her room she simultaneously
thought of the cruelty involved in making the lamp and admired its colours which she describes
with the simile 'like stained glass'.

Stanza four switches to a comment on Alvi's English mother who 'cherished her jewellery'. The
jewellery was Indian, and it was stolen from the family car; this perhaps symbolises the fact that
the mother did not belong to the Asian culture. Alvi then alludes once more to the Pakistani
clothes

What is from 'Search for My Tongue' about?

• The poet explains what it is like to speak and think in two languages.
• She wonders whether she might lose the language she began with.
• However, the mother tongue remains with her in her dreams.
• By the end, she is confident that it will always be part of who she is.

Structure
The poem is written in three sections:

• The poet expresses how hard it is for her to know two languages, but neglect the
one she feels most belongs to her.
• She explains these ideas in Gujarati.
• She then translates her thoughts for us into English (so lines 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'.

Language
Now think about the language that is used in the poem.

How many meanings does the word 'tongue' have in the poem? Consider these:

• It is a part of the body - the part you speak with.

• It has also come to mean the language that you speak.
 • The phrase 'lost my tongue' (line 2) is used in a colloquial sense to mean that
someone is tongue-tied and does not know what to say.

Imagery
Read the poem carefully and see where Sujata Bhatt plays with these meanings. For
example, she imagines that knowing two languages is like having 'two tongues in your
mouth' (line 4).

The poet compares her tongue to a plant, as she develops her ideas. This is called an
extended metaphor. The lists below describe some of the ways in which her mother
tongue is compared to a plant. Try to complete the second list, using the phrases in the first
one as a guide:

Mother Tongue

• 'would rot / rot and die' (line 13)

• 'it grows back' (line 31)
• 'grows strong veins' (line 32)
Why it is like a plant

• plants die in the wrong environment

Why do you think this image is so successful? Look at the contrasts it includes:

• Some of the imagery is quite startling, when she imagines that the 'mother
tongue' might 'rot and die in your mouth' (line 13), as the second ('foreign')
language takes over.
• The lost tongue grows back at night when she dreams in Gujarati - like a plant
that seems to have died, but then starts to bud and grow strong and beautiful
('blossoms') again.
Why do you think that the poem begins in a colloquial way (using everyday language), but
uses such striking imagery towards the end?

Sound
Try reading it aloud. The Gujarati script is transliterated into a phonetic English version in
brackets, so even if you don't know any Gujarati, you can still have a go.

If the poem says more or less the same thing twice, might it just as well be written in one
language only? What do you think would be lost if the Gujarati disappeared?

Tone

In what tone of voice do you think the poem should be read?

• Mournfully, because she feels that she has 'lost' her 'mother tongue'?
 • Angrily, because she feels forced to use her 'foreign tongue' when she does not
really want to?
• Triumphantly, to show that she regains her beautiful 'mother tongue' at night in
her dreams?
Select a short quotation to justify your choice.

What do you think the poet wants us to see about the importance of a mother tongue to
someone living in a different culture?

Teacher's note
If you are ready to practise writing a full answer, you should spend 40 minutes on this, and
write about two poems. In the exam itself, you will only have 30 minutes for this question.

For each poem:

• Make it clear what the poet is writing about.

• Refer to anything you know about the context of the poem which helps you to
understand the poems.
• Remember to comment in detail about how the poem is written, referring to
particular words and phrases.
• What do you think the poet has to say about the past, and the way it relates to
the present?
If you would prefer to concentrate on just Sujata Bhatt's poem at this stage, write for 20
minutes.

In writing about this poem, you could include short paragraphs about:

• Her personal experience of two cultures.

• The way the poem moves between two languages.
• The image of the two tongues in this poem.
If you want to practise writing a full answer, you could also write about the poem by Chinua
Achebe, Tutamkhulu Afrika, Imtiaz Darker, Nissim Ezekiel or Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

When writing about two poems, you should try to end by making a comparison between
the two. In what ways are the poems similar - in the style of language, or in ideas? In what
ways are they different?

Answer 1
The poem contains lots of similes and metaphors (imagery), similes is when you use
like and metaphors is when you don't use like. I liked the line about spitting it out
(tongue) it reminded me of a horror film.

Examiner's Note:
 • First sentence: pointless
• Second sentence: personal response, but needs developing
• Treatment of how the poem is written is poor - suggests G/F grade
Answer 2
The whole poem is about tongues really, there are lots of images of tongues. Sujata
describes her mother tongue as if it was something growing in her mouth, which gets
bigger or smaller. She thinks that if she doesn't speak Indian from day to day it will
die away. It's like, use it or lose it. But it never actually disappears because at night
the tongue 'blossoms out of my mouth', so it's come to life again.

Examiner's Note

• Gets hold of the importance of this image in the poem

• Understands what the poet is saying
• Suggests a C/B grade answer
Answer 3
In English, we use the word 'tongue' to mean 'language' as well as your actual
'tongue'. The poet compares knowing two languages to having two tongues in your
mouth, which she calls 'the mother tongue' and 'the foreign tongue'. She is afraid
that the mother tongue might shrivel away ('rot and die') like a plant with no roots.
But in the last part of the poem, the mother tongue seems to grow back during the
night, and 'push the other tongue aside'. It's like when she dreams, she dreams in
Gujarati, and this keeps the language alive for her. It connects her to her memories.
The image of two tongues growing in your mouth is weird, and a bit disturbing. You
can imagine how it would feel. But then it 'blossoms' which also suggests something
beautiful. I thought this was a memorable image.

Examiner's Note

• Clear explanation of a complicated image

• Short quotations to illustrate what is said
• Connects images to argument of poem
• Personal responses to the imagery
• Suggests A grade answer

• Glossary

Words Meaning

salwar kameez Loose trousers and tunic, traditionally worn by Pakistani women.

sari The traditional dress worn by women in India and some parts of Pakistan.
Words Meaning

mirror-work Asian clothing is often decorated in lots of tiny round mirrors.

prickly heat Severe itching caused by the heat.

Lahore The poet's birthplace in Pakistan.

fretwork Decorative panelling, with cut-outs so you can partly see through it.

Shalimar Gardens An ornamental park in Lahore.

• What is 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' about?

• The speaker in the poem, who is of mixed race, describes the gifts of clothes and
jewellery sent to her in England by her Pakistani relatives.
• She is drawn to the loveliness of these things, but feels awkward wearing them.
She feels more comfortable in English clothes - denim and corduroy.
• She contrasts the beautiful clothes and jewellery of India with boring English
'cardigans/from Marks and Spencer'.
• She tries to remember what it was like for her family to travel to England.
• Her knowledge of her birthplace, which she left as a baby, comes to her only
through old photographs and newspaper reports.
• She tries to imagine what that world might be like.

ructure and language

The poem is written in free verse: the phrases are arranged loosely across the page. It is
divided into stanzas of varying length.

Try reading the poem aloud. How does the arrangement of the lines influence your reading?
When there is no set pattern to a poem, the writer can always break a line to create
emphasis.

Listen to the difference, for example, between:

I longedfor denim and corduroy

and

I longed for denim and corduroy

Explain how the arrangement of

I...tried to glimpse myselfin the miniatureglass circles...

helps us to picture what the girl is doing.

Imagery and sound

The poem is a sequence of personal memories. I is repeated a lot in the poem. When
we are remembering things, our minds often drift from one image to another, in the way
that the poem does, and sometimes surprise us by fixing on odd details - like the 'tin boat',
perhaps (line 54).

The poem is full of associated, sometimes contrasting, images.

Here are two lists of words that describe things to do with Pakistani culture and things
associated with English culture.

Pakistani

Picture courtesy of Subhash Chandran

• 'A salwar kameez peacock-blue'

• 'Glistening like an orange split open'
• 'The presents were radiant in my wardrobe'

English

Picture courtesy of Jason R. Kessenich

• 'denim and corduroy'

• 'cardigans from Marks and Spencer'
Add to the lists and think about the words that the poet has chosen.

• What strikes you most strongly about the way the clothes from Pakistan are
described in the first stanza? How are the colours described?
• Why are English things referred to in such an ordinary way?
 • How does the England she knows contrast to the 'fractured land throbbing
through newsprint' of Pakistan?
• How else does life in England differ from life in Pakistan (especially for a
woman)?
• Does the girl feel that all the Pakistani objects 'fit' into an English way of life?
The final image in a poem tends to carry a particular significance - it's the one our
imagination is left with.

Picture courtesy of Faisal Jamil

• The speaker imagines herself 'there' in Lahore - somewhere she has been only in
her thoughts.
• However, she is 'of no fixed nationality'. This sounds a slightly threatening
phrase (there's a similar one - 'of no fixed abode' - which is used in law courts
when the defendant is homeless). Can you link this phrase with other words
earlier in the poem?
• The speaker imagines herself staring 'through fretwork' at the beautiful Shalimar
Gardens. Why is this such an effective image to end on?

Tone

Much of the meaning of a poem is conveyed by the attitude it expresses toward its subject
matter. 'Attitude' can be thought of as a combination of the poet's tone of voice, and the
ideas he or she is trying to get across to the reader.

How do you think this poem should be read?

 • In a confused voice, as if the girl cannot decide whether she is more Pakistani or
English?
• Wistfully, as if she regrets having lost her original culture?
• Gratefully, as she thinks about the beautiful, exotic gifts?
Select a short quotation to justify your choice.

In writing about Moniza Alvi's poem, you could include short paragraphs about:

• The poet's personal history, and how this links with the situation described in the
poem.
• The imagery of Pakistan and the imagery of England.
• What the poem says about the girl's thoughts and feelings

The girl in the poem doesn't quite know what to think about the presents. The way
she describes them makes them sound beautiful

peacock-blue

and

glistening like an orange split open

but also slightly dangerous, because the bangle 'drew blood', and she felt 'aflame'
when she put them on. They make her feel 'alien in the sitting room', when your
sitting room should be where you feel at home. The clothes remind her that she is
'half-English', which makes her feel uncomfortable. At the same time, she says the
clothes are 'radiant in the wardrobe' - even though she isn't wearing them, they
seem full of light and beauty compared with her other things. She is drawn to the
rich colours, the same as she is drawn to her mother's jewellery and her parents'
camel-skin lamp

marvel at the colours like stained glass

She realises that all this is part of her own family's past, and another side of her
identity. At the end of the poem, she tries to imagine how it might have been if she'd
lived in Lahore instead, and wonders would she have been more or less at home in
the other half of her background?

Examiner's Note:

• develops the ideas more fully than the other two candidates
• describes carefully the contrasted emotions
• connects the clothes to broader feelings about identity
• suggests an A grade candidate?