From : Search For My Tongue

1. 1 From : Search For My Tongue Poem written in two languages • Gujarati • Poetic language • Internal rhymes • Complex imagery • Extended metaphor – language as plant • Poet able to express sophisticated ideas • English • Language a little simple and childlike • No sense of poetry • written to suggest a lack of education • Implies frustration at being unable to express ones thoughts Ideally would only need lines 1-17 + Gujarati Last section = transliteration • Could link with: • Presents from – expressing difficulties coping with two cultures/ two languages • Unrelated – specific language references

2. 2 ‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan Pakistani Salwar kameez Candy striped glass bangles An apple green sari Camel skin lamp Indian gold jewellery Mirror work Fretwork at the Shalimar gardens English: denim and corduroy a sitting room cardigans from M& S a cot in my grandmother’s dining room A tin boat A poem which talks about how difficult it is to try to cope with two different culture at the same time. ‘I was there of no fixed nationality’ Could link with:- Search for My tongue – confusion over language Hurricane – living in one culture yet harking back to another Words or phrases which emphasis the conflict:- Bangles snapped, drew blood Each satin-silken top alien in the sitting room My costume clung to me and I was aflame The jewellery was stolen from the car – it did not belong – she feels she does not belong.

3. 3 from : ‘Unrelated Incidents’ Tom Leonard Poem discusses how some people are inclined to make assumptions based on the way other people speak. Throughout we sense his annoyance at the fact this happens • Glaswegian v RP [ Received Pronunciation] • Widny wahnt mi ti - wouldn’t want me to • Yooz doant no thi trooth – you don’t know the truth • Assumption:- • A strong regional dialect might make someone assume that what is being said is NOT the truth Viewpoint. Expresses his anger at this SET OUT LIKE An AUTOCUE this is thi six a clock news thi man said n thi reason a talk wiya BBC accent iz coz yi widny wahnt mi ti talk aboot thi trooth wia voice lik wanna yoo scruff. if a tokaboot thi trooth lik wanna yoo scruff yi widny thingk it wuz troo. • Links with:- • Search for My – frustration over lack of communication due to language • Half-Caste – viewpoint (anger)/ dialect used • Not My Business – unusual layout/structure

4. 4 English weather Half-Caste: John Agard Picasso Tchaikovsky • Structure: • Wake up call to audience • Puts forward his argument • Challenges preconceptions • How it’s written. • Only punctuation forward slashes • In dialect • Irregular verses • No rhyme Viewpoint Anger and frustration that the term is being used at all. Using the references (Picasso, Tchaikovsky, weather) he forces the reader to acknowledge the term is meaningless. Possible links: Unrelated – tone/ dialect Use of 1st Person Not My + Unrelated – structure/ layout • Delivery:- • Adopts calypso style to the spoken word • Anger when he has to stop after ‘ah rass’ • Direct address to audience – challenging – but still dry humour

5. 5 Form: Verse and refrain ‘Not My Business’ Niya Osundare Based on actual historical events between 1993 – 1998 under General Abacha in Nigeria Possible links: ‘This Room’ – clear setting in different culture. Whereas many of the others in the cluster express problems REMEMBERING another culture. But only three refrains because they take him away before he can get to it • Language Features:- • the violence of the beating • violence of attacks • Sacked for no reason • the total surprise at the end Moral: Makes us think about ourselves Think about what human beings are capable of Puts us directly into a different culture (violent language) • Specific cultural references: • Names of the victims • What he’s eating

6. 6 Hurricane Hits England: Grace Nichols Theme: An unexpected event reconnects the author with her past life and her true identity. It now almost becomes a physical connection. Then we get the moment when she connects with the ‘hurricane’ and reconnects with Guyana. ‘O why is my heart unchained’ Meaning freed/released ‘break the frozen lake’ ‘shake my foundations’ I can now be myself where ever I am Events described in the third person at the start of the poem. Suggests that to start with author not connected with where she is. Possible links: ‘Presents’ – in that poem the poet does not connect: in this one the poet does. This Room – 1st/ 3rd person narrative The questions become more direct as her confidence increases – ‘Talk to me ….Tell me …What is the ……? Then she gently begins to question the hurricane. There is a sense of her being respectful towards it.

7. 7 7 ‘This Room’ Imtiaz Dharker ‘This Room’ Imtiaz Dharker The claustrophobia, gloom and dark atmosphere Is replaced by space, light, empty air Could link with:- Love After Love – in its celebration of another culture…….. or …….with another poem where the tone is negative rather than so positive. The bed- scene of dreamt and actual nightmares – and dark corners are illuminated and liberated. Unlike most of the other poems in the cluster this one is CELEBRATORY The ordinary and domestic join in. Even she has left her feet – stuck on the ground – and has joined the celebrations. A poem full of the joys of life where everything joins in.

8. 8 ‘Love After Love’ Derek Walcott In comparison to some of the other poems this is a very personal piece. Walcott celebrates his own history and culture. • Poetic Devices:- • mixture of end-stopped/ enjambed lines • most ‘classic’ poem Christian imagery in the bread and wine references After all the searching Walcott writes about that moment when you stop taking a role and become yourself. Phrases which show he has discovered his true identity:- …love again the stranger who was yourself. …..feast on your life. Phrases which suggest he has been role-playing:- …..greet yourself in your own mirror …peel your own images from the mirror

9. June 2007 • How does Sujata Bhatt show that identity is important in ‘from Search for my Tongue’? Compare the methods she uses with the methods another poet uses to show that identity is important in one other poem.