A Comparison of Search for My Tongue and 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 slight
sense of confusion which builds up slowly throughout the poem.
In stanza two it is obvious that the clothing is not what she wants.
She fells that it doesn't suit her that it is gorgeous but also to
simple for instance 'alien in the sitting in the room' (line 17). This
shows that she prefers a more dull type of clothing, as shown in the
second part of the stanza. 'I longed for denim and corduroy' (line
20-21). This shows that her British clothing is what she prefers. The
Pakistani clothing 'sets a flame' and she can't 'rise out of its
think this is good as it is original. I also think it makes the poem
Imagery uses five senses such as visual, sound, olfactory, taste and tactile to create a sense of picture in the readers’ mind. In this poem, the speaker uses visual imagination when he wrote, “I took my time in old darkness,” making the reader visualize the past memory of the speaker in “old darkness.” The speaker tries to show the time period he chose to write the poem. The speaker is trying to illustrate one of the imagery tools, which can be used to write a poem and tries to suggest one time period which can be used to write a poem. Imagery becomes important for the reader to imagine the same picture the speaker is trying to convey. Imagery should be speculated too when writing a poem to express the big
...t she has put on a new “costume” and is now a completely different person. The stockings are “night-black” representing the backyard and its negative connotation. In line twenty, the author writes that she wants to “strut down the streets with paint on [her] face,” again emphasizing Brooks’ new rebellious nature since crossing over into the backyard. The “paint” suggests that her rebellion is just and act, and as soon as she removes the paint, she can return to the front yard if she pleases. The repetition of “and” at the beginning of the last three lines illustrates Brooks’ desire to completely rebel against her mother and the front yard life since it shows how she wants to rebel in so many ways. The main theme of the poem highlights the desire people have to experience what they do not have and live life on their own terms.
The sonf has a definite rhyme scheme which lends itself well to the theme of the poem.
...es her. The imageries of pink Mustang signifies her social class, while “Road” indicates her location as nowhere within a community. The commodification of her body means it can be touched in ways derogatory to her dignity whether she likes it or not because it is a saleable commodity that doesn’t belong to her. Her silver painted nipples identifies silver coins. Silver coins represent monetary value put on her body. Silver painted nipples also mean the attractive way in which a product is packaged. The poem also depicts the defiance of women against how she has been treated. She identifies man as the one that kisses away himself piece by piece till the last coin is spent. However, she cannot change the reality of her location, and temporal placement.
to the powerful imagery she weaves throughout the first half of the poem. In addition, Olds
The elements in the poem work very well together to help set the theme of this poem. The tone set the overall mood of the poem, so show that it was rushed but not in a chaotic way. The imagery helps to show us little details of the setting, which are very helpful. And finally, the figures of speech, help the reader to compare the scene to things they have experienced in their lifetime to fully understand the poem.
I believe that the structure of this poem allows for the speaker to tell a narrative which further allows him to convey his point. The use of enjambment emphasizes this idea as well as provides a sense of flow throughout the entirety of a poem, giving it the look and feel of reading a story. Overall, I believe this piece is very simplistic when it comes to poetic devices, due to the fact that it is written as a prose poem, this piece lacks many of the common poetic devices such as rhyme, repetition, alliteration, and metaphors. However, the tone, symbolism, allusion and imagery presented in the poem, give way to an extremely deep and complicated
vivid words and picturesque landscapes that lead to your heart.The theme of the poem is
This poem helps us to recognize and appreciate beauty through its dream sequence and symbolism. The poem opens with the Dreamer describing this
Imagery is a key part of any poem or literary piece and creates an illustration in the mind of the reader by using descriptive and vivid language. Olds creates a vibrant mental picture of the couple’s surroundings, “the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood/ the
In other words, the words used by the poet are very powerful to give a vivid imagery of the poem to the readers which persuade them for the deep interpretation of this poem.
There is a lot of sensual imagery in this poem. Mainly we hear and see
Along with the imagery we get from the title, there is a lot of imagery within this poem. Let us start with the first three lines:
poem have a happy mood but it is the way he has made the poem very