Does the environment have an effect upon culture in the poems “Blessing” by Imtiaz Dharker and “Night of the Scorpion” by Nissim Ezekiel? Consider the attitudes of the poets towards both the environment and the culture of the scenes they observe.
India; one place; many cultures. Two poems describing two cultures with the effect affected by the environment. I will be investigating the poems “Blessing” by Imtiaz Dharker and “Night of the Scorpion” by Nissim Ezekiel and how the environment of the country affects the writing of the poems. I will be considering the climate and environment, the people in both environments, the culture, religion and superstitions of the people and the sounds, images and styles that the poets use to express their ideas.
Both of these poems are set in India where the dry season can reach tremendous temperatures of 40 degrees centigrade. In the poem “Blessing”, this is shown in the very first two lines where it states, “The skin cracks like a pod/ There is never enough water.” These two lines are blunt and factual statements. From here, we can immediately see what kind of environment the poem is set in. “The skin cracks like a pod” tells us that the people suffer great dehydration as their skin is cracking when it should be moist and flexible. This is a simile comparing our skin to something that has died like a pod that is shrivelling up. The second line “There is never enough water” simply tells us the facts of how they live. It tells us that wherever they go, they may find some water but it will never be enough for the whole family let alone the community. The environment of “Night of the Scorpion” though is very contrasting. Here we have the same place but in the rainy season but this rain does have...
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...hem a negative sense of feeling throughout the community. Lastly, it is a use of juxtaposition as they are saying God in a positive and religious form but then the narrator was thinking the exact opposite as they are sounding annoying and like flies.
In conclusion, I think that the environment does have an affect on the culture and way of living of the people as it would determine the ways in which they live but also the religions they have. This is because they would all have their own superstitions and then have religions come from them saying that a god has brought a “blessing” to them as in the poem “Blessing”. Both poems are written in the same place but with different ways because of the environment therefore having a different season; rain and dry. This would then determine what they do in these times and how they deal with their beliefs and superstitions.
Various moral and physical environments can greatly influence the beliefs, ideas, and decisions people make. Our moral environment shapes people's surrounding climate of ideas, influencing how they live. Our physical environment is what individuals depend on, even though it is extremely fragile. Whether one admits it or not, atmospheres can affect everything that occurs in life, and can significantly change people's quality of life over the years. Understanding this concept in depth can be difficult. Furthermore, you might find yourself in a spiral of questions and concerns on how exactly these environments affect human beings. Blackburn's Being Good and Nottage's Sweat give exquisite examples and inferences on how we are affected from the
The two poems that I have selected for the Analytic Paper are “Blue Light Lounge Sutra For The Performance Poets At Harold Park Hotel” and “Thanks” by Yusef Komunyakaa. The former was read and analyzed as part of a class discussion early on in the quarter while the latter is a piece never analyzed, but closely related to another that was examined for its content and stylistic techniques (“Facing It”, Penguin Anthology, page 441). Though both were written by the same author, there are specific discrepancies in rhythm and wording that create artistic differences that suit the subject of each piece.
Both these poems do indeed have unique interpretations, depending on the reader. However, the methods that the two great poets used to make send those powerful messages are sometimes similar, but in this case largely different. Once one looks past the similarities of man entering water, the two poems have entirely different stories to tell, in very contrasting ways. Each poet has used effective diction, as well as very striking symbolism and imagery. The fact that they are different just shows how many ways there are to write a great poem, the only thing needed in common is the desire, feeling and will.
Both authors use figurative language to help develop sensory details. In the poem It states, “And I sunned it with my smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.” As the author explains how the character is feeling, the reader can create a specific image in there head based on the details that is given throughout the poem. Specifically this piece of evidence shows the narrator growing more angry and having more rage. In the short story ” it states, “We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among bones.” From this piece of text evidence the reader can sense the cold dark emotion that is trying to be formed. Also this excerpt shows the conflict that is about to become and the revenge that is about to take place. By the story and the poem using sensory details, they both share many comparisons.
Being a culture under pressure from both sides of the contact zone, there needs to be passion and emotion or else the culture might disappear into history. Anzaldua’s text makes great use of passion and emotion while merging the ideas of multiple cultures together through the tough experiences in her life. Autoethnographic texts give perspective to outsiders on how a culture functions from the inside point of view. Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” excellently portrays her culture’s plight and creates a fiery passionate entrance for her culture in their uprising through the contact zone.
Throughout the story there is a constant comparison of White culture and Indian culture. It begins with the narrator noticing a difference in landscaping between the two cultures. ." . . there is always beauty
Literature shows us the changes of our society from time to time. It also gives us an idea about people, culture, politics, gender traditions, as well as an overall view of previous civilizations. As a part of literature, poetry introduces us to different cultures with different perspectives. Ancient Egypt and ancient China may differ in terms of culture, politics, economic stability, tradition, or even in religious belief. However, in poetry, especially in love lyrics both Egyptian and Chinese poems portray common area of describing women, social attitudes toward love, sexuality and the existence of romance or selfishness in relationships. . If we look at the Egyptian poem “My god, my Lotus” and the Chinese poem “Fishhawk”, we will see both poems have similarities in describing relationships. Also, they have the similarity of imagining the lovers and their expression of love toward each other. However, both poems have some significant differences in terms of representing female sexuality, gender disparity and the display of love.
The environment in which you live shapes up your life, it determines who you become. Many people grow up in a great environment full of good influences, but that's not the case for everyone. There's several children that grow in an environment that has many negative influences especially for children. For instance, in the book Black Boy Richard Wright grew up in an environment full of violence, poverty, and racism. Those traits affected Richard Wright throughout his entire life. Richard Wright had trouble adapting to many things in life, and struggled a lot
The setting that surrounds a group of people directly correlates to how they interact with each other and with outside groups. Their environment affects their religion, education, conflicts, and culture. The type of crops that can be grown, the resources that are available, and the conflicts that they engage in are all dependent on the environment surrounding them.
The House of the Scorpion is a book about a guy named Matt Alacráno as he struggles to survive and establish his own identity. The story is set in the future and mostly takes place in Opium, a strip of land separating the United States from Mexico. Matt is a clone of the powerful drug lord El Patrón who over 140 years old. A majority of Matt’s life is being held in captivity. His early years were peaceful but secluded childhood where he was raised by Cecilia. After Matt figured out that he was a clone he was moved to El Patrón’s House.While living at the mansion be befriends Tam Lin, his bodyguard, and Maria, his romantic interest. At this time clones were despised by everyone which made Matt fit in even less. The drug lord demanded that everyone
The world is affected by culture, and in many countries if not all, base their ways of life around culture. For example, English culture influences kids in England to be proper, speak properly, and also eat properly. This is the case with many countries around the world. Many cultures teach young children to respect other’s way of life, to co-exist peacefully with different people, and also influence what we eat, the way we talk and pronounce things, and how we perceive things.
Poetry is way to express one’s opinion on a certain topic. In the poems found in the collection Songs for Ourselves, one of the common themes is of the natural world. The natural world encompasses many different subtopics. It includes everything around us, such as the sky, the people who surround us, or even something as simple as a single bird. These poems use imagery to relay their message to the reader with multiple types of literary devices. The methods used and the message given may be different, but all of these poems do communicate a theme. The poems The Spring and Eel Tail both convey their own special meaning to the reader through the imagery in their poems.
Kubla Khan is a fascinating and exasperating poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (. Almost everyone who has read it, has been charmed by its magic. It must surely be true that no poem of comparable length in English or any other language has been the subject of so much critical commentary. Its fifty-four lines have spawned thousands of pages of discussion and analysis. Kubla Khan is the sole or a major subject in five book-length studies; close to 150 articles and book-chapters (doubtless I have missed some others) have been devoted exclusively to it; and brief notes and incidental comments on it are without number. Despite this deluge, however, there is no critical unanimity and very little agreement on a number of important issues connected with the poem: its date of composition, its "meaning", its sources in Coleridge's reading and observation of nature, its structural integrity (i.e. fragment versus complete poem), and its relationship to the Preface by which Coleridge introduced it on its first publication in 1816.
Cultures play an extremely important role in our nationality because it determines who we are, what we eat, how we dress, what language we speak and how we behave. These are all the aspects of the cultures that are passed down from generation to generation. However, cultures can also be affected by many other factors. According to Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s theory (Kohls 1981), one of the factors that can have an impact on cultures is nature. As explained in Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s theory, there are five common human concerns which are the human nature, man-nature relationship, the idea of time, activity, and social relationship with others (Kohls 1981). One of the human concern that shows nature can impact cultures is the man-nature relationship.
Through out times and across cultures, Nature plays a dominant role in poetry because its symbols share out the poet's sadness, dreams, and feelings. Because of that poets recognize the importance of landscapes and nature and use them as symbols throughout their poems. Only by meditations, they can easily find in nature's elements. Most of their required symbols enable their readers to understand their ideas clearly.