Poems from other cultures - Search for my tongue - Sujatta Bhatt

Cluster 2 poem

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Content

  • Expressing how difficult it is to be bilingual because you are never sure which language to use.
  • Making the point that it is difficult to be part of 2 cultures when you are unsure whether you actually belong to either.
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Setting

  • Not obvious; it is in the thoughts of the woman.
  • Her mouth becomes the setting, in her dream, as it turns into a growing garden.
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Themes

  • Cultural Identity: Belonging to 2 different cultures and the problems it causes;
  • Belonging: The need for people to fit in with certain groups to give them a sense of belonging.
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Style

  • Image - positive significance
  • Harsh diction
  • Repetition
  • Assonance - negative diction
  • Gujerati - positive diction
  • Metaphor
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Quotes

  • L2 - 'lost my tongue'
  • L12-13 - 'would rot, rot and die'
  • L14 - 'spit it out'
  • L33 - 'it ties the other tongue in knots'
  • L35 - 'it pushes the other tongue aside'
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Links

  • Origins and Cultural identities: Unrelated incidents, This room, Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan, Hurricane hits England
  • The difficulty of belonging to 2 different cultures: Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan, Hurricane hits England
  • Alienation: Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan, Hurricane hits England
  • Respect for ancient traditions/cultures/language:Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan, Hurricane hits England, Unrelated incidents.
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