Comparing Search for my Tongue and Presents From My Aunts in Pakistan
The writer, Moniza Alvi, reveals her past in her poem Presents from my
Aunts in Pakistan. The poem shows the reader her feelings for
Pakistan, the country she was born in. The line "of no fixed
nationality" sums up the mood of the poem, that because she lives in
England, speaks English but is from Pakistan, she does not seem to
belong anywhere.
The poem Search for my Tongue, written by Sujata Bhatt, is similar to
Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan, The line "I thought I spit it out"
refers to the metaphor the whole poem is based on, that to speak two
languages, to be a part of two cultures, is just as difficult as
speaking with two tongues at once.
While both poems are to inform the reader about the awkwardness of
being of mixed race, the authors go about it in different ways. Moniza
Ali shows the contrast in cultures by making the description of her
presents from her aunts in Pakistan as vivid and exciting as possible:
"glistening like an orange split open" and "embossed slippers". This
creates an image in the reader's mind of Pakistan being a vibrant,
exciting place. Moniza Ali compares this with the clothing she herself
would prefer: "jeans and corduroy" just so that she can fit in with
her friends. This makes the reader emphasize with her struggle to
belong.
Sujata Bhatt uses a different technique to inform the reader about the
struggle to belong. She uses the two meanings of "mother tongue", the
first meaning being the tongue you literally speak with and the second
the language you first learn to speak. This is her way of showing the
reader how she is afraid not to remember her past and her native
language.
Both poems use nature to help their poems come to life; in Presents
from my Aunts in Pakistan Moniza Alvi uses fruits to describe the
vividly coloured presents: "orange split open,' "apple green sari".
“Like many immigrant offspring I felt intense pressure to be two things, loyal to the old world and fluent in the new, approved of on either side of the hyphen” (Lahiri, My Two lives). Jhumpa Lahiri, a Pulitzer Prize winner, describes herself as Indian-American, where she feels she is neither an Indian nor an American. Lahiri feels alienated by struggling to live two lives by maintaining two distinct cultures. Lahiri’s most of the work is recognized in the USA rather than in India where she is descents from (the guardian.com). Lahiri’s character’s, themes, and imagery in her short stories and novels describes the cultural differences of being Indian American and how Indian’s maintain their identity when moved to a new world. Lahiri’s inability to feel accepted within her home, inability to be fully American, being an Indian-American, and the difference between families with same culture which is reflected in one of her short stories “Once in a Lifetime” through characterization and imagery.
Art originally in earlier cultures had a different purpose. Currently people create art for an aesthetic purpose for others to view in galleries, theaters, or museums creating distance for the audience. Initially art was created for purposes other than aesthetics, and people participated and interacted with the art and artist. This intertwined relationship between humans and art is especially seen in the Dineh and Wilbiri cultures. These two groups created drypaintings. People in both these groups directly interacted with the paintings instead of viewing them from a distance. Currently, there is a sense of distance instead of interaction. In these groups, humans participated directly with the artist and the art itself. In both these cultures, the people touched the drypaintings to evoke a response from the holy spirits. This physical interaction and participation with the dry paintings is termed contagion. The Dineh and the Walbiri both practiced contagion in different ways in order to evoke holy spirits because of similar religious beliefs, but their purpose for eliciting assistance from the Gods was different. Through contagion, both these cultures come into contact with the holy spirits.
The story is about two sister who currently lives in America. It has to deal with moving to the United States in the 1960’s. Both sisters moved to the United States in hope to pursue their dreams and to achieve they goals with college and further education. Both having similarities in appearance and religious values. Both Bharati and her sister Mira had planned to move back to their homeland India after their education. This story relates to our point of culture having a major impact on how people judge each other because it has a huge impact on how people view the world differently because, in this example, I feel manipulated and discarded. This is such an unfair way to treat a person who was invited to stay and work here because of her talent” it is basically stating on how even immigrants (like the sisters themselves) who have come into the U.S., are sometimes given fewer benefits and rights than everyone else and that they feel discluded from being able to express themselves if they wanted to, or to have good thoughts that America is as good as people has said it was, with all this freedom. The last example is, I feel some kind of irrational attachment to India that I don’t to America. Until all this hysteria against immigrants, I was totally happy.” This demonstrates that it isn’t the country itself that makes people unsafe or unsure, it’s the people running it who try to put limitations
...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.
The source is about the meeting of an Indian that came right into the colony. He spoke broken English. He asked them for a beer, instead they gave him food and water. Around evening time the colonists were ready for him leave. He described the area and the inhabitants there to the settlers. They also gave him a coat, a very nice coat. He was not ready to leave, so the colonists were going to put him aboard ship, but they could not get to the ship. So they gave him a room Stephen Hopkin’s home where they watched him carefully. The next day he went back to Massasoits, who was the Chief of the Indian tribe. He informed them that the Nauset Indian tribe were enemies of the Europeans because they had taken some of the Native Indians and sold them into slavery. As the Native American was leaving they gave him a bracelet, a knife and a ring, and he promised to return within a day or two. He was going to bring Massasoits and others from the tribe and beaver skins. He actually spoke broken English, he had learned some English being around English fishermen. He asked for a beer, and instead they gave him strong water, biscuit with butter and cheese, duck and some pudding.
Has culture ever influenced you? Despite cultures huge place in the world, I think culture does not influence the world. I believe that culture does not influence the world because, no one is going to change their thoughts on a person just because of their culture. For example if someone loved another person then the find out the other person is from an Indian culture would that person hate the other just because there Indian?
In the poem “Calendar Fragments” by a Qee’esh Indian, the two themes of Native American literature are displayed. The theme of “all things in nature are related and should be respected” is evidenced when the Indian writes, “February… the season of sprouting… snakes crawl forth and frogs sing, trees awaken and put out leaves”. By this, the Indian probably means that due to the trees putting out their leaves and everything sprouting, the snakes and frogs come out. This shows the interdependence between the two aspects of nature - animals and plants. The animals use the trees as a sign that it’s time to appear from their hibernation; eventually, a whole ecosystem evolves that revolves around the plants. Next, the theme of “all things in nature
The purpose of going every day to classes and studying is to increase our knowledge and applies these sciences to benefit the nation. After this long semester, my horizons have expanded via many different information and activities that we practiced in the class. I have written four essays that are completely different from one another. In addition, of the big research that we have been working on at the end of the semester. I lived with my imagination during writing about each of the Chinese learning center, , Flavi's home and Arranging a marriage in India.
The Essay written by Amy Tan titled 'Mother Tongue' concludes with her saying, 'I knew I had succeeded where I counted when my mother finished my book and gave her understandable verdict' (39). The essay focuses on the prejudices of Amy and her mother. All her life, Amy's mother has been looked down upon due to the fact that she did not speak proper English. Amy defends her mother's 'Broken' English by the fact that she is Chinese and that the 'Simple' English spoken in her family 'Has become a language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk' (36). Little did she know that she was actually speaking more than one type of English. Amy Tan was successful in providing resourceful information in every aspect. This gave the reader a full understanding of the disadvantages Amy and her mother had with reading and writing. The Essay 'Mother Tongue' truly represents Amy Tan's love and passion for her mother as well as her writing. Finally getting the respect of her critics and lucratively connecting with the reaction her mother had to her book, 'So easy to read' (39). Was writing a book the best way to bond with your own mother? Is it a struggle to always have the urge to fit in? Was it healthy for her to take care of family situations all her life because her mother is unable to speak clear English?
My father immigrated to the United States when he was ten years old. He worked hard in his childhood and strived to become the first member of his family to attend college. While I was growing up he had only two requests for me: that I only do what I truly enjoy doing and that I don’t forget my Indian heritage.
The poem is about the early stages in the narrator’s pregnancy. The doctor gives her news that the baby may be unhealthy. In a state of panic, we see the narrator turning to the methods of her homeland and native people to carry her through this tough time, and ensure her child’s safe delivery into the world. Da’ writes, “In the hospital, I ask for books./Posters from old rodeos. /A photo of a Mimbres pot /from southern New Mexico /black and white line figures—/a woman dusting corn pollen over a baby’s head/during a naming ceremony. /Medieval women/ingested apples/with the skins incised with hymns and verses/as a portent against death in childbirth” (Da’). We not only see her turning to these old rituals of her cultural, but wanting the items of her cultural to surround her and protect her. It proves her point of how sacred a land and cultural is, and how even though she has been exiled from it, she will continue to count it as a part of her
The way that Zitkala Sa narrated and used diction throughout the first chapter of “Impressions of an Indian Childhood” displays that she had a blissful childhood, and she has not yet realized the negative identity associated with her Indian background. Her word choice is what noticeably strengthened the impression that she remembered her early years as a time of happiness, and she had a good awareness of her culture’s identity. For example, Zitkala Sa wrote, “I was a wild little girl of seven. Loosely clad in a slip of brown buckskin, and light-footed with a pair of soft moccasins on my feet, and no less spirited than a bounding deer” (zitkala sa). She was a very cheerful, young girl ready to explore. The imagery she uses throughout, describing the scenery, much like she explored a
Food is one of the most important parts of celebrations for, births, deaths, and marriages around the world. It is an important staple in everyday living and a person cannot survive without it. Food and culture are closely intertwined, cultures of every part of the world go to considerable lengths to obtain and prepare meals for important celebrations. In this paper I hope to inform you of the different staple diets of Africa, some important celebrations that use food in their celebrations, and the culture that completes the circle. I will answer some questions of why food is important and what types of foods are common uses in today’s African society.
Humans have an appetite for food, and anthropology as the study of human culture can discover a lot through the eating ideas and behaviours of various cultures. Throughout the world many different countries and different cultures have different dining etiquette and rules. This is something often taken for granted. From personal experience working on cruise ships, where many different cultures mix in a small environment, what seemed to stand out to me were the differences in dining etiquette. Unfortunately, to the point where some colleges preferred to eat in a separate dining area with members of similar cultures, as what was taken for granted by those with European dining etiquette was completely foreign to others, notably those with an Indian background, this was on occasion to the point of ridicule and scorn. The importance of food in understanding human culture rests in its vast changeability, a changeability that is not central for species survival. For survival needs, people everywhere could eat the same food, yet people of different cultural backgrounds eat differently.
Here again Lahiri displays her deft touch for the perfect detail -- the fleeting moment, the turn of phrase -- that opens whole worlds of emotion. The self- assurance and intellectual adequacy with which Lahiri handles her subject matter is peculiar to her alone. Lahiri has particularly focused on the of ‘Alienation’ which results in loss of identity turns a person into a pathetic figure, his voice being an echo, his life a quotation, his soul and brain and his free spirit a slave to things. The rootlessness of Indian English novelists tend to threaten their creative talents and force their work to follow a more or less fixed pattern giving at times the impression of superficiality and stereotypedness. Her stories reveal more sensitive issues of first and second generation immigrants. Lahiri