From Moniza Alvi's poetry, how do we learn about the challenges of
living between two cultures?
Moniza Alvi writes many poems based on the difficulties she faces
whilst living between two cultures and I am going to explore these
difficulties through the following poems: - "The Sari", "Throwing out
my Fathers Dictionary", "an Unknown Girl" and "Presents from my Aunts
in Pakistan." Firstly, I am going to discuss her poem "The Sari" which
is a metaphorical poem telling us what happened to her in early life.
The poem begins, "Inside my mother I peered through a glass porthole",
which creates an image of a baby in the womb. It then continues to
say, "the world beyond was hot and brown", which suggests that she was
born in Pakistan.
The second stanza represents her Pakistani life consisting of a
father, servants and animals; "They were all looking in on me -
Father, Grandmother, the cook's boy, the sweeper-girl, the bullock."
This shows us the differences between the Pakistani and English
culture and also what her life would have been like if she had stayed
in Pakistan. The phrase "the bullock with the sharp shoulderblades"
uses a repetition of soft consonants suggests a feeling of calmness at
being somewhere she knows she belongs. The third stanza links her
Pakistani and English roots, "My English grandmother took a telescope
and gazed across continents", giving the notion that her Grandmother
wishes for he upbringing to be in England. The use of the word "gazed"
in particular gives an impression of great eagerness.
The third stanza begins with her journey from Pakistan to England;
"All the people unravelled a sari. It stretched from Lahore to
Hyderabad." This suggests that the unravelling sari is showin...
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...ttempts to recreate herself in their
culture. As you can see, Pakistani beliefs are very different to those
held by the English.
Moniza Alvi's poetry is deeply influenced by her cultural influences.
This is obvious because the majority of her poetry is based on the
difficulties of living between two cultures. Her poetry is also
influenced by fashions in writing. Her style is very modern and
contrasting to pre-20th century poets, and this enhances younger
reader's appreciation of the text.
In conclusion, Moniza Alvi was privileged to have lived between two
cultures because it meant that she was welcomed into two communities
and had the opportunity to experience different ways of life. However,
all good things come at a price and for this she suffered the issues
of not knowing where she fit in, which values she held and having high
family expectations.
This term paper was written to shine a little light on one of America’s extraordinary women, Maya Angelou.
While reading "Courage Courses through Maya Angelou's story; Writer and activist agrees social problems persist" by Fish Griwkowsky. Maya Angelou is a very strong individual, not physically but mentally. Her life struggles and the strength she was able to maintain through those devilish times of her life made her the successful person she is now. She worked hard enough to become an iconic writer, poet, even in front of major films as an actor/filmmaker. Only hard work and dedication can get people where they want to be in life. Maya Angelou took risks and sacrifice, those hard times she went through gave her the strength to be successful. (Griwkowsky)
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The question is: What do you think the grandmother meant when she said to the Misfit, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” Why do you think the Misfit killed her when she said that? Since the question is two parts, I’ll answer it in two parts.
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Being Israel’s third largest city, Haifa is one of the most diverse and unique cities in Israel. Haifa as a city is a mosaic that has been defined by a variety of qualities that have been portrayed through literature, in particular poetry, ranging from a time period beginning in the early 20th century to the late 20th century.
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