The People in Night of the Scorpion and My Aunt in Pakistan
Compare the way in which the poet presents the people in Night of the
Scorpion and Presents from my Aunt in Pakistan.
We live in a world of many cultures and each has it is own way of
communicating and two very different poems reflect this. In order to
compare and contrast the traditions which have become apparent within
the poems; ‘Night of the Scorpion’ by Nissim Ezekiel and ‘Presents
from my Aunts in Pakistan’ by Moniza Alvi, further analysis must take
place. With retrospect of the poem ‘Night of the Scorpion’, the
content explains the reactions of the villagers and surroundings to an
incident whereby the poet’s mother was “stung by a scorpion”. It is
evident through comparison of the second poem; ‘Presents from my Aunts
in Pakistan’, differences between cultures and traditions produce
diverse reactions. A prime example of this is visible as Moniza Alvi
feels “an alien in the sitting room” when wearing clothing originating
from her native country.
In relation to ‘Night of the Scorpion’, the poet Ezekiel attempts to
identify with his personal memories of his mother as she “twisted
through and through, groaning on the mat.” Through deeper analysis,
it became indisputable that Ezekiel merely narrated the experience as
apposed to providing his individual viewpoint. Therefore, it became
noticeable that the vocabulary required further interpretation, as the
use of language within this poem articulates to the reader, the poet’s
line of thinking. An example of this was detectable as Ezekiel
displayed signs of sympathy towards the scorpion using the “steady
rain” as the reason it crawled “beneath a sack of rice.” Ezekiel’s
tone of voice aided th...
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... think extremely hard on
matters such as different cultures and traditions. Night of the
Scorpion was easier to understand even though the title was
misleading, nevertheless Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan showed how
hard it was to have been growing up in England and not knowing which
culture, you fitted into. I have learned from Presents from my Aunts
in Pakistan that it is important to know where come from, which I
think Moniza Alvi was lacking as a child. From Night of the Scorpion
I’ve learned that having faith can help you get through the most
serious of problems even if there life threatening. Over all I think
my favourite poem out of the two must be Night of the Scorpion, as I
think it has an excellent morel and gets it across really well. I also
like Night of the Scorpion because it make’s you think about the poem
long after you have read it!
Different cultures and religions have many different customs and rituals. In Islam it is common practice for women to be covered from head to toe. In Tibetan Buddhism it is common for devotees to practice asceticism. In Hopi culture and religious tradition food and sex play large and important roles, although in different situations the roles may be completely opposite.
The poetry by these two poets creates several different images, both overall, each with a different goal, have achieved their purposes. Though from slightly different times, they can both be recognized and appreciated as poets who did not fear the outside, and were willing to put themselves out there to create both truth and beauty.
of the poems and it is the one that contains the most warnings. In the
When considering the structure of the poems, they are similar in that they are both written loosely in iambic pentameter. Also, they both have a notable structured rhyme scheme.
of Time" by Robert Herrick, and "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell. Herrick's poem,
..., they are somewhat similar in comparison because they both have an inevitable ending, death. Both of the poems also used rhythm to give the reader a better insight and experience. The use of rhythm helps to set the tone right away. The use of symbolism and tone helped to convey an overall theme with both of the poems.
Poem Comparison of Mr bleaney by Philip Larkin and In Memory of My Grandfather by Edward Storey
at any time and can have a great impact on us. I think both poems have
In regards to culture, every person has a certain personality that dictates which philosophies he or she displays. Our culture does not completely
as our upbringing and culture, so our choice is not one of our own but
...s, and demons. Upon a deeper inspection, I feel the two poems are reflective of Poe himself. Poe was a troubled soul that dealt with these themes during the course of his life. This could be an indication as to why the dark themes is so prevalent in these poems. Regardless of the reason for the similarities, much like the darkness that surrounded Poe’s life, the connected correlations of these poems will persist evermore.
Lets start by understanding that cultures are a melting pot of people’s beliefs, language, behaviors, values, material objects, and norms. Norms are written and non-written “expectations of behavior” that govern a certain location, place, or culture (26). These norms also vary from culture to culture meaning what is a norm in the U.S may not be a norm in India. For example, a norm in America would be tipping a waiter after a meal. Another would be acknowledging someone as you walk past him or her, typically done at work or in a public place. In all, norms are folkways, mores, taboos, and written laws that are an established standard of one’s behavior.
I have chosen “To the virgins to make much of time” as my second poem
This is amusing as not thought of as the norm and shows how society is
This world is full of different cultures, that we should get to know better. There are a lot of different cultures in this world, and different cultures sometimes label other cultures because of the way they cat and look. We should try to learn from each from each others culture. Its important to learn from each others culture because it might change the way outsiders perspective is about different cultures, It might help compare how different and similar cultures can be, and It can show that everybody isn’t really different from one another. It can be a great experience to show outsiders about your culture.