Comparing poems from different cultures. Essay - 877 Words

Comparing poems from different cultures. Many poems deal with the theme of cultural identity. I have chosen three to compare, they are: Search For My Tongue, by Sujata Bhatt Half-Caste, by John Agard and Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan, by Moniza Alvi. I chose these three poems because I feel that they all deal with different aspects of cultural identity. For example Search for my tongue covers the aspect of losing your native tongue and using a ‘foreign’ language, Half-Caste addresses the point of racism and stereotyping, whilst Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan highlights the issues of alienation and not being able to fit in with either side of your family. Search For My Tongue is quite unusual as instead of†¦show more content†¦yu instead of you and de instead of the. This poems theme bases itself on not judging people at face value and not putting people into ‘boxes’. This poem to me seems less formal than Search For My Tongue even though they are both written in the first person. The poem first starts in Common English and introduces its self by saying he’s a half-caste and he stands on one leg. This small phrase actually sends across quite an important message, so its saying ‘ if you call me half-caste, does that mean I am half a person or I stand on half of myself?’ The poem then changes into Caribbean English where it gives the reader ‘evidence’ for not calling people half-caste. This is done by using examples like; ‘†¦Wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas’ Picasso would do this all the time but society wouldn’t call it a half-caste canvas, they’d call it a master piece. Another example of this is; ‘†¦Wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean tchaikovsky sit down at dah piano an mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony’ When composers right music they use the whole range of the instrument available, but again we do not call these creations half-caste. This way of explaining makes you understand why people from mixed race, like the writer John Agard, get frustrated and upset when people use the term half-cast. He then goes on to sayShow MoreRelatedComparing Poems from Different Cultures786 Words   |  4 PagesComparing Poems I am going to be talking about their methods that the poets use to explore the connection between people and the places in which they live in. The poems that I am comparing are Hurricane hits England and Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan. 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