Explore the ways in which two or three of these poems present the :: English Literature

Explore the ways in which two or three of these poems present the experience of living between two cultures and the difficulties it causes. The two poems I am choosing are "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" and "Search for My Tongue". "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" is written by Moniza Alvi, a woman who was born in Pakistan but moved to England at an early age. Her mother was from England and white, her Father was Pakistani and so black. This makes Moniza 'half-caste', as well as the aunts in poem being from her father's side. Her poem begins with a description of the gifts her aunts send her; "They sent me a salwar kameez peacock-blue, and another glistening like an orange split openà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦" The gifts are clothes in the typical Pakistani style, long tunic and loose trousers of blue and orange. Yet her indisposition towards the clothes is hinted at by her description of the first set of clothes. Peacock blue suggests that she feels like a peacock in them, showing off and flamboyant, something she doesn't want to be. They make her uncomfortable and self conscious. The next set of clothes show us the passage of time for Alvi with more clothes from her aunts. Yet as in England, and as she puts it, school, fashions change. The salwar bottoms are now broad and stiff then narrow towards the bottom. She tries on the clothes in sitting room, unwrapping them with her parents. She tries each one on and feels alien, as she puts is, to them. She doesn't' full reject them, but they are too exotic for her, too lovely for her. She acknowledges that they are pretty and acceptable clothes, but she cannot feel at ease in them. She longs for 'normal' clothes; "I longed for and corduroy." The clothes to her are a costume, something for other times, not now, "My costume clung to me and I was aflame, I couldn't rise out of this fire, half English, unlike Aunt Jamila." The clothes she is wearing are no doubt brightly coloured, perhaps like the orange ones from before. They seem like flames to her, and to others she presumes. They are too exotic, too foreign, and they draw too much attention. She cannot rise out of their flames; she cannot be seen through them. When people look at her wearing those, they will see the clothes, not a person. The clothes identify her as Pakistani, not English. That would be alright if she was sure of her own background, but she is not. By wearing those clothes her balance of ethnicity is thrown wildly askew. Explore the ways in which two or three of these poems present the :: English Literature Explore the ways in which two or three of these poems present the experience of living between two cultures and the difficulties it causes. The two poems I am choosing are "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" and "Search for My Tongue". "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" is written by Moniza Alvi, a woman who was born in Pakistan but moved to England at an early age. Her mother was from England and white, her Father was Pakistani and so black. This makes Moniza 'half-caste', as well as the aunts in poem being from her father's side. Her poem begins with a description of the gifts her aunts send her; "They sent me a salwar kameez peacock-blue, and another glistening like an orange split openà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦" The gifts are clothes in the typical Pakistani style, long tunic and loose trousers of blue and orange. Yet her indisposition towards the clothes is hinted at by her description of the first set of clothes. Peacock blue suggests that she feels like a peacock in them, showing off and flamboyant, something she doesn't want to be. They make her uncomfortable and self conscious. The next set of clothes show us the passage of time for Alvi with more clothes from her aunts. Yet as in England, and as she puts it, school, fashions change. The salwar bottoms are now broad and stiff then narrow towards the bottom. She tries on the clothes in sitting room, unwrapping them with her parents. She tries each one on and feels alien, as she puts is, to them. She doesn't' full reject them, but they are too exotic for her, too lovely for her. She acknowledges that they are pretty and acceptable clothes, but she cannot feel at ease in them. She longs for 'normal' clothes; "I longed for and corduroy." The clothes to her are a costume, something for other times, not now, "My costume clung to me and I was aflame, I couldn't rise out of this fire, half English, unlike Aunt Jamila." The clothes she is wearing are no doubt brightly coloured, perhaps like the orange ones from before. They seem like flames to her, and to others she presumes. They are too exotic, too foreign, and they draw too much attention. She cannot rise out of their flames; she cannot be seen through them. When people look at her wearing those, they will see the clothes, not a person. The clothes identify her as Pakistani, not English. That would be alright if she was sure of her own background, but she is not. By wearing those clothes her balance of ethnicity is thrown wildly askew.