Search for my tongue Flashcards
(14 cards)
What is the form of search for my tongue
Free verse
Autobiography
What is the structure of search for my tongue
-made from 3 sections, English, Gujarati, English
-Gujarati section is at heart of the poem and grows out of middle
What are the themes of search for my tongue
-identity, culture, heritage, conflict, language, power, loss
What is the tone for search for my tongue
-conversational-allows reader to understand her perspective and empathise
-grieving
-highly emotive
What is search for my tongues central purpose
-what the fear is like to lose your mother tongues, we understand the challenges faced by being bilingual and we are invited to understand her experience
‘I have lost my tongue’
-lost links to the title or search
-she is showing how she has lost the ability to speak
-tongue links to mother tongues so she is referring to her native language
-tongues are usually hidden so her struggle is hidden internally, emphasised by the end stop
‘Two tongues in your mouth’
-metaphor provides visual imagery of her difficulty
-conversational tone talks directly to us so we can empathise
‘Mother tongue’
‘Foreign tongue’
-mother tongue has connotation as of nurturing and caring
-without our mum we wouldn’t exist so her native language is part of her existence
-parallel phrasing of foreign tongue goes against mother tongue.
-they are structurally separate so we can visually see the distance between them
-end stop after foreign tongue shows difficulty in communication
‘Your mother tongue would rot. Rot and die.’
-natural imagery suggests decay-decay of native language
-horrifying image for reader-presents her fear of losing her heritage
-anadiplosis- starting sentence with previous word show the continuation of the decay and dread of losing her mother tongue
‘Spit it out’
‘I thought i spit it out’
-she has difficulty speaking but she is juts told to find the words
-impatient tone as she has been told this before
-spit presents it as unpalatable as she wantsa to get rid of her native language as it is seen inferior by foreigners
-she uses the first person voice to respond to the instruction ‘spit it out’
-incorrect grammatical structure shows how both languages take over each other and she finds it difficult
Gujarati section
-uses phonetic section allowing English speakers to attempt her language making them empathise with her experience
-middle of the poem showing how it is at the heart of who she is
‘Grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins.’
-natural and floral imagery which is something to celebrate
-repetition of grows shows the power of the mother tongue
-natural imagery is personified bringing it back to her
-veins are essential for life presenting importance of identity
-sibilant soundscape- calm as her heritage comes back to her
‘It blossoms out of my mouth’
-final line
-the mother language will always within her and now it is fully alive conveying its strength
-emphatic placement showing it will always be the language that wins-emotional pull of language
What poems compare with search for my tongue
-half caste-identity/culture
