Poetry - Tissue by Imtiaz Dharker

Question 1

Give context for ‘Tissue’

Answer 1

• Tissue is the first poem of her collection (“The terrorist at my table”) so it acts as a preface to explore the source of fundamentalism (abuse of power)
• She presents the idea that humans don’t have the right attitude to life, we see it as permanent and a way to gain power. This critical view may be reflective of seeing her husband suffer with cancer for 11 years before dying, which it may have demonstrated to her the temporary nature of life

Question 2

Describe the stanza length in ‘Tissue’

Answer 2

• The whole poem is in quatrains, providing a consistent structure to show how restrictive human power and control can be
• The final stanza is a single line to emphasise and isolate its meaning. Showing it’s breaking free from the controlling structure and implies that there is a need to break free from the control of human power

Question 3

Describe the free verse and enjambment in ‘Tissue’

Answer 3

• The regularity of a fixed stanza length is undermined by the use of free verse and enjambment. These loose structural forms how that freedom can be found even with a restrictive institution
• The structure also implies that even the most powerful presentation of power are underpinned by chaos and insignificance.
• The enjambment unifies lines show her her view that humans should become united
• The combined effect of these devices is to show that humanity is not in control as much as it would like to imagine and the poem may be mocking those who believe that they have a lot of power

Question 4

There are references to the fragility of paper which could also be references to the fragility of human life in ‘Tissue’. How is this fragility emphasised?

Answer 4

• Light imagery: “Paper that lets the light shine through”. This alludes to how thin and fragile paper/human power is
• Language associated with temporariness like “shift” and “drift” remind the reader of the fragility
• “Paper that is thinned by age or touching” Similar how humans age and start losing their strength

Question 5

How is the importance of paper shown?

Answer 5

• “paper smoothed and stroked”
• Gentle, tactile language reflects the respect shown towards books

Question 6

Finish the quote: ‘let the daylight break…’ and describe it

Answer 6

• “let daylight break through capitals and monoliths”
• This natural imagery is contrasted with a description of a manmade structure to highlight how nature will always by more potent than human creations
• “capitals and monoliths” are symbolic of government and human power

Question 7

Finish the quote: ‘Maps too…’ and describe it

Answer 7

• “Maps too. The sun shines through / their borderlines”
• There is a contrast between “maps” - man’s attempt to make sense of mature - and the far more permanent, natural power of the “sun”
• This could also be a reference to conflict as conflict often arises over land/territory disputes

Question 8

Finish the quote: ‘If buildings were paper…’ and describe it

Answer 8

• “If buildings were paper, I might / feel their drift, see how easily / they fall away”
• The poet invites us to see how temporary and ephemeral human structures are through asking us to imagine they were made of paper

Question 9

Finish the quote: ‘what was paid by credit card…’ and describe it

Answer 9

• “what was paid by credit card / might fly our lives like paper kites.”
• This simile suggest how humans are dominated and controlled by money
• The poet could be suggesting that humans have caused by conflict by assigning significance to such things