Search For My Tongue

Question 1

Context

Answer 1

• sujata bhatt is an Indian poet raised in the USA, writing about the emotional conflict of growing up bilingual and bicultural
• the poem includes lines in Gujarati, the speaker’s mother tongue, to reinforce the poem’s theme
• many immigrants or second-generation children relate to the fear of cultural erasure or linguistic loss

Question 2

Themes

Answer 2

1. Identity and language
   - language is deeply tied to cultural and personal identity. Losing a language means losing part of the self
2. Cultural conflict and displacement
   - the poem expresses the conflict between westernisation and preserving heritage
3. Re growth and rediscovery
   - the mother tongue isn’t truly lost - it returns like a plant, showing the resilience of identity
4. Bilingualism
   - bhatt explores the beauty and challenge of speaking more than one language, and the tension it creates in self-expression

Question 3

Structure and form

Answer 3

• three part structure
  1. English: expresses anxiety about losing her language
  2. Gujarati: a dream-like regrowth of her mother tongue
  3. English: reaffirms that the language lives within her
• free verse: reflects natural thought flow and confusion
• enjambment: reflects the uncontainable emotional turmoil
• inclusion of Gujarati: makes the reader feel the alienation bhatt feels. It’s. Visual and phonetic contrast which reinforces the power of native language

Question 4

Language and imagery

Answer 4

• metaphor of the tongue as a plant: ‘it grows back, a stump of a shoot’ - suggests resilience. Even when forgotten, the language can regrow naturally
• violent imagery: ‘your tongue would rot, / rot and die in your mouth’ - shows how painful it is to forget ones native language - like a part of her body is decaying

Question 5

Tone and mood

Answer 5

• anguished and uncertain at first, as the speaker fears loss of identity
• hopeful and empowering at the end as the speakers regains confidence in her mother tongue
• a journey from loss to self-discovery

Question 6

Messages

Answer 6

• language is more than communication - its identity, memory, and belonging
• cultural assimilation can be emotionally painful, even dehumanising
• even if forgotten, your roots email a vital part of you
• bilingualism is empowering but can be emotional complex