Search for my Tongue, Sujata Bhatt

Question 1

Meaning

Answer 1

Cultural Identity

• Explores how it feels to be bilingual & how it impacts o her sense of self
• Extended metaphor: losing language
  
  • Depict feelings experienced when one loses their
    cultural heritage
• Argues that one’s roots never truly fade away
• Spoken to “you”
  
  • Society = universal topic that everyone can relate to
• (Themes: Culture, indentity, loneliness)

Question 2

Imagery #1

Answer 2

“your mother tongue would rot, / rot and die”

• Means mother tongue will fade
  
  • Horror underlined by repetition of “rot”
  • = Negative thing for her to forget
• Negative imagery
  
  • Shows attitude towards having to speak another language at determinate of mother tongue
• Horrific and emphatic
  
  • = inner conflict when trying to reconcile her new English language with her mother tongue
• Semantic field of death
  
  • Decaying = revolting
    
    • Uses disgust to communicate how strongly she feels

Question 3

Imagery #2

Answer 3

Extended metaphor - Semantic field of plants

“grows”, “shoot”, “stump”

• Repetition of “grows”
  
  • Expresses pace of plant maturing = word mentioned - becomes healthier
  • Image of growth of her language capabilities
  • Postive imagery
    
    • Language has gone a bit BUT language doesn’t define you
    • Finds sense of self

Question 4

Tone

Answer 4

Volta - defensive/solemn to jubilation

• “I ask you, what would you do”
  
  • Defensive towards people who don’t understand her
  • Seeks advice
  • “You” - Pronoun
    
    • Ambiguous = board
    • Universal topic = everyone can relate to losing their sense of self
    • Makes tone of opening poem quite confrontational
• Metaphor - “it blossoms”
  
  • Jubilated tone
  • Blossom = most lovely part of tree
    
    • Represents new life, hopefulness & youth
    • = Lanauge & culture that can never be destroyed

Question 5

Structure

Answer 5

• Free verse
  
  • Intimate conversation
  • Lack of metre/rhythm
    
    • Fight to discover one’s identity is confusing and disorderly experience
• Less lines in her own language than English
  
  • Concern/distress over losing her mother language
• Stanza 2 = purposefully Gujarati
  
  • Intimidates/excludes reader
    
    • Mirrors what she felt when she first went to the US
  • But adds phonetically spelt words of Gujarati
    
    • 1. Showing mother tongue is irrepressible
    • 2. Inviting reader to, literally, speak with her tongue in their mouth
    • Shows her love for Gujarati
    • Makes us realise that we wouldn’t want to lose it either

Question 6

Name 3 poem comparisons

Answer 6

• ‘Poem at Thirty Nine’
• ‘Remember’
• ‘Half caste’

Question 7

‘Poem at Thirty Nine’ Comparison

Answer 7

Juxtapositions between way poets asset their identities (sometimes in context which is unfriendly to them)

Question 8

‘Remember’ Comparison

Answer 8

Both poems about person trying to remember who they are

Question 9

‘Half caste’ Comparison

Answer 9

Links to poem because it’s also about being proud of your identity