tissue - imtiaz dharker

Question 1

Give a plot summary for Tissue.

Answer 1

tissue - imtiaz dharker:

• paper has the power to change things, despite its fragility
• paper is used in religious texts and to record family history and wears thin over time
• maps, receipts, plans of buildings etc
• the speaker suggests that lives could be constructed or reconstructed out of paper, or with “living tissue”, making a connection with paper and human skin

Question 2

How may have Imtiaz Dharker’s life influenced Tissue?

Answer 2

Imtiaz Dharker was a Muslim and moved from Pakistan to Glasgow when she was younger with her family. Religion is referenced in the poem (“Koran”), so this would have influenced it. She was also concerned with cultural and geographical movement, freedom and gender.

Question 3

Give six key quotes in Tissue.

Answer 3

tissue - imtiaz dharker:

• “books… buildings… credit cards”
• “paper… could alter things”
• “buildings… how easily they fall away on a sigh”
• “credit card might fly our lives like paper kites”
• “never meant to last”
• “turned into your skin”

Question 4

Give four relevant points about structure and form in Tissue.

Answer 4

tissue - imtiaz dharker:

• equal stanza length (except last line “skin”)
• motif
• enjambment
• no rhyme

Question 5

Give three key themes present in Tissue.

Answer 5

tissue - imtiaz dharker:

• power of humans
• power of nature
• control