Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan by Moniza Alvi 1.

Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan

by Moniza Alvi

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Learning Objectives

As we study this poem you will learn:• The story of the poem• Cultural alienation• More about the terms,

Metaphor: Tone: Key Phrases & Colour Imagery.

• You will also complete some mini tasks, a test and an assignment on the poem.

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Starter

Write down what you know about Salwar Kameez.

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Starter

Write down what you know about Salwar Kameez.

The Salwar are loose pajama-like trousers. The legs are wide at the top, and narrow at the ankle. The Kameez is a long shirt or tunic, often seen with a Western-style collar;

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They sent me a salwar kameezpeacock-blue,and another

glistening like an orange split open,embossed slippers, gold and black

points curling.Candy-striped glass bangles

snapped, drew blood Like at school, fashions changed

in Pakistan - the salwar bottoms were broad and stiff,

then narrow.My aunts chose an apple-green sari,

silver-borderedfor my teens.

I tried each satin-silken top - was alien in the sitting-room.

I could never be as lovely as those clothes –

I longedfor denim and corduroy.My costume clung to me

and I was aflame,I couldn't rise up out of its fire,

half-English,unlike Aunt Jamila.

I pictured my birthplacefrom fifties' photographs.

When I was olderthere was conflict, a fractured land

throbbing through newsprint.Sometimes I saw Lahore - my aunts in shaded rooms,screened from male visitors,

sorting presents,wrapping them in tissue.

Or there were beggars, sweeper-girls and I was there -

of no fixed nationality,staring through fretwork

at the Shalimar Gardens.


I wanted my parents' camel-skin lamp - switching it on in my bedroom,to consider the cruelty

and the transformationfrom camel to shade,marvel at the colours

like stained glass.

My mother cherished her jewellery - Indian gold, dangling, filigree.But it was stolen from our car.

The presents were radiant in my wardrobe.My aunts requested cardigans

from Marks and Spencers.

My salwar kameezdidn't impress the schoolfriend

who sat on my bed, asked to seemy weekend clothes.

But often I admired the mirror-work,tried to glimpse myself

in the miniatureglass circles, recall the story

how the three of ussailed to England.

Prickly heat had me screaming on the way.I ended up in a cot

in my English grandmother's dining-room,found myself alone,

playing with a tin boat.

Moniza Alvi was born in 1968 of mixed parentage, her father being Pakistani and her mother English. She was born in Pakistan but moved to England at a young age. The poem 'Presents from My Aunts in Pakistan' expresses her confusion in her search for her identity. The traditional clothes that her aunts sent her from Pakistan are a symbol of a part of her, but only a part of her, and one that she does not feel entirely comfortable with.


The Background to the Poem

Write down what you think is the ‘story of the poem.’

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 1

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A young girl of mixed race, half English, half Pakistani, is sent vey colourful clothes as presents for her birthday by her Aunts who still live in Pakistan. Although she appreciates the beauty of the clothes she does not feel she can wear them. She wants to wear ‘ordinary’ clothes like her school-friends and feels embarrassed when she has to wear her Pakistani clothes. She is reminded of her birthplace, Lahore and her journey from there to England where her family had nowhere to stay but her English grandparents once they arrived. She remembers a ‘fractured land’ , a reference to Bangladesh’s war for independence in 1971 when she was 3 years old. At the end of the poem she is forced to conclude that that she feels that she doesn't belong anywhere and is of ‘no fixed nationality’.

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 1 - The Story Of The Poem

We know who ‘they’ are from the title of the poem, but calling her Aunts ‘they’ in this manner is impolite and sets the tone for her negative attitude towards the gifts she is sent. ‘peacock blue’ & ‘glistening orange are vibrant colours and are the first examples of the use of colour imagery in the poem. And colour imagery dominates this stanza ~ blue, orange, gold, black, candy striped & blood red. The bangles drawing blood is a more sinister use of colour imagery. But how did the bangles snap? I don’t think it happened accidently, I think she snapped them and in doing so cut herself. If this is so then the question is, why? Note the shape of the poem. The poet has set it out on a sort of spiral form, not left justified as most poems are.

Mini Task 2 – Summarize this slide

They sent me a salwar kameezpeacock-blue,and another

glistening like an orange split open,embossed slippers, gold and black

points curling.Candy-striped glass bangles

snapped, drew blood

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanThe Poem ~ Structure & Meaning

This is the first reference to her ‘everyday’ life and the effect that fashion is having on her and her cultural identity. Note the enjambment on the two lines and the emphasis it places on ‘in Pakistan’.. The poet then details the changing fashions in Pakistan, ironically these mirror the changing fashions in the UK. She then describes the sari she got for her thirteenth birthday, which may have been appropriate for a teenager in Pakistan, but she clearly feels it was not appropriate for her.

Mini Task 3 – Summarize this slide.

Like at school, fashions changedin Pakistan -

the salwar bottoms were broad and stiff,then narrow.

My aunts chose an apple-green sari,silver-bordered

for my teens


I tried each satin-silken top – was alien in the sitting-room.I could never be as lovely

as those clothes – I longed

for denim and corduroy.My costume clung to me



In this stanza highlight or underline examples of :

• alliteration• irony• metaphor• alienation• key phrases

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 4 – Stanza 2

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I tried each satin-silken top – was alien in the sitting-room.I could never be as lovely as those clothes – I longedfor denim and corduroy.My costume clung to meand I was aflame,I couldn't rise up out of its fire, half-English,unlike Aunt Jamila.

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 4a


• alliteration

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Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 4b


• irony

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Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 4c


• metaphor

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Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 4d


• alienation

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Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 4e


• key phrases

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She tries on the clothes she is sent more out of duty than because she wants to wear them…. ….because they make her feel ‘alien’. They don’t belong in the English life she is now living and consequently she doesn't belong in them. Ironically she does recognize their beauty but does not feel that she is beautiful enough to wear them and what she wants is the dull blue, black or brown clothes that ordinary English people wear. She describes the clothes she has been sent as a ‘costume’, like something she wears when he has to ‘act’ being Pakistani. They embarrass her so much she feels like she is on fire when she wears them and she feels she cannot escape from this metaphorical & literal torment. Interestingly she feels ‘half-English’ not half- Pakistani. Again enjambment draws attention to this line, giving it importance.Mini Task 5 - Summarize this slide.Mini Task 6 – What does the flame metaphor mean?

I tried each satin-silken top - was alien in the sitting-room.

I could never be as lovely as those clothes –

I longedfor denim and corduroy.My costume clung to me




Mini Task 6 – What does the flame metaphor mean?

She was literally burning up with embarrassment.

My costume clung to meand I was aflame,

I couldn't rise up out of its fire,


I wanted my parents' camel-skin lamp -

switching it on in my bedroom,to consider the cruelty

and the transformationfrom camel to shade, marvel at the colours

Write down what you think the Came Skin Lamp metaphor means.


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I wanted my parents' camel-skin lamp -

switching it on in my bedroom,to consider the cruelty

and the transformationfrom camel to shade, marvel at the colours

Write down what you think the Came Skin Lamp metaphor means. The skin belongs on a camel, not a lamp. Likewise she belongs in English not Pakistani clothes. To transform the camel into a lamp is cruel and so is transforming her from an English to an Asian girl.


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Her mother was English but seems at home with her dual nationality as she cherishes her Indian jewellery. and does not reject it, or the culture it represents, unlike her daughter.. Ironically the jewellery is stolen, perhaps this a metaphor for cultural identity being stolen, it is also a reminder of the reality of life in England.


Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 8 – Stanza 4a

My mother cherished her jewellery - Indian gold, dangling, filigree.But it was stolen from our car.

Another reference to the colour and the beauty of the clothes her Aunts send her…..…..yet ironically it is boring, dull M&S cardies they want in return!


Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 8 – Stanza 4b

The presents were radiant in my wardrobe.My aunts requested cardigans

from Marks and Spencers.

My salwar kameezdidn't impress the schoolfriendwho sat on my bed, asked to seemy weekend clothes.

• Write down what you think the poet means by ‘weekend clothes’.• How doe these lines reflect the theme of ‘alienation’ in the poem?

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 10 – Stanza 5 a

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My salwar kameezdidn't impress the schoolfriend

who sat on my bed, asked to seemy weekend clothes.

• Write down what you think the poet means by ‘weekend clothes’.During the week the poet would probably wear her school uniform most of the time. She could change when she got home but if her parents expected her to wear her Pakistani clothes she would probably stay in her uniform. Her ‘weekend clothes’ would be ordinary English clothes like jeans and a top, not saris or salwar kameeze.

• How doe these lines reflect the theme of ‘alienation’ in the poem? Her friend would want her to look ‘normal’ which reinforces how forien or ‘alien’ the presents she gets sent are.

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 10 – Stanza 5 a

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Write down what you think the imagery/metaphor the poet uses here means.

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 11 – Stanza 5 b

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Write down what you think the imagery the poet uses here means.

The reflections from the tiny mirrors sewn into the fabric present a fragmented view of their subject. This can be seen as a metaphor for her fragmented cultural identity.

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 11 – Stanza 5 b

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Looking at her fractured reflection reminds her of her early childhood and the journey to England by boat (not by air). This is the first hint that they left, or were evacuated from Pakistan in a rush. She remembers the physical pain the journey caused her, but the emotional pain has probably been much greater. She ends up in a cot in her grandmother’s dining room. More evidence that the journey had been rushed and unplanned because her parents hadn’t even had time to find somewhere to live before they arrived. She finds herself alone, but this is just the beginning of what will be her cultural isolation. This is quite a strong image to end the stanza.Mini Task 12 – Summarize this slide.

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 12 – Stanza 5 c

glass circles, recall the storyhow the three of ussailed to England.

Prickly heat had me screaming on the way.I ended up in a cot

in my English grandmother's dining-room,found myself alone,

playing with a tin boat.

I pictured my birthplacefrom fifties' photographs.

When I was olderthere was conflict, a fractured land

throbbing through newsprint.Sometimes I saw Lahore - my aunts in shaded rooms,screened from male visitors,

sorting presents,wrapping them in tissue

She is left imagining her identity through old photographs her parents took of her birthplace. She is then reminded of the Pakistan/ Bangladesh war in 1971 when she was 3 years old. It was this conflict that probably forced her parents to leave Pakistan when she was so young. The reference to 'a fractured land', also helps reinforce the feeling she creates in the poem of her own fractured identity Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan. The poet sees Lahore in her memory and is remembers her Aunts wrapping presents, like the ones they send. The screening would imply that she comes from a Muslim family, perhaps another source of conflict for her. Mini Task 13 – Summarize this slide.


Or there were beggars, sweeper-girlsand I was there -

of no fixed nationality staring through fretworkat the Shalimar Gardens

• Write down what you think is the Key Phrase in this final ‘stanza.’

• Explain why you think it is the key phrase.


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Or there were beggars, sweeper-girlsand I was there -

of no fixed nationality staring through fretworkat the Shalimar Gardens

• Write down what you think is the Key Phrase in this final ‘stanza.’ ‘of no fixed nationality’• Explain why you think it is the key . phrase.It is really what the whole poem is about. The girl in the poem does not know who she is or where she belongs culturally.


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An interesting contrast is introduced on this line. Her family is obviously fairly well off, rich enough at least to send her all these fabulous clothes; but as well as remembering her Aunts, she also remembers the beggars, a symbol of the poverty of her birthplace. ‘of no fixed nationality’. Is probably the most important line in the poem and sums up what the poet has been trying to say in the rest of the poem. She knows where she was born and remembers her life and the culture there, but she feels her cultural ties to her past also prevent her feeling completely at home in England; so she feels she belongs to neither country or culture. However her final thought is of a beautiful part of Pakistan, not of England.Mini Task 15 – Summarize this slide.

Or there were beggars, sweeper-girls.and I was there -

of no fixed nationality,staring through fretworkat the Shalimar Gardens


Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 16 – Structure

• How is the poem structured and composed?

• What is the form of the poem?

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Presents From My Aunts In PakistanMini Task 16b – Structure

• How is the poem structured and composed?

The poem is composed of 7 stanzas with unequal lines in each stanza, 15, 11, 7, 6, 15, 10 & 5 lines. Line length is also uneven ranging from 2/3 to 13 syllables. There is only one rhyming line in the poem so it is written in free verse. Colour imagery is the key feature of the poem but there are also several examples of alliteration and metaphor in the poem.

• What is the form of the poem?

As the poet seems to be addressing the reader directly the poem can be considered a monologue.

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Presents from My Aunts...was one of the first poems I wrote. When I wrote this poem, I hadn't actually been back to Pakistan. The girl in the poem would be me at about 13. The clothes seem to stick to her in an uncomfortable way, a bit like a kind of false skin, and she thinks things aren't straightforward for her. I found it was important to write the Pakistan poems because I was getting in touch with my background. And maybe there's a bit of a message behind the poems about something I went through, that I want to maybe open a few doors if possible.

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanWhat The Poet Says About The Poem

Mini Task 17 –Summarize this slide.

Presents From My Aunts In PakistanAssignment

How does Moniza Alvi Use colour imagery and other devices to make this poem an effective description of a conflict in cultural identity.

600-800 words by Thurs 5th March.

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Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan by Moniza Alvi 1.

Documents

Transcript of Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan by Moniza Alvi 1.