AN UNKNOWN GIRL

SHORT SYNOPSIS OF THE TEXT

• ... an unknown girl is hennaing my hand She squeezes a wet brown line from a nozzle. She is icing my hand, which she steadies with hers on her satin-peach knee...

THE POEM

• The poem describes the poets visit to her home country of India, and the time she had a henna done on her hand by a girl in the marketplace, and how it slowly fades away. At the end of the poem she reflects on her journey and thinks about how her culture has changes due to westernisation.

THE POET

• Moniza Alvi is a Pakistani-British poet and writer. Born: 2 February 1954 (64 years ago ) Lahore, Pakistan She came to England when she was a few months old. She grew up in Hertfordshire and studied at the universities of York and London.

KEY THEMES

• Cultural identity
• Sense of belonging to her culture
• Loss of connection
• Relationship between the familiar and the unknown

" A PEACOCK SPREADS ITS LINES... "

• Comparing her henna to the pattern of a peacock by using a metaphor.

" DUMMIES IN SHOP-FRONTS TILT AND STARE "

• Using personification she shows how she feels uncomfortable walking around the market.

" SOFT AS A SNAIL TRAIL... "

• Simile emphasising how soft and neat the pattern on her arm is.

" IN THE EVENING BAZAAR "

• During the poem this is repeated three times. This is repetition to show all the different things that go on in the Bazaar in one night.
• Bazaar = Indian marketplace.

Structure
I think the structure represents the way she feels in connection with her culture; short sentences when she feels close, long sentences when she feels apart from her culture.

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