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http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=4671

Pan, the noisy goat-footed god of the Greeks, looks after shepherds and woods, is a capable musician, and invented the instrument named for him, panpipes. He leads the nymphs in dances. He stirs up panic. He is worshiped in Arcadia and is associated with sexuality.

Sarasvati, Hindu goddess of learning and the arts, especially music. She is regarded as the patroness of art, music, and letters and as the inventor of the Sanskrit language. She is usually represented as riding on a goose of pure white that is able to undertake long flights and holding a lute and a manuscript or book. In modern times her mount has frequently been represented as a swan.

Structure & Form

Imagery Tone/Mood

Themes/Meaning

A Different History

Remember to focus on how these effects are achieved.

Structure/Form

Why do you think some lines are indented?

What does this say about the movement of books/culture/borders/immigration?

The poem is written in free verse, what potential significance does this have?

What is the poet saying about globalization/colonization here?

What does she see as its dangers?

Who is the speaker in the poem? Who is her audience? What is her reason for writing this poem?

What is the speaker’s attitude towards the subject of the poem?

Imagery• How are the Gods compared?• “here the gods roam freely; disguised as snakes or

monkeys…” Explain the juxtaposition here.• Repetition of the word “sin”/other religious

language.• Personification of the tree “offending”• Word choice of “conqueror” “murderer”

“oppressor”• “soul has been cropped with a long scythe”

Mood/Tone

• What is ironic about the language the poem is written in?

• How would you describe the tone shift from stanzas one to two?

• How does the poet’s style force this tone change?

• Did you notice anything different in the reading of the poem?

• What is being compared in the poem?• Is there a change of mood in the poem?What differences can you see between the two sections. Look both at the content and the language Bhatt uses?

How does Bhatt use words and phrases toconvey how sacred trees and books are?

• Consider more closely the different mood of the second section, exploring the precise effects of particular words that you find striking.

• How do you think these lines should be read? Is the tone bitter or sad? Does the tone of voice change at any stage – and, if it does, why?

About the PoetElizabeth Brewster was born in 1922 in the small lumber town of Chipman, New Brunswick, Canada.

The description in the second stanza of this poem captures something of therural Canada of her early years.

People are made of places

Places in Stanza 1 Associated Words and Sounds

Places in Stanza 2 Associated Words and Sounds

jungles tropic grace acres of pine woods …

The first sentence of the first stanza is exemplified in the rest of the verse.

Which places are described more approvingly and which places less approvingly?

Structure1. In what way do the places in stanza 1 differ from those

in 2?2. In what way could there be said to be a time shift

between these stanzas?3. Why does the poet choose to repeat the title here?4. The final 4 lines are the most important in the poem.

Show how the poet shifts from the personal to the universal.

5. Why do you think Brewster finishes with a rhyming couplet?

6. Free Verse?7. Indentation?

Meaning/Theme1. What does the speaker mean when she says

“People are made of places.” Refer to text.2. In what ways is memory a part of us? Could it

be said to be all that we are? How can it shape our present reality?

3. How far can it be said that we are a product of where we grew up?

Imagery1. the metaphor ‘A door in the mind blows open’?2. the alliteration of “blueberry patches in the

burned out bush”3. the sibilance of “the smell of smog/or the

almost not smell of tulips in the spring”4. the juxtaposition of “battered schoolhouses

behind which violets grow”5. “ice and the breaking of ice”

As always, think about the effects created by the use of such devices.

Mood/Tone

Does the poem has only a personal significance to the poet, or is it possible to detect a more universal significance?

Who is the speaker and audience of this poem?

How would you describe the tone?

Pick striking words or phrases to support your ideas.

The Senses

Do you feel that the senses are used to powerful effect in the poem?

Write down an image or a description from the poem which strongly engaged one of your senses. Be prepared to explain why to your partner. How did the poet achieve this effect?

Essay Question:How do the poets create a sense of place and deal with the

theme of identity?

You are going to write a typed 800 word

response to this question based on the poems:

“Where I Come From” by Elizabeth Brewster

”A Different History ” by Sujata Bhatt

This will form part of your key assessments.

This is what to look for in a poem. The acronym STILTS will help you remember what to write about.

StructureThemeImagery words that put pictures in your mind*LanguageTone (mood, point(s) of view)

Both poets deal with the theme of place and identity, including ideas of displacement - being a stranger in a strange land. In ‘A Different History’, Bhatt deals with nostalgia for her homeland, colonialism, and the discomfort of control by an ‘oppressor’ with an alien language. In Brewster’s poem, the biggest opposition is between the ‘atmosphere of cities’ and the ‘woods’ where she grew up

Lesson Links

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olsK2jHocpY

• http://matthewspoetryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-different-history-sujata-bhatt.html

• http://literature-igcse.weebly.com/elizabeth-brewster-where-i-come-from.htm

• http://matthewspoetryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/05/where-i-come-from-elizabeth-brewster.html

First: Write a short poem about your culture and Identity.

You may want to think about the different cultures/languages in Peru.

What is associated with each of these?

What Gods are at work here?

Second: Compare and contrast your culture and Identity to that of Sujata Bhatts.

The poems will be judged by teachers and the best poem will win a prize and be presented inAssembly.

A Teacher Writes

• http://englishtutorhome2.blogspot.com/

JUXTAPOSITION

• placing things close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.

Marcel Proust10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922

An Introduction

PEAR

POINTEVIDENCEANALYSISRELATE

Think of PEARs as the basic building block of a critical evaluation. Each block consists of:

• POINT - which relates to the question you are asked, or the purpose of your essay. This is also where you explain what is going on at the time of the quotation.

• EVIDENCE - To prove this point, you must have evidence, a quote from the text.• ANALYSIS- which shows why the quotation proves the point you are trying to

make. You should also pick out words, expressions, techniques from your quotation which will back up ideas for your essay question.

• RELATE – this is where you link what you’ve been saying to the language of the question

The Basic Plan

Introduction

– Hook the Reader

– Name the works and authors

– Refer to the question or task

– Explain briefly, what's similar and different about the texts?

– Give an overview of what is most interesting about these texts in relation to the question

– Body of the essay

– 4 paragraphs, loosely based on the STILT or our note quadrants- each featuring at

least one PEAR from each poem.

Conclusion

– Refer to texts

– Refer to the task

– Sum up points already made.

– Give a personal reaction to the text.

PEARThe second stanza of Brewster’s poem uses the first person, “ Where I come from” signalling that we should more closely identify this section with the speaker’s own identity:

“people carry woods in their minds, acres of pine woods; blueberry patches in the burned-out bush;wooden farmhouses, old, in need of paint,”

The speaker paints a picture of the woods of her childhood in lists . She isn’t overly romantic, but more matter of fact. She shows wear and tear, that things are not perfect and in need of repair. The alliteration of the comforting “boo” sound hints at a regression to a state of infancy as the speaker seeks the comfort of her memories. The “blueberry patches” growing amongst the dead branches could be a metaphor for memory itself in that, in a sense, these moments are dead and yet we still have the power to animate them and take nourishment from their awakening. In this way Brewster’s shows us that the places of our memory are perhaps more real to us than those in the tangible world.