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8/7/2019 PMcSearch for My Tongue
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Search for my TongueLearning Objectives
Consider the importance of cultureand language
Understand Sujata Bhatts view of
language and culture
Discuss the way these views are
presented
Slide 7 contains link to video on BBC Bitesize
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What are your views on the
following statements?
Discuss with a partner. I dont like it when I hear people living in Britain
speaking a foreign language. When theyre inBritain they should speak English.
It must be a real advantage to slip betweendifferent languages
It must be really confusing to have to use twodifferent languages
If you live in Britain and you speak English butyour first language is something else, then youshould do all you can to keep your first languagerather than forgetting about it.
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Sujata Bhatt
Sujata Bhatt was born in 1956 in
Ahmedabad, the largest city in the
Indian state of Gujarat, where her
mother tongue was Gujarati
She is intrigued by two languages
interacting in her mind and how this
affects her identity
"I have always
thought of myself as
an Indian who is
outside India."
[My mother tongue]
That's the deepest
layer of my identity."
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Themes
Language is used to symbolise cultural
identity
The poet suggests that cultural identitynever dies regardless of where you live
She suggests that two cultures mixed
together enhance one another
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Search for My Tongue
This has a double
meaning: the physical
device needed forspeech and the
language you speak
The language youspeak is seen as
inextricably linked to
your culture
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You ask me what I meanby saying I have lost my tongue.
I ask you, what would you do
if you had two tongues in your mouth,
and lost the first one, the mother tongue,
and could not really know the other,
the foreign tongue.You could not use them both together
even if you thought that way.
And if you lived in a place you had to
speak a foreign tongue,
your mother tongue would rot,
rot and die in your mouthuntil you had to spit it out.
I thought I spit it out
but overnight while I dream,
Lost voice could
mean isolation in a
new culture
Conversational style, who is
she talking to?
Tongue as a
metaphor for
language is used
throughout the
poem: extended
metaphor
One must be
excluded no matter
what you want. Could
this suggest a desire
to maintain both
cultures?
Negative language givesthis first section sickening
and sombre view of the
loss
Tone changes at
the end of this
section
How should this be read? Sadly, angrily, hopefully towards the end. Mark a
quotation to back up each possible interpretation
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(munay hutoo kay aakhee jeebh aakhee bhasha)
(may thoonky nakhi chay)
(parantoo rattray svupnama mari bhasha pachi aavay chay)
(foolnee jaim mari bhasha nmari jeebh)
modhama kheelay chay)
(fullnee jaim mari bhasha mari jeebh)
(modhama pakay chay)
The Gujarati script, on the
right, is repeated in English
at the end of the poem.
Why is the same thing said twice
in two languages?
What is the purpose of the
phonetic transliteration below the
script?
Is this a poem more effective
when read out loud or seen on
the page?
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it grows back, a stump of a shoot
grows longer, grows moist, grows strong
veins,it ties the other tongue in knots,
the bud opens, the bud opens in my
mouth,
it pushes the other tongue aside.
Everytime I think I've forgotten,
I think I've lost the mother tongue,it blossoms out of my mouth.
Strong positive natural
imagery. What might
this suggest?
Is it necessary for oneto overpower the
other?
Takes place in a dream; as such, is it real or
just something she hopes for?
Positive image could imply that the
language is beautiful and exotic
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Think about
How does the poem present the argument
that our speech and ourselves are
intimately connected? Do people not have
to search for their own tongue - or
authentic voice - even if they have not had
to move from one language to another?
What does the last sentence of the poemmean?
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Writing responses to the poems
The poem contains lots of similes and
metaphors (imagery), similes is when you use
like and metaphors is when you don't use like. I
liked the line about spitting it out (tongue) it
reminded me of a horror film.
What is it worth and why?
Treatment of how the poem is written is
poor - suggests G/F grade
First sentence: pointless Second sentence: personal response, but
needs developing
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Writing responses to the poems
What is it worth and why?
The whole poem is about tongues really, there are lots ofimages of tongues. Sujata describes her mother tongue as if it
was something growing in her mouth, which gets bigger or
smaller. She thinks that if she doesn't speak Indian from day to
day it will die away. It's like, use it or lose it. But it never
actually disappears because at night the tongue 'blossoms out
of my mouth', so it's come to life again.
Suggests a C/B grade answer
Gets hold of the importance of this image in the poem
Understands what the poet is saying
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Writing responses to the poems
What is it worth and why?
Suggests A grade answer
Clear explanation of a complicated image
Short quotations to illustrate what is saidConnects images to argument of poem
Personal responses to the imagery
In English, we use the word 'tongue' to mean 'language' as well as your actual'tongue'. The poet compares knowing two languages to having two tongues in your
mouth, which she calls 'the mother tongue' and 'the foreign tongue'. She is afraid
that the mother tongue might shrivel away ('rot and die') like a plant with no roots.
But in the last part of the poem, the mother tongue seems to grow back during the
night, and 'push the other tongue aside'. It's like when she dreams, she dreams in
Gujarati, and this keeps the language alive for her. It connects her to hermemories. The image of two tongues growing in your mouth is weird, and a bit
disturbing. You can imagine how it would feel. But then it 'blossoms' which also
suggests something beautiful. I thought this was a memorable image.
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