an unknown girl by Alvi essay

“An Unknown Girl” by Moniza Alvi is a free verse poem about the author’s experience getting her hand hennaed in an Indian bazaar. Throughout the poem, Alvi makes use of structure techniques like end-stopped lines, occasional rhymes, language, imagery, and changes in tone to explore different aspects of the concept of identity. Moniza Alvi uses the format of the poem to illustrate how the speaker’s identity is split between East and West. The poem itself is centered in the middle of the page. From

“An Unknown Girl" was written by Moniza Alvi after her hand was painted with a peacock picture by an unknown girl in a local market in India. She is stuck between two cultures and trying to express her quest for her lost cultural identity. Moniza Alvi moved to England to seek for a better life with her parents after living in Pakistan for a few months after she was born. Latterly, her relationship with India became stronger than ever after returning to discover Indian culture as a part of her identity

The poems ‘Still I Rise’ and ‘Unknown Girl’ both explore the way women are expected to behave in specific societies. ‘Still I Rise’ focuses on Maya Angelou’s refusal to accept racism and to allow “them”, white oppressors, to push her down. ‘Unknown Girl’ focuses on Moniza Alvi’s want to be accepted in a society where she belongs, but can’t call her own. ‘Still I Rise’ was written by an Afro-American poet Maya Angelou and consists of a mixture of tones, such as: playful, angry, comical and bitter

How do Disabled and An Unknown Girl convey the sense of personal identity? Our personal identity shapes who we are or shall become, it is how a person sees them self, fitting into their surroundings. Both Owen and Alvi explore the unpredictable personal identity of a person and how it changes their lives for the worse in their poems Disabled and An Unknown Girl. The former poem, filled with pathos, demonstrates a soldier’s joyful life prior to and after WWI where he suffered a devastating tragedy

Throughout the two poems, ‘Electricity comes to Cocoa Bottom’ and ‘An Unknown Girl’, there is an obvious theme of disappointment. In ‘An Unknown Girl’, there is disappointment in many different ways, such as the disappointment that western civilisation has taken over and that she’s not linked to her culture as much anymore. In ‘Electricity…’ there is obvious disappointment conveyed to us - I will use the theme of disappointment to explain and compare the two poems. Firstly, in ‘Electricity…’, there

“An unknown Girl” by Moniza Alvi use many linguistic techniques such as repetition, contrast, empowering tone and to present the characteristics and personality of the characters in the texts. Both of the texts present women characters as strong independent and culturally backed by their background. The difference between the poems is that “An unknown Girl” presents the character but in, “Still I Rise” the writer displays the character's personality. “Kameez” and “Hennaing” In “An unknown Girl”

searching for your cultural identity could be significant to you. “Electricity…” and “An Unknown…” both have similarities and differences. One main similarity in both poems is that they have the same theme: discovery. In “Electricity…” it is about discovering electric lights for the first time. On the other hand, “An Unknown…” is about discovering your other cultural identity. The entire poem of “An Unknown…” is one long stanza, like a never ending conversation. This suggests that the poet does not