An Unknown Girl - Teachit English

Edexcel anthology poems ‘An Unknown Girl’ – Moniza Alvi This poem is describing the poet's visit to India and the time she had her hand hennaed by a girl in the market place. It has proved to be an experience she has never forgotten. 1. Count how many times the poet uses the phrase ‘an unknown girl’. What is the significance of this phrase and why do you think it is repeated so many times? 2. Alvi uses colour to highlight how she remembers this event. Write down all the different ones that are mentioned in the poem and colour the lines of the poem to correspond with them. What sort of colours are they? Rich? Warm? Cold? Bright? What might the significance of this be? 3. The poet is keen to emphasise how much she remembers the country where this happened. Are these fond or difficult memories and how do we know? Write down all the words or phrases that tell you that this poem is set in India. 4. In lines 5–7 the poet describes the girl as if she were ‘icing’ her hand. Write down as many reasons as you can think of as to why she has likened the tattooing to icing. E.g. someone who ices cakes is creating patterns and pictures … 5. Do you get any idea of what the tattoo looks like? Do you think this is important? If so why? 6. Why do you think she has used the simile of her clinging to her tattoo like ‘people who cling to the sides of a train’? 7. What does it say about how she feels about her tattoo and the experience? 8. The henna tattoo is linked with India in the poet’s mind. What is the significance of ‘it will fade’ and how does the poet feel about this? Can you explain what the poet means in lines 43–46? 9. The poem isn't like some of the others in that it doesn't rhyme and hasn't got any verses – what does this make it sound like? Sometimes the meaning of the line ‘runs on’ to the next. Find and label and example of this. What is this technique called? 10. Why might the poet want to write her poem like this?

Links with other poems As this is about a memorable experience it can be linked to: ‘Miracle on St David's Day’, ‘Mid-term Break’, ‘The Barn’, and ‘I shall paint My Nails Red’. Look at the table on the next page and decide which poems use the techniques given and write the name of the relevant poem in the box. You can then use this grid help you to revise by finding and adding relevant quotations from the poems.

© 2007 www.teachit.co.uk

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Edexcel anthology poems Technique

Relevant poems

1. The poet looking back at a time they or the poem’s narrator will not forget.

2. The use of first person perspective to add immediacy and authenticity.

3. The use of colours to highlight the event or a feeling about the event.

4. The poet describing what the light was like when the event happened.

5. The poet or narrator remembering specific words that were spoken at an event.

6. The poet painting a very detailed word picture of the event.

7. The poet changing the structure of the verses to highlight something about the event.

© 2007 www.teachit.co.uk

7186.doc

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