Sujata Bhatt A Different History STANZA 1

- ANALYSIS

Indian culture/religion life in India is or should be free but there is constant pressure ________________in other ways of life (example of this are __________)

Line 1-3: _______________: the ancient Greek god of nature (part man, part goat); allying Greek culture with Indias perhaps suggesting that western society has formed more developed religions; India = still basic ________________ Line 4-5: highlights the difference between other cultures and India; here Gods are_______________________________, all around Line 7-18 persuasive writing which creates Irony Hindus made to look after books and revere them but not for knowledge, but because they are made out of gods (trees) = satirical/mocking tone ___________:It is a sin = powerful connotations, a crime for offending the gods ___________: you must, __________: without , ___________: Sarasvati (= the Hindu goddess of art) emphasises that there are many pedantic Hindu rules that must be obeyed which are criticised by the author in a ______________tone Despite being Indian the author is being very _____________ of Indian culture/religion/belief STANZA 2 : idea of foreign invaders, language and generation Line 19-20: _____________ more philosophical, makes us think about _______________in general, different from the previous mocking tone, which language is original? Line 21-22: rhetorical question double meaning = English not to kill people but to _____________ Indias culture/traditions; question tries to understand the aims of the oppressor Line 23-27: _________________________/thread of diction/semantic field: torture, soul has been cropped, scythe swooping out all relate to ________________ (British culture on Indian ground ) = developing/changing/forcing Indias culture to change or assimilate and English language is seen as being representative of all that Growing imagery of violent invasion visualization of the language as a literal tongue but symbolising a powerful ______________ Line 28-29: Bhatt is one of these unborn grandchildren, no question mark so it is more of a _______________ (fact or certainty) STRUCTURE 2 stanzas are representative of Bhatts ______________________ (British and Indian) She is critical of both Indian _______________________ and British ____________/colonialism PHILOSOPHICAL POINTS (subjects of the poem) forgetting past, human nature, generation, dual identity - We know from her Bio that Bhatt fears that her natural identity, as manifested by her Indian tongue, may rot and die If she fears this why is she appearing to be critical of India? The contradictory idea is that while Hinduism and being Indian are the deepest layer of her identity, she is not the fnod of them. She is critical of it. She also deefnds coonlial English invaders. Both these beliefs are counter iiinuttve; you would expect her to defend her deepest layer of identity Indian, and slate English, but she does the opposite. This makes her identity complex and this is the strength of the poem. Readers are initurged by this unusual tactic. How does it happen that she has ignored her cultural roots for many of her early years? Choose the appropriate words from the box below to fill in the gaps!

cultivating

religious ideology

statement

allusion (x2) language

dual identity Imperative critical

books

physical manifestations

assimilate

to conform

extended metaphorical language question

repetition(x2)

religious conformity

rhetorical