PMcSearch for My Tongue

Search for my Tongue Learning Objectives 

Consider the importance of cu culture and language

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Understand Sujata Bh Bhatt¶s view of  language and culture

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Discuss the way these views are presented Slide 7 contains link to video on BBC Bitesize

What are your views on the following statements? Discuss with a partner.  I don don¶t ¶t like like it it whe when n I hear hear peo people ple livi living ng in Bri Brita tain in speaking a foreign language. When they¶re in Britain they should speak English.  It must be a rea reall adva advant ntag age e to slip slip be betw twee een n different languages  It must be rea really lly con confu fusin sing g to to hav have e to use tw two o different languages  If you live live in in Brita Britain in and and yo you u speak speak Eng Englis lish h but but your first language is something else, then you should do all you can to keep your first language rather than forgetting about it.

Sujata Bhatt [My mother tongue] That's the deepest layer of my identity." identity."

"I have always thought of myself as an Indian who is outside India."

 Suja Sujata ta Bh Bhat attt was was bo born rn in 19 1956 56 in  Ahmedabad, the largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat, where her  mother tongue was Gujarati  She She is in intr trig igue ued d by by tw two o la lang ngua uage ges s interacting in her mind and how this affects her identity

Themes  Langua Language ge is use used d to to sy symb mboli olise se cultu cultural ral identity  The The poe poett sugg suggest ests s that that cul cultur tural al ide identi ntity ty never dies regardless of where you live  She She sugg sugges ests ts tha thatt two two cultu culture res s mix mixed ed together enhance one another 

This has a double meaning: the physical device needed for  speech and the language you speak

Search for My Tongue The language you speak is seen as inextricably linked to your culture

Conversational style, who is she talking to?

Tongue as a metaphor for  language is used throughout the poem: extended metaphor 

Tone changes at the end of this section

Lost voice could mean isolation in a new culture

You ask me what I mean by 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, One must be and could not really know the other oth er,, excluded no matter  the foreign tongue. what you want. Could You could not use them both together  this suggest a desire even if you thought thou ght that way. to maintain both  And if you lived in a place you had to cultures? speak a foreign tongue, your mother tongue would rot, rot and die in your mouth Negative language gives until you had to spit it out. this first section sickening I thought I spit it out and sombre view of the but overnight while I dream, loss

How should this be read? Sadly, Sadly, angrily, angrily, hopefully towards the end. Mark a quotation to back up each possible interpretation

The Gujarati script, on the right, is repeated in English at the end of the poem.

(munay hutoo kay aakhee jeebh aakhee bhasha)

(may thoonky nakhi chay)

(parantoo rattray svupnama mari bhasha pachi aavay chay)

W hy is the same thing said twice in two languages?

(foolnee jaim mari bhasha nmari jeebh)

modhama kheelay chay)

(fullnee jaim mari bhasha mari jeebh)

(modhama pakay chay)

W hat 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?

Takes place in a dream; as such, is it real or   just something she hopes for?

Strong positive natural imagery. W hat might this suggest?

it grows back, a stump of a shoot grows longer, longer, grows moist, grows strong veins, Is it necessary for one it ties the other tongue in knots, to overpower the the bud opens, the bud opens in my other? 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. Positive image could imply that the language is beautiful and exotic

Think about«  How How does does the the poe poem m pres presen entt the the argu argume ment nt that our speech and ourselves are intimately connected? connected? Do people not have to sear search ch for for their their own own tongue tongue - or  authentic authe ntic voice - even if they have not had had to move from one language to another?  What does the last sentence of the poem mean?

Writing responses to the poems W hat is it worth and why? First sentence: pointless

Second sentence: personal response, but needs developing

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.

Treatment of how the poem is written is poor - sugg suggests ests G/F G/F grade grade

Writing responses to the poems W hat is it worth and why? Gets hold of the importance of this image in the poem Understands what the poet is saying

The whole poem is about tongues really reall y, there are lots of  images of tongues. Sujata describes her mother tongue as if it was something growing in her mouth, which whi ch gets bigger or  smaller. She thinks that if she s he 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 'bl ossoms out of my mouth', so it's come to life again.

Suggests a C/B grade answer 

Writing responses to the poems W hat is it worth and why? Clear explanation of a complicated image Short quotations to illustrate what is said

Connects 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 a ctual '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'. as ide'. It's like when she dreams, she dreams in in Gujarati, and this keeps the language alive al ive for her. It connects her to her  memories. 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.

Suggests A grade answer 

Write a response to the following  How How Does Does Su Suja jata ta Bha Bhatt tt fee feell abo about ut he her  r  mother tongue? Support your answer with quotations  Aim Aim to wri rite te hal halff a pag page e of of a det detai aile led d response to the poem.