Eduqas Poetry Anthology Living Space by HImtiaz Dharker
Eduqas Poetry Anthology Living Space – by HImtiaz Dharker– Activity A Activity B Activity C Activity D Activity E Activity F Choose a task
Eduqas Poetry Anthology Living Space – by HImtiaz Dharker– Activity A The poem is about the city of Mumbai in India where the poet lived for a time. Look at the image of the slums of Mumbai in the picture below. What strikes you most about the image? https: //www. flickr. com/photos/dcf_pics/6812749786/ Menu
Eduqas Poetry Anthology Activity B Living Space – by HImtiaz Dharker– Having looked at the image does the poet change your view of the city? There are just not enough straight lines. That is the problem. Nothing is flat or parallel. Beams balance crookedly on supports thrust off the vertical. Nails clutch at open seams. The whole structure leans dangerously towards the miraculous. 1 Into this rough frame, someone has squeezed a living space 1 and even dared to place these eggs in a wire basket, fragile curves of white hung out over the dark edge of a slanted universe, gathering the light into themselves, as if they were the bright, thin walls of faith. Menu What attitude do you think the poet has towards the people of Mumbai? How can you tell?
Eduqas Poetry Anthology Living Space – by HImtiaz Dharker– Activity C How does the poet create a vivid sense of place in the first stanza? In what way is the city ‘miraculous’? There are just not enough straight lines. That is the problem. Nothing is flat or parallel. Beams balance crookedly on supports thrust off the vertical. Nails clutch at open seams. The whole structure leans dangerously towards the miraculous. 1 Into this rough frame, someone has squeezed a living space 1 and even dared to place these eggs in a wire basket, fragile curves of white hung out over the dark edge of a slanted universe, gathering the light into themselves, as if they were the bright, thin walls of faith. Menu Look at the verbs used in this stanza - click to highlight in red. What effects do you think the poet was trying to create of the city by using them? Look at the enjambement used in the first 7 lines. Why do you think the poet has used this technique? What other sound patterns do you notice?
Eduqas Poetry Anthology Activity D Living Space – by HImtiaz Dharker– Why do you think the poet creates a stanza from this fragment of a sentence? There are just not enough straight lines. That is the problem. Nothing is flat or parallel. Beams balance crookedly on supports thrust off the vertical. Nails clutch at open seams. The whole structure leans dangerously towards the miraculous. 1 Into this rough frame, someone has squeezed a living space 1 and even dared to place these eggs in a wire basket, fragile curves of white hung out over the dark edge of a slanted universe, gathering the light into themselves, as if they were the bright, thin walls of faith. Menu How would you describe the tone of this stanza? How is it different from the mood of the first stanza?
Eduqas Poetry Anthology Living Space – by HImtiaz Dharker– Activity E How does the poet use imagery in the last part of the poem and what effects are created? There are just not enough straight lines. That is the problem. Nothing is flat or parallel. Beams balance crookedly on supports thrust off the vertical. Nails clutch at open seams. The whole structure leans dangerously towards the miraculous. 1 Into this rough frame, someone has squeezed a living space 1 and even dared to place these eggs in a wire basket, fragile curves of white hung out over the dark edge of a slanted universe, gathering the light into themselves, as if they were the bright, thin walls of faith. Menu The metaphor of the eggs is complex. How do you interpret its meaning and significance here?
Eduqas Poetry Anthology Living Space – by HImtiaz Dharker– Activity F In what ways does the idea of ‘living space’ change through the poem? How is this achieved? There are just not enough straight lines. That is the problem. Nothing is flat or parallel. Beams balance crookedly on supports thrust off the vertical. Nails clutch at open seams. The whole structure leans dangerously towards the miraculous. 1 Into this rough frame, someone has squeezed a living space 1 and even dared to place these eggs in a wire basket, fragile curves of white hung out over the dark edge of a slanted universe, gathering the light into themselves, as if they were the bright, thin walls of faith. Menu How do you interpret the term ‘living space’? Look at the way the sentence structures change in the poem. Why does the poet choose to do this?
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