Living Space - Language, Structure, Context

Question 1

Imtiaz Dharker

Answer 1

Pakistani - has travelled around the world
Visual Artist - references to lines and angles
2014 Queen’s medal for poetry
Went to a Calvinist School - poem has religious and cultural images
Ran away from family to marry an Indian Hindu.

Question 2

Poem inspiration

Answer 2

Grew up in Scotland - spent time living in Mumbai (which was inspiration for this poem).
Based on her views of the slums and shanty towns of Mumbai.

Question 3

Poem - Focus

Answer 3

About people’s lives, poverty, and hope
Poem warns about not stereotyping people - humanises people in poverty

Question 4

Stanza 1

Answer 4

Broken up
External, physical
About buildings and structures

Question 5

Stanza 2

Answer 5

Turning point/transition
Physical»_space; lives
House»_space; home
Outside»_space; inside
Physical»_space; mental/spiritual

Question 6

Stanza 3

Answer 6

Unity
Hope for the future
One long sentence to the end, no caesura - no more disruptions, moving forward with the future
External life may be and appear broken, but internal life complete

Question 7

Imagery of the egg

Answer 7

Eggs represent hope, new beginnings, but are fragile.
But eggs on windowsill means willing to take risks.

Question 8

Rhyme/Structure

Answer 8

No obvious rhyme
No obvious meter
Enjambment and caesura - disrupting the natural flow, deliberate to make the poem irregular and visually off-centre, mirroring the physical reality of the slums
A little bit of rhyme in Stanza 3 - more sense of harmony