Poems from Other Cultures

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Poems from Other Cultures

• Culture and context.

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Social, Cultural and Historical Context

• One of the questions on the Poems from other
  cultures and traditions is likely to be about
  the way poems reflect culture and you should look
  at this carefully.
• This means knowing something about the time and
  place the poem was written and being able to see
  the connection with the theme

3
Blessing

• Blessing is from India
• Indias Culture
• Importance of religion (a kindly god, the
  blessing) and drought is common.
• About the poem In a village during a drought, a
  water pipe bursts and the people rush to collect
  it, play in it and celebrate the value of water
  in such times.

4
Night of the Scorpion

• Night of the Scorpion is also from India
• Indian Culture A densely populated country with
  a large proportion living in relative poverty.
• Religion stills forms an essential aspect of
  society in most cases
• About the Poem A child watches as their mother,
  having been stung by a scorpion, struggles
  against the poison as the rest of the village use
  their methods to save her

5
Island Man

• Island Man is from Guyana in South America.
• Guyanas culture
• Country on the north coast of South America
• One of the poorest nations in the Western
  hemisphere that gained independence from Britain
  in 1966.
• What the Poems about
• A man who used to live on a Caribbean island
  still dreams of this place even now when he lives
  in London

6
Limbo

• Limbo is from the West Indies
• West Indies Culture
• Colonised by European countries in the 18th
  century, slaves were brought from Africa by these
  European countries to work in the sugar cane
  fields and other crops
• What the poem is about
• During a customary limbo dance the dancer is
  reminded of the history of Afro-Caribbeans as
  slaves

7
Nothings Changed

• Nothings Changed is from South Africa.
• South African Culture South Africa was once
  ruled by the law of apartheid, which meant black
  people had fewer rights, less wealth and were
  prevented from going to certain places.
• What the poems about The poet (narrator)
  writes about a walk / journey to a restaurant and
  working mens café explaining how each are very
  different

8
Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People
in a Mercedes

• Two Scavengers is from The United States of
  America
• American Culture A rich, powerful Western
  nation with many wealthy people but also a
  growing underclass of poverty stricken people.
• What the poems about While waiting at the
  traffic lights, two bin men on the back of a bin
  wagon look across at the two passengers of an
  expensive car.

9
Vultures

• Vultures is from Nigeria
• Nigerian Culture An African country rich with
  wildlife, it has suffered many civil wars and
  conflicts.
• What the poems about The love between two
  vultures that feed on the dead together is
  compared to the love a World War 2 concentration
  camp Commandant has for his child after a day of
  murdering people

10
What Were They Like?

• What Were They Like? is from Vietnam.
• Vietnamese Culture A South East Asian country
  ravaged by war in the 1960s and 70s with
  America.
• It is poor with a predominately agriculture based
  economy
• What the poems about
• A question and answer session about the impact of
  the Vietnam War on the people of Vietnam

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4
Match the picture to the poem.
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7
2
5
1
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6
8
12

• 1 Limbo
• 2 What Were They Like?
• 3 Two Scavengers in a Truck
• 4 Vultures
• 5 Island Man
• 6 Blessing
• 7 Nothings Changed
• 8 Night of the Scorpion