Interview
Grade 10 Poetry
- Course
- English Home Language
- Institution
- 10th Grade
Analysis of poems prescribed by the DBE for Grade 10 English Home Language. Poem analysis, questions and memos to the questions are contained in this guide.
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
Content preview
Grade 10Poetry Booklet
1. The Right Word – Imtiaz Dharker
2. Soccer, Karoo Style – Clive Lawrence
3. Stopping by the Woods on Snowy Evening – Robert Frost
4. Caged Bird – Maya Angelou
5. Reapers in the mieliefield - Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali
6. He wishes for the cloths of heaven – William Butler Yeats
7. Hope is a thing with feathers – Emily Dickinson
8. by your own definition – Shabbir Banoobhai
9. The warm and the cold – Ted Hughes
1|Page
Wyatt’s Words
,The Right Word – Imtiaz Dharker
Outside the door, 1
Lurking in the shadows,
is a terrorist.
Is that the wrong description?
Outside the door 5
taking shelter in the shadows,
is a freedom-fighter.
I haven’t got this right.
Outside, waiting in the shadows,
is a hostile militant. 10
Are words no more
than waving, wavering flags?
Outside your door,
watchful in the shadows,
is a guerilla warrior. 15
God help me.
Outside, defying every shadow,
stands a martyr.
I saw his face.
No words can help me now. 20
Just outside the door,
lost in the shadows,
is a child who looks like mine.
One word for you.
Outside my door, 25
his hand too steady,
his eyes too hard,
is a boy who looks like your son, too.
I open the door.
Come in, I say. 30
Come in and eat with us.
The child steps in
and carefully, at my door,
takes off his shoes.
2|Page
Wyatt’s Words
,Glossary:
Lurking prowling, creeping around
Terrorist radical, extremist
Freedom-fighter a person who takes part in a revolutionary struggle to achieve a
political goal
Hostile unfriendly, aggressive
Militant activist, rebel, revolutionary
Wavering hesitating, indecisive
Guerilla member of a small band of armed fighters (also spelled guerrilla)
Defying challenging, confronting
Martyr someone who dies for his/her beliefs
About the poet – Imtiaz Dharker
• She was born in 1954 to Pakistani parents.
• Brought up in Scotland.
• She is an award-winning poet, artist and filmmaker.
• Many of her poems focus on home, freedom and displacement and feminism.
About the poem:
• This poem was written in 2006, five years after the (11 September 2001) terrorist attack
in the USA. For some people the perpetrators of “9/11” were people fighting oppression
while others saw them as murderers.
• The poem explores the power of words and their connotations. The poet tries different
ways of describing the person outside her door but eventually, in stanza six, she
abandons words and just uses her eyes. In this way she moves from fearfully describing
the person as a ‘terrorist’ to inviting a child into her home.
• This poem is written in free verse – there are no rhyming words and no regular rhythm.
This could be indicative of her bafflement and confusion.
• Conversational/colloquial style, albeit in nine separate stanzas.
• The poem is a conversation that the poet is having with herself about the perceptions
and the connotations of words. She states: “I work with film, and I know that I can take
one image and edit it ten different ways, write ten different sets of words, and make it
into ten different stories. That's one of the things that I'm trying to do in the poem 'The
right word'. There is just one image, but it's an image that is interpreted in different ways
depending on the preconceptions that fit into each verse.”
Analysis:
• The word ‘terrorist’ creates a complex set of expectations. We believe that we
understand how this person will act; we may even think we know who they are, what
they represent, their motives, even their appearance, just from this one word. ‘Lurking in
the shadows’ further suggests that they are a hidden threat waiting for the moment to
attack. Dharker creates tension and mood in just these three opening lines.
• However, Dharker deflates these expectations when in the next stanza she asks ‘Is that
the wrong description?’.
• The ‘terrorist’ is recast as a ‘freedom fighter’ which sets up another range of
expectations. In contrast, Dharker now describes the person as ‘taking shelter in the
3|Page
Wyatt’s Words
, shadows’, seeking safety against an oppressive enemy. Even a subtle change in word
choice significantly alters our interpretation.
• Dharker continues to highlight that there are many ways to frame and reframe a
situation. This same person also becomes a ‘hostile militant’, a ‘guerilla warrior’ and a
‘martyr’. The speaker demonstrates uncertainty as she struggles to find the right words,
asking ‘Is that the wrong description?’ and worrying that she hasn’t ‘got this right’.
Unable to settle on a satisfying description, the speaker asks: ‘Are words no more / than
waving, wavering flags?’. Like flags, the meaning of words can waver, become partial or
obscure. Words aren’t concrete and stable, objectively capturing the essential truth.
• This means that the same person can be called a terrorist or a freedom fighter,
depending on the views of the speaker and – crucially – the response they wish to
invoke in others. Is this person brave or merely violent? Should we respect them or fear
them? Each term provokes a different reaction.
• However, the lurking figure is finally recast as simply a ‘child’. He is a ‘boy who looks like
your son’, suggesting for the first time a familiarity, a fundamental sameness. In the
penultimate stanza, the speaker even ‘open[s] the door’ and invites the child into the
intimate family space to ‘Come in and eat with us’. Only once the figure on the outside is
recognised as a child, rather than being described in alarming language, can the door
open to them.
• The image of the door returns throughout the poem. A wall simply divides two sides. Yet
a door can open, providing an opportunity for the two sides to connect. One side must
take the risk and reach out, opening the door to the other and welcoming them in.
• Dharker argues that words can create an artificial barrier between people, hiding our
similarities and emphasising – or imagining – fundamental differences. But the right
words, like a door, can open up new spaces for friendship and understanding.
4|Page
Wyatt’s Words
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through EFT, credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying this summary from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller WyattsWords. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy this summary for R133,00. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
75323 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy summaries for 14 years now