Unknown Girl Essay

896 Words4 Pages
AN UNKNOWN GIRL (MONIZA ALVI) How successfully does the writer of “An Unknown Girl” present her feelings about the country she has visited? You should write about: * The images of the country * The way she feels about having her hands painted * The writer’s use of words, phrases and other techniques Moniza Alvi uses a variety of techniques to present her feelings about the country she has visited. The writer tries to build the images of the country “bazaar studded with neon” this shows a beautiful picture of India by creating color hence showing her feelings towards the country as she shows a beautiful country with color. There are other words which he uses to create a vivid image of the country like “rupees”, “hennaing”, “kameez” and “banners of Miss India 1993”. All this create an image of the culture and the country in which she is in. This also shows her feelings towards the country as she is trying to adjust to the culture. She uses imagery in the form of metaphors “She is icing my hand” showing a western culture as she compares the hennaing of the hand (Indian culture) to the icing of a cake (western culture). This shows that she is isolated to the Indian culture. The writer than says “on her satin-peach knee” this builds an intimate image of care and attention, it also shows beauty and color and also creates and image of something smooth and shiny. This shows her feelings towards the country she is in. The writer uses repetition of the first stanza “an unknown girl is hennaing my hand” this is to create emphasis that how important it is for the writer to henna her hand hence showing her feelings to the Indian culture as very important. In another place there is extra detail to the repetition “very deftly” showing that the unknown girl is taking extra care and she is an expert at hennaing. This creates an image of calm and slow hence
Open Document