Tissue

• ’paper’ begins the first 2 sentences in tissue, this emphasises importance and draws the readers attention.
• Tissue doesn’t follow a narrative form but rather uses tissue as an extended metaphor for mankind’s power.
• Tissue illustrates how something fragile as tissue has the power to leave a lasting mark.
• Tissue’s irregular rhyme scheme depicts how attempts to gain power are futile and instead we should aim for freedom
• the enjambment contrasts with the quatrains showing freedom which is found in the most restricted places(quatrains)
• ‘Fly our lives like paper kites’ this insinuates how tissue has the ability to change the world despite how frail it is, it’s still able to impact lives.
• “Pages smoothed and stroked and turned” - gentle verbs, repetition of ‘and’ shows that the pages are constantly treated with respect and affection. The description makes them sound almost as if they are a child or A pet.
• dharker was born in Pakistan, adopted into India and married into wales
• dharker called herself ‘Scottish Muslim Calvinist‘
• A lot of dharkers petry focuses on identity stemming from her ability to balance her conflicting identities.
• “if buildings were paper’‘- shift in tone, speaker suggests if buildings were paper, people would notice that they are only temporary.
• “the marks that rivers make, roads, rail tracks.” Alliterate ’r’ creats a flowing effect and a sense of freedom
• “Fine slips”(receipts) record our day to day life, receipts can tell a story about our whole existence
• “Paper slips” paper dictates our lives and money controls it
• “With brick, or block” consonance of ’brick’ and ‘Block’ emphasises the solidity of the objects and the enjambment gives the words more impact.
• “A structure never meant to last”- human life is only temporary
• “Paper slips” the more money you have the more powerful you are. The world is materialistic.
• “who was born to whom” paper has the ability to record ‘who was born to whom’ showing us that paper has the ability to encapsulate and record something as complex as human lives.
• “Borders”, “paper slips”, “maps”, “koran”, are things humans use to illustrate power and are the same things that lead to disunity and division.
• Religion contrasts to the temporariness of human power as it has the ability to create ideology’s that last long such as the ‘koran’ and calling it a ‘we’ll used book’ showing the prevalence in modern society. The koran lasts a long time in society emphasising papers significance.
• Human power is immortalised through religion
• ‘Paper that lets light shine through’ the ‘light’ here may be dharker referring to enlightenment and truth, showing how the world should be viewed through this lens and not focused on acquiring more power.
• “Turned transparent” - alliteration society should be more honest and truthful.
• tissue lacks a rhyme scheme to create a more free flowing text.
• The lack of rhyme scheme creates the impression of freedom as human attempts to gain control are futile and instead we should express freedom.
• Tissue doesn’t utilise a character or a story to express dharkers views on freedom and instead she talks about a broad idea criticising society
• Dharkers poem allows all people to emphasise despite your religion, where you live and when you live which shows how important is that people break free from human power in order to live freely and embrace nature.
• In tissue there is a caesura in every stanza except for the line which begins with ‘fine slips’ which emphasises humans place of money and finance.
• Tissues can be compared to ozymandias as ozymandias demonstrates how all human power is temporary and not destined to last and similarly tissues demonstrates through metaphors that attempts to cling onto power are futile and that humans must fall.
• Both ozymandias and tissue emphasises on the idea that the power of nature is long lasting and transcendent.
• ozymandias criticised everything that is wrong with power and the lust and crave towards it whereas tissue employs more of a passive tone, simply illustrating the limits to human power.
• Ozymandias’ form is irregular rhyme scheme that still imposes some weaker semblance of authority.
• Ozymandias’ right iambic pentameter shows control and the criticism to tyranny where as tissue doesnt
• Tissue explores how human power is not meant to last forever through a variety of metaphors
• dharker compares human power to tissue creating the effect of temporariness and criticising human attempts to hold onto power.
• No matter how grand humanities ’capitals and monoliths’ are they aren’t meant to last.