Starter quiz
- Imtiaz Dharker published the poem 'Tissue' in her 2006 collection 'The Terrorist at My Table'. As such it is a __________ poem
- 20th century poem
- 21st century poem ✓
- 19th century poem
- 18th century poem
-
- If a metaphor is revisited several times by a writer throughout a piece of work, we would describe it as __________ metaphor.
- a prolonged
- an expanded
- a developed
- an extended ✓
-
- If a poem's stanzas have four lines then these are known as...
- quatrains ✓
- quintains
- couplets
- octaves
-
- The word tissue can have two meanings. It can refer to paper but also the tissue of the human body. As such, this word is a ...
- homonym ✓
- pronoun
- synonym
- antonym
-
- Imitiaz Dharker was born in Pakistan but moved to Glasgow in the UK as a young child. Knowing this piece of contextual information, what might be some reasonable themes to see in Dharker's work?
- home ✓
- wealth
- love
- displacement ✓
- war
-
- What is being described here: 'a feeling or idea suggested by word beyond its primary meaning'?
- 'connotations' ✓
Exit quiz
- In which country was Imtiaz Dharker born?
- Pakistan ✓
- India
- Sri Lanka
- Bangladesh
-
- What was the name of the role that Dharker refused to accept in 2019?
- 'Poet Laureate' ✓
- Which word beginning with 'd' meaning where people are forced to leave the place they normally live, is a major theme of Dharker's work?
- 'Displacement' ✓
- Throughout the poem 'Tissue', Dharker makes a developed comparison between the 'tissue' of paper and human life. What is the name of this device?
- connotation
- extended metaphor ✓
- imagery
- symbolism
-
- In the opening two stanzas of 'Tissue' what examples does Dharker give to highlight how paper can be important?
- The Koran ✓
- It can record births ✓
- It records empires
- It records medical records
- The Bible
-
- Which of the below are reasonable connotations of the word 'tissue'?
- weakness/fragility ✓
- human life ✓
- paper/documents ✓
- sadness/crying ✓
- power
-
Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- This poem is part of Dharker’s collection 'Terrorist at My Table' written at a time when her partner was terminally ill.
- The speaker in this poem uses tissue as an extended metaphor for life.
- Dharker uses the homonym "tissue" to draw parallels to the fragility of both paper and human life.
- Imtiaz Dharker was born in Pakistan but moved to Glasgow when she was under a year of age.
- Dharker turned down the Poet Laureate role in 2019 in order to maintain the personal nature of her work.
Common misconception
There is a single, clear interpretation of 'Tissue'.
There are varied interpretations of the poem and - as long as they are supported by evidence - they are valid. Students may focus on the comparison of power to paper or on the similar fragility between paper and human life.
Keywords
Poet laureate - an honorary position given by the monarch; the poet is tasked with writing poems about state occasions
Displacement - a situation where people are forced to leave the place they normally live
Connotations - the ideas and feelings a word evokes in addition to its literal meaning
Extended metaphor - a version of a metaphor that is developed throughout a piece of writing
Homonym - a word that is spelled and sounds the same as another but has a different meaning (e.g. bat)