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This Room
by Imtiaz Dharker
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This room is breaking out
of itself, cracking through
its own walls
in search of space, light,
empty air.
What could the room
be a metaphor for?
What do we associate with
rooms?
Does the poetsee the room as
a positive ornegative thing?
What is it
calledwhen anobject is
givenhuman
characteristics?
What doesthis imageremind you
of?
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What do we associate with rooms?
The place where we live.
Private places that belong to us and where
we belong. Rooms can separate people.
They have walls that confine us.
We shut out other people from our rooms.
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The room as a metaphorThe room could be a metaphor for culture.
Cultures are often associated with national
boundaries.
Language, religion, race, social customsetc can form invisible walls keeping others
from understanding what happens in the
room.
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The bed is lifting out of
its nightmares.
From dark corners, chairs
are rising up to crash through clouds.
In which direction are thingsmoving?
Is the
movement into light
ordarkness?
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Why did the poet use the
idea of moving both into
the light and upwards?
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This is the time and place
to be alive:
when the daily furniture of our lives
stirs, when the improbable arrives.
Pots and pans bang together
in celebration, clang
Past the crowd of garlic, onions, spices,
Fly by the ceiling fan.
No one is looking for the door.
Movement gatherspace.
What is ourdaily
furniture?
Could the furniture bethe beliefs or
everyday objects thatclutter our lives?
What tense is used? Why?
Are there anywords that rhyme?
Can you spot anyonomatopoeia?
Why is no one looking for the
door? What does that usually
mean?
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Why is no one looking for the door?
Presumably, because there are now so
many different ways of leaving the room,
without using the conventional route.
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We are not told what is precisely
happening, only that it is
something unforeseen and unlikely
(improbable) so the reader canonly speculate about what is
bringing about this transformation.
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In all this excitement
Im wondering where
Ive left my feet, and why
My hands are outside, clapping.
Speaker leftwondering what it
means to be swept upin excitement.
What does this suggest?
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One's sense of self is also confused - we say
sometimes that we are all over the place, andthe poet depicts this literally, as well - she cannot
find her feet (a common metaphor for gaining a
sense of purpose or certainty) and realizes that
her hands are not even in the same room - andhave taken on a life of their own, applauding.
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Could the poem be about the excitement of
moments when things change? At these
moments our surroundings seem to share our
excitement or its as if they do. We do not
know the cause of this joyful explosion, but it
seems to be bound up with personal happiness
and fulfilment - it might be romantic love, but it
could be other things: maternity, a new job,
artistic achievement, almost anything that is
genuinely and profoundly life-changing.
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More to think about..
In the poem our homes and possessionssymbolise our lives and ambitions in alimiting sense, while change and new
opportunities are likened to space, lightand empty air, where there is anopportunity to move and grow. LikeWalcott's Love After Love it is aboutchange and personal growth - but at anearlier point, or perhaps at repeated pointsin one's life.
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What do you think the poet means by imagining
a room breaking out of itself?
How does the poet suggest ideas of change and
opportunity?
This is a very happy poem - how does Imtiaz
Dharker suggest her joy in it?
What is the effect of the images in the poem - ofrooms, Does the poem give us any clues as to
why this furniture and crockery bursting into life?
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