Discuss the role of identity and culture in Moniza Alvi's poem 'An Unknown Girl'

Before tackling this question, I would first sit down with a coloured pen and analyse the poem. Identify any aspects of the poem which might relate to identity and culture and try to group all the examples into themes - relating back to how the symbol of identity changes the poem's meaning. Once all of the examples have been grouped, I would see what one common theme is and find a 'thesis' - an overall argument which describes the main role of identity/culture in the poem. Once all this preliminary work has been done, we can start writing the essay! Before tackling this question, I would first sit down with a coloured pen and analyse the poem. Identify any aspects of the poem which might relate to identity and culture and try to group all the examples into themes - relating back to how the symbol of identity changes the poem's meaning. Once all of the examples have been grouped, I would see what one common theme is and find a 'thesis' - an overall argument which describes the main role of identity/culture in the poem. The most important thing is planning, so the next stage is forming a clear structure. Starting with the introduction, we identify the 'Basic Dramatic Scenario' (BDS), where we summarise the main movement of the poem, before moving on to identify the main themes, before finishing the introduction with the thesis statement. This can all be written in note-form first. Next, we plan the structure of the rest of the poem. Choose the most important of the themes that you identified in the analysis and list the main quotes and arguments underneath them. The conclusion is a summary of your main arguments with an added significance - why do your points matter? How does it change the reader’s interpretations, and what they take away from the poem? Once all this preliminary work has been done, we can start writing the essay! I always suggest writing the introduction last - unless in a written exam. For coursework, the writing process is much less daunting when you methodologically convert your notes from each section (introduction + roughly 3 arguments + conclusion) into full sentences. The sentences should link together, following the PEE structure (point, example, explanation).