2. A01 (12 marks) A02 (12 marks) A03 (6 marks)
Clear and intelligent interpretation of the poems
Clear and precise comparison of the poems
Select a wide range of quotations which justify your points
A (12 marks)
Analyse the poets’ use of language
Analyse the poets’ use of structure
Clearly explain the effects on the reader
Use subject specific terminology
A (6 marks)
Relate the poems to their historical and social contexts

3. Paper that lets the light
shine through, this
is what could alter things.
Paper thinned by age or touching,
the kind you find in well-used books,
the back of the Koran, where a hand
has written in the names and histories,
who was born to whom,
the height and weight, who
died where and how, on which sepia date,
pages smoothed and stroked and turned
transparent with attention.
If buildings were paper, I might
feel their drift, see how easily
they fall away on a sigh, a shift
in the direction of the wind.
Maps too. The sun shines through
their borderlines, the marks
that rivers make, roads,
railtracks, mountainfolds,
Fine slips from grocery shops
that say how much was sold
and what was paid by credit card
might fly our lives like paper kites.
An architect could use all this,
place layer over layer, luminous
script over numbers over line,
and never wish to build again with brick
or block, but let the daylight break
through capitals and monoliths,
through the shapes that pride can make,
find a way to trace a grand design
with living tissue, raise a structure
never meant to last,
of paper smoothed and stroked
and thinned to be transparent,
turned into your skin.

4. What is Dharker’s ‘Tissue’ about?
Knowledge
This abstract and figurative poem explores the power and strength of paper in different forms, and considers the power and strength of man.
Skills:
Close reading of the poem, focussed on meaning and content.
Understanding:
Annotate your anthology to demonstrate your understanding.

5. What ideas can you come up with to persuade somebody this is true?
Imagine you needed to convince somebody that paper was the single most important and most powerful thing in the world.
What ideas can you come up with to persuade somebody this is true?
A01
Clear and intelligent interpretation of the poems
Select a wide range of quotations which justify your points

6. From BBC Bitesize: do you agree?
The speaker in this poem uses tissue paper as an extended metaphor for life. She considers how paper can 'alter things' and refers to the soft thin paper of religious books, in particular the Qur'an. There are also real life references to other lasting uses we have for paper in our lives such as maps, receipts and architect drawings. Each of these items is connected to important aspects of life: journeys, money and home. These examples demonstrate how important but also how fragile paper is.
In the final stages of the poem, the poet links the idea of a building being made from paper to human skin, using the words 'living tissue' and then 'your skin'. This is quite a complex idea, and the meaning is open to interpretation. She may be suggesting that the significance of human life will outlast the records we make of it on paper or in buildings. There is also a sense of the fragility of human life, and the fact that not everything can last.
From BBC Bitesize: do you agree?
A01
Clear and intelligent interpretation of the poems
Select a wide range of quotations which justify your points

7. How is Dharker’s ‘Tissue’ written?
Knowledge
Dharker uses lots of imagery and figurative language without a crystal clear meaning: be sure to consider multiple ways of interpreting the key images.
Skills:
Close reading of the poem, focussed on language and structure.
Understanding:
Annotate your anthology to demonstrate your understanding.

8. Paper is described as: ‘thinned’, ‘transparent’ and ‘fine’.
What does this imply about the power of paper?
“Fine slips from grocery shops that say how much was sold…might fly our lives like paper kites.”
What does this simile suggest about the power money plays in human lives?
A02
Analyse the poets’ use of language
Clearly explain the effects on the reader
Use subject specific terminology

9. There are 9 stanzas of 4 lines, but the 10th has only 1 line.
What might this suggest about things enduring or lasting forever? Does this relate to the overall message of the poem?
A02
Analyse the poets’ use of structure
Clearly explain the effects on the reader
Use subject specific terminology

10. Why was Dharker’s ‘Tissue’ written?
Knowledge
Dharker’s personal background is incredibly mixed and she can draw on several heritages at once to inform her world view.
Skills:
Link contextual factors to textual details.
Understanding:
Annotate your anthology to demonstrate your understanding.

11. How relevant is paper, really, in a digital age?
Imtiaz Dharker was born in the Punjab, Pakistan in She grew up in Glasgow in a Lahori household and now divides her time between India, Wales and London. She describes herself as a Scottish Muslim Calvinist.
The poem touches on religion, money, journeys, and buildings: she is concerned with all the facets of modern life.
How relevant is paper, really, in a digital age?
A03
Relate the poems to their historical and social contexts

12. How are ‘Tissue’ and ‘Ozymandias’ similar/different?
Knowledge
Both poems discuss the power of nature and the weakness/fragility of man.
Skills:
Make connections between the two poems.
Understanding:
Write a thirty minute essay response to the comparison question.

13. “If buildings were paper, I might feel their drift, see how easily they fall away on a sigh, a shift in the direction of the wind.”
Compare how Dharker portrays the weakness of human creations in the face of nature with how Shelley does the same in ‘Ozymandias’.
A01
Clear and precise comparison of the poems