Name Journeys (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Each poetry anthology at GCSE contains 15 poems, and in your exam question you will be given one poem – printed in full – and asked to compare this printed poem to another from the anthology. As this is a closed-book exam, you will not have access to the second poem, so you will have to know it from memory. Fifteen poems is a lot to revise. However, understanding four things will enable you to produce a top-grade response:

• The meaning of the poem
• The ideas and messages of the poet 
• How the poet conveys these ideas through their methods
• How these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas of other poets in the anthology

Below is a guide to Raman Mundair’s poem “Name Journeys”, from the Worlds and Lives anthology. It includes:

• Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
• Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods
• Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes
• What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam

In order to answer an essay question on any poem, it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:

• The poem in a nutshell
• A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section
• A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Raman Mundair’s intention and message

“Name Journeys” in a nutshell

“Name Journeys” is written by the poet Raman Mundair who was born in India and moved to England in 1970 aged five. Mundair’s poem explores individuals’ cultural heritage, focusing on the way language is a key aspect of identity. 

“Name Journeys” breakdown

Lines 1–3

“Like Rama I have felt the wilderness

but I have not been blessed

with a companion as sweet as she,”

Translation

• The speaker compares themselves to a Hindu deity, Rama
• The speaker relates to Rama, saying they have both experienced being cast out or the feeling of Exile (the “wilderness”)
• However, the speaker suggests they, unlike Rama, are alone

Mundair’s intention

• The first lines begin with a comparison between the speaker’s life and the story of Rama
• This introduces the theme of isolation, as they feel exiled from their homeland into the “wilderness” 

Lines 4–6

“Sita; loyal, pure and true of heart.

Like her, I have been chastened

through trial by fire. Sita and I,”

Translation

• The speaker’s life is explained through Hindu stories
• The speaker feels she shares similar life experiences with Sita, a Hindu deity
• The speaker refers to a “trial by fire”, referring to a Hindu myth whereby the sinful are punished and humbled (“chastened”) through a challenging experience, while the innocent are saved by the gods

Mundair’s intention

• Mundair conveys a strong bond between the speaker and their culture:
• They connect their own life experiences with Hindu myths

Lines 7–9

“spiritual sari-sisters entwined

in an infinite silk that would swathe

Draupadi’s blush. My name”

Translation

• These lines describe the close relationship the speaker feels they have with Sita
• Their intimate relationship (they are “entwined”) makes them “spiritual” sisters 
• The speaker says this relationship will last forever (“infinite”)
• “Draupadi’s blush” refers to a Hindu myth:
• Draupadi is a goddess, worshipped for her courage but humiliated in her life
• Her name is connected to ideas of forgiveness 

Mundair’s intention

• Mundair’s poem focuses on the speaker’s devotion to their religion
• Their life is described in relation to Hindu mythology
• This suggests that the speaker’s sense of identity is linked to their Indian and religious heritage

Lines 10–11

“a journey between rough and smooth,

an interlacing of banyan leaves with sugar”

Translation

• Here, the speaker begins to reflect on their name:
• They explain that, as a result of their name, their journey (perhaps this connotes to their life) has been “rough and smooth”, good and bad
• The speaker refers to “banyan leaves”: 
• The banyan tree is said to be the resting place for the Hindu god Krishna

Mundair’s intention

• Mundair’s speaker suggests that it is their name, and thus their heritage, that creates the challenging experiences she has described
• Their life is “interlaced” and closely connected with Indian culture, yet this brings “rough” times as well

Lines 12–14

“cane. Woven tapestries of journeys;

travelling from South

to North, where the Punjabi in my mouth”

Translation

• These lines develop the idea that the speaker has been on many “journeys” in their life
• Perhaps the travels relate to migration from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere, or from India to Manchester

Mundair’s intention

• The speaker’s life is described as made up of many journeys
• The journeys are like tapestries, made up of many different “woven” threads:
• This may imply her life is made up of different cultures and different elements, that combine to make one piece of “art” 

Lines 15–16

“became dislodged as milk teeth fell

and hit infertile English soil.”

Translation 

• The speaker comments on their language, Punjabi, and how, as they travelled, they began to lose their mother tongue
• The speaker uses the metaphor of “milk teeth” (baby teeth) to symbolise both their first language and their innocence 
• By describing “infertile” “soil”, the speaker implies it is difficult for things, such as one’s identity through language, to survive or grow in England 

Mundair’s intention

• Mundair’s speaker reflects on the significance of language as part of an individual’s identity 
• She suggests that England does not allow her language to survive by describing it as barren

Lines 17–20

“My mouth toiled to accommodate 

the rough musicality of Mancunian vowels

and my name became a stumble

that filled English mouths”

Translation 

• The speaker describes the difficulty of learning a new language:
• The word “toiled” connotes to hard labour
• The reference to “Mancunian vowels” alludes to struggles with pronunciation 
• The speaker says their name was difficult for English people to pronounce as they stumbled as they spoke it 

Mundair’s intention

• Mundair draws attention to language barriers between individuals
• She illustrates how individuals find it hard to communicate as a result of unfamiliar “vowels” and names
• Through others not being able to pronounce her name correctly, the speaker’s identity is eroded
• The speaker had to give priority to the new Mancunian accent

Lines 21–22

“with a discordant rhyme, an exotic

rhythm dulled, my voice a mystery”

Translation 

• Here the speaker expresses their thoughts on the way their language and identity has been “dulled” 
• The speaker implies a sense of imbalance as they describe how their name becomes a “discordant rhyme” when English people speak it
• They say that the “exotic rhythm” of her Punjabi name is lost when it is spoken in a Mancunian accent
• This makes their “voice”, their language, a “mystery”, hidden and unknown 

Mundair’s intention

• Mundair conveys the challenges faced by migrants, specifically in relation to language 
• She draws attention to the significance of an individual’s name and language:
• Mundair presents this as Integral to an individual’s sense of stability and identity 

Lines 23–24

“in the Anglo echo chamber -

void of history and memory.”

Translation 

• The poem ends with a critical conclusion
• The speaker describes an English “echo chamber”, an environment where individuals are surrounded by only one set of beliefs or opinions largely agreeable to the majority
• The reference to “history” and “memory” (which the speaker says is an empty hole or “void”) implies the English have no memory of history 

Mundair’s intention

• Mundair’s poem suggests that minority voices are drowned out in England
• The poem’s ending implies the English fail to remember the reasons for migration and the effects of British colonisation

Although this section is organised into three separate sections – form, structure and language – it is always best to move from what the poet is presenting (the techniques they use; the overall form of the poem; what comes at the beginning, middle and end of a poem) to how and why they have made the choices they have. 

Focusing on the poet’s overarching ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. Crucially, in the sections below, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes Raman Mundair’s intentions behind her choices in terms of:

• Form
• Structure
• Language

Form

The poem’s form contributes to the flowing rhythm of the monologue. Mundair employs free verse, perhaps linking to themes related to the rejection of established structures. 

Theme	Evidence	Poet’s intention
Belonging and heritage	The poem’s free verse form conveys the speaker’s reflective tone	Mundair’s poem is a flow of thoughts that reflects a thoughtful yet passionate voice: The poem begins evoking spiritual imagery that contributes to the “other-worldly” nature of the poem
	Mundair presents the first-person perspective of an individual caught between two worlds	Mundair conveys themes of identity in a monologue that highlights various cultural references in coupled lines
	The reflective and personal nature of the poem, “Name Journeys”, contributes to themes related to free expression of identity and culture

Structure

Mundair’s speaker calmly reflects on various aspects of their identity. Nevertheless, a destabilised sentence and stanza structure raises issues and hints at tensions in the speaker’s voice and disconnections in the individual’s life. 

Theme	Evidence	Poet’s intention
Individual lives	The poet uses enjambment to convey the speaker’s thoughtful reflections	Mundair illustrates how an individual caught between two cultures maintains control while experiencing inner conflict
	Broken sentences, created by coupled lines that flow onto the next stanza, draw attention to disconnections between the images Mundair presents	Mundair, perhaps, presents destabilising factors that can cause unease for individuals managing more than one culture
	Mundair conveys the challenges experienced by individuals struggling to adapt in a new environment and keep strong connections with their heritage

Language

“Name Journeys” is depicted as “a journey between rough and smooth”. Mundair symbolises a challenging transition between two cultures using vibrant and classical imagery to show the significance of contrasts. 

Theme	Evidence	Poet’s intention
Disconnected relationships	At first, Mundair describes her Hindu heritage: Imagery heightened by sibilance describes the speaker’s passionate bond: “spiritual sari-sisters entwined/in an infinite silk”	Mundair begins the poem with a sensual expression of the speaker’s cultural identity
	However, the poet shows how this bond causes pain with contrasting imagery connoting to isolation and punishment: The speaker has been “chastened” in “trial by fire” They have “felt the wilderness”	Mundair’s speaker describes “Woven tapestries of journeys” that are “rough and smooth”: This metaphor conveys the many influences that make up their identity The images appear to imply the speaker’s culture causes pain
	The speaker’s name causes distress on “infertile English soil’: It becomes a “stumble/that filled English mouths” The speaker, too, has “toiled” to use English	Mundair uses a semantic field  related to hard labour to convey the hardships of integration, specifically in relation to language barriers: The poet shows the speaker’s struggles learning a new language  The images imply resistance
	Mundair’s poem presents divisions and discordas a result of a displacement, specifically regarding an individual’s language, which is an integral part of their identity

Examiners repeatedly state that context should not be considered as additional factual information but connected to your analysis. Examiners ask for sophisticated contextual connections that are linked to the theme in the question. In this case, it is not biographical information about Raman Mundair that is unrelated to the ideas in “Name Journeys”. The best way to understand context is as the ideas and perspectives explored by Mundair in the poem that relate to worlds and lives. This section has therefore been divided into two relevant themes that Mundair explores:

• Belonging and heritage 
• Disconnected relationships   

Belonging and heritage 

• Raman Mundair was born in India, but moved to England in the 1970s
• She is now based in Shetland and Glasgow, where, in 2022, she was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
• Her writing challenges and raises issues related to British and colonial histories and identities
• In “Name Journeys” Mundair explores language as a significant part of cultural identity:
• She refers to difficulties between English speakers and Punjabi speakers
• The poem also examines Mundair’s Hindu heritage: 
• The speaker compares herself to “Rama” and refers to “Sita”
• The poem draws comparisons with a story of Rama’s exile into the “wilderness” to, perhaps, connote to struggles in individuals’ lives as a result of migration
• The speaker refers to close bonds with “spiritual” “sari-sisters” to convey the powerful influence of cultural heritage

Disconnected relationships  

• Raman Mundair’s self identity is diverse and she resists being “pigeon-holed”
• The diverse nature of her cultural heritage has influenced her work, covering themes of anti-racism, anti-facism, violence and gender-based discrimination
• Raman’s work focuses on the experiences and lives of people in minority groups, who she calls the “outsiders”
• The poem “Name Journeys” offers a bitter comment on an outsider’s experience of hostility as a result of differences in culture:
• The speaker describes “infertile English soil”
• This, the speaker says, dulls her identity as she loses her first language 
• Mundair’s poem focuses on language as an integral part of personal identity:
• She has said that when moving to England she was “put in a class for the educationally subnormal” and “learnt English in order to disrupt it”
• The poem’s irregular form evokes classical Hindu images within an English poem to subvert established traditions
• The poem describes a “journey” that involves a loss of personal identity as her name is too difficult for English speakers to pronounce:
• The “Punjabi” in their “mouth/became dislodged as milk teeth fell’
• Her name is a “stumble” in the “discordant rhyme” of English

The essay you are required to write in your exam is a comparison of the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. It is therefore essential that you revise the poems together, in pairs, to understand how each poet presents ideas about worlds and lives, in comparison to other poets in the anthology. Given that “Name Journeys” explores the ideas of disconnected relationships and differences between individual lives, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:

• “Name Journeys” and “On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955" 
• “Name Journeys" and “Thirteen” 
• “Name Journeys" and “Homing” 

For each pair of poems, you will find:

• The comparison in a nutshell
• Similarities between the ideas presented in each poem
• Differences between the ideas presented in each poem
• Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences

“Name Journeys” and “On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955" 

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both Raman Mundair’s “Name Journeys” and James Berry’s “On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955" employ speakers who explore an immigrant’s experience integrating in England. Both examine a disconnection from their world in terms of their culture. However, Mundair uses a vibrant monologue to express her identity, whereas Berry’s poem describes a polite yet stilted conversation on a train.

Similarities:

Topic sentence	Both poems explore disconnections between human relationships
Evidence and analysis	“Name Journeys”	“On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955"
	Mundair uses the theme of travelling in her poem about displacement: The speaker is “travelling from South/to North” Their journey is like “Woven tapestries”, influenced and interconnected with different cultures	Similarly, Berry’s poem is set on a train in England to explore miscommunications based on cultural differences: The English woman asks “What part of Africa is Jamaica?”
	Mundair’s speaker finds obstacles conversing with English speakers: The speaker draws attention to language barriers: Their name is “a stumble/that filled English mouths”	Berry’s narrator is also unable to form a relationship with the English woman:  His ironic reply, “Where Ireland is near Lapland I said” is ignored by the woman
	Mundair’s poem alludes to the isolation felt by those new to an area: Her metaphor, “felt the wilderness”, connotes to being lost and vulnerable The speaker has “not been blessed with a companion”	Berry’s speaker depicts the narrator’s sense of isolation in everyday occurrences, such as on a train: The narrator is “startled” by the woman The narrator is “thoughtful” and dubious
	Both “Name Journeys” and “On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955" explore how external worlds impact human beings’ inner lives

Differences:

Topic sentence	While Mundair’s monologue is a critique of the environment, Berry describes a polite and essentially pleasant conversation on a train
Evidence and analysis	“Name Journeys”	“On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955"
	Mundair’s speaker has a reflective, fluid tone: Enjambment that runs across stanzas creates a destabilised voice	In contrast, Berry’s narrator remains polite and calm throughout: His frustration is hidden as he offers short, Wry replies to the woman
	Mundair uses rich imagery to criticise England while presenting her heritage positively:  The poem refers to “infertile English soil”  Sibilance highlights the close bond the speaker feels with their “spiritual sari-sisters”	However, Berry describes simple imagery to present the conversation as superficial and disconnected: The woman mentions a “sunny country” and the narrator, in contrast, refers to “snow” Discussing the weather is a typical topic of English small-talk, to which the speaker adapts
	Mundair boldly expresses her sense of displacement:  The speaker suggests the English do not discuss the reasons for migration The poem refers to an “Anglo echo chamber -/void of history and memory”	Contrastingly, Berry’s poem shows the speaker’s controlled frustration that is left unresolved at the end as “people sat down around us.”
	Mundair’s poem presents resistance to conflicts caused by displacement, while Berry’s narrator shows a resigned attitude to similar experiences

“Name Journeys" and “Thirteen ”

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both Raman Mundair and Caleb Femi use cynicale narrators to examine individuals who feel vulnerable because of their identity. However, while Mundair’s “Name Journeys” presents an individual’s defiance, Femi’s “Thirteen” shows a young boy’s growing sense of hopelessness. 

Similarities:

Topic sentence	Both poems present individuals facing struggles with integration
Evidence and analysis	“Name Journeys"	“Thirteen”
	Mundair uses Hindu references to symbolise the challenges faced by the speaker as a result of their Indian heritage: They have “felt the wilderness” They had a “trial by fire” The speaker’s Punjabi name creates a “journey” that is “rough and smooth”	Femi’s narrator is disrupted on a simple, everyday walk home: He is stopped by a police officer and told he may “fit/the description of a man” involved in a robbery alliteration  highlights a sense of vulnerability: “he will see you powerless – plump.”
	Mundair describes conflicts as a result of differing languages using a semantic field connoting to labour: The speaker has “toiled to accommodate” the “Mancunian vowels” Their name is a “stumble” on “infertile English soil”	Femi presents disconnected relationships between the boy and the officer: The boy feels threatened: He is “cornered by an officer” colloquial language conveys a patronising exchange: “You’ll be patted on the shoulder, then, by another fed”
	The poems raise questions about cultural barriers between people that result in disconnected relationships

Topic sentence	Both poems present individuals demeaned and frustrated as a result of struggles related to cultural differences
Evidence and analysis	“Name Journeys"	“Thirteen”
	Mundair’s speaker feels her identity and innocence has been damaged: Their first language (their mother tongue) is “dislodged” from their mouth like “milk teeth”	The speaker in Femi’s poem implies a similar loss of innocence: The boy is nervously compliant, aware of his lack of power: “You will show the warmth of your teeth/praying he remembers the heat of your supernova”
	The speaker expresses frustration that their identity, the “exotic mystery” of their name and language, has been “dulled”: Their new environment is described cynically as an “Anglo echo chamber” and “void”	The speaker’s tone is desperate, and perhaps bitter, when he is accused of a man’s crime: This is shown with repetition and caesura: “Thirteen, you’ll tell him: you’re thirteen.”
	Both poems present individuals who feel ignored and weakened as members of a minority group

 Differences:

Topic sentence	Raman Mundair’s poem “Name Journeys” presents a speaker who celebrates their cultural heritage despite struggles in their life, whereas Caleb Femi’s poem offers a darker message about the diminishing hope of a vulnerable boy
Evidence and analysis	“Name Journeys”	“Thirteen”
	Coupled lines that break sentences across the stanzas create pauses to convey a speaker’s thoughtful reflection and sense of imbalance	Femi uses a caesura to show the boy’s nervous reaction to their disrupted walk home: “the description of a man? – You’ll laugh.”
	Enjambment conveys the speaker’s passion about their cultural identity:  Sibilance in “spiritual sari-sisters entwined/in an infinite silk” and “banyan leaves with sugar/cane” highlight the sensual nature of their homeland	Femi’s poem, however, uses imagery to deliver a dismal message about a growing sense of hopelessness: Instead of “stars”, the children are “on the verge of becoming black holes”
	Mundair shows the significance of close connections to heritage as a way to empowerment, while Femi considers the long-lasting damage caused by oppression

“Name Journeys" and “Homing”

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both Raman Mundair’s “Name Journeys” and Liz Berry’s “Homing” consider the significance of language as individuals attempt to form relationships in new areas. However, Mundair’s poem ends with a criticism of hostile environments, while Liz Berry’s poem ends with release from repression.  

Similarities:

Topic sentence	Both poems examine the way an individual’s language can create bonds or highlight cultural differences in conversations
Evidence and analysis	“Name Journeys"	“Homing”
	Mundair’s speaker describes how “the Punjabi in my mouth/became dislodged as milk teeth fell” The speaker’s name cannot be pronounced in England and becomes a “stumble” in “English mouths”	Correspondingly, Liz Berry’s poem conveys differences in culture through language:  The speaker refers to an individual practising Received Pronunciation in Elocution lessons They must articulate the vowels in “how now brown cow”
	Mundair’s poem describes integration as a result of migration as painfully intense: A metaphor alludes to the Punitive nature of her “journey” They are “chastened” in a “trial by fire”	“Homing” expresses a similarly  restrictive process of integration:  Berry uses metaphorical language:  The listener kept their accent “in a box beneath the bed” The “lock” was “rusted shut by hours of elocution”
	Mundair’s poem describes an individual with a rich and strong cultural identity: A simile compares this to “Woven tapestries of journeys” Imagery connotes to the sensual nature of their heritage The speaker describes their bond “entwined/in an infinite silk”	Liz Berry describes an individual’s rich culture:  The poet uses sensory imagery to describe the comfort of home: “railways, factories” that are “thunking and clanging”
	The poets both portray individuals with rich cultural identities adapting to a new environment

Differences:

Topic sentence	Mundair presents a criticism of a hostile environment that offers no hope, whereas Liz Berry’s poem is an emotional expression that frees an individual’s hidden identity
Evidence and analysis	“Name Journeys”	“Homing”
	Mundair’s poem criticises “infertile English soil”, suggesting England is a barren land that dulls the “exotic” nature of an Indian immigrant’s identity	In Liz Berry’s poem, the speaker celebrates a different culture: They want to “shout it from the roofs” They want to “spill” and “send” the “lost words” home
	Mundair offers a gloomy perspective on multiculturalism: The speaker implies a struggle as they “toiled to accommodate” English words The poem ends suggesting the speaker’s identity remains remains a “mystery” to others	The speaker describes the positive aspects of a different cultural heritage: They refer to “a blacksmith’s furnace” and the “red-brick of home” The poem expresses a love for a different accent: “I loved its thick drawl, g’s that rang”
	The poem ends with a speaker hopeless, with issues remaining unresolved: The speaker describes their future in an “Anglo echo chamber” that is a “void”	The poem’s ending offers a hopeful message about diversity: The speaker embraces the different accent Berry uses a metaphor to draw on ideas related to Homing pigeon and belonging
	While both poets highlight struggles as a result of cultural differences, Raman Mundair implies continued problems, whereas Liz Berry depicts harmonious relationships between individuals with different backgrounds