ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE
POETRY GRADE 10
The Right Word – by Imtiaz Dharker
The Poem
1. Outside the door,
2. lurking in the shadows,
3. is a terrorist.
4. Is that the wrong description?
5. Outside the door
6. taking shelter in the shadows,
7. is a freedom-fighter.
8. I haven’t got this right.
9. Outside, waiting in the shadows,
10. is a hostile militant.
11. Are words no more
12. than wavering, wavering flags?
13. Outside your door,
14. watchful in the shadows,
15. is a guerrilla warrior.
16. God help me.
17. Outside, defying every shadow,
18. stands a martyr.
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19. I saw his face.
20. No words can help me now.
21. Just outside the door,
22. lost in shadows,
23. is a child who looks like mine.
24. One word for you.
25. Outside my door,
26. his hand too steady,
27. his eyes too hard,
28. is a boy who looks like your son, too.
29. I open the door.
30. Come in, I say.
31. Come in and eat with us.
32. The child steps in
33. and carefully, at my door,
34. takes off his shoes.
Glossary
All words pertaining to either positive or negative side of an armed struggle:
➢
Lurking - an ominous word, the potential for violence, danger
➢
Terrorist/ militant - a radical, extremist, revolutionary
➢
Freedom-fighter- A person who takes part in a revolutionary struggle to achieve a political goal.
➢
Hostile- unfriendly and aggressive
➢
Militant - favouring confrontational or violent methods in support of a political or social cause.
➢
Guerilla- member of a small band of armed fighters
➢
Martyr -someone who dies for his/her beliefs.
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The Poet
Imtiaz Dharker is a Pakistan-born British poet, artist, and filmmaker. She
was born on January 31, 1954, and has won the Queen’s Gold Medal for her
English poetry. Dharker was appointed Chancellor of Newcastle University in
January 2020. Raised in Glasgow, she now lives between London and
Mumbai and has authored seven poetry collections.
Title
➢ A question and statement in one. The need for affirmation if the right word is being used, as
well as the answer that the word is correct.
Structure
This poem is written in free verse – there are no rhyming words and no regular rhythm. Lack of
structure highlights her confusion.
Theme
➢ The poem explores the power of words and what they mean.
➢ The poet tries different ways of describing the person outside her door but eventually, she
abandons words and uses her eyes to find the truth, rather than go on a prejudiced description.
➢ In this way she moves from fearfully describing the person as a ‘terrorist’ to inviting a child into
her home
Tone
➢ Conversational/colloquial tone.
➢ Frustration at not finding the right word.
➢ The poem is a conversation that the poet is having with herself about the perceptions and the
connotations of words.
Context of the poem
➢ This poem was written in 2006, five years after the (11 September 2001) terrorist attack in the
USA. For some people the perpetrators of “9/11” were people fighting oppression while others
saw them as murderers.
➢ The poem explores the power of words and their connotations. The poet tries different ways of
describing the person outside her door but eventually, in stanza six, she abandons words and
just uses her eyes. In this way she moves from fearfully describing the person as a ‘terrorist’
to inviting a child into her home.
➢ The poem is a conversation that the poet is having with herself about the perceptions and the
connotations of words. She states: “I work with film, and I know that I can take one image and
edit it ten different ways, write ten different sets of words, and make it into ten different stories.
That's one of the things that I'm trying to do in the poem 'The right word'. There is just one
image, but it's an image that is interpreted in different ways depending on the preconceptions
that fit into each verse.”
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Analysis
STANZA 1
Lines 1-3:
1. Outside the door,
2. lurking in the shadows,
3. is a terrorist.
➢ Line 1: The word “outside” suggests the person is excluded from the narrator’s home. The
poet isolates him due to a human desire to ignore or fear what we do not fully understand.
Extended Metaphor
➢ “door” – serves as a barrier between the narrator and the person outside.
➢ Line 2: The word “lurking” (negative connotation) is a word associated with thieves and
criminals it implies dishonesty. The word “shadows” is an extended metaphor (continues in
the poem) that represents darkness or evil – It can be a welcoming shelter for the person
outside/means to hide evil intensions. (ambiguous).
➢ Line 3: The word “terrorist” indicates that the poet fears the person outside.
➢ The poet creates tension and mood in just 3 opening lines.
STANZA 2
Lines 4-7:
4.
5.
6.
7.
Is that the wrong description?
Outside the door
taking shelter in the shadows,
is a freedom-fighter.
➢ Line 4: The narrator is questioning herself about her word choice. Is the person outside “a
terrorist”? The poet already doubts her previous statement, she searches for a politically
correct description.
➢ Line 5: The poet uses the Anaphora “outside the door” to emphasise the alternative
description for the person on the outside.
➢ Line 6: This time the character is not “lurking” (line 2) but “taking shelter” (positive connotation)
in the shadows against an oppressive enemy.
➢ Line 7: The poet now describes the person outside the door is a “freedom fighter” – suggests
a justifiable warrior against tyranny and injustices.
➢ The narrator is forcing the reader to look at things from more than one perspective.
➢ A subtle change in word choice alters our interpretation.
STANZA 3
Lines 8-10:
8.
9.
10.
I haven’t got this right.
Outside, waiting in the shadows,
is a hostile militant.
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➢ Line 8: The poet is continuing with her internal debate. Language is simple and colloquial
(Informal language used in ordinary conversation). This shows that she is an ordinary person,
baffled like the rest of us.
➢ Line 9: “Lurking” changes to “waiting” which is less sinister.The metaphor of “shadows”
continues. It still masks her understanding. We still don’t know who he is – she cannot yet get
close enough to identify him.
➢ Line 10: The word “hostile” suggests unfriendly and aggressive . While the word
“militant” - favouring confrontational or violent methods in support of a political or social
cause speculates something more threatening.
➢ Maybe she is becoming more honest with herself?
STANZA 4
Lines 11-15:
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Are words no more
than wavering, wavering flags?
Outside your door,
watchful in the shadows,
is a guerrilla warrior.
➢ Line 11: The poet moves her internal debate about the person outside to a debate about poetry
and words.
➢ Line 12: In this Metaphor words are compared to wavering flags. Like flags, the meaning of
words can “waver”, become partial or obscure. This means that the same person can be called
a terrorist or a freedom fighter, depending on the views of the speaker.
➢ ‘waving, wavering flags’ – alliteration of w-sound and assonance of a-sound creates a shifting,
moving image.
➢ The poet poses a rhetorical question – the subject is language itself and how it can move to
influence people. Language has its own danger if misused – it can be positive/negative.
➢ Line 13: Repetition of barriers to understanding. The “door” is a Metaphor that represents not
only her barrier but those that the media may cause.
➢ Line 14: The word “watchful” is a more neutral description. It also suggests that the person
is either wary or waiting for an opportunity to strike.
➢ Line 15: The word “guerrilla” is threatening but “warrior” implies a romantic freedom fighter
. The poet seems to be deliberately confusing herself/ the reader.
STANZA 5
Lines 13-16:
16.
17.
18.
God help me.
Outside, defying every shadow,
stands a martyr.
➢ Line 16: The poet asks “God” for help. This is like a pivot because beyond this the mood
changes. The narrator has become so frustrated with her plight that she is literally praying to
God for help.
➢ Line 17: The idea of defiance suggests that the person outside the door is courageous/daring.
The shadow still exists – we are still distanced from the person. Note the repetition of “shadow”
throughout the poem, it suggests the threat of the unknown. We fear things we don’t know or
understand.
➢ Line 18: The word “Martyr” (someone who dies for his/her beliefs) suggests that the terrorist
has been misunderstood. How society wants us to view a person is how we normally do.
➢ Perception depends on circumstances. What you see is not always what is real?
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➢ All these terms: terrorist / freedom-fighter / hostile militant / guerrilla warrior / martyr ,provokes
different reactions. Should we fear them? Should we respect them? Are they brave or merely
violent?
STANZA 6
Lines 19-23:
19. I saw his face.
20. No words can help me now.
21. Just outside the door,
22. lost in shadows,
23. is a child who looks like mine.
Line 19: The word “face”- suggests a man with a personality and identity- the poet moves closer.
Line 20: Shows how shocked she feels about her previous descriptions.
Line 21: The word “just” implies that the child is coming closer.
Line 22: The word “lost” indicates that the child might be programmed by evil – the child might
also not know how he is to be described.
➢ Line 23: Dramatic climax – she has identified the person outside the door as an innocent child.
She makes him even more personal by saying he looks like her child – this also indicates the
humanity of this person.
➢ A child immediately brings forward the idea of innocence. Only now does the speaker open
the door.
➢
➢
➢
➢
STANZA 7
Lines 24-28:
24. One word for you.
25. Outside my door,
26. his hand too steady,
27. his eyes too hard,
28. is a boy who looks like your son, too.
➢ Line 24: The word “you” refers to the reader – this makes it personal. She wants the reader to
also see the child as she does.
➢ Line 25: The “door” metaphor continues. Note the repetition of the door image. Why? A
wall simply divides, yet a door can open, providing an opportunity for the two sides to connect.
One side must take the risk and reach out to open the door.
➢ Line 26-27: The child has lost his innocence – “hand too steady” – refers to him being able
to use a gun. The phrase “eyes too hard” suggests that he might have seen things that a child
is not supposed to see.
➢ Line 28: Again, the poet draws the reader in to make it personal by using the pronoun “your”.
➢ Dharker is trying to say that peaceful action begets peace. Just by showing kindness to this
man from the shadows, he becomes like a boy again.
STANZA 8
Lines 29- 31:
29. I open the door.
30. Come in, I say.
31. Come in and eat with us.
➢ Line 29-31: The poet has lost all the fear she had before- she invites the child in for dinner.
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STANZA 9
Lines 32- 34:
32. The child steps in
33. and carefully, at my door,
34. takes off his shoes.
➢ Line 32-34: The child takes off his shoes as a sign of respect – this emphasises the theme of
“judging a book by its cover”.
➢ The poet has made up her mind and has erased all society’s judgements and prejudices – she
has decided for herself what to call this person outside the door.
Questions
1. Identify the 6 different names attributed to the boy in the poem. Match each name
to a word from the following list: taking shelter, lost, watchful, waiting, lurking, defying.
(6)
2. The names/words freedom fighter and terrorist carry very different connotations.
Explain each carefully by choosing words from the following list: willing to die,
willing to kill, brave, intimidating, sacrificial, fearful, violent, principled.
(6)
3. How does the word lurking (line 2) create an ominous atmosphere?
(2)
4. What is the purpose of the rhetorical question in line 4?
(2)
5. What is it that the poet has not got right in line 8?
(2)
6. Who is the poet addressing in line 24?
(1)
7. The word outside is used 7 times in the first 7 stanzas. In the last 2 stanzas the word
in in used. What does this show us about the poet’s change in thinking?
(3)
8. Why does the child remove his shoes when he enters the poet’s house?
What does this symbolise?
(3)
9. Explain the image of the door in the poem and how it relates to words.
(3)
10. Discuss the context of what was taking place in the world at the time the poem was
written.
(3)
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ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE
POETRY GRADE 10
The Right Word – by Imtiaz Dharker
MARKING GUIDELINE
1) Terrorist – lurking / freedom fighter – taking shelter / hostile militant – waiting / guerrilla
warrior – watchful / martyr – defying / a child – lost
2) freedom fighter – willing to die, brave, sacrificial, strong principles
terrorist – willing to kill, intimidation, fearful, violent
3) “Lurking” is a word associated with thieves/ criminals. The word creates an ominous
atmosphere as the reader is unaware of the person’s intentions. We do not know why the
person is there.
4) The poet asks herself if she has described the person correctly. It shows that the poet
is unsure of her description of the person outside her door. It shows doubt.
5) She feels that she has not described the person correctly – he is, according to her,
neither a “terrorist” nor a “freedom-fighter”.
6) The repetition of the w-sound links the theme of words being like flags. It emphasises
that words are not concrete – they are wavering. They can change at any time.
7) In the first 4 stanzas she seems to describe her experience of the boy outside HER
home. Now she shifts the focus to the reader’s experience. She involves the reader engage the reader.
8) She is desperate – she desperately wants to find the right word to describe the boy.
She appeals to a Higher Power. Perhaps she is admitting that only God has the right to
classify / label us?
9) She addresses the reader.
10) The movement from outside to in shows what happens literally as the person outside
comes into the house. It also demonstrates the figurative change in the poet’s thinking:
she starts the poem by separating herself from the person and at the end of the poem she
integrates him into her own life and sees the personas someone who looks like her own
son.
11) The child removes his shoes which is a mark of respect and humility. The poet is a
Muslim woman. In Muslim culture, a person does not wear outside shoes inside the
house.
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12) The image of the door returns throughout the poem. A wall simply divides two sides.
Yet a door can open, providing opportunity for the two sides to connect. One side must
take the risk and reach out, opening the door to the other and welcoming them in.
Dharker argues that the “wrong” words can create an artificial barrier between people. But
the right words, like a door, can open up new spaces for friendship and understanding.
13) The poem was written 5 years after the events of 9/11 – the attack on the United
States of America. Many people were outraged by the attack and misdirected their anger
at all Muslim people everywhere, imagining terrorists around every corner. Muslim people
were feared and banned. The poet makes the point here that not all Muslim people are
terrorists. This is a universal theme – we cannot judge people based on the actions of
others.
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