Compare Tissue and The Emigrée: Grade 9 Thesis & Quotes (AQA)

Quick Comparison Grid (The “Ninja Cheat Sheet”)

1. Borders and Control: Paper vs Politics

Tissue:

• Dharker reduces authority to paper—maps, receipts, documents—showing how systems rely on fragile materials.
• Borders are shown as artificial lines that the sun “shines through,” undermining their authority.
• Elite Link: By revealing how easily paper can tear or fade, Dharker questions the legitimacy of power based on bureaucracy.

The Emigrée:

• Rumens presents borders as political tools of exclusion that force the speaker into exile.
• The city is inaccessible physically but remains emotionally “mine.”
• Elite Link: The speaker’s refusal to let the regime redefine her identity is a form of quiet rebellion.

Explore: Dharker exposes borders as illusory, while Rumens shows their real human consequences.

2. Identity and Memory: Skin vs Sunlight

Tissue:

• Identity is presented as biological and human—skin, breath, and light.
• The final shift to the human body suggests that true meaning exists beyond documents.
• Elite Link: Dharker suggests that systems should serve humanity, not replace it.

The Emigrée:

• Identity is rooted in memory and emotional attachment.
• Sunlight symbolizes purity and resistance against political darkness.
• Elite Link: Memory becomes an act of preservation that protects the speaker from erasure.

Explore: Dharker locates identity in the physical body, while Rumens locates it in the emotional memory.

3. Structure: Flow vs Containment

Tissue:

• Free verse and enjambment allow ideas to drift naturally.
• The lack of rigid form reflects Dharker’s rejection of restrictive systems.
• Elite Link: The poem’s openness mirrors the permeability of paper and borders.

The Emigrée:

• The three‑stanza structure offers some containment, but enjambment allows emotional overflow.
• Repetition reinforces the speaker’s determination to retain her identity.
• Elite Link: The growing intensity of the final stanza reflects increasing defiance.

Explore: Dharker uses structure to dissolve boundaries, while Rumens uses it to protect identity.

Context Comparison (AO3 Power Move)

Elite Insight: Dharker challenges the structures that define identity, while Rumens defends the human self against those structures.

Exam Sentence Starters

1. “While Dharker exposes borders and systems as fragile illusions, Rumens presents memory as a resilient source of identity…”
2. “Both poets challenge political power: Dharker by undermining the authority of paper systems, and Rumens by refusing to surrender emotional belonging…”
3. “The imagery of skin in Tissue contrasts with the imagery of sunlight in The Emigrée, highlighting different foundations of identity…”
4. “Dharker’s free verse reflects permeability and openness, whereas Rumens’s controlled stanzas reflect resilience within confinement…”
5. “Contextually, both poets respond to displacement caused by political systems, but offer different forms of resistance…”

FAQs

What is the best poem to compare with Tissue?

The Emigrée works well for identity and borders. You can also compare it to London for systems of control, or Ozymandias for fragile power.

What is the best poem to compare with The Emigrée?

Tissue is ideal for human identity vs systems. Alternatively, compare it to Checking Out Me History for heritage and memory, or London for political oppression.

What is the best theme linking Tissue and The Emigrée?

Identity and the Fragility of Borders—both poems show how human identity survives political systems and boundaries.

What quotes should I compare between Tissue and The Emigrée?

• “Maps too” (Tissue) vs. “My city” (Emigrée)—ownership of space.
• “Turned into your skin” (Tissue) vs. “I am branded by an impression of sunlight” (Emigrée)—human vs emotional identity.
• “Paper let the light through” (Tissue) vs. “Sunlight” (Emigrée)—hope and resistance.

How do I compare structure in Tissue and The Emigrée?

Dharker uses free verse and enjambment to mirror openness and permeability. Rumens uses structured stanzas with enjambment to show controlled resistance. Both use form to explore identity under pressure.

What is a Grade 9 thesis for Tissue vs. The Emigrée?

“While Dharker exposes man‑made systems and borders as fragile and temporary, Rumens presents memory and emotional attachment as enduring forces that preserve identity.”

Read Next

• Tissue Revision Sheet
• The Emigrée Revision Sheet
• Power & Conflict Comparisons Hub