An authors values and ideas originate and stem from their personal, historical and cultural context. By comparing the two authors Tim Winton (from an Australian context) and Zohra Saed (Afghani/New York context) we are able to see how similar values are shaped through identity/contex. Winton uses various literary techniques to embed personalised values into his texts such as place, family, and identity in “Big World”, 2005 and “The Turning”, 2005. Zohra Saed has implanted her values of culture, family, memory and identity into “What the Scar Revealed” and “Nomad’s Market: Flushing Queens” (both published in 2003) through poetic techniques. Both authors represent the value of freedom within juxtaposing setting and place, and how these values build your identity.
Saed explores a strong and obvious value of and longing for culture in her poems “What the Scar Revealed”. An individuals culture influences and shapes their values and ideas. Saed’s poem follows the journey of hers and her family’s traumatic memories endured while under the Taliban and fleeing from the Russian invasion, and therefore her loss and longing of culture in her new country. Saed uses place and physical setting to express her cultural value. First person, visual imagery and simile are used in the line, “Turquoise domes, spice vendors, pomegranates like hearts, and the adhaan in her ear…” (What the Scar Revealed) These techniques allow immediacy, authenticity and the generation of a visualised scene enables the reader to connect to the scene on a deeper level and compare and contrast to their own lives and experiences. A clear tone of want and longing is seen in this line, reflecting the poems central longing for culture.
Contrastingly, in Winton’s short story “Big World” portrays Australia