This study notes covers 💬 Anchor Quote: The Volta — Skin as Tissue within Tissue (Dharker) for GCSE English Literature. Revise Tissue (Dharker) in Power and Conflict Poetry for GCSE English Literature with 10 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic appears regularly enough that it should still be part of a steady revision cycle. It is section 10 of 20 in this topic. Use this study notes to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
💬 Anchor Quote: The Volta — Skin as Tissue
"This is / the tissue / that layers / skin"
Why this quote matters: This is the poem's turning point. Dharker reveals that the tissue she has been describing all along is also human skin: the same fragile, transparent material. The short, fragmented lines — each word almost suspended — perform the thinness of skin itself. Everything the poem has said about paper — fragile, life-carrying, transparent — now applies to us. We are the tissue. Our lives are "never meant to last".
Use this quote when answering: The poem's central paradox; the structural significance of the volta; how Dharker connects the human body to the poem's argument about power and fragility; how the poem ends by turning the argument back on the reader.
Practice questions for Tissue (Dharker)
In 'Tissue', what is the final image Dharker uses at the end of the poem?
How does Dharker use form in 'Tissue' to enact her argument about power? [2 marks]