Poetry1996Pearson IGCSE Language A (4EA1)

An Unknown Girl

by Moniza Alvi (b. 1954)

In an Indian bazaar, the speaker has her hand decorated with henna by a girl she does not know; the temporary pattern becomes a meditation on her own divided sense of cultural identity.

IdentityHeritageBelongingCultural connection

UK rights notice

Rights notice: © Moniza Alvi, reproduced in the anthology by permission of Bloodaxe Books on behalf of the author. Quotations are short fair-dealing extracts under CDPA 1988 §30 (criticism, review, quotation). For full text, students should consult the anthology (ISBN 978-1-446-93108-0), which Pearson publishes free as a PDF, or Alvi’s collection Carrying My Wife (2000).

Where this text is on your exam

Read from the specification itself, not summarised from anywhere else.

Edexcel IGCSE Language (4EA1)

Assessed in

4EA1 Component 2 (Unit 2 Section A, examined) and Component 3 (Unit 3, non-examined assessment). Five poems then five prose.

Your choice

All ten texts in Part 2 are compulsory.

Part 2 of the anthology, page 27.

Source: Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Anthology, Issue 8, February 2026 (read 2026-09-19).

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Poetry1996Pearson IGCSE Language A (4EA1)

An Unknown Girl

by Moniza Alvi (b. 1954)

In an Indian bazaar, the speaker has her hand decorated with henna by a girl she does not know; the temporary pattern becomes a meditation on her own divided sense of cultural identity.

IdentityHeritageBelongingCultural connection

UK rights notice

Rights notice: © Moniza Alvi, reproduced in the anthology by permission of Bloodaxe Books on behalf of the author. Quotations are short fair-dealing extracts under CDPA 1988 §30 (criticism, review, quotation). For full text, students should consult the anthology (ISBN 978-1-446-93108-0), which Pearson publishes free as a PDF, or Alvi’s collection Carrying My Wife (2000).

Where this text is on your exam

Read from the specification itself, not summarised from anywhere else.

Edexcel IGCSE Language (4EA1)

Assessed in

4EA1 Component 2 (Unit 2 Section A, examined) and Component 3 (Unit 3, non-examined assessment). Five poems then five prose.

Your choice

All ten texts in Part 2 are compulsory.

Part 2 of the anthology, page 27.

Source: Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Anthology, Issue 8, February 2026 (read 2026-09-19).

The study guide is on another page

The full study guide for An Unknown Girl is written and lives on its own page.

Open the study guide Browse other set texts

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An Unknown Girl

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An Unknown Girl

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