To My Nine-Year-Old Self- Dunmore Flashcards
1
Q
Dunmore’s MAP-
A
- the past should not be lived in, it should simply be remembered and reflected on
- encourages reminiscence and remembrance of childhood after reaching mundaneness of adulthood
2
Q
Themes
A
- childhood
- past/ present
- time passing
- ageing
3
Q
F/S- free verse
A
- contrasts the otherwise sharp distinction between past and present self
- informal, list-like: lack of rigid structure
4
Q
F/S- varying stanza length
A
natural progression through life, non-linear journey of growing up
5
Q
F/S- enjambment and caesura
A
- helps hold onto her ‘nine-year old self’
- contemplation/ reflection
6
Q
Language- pronoun shift
A
- ‘we’: unity, ‘us’ and ‘I’: disruption
- coexist in memory, cut off from each other
- nostalgic tone
7
Q
‘you must forgive me’
A
- direct address
- modal verb, scolding
8
Q
‘summer of ambition/ created an ice-lolly factory’
A
- childhood: happiness, ‘summer’
- familiar childhood image: nostalgia
9
Q
‘I have this spoiled body we once shared/ look at the scars’
A
- mentally and physically ‘spoiled’
- connotations of ruin, lasting memories and emotions attached to them: trauma?
10
Q
‘I shan’t cloud your morning’
A
- jux to ‘summer’
- adulthood clouds happiness and freedom of childhood
11
Q
‘I leave you in an ecstasy of concentration’
A
- inevitable break
- lingering optimistic sentiment
- physical imagery
