please hold - ciaran o'driscoll

Question 1

free verse

Answer 1

ironic

technology has entrapped us

Question 2

internal rhyme

Answer 2

shows the oppression in society

Question 3

anaphora

Answer 3

entrapment in the maze of the system

Question 4

enjambment

Answer 4

technology is a waste of time

we spend so much of our time just waiting

Question 5

caesura

Answer 5

entrapment in society

Question 6

‘this is the future, my wife says’

Answer 6

echolalia

temporal deixis

refrain which forms serious subtext

as the poem goes on this phrase can be interpreted as becoming increasingly negative and creates a sense of wariness and anxiousness

Question 7

‘we are already there and it’s the same as the present’

Answer 7

spatial and temporal deixis - things can only get worse

present and future will eventually merge

Question 8

‘your future, here, she says’

Answer 8

wife has accepted the future unlike the speaker

idea of ongoing and inescapable dread is introduced

Question 9

‘and i’m talking to a robot on the phone’

Answer 9

accept and adjust

makes no sense - technology has trapped us

metaphor?

Question 10

‘none of which answer to my needs’

Answer 10

satirical and sarcastic tone

criticising technology

is technology actually helpful?

metaphor for a loss of hope in life

doesn’t fulfil the needs of human empathy

Question 11

‘wonderful, says the robot, when i give him my telephone number. and great says the robot when i give him my account number’

Answer 11

mocking

words are becoming meaningless

sarcastic and fed up

hyperbolic responses are unhelpful

Question 12

‘(which is really the robot’s account)’

Answer 12

nothing is personal anymore

really belongs to the bank, not us

technology caused a loss of identity

Question 13

‘i’m paying a robot for doing nothing. this is call is free of charge, says the robot. yes but i’m paying for it, i shout’

Answer 13

hates technology

not actually free

the effectiveness and humour derives from the contrast between the increasing rage of the speaker and the flat tone of the robot, programmed to say exactly what he doesn’t want to hear

Question 14

‘i’m sorry, i dont understand says the robot’

Answer 14

caesura

disjointed

technology is disconnecting humans

meaningless words

Question 15

‘you can say yes , no, repeat or menu’

Answer 15

choice is an illusion

technology only allows for a limited response, which are all meaningless

Question 16

‘i scream agent!’

Answer 16

exclamatory

frustrated

Question 17

‘and i’m talking to a robot on the phone’

Answer 17

constant process

trapped in technology

can’t go against the system - the problem won’t solve

Question 18

‘we appreciate your patience. please hold.

Answer 18

they don’t care

meaningless

Question 19

‘eine kleine nachtsmusik. please hold.
eine kleine nachtsmusik . please hold.
eine fucking kleine nachtsmusik’

Answer 19

entertainment to disguise the wait - used by big companies

extremely angry - he can’t escape

comments on how strongly a cold, corporate society can destroy pleasure – a piece of music once seen as high art is now seen as annoying

Question 20

‘your call is important to us, he says.’

Answer 20

two different worlds

Question 21

‘and my translator says , this means your call is not important to them’

Answer 21

fake and the real

read between the lines

protecting the company’s reputation

Question 22

‘please hold means that, for all your accomplishments, the only way you can now meet your needs is by looting’

Answer 22

stealing forcefully

have to go outside the system - only choice

Question 23

‘please hold. please grow old. please grow cold.’

‘this is the future. please hold.

Answer 23

defeated

internal rhyme

die

more structure

Question 24

headlines

Answer 24

the only hope is for rebellion outside the system

technology has caused us to lose our identity

society is disconnected

modern society has become extremely uncompassionate

technology has altered the direction of society

modern society is trapped in a technological system