Material

Question 1

What are the 2 main ideas of Material

Answer 1

1 - celebrates and honours speakers mother
2 - creates a world that the mother embodied in the past

Question 2

(1) ‘My mother was the hanky queen’

Answer 2

METAPHOR - presents Mother as greatly admired for her nurturing self

Question 3

What do the motifs of hankerchiefs and tissues represent?

Answer 3

Tissues = modern world - convenient but temporary

Handkerchiefs = former world tied to emotion + romance - more meaningful

Question 4

(2) ‘spittled and scrubbed’

Answer 4

SIBILANT ALLITERATION - speaker remembers mother as caring and nurturing
(hands on figure)

Question 5

(2) ‘ as if she had a farm….

                                       raising little squares

Answer 5

SIMILE - mum as loving, almost magical

Question 6

What does the frequent use of proper nouns in stanza 5. e.g. greengrocer George.

Answer 6

creates a sense of community
- much more personal

Question 7

(5+6) ‘dodgy foot’
‘out of tune piano’

Answer 7

imperfect
- makes world seem more realistic
- charming and authentic.

Question 8

(5+6) ‘colour of yolks’
‘ painted talons’
‘smudge the rouge’

Answer 8

ABUNDANCE OF COLOUR
- contrast with darkness of the ‘late-night garage/

Question 9

(8) ‘There’s never a hanky up my sleeve’

Answer 9

PARALLEL to ‘always had a hanky up her sleeve’
- highlights difference between the two characters

Question 10

(9) ‘this is your material
To do with, daughter, what you will’

Answer 10

VOICE SWITCH - from daughter to mother
- tells daughter to craft her own life in this ‘new world’