All Quotes Flashcards
(23 cards)
We came from our own country
Word choice- sense of belonging, plural pronouns. suggest shared experience (we, our) ‘our own’ reinforces her sense of belonging to the place
red room
Word choice, sentence structure- red has connotations of anger. how she felt about being forced to leave, leave the city of her birth and early childhood
Fell through the fields
alliteration- draws attention to the lack of control she felt things happening out of her control
our mother singing our fathers name to the turn of the wheels.
Word choice- mother is optimistic and happy about move- clear contrast to Duffy‘s emotions. Don’t know if father is there with them or at the new place.
My brothers cried, one of them bawling, Home, Home
Word choice- brother share her feelings ‘bawling’ emphasises how upset they are. repetition of home reflects childish habit of repeating oneself
The miles rushed back to the city
Personification- reflects her own desire to run home shows the distance travelled to
The streets, the house, the vacant rooms where we didn’t live any more.
Sentence structure- list focusing on increasingly specific detail shows how much she was thinking about it and her memories there also shows how much was left behind
stared at the eyes of a blind toy, holding Its paw
Word choice- reflects her uncertainty and anxiety as they head to the unknown also emphasises her innocence like a child seeking comfort
All childhood is an emigration
Metaphor- it compares childhood to a major uprooting change and transitions that are out wit their control, moving from the comfortable to the uncertain. gives the readers an idea of the journey and different changes and stages of life.
Slow
Word choice, sentence structure- shows the idea of slow change it shows the slow stages of childhood
others are sudden. Your accent wrong.
Short sentence- shows how sudden the changes were accent serves as another barrier,despite speaking the same language
Corners, which seems familiar, leading to unimagined pebble-dashed estates
Word choice- emphasises her confusion and feelings of not belonging- unfamiliar with landscape/culture
big boys eating worms and shouting words you don’t understand.
Alliteration word choice-confronted by behaviour and language thats alien to her. Plosives of ‘big boys’ shows she find them threatening which emphasises her youth
My parents anxiety stirred like a loose tooth in my head.
Simile- shows how her parents are also struggling with the move and are worried about not settling in. the tooth comparison highlights idea of a constant irritation or something you can’t ignore.
I want our own country
Word choice- the autobiographical element shows she still hasn’t adjusted and links back to the start
You forget, or don’t recall, or change
Word choice, sentence structure- used 2nd person to involve reader and make them reflect on their childhood and the things they adapted to
Seeing your brother swallow a slug
Alliteration- it draws attention to the fact her brother has become like the other boys. He now fits into their new home.
a skelf of shame
Word choice- ‘skelf’ a Scottish word meaning a small bit reveals she is still attached to her Scottish roots also shows she is starting to adjust now too
my tongue shedding it’s skin like a snake
Simile- she is finally adopting to her new home it shows how easy it has become for her to lose her accent
my voice in the classroom sounding just like the rest
word choice- shows how she has adapted to her new home now and how she isn’t different anymore
Do i only think I lost a river, culture, speech, sense of first space and the right place?
Rhetorical question- she questions what makes up self and identity but can’t decide. she makes a list of the things she left behind and wonders if these things influence who she is now
Now, where do you come from?
Sentence structure, rhetorical questions- suggest she is no closer to defining her identity
Originally?, And I hesitate
Sentence structure- the hesitation reveals that even though she is older the speaker continues to have mixed feelings about her true origins
