aunt julia

Question 1

what are the central themes of aunt julia?

Answer 1

• isolation
• loss

Question 2

“very loud and very fast”

Answer 2

• repetition
• sense of character, full of life and energy
• confident

Question 3

” i could not answer her - i could not understand her”

Answer 3

• repetition
• severe language barrier
• he feels he failed her as he couldnt comprehend her
• sense of frustration, regret

Question 4

“she wore mens boots”

Answer 4

• practical woman
• suggests touch life and her having to do the outdoor chores

Question 5

”- i can see her”

Answer 5

DASH
- pause in train of thought , he can remember her so vividly he has specific memories it is as if he can actually see her
“can see her” memories are so vivid its like they are happening right infont of him

Question 6

“strong foot stained with peat”

Answer 6

‘strong’
- she was admirable, capable, independent
‘stained’
- so connected to nature that you cant disconnect her from it
- nature is engrained into her character

Question 7

“drew yarn marvellously”

Answer 7

• magic in the poets eyes
• hes in awe of her
• he admires her

Question 8

“hers was the only house”

Answer 8

‘only’
- staying with her was a unique experience
- a novelty to experience her level of traditional living

Question 9

“box bed”

Answer 9

• highlights how traditional and old fashioned her way of life was
• box bed = novelty , rare but he feels safe

Question 10

“listening to crickets being friendly”

Answer 10

• personification
• highlights the effect of aunt Julia
• he’s in a strange unfamiliar place but he feels safe, connected to nature, surrounded by friendliness
• shows aunt Julia’s warmth and comforting effect even though he cant understand her

Question 11

“she was buckets and water”

Answer 11

• metaphor
• shows how rural, hardy and tough she was

Question 12

“winds pouring wetly”

Answer 12

• metaphor
• highlights her connection to nature
• ‘wind’ implies she is powerful, fast, energetic, full of life and movement

Question 13

“she was… she was… she was”

Answer 13

• again shows practicality
• emphasises how varied her personality was
• so many different sides to her, a sense that she was larger than life

Question 14

“aunt julia spoke gaelic very loud and very fast”

Answer 14

• repetition of the opening lines
• signals conclusion
• reader is reminded of communication barrier

Question 15

“learned a little she lay”

Answer 15

• the alliteration suggests a gradual fluency of language
• frustration of learning her language too late

Question 16

“getting anger, getting angry”

Answer 16

• repetition
• frustration of never being able to mend their communication barrier
• the more he dwells the more frustrated he is

Question 17

“so many questions unanswered”

Answer 17

‘so many’
- scale of how many things he wanted to ask her about but has now lost his chance
‘unanswered’
- enjambment, placed on its own line, highlights how this was the defining feature of their relationship
- sums up the poem, links to opening lines