Black and White (poem) Flashcards
(20 cards)
Khayadom
African hut
Pun on the word, kingdom
Lines 2 and 3 are a what figure of speech
Metaphor johanna is seen as being the queen of her domain.
She took her work seriously and did it with pride.
Line 4
“Raised on bricks she banished”
What doe that mean
The beds were raised for storage or to keep the Tokoloshe away.
Tokoloshe thought to be active at night.
What is the Tokoloshe and what does it represent?
A dwarfish hairy man
Represents all that is evil, all our fears of the unknown.
What does sleek mean in line 6
The author grew thinner and older
What does “grated and peeled” in line 7 mean?
One of the jobs she had to do was cooking.
Together with ‘years away’ it shows that it was a boring and monotonous job.
What does “years away” mean in this poem?
Is repeated and shows the monotony of her work. She did the same job for years on end.
The phrase, “black and white is used in bothe verse 8, 12 and 20. What are the different meanings for all of them
8 - the tv she watched slapped on
12 - the newspaper she read to know about the outside world
20 - ruth realizes how different they were figuratively living black and white lives
What is important in the “bold and the beautiful”
She watched the fictitious make believe world of soapies
What is the morons swallows
A soccer team that does score goals
What does line 13 mean, “growing smaller in the flowered overall”
The poet grew older, not that Johanna grew smaller.
What does line 14 mean, “she washed and folded he years away”
Another of her responsibilities was to do laundry.
The ‘years away’ is repeated and shows the monotony of her work.
She did the same job for years on end.
Beamed
Glowed with pride
What figure of speech is in line 16, “gaps in her grin”?
Expand
Alliteration
Shows that she has gaps between her teeth
What does line 17 and 18 emphasize
She realizes that while Johanna knew everything about her she did not even know how to spell her name.
This is made credible by the two spellings.
What happens in line 19?
Johanna dies and Ruth is not told where she is buried.
Explain line 21, “the Tokoloshe cavorts unrestrained
Her fears of the unknown have come back to haunt her and she realizes how very little she really knew about Johanna even though Johanna all there was to know about her. She is now faced with many regrets and many unanswered questions
What is the intention of the poem?
To not put of important conversations with people you a re close to.
To not have regrets
What is the tone of the poem?
Remorseful
Regretful.
“Flatly five”
Description of the author when she was a child
5 and plump
