ORIGINALLY POETRY ANALYSIS Flashcards
We came from our own country 3 points
-The words ‘we’ and ‘our’ give a sense of belonging and a collective sense of people. Emphasises the sense of belonging.
-‘Own’ suggests possessiveness and reveals a sense of pride and desire to come from a place that she identifies with.
-Suggests she is upset and unnerved by the move.
Red room
-Red suggests a feeling of anger and danger. p—Room reminds us of home and that sense of belonging. That sense of belonging is gone now they are moving.
Which fell through the fields
-Fell implies that it is out of control. Its associated with accidents and pain.
-Falling suggests that the speed of the move was sudden and is emotionally painful.
our mother singing our fathers name to the turn of the wheels
-Singing suggests happiness and implies mother is pleased with the move and is trying to help the others feel the same.
-Significant contrast of emotions later to come.
My brothers cried, one of them bawling
-w/c of bawling has connotations of howling in sadness. Emphasises how distressed one of the brothers is.
-Harsh b sound that echoes the crying. Cried suggests they are upset.
Home home
-enjambement, repetition and italics emphasise the source of the problem.
-Home has connotations of identity, security and sense of comfort or belonging.
-Duffy suggests boys are upset for more than just moving as they are losing a sense of belonging.
The city, the street, the house, the vacant rooms
-list emphasises the scale and variety of what they have lost. Emphasises the idea that their home is gone and empty of all of their possessions and memories.
“Where we didnt live any more”
- Emphasises sense of loss and hurt as she can’t bring herself to use the word home.
-Suggests that she is struggling to accept the loss.
I stared at the eyes of a blind toy
-w/c of stared suggests intense emotions. Suggests struggling to express emotions and in a daze.
-Toys associated with childhood, innocence and fun. The fact it is blind makes the reader uncomfortable and suggests that the toy is unaware of what is going on even in her imagination.
-She is aware that the toy cannot give her comfort anymore.
-Suggests she is craving comfort and emphasises her vulnerability. Clearly upset.
All childhood is an emigration
-Where everything changed and she compares childhood to this.
-Different periods of life change from childhood to adolescence.
“Some are slow, leaving you standing, resigned, up an avenue where no one you know stays’
-sibilance (repetition of s) creates a soft whispering sound to echo the idea of gradual change.
your accent wrong
-short sentence emphasises the change in way everyone around her speaks.
-w/c of wrong suggests judgement where no one believes she fits in.
-emphasises the idea of due to the way she speaks she feels as though she doesn’t belong and feels awkward.
“Corners which seem familiar, leading to unimagined pebble dashed estates”
- corner has connotations of trapped and suggests vulnerability.
-Seem familiar implies that she is uncertain.
-Houses are foreign and strange to her leading to vulnerability and feeling out of place.
The big boys eating worms and shouting words you don’t understand ‘’ -
-big boys is a childish term suggesting that they are intimidating to her.
-Repetition of b (plosive) sound creates a harsh sound emphasising the intimidation.
-Eating worms is a disgusting act.
-shouting is anger and threat
-Implies she is vulnerable in this situation.
“My parents’ anxiety stirred like a loose tooth”
image. Just as a loose tooth is annoying and always there in the back of your mind, as is her parents constantly worried and no matter how much they want rid of it, it stays in their minds. Emphasises the idea.
