POETRY: originally Flashcards
(29 cards)
“We” and “our”
suggests a sense of comforting family identity, the experience is a family event
“Red room”
the colour red has connotations of passion/anger, reflecting her feelings about being forced to leave. Red room is the mode of transport.
“Fell”
suggests a feeling of hopelessness about a situation/change. Fell through fields alliteration suggests and emphasises the lack of control and the foreign landscape.
“Our father’s name”
suggests the mother is trying to comfort her children and is angry with her husband
“Wheels”
echoes the rhythm of the movement whilst they travel
“Cried” and “bawling”
suggests the degree of distress caused by the move.
“Home,/Home”
repetition and capitalisation of home emphasises the misery of the children as a result of the move
“Miles rushed back to the city”
personification emphasises own desire to return home and reverse this trip, also shows her sense of speed whilst they are travelling
“Vacant”
suggests emptiness, sense of emotional loss
“Stared”
shows shock, silence and stunned reaction
“Blind toy”
symbolism and word choice suggests a feeling of helplessness as, like the toy, the speaker cannot see ahead. She has transferred her feelings to the toy and is looking for reassurance in a previously comforting item.
“Holding its paw”
suggests a desperate need for comfort and reassurance but her adult self
knows the toy can neither see nor hear her.
“All childhood is an immigration”
relates to one of the main concerns of the poem, childhood is a change, a journey of security into the unknown, independence and potential danger.
“Leaving you stranded, resigned, up an avenue”
list emphasising the slow, meandering parts of childhood.
“Others are sudden. Your accent wrong..”
short sentences, abrupt, contrasting previous sentence and showing anger/fear. Your accent wrong. Shows the issue of being catapulted into new social and cultural circumstances, suggests confusion/inability to be understood and make necessary judgements
“Seem”
reinforces confusion and a sense of belonging, the environment being strange and hostile.
“Big boys/eating worms”
reminds us she’s a child
“Shouting words”
shows confusion again, dealing with unfamiliar language and behaviours
“Stirred like a loose tooth”
emphasises that the parents are also finding the transition difficult, but suggests this anxiety is also only temporary, like a loose tooth.
“I want our own country”
italicisation is reminiscent of the way children repeat themselves when they are distressed and trying to get what they want, it’s a plaintive cry.
“But”
conjunctive indicates a change in her line of thought, she’s become assimilated into her new
environment and is no longer an outsider
“You forget”
suggests the way that assimilation is almost imperceptible.
“Brother swallow a slug”
links back to ‘eating worms’ and suggests through the ‘s’ sounds that her brother has assimilated quickly and shows her own situation.
“Skelf”
suggests an attachment to her scottish roots, just as a skelf is small, so too is her shame
