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Flashcards in Storm On The Island Deck (5)
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1
Q

Quotes - p.1

A

“We are prepared”

“our houses squat”

“roof them with good slate.”

“wizened earth has never troubled us”

lots of negatives (e.g. “never”, “no”, and “nothing”)

“Nor are there trees / Which might prove company”

“Blast”

“you know what I mean”

2
Q

Quotes - p.2.

A

“leaves and branches / Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale”

“you can listen to the thing you fear”

“it pummels your house”

“You might think that the sea is company”

“Exploding comfortably”

“But no”

“the flung spray hits / The very windows”

“spits like a tame cat / Turned savage”

“We just sit tight while wind dives”

military imagery : “strafes” “Space is a salvo” “bombarded by empty air”

“it is a huge nothing that we fear”

3
Q

STRUCTURE

A
  • Form; poem written in blank verse; mirrors patterns of everyday speech and makes it sound like part of a convo.
  • Collective experience “We”
  • All one stanza; compact and sturdy like the houses
  • Structure “But no:”; Volta (seems to be a turning point); shifts from security to fear; slow pace of monosyllabic phrase + the caesura reflecting last moments of calm b4 storm
  • Tone change; safety to fear
4
Q

LANGUAGE

A
  • Direct address; involves reader in his fear
  • Violent imagery; similes, metaphors and personification; emphasise danger of storm
  • Use of sounds; forceful sounds (e.g. “Blast”); demonstrate strength of nature
  • Assonant “I” and sibilant sounds reflect noise of wind and waves
  • End stop line 2; reinforces feeling of security; disappears w/ enjambmemt in the rest of the poem
  • Lonely setting
  • Plosive “Blast:”
5
Q

Last minute terms

A

Caesura = a pause in a line of poetry

Enjambment = when a sentence or phrase runs over one line or stanza to the next

Blank verse = poetry written in iambic pentameter that doesn’t rhyme

Plosive = short burst of sound

Volta = turning point in a poem when the argument or tone changes dramatically