The Choosing S2 Flashcards
(22 cards)
“Top Desk”
-Metaphor
-Suggests competition between the girls / no longer equal
-Suggests tension
“And my terrible fear of her superiority at sums”
-Word Choice
-Suggests differences between the girls
-More in competition with each other
-Signs of differences between them
-Speaker is deeply disturbed by Mary’s intellect + tone of anguish / distress adds to this
-One being more able at something than the other
-Fuels the rivalry
-Mary is academically stronger is some areas
- Contrast with “bond with being cleverest”
“Home” - “House”
-Contrast
-Inside - values VS outside - looks
-“Home” as opposed to “house” suggests lifestyles/values rather than just the physical place
“Choice”
-Word choice
*Key idea
-What defines the difference between them, their paths in life
-Idea of choice first mentioned ; and this is what defines / establishes a different home
-Parents made the choices
“elegant greyhounds”
-Word choice
-Suggests gambling / wrong priorities
-Suggests elite lifestyle
“uniforms”
-Symbol
-Represents unity / togetherness
-Symbolises the togetherness. He stands in the way of the girls unity
“He”
-Third person singular male pronoun
-The speaker doesn’t even name the father, meaning they accuse him of the wrong choices, he stands in the way of the girls’ unity
“He didn’t believe in…”
-Word choice
-Father is perceived to be frugal / self-serving / short sighted
-Tone implies how speaker feels
“Mary”
-Single word line / structure
-Emphasises her isolation / separateness
“vase”
-Metaphor
-Implies good looks, in contrast to the speaker. Preference for looks vs intellect (Physical v mental)
-Could mean she is pregnant (“Full-shaped vase”)
“Not that I envy her, really”
-Parenthesis / explanation
-Connotations of happiness and regret. Mary is loved, if presumably less intelligent
“taking” / “making”
-Rhyme
-Choices are shaped and guided by forces beyond their control
“I am coming from the library”
-Differences implied
-Higher education vs higher marriage
“We” + “Mary and I”
-First person pronoun
-Use of 1st person pronoun emphasises bond / closeness / similarity
-Yet “Mary and I” indicates separation - we question how close to bond really is
“Same coloured ribbons”
-Word choice
-Similarities extend to their physical appearance too. They are almost a mirror image of each other
“Equal shyness”
-Word choice
-Reveals that the personality of the girls was similar too
“Copies of Collins’ Children’s Classics”
-Symbolism
-The books represent the similar interests of the girls as children, as well as their different paths in adulthood.
-As children, both girls gratefully received books, however in the final stanza, only the adult speaker has her “arms full of books” Instead Mary embraces her husband.
-A key contrast that shows how much they have changed.
“First equal”
-Word choice
-Suggests the girls were both bright and similarly intelligent
“equal”
-Repetition
-Stresses how similar the girls are and adds an unusual intensity to the similarity.
-It’s as if there is a constant competitive tension between them.
- A contradiction too - it is not really possible for two people to be “first equal”
-This adds to the rivalry for top spot
“In our small school’s small class”
-Word choice
-Suggest the awkwardness to follow
-Unsettling / Mechanical
“I remember”
-Word choice
-Now the speaker is appearing separate to Mary. This is now her memory as the girls begin to part ways
“(equal)”
-Parenthesis
-Indicates the idea of quality fading
-Becoming secondary / additional
