WHATEVER HAPPENED? Flashcards
(17 cards)
analyse whatever happened?
deliberately makes the title vague - reflect how the speaker is unable to fully make sense of his trauma (sense of confusion)
OR
trauma as a universal experience
analyse at once whatever happened starts receding
opening lines of poem - reflects the quick effect time has on trauma in the immediate aftermath+ distancing
however the trauma still lingers in the speaker’s mind
analyse we line the rail
boat imagery- reflects how speaker attempts to move/sail away from trauma instantaneously
with trousers ripped, light wallets, and lips bleeding
tricolon emph the significance of initial suffering
‘light’ trauma has taken something from him+ changed his perception on reality (no longer cares about materialistic items)
analyse Yes, gone, thank god!
exclamatory the speaker’s tone of naivety and relief to be away from the initial cause of trauma
analyse we toss for half the night
image of unrest - trauma plagues speaker
analyse but the next day/ all kodak’s distant
use of enjambment emph how the speaker transitions into the next stage of trauma - hopeful he can move past it
reference to camera- speaker’s desire for control over trauma + idea that time passing will mean he can frame the trauma
image of photograph= trauma becomes associated with the past + can leave it behind
analyse easily, then (though pale)
antithesis between the speaker’s reassurance of himself and the paranthesis which emph his continued doubt + trauma plagues him
his attempts for control are futile + not enough time has passed?
analyse ‘perspective brings significance’ we say
mocks philosphical language = disregards idea that time can heal
use of plural noun emph trauma + beliefs as being universal = foolish + deceived
analyse unhooding out photometers, and, snap!
light imgery reflects how he attempts to make sense of his trauma bu looking at it form a different perspective
onomateopeia/ exlamatory emph the instantaneous attempts for the speaker to quickly move past his trauma
analyse what can’t be printed can be thrown away.
attempts to compartmentalise and rationalise his trauma by treating it as disposable/irrelevant- emph by endstop
analyse it’s just latitude: the map points out how unavoidable it was
natural imagery = attempts to rationalise the trauma as an inevitable boundary we must cross
ref to map= technical and objective explanation to trauma = attempts to rationalise as being straightforward
analyse ‘such coastal bedding always means mishap’
natural imagery reflects the inevitability of trauma in RS
use of sexual innuendo - rationalise + normalcy
analyse curses? the dark? struggling?
repeated interrogatives reflect how speaker is plagued by his trauma and confused even at the end
analyse where’s the source of these yarns now (except nightmares, of course)?
questons his trauma + troubled by it - likened to unspooled thread = emph his lack of control and confusion - disorder
paranthesis emph the hidden doubts which still plague the speaker
why is the final rhyming couplet of the poem significant?
volta - despite the speaker’s attempts to rationalise+ desire for control = futile
reflects a breakdown in structure = unable to fully control his trauma
movement message = is the speaker still plagued by trauma because not enough time has passed or is it bc it’s never enough
analyse the rhyme scheme/structure whatever happened
terza rima = speaker attempts but rationalise but overlapping rhyme suggests lack of control +difficulty
structure breaks down with rhyming couplet at the end
