A Memory

Question 1

Which quote best describes the narrative structure of A Memory?

Answer 1

‘Like a needle going in and out among my thoughts’ (2 - 3rd para)

Question 2

Quotes that highlight how the narrator dramatically intensifies and romanticizes a mere touch on the wrist in A Memory

Answer 2

reality: ‘minute and brief encounter’
imagination: ‘swell with a sudden and overwhelming beauty’, ‘like a rose forced into premature bloom’

Question 3

a quote that highlights the stark contrast between the narrator’s and the others’ perception of reality in A Memory?

Answer 3

situation: nosebleed

‘the older girls laughed at the confusion and distraction… I leaned heavily on my arm and fainted’

Question 4

words / phrases that highlight the narrator’s critical / derogatory attitude towards the bathers in A Memory?

Answer 4

‘weak, inferior, strangely-turned examples’

inferior: (class difference) 'common'
strangely-turned (unexpected and messy): 'sprawled', 'thrown together', 'confused', 'undeliberate movements'

‘He even looked at me, included me. Looking back, stunned, I wished they all were dead.’ –> by using ‘all were’ instead of ‘were all’, the word ‘all’ is emphasised, further suggesting the narrator’s detestation of the bathers’ behaviour

Question 5

quotes that suggest the narrator’s passivity in observing in A Memory

Answer 5

‘to be presented to my eyes’
‘waiting to see’
‘revealed to me’

Question 6

phrases that show how the narrator’s dreams protect / shield her from the threatening reality of the bathers in A Memory?

Answer 6

‘I closed my eyes… withdraw… protection of my dream’