an easy passage Flashcards
Title
Ironic title
passage, ‘a rite of passage’, a journey everyone needs to go on
detached third person speaker
- Unemotional, serious
- Unbiased
- Broader outlook of woman and girlhood
“She”
- Can be any girl
“bikini”
“gold stud earrings”
“silver anklet”
“oyster painted nails”
- Exposed, vulnerable
- Symbolises the realities of women - a fantasy of an adult life
- She wants the freedom and responsibilities that come with growing up
“crouched in her bikini on the porch roof of her family’s house, trembling”
- safe and welcome, juxtaposed with the danger of the situation
“narrow windowsill, the sharp drop”
- Dangerous, naiive, and stubborn
- Links to the dangers of womanhood and the dangers that come with growing up
“Blond gravel”
“petrified beach”
- The girl’s vast imagination
- They are imagining the yellow sand of a beach
“Warm flank of the house”
metaphor, inviting and familiar
“For now, the house exists only for them”
Imagination, fantasy
- their moment of rebellion and freedom
“Her tiny breasts rest lightly on her thighs”
Cusp of womanhood
“the world admits us less and less the more we grow?”
Rhetorical question
- calling to the audience and their experiences
- broad overview of womanhood
- Realities of a patriarchal society
- As a woman ages, you have less freedom
- Dark portrayal of adulthood
“For now, both girls seem lit”
“gold stud”
- Light imagery
- In this temporary singular moment, the joy and naivety of girlhood is shown
“the long grey eye of the street”
personification
- their life stretched out in front of them - grey
“the mother who does not trust her daughter with a key”
Mother trying to retain her child’s innocence
key - symbolises freedom
“Drab”
contrasts the bright imagery and adventure of the children
