An easy passage

Question 1

“Once she is halfway up there, crouched in her bikini
on the porch roof of her family`s home, trembling,”

Answer 1

• Opens with an adverb indicating the start of a progressive sequence of events reflected through the use of free verse and a single stanza helping to impact a sense of fluidity and movement to the poem
• “halfway” could be a metaphor for her being between childhood and adulthood and so could imply she is desperate to grow up shown through the erotic imagery of her “crouched in her bikini”
• however, the “bikini” is the nearest the girl can get to nakedness implying sexuality even if she may not be aware of this and so hints at her development
• use of fear could hint at immaturity though

Question 2

”, the sharp
drop of the stairwell; she must keep her mind
on the friend with whom she is half in love”

Answer 2

• the adjective sharp is a distinctive choice which has connotations of precision but also potential harm which may imply the potential painful impacts of these transitions
• the idea of a stairwell could be a physical and mental transition into adulthood
• the use of enjambment in combination with the long sentences merge with clauses via commas and semi colons could show her thoughts are a continuum that the reader follows
• the phrase “half in love” could suggest friendship between the girls of that age is intense which could be sisterly or hinting at something more homoerotic

Question 3

“on the fact if the open window,
the flimsy, hole-punched, aluminium lever…
leaning in
to the warm flank of the house.”

Answer 3

The use of an asyntactic list adds to the stream of consciousness
- End stop caesura breaks up the flow of the poem and stream of consciousness that appeared to be unstoppable through the concentration of clauses until this moment perhaps acting as a metaphor for the decaying nature of age
- “warm, flank of the house” is vivid, erotic and protective

Question 4

“the grains of the asphalt
hot beneath her toes and fingertips,
a square of petrified beach.”

Answer 4

• the idea of “hot beneath” hints at the discomfort of the climb perhaps acting as a metaphor for the discomfort of the transition into womanhood
• squares are uniform shapes which may be seen as jarring compared to fluid transitions seen elsewhere in the poem
• the use of petrified personifies the beach which could be literal suggesting its stone or more emotional which could symbolise the girl`s fear of getting caught

Question 5

“which catch the sunlight briefly like the
flash of armaments before
dropping gracefully into the shade of the house.”

Answer 5

armaments are military weapons so describing a flash links them to being fired, bringing reference to weaponry and violence as the poem ends hinting at future conflict
- this also suggests a fighting spirit symbolic possibly of feministic empowerment but the girls will live life more fully than the secretary because of this
- sunlight is juxtaposed with shade acting as a metaphor for a bright future for the girls compared to the gloomy present

Question 6

“Her tiny breasts
rest lightly on her thighs.-What can she know
of the way the world admits us less and less
the more we grow?”

Answer 6

the juxtaposition of the tiny breasts represented on her thighs may show difference between youth and development into adulthood
- semantic field of anatomy may hint at physical developments
- breast imagery is lyrical and delicate, not erotic, showing the girl`s innocence
- Intrudes on the poem halfway through with rhetorical question which may indicate the world becoming less flexible and forgiving with age