An easy passage Flashcards
structure
first 13 lines uses frequent enjambement and long winding syntax to draw out tension. its all one sentance evoking the own breathlessness of this girl
title
easy- ironic as we come to find its hard
Once she is halfway up there, crouched in her bikini
on the porch roof of her family’s house, trembling,
immediately introduces the transitory stage between youth and adulthood
bikini and crouched- shows vunerability and fear
on the porch roof-ready to acknowledge the stage of departure from the security of childhood
family’s house- family, not hers. a house is a place of security and comnfort linked to childhood, yet she doesnt entirely belong and feel restricted in this transition period
she knows that the one thing she must not do is to think
of the narrow windowsill, the sharp
drop of the stairwell;
narrow- indicative of limited options womanhood forces upon u
staccato and consonance of ‘sharp drop’ evokes violent imagrey reminding us of the perilous danger of this task- could be the sound of her body hitting the ground
she must keep her mind
on the friend with whom she is half in love
and who is waiting for her on the blond
gravel somewhere beneath her, keep her mind
half in love- again emphasises transition period with half. could refer to experimentation and thrill of adolescence without understanding the consequences, highlights that theb blanket of youth still half protects her
blond gravel- continued image of light and summer associated with youth
keep her mind- repetition of this after cesurea indicated by comma. repetition shows intense fear and focuas
on her and on the fact of the open window,
the flimsy, hole-punched, aluminium lever
towards which in a moment she will reach
with the length of her whole body, leaning in
to the warm flank of the house.
flimsy hole punched aluminium lever- shows lack of controln and fragility. hole punch evokes ‘gaps’ in her knowledge of danger of the world
length of her body- emphasises physical strain and vunerability
-liquid l of flimsy hole punch and length of her whol body leaning in evokes the slippery path to ones life
warm flank- imagrey of warmth emphasises comfort and protection felt with childhood in family home
to the warm flank of the house. But first she
steadies herself, still crouching, the grains of the asphalt
hot beneath her toes and fingertips,
a square of petrified beach. 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? For now both girls seem
lit, as if from within, their hair and the gold stud
earrings in the first one’s ears; for now the long, grey
eye of the street, and far away from the mother
who does not trust her daughter with a key,
crouching indicative of lowering from reality and attempt to support herself reinforcing vunerability
grains of apsalt hot- only given imagrey of sand not water - symbolic of the passage of time
her tiny breasts- shows shes in the pubic stage of life
petrified beach-stuck in time showing how house is a rekic of her childhood and security still surrounds her but she can’t stay in it forever
what can she know- emphasises childhoods naievity and masking of dangers of the world
‘lit’ ‘gold stud’ and hair, luminous images starkly contrast to metaphor for ‘long grey eye’- shows transcience of yuths luminosity and suggests adulhood is dreary and predictable
key- isnt trusted with a key emphaises she still isnt an adult and hasnt matured
the workers about their business in the drab
electroplating factory over the road,
far too, most far, from the flush-faced secretary
who, with her head full of the evening class
she plans to take, or the trip of a lifetime, looks up now
from the stirring omens of the astrology column
electroplating factory over the road,- drearyness of adulthood
from the flush-faced secretary- alliteration of ‘f’ adds intensityy drawing contrast between youth and adluthood,
youth us focused on the present and day dreaming secretary isnt
at a girl – thirteen if she’s a day – standing
in next to nothing in the driveway opposite,
one hand flat against her stomach, one
shielding her eyes to gaze up at a pale calf,
a silver anklet and the five neat shimmering
oyster-painted toenails of an outstretched foot
which catch the sunlight briefly like the
flash of armaments before
dropping gracefully into the shade of the house.
astrology column-desire to escape
in next to nothing- alliteration of next to nothing draws attention to the girls vunerability and innocence
silver anklet shimmering and oyster painted toenails- luminous imagrey reinforced showing brightness of youth yet its transience as ‘night’ inevitably comes
oyter shows youth connected to nature showing spontaneous and natural way of life
dropping gracefully into the shade off the house- retreats back to security but with a shift of mentality
imagrey of light going to shade shows the fleeting nature of youth
