Assisi Flashcards
“I understood the explanation and the cleverness”
Highlights the irony of paintings about St Francis who helped the less fortunate, whilst the priests are focusing on themselves and tourists
“Goodness of god”
Alliteration emphasises the idea of the priest simplifying God’s message for the benefit of tourists
“Suffering of his son”
Word choice/alliteration - ‘Suffering’ highlights that the idea of charity and helping the less fortunate has been lost - irony, hypocrisy
“How clever it was… cleverness”
Repetition of ‘clever’/’cleverness’ emphasises that the speaker is being somewhat sarcastic sarcastic/derisive
“advantage of not being dead yet”
Tone - only difference between dwarf and St Francis is that dwarf isn’t dead yet. Use of ‘advantage’ conveys derision, as we know he has no advantages
“half-filled sack”
Metaphor - suggests the idea that he is unnatractive, shapeless, and lifeless.
“three tiers”
Word choice/alliteration - emphasises grandieur of the church, emphasises its beauty, in contrast to beggar
“Sat slumped”/”tiny twisted”
Alliteration - implies that the beggar is deflated, empty, small, and broken. Focuses on deformity of beggar.
“A rush of tourists, clucking contentedly, fluttered after him”
Word choice of fluttered suggests an unthinking, uncritical nature. They aren’t seeing the fact that he ignores the homeless, they just follow him around, mindlessly
“Scattered the grain of the word”
Metaphor - the grain is now for the tourist instead of the poor, which is not the way St Francis would have wanted it. Hypocrisy, irony
“A voice as sweet as a child’s when it spoke”
Simile - highlights the inner beauty of the beggar and his innocence
