Assisi

Question 1

“The dwarf with his hands on backwards”

Answer 1

metaphor
-highlights the man’s physical deformities

W.C
“dwarf”
-from the start the man is described in a negative way

Question 2

“sat, slumped like a half-filled sack”

Answer 2

alliteration

• suggests sadness
• very descriptive- clear picture of the man’s deformities
• suggests suffering

simile

• suggests that the man is poorly/malnourished
• suggests he is lifeless/shapeless/ missing something

Question 3

“the tree tiers of churches built/ in honour of St. Francis , brother of the poor”

Answer 3

Irony - hypocrisy

• “3 tiers..”
• goes against what he would of wanted (spending money on the church rather than helping)
• contrasts to the small beggar outside this grand church
• “St. Francis…”
• he was know to help the poor, but the church built in honour of him is keeping them out–ironic/hypocritical

Question 4

“he had the advantage/ of not being dead yet.”

Answer 4

sinister tone

• suggesting that the beggar may be better off dead
• the only thing the beggar has going for him is being alive, however MacCaig does not see this as a good thing.

W.C
“yet”
pessimistic- suggesting there is a possibility that he may die in the near future

Question 5

“clucking contentedly,/ fluttered after him as he scattered/ the grain of the word.”

Answer 5

W.C
“clucking”
-he is comparing the tourists to chickens
-suggesting that they are not very intelligent

• the tourists are just following the priest who is just throwing information at them
• seeds represent the word of god
• they listen to the stories of suffering and goodness, yet the ignore it when they are faced with it

Question 6

“who’s eyes/ wept pus”

Answer 6

imagery

• unpleasant description
• contrast to the artistic beauty of the frescoes that attract the tourists

Question 7

“Grazie”

Answer 7

ironic

• despite the awfulness of his situation, the single word he speaks is thank you
• instead of being bitter, he is grateful for any small kindness shown to him

Question 8

“in a voice as sweet/ as a child’s when she speaks to her mother”

Answer 8

simile

• it’s the man’s only attractive quality
• we are not expecting him to speak like that-element of surprise
• highlights inner beauty compared to outer beauty
• captures the beauty of his voice

-comparison to the child makes the beggar seem helpless/innocent= we pity him