Aunt Julia Flashcards
What’s the biggest issue MacCaig faces with his Aunt Julia?
They both speak different languages (Aunt Julia speaking Gaelic and MacCaig speaking English)
When would MacCaig see his Aunt Julia?
He’d only see her during his summer holidays as she lived very far away from Edinburgh (MacCaig’s hometown)
How does the quote ‘Crickets being friendly’ indicate the age of the poet?
The quote shows the childlike nature and pure innocence of the poet at the time
How does MacCaig describe Aunt Julia
He describes her as the actions she performs in front of him due to the language barrier they had, this results in him saying ‘she was buckets and water flouncing into them’
‘She was brown eggs, black skirts and a keeper of threepennybits in a teapot’ what does this tell us about Aunt Julia?
The brown eggs tells us that she works hard and does everything for herself, the black skirts tells us that she’s not concerned with fashion and would rather wear more practical clothes. Keeping threepenny bits in a teapot rather than a proper container like a piggy bank shows her thrift nature.
‘I can see her strong foot, stained with peat’ what does this tell us about Aunt Julia?
This shows us that Aunt Julia is very hard working and isn’t afraid to get her hands (or in this case feet) dirty
In the final stanza, the quote ‘Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic very loud and very fast’ is repeated from the first stanza, what effect is created with the use of repetition?
MacCaig repeats the line as emphasis on the lack of communication that he had with Aunt Julia as MacCaig reflects on her
‘She lay silenced in the absolute black of a sandy grave’ what techniques are being used here?
MacCaig links back to the second stanza when he’s laying in bed
