aunt julia Flashcards
“gaelic”
not a common language
“very loud and very fast”
suggests she is extroverted and has a lot of energy
“i could not answer her, i could not understand her”
repetition, shows speakers helplessness, implies it’s his fault for not knowing gaelic
“understand her”
metaphor, he’s never met anyone like her before, also literally as he doesn’t know the language
“she wore men’s boots when she wore any”
unconventional, women don’t often wear men’s clothes
“strong foot”
physical strength is emphasised
“stained with peat”
links julia to nature, suggests hostile environment, stain has negative connotations
“paddling”
metaphor, gives idea of duck/dog, links to nature
“treadle of the spinning wheel”
dying art, connects aunt julia with the past
“marvellously”
word choice, almost magical to him, in awe of her
“only house”
word choice, “only” emphasises uniqueness
“absolute darkness”
small kids scared of the dark, sounds scary, “absolute” gives idea of finality, death
“box bed”
type of enclosed bed, suggests coffin
“listening to crickets being friendly”
senses, interesting that he can’t understand julia but can understand crickets
“she was buckets”
first metaphor in stanza comparing julia to home/nature
