aunt julia Flashcards
what are the central themes of aunt julia?
- isolation
- loss
“very loud and very fast”
- repetition
- sense of character, full of life and energy
- confident
” i could not answer her - i could not understand her”
- repetition
- severe language barrier
- he feels he failed her as he couldnt comprehend her
- sense of frustration, regret
“she wore mens boots”
- practical woman
- suggests touch life and her having to do the outdoor chores
”- i can see her”
DASH
- pause in train of thought , he can remember her so vividly he has specific memories it is as if he can actually see her
“can see her” memories are so vivid its like they are happening right infont of him
“strong foot stained with peat”
‘strong’
- she was admirable, capable, independent
‘stained’
- so connected to nature that you cant disconnect her from it
- nature is engrained into her character
“drew yarn marvellously”
- magic in the poets eyes
- hes in awe of her
- he admires her
“hers was the only house”
‘only’
- staying with her was a unique experience
- a novelty to experience her level of traditional living
“box bed”
- highlights how traditional and old fashioned her way of life was
- box bed = novelty , rare but he feels safe
“listening to crickets being friendly”
- personification
- highlights the effect of aunt Julia
- he’s in a strange unfamiliar place but he feels safe, connected to nature, surrounded by friendliness
- shows aunt Julia’s warmth and comforting effect even though he cant understand her
“she was buckets and water”
- metaphor
- shows how rural, hardy and tough she was
“winds pouring wetly”
- metaphor
- highlights her connection to nature
- ‘wind’ implies she is powerful, fast, energetic, full of life and movement
“she was… she was… she was”
- again shows practicality
- emphasises how varied her personality was
- so many different sides to her, a sense that she was larger than life
“aunt julia spoke gaelic very loud and very fast”
- repetition of the opening lines
- signals conclusion
- reader is reminded of communication barrier
“learned a little she lay”
- the alliteration suggests a gradual fluency of language
- frustration of learning her language too late
