Aunt Julia Flashcards
“Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic very loud and very fast”
Simple statement establishes her energy/vitality but also gulf between them.
Repetition conveys her determined forceful character
“She wore men’s boots”
“Black skirts”
Descriptive statements
She’s practical and doesn’t care about appearance
She is masculine
“I can see her strong foot stained with peat”
Effective word choice as powerful “st” emphasises how much her crofting lifestyle was ingrained in her. This has a direct contrast to mccaigs own lifestyle.
“Strong” shows her masculinity and reflects her personality
“Drew yarn marvellously out of the air”
Inverted word order and metaphor
Suggest boys wonder- a sense of magic
Also contrast as “marvellously” has angelic connotations suggesting feminity
“Absolute darkness of a box bed”
Superlative connotations but boys is not frightened
Suggests calmness and reflection
Could be seen as humour
“She was buckets”
Metaphors
Suggesting energy and strong personality
Aunt Julia was independent
“Silenced in the absolute black”
Sibilants and effective word choice
Silenced- forced to stop talking by death
Contrast to her natural loud voice
“Absolute black” echoes box bed but no warmth this time
Connotations of mourning
A seagulls voice
Sound
Connotations of cracking reinforce ideas of communication gulf- he still cannot understand her and he never will
Portrays frustration
