aunt julia Flashcards
Very loud and very fast
Repetition emphasises her talkative nature. Full of life and energy
I could not answer her -
I could not understand hrt
Repetition emphasises his frustration
MacCaig as a child observer
2 sentences in opposition to each other. AJ loud vs NM silent
Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic
very loud and very fast
I could not answer her -
I could not understand her.
Two clear straightforward statements emphasise the frustration at the inability to understand AJ
She wore men’s boots
Working - physical work.
More practical and not into fancy clothes
when she wore any.
Normally barefoot, she is unconventional
- I can see her strong foot,
- = shift tense
“can see” = shift to present tense - creates a sense of immediacy
“strong” = rustic, hardworking- physical being
stained with peat
Stained = she is marked by island life Peat = source of fuel
Drew yarn
Marvellously
Long vowel sounds reflect the stretching of the yarn
Marvellously- word choice reflects the admiration, wonder and magic
Hers
Pronoun starts with hers to foreground the importance to him
Only house
Unique and special experience. Very different to urban life
Absolute darkness
This might normally suggest fear and threat but he suggests safety and security
Box bed
Comforting
Crickets
Surrounding by nature
Being friendly
Adverb childish view of nature
Buckets
Safe strong reliable
Water flouncing
Series of natural metaphors she is at one with the weather.
Personifiying the water. Vibrant verb mimic her exuberant movements. Transferred epithet
Winds pouring wetly
Alliteration reflects the power of the storm
Series of natural metaphors- she is at one with the weather
She was brown eggs, black skirts
And a keeper of threepennybits
In a teapot
Domestic objects that are evocative of her life on the island
Julia is a symbol of traditional island life
Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic
Repetition reflects the importance of the communication barrier - regret, frustration
Sense of circulatory
Learned
A little
Emphasises sadness alliteration
Silenced
Contrasts with the personality of Aunt julia
Absolute black
Of a sandy grave
At Luskentyre
“Absolute” - link to stanza 3. She is part of the island now she has physically become part of the island. Her death is not all negative
A seagull’s voice
Loud, incomprehensible- she is still present in nature
Getting angry, getting angry
Repetition reflects the anger at AJs death, but also the death of a way of life
Unanswered.
The word is left hanging like the unanwsered questions
