Aunt Julia Annotations

Question 1

aunt Julia Spoke Gaelic

Answer 1

He didn’t speak it

Language barrier

Question 2

very loud and very fast

Answer 2

word choice

loud/fast conveys vigour, energy

Question 3

i could not answer her -

i could not understand her

Answer 3

word choice and repetition

emphasises difficulty understanding

Question 4

• (first stanza)

Answer 4

sentence structure and parallel phrases

create a strong barrier to represent the language barrier
theme of frustration

Question 5

she wore men’s boots

Answer 5

word choice

unconventional, practical style, rugged, hardy, fulfilling male and female roles. Lack of funds, tough as old boots

Question 6

• (second stanza)

Answer 6

sharp change of tense

Question 7

i can see her

Answer 7

change of tense creates immediacy, gives julia life

Question 8

strong foot

Answer 8

word choice

she is tough and hardy

Question 9

stained with peat

Answer 9

word choice

deep elemental connection to nature. Fundamental, basic, lack of vanity

Question 10

paddling wit the treadle

Answer 10

word choice

suggests dexterity

Question 11

the spinningwheel

Answer 11

word choice

traditional craft connection to rural way of life

Question 12

while her right hand

Answer 12

word choice

suggests dexterity

Question 13

draw yarn marvellously out of the air

Answer 13

metaphor

attributes magical, mysterious quality to her

sound - assonance

long vowel sound mimic pulling out the new yarn

Question 14

hers

Answer 14

word choice

pronoun to emphasise Julia’s significance

Question 15

only house

Answer 15

word choice

uniqueness, sense of security

Question 16

absolute darkness

Answer 16

setting

rural setting away from the city lights
theme of isolation

Question 17

box bed

Answer 17

cosy, private and safe

Question 18

crickets being friendly

Answer 18

metaphor

suggests peace, contentment and at one with nature

Question 19

she was buckets

Answer 19

metaphor

suggests abundance of natural resources

Question 20

and water flouncing

Answer 20

word choice

how the water moves, also how Julia pumps the water energetically

Question 21

winds pouring wetly

Answer 21

word choice

refers to climate, and to Aunt Julia as elemental. a force of nature

Question 22

she was brown eggs

Answer 22

reflects Aunt Julia’s hard ;ife keeping hens etc.

Question 23

black skirts

Answer 23

traditional, sturdy, practical

Question 24

a keeper of threepennybits in a teapot

Answer 24

no access to a bank; doesn’t trust banks; thrifty; trusts MacCaig; treats him?

Question 25

Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic

very loud and very fast

Answer 25

repetition

opening lines. the language barrier endured. they never got to speak

Question 26

by the time i had learned a litle

Answer 26

word choice

to little too late?
theme of frustration
not good enough

Question 27

she lay silenced

Answer 27

word choice

contrast against loudness/ vigour, action perpetrated against Aunt Julia, but also Scottish culture & Gaelic

Question 28

absolute black

Answer 28

repetition

calls back to absolute darkness - at peace?

Question 29

but i hear her still

Answer 29

metaphor

MacCaig writes in present tense. her voice endures

Question 30

seagull’s voice

Answer 30

metaphor

distinctive and harsh, found around islands. natural

Question 31

a hundred yards of peatscrapes and lazybeds

Answer 31

this was her croft - the patch she tended which will always belong to her. there’s still a strong bond between the two

Question 32

getting angry, getting angry

Answer 32

repetition - Julia is getting angry because English speaking MacCaig still does not understand her? or MacCaig is getting angry because he lost the chance to explore his Gaelic heritage?

Question 33

unanswered

Answer 33

highlights key themes of isolation and frustration