BC Structure Flashcards
“That mean trouble”
• Enjambment is used here to emphasise the words ‘mean’ and ‘trouble’.
• “Means” in this context, but subtle reminder of the violence inherent within his character
• If the “hieroglyphs” are scars, “trouble” could represent violence that led cop to be disfigured. If they are his eyes, it could represent the harshness of his personality
(Hieroglyphs could also represent the cops eyes being unreadable as he cannot show emotion as it would be considered a sign of weakness)
“He walks the sidewalk and the thin tissue over violence”
Enjambment emphasises the moral / social issue of brutality, which works together with MacCaig’s shocking description of a character who appears capable of considerable savagery
“He hoped it, he truly hoped it”
• Repetition of the word “hope” suggests sincerity and genuine emotion behind his tough outward appearance (suggesting he feels he has to conceal his humanity to do his job effectively).
• Emphasises danger of the streets and of his job. He might not see his wife – he might be killed
“what clubbings, what gunshots”
Repetition of “what” stresses the intensity of the violence.
the action of repeating something that has already been said or
written. Often used for emphasis or impact.
“Who would be him, gorilla with a nightstick, / whose home is a place / he might, this time, never get back to?”
• First of two rhetorical questions.
• Tone changes from descriptive commentary to reflective. Suggests MacCaig almost feels
sympathy for the cop and the job he has to do.
• Reflective tone creates impact after violent and dramatic tone of the previous stanza.
• Sympathetic tone appears genuine. He might not return if he takes one step too many through
the “tissue of violence”.
“, this time,”
Parenthesis slows final line of stanza down and increases sympathy the
reader feels when considering who would want his job and what his job
does to him.
“And who would be who have to be his victims?”
• Unusual syntax makes the reader pause and reflect on his meaning
• Rhetorical question used to reveal theme. Cop’s violence is inevitable and someone will
suffer as a result of his position in society.
• Question makes reader reflect on how lives (of criminals or innocent people) may be
sacrificed for him to do his job and whether or not this is right. Creates sympathy for those who come into contact with him in his personal life
