Belfast Confetti Flashcards
Suddenly […] it was raining exclamation marks
In media res, conveying the unexpectedness of the attack.
Exclamation marks implying emphasis at the end of a sentence mimicking the sound of the bombs as well as highlighting the exclamatory and feared reactions of those impacted by the conflict.
Nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys
Asyndetic listing mirrors the relentlessness of the chaos by increasing the pace.
This hyphenated line, a burst of rapid fire…
Breaks in hyphens parallels the breaks in rapid gunfire
-> Use of punctuation as an extended metaphor emphasising how cluttered and chaotic their thoughts are, compared to punctuation’s purpose being providing clarity and informative utility markers for understanding a text, juxtaposing their use as a symbol of chaos and disregulation
-> Highlights the chaotic atmosphere that the reader feels compared to their neighbourhood being associated with a safe space to be
stops and colons
Mirrors restriction, confinement, entrapment, highlighting the stress that the reader is under.
I know this labyrinth so well -
Declarative highlights the certainty, paradoxical to the nature of a labyrinth as the Greek inescapable maze, being impossible to navigate and yet being familiar with it symbolising the persona’s predicament of being displaced and confused, their lack of clarity in a space where they should know what is happening.
Labyrinth gives the city a sinister impression, mirroring the fear felt by those trying to navigate having been disrupted by the conflict. People were sent to the Labyrinth as sacrifices to the Minotaur, mirroring how the deaths of people in the city are martyr-like sacrifices to the political conflict.
Questioning how many people have to die for the conflict to end, challenging the futility of war.
Connotations: Confusion, disorientation, bewilderment, psychological disturbance, displacement.
Crimea street
Streets being named after prominent battles in the Crimean war acting as a wider comment on conflict as a whole, each riot/battle representing merely a small component of a larger fight, highlighting how the conflict the speaker is faced with is merely a small, zoomed-in aspect of the wider Troubles
Acts as a universal criticism of chaos and violence in war, the futility of displacement
Why can’t I escape? Every move is punctuated.
Rhetorical question emphasises their psychological confusion at the situation, and the declarative of a “punctuated” move being a homophone for something having a punctuation mark associated with it, as well as something with a specific intention/purpose.
Highlights their sense of distortion of their surroundings, as they don’t know the purpose/intention of the chaos, or where they are in the sense of punctuation acting as a symbol of chaos
What is
My name?
Enjambment highlights the disjunct nature of their thoughts, lack of identity, reiterating their confusion
Interrogative highlights their sense of self-doubt and questioning identity.
A fusillade of question-marks.
Finalises the extended metaphor of punctuation leaving lots of questions behind in the reader’s mind, leaving a final sentiment of the isolation and fear the persona is feeling. Wider questioning one’s own identity as a result of the Troubles
Dead end again.
Short sentence quickens the pace, intensifying the chaos and frustration. Declarative highlights resignation to his fate.
Play on words - literally can’t continue down the road, as well as not being able to continue with the wider conflict out of pure frustration and fear.
What were The Troubles?
The 30-year-long ethno-nationalist conflict in Ireland over whether Northern Ireland should remain a part of the United Kingdom, the disagreements culminating in widespread terrorism across the country, which is what Ciaran is questioning the need for.
Ciaran Carson context
Acts as a didatic (intention to teach) message on the experiences of having been bombed, a very sentimental, emotionally charged experience of the Troubles as he lived through them as a young boy, allowing the poem to act as a warning and strong pacifist political undertones
Belfast Confetti
Confetti = Shrapnel
Harsh contrast, almost satirical, of the conflict in the poem. Refers to homemade bombs used by the IRA.
Belfast is the second largest city in Ireland, in Northern Ireland, second to Dublin (Capital).
