From The Journal Of A Disappointed Man Flashcards
1
Q
TITLE
A
- Observer / reflective speaker
- Outsider : emasculated, effeminate
- Old fashioned element / dated
- Verbose, eloquent in language, archaic, superfluous
2
Q
“I discovered these men driving a new pile”
A
- Dehumanises workers
- Workers are alienated, seen as animalistic and primitive
- Animalistic imagery
3
Q
“Of chains, pulleys, cranes, ropes and, as I said, a wooden pile, a massive affair, swinging over the water”
A
- Syndetic listing
- Job is futile and monotonous
- Appositive : emphasises knowledge of speaker - outsider
4
Q
“Massive”
A
- Repetition of size
- Speaker feels inferior
- Emasculation / effeminate
5
Q
“Very powerful men; very ruminative and silent men ignoring me”
A
- Anaphoric repetition : emphasises insecurity of the speaker
- He is ignored
- Overthinking , feels like an outsider —> diminishes the intelligence of the speaker
- Irony : men are silent with each other
6
Q
“Let go” / “Hold tight”
A
- Latinate / polysyllabic language contrasts monosyllabic language of workers
- Imperatives = demanding
7
Q
“I could tell” / “I cannot say what”
A
- Mocking / egoistic
- Judgement
- Irony as speaker criticises workmen for not knowing but doesn’t know himself - element of confusion
8
Q
“Monsters”
A
- Dehumanising element
- Pejorative / critical
- Beugoeisie view of the working men
- Speaker is separate and observatory
9
Q
“Baffled I thought at first”
A
- Judgmental
- Diminishes the workers and undermines them
10
Q
“Crossing his strong arms over his chest”
A
- Objectification of the workers
- Element of masculinity
- Diminishes the speaker
11
Q
“For all he cared”
A
- Observation of men
- Classifies them as careless
- Projects his own attitudes onto them
- Arrogance of speaker
12
Q
“Crack of doom”
A
- Hyperbolic
- Symbolic of end of the world
- verbosity of the speaker
13
Q
“To do the men justice”
A
- Critical observation
- Condescending tone
- Thinks he is helping them (ironic)
14
Q
“Secret problem”
A
- Speaker doesn’t know problems
- Engaged in hopeless task
- Coding / deciphering
- Irony of speaker
- Undermines job /actions
- Acts as a leveller
15
Q
“Massive man”
A
- Repetition of size
- Hyper-fixiation on the mens masculinity
- Speaker emasculates himself
16
Q
“To gaze down like a mystic into the water”
A
- Simile : criticising workmens efforts
- Mocking tone : incapable
- Entranced - in thought
- Pseudo science - untrustworthy, Charleton, professes to see something but doesn’t like the workmen
17
Q
“Spit”
A
- Vulgar / repulsive verb
- Sign of disrespect
- Stereotypes the working class men
- Anti-climactic
- Disgusting - lacks manner
- Animalistic / primitive
18
Q
“The most original thinker smoked a cigarette to relieve the tension”
A
- Superlative : philosophical concept of emblem. Not intellectual, irony.
- speakers perspective, no tension in reality
19
Q
“With a heavy kind of majesty”
A
- Connotes royalty /status
- Idolisation of masculinity
- Ironic comparison
20
Q
“With this eclipse of interest, the incident was suddenly closed”
A
- Caesura : emphasises end of work, given up
- Hyperbolic language
- Reflective of speaker
- Speaker incongruous to setting
21
Q
“First in ones and twos, then altogether, the men followed”
A
- Animalistic imagery : sheepish and reliant on other
- Pack mindset
- Gullible / easily persuaded
- Dehumanisation of workers
22
Q
“And me of course.”
A
- Endstop : speaker is isolated and othered, left all alone
- Wants to be included but is distanced
- Seperation emphasised through caesura and endstop
- Speaker wants resolution and ending but cannot
