genetics

Question 1

structure

Answer 1

cyclical, villanelle form this unties the content and form
traditional form where there are three tercets and a quatrain associated with pastoral tradition of dancing and union.
this is ironic as the cyclical structure mirrors a wedding ring which does not reflect parents separation.

Question 2

stanza 1.. ‘ I lift them up and look at them with pleasure’

Answer 2

• playful tone - familial relationships
• ‘them’ ambiguous hands or parents - desire

Question 3

stanza 2 ‘repelled to separate lands’

Answer 3

• hands are metaphysical and connotes separation and extended metaphor of magnets

Question 4

stanza 2 ‘touch where fingers link to palms’

Answer 4

• literary allusion to Romeo and Juliet which is ironic as they fall in love and kiss after linking hands - desire for parents to be together based on literary, historical events, fairytale lake - impossible

Question 5

stanza 4 ‘ I shape a chapel where a steeple stands’

Answer 5

• childish game
• collocations of chapel = marriage trying to resurrect the catholic tradition of marriage

Question 6

stanza 6 ‘ if you bequeath your palms. we know our parents make us by our hands’

Answer 6

• seducing verbs - mimic the potential nature of love/ new beginning of speak to overcome parents separation
• half rhyme of ‘palms’ and ‘hands’ does not adhere to traditional villanelle format = subtle suggestion of speaker breaking the negative cycle and beginning a more positive future