Hide And Seek

Question 1

Hide and Seek (title)

Answer 1

Universal childhood game (indicates this experience is more than just one person’s)
Could be a metaphor for life - child hiding could represent a desire to hide your true self

Question 2

Call out. Call loud:

Answer 2

Imperatives - immediately gives the speaker a sense of authority
Short sentences - builds tension

Question 3

‘I’m ready! Come and find me!’

Answer 3

Childish tone
Exclamatory sentences show excitement

Question 4

The sacks in the toolshed smell like the seaside

Answer 4

Simile - nostalgia for clichéd childhood memories at the beach
Sibilance - mimics the sound of waves

Question 5

In this salty dark

Answer 5

Metaphor - uses two senses, suggesting the child’s senses are more alert than normal

Question 6

The floor is cold. They’ll probably be searching
The bushes near the swing. Whatever happens
You mustn’t sneeze

Answer 6

Random sentences that don’t appear to follow a logical order - reflects the child’s scattered thoughts and excitement (as many thoughts are occurring in a short time period)

Question 7

When they come prowling in.

Answer 7

Zoomorphism - they’re predatory in their pursuit of the child - turns the hiding child into a victim in danger

Question 8

Don’t breathe. Don’t move. Stay dumb.

Answer 8

3 short sentences with imperatives - builds tension, pace becomes like a heartbeat, suggesting the idea of the child’s pounding heartbeat - implies nervousness at seekers being so close (sense of danger)

Question 9

Hide in your blindness… their words and laughter scuffle

Answer 9

Maybe they are playing a prank - ‘blindess’ suggests the child doesn’t know they’re a victim, the ‘laughter’ could suggests they know the child is in the shed and they aren’t finding the child on purpose

Question 10

They’ll try the lane
And then the greenhouse and back here again.

Answer 10

Suggests the child and speaker believe the seekers are determined to win

Question 11

They must be thinking that you’re very clever,

Answer 11

Child is proud - believes they are excelling at the game

Question 12

The cold bites through your coat;

Answer 12

Personification - setting is now sinister and dangerous

Question 13

The dark damp smell of sand moves in your throat.

Answer 13

Surroundings haven’t changed - the child’s perception of and reaction to them has changed

Question 14

The darkening garden watches. Nothing stirs.
The bushes hold their breath;

Answer 14

“Garden watches” and “bushes hold their breath” - personification of the setting, sense of anticipation - perhaps wondering what kind of person will the child be (after childhood as it is ending)
“Nothing stirs” - emphasises sense of isolation
“Darkening garden” - sunset, typically used as a metaphor for the end of things (links back to end of childhood)

Question 15

Yes, here you are. But where are they who sought you?

Answer 15

Rhetorical question - makes the reader unsure and vulnerable, like the child
This incident could reflect the difficulty of growing up and having people you trust abandon you (also the end of childhood innocence)

Question 16

And here they are, whispering at the door;

Answer 16

Whispering could indicate something sinister - and suggests they are discussing something secretive while excluding the hiding child

Question 17

Structure

Answer 17

Iambic pentameter - could mimic the counting down in the game, the rigid rules of it, or the child’s excited heartbeat as they hide
Occasional rhyme - reflects childlike innocence or the game itself as the rhymes are hidden between the other lines
Rhyming couplets every 4/5th line up to when the child is abandoned - reflects loss of innocence at the realisation nobody is looking for the child