In The Snack Bar

Question 1

What is the focus of Stanza 2?

Answer 1

Author takes the old man down the stairs. They go back upstairs. All the senses are overwhelming.

Question 2

What is the focus of Stanza 3?

Answer 2

Describes old mans life and says how hard it is as he’s helpless.

Question 3

What is the focus of Stanza 1?

Answer 3

Old man wants to go to toilet.

Question 4

“A cup capsizes”

Answer 4

Alliteration mimics the sound. It falls easily like the man would.

Question 5

“Formica”

Answer 5

Cheap. Gives a sense of the setting.

Question 6

“Dull clatter”

Answer 6

Cheap. You don’t care about the sound but the reader does.

Question 7

“few” “crowded”

Answer 7

Contrast. Many people are there but only a few care.

Question 8

“trying”

Answer 8

Struggling. People don’t help.

Question 9

“Slowly”

Answer 9

He has to do everything slowly. His life is slow.

Question 10

“no power.”

Answer 10

He is weak.

Question 11

“as far as he can get”

Answer 11

He isn’t fully standing, he can’t.

Question 12

“dismal hump”

Answer 12

Life is dismal.

Question 13

“Looming”

Answer 13

His hump is always there casting a shadow.

Question 14

“monstrous animal caught in a tent”

Answer 14

Scary. Makes you want to stay away and not help.

Question 15

“He sways slightly”

Answer 15

Feeble. Sibilance draws attention to it.

Question 16

“face not seen”

Answer 16

People don’t actually want to see his face. They don’t care.

Question 17

“I notice now his stick, one painted white / but scuffed and muddy”

Answer 17

He used to be young and fresh.

Question 18

” ‘Give me - your arm - it’s better,’ “

Answer 18

He’s done it before. It is a regular occurrence. He finds it difficult to speak or is embarrassed to ask.

Question 19

“Inch by inch”

Answer 19

Moving really slowly. Imperial system reflects his age.

Question 20

“Drift”

Answer 20

Contrasts to how he actually moves.

Question 21

“Landscape / to be negotiated”

Answer 21

Hard to walk. Landscape has many obstacles.

Question 22

“crunch of spilt sugar………inches to the stairs”

Answer 22

All the other senses are heightened due to his blindness. Onomatopoeia shows that he hears more.

Question 23

“Slow dangerous inches”

Answer 23

Even inches are threatening.

Question 24

“Clings”

Answer 24

He is helpless.

Question 25

“Probing the treads”

Answer 25

He cannot see where the stairs end.

Question 26

“And slowly we go down. And slowly we go down.”

Answer 26

Like the mans life withering away. The repetition emphasises pace.

Question 27

“White tiles and mirrors”

Answer 27

A contrast to the old man.

Question 28

“At last”

Answer 28

It has been a long journey.

Question 29

“Shambles”

Answer 29

He doesn’t move elegantly.