In the waiting room: quotes and explanations Flashcards
“In _________, Massachusetts,
I went with Aunt __________
to keep her _______ appointment
and sat and ______ for her
in the _______ waiting room”
In Worcester, Massachusetts,
I went with Aunt Consuelo
to keep her dentist’s appointment
and sat and waited for her
in the dentist’s waiting room
“The _______ room
was full of _______-__ people,
______ and overcoats,
lamps and ________.”
“The waiting room
was full of grown-up people,
arctics and overcoats,
lamps and magazines.”
Explain the description young Bishop gives and sees in the waiting room:
“The waiting room
was full of grown-up people,
arctics and overcoats,
lamps and magazines.”
She describes the people in terms of their clothing, as a child would do.
What does the opening few lines give us a sense of to the reader?
A strong sense of place and setting but also the waiting room is synonymous with tension and the prospect of pain. There is a sense of security in the waiting room which will be later contrasted.
Why is the waiting room an ideal location? (3)
It is an ideal location (neither here nor there) because:
There are many references to being inside and outside throughout the poem and this is the first. (first few lines)(not in or out)
The dentist’s waiting room is synonymous with tension and the prospect of pain.
The location symbolizes a place and time spent waiting for adulthood
while I waited I _____
the National __________
(I could read) and carefully
studied the ___________:
while I waited I read
the National Geographic
(I could read) and carefully
studied the photographs:
Explain what young Bishop is doing in the following quote:
while I waited I read
the National Geographic
(I could read) and carefully
studied the photographs:
She retreats into the world of the publication/magazine and gradually creates a scene for us
the inside of a _______,
_____, and full of ______;
then it was _______ over
in ______ of fire.
the inside of a volcano,
black, and full of ashes;
then it was spilling over
in rivulets of fire.
Osa and Martin Johnson
dressed in ______ breeches,
laced ______, and pith _______.
Osa and Martin Johnson
dressed in riding breeches,
laced boots, and pith helmets.
A ______ man _____ on a pole
–“_____ ____,” the caption said
A dead man slung on a pole
–“Long Pig,” the caption said
Babies with _______ heads
_______ round and round with ______;
black, ______ women with ______
wound round and round with ______
like the necks of _____ ______.
Their breasts were __________.
Babies with pointed heads
wound round and round with string;
black, naked women with necks
wound round and round with wire
like the necks of light bulbs.
Their breasts were horrifying.
I was too ____ to stop.
And then I looked at the ______:
the ______ margins, the _____.
Suddenly, from ______,
came an oh! of _____
I read it right straight through.
I was too shy to stop.
And then I looked at the cover:
the yellow margins, the date.
Suddenly, from inside,
came an oh! of pain
When Bishop is reading the National Geographic, what gradually happens to her in terms of the photos?
several images in the magazine, accompanied by words like “Long Pig” that greatly distress the girl.
She was immediately aware, from the caption “Long Pig,” what the image was depicting and alluding to.
She sees herself as brave and strong but the images test her.
Those of the women with their breasts revealed are especially troubling to her.
Why does Bishop become her Aunt Consuelo in the other room?
She finds herself truly confronted with the adult world for the first time. At this moment she becomes one with all the adults around her, as well as her aunt in the next room.
In the description of the volcano, what does young Bishop realize/acknowledge?
she recognises the earth’s destructive force
What are the images Bishop sees in the national geographic?
An erupting volcano, a dead man slung on a pole labeled ‘long pig’ (scene of cannibalism and violence), babies long head wrapped with string and naked women with their necks wrapped round with wire (ornamental disfigurement)
What does the repetition of ‘round and round’ emphasise?
It emphasises the young girl’s spiralling descent into an enthralling world
Why does Bishop look at the cover of the magazine after seeing and reading through the images?
I was too shy to stop.
And then I looked at the cover:
the yellow margins, the date.
Caught between fascination, repulsion and embarrassment (too shy to stop), she concentrates on the magazine’s cover in an effort to regain control of her feelings
Explain the stages that Bishop goes through after hearing an “oh! of pain”
(aunt-herself-aunt)
At first, she presumes that the sound came from her aunt.
But then something extraordinary happens and she realises that she has made the sound herself: “it was me”.
This sudden awareness within herself prompts a strange, visionary experience in which she identifies closely with her ‘foolish aunt’
What took me
completely by surprise
was that it was me:
my voice, in my mouth…()
…I was my foolish aunt,
I–we–were falling, falling,
What took me
completely by surprise
was that it was me:
my voice, in my mouth…()
…I was my foolish aunt,
I–we–were falling, falling,
our eyes glued to the cover
of the National Geographic,
February, 1918.
our eyes glued to the cover
of the National Geographic,
February, 1918.
Why does young Bishop look to the cover of the national geographic for the second time when she feels as if she is falling and spiralling?
In this dreamlike and surreal sequence, the uses the cover and date as a tether to the real world.
I said to myself: ____ days
and you’ll be _____ years old.
I was saying it to stop
the _______ of falling off
the _____, turning ______.
into cold, ____-_____ space.
I said to myself: three days
and you’ll be seven years old.
I was saying it to stop
the sensation of falling off
the round, turning world.
into cold, blue-black space.
Why does young Bishop say to herself that she will be 7 in three days?
She focuses on the cold facts and on her approaching birthday as she tries to resist the sensation of fainting.
This is meant to motivate her, remind her that she, in her mind, is not a child anymore.
