Introduction

Question 1

Opening sentence

Answer 1

“Aunt Julia” is a free verse poem written by the poet Norman MacCaig which focuses on different aspects of the relationship between the speaker and his Aunt.

Question 2

Summary

Answer 2

The poem explores the character of Aunt Julia and the loving relationship between her and her nephew despite them having a language barrier. It also explores the anger and frustration the speaker faced when his Aunt passes away.

Question 3

Refer to question

Answer 3

MacCaig effectively portrays the important memory of the speaker’s Aunt through the use of imagery, word choice and sentence structure as he shows how the speaker admires his Aunt and how deep their relationship was.