Language devices Flashcards
1
Q
My Mother’s Kitchen:
A
- Juxtaposition between ‘escape’ and ‘home’ implies that the concept of home is not a fixed concept for her mother
- Enjambment creates ideas of growth, representing her mother’s vine
- Her mother’s vine is used as a symbol for how her home country flourished and thrived before war- it can be symbolic of not only life and beauty but of time and durability as it remains unchanged
- Usage of full stops could represent all the times her mother has moved, and they depict a detached manner. Also makers readers aware of her continuous movement whilst reading because you, like her mother are forced to stop, move onto the next sentence, and start again
- Her kitchen items are personfied creating a sense of connection due to their human qualities- fat, tall, ugly
2
Q
Kumukanda:
A
- Auxiliary verb in ‘boys of our tribe must’ communicates social and traditional obligation of Kumukanda
- Caesura in ‘would think me unfinished-‘ forces reader to reflect on the negative connotations the last adjective has
- Two separate lives represented in ‘dad’ and ‘tata’ showing the juxtaposition between the speakers two conflicting identities
- Repetition of father highlights importance of family and heritage, whilst also suggesting a regret for disconnect with that heritage
- Father can also be a play on words to sound like farther emphasising the alienation he feels from his Zambian heritage
- Rhetorical question at end of the poem constructs a cyclical nature as we too are left feeling ‘unfinished’
3
Q
Peckham Rye:
A
- Metaphor in ‘each person is a sturdy hairbrush bristle’ alludes to strength and individuality of people in Peckham, as they contribute and work with other ‘bristles’ to help have a wider more cohesive society
- Metaphor of ‘gunmetal drops of perspiration’ paints a negative image of Peckham due to the crime reference
- Lexical field of colour and the sea, makes tone more light hearted and shows Peckham’s unexpected beauty, and the sea is full of diverse life that exists in harmony, this idea is reflected back in Peckham
- Assonance in ‘as damp and as crammed as’ create an unpleasant, cloying atmosphere
- Simile of ‘angels gaze from the treetops like William Blake’ gives a sense of comfort from presence of angels and shelter of trees
- Simile of ‘clutching drumsticks and weapons’ constructs a humorous image, but could also be a sober acknowledgement of Peckham’s history of crime
- Symbolism of ‘as damped and as crammed as a coconut shell’- coconut could be representative of the diversity present in Peckham due to light and dark colours, also whilst the area has a tough outer shell, the true content is soft and rich
4
Q
Island man:
A
- Sibilance created in ‘sounds of blue surf’ creates a fluidity and softness, allowing Nichols to emulate the sound of ocean waves
- Colour blue helps construct a vivid and vibrant image, and is also synonymous with freshness and beauty
- Adjective of emerald in ‘his small emerald isalnd’ has connotations of beauty and allurement, and could also create an image of his island as being lush and full of life
- Personal pronoun ‘his’ potrayrs the island man’s longing and sentimental attachment to his home country
- Adjective ‘heaves’ in ‘heaves himself’ is reflective of island’s man feelings of weariness and apathy associated with london especially due to its elongated vowel sounds and alliteration
- Colour symbolism seen again in ‘grey metallic soar’, which generates an image of vapid dullness which is concomitant with the adjective ‘metallic’ from which we gain the artificial, unnatural nature of the city he finds himself in
5
Q
Clear and gentle stream:
A
- Direct address indicates his love for the stream
- Oxymoron of ‘idle dream’
- Assonance in ‘loved so long’, which helps convey a sense of yearning, as he is repeatedly dwelling on something
- Changes in tense, such as ‘where my old seat was’ accentuates powerful nature of time and shows humans insignificance as although we change, the stream doesn’t
- Onomatopeia of ‘deep bell hums’ is ominous and looming
6
Q
Mild the mist:
A
- Sustained assonance in ‘mild’ and ‘mist’ give poem a lyrical quality
- alliteration and sibilance in ‘spent its store of silent sorrow’
- Pathetic fallacy and personification of ‘the day has wept its fill’ depicts power of natural world as its able to emulate human emotions
- Oxymoron of ‘summer pall’, as a pall is the covering of a coffin, whilst summer is often representative of new life
- Semantic field of death through ‘summer pall’ and ‘cloudy evening fall’
- ‘The horizon’s mountain chain’ could take on another meaning, chain could be representative of connection between past and current self, as the mountains remain unchanged
- ‘Mild’ often used in a positive context, showing how the speaker finds solace in the world, even though mist can be forboding
7
Q
To my sister:
A
- Repeats lines 14-16 at the end of his work to add symmetry , but also to underline his message of wanting everyone to enjoy the natural world
- Repetitiion of the word ‘bare’ contrasts with ‘grass in the green field’ to show how seasons and landscapes change to bring new life and hope
- Use of exclamation adds urgency to his message- ‘My sister!’
- Personification of ‘our minds shall drink in every pore’ allows the reader to see how important it is to enjoy nature and how beneficial it can be
8
Q
The Emigree:
A
- Uses a number of similes to describe the city and what it means to the speaker- ‘docile as paper’ highlights its fragility, but also that her memories of it are calm and reassuring
- Metaphor of city as a ‘bright, filled paperweight’ which shows her memories of it as fixed and idealised- also suggests her identity is kept grounded by the solidity of her memories
- City personified it ‘takes me dancing’ showing she sees it as a friendly presence, but also in ‘it may be sick with tyrants’- which denotes corruption, but this could be seen to be a passing phase such as illness can be. ‘Tyrants’ synonymous with opression
- Repetition of ‘sunlight’ at the end of each stanza again showing her idealised view of it
- ‘That child’s language’ suggests at a distance and alienation she feels from her mother tongue
- Phrase of ‘they accuse me of being dark in their free city’ has racial undertones, perhaps highlighting the prejudice refugees may face- description of city as ‘free’ whilst we know its overrun with tryrants is brutally ironic
9
Q
Jamaican British:
A
- Ambiguity in ‘some people would deny’ shows he’s judged by many
- Imperative verb in ‘made me choose’ suggests his dual heritage is not respected and he’s expected to split his identity in half to conform to others beliefs
- Use of commas in ‘Jamaican, British’ serves as a physical separation of his two identities, and repetition of this phrase shows how much he dwells on it
- Reference to violence ‘knowing how to war is Jamaican British’ shows mental conflict at his own self
10
Q
In Wales:
A
- Exclamations used to show excitement at thoughts of an alternate lifestyle
- Poet uses non-sensical seeming German words to create a humorous tone
- Rhetorical questions to directly address and engage reader
- Lexical field of communication- shrug, pout, showing diversity of ways that humans can share their thoughts and feelings
- Hyperbolic metaphor in ‘dying to be understood’ depicts speakers extreme yearning for an alternate lifestyle, colloquial phrase also creates an informal and youthful tone
- Symbolism of vespa for freedom, adventure and independence, and cigarette for youthful rebellion
- Simile of ‘like freddie mercury’ reflects ideas of picking and choosing your identity
11
Q
I remember:
A
- Exclamation throughout poem- ‘the tree is living yet!’ shows surprise at power of nature, which is what he wants to draw readers attention to as it flourishes unlike him
- I remember repeated at start of each stanza, ensuring it always starts with a childhood memory which shows how his life is constantly changing for the worst
- Light and dark imagery to show his mood- ‘morning sun’, ‘bright flowers’ and the ‘air’ to describe his past then refers to night, heavy spirits and long days to show the present- underlines carefree nature of childhood and burdens of adulthood
- Personification of nature
12
Q
Sunday Dip:
A
- Polysyndeton highlights quick succession of events, due to repetion of ‘and’ at the start of 6 lines- highlights impulsive and reckless nature of boys play
- metaphor of ‘laugh to hear the thunder in their ears’ is natural and usually frightening, but instead conveys the boys carefree nature
- Dynamic verbs such as wade, run, dance creates a semantic field that reinforces the adulation and buoyancy the boys feel towards the river they’re visiting
13
Q
We Refugees:
A
- Repetiton and anaphora of the phrase ‘we can all’ to underline the importance of the topic of refugees
- Personal pronouns to directly address reader
- Contrasting imagery used to show how quickly life can change- ‘i come from a musical place, where they shoot me for my song’
- Enjambment used throughout poem, allows argument to flow
14
Q
Us:
A
- Uses metaphors like ‘as if from one coast you could reach out to the next’ to show how if we try, we can make seemingly impossible connections
- Uses personal pronouns to engage reader and make them feel personally involved
- Imagery of seas, mentions of ‘undulations’ sets up ideas of waves
- Use of Midlands dialect provides interjection of gentle humour but also works to show the isolation the speaker
- Colloquial phrase of ‘colour me unsure’ shows speakers doubts over relationship, could also be a pun on his mixed heritage
15
Q
Captain Cook:
A
- Lots of natural imagery with references to roses, long green grasses, water lilies
- Travel imagery, and semantic field of nautical imagery could represent her longing to travel back in time to her happy relationship with her brother- but words ‘storm and strife’ could also suggest a troubled childhood
- Directly addresses her brother and reader through exclamation and rhetorical questions
- Use of personification in ‘beneath the morning smile’ adds to the world of fantasy and innocence of Landon’s memories
- Light and dark imagery- shows how adult life is less happy
- Garden symbolic of speaker’s relationship with her brother
- Nouns ‘chief’ and ‘kings’ are titles rooted in power and autonomy, showing the freedom the children had in their childhood
