Letters From Yorkshire Flashcards
What does Maura Dooley contrast in ‘Letters from Yorkshire’?
The indoor life of the narrator ‘me’ with the outdoor life of the ‘you/he’ figure.
How two very opposite people function in this relationship.
What type of relationship could ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ be about?
Long distance.
The everyday aspects of a relationship.
“Our souls tap out messages across the icy miles” (they have a spiritual connection but there are obstacles in their relationship.
Why is ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ about letters?
Her partner is writing her letters as an act of love.
He works outdoors whereas she stays indoors writing. (Connecting with her in her way)
What happens in ‘Letters from Yorkshire’?
The partner is working outdoors then runs inside to write her a letter.
Their different lifestyles are highlighted.
She wonders if his life is filled with greater meaning as it is more active and closely linked with nature.
She is thankful for his letters.
Why has Maura Dooley used enjambment?
Make it sound more free flowing like a letter.
Reflects the continuous changing seasons.
Why has Maura Dooley written ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ in free verse?
Sounds more conversational like a letter.
Less formal act of romance.
How does Maura Dooley show separation in ‘Letters from Yorkshire’?
“it’s you who sends me word of that other world” (the letters create a passage between worlds)
They have very different lifestyles, he’s “out there, in the cold” and she’s inside “feeding words onto a black screen”.
How does the narrator use pronouns in ‘Letters from Yorkshire’?
Starts with “he” then switches to “you” when she is speaking to him directly.
How is ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ not a typical love poem?
Dooley emphasises that this is “not romance, simply how things are”
The act of the two sharing their worlds with each other through their letters is an act of love.
“pouring air and light into an envelope” (magical + she needs it to survive)
How could you compare ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ to ‘Sonnet 29’?
Physical and mental states of a relationship and how they differ.
How could you compare ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ to ‘Winter Swans’?
The use of natural imagery in bringing two people together.
How does ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ relate to Maura Dooley’s life?
She lived in Yorkshire then moved to London.
“Is your life more real because you dig and sow?” (Uncertainty, questioning her choices)
