On Her Blindness- Poetry Flashcards
1
Q
“On Her Blindness”
A
- On Her Blindness
- Title of the poem.
- Third person pronoun “Her”
- Observation of events
- Secondary effects on others and primary effect observation on their mum.
2
Q
“My mother could not bear to be blind,
To be honest. One shouldn’t say it.”
A
- On Her Blindness
- Alliteration of plosives “Bear being blind”
- Can be life altering, incredibly different to those that are involved.
- Homophones. “Bear” “bare”
- Can suggest a vulnerability to his mum that she doesn’t let on. Vulnerability with everyone involved.
- Dual Narrative “To be honest. One shouldn’t say it”
- Honesty vs. preteces. Does to not feel vulnerable
3
Q
“Bear it like a Roman”
A
- On Her Blindness
- Simile
- Is tough, strong, keeps on going, even if doesn’t want to.
- Homophone
- “Bear” “Bare” contradicts the connotations of the Roma, can be vulnerable and weak at times.
4
Q
"”Whispered, ‘It’s living hell, to be honest, Adam’”
A
- On Her Blindness
- Speech/ Dialogue
- crates a personal tone to it, is building a character for the reader to latch on to.
5
Q
“Must have been the usual sop, Inadequate.”
A
- On Her Blindness
- Trying hard to help, but is unable to.
- Can’t do a lot, but is putting on pretences.
6
Q
“Bumping into walls like a dodgem”
A
- On Her Blindness
- Simile
- creating a comedic effect on it, trying hard to see the positives in it.
7
Q
“‘No built in compass’, as my father joked.”
A
- On Her Blindness.
- Seeing the positives in it, way of coping with the secondary effects.
8
Q
“Long, slow slide”
A
- On Her Blindness
- Alliteration of sibilance.
- Emphasises the continuity of it.
9
Q
“Vision as blank as stone”
A
- On Her Blindness
- Simile.
- Emphasis on her deterioration, comparing it with something every one could imagine.
10
Q
“She’d continue to drive the Lanchester long after it was safe.”
A
- On Her Blindness
- Trying to go back to habitual things, doing what she used to do.
11
Q
“She’d visit exhibitions, admire films, sink into television.”
A
- On Her Blindness
- List of three.
- What she used to do, her normality before sight loss, but unable to do when blind.
12
Q
“The autumn trees around the hospital ablaze with
colour”.
A
- On Her Blindness
- Positive thing tainted by negative experience
- trying to share something positive.
13
Q
“Believe she was watching, somewhere, in the end.”
A
- On Her Blindness.
- Optimistic compared to the rest of the poem.
- Separated from the rest of the poem.
- Could interpret as a kind of eulogy for her.
- “Watching”, Giving her the ability that she didn’t have in the end.
