originally Flashcards
“red room”
“red” suggests anger and danger. “room” - imagery reminds us of home and a missing sense of belonging now that she is travelling on a train
“home, home”
enjambment, repetition and italics emphasise the source of the problem, has connotations of security and identity
“the street, the house, the vacant rooms”
list emphasises scale and variety of what they have lost, has feelings of loss and hurt and a loss of her identity
“where we didn’t live anymore”
struggling to accept the loss and is really upset - can’t call it home
“I stared at the eyes of a blind toy”
“stared” suggests intense emotion - struggling to express emotion and is in a daze, “blind toy” makes the reader uncomfortable because it is unaware of the changes and cannot bring Duffy comfort
“all childhood is an emigration”
imagery - emigration is a life changing event and so is changing from a child to an adolescent
“your accent wrong”
short sentence emphasises the change in the way people speak, “wrong” emphasises judgement and her feeling out of place and awkward
“corners, which seem familiar”
“corners” connotations of being trapped and suggest venerability, “seem familiar” emphasises uncertainty
“big boys eating worms”
“big boys” childish term as she is intimidated, repetition of “b” makes a plosive sound emphasising she is intimidated
“my parents’ anxiety stirred like a loose tooth”
imagery - “loose tooth” is annoying and bothersome, its always there and you want it gone, “parents anxiety” suggest that they are worried about their daughter
“feel only a skelf of shame”
highlights how normal she feels in English society now, “skelf” is Scottish which suggests she hasn’t completely forgotten her roots which highlights search for identity, “skelf” means splinter which suggests she feels a small amount of shame
“I remember my tongue shedding its skin like a snake”
simile is effective as it suggests the natural changes that happen as one grows up, imagery emphasises Duffy changing from a child to adolescent
“and I hesitate”
minor sentence suggests it is not an easy question to answer, inevitable question suggests it is difficult to find a sense of belonging
