Originally Flashcards
“We came from our own country in a red room”
“Came” - past tense, shows it is a memory
“Our own” - highlights sense of ownership, use of letter “o”
“Red room” - alliteration/metaphor, red has connotations of anger, how she felt when being forced to leave. Room suggests she feels trapped.
“which fell through the fields, our mother singing our father’s name to the tune of the wheels”
“Fell” - things are happening out of her control
“Our mother singing our father’s name to the tune of the wheels” - mother is optimistic about the move which contrasts duffy’s emotions.
“my brothers cried, one of them bawling, home,”
“Bawling” - emphasises strong emotion and how upset the brothers are
“Home,home” - repetition emphasises the separation, misery and also reflects the childish habit of repeating oneself.
“home, as the miles rushed back to the city”
“As the miles rushed back to the city” - personification reflects her desire to run home and also shows the distance travelled
the street, the house, the vacant rooms where we don’t live anymore. I stared”
“The street, the house, the vacant rooms where we don’t live anymore” - list to convey how much she has left behind and specific details show her memories there.
“at the eyes of a blind toy, holding its paw.”
“Blind” - reflects her uncertainty as they head to the unknown
“Holding it’s paw” - its word choice of comfort and reassurance, emphasises her innocence
“All childhood is an emigration.”
“All childhood is an emigration” - metaphor; childhood is compared to major uprooting/ the different changes in life. And how children are not treated equally compared to adults, similar to how immigrants are treated in a new country.
“Some are slow, leaving you standing, resigned, up an avenue where no one you know stays. Others are sudden.”
“Some are slow, leaving you standing, resigned, up an avenue where no one you know stays. “ - elongated sentence structure shows slow stages throughout childhood.
“Your accent wrong. Corners which seem familiar leading to unimagined pebble dashes estates. Big boys.”
“Your accent wrong” - Short/minor sentence - accent acted as a barrier despite speaking the same language.
“Corners which seem familiar leading to unimagined pebble dashes estates.” - emphasis her confusion and feeling of not belonging, unfamiliar landscape and culture.
“Big boys” - aggression/intimidation/vulnerability.
“Eating worms and shouting words you don’t understand.”
“Shouting” - aggression/intimidation/vulnerability.
“Words you don’t understand” - Language barrier/ shows her youth.
“My parents’ anxiety stirred like a loose tooth in my head. I want our own country, I said.”
“My parents’ anxiety stirred like a loose tooth in my head.” - Simile of how her parents are worried about her.
“Loose tooth” - highlights constant irritant.
“I want our own country” - Repeats idea from opening line/emphasises idea of belonging.
“but then you forget, or don’t recall, or change,”
“You forget… change” - second person use of list shows the gradual change of the poet and slow acceptance of her new culture
“and, seeing your brother swallow a slug, feel only”
“Swallow a slug” - alliteration, her brother has fit in with the other boys/their new home which makes her feel even more isolated
“a skelf of shame. I remember my tongue”
“A skelf of shame” - use of scottish language shows she is still attached to her roots (“skelf” means small bit”)
“shedding it’s skin like a snake, my voice”
“Shedding… snake” - simile to convey the idea of change; leaving the old you behind
