Originally Flashcards
What are some of the key ideas in Originally?
The speaker explores their sense of isolation and confusion as a result of their family’s move to england. The speaker explores losing an environment that was familiar to her and describes her difficulty initially in adapting to this new and foreign environment to her. The key themes of the poem include change, Identity, and Childhood. The speaker compares childhood to a journey portraying how it is synonymous with change.
Lack of rhythm or rhyme in the poem reveals the unstructured and anxiety ridden life of the speaker in her move away from her home country.
“We came from our own country”
Word choice of “We” suggests a shared experience, the speaker alludes to how each and every one of us has undergone a major change in our lives, be it moving homes or otherwise.
“Our Own” use of assonance here emphasises the sense of belonging. Reflecting how the speaker is being taken to a location that she feels she does not belong in and how she is being taken away from her idealistic life into this unknown unfamiliar environment. This emphasises how much the speaker identified with her home country.
“In a red room which fell through fields”
The metaphor “fell through fields” portrays the childlike image of a car journey and lack of understanding of the situation or why her family are relocating. Whilst the word choice of “fell” emphasises that these things are far beyond the control of the speaker. Reflecting the speaker’s own feelings of anxiety in this moment as nothing that she says or does can change the outcome of these events. Perhaps portraying how hopeless the speaker feels in these moments highlighting the loss of identity that she has found in her home country.
symbolism of “red room” reflects perhaps the speaker’s own feelings of resent, anger and passion about leaving behind her home country and moving into this new alien environment
“Our mother singing our father’s name to the turn of the wheels”
This use of ambiguity suggests that something is wrong in the scene. The reader is now asking where the father is in this moment. Is he present? This conveys the unnerving atmosphere in the car at this moment. The word choice of “singing” eludes to the optimistic attitude of the speaker’s mother as they move down from Scotland she is not on edge as the speaker is and is attempting to alleviate the negative mood of her children being forced to move away from their home this contrasts with the negative mood of the speaker.
“The miles rushed back”
This use of personification emphasises the speakers sense of hopelessness and lack of control of the situation further as she realises that she is getting further and further away from her past life in Scotland.
“One of them bawling, Home,
Home”
The word choice of “bawling” conveys the strength of the emotions felt by her brothers. As they like her are annoyed by moving away from their home, and are perhaps scared of what is to come in their lives in this new and unfamiliar place.
Repetition and enjambment of “Home, Home” act to emphasise the misery of the speakers brothers with the move, and their longing to return to their normal lives again. This also reinforces the sense of misery and loss that the speaker clearly associated with this period in her life.
“I stared at the eyes of a blind toy”
This word choice of “stared” creates a contrast between the speaker’s actions and the actions of her brothers, as they are loud and vocal about their hatred of this change whereas the speaker is more quiet and reserved in this moment instead choosing to bottle these emotions up. The symbolism of “a blind toy” reflects how the speaker herself feels blind in this moment and unaware of what awaits her in this new place. This drives home the speaker’s feelings of anxiety towards this move away from her familiar life. Reflects how the entire family is heading into the unknown.
“All childhood is emigration”
Metaphor that compares the period of childhood in a person’s life to emigration reflecting how the speaker associates her childhood with change. This emphasises the key ideas of the poems that childhood is a series of changes and transitions that on many occasions are outwith of our own control.
“Others are sudden. Your accent wrong”
The use of short sentences here emphasises the sudden nature of these changes and the speed with which they occur highlighting how the speaker feels as if she lacked the necessary time to adapt to the changes that were happening in her life in these formative years
“Your accent wrong”
Word choice of “Wrong” emphasises how human communication is much more complex than simply speaking the same language. Highlighting the difficulty that the speaker had fitting in to the new environment. And how she was not accepted there initially because of where she came from.
“Corners which seemed familiar turning into unimagined pebble dashed estates”
The contrast between the speakers old life and the familiarity of her old home to the unpredictability of the new home emphasize the theme of confusion as the speaker feels as if they know the place however they are quickly reminded of how little they fit into this new environment.
“Big boys eating worms and shouting words you don’t understand”
Word choice of “shouting words you don’t understand” portrays the rough and aggressive nature of the new environment that the speaker has found herself in. This also depicts how alien the environment is to the speaker and her confusion as to what the boys are saying perhaps depicts how she does not fit into this environment well initially
“My parents anxiety stirred like a loose tooth in my head”
Simile comparing the anxieties of her parents to a loose tooth conveying ideas that her parents worries about the move are always present and noticeable in the back of the speaker’s mind however are never strong enough to provoke a strong reaction, only ever causing her mild discomfort and conveying how these feelings of anxiety of the entire family could no longer be ignored. Portraying the sense of uncertainty that was still present in the lives of the speaker and her family.
“I want our own country I said”
The word choice of “our own country” recalls earlier ideas in the poem about the speaker belonging to Scotland, and the country where she was raised. This acts as almost a childish lament conveying the speakers desperation to return back to her past life and move away from this unfamiliar and anxiety ridden new environment filled with uncertainty. Suggests ideas that this complain was commonplace in the household at the start of the move. As no member of the family felt as if they fit into the community.
“But then you forget, or don’t recall”
Word choice of “But” creates a conjugation in these lines suggesting that the speaker has had time to meditate on these past decisions. And has now had time to meditate on the inevitability of change in her life and indicates an abrupt change in her line of thought.
