Originally

Question 1

We came from our own country in a red room

Answer 1

Use of personal pronouns reinforce the idea of this being a shared experience with her family.

The sense of belonging to Scotland is emphasised through her use of assonance.

‘own’ suggests possessiveness and so reveals a sense of pride in where she comes from and her desire to stay there.

‘red’ has connotations of anger and pain suggesting the journey away from her home is a traumatic and upsetting one.

‘red room / which fell through the fields’ is enjambment and a metaphor which could be interpreted as a childlike view of the train.

Question 2

which fell through the fields, our mother singing

Answer 2

Alliteration of ‘f’ sound suggests a loss of control as it increases the speed of the line and makes it feel almost like the words are tumbling over one another. Word choice of ‘fell’ captures her feeling of lack of control. ‘singing’ has connotations of happiness which contrasts with the brothers ‘bawling’

Question 3

our father’s name to the turn of the wheels.

Answer 3

Suggestions of nursery rhyme creates a playful, upbeat atmosphere. Tone changes when we see they are upset - generates sympathy for Duffy.

Question 4

My brothers cried, one of them bawling, Home,

Answer 4

Word choice of ‘bawling’ emphasises her memory of her brother’s distress and conveys the strength of the feeling. The repetition and enjambment of ‘home / home’ further emphasises her brother’s distress at leaving the safety and comfort of the place they came from. ‘home’ has connotations of identity, security, comfort and a feeling of belonging and so the repetition emphasises the loss of this.

Question 5

Home, as the miles rushed back to the city,

Answer 5

‘miles’ emphasises the distance travelled, fact that it was ‘rushed’ suggests that the memory was a moving blur and that the move is happening so fast that it is difficult for Duffy to adapt.

Question 6

the city, the street, the house, the vacant rooms

Answer 6

List emphasises her longing to return home by showing that they are quickly leaving it behind, the list narrows down, it starts off at ‘city’ and end at ‘vacant rooms’. It also conveys how much has been left behind.

Question 7

where we didn’t live any more. I stared

Answer 7

‘Stared’ contrasts to her brothers who vocalise their sadness

Question 8

at the eyes of a blind toy, holding its paw.

Answer 8

Word choice portrays her helplessness and a child’s tendency to be led blindly into change, it is symbolic of the situation they are in as they head into the unknown.

The loss of the power to imagine the toy as a friend suggests she’s been abruptly forced out of her childhood innocence as well as her country, she turns to the toy for comfort only to find that it has become an unresponsive object.

She seeks comfort from the blind toy/conveys her anxiety and contrasts her brother’s actions.

Question 9

All childhood is an emigration.

Answer 9

Literal homesickness for Scotland is also a metaphorical homesickness for the security of childhood. Highlights a universal sadness of growing up.

The metaphor sums up Duffy’s feeling about childhood – the changes you experience growing up is comparable to an epic journey. She considers the wider, more generic experience of childhood itself which is equated with changes and transitions that are often out of our control.

Question 10

Some are slow, leaving you standing, resigned, up an avenue

Answer 10

The commas force the reader to pause and lengthens the sentence which mirrors the ‘slow’ journey.
The use of the repeated letter ‘s’ further draws out and slows down the sentence. The image of being left standing alone suggests she is struggling to accept the change but has been forced to.

The long sentence/use of commas relates to the idea of change, alliteration and word choice further emphasise that some changes occur over time.

Question 11

Where no one you know stays. Others are sudden. Your accent wrong. Corners, which seem familiar,

Answer 11

Short, abrupt sentence of ‘others are sudden’ reflects immediate and forceful changes, and emphases contrast to the previous sentence which was long and slow.

The use of the word ‘wrong’ illustrates how she doesn’t feel like she belongs and exposes her inability to navigate her way in this new, unfamiliar place where even the people sound different, she doesn’t even have the comfort of sounding the same leaving her feeling out of place.

Question 12

leading to unimagined pebble-dashed estates, big boys

Answer 12

Contrast in word choice ‘seem familiar’ and ‘unimagined’ conveys her attempts to navigate her surroundings and the resulting sense of confusion and uncertainty she feels as she finds unfamiliar grounds which she does not expect.

Question 13

eating worms and shouting words you don’t understand.

Answer 13

The boys use a dialect which is foreign to her, ‘eating worms and shouting’ creates an aggressive impression. Childlike language and word choice suggests that she finds the boys intimidating.

Question 14

My parents’ anxiety stirred like a loose tooth

Answer 14

Simile tells us that her parents also found the move stressful. It is an irritant that is inside your head which cannot be ignored – whole family affected, could also suggest a manageable pain. A loose tooth is annoying and can play on one’s mind, in the same way her parents fears linger in the background and cause Duffy to feel fearful herself.

Question 15

in my head. I want our own country, I said.

Answer 15

Italics are used to emphasise the plea at the end which uses childlike language to make it more insistent. The act of growing up is a loss of ‘our own country’, a feeling of being at home both in the world and in oneself.

Question 16

But then you forget, or don’t recall, or change,

Answer 16

Word choice of ‘but’ illustrates a shift in direction - their identity is changing. List of similar words/ideas emphasise that this change is difficult define/pinpoint.

Question 17

and, seeing your brother swallow a slug, feel only

Answer 17

Alliteration emphasises that her brothers have integrated, and sibilance is used to create a soft sound to suggest that the idea is no longer as repulsive as it once was. The image links to the previous stanza where Duffy mentions the ‘big boys eating worms’ highlighting how her brothers now fit in.

Question 18

a skelf of shame. I remember my tongue

Answer 18

Use of Scots word for splinter illustrates that there is still a part of her which holds onto her dialect. There is an underlying feeling of shame on her part as she watches her brother forget their roots, the feeling is an irritant which is under her skin. She can never fully integrate, suggests her birthplace is still very much a part of her separating her from the rest.

Question 19

shedding its skin like a snake, my voice

Answer 19

Simile illustrates that she loses her dialect the way a snake shed its skin – an inevitable response to her environment (highlights the natural changes that occur as one grows up), she changes externally, but perhaps less internally.

Question 20

in the classroom sounding just like the rest. Do I only think

I lost a river, culture, speech, sense of first space

Answer 20

List emphasises all the things that Shes lost – but poses it as a question highlights uncertainty.

Question 21

and the right place? Now, Where do you come from?

Answer 21

Non-rhetorical question illustrates uncertainty about her own identity in general – even now, as an adult. It’s a common question strangers ask so she will regularly feel a sense of disconnection.

Question 22

strangers ask. Originally? And I hesitate.

Answer 22

Non-rhetorical question illustrates uncertainty about her own identity even now, as an adult. The final abrupt sentence emphases that she is still uncertain about where she belongs. Abrupt ending gives the impression that she is not on track to finding the answer to this question.