Originally Flashcards
“our own”
Assonance. Reinforces her sense of belonging to and owning her previous home.
“in a red room”
Red symbolises fury.
“fell”
Word choice. Suggests speed/running towards her new life but also the lack of control that she is feeling.
“singing”
Word choice. Happiness of her mother contrasts her children’s emotions.
“bawling”
Word choice. Suggests extreme distress, loud crying and very upset.
“Home, Home”
Helps to emphasise their strength of feeling. Also suggests that the brothers are missing home.
“as the miles rushed back to the city”
Personification. Shows her own desires to go back home, to where she knows and is known. Emphasises the growing distance between her and what is familiar to her.
“the street, the house, the vacant rooms”
Listing. Heading home back to her room. Conveys how much she has given up and what she is missing.
“where we didn’t live anymore”
Blunt statement. Explains reason for their upset and what they have lost.
“stared”
Word Choice. Unlike her brothers, she is silent and in shock. She seems unable to express herself.
“a blind toy”
She’s projecting her own fears of the future onto the toy by personifying it- she cannot see what will happen in the future and feels like she’s venturing into the unknown.
“paw”
Word choice. She is looking for comfort and reassurance. Shows her anxiety and also how young she is.
“All childhood is an emigration”
The metaphor sums up all the key ideas within the poem and links the literal and metaphorical journeys.
“Some are slow, leaving you standing,”
Elongated, drawn out phrasing of these first 3 lines emphasises the slow stages of childhood. This is further emphasises by the word choice of ‘standing’, which suggest waiting and a lack of motion.
“resigned”
Word choice. Suggests unhappy acceptance of change.
“where no one you know stays.”
Language suggests isolation and loneliness.
“Others are sudden.”
Short, abrupt sentence- emphasises the sudden nature of this change.
“Your accent wrong.”
Shows how easily identifiable she is as being different or an outsider. She’s not just different, she’s wrong.
“leading to unimagined”
Her sense of confusion and not belonging is developed here. Her surroundings may feel familiar, but she cannot identify the area itself. She is struggling to navigate and negotiate her surroundings.
“eating worms”
Strange and unusual behaviour, highlights the sense of isolation and difference.
“words you don’t understand”
Language is a barrier to her sense of belonging. Slang and the words used are a barrier to her joining in.
“in my head.”
Simile. Initial optimism of mum has gone. Simile shows that she is aware of her parents’ anxiety and fears. It is like a nagging sensation that is always there.
“I want our own country”
Reference to the first line in the poem. Shows that these feelings last a long time. There is a simple request, full of longing, that reminds us of how young she was when she moved.
“seeing your brother swallow a slug”
Brother has became like them- he has assimilated.
“skelf of shame.”
She doesn’t feel the same shame she used to towards adjusting to her surroundings.
“skin like a snake”
Gaining a new accent, shedding her Scottish identity. Just as a snake sheds its skin to survive, Duffy must discard her identity to survive.
“sounding just like the rest.”
She has became just like the rest.
“Originally? And I hesitate.”
Shows narrator doesn’t know where she belongs. What is her identity and what has she lost?
