Originally Flashcards
“We came from our own country”
Word Choice
The poem has been written in the past tense, suggests Duffy is recalling her personal experiences. The speaker at this time feels as if she belongs only in Scotland.
“red room”
Metaphor
Speaker is angry about the move, feels as if she has been forced to leave home without a say in the matter.
“fell through the fields,”
Word Choice
Alliteration indicates that Duffy feels that at the time the move was so sudden and she felt as if she had a lack of control of what was happening.
“Home, Home,”
Repetition
The children are unsettled about the move and clearly desperate about not wanting to move to an unfamiliar country.
“the street, the house, the vacant rooms”
List
Duffy feared moving further away from home, she kept thinking about the amount of things which was left behind, all she had left was the memories.
“eyes of a blind toy, holding its paw.”
Word Choice
The speaker doesn’t know where she is going, she is only a child so seeks comfort from her toys, highlighting how uncertain and scared she was during the move.
“All childhood is an emigration.”
Metaphor
Duffy describes childhood as a stage in everyones life in which they have no say in the things which they experience, her move is like she transitions into adulthood.
“Some are slow, leaving you standing, resigned, up an avenue where no one you know stays.”
Long Sentence
Long, drawn out sentence refers to the slow change in Duffy’s life which was her childhood, indicating that Duffy didn’t enjoy life as a child as it was too long and she wanted it to be over.
“Others are sudden. Your accent wrong.”
Short Sentences
These two sentences highlight the abrupt change in Duffy’s life when she moved, she was shocked at how different little things such as an accent would impact her life.
“big boys eating worms”
Alliteration/Word Choice
Plosive ‘B’ sounds suggests that Duffy found the people intimidating, she found these new people more of a threat to her increasing her fear of moving home.
“My parents’ anxiety stirred like a loose tooth”
Simile
Her parents were constantly stressed/worried about the children and the move, everyone in the family felt irritated and out of place when they first moved.
“I want our own country,”
Repetition
Repeat of ‘our own country” from the beginning of the poem infers that Duffy still has not adjusted to the move, Scotland is still her home hence she still feels unsettled.
“But”
Sentence Structure/Inversion
Starting the stanza with ‘But’ suggests there has been a change in the speakers life.
“you forget, or don’t recall, or change,”
List
Duffy reflects on her own childhood, though the memories are somewhat unclear to emphasise how much she has changed since then.
“swallow a slug,”
Alliteration
Duffy draws attention to how her brother has settled/fits in now as if he was originally from England as he is the same from the people born there.
