Poetic Techniques Flashcards
Example of enjambment in ‘Box Room’
“A space/for handshakes”
“What can I blame/for my unrest, insomnia?”
Example of a minor sentence in ‘Box Room’
“First the welcoming. Smiles all around”
Example of repetition in ‘Box Room’
"”Peace to unpack” but I found none”
Example of questions in the ‘Box Room’
“What can I blame for my unrest, insomnia?”
“But where do I fit into the picture?”
Example of personification in ‘Box Room’
“Persistent fear elbows me”
Describe the rhyming scheme in ‘Box Room’
Whole poem is written in rhyming couplets expect
“In an outgrown bed (Narrow, but no narrower/than the single bed we sometimes share)” - ironically the lines which describe the most intimate moments don’t rhyme, showing the relationship is already cracked or flawed
Example of an oxymoron in ‘Box Room’
“Your past a premonition”
Premonition - glimpse of the future.
Suggests that the speaker sees the objects in the room as clues to the boyfriend’s past. Gives the speaker a “premonition” of the future - imagines that she is soon to be an ‘ex’ too
Example of symbolism in ‘Box Room’
“Your egg collection…you never wrecked a nest you said”
Girl thinks that the boy wrecked nests by seducing other women and taking them away from their families. The fact that the boy doesn’t care about the egg collection anymore upsets the speaker. It also could mean that the mother is worried that the boy will wreck her nest by leaving his mother and taking the speaker with him
Example of a pun/ play on word in ‘Box Room’
“Your egg collection shatters me”
Examples of ambiguous or double meanings in ‘Box Room’
“One small window which used to frame your old horizons” - literally the window and the boys life, ideas, opinions and experiences were restricted and limited.
“My position is precarious” - feeling unwelcome and her role is uncertain
“I shiver despite…deceptive mildness of the night”
“Previous prizes”
“Then she put me in my place”
Example of imagery (metaphor) in ‘Box Room’
“Her pathetic shrine to your lost boyhood”
“She must think she can brush off time with dust from model aeroplanes”
“Your bookshelves are crowded with previous prizes, a selection of plots grown thin”
Example of direct speech in ‘Box Room’
Whole of the mothers speech
The girl is quoting everything that the mother says which could suggest that she is mocking her, her dislike is very clear
Example of word choice in ‘Box Room’
“Friend”
“Pathetic shrine”
“Self-defence”
