Small Island: Identity/Roots Flashcards

1
Q

‘Me __________’

A

‘Me springadee’

  • Hortense uses nickname for the baby that her mother used to call her
  • Highlights existence of hybrid identities
  • Birth of the baby represents multicultural England
  • Represents new beginning where races can mix and integrate
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2
Q

‘There was a ______ of a ______ life for I’

A

‘There was a chance of a golden life for I’

  • Hortenses overinflated sense of superiority/inflated sense of self
  • Shadism towards own race
  • Disassociated sense of identity
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3
Q

‘Her skin was so dark’

‘The _________ of _____ _______’

A

‘Her skin was so dark’ (Celias complexion))

‘The colour of warm honey’ (Hortense’s complexion)

  • Shadism towards own race
  • Hortense directly compares her skin to Celias (highlights her sense of superiority)
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4
Q

‘No ________ person should ever ____ the _____________ of a _____’

A

‘No living person should ever see the underside of a tree’ (Hortense pp.55)

  • A persons true nature/roots should be concealed
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5
Q

‘_______ women whose ___________ __________ them like an ________’

A

‘White women whose superiority encircled them like an aureole’ (Hortense pp.69)

  • Aureole = halo, angelic associations with fair skin
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6
Q

‘______ chocolate ____’

A

‘Bitter chocolate hue’

  • Complexion of mother + grandmother
  • Negative/unpleasant associations of dark skin compared to lighter tones
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7
Q
A

‘you should learn to speak properly as the King of England does’

  • ‘proper’ mannerisms/speech associated with England
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8
Q
A
  • Hortense refers to: Wandsworth’s daffodils, Ode-keates, Romeo and Juliet
  • intertextuality
  • Overreach of British culture/language
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9
Q

‘You a __________. You _____ a ___________. You ____ a _____________’

A

‘You a Jamaican. You born a Jamaican. You die a Jamaican.’ (Elwood)

  • Perpetual ties to home country
  • Cannot escape cultural identity even in death
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10
Q

‘This is a ________ ________’

A

‘This is a small island’ (Gilbert)

  • Existence of Jamaica not sufficient enough for him
  • Lack of opportunity/advancement
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11
Q

‘_________ of rice’
‘___________ days when the __________ _____ ran out’

A

‘shortage of rice’
‘miserable days when the condensed milk ran out’
(Hortense)

  • Conditions of Jamaica post-WW2
  • Deprivation of resources
  • Push factors in Hortense’s immigration
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