Storm on the Island

Question 1

**We are prepared: we build our houses squat,

Answer 1

Sense of community/in it together/strong, resolute
Immediately followed by adaptations they have had to make over time. Ravaged by storms

Question 2

Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate.

Answer 2

Listing: reinforces measures taken - man made. Way of life dictated by elements. It’s the best they can do but is it good enough?

Question 3

The wizened earth had never troubled us

Answer 3

Barren,hostile, inhospitable environment but at least you can’t lose what you’ve never had.
Personification of earth -

Question 4

With hay, so as you can see, there are no stacks

Answer 4

You can’t lose what you never had. Positive in the face of overwhelming negatives

dialogue with reader, conversational, bringing you in, youre watching it happen

Question 5

Or stooks that can be lost. Nor are there trees

Answer 5

How do they live/eat? insight into harsh island conditions even without the storm
theme of loneliness, solitude, nothing to share in storms brutal force, nothing to measure it against

Question 6

Which might prove company when it blows full

Answer 6

nothing to share in the storms rage, to deflect its ire
still unnamed, unknown, mystical, omnipresent and mystical. Everywhere and nowhere

Question 7

**Blast: you know what I mean **- leaves and branches

Answer 7

Enjambment - continuation of a sentence from one line to next. Reader carried swiftly to next line.
Plosive alliteration - blows/Blast - gives sense of violent aggression. Nature is attacking island. Also could resemble sound of bullets - onomatopoeia. Weather as a deadly weapon.
conversational again
…when it blows full
Blast: plosive alliteration - reflects aggressive violence of the wind, unseen yet omnipresent.
Stark, powerful, onomatopaeic, intensity, destructive force, impact bomb like terror, panic

Question 8

Can raise a chorus in a gale

Answer 8

noise to take mind off the storm

Question 9

So that you can listen to the thing you fear

Answer 9

better than the unknown. Trees give indication of strength, direction. Shifts focus away from self

Question 10

Forgetting that it pummels your house too.

Answer 10

vulnerable, supposed to be safe in your own home. Relentless, not stopping, upper hand, close quarters

Question 11

But there are no trees, no natural shelter.

Answer 11

Back to reality/present day/stop dreaming repetition of no, lifeless, barren, harsh. Working against humanity, no safe space outside. Must be endured from inside

Question 12

You might think that the sea is company,

Answer 12

people love being by the sea, sound of sea provides comfort but image is shattered

Question 13

Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs

Answer 13

Oxymoron
far away, usually fine, not an issue day to day

Question 14

But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits

Question 15

The very windows, spits like a tame cat

Answer 15

simile, unpredictable,volatile, uncontrolled
word choice - vicious, disrespectful, hostile, enemy
Mistaken belief they have tamed nature. Islanders have never owned the nature. Always more powerful, always has upper hand

Question 16

Turned savage. We just sit tight while wind dives

Answer 16

sit/dives/strafes - contrasting verbs
vulnerability/passivity in face of vast dynamic power of nature
Military Semantic field - bombarded, salvo, strafes

Question 17

And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo.

Answer 17

dives/strafes/bombarded - military associations. Under attack. Storm is an onslaught against humanity. Word choice brings to mind fighter jets swooping, bombing targets.
Space is a salvo - paradox/comparison. Havoc been wrought by unseen forces therefore how to harness and control. This thing is bigger than man.
Never ending battle, odds stacked against you (catholics in NI) Uneasy relationship with naturl (state) forces. Rug can be pulled. Feelings of viulnerability and fear in face of its power

Question 18

We are bombarded by the empty air.

Answer 18

Military imagery - implies constant, unforgiving, ruthless assault. Sense of defencelessness, weakness. Nature has the upper hand,authority. On its terms

Question 19

Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.

Answer 19

Reflective ending but ultimately bleak and pessimistic tone. In contrast to confident opening lines. ‘fear’ reveals the true unease and vulnerability felt
paradox revisited - biggest threat to islander’s safety is invisible (deep state). Intagible, can’t be tamed or fought against. Force of the state.
Oxymoron

Question 20

Central Concern - powerlessness and vulnerability of humanity against infinite, mysterious power of the naturla world/sate