Valentine

Question 1

Not a red rose or a satin heart

Answer 1

‘Not’ contrasts title, rejects tradition
Alliteration creates a nice sound
Sets tone
Introduces them of non traditional love

Question 2

I give you an onion

Answer 2

Short sentence, contrasts , humorous

Subverts tradition images of love

Question 3

It is a moon wrapped in brown paper

Answer 3

Lunar cycles alluded to

“Brown paper” simple, unpretentious wrapping with no intention of deceit

Question 4

It promises light

Answer 4

Optimism, hopefulness, expectation

Question 5

Like the careful undressing of love

Answer 5

Simile
Suggestion of affection
Tenderness and unwrapping
The physical act of love , just as the flesh of the onion is peeled

Question 6

Here….

Take it

Answer 6

Brevity and isolation of the phrases
Highlights the lack of sentimentality in narrators tone
Practical and forceful
Unromantic

Question 7

It will blind you with tears

Answer 7

Metaphor
Tears provoked by cutting onions
Symbolic of tears caused by pain / hurt of failed romance

Question 8

It will make your reflection/

A wobbling photo of grief

Answer 8

Transferred epithet
Transference of the emotion to the reflection
Suggestive of a love wrought, devastated individual gazing at her tear stained reflection somewhat self indulgently perhaps

Question 9

I am trying to be truthful

Answer 9

Centre of poem
Isolated in a single verse/ line
Creates a sense of narrator imploring her lover to have faith in her
Sees herself as more genuine than the fake lovers of the red rose

Question 10

Not a cute card or a kissogram

Answer 10

Paralitical (repeated) structure (not a red rose or a satin heart)
Emphasis on the negative reputation of ‘Not’
Highlights narrators disapproval of traditional gifts

Question 11

I give you an onion (2)

Answer 11

Repetition

Emphasises on sinple nature of the gift, the genuine sentiment of the narrator

Question 12

It’s fierce kiss

Answer 12

Stinging effect of onion on lips

Reflects a kiss which might be destructive, hurtful, physically painful

Question 13

Stay on your lips

Answer 13

Indicates lasting impact of a lovers kiss

Permanence of the emotional effect

Question 14

Possessive and faithful

Answer 14

Juxtaposition
Creates an apparent contrast but experience teaches us the two are not mutually exclusive
In a romantic relationship the lines are blurred
Fidelity and its demands can lead to a desire to own a lover

Question 15

Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring

Answer 15

Metaphor

Connotation of constriction, effect over time of a suffocating marriage, the ring tightens

Question 16

Lethal

Answer 16

Single word

Isolated, emphatic in her conviction that love is deadly

Question 17

Its scent will cling to your fingers

Answer 17

The smell (sent normally associated with perfume)
Permeates the skin and lingers long after the relationship has disintegrated.
The knife has connotations of cutting and violence