Visiting Hour

Question 1

The hospital SMELL

COMBS MY NOSTRILS

Answer 1

• word choice of ‘COMBS’ has connotations of the
  hospital being harsh and uncomfortable + unpleasant to
  the nose to smell

Question 2

as they go BOBBING along

Answer 2

• word choice of ‘BOBBING’ suggests the people floating

and feeling disconnected

Question 3

GREEN and YELLOW corridors

Answer 3

• word choice of these colours has connotations of pus,

sick, urine + infection

Question 4

What seems a CORPSE

Answer 4

• word choice of ‘CORPSE’ has connotations of suffering
  and death
• emphasising death is on the poets mind

Question 5

is TRUNDLED into a lift

Answer 5

• word choice of ‘TRUNDLED’ has connotations of
  carelessness/being rushed
• (we don’t always treat death with the respect it
  deserves)

Question 6

and VANISHES

HEAVENWARD

Answer 6

• enjambement emphasises how someone can be gone

in just the blink of an eye

Question 7

I WILL NOT FEEL, I WILL NOT

FEEL

Answer 7

• repetition emphasises his emotions (mantra)

- enjambement shows his hesitation

Question 8

UNTIL

I HAVE TO.

Answer 8

• enjambement shows he’s trying to put it off

Question 9

Nurses walk LIGHTLY, SWIFTLY

Answer 9

• word choice has connotations of soft and feminine

Question 10

HERE AND UP AND DOWN AND THERE

Answer 10

• sentence structure becomes muddled + poet suggests

nurses have the capability to be helping everywhere

Question 11

their SLENDER waists

Answer 11

• word choice of ‘SLENDER’ has connotations of
  slim skinny or thin
• suggesting the nurses fragile, delicate + petite

Question 12

carrying their BURDEN

Answer 12

• juxtaposition contrasts with what they have to deal with
  everyday emotional ‘BURDEN’ and physical appearance
• word choice of ‘BURDEN’ has connotations of heavy +
  difficult

Question 13

SO much pain, SO

many deaths

Answer 13

• repetition of ‘SO’ emphasises the amount of ill people,
  deaths + sadness the nurses, family’s + friends
  have to go through

Question 14

SO many farewells

Answer 14

• repetition of ‘SO’ suggests the poet feels respect,
  grateful + amazed at what the nurses do
• he feels inferior to the nurses since he can’t cope with
  death + wishes he could

Question 15

WARD 7.

Answer 15

• caesura in numerical form stands out and shows poet is
  hesitating before going in doesn’t know what to expect
  + afraid

Question 16

WHITE CAVE OF FORGETFULNESS

Answer 16

• metaphor comparing the curtain around the bed to the
  woman being isolated
• describing her pain + how she’s not connected to her
  surroundings

Question 17

A WITHERED HAND

TREMBLES ON IT’S STALK

Answer 17

• metaphor comparing the woman’s hand to a beautiful,
  flower that is wilting + dying
• describing how ill and frail she is

Question 18

INTO AN ARM WASTED

OF COLOUR A GLASS FANG IS FIXED

Answer 18

• metaphor, the ‘FANG’ suggests the horror of the
  situation comparing the needle to a vampires fang
• alliteration emphasises the ‘F’ harsh sound + the
  monster, machine needle

Question 19

not GUZZLING but GIVING

Answer 19

• alliteration ‘GUZZLING’ shows the vampires need for
  blood + ‘GIVING’ shows the poet realises that the
  woman is actually getting something she needs

Question 20

And between her and me
distance shrinks till there is NONE LEFT
BUT THE DISTANCE of pain that neither SHE NOR I
CAN CROSS.

Answer 20

• enjambement shows the mental distance + the physical

closeness between them

Question 21

she smiles a little at this

BLACK FIGURE in her white cave

Answer 21

• shifts from first person to third person

- showing he disconnects himself

Question 22

who CLUMSILY rises

Answer 22

• word choice of ‘CLUMSILY’ has connotations of not

being in control, stumbling + awkwardly

Question 23

in the ROUND SWIMMING WAVES OF A BELL

Answer 23

• metaphor comparing himself + his emotions leaving at
  visiting hour, feeling like a drowning man swimming to
  shore
• synesthesia as the sound described as ‘round’ takes
  over + engulfs him, suggesting he can’t escape it

Question 24

growing FAINTER

Answer 24

• pun (two meanings)
• the woman is fading away as the poet leaves the
  hospital feeling faint

Question 25

BOOKS THAT WILL NOT BE READ

Answer 25

• paradox (contradiction) the books don’t have a purpose

Question 26

FRUITLESS FRUITS

Answer 26

• oxymoron, the fruit will rot as she isn’t able to eat it +
  therefore has no purpose