2017 - Maggie O’Farrell ‘I Am, I Am, I Am’ memoir

Syntactic Parallelism/Anaphora

Syntactic parallelism and anaphora: 'There are obstacles. Other people stand in their way- other hearts, other minds, other situations' and 'she looked at his, he looked at hers.' Parallelism to emphasise their conundrum - 'unavoidable and yet unconscionable.'

Listing of Euphemisms

Listing of euphemisms - 'Kick the bucket. Carked it. End of the line. Lights out. Bitten the dust. Gone the way of all flesh.' - Light-hearted and flippant ways of referring to death.

Lexical Field of Injury

Lexical field of injury - 'a childhood scar on his abdomen,' with sexual undertones after this, especially with the truck incident. Scar could also be a metaphor for lasting wounds.

Consumption metaphor

Metaphor for consumption - 'bite him, like a peach.'

Childlike imagery

Childlike imagery - 'They have fallen in love instantly, dizzyingly.'

The dog

The dog acts as a euphemism for the couple's love for each other - 'when they walk on, the dog comes too... lopping back, diving between them, begging for sticks to be selected, tossed re-thrown.'

Vivid Description

Vividly describes the setting/moment to romanticise the memory - 'a cottage hospital?' and 'picture book style.'

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposes O'Farrell's uneasiness about the relationship - 'how can we? How can we not?'

Language of Anatomy

Language of anatomy to show her experience in the situation - 'to the muscle and bone nearest his heart.' Cemented by the title of the extract, 'Cranium.'

Structure

Chronological structure of events that are interjected with her reflective events.

Structure and internal thoughts

Sometimes the structured events fit into her internal thoughts through euphemisms and symbolism, e.g. 'The path is always winding.'

Attitude

O'Farrell clearly wants to be in the relationship, but is unsure about whether it is the right thing to do, and discusses this in her writing, often through euphemisms, such as that of the dog.

Context

The extract is written by Maggie O'Farrell as part of her memoir which described her various near death experiences. By this point, readers would have already read many different chapters and therefore would be used to the conventions of her writing.

Audience

The author targets those who want to read memoirs which are typically more about your interior thoughts than an autobiography would be. The primary audience is probably young adults who can relate to O'Farrell's experiences of love.

Purpose

To inform others on her experiences, and to reflect on them.

Mode

The piece is written. As a memoir doesn't need to follow a structured narrative, O'Farrell is able to skip time; she doesn't have to tell her stories chronologically, with a focus on how she felt about an event instead of the factual details.