**“Not”** at the start of the line emphasises that she thinks traditional commercial gifts are **pointless and meaningless.**
**Makes the reader question the nature of love**
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3
**“I give you an onion”**
**Metaphor**
Blunt, weird gift, we wonder how it can be a thoughtful gift - introduces the extended metaphor
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4
**“It promises light like the careful undressing of love”**
**Simile**
Simile compares the onion to the moon which **suggests a new day is coming - new and exciting**
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**“Photo of grief”**
**Metaphor**
Compares how you see yourself to a photo of a grieving person - **suggests that the hurt of a relationship can change you forever**, and you are going to lose a part of yourself **- painful process like grief**
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**“It will blind you with tears like a lover”**
**Simile**
Backup quote
**suggests that love can be hurtful**
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7
**“Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips”**
**Oxymoron**
Shocks, kiss should be gentle, **word choice of fierce suggests pain, discomfort - Suggest that the relationship is painful and stressful**
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**“Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring”**
**Metaphor**
Compares the silvery rings of an onion to a platinum wedding ring - suggests that the relationship **could last forever - true commitment**
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9
“Lethal.”
**Word Choice**
Connotations of danger, pain, death - **suggests that you lose a part of yourself in a relationship - something you cannot forget.**
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10
MRS MIDAS 1
MRS MIDAS 1
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11
“We grew Fondante d’Autumne”
**Word Choice**
**Connotations of golden pear.** Makes them sound **posh** and full of themselves. She is very **pleased with her life.**
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12
**“sat in his palm like a lightbulb. On”.**
**Simile**
Compares the golden pear to a lightbulb because they are similar shapes and it has **turned to gold. Suggests her surprise and shock**
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13
**“Sat in his chair like a king on a burnished throne”**
**Metaphor**
**Compares his chair to a golden throne** because when he sait on it, it became golden - **suggests he thinks of himself as a king, pompous.**
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14
**“Spitting out the teeth of the rich”**
**Metaphor**
**Compares corn on the cob to teeth made out of gold.** Suggests **danger** because he is not able to eat anything as it turns to gold. Also shows his **greed** because he would be likely to show off his wealth.
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15
“**It feeds no one; aurum, soft, untarnishable; slakes no thirst”**
**Sentence Structure**
**The list suggests/emphasises how empty and pointless the gold is**
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16
**“I gazed, entranced”**
**Word choice - gazed : connotations of staring; entranced - connotations of fascinated, not understanding**.
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17
MRS MIDAS 2
MRS MIDAS 2
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“Those **halcyon** days”
**Word Choice**
**connotations of happy and calm**, comfortable times. Creates a nostalgic and **sad tone for what she has lost**. Shows the dire consequences of his greed.
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19
“His **honeyed** embrace”
**Word Choice**
Connotations of the **colour gold** like honey - you **expect it to be a happy, positive thing but it suggests the danger** of being touched by him.
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20
“**The woman who married the fool who wished for gold”**
**Enjambment**
**Emphasises “fool”** as the last word on the line and suggests that she feels foolish for falling for him - **shows her loneliness**
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21
“A beautiful lemon mistake”
**Word Choice**
**Connotations of a yellow colour**, links to the “golden trout” - **suggests that he cannot eat** anymore because it turns to metal - the unbelievable **foolishness** of his wish.
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22
“I miss most, even now, his warm hands on my skin, this touch”
**Repitition**
**Repetition - Repetition of “hands” to emphasise how she has lost everything -** the touch is such an important **human connection, warmth, comfort…**
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**Poem finishes on “his touch”**
She resents having lost the real, human touch and every connection with him when it was his **“Midas touch” which ruined everything**
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24
**ORIGINALLY**
**ORIGINALLY**
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25
“Fell through the fields”
**Metaphor**
Suggests the speed of the journey and the child’s point of view.
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26
“Bawling”
**Word Choice**
Connotations of crying very heavily - Suggests how traumatic the children found the move
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“Resigned”
**Word Choice**
Connotations of giving up and accepting a bad situation. Suggests loneliness and sadness
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28
“Big boys eating worms”
**Alliteration**
Alliteration emphasises how big and cruel the boys would have seemed to her. Suggests her anxiety and depression about being left out.
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“Swallow a slug”
**Alliteration**
Emphasises her change in her brother, links back to “big boys eating worms” - trying to adjust and fit in
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“My tongue shedding its skin like a snake”
**Simile**
Compares her loss of accent to how a snake loses its skin as it grows up - suggests she is adapting to her new situation
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31
**THE WAY MY MOTHER SPEAKS**
**THE WAY MY MOTHER SPEAKS**
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32
**“Under the shallows of my breath”**
**Word Choice**
Very fast, shallow breathing **suggests anxiety and panic.** She does not want to be overheard or stand out - **theme of isolation (**like in ‘Originally’)
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**“Restful shapes moving”**
**Oxymoron -**
Contrast shows the scenery flying past as she is sitting still, maybe feeling **helpless or confused**.
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**“Browsing for the right sky”**
**Word Choice**
Connotations of looking for something for a long time, no-hurry. **Suggests how slow and confusing the journey is, not sure what they were looking for - uncertainty**
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**“Nothing is silent. Nothing is not silent”**
**Contradiction -**
**Double negative shows her confusion and anxiety -** the thoughts which keep going round her head cannot be silenced.
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**“I am happy and sad”**
**Oxymoron**
**Contrast shows her mixed emotions -** Also scared about growing up but also excited about what adulthood brings.
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**“like a child who stood at the end of summer”**
**Simile**
Compares her journey to growing up. **End of summer is a metaphor for end of childhood innocence**; things become serious as you mature and carefree times are over. **Also an exciting time**.
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38
**“In a green, erotic pond”**
**Word Choice of ‘Green’ - Suggests innocence**
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39
“**In love with the way my mother speaks”**
**Enjambment**
**Shows her love for her Mum, the love and guidance from her mother but also with her Scottish roots and identity.**
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40
WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
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41
“finally alone”
**Word Choice**
Connotations of **peace to work,** process the experience
**Suggests a sense of isolation - nobody to help**
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“spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”
**Metaphor**
Suggests that the scenes witnessed by the War Photographer are chaotic and painful.
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43
“solutions slop in rays beneath his hands
**Alliteration**
Suggests that he is suffering from anxiety and the pain of dealing with the effects of what he has seen.
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44
“The feet of running children in a nightmare heat”
**Enjambment**
Nightmare - connotations of **horror** and the intensity of the children’s fear
Children - suggests **innocence,** so emphasises the **cruelty** of war which kills innocent bystanders.
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45
“A stranger’s features”
**Word choice**
Suggests **distance, disembodied features - shows dehumanising aspect of war and suffering**
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“He remembers the cries of this man’s wife”
**Word choice**
Suggests the raw grief and pain that this person experienced
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47
“A hundred agonies”
**Contrast**
Shows the extreme extent of **suffering and pain**
“agonies” has connotations of **extreme pain and anguish**
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“Readers eyeballs prick with tears”
**Word choice**
Connotations of **short, sharp pain**. Suggests that the emotion **does not last**.
“prick” also shows that the emotion does not last
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49
“and they do not care”
**Sentence Structure**
Short monosyllabic words create a strong sense of **pointlessness** and **finality** - **also suggests frustration, and emphasises the cruelty on humanity**
Studied by 4 people
Note 
Flashcard (47)