Paper 2 quotes, analysis and themes

‘She liked it when he said “we” as though she really had a say in it’

Verbal irony through inclusive pronouns: Power imbalance, power structures —> benevolent language

Internal monologue: Isolation & alienation, struggles with identity

‘She belonged to this country now, this country of curiosities and crudities, this country…’

‘We are going back at the end of the school year. We are going back to Lagos. We are going back.’

1. Juxtaposition: Belonging

   Anaphora & juxtaposition: Reclamation of identity

2. Declarative tricolon of anaphora: Power imbalance, power structures

   Allusion to prev. quote: Power imbalance, power structures

‘Michael, I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’

‘For the book she would write called ‘Pacifying with Bullets’.’

1. Biblical allusion: Oppression from power structures, literary gatekeeping, traditional narratives —> Assimilation, imperialism, colonialism, dislocation

   Symbolism (baptism): Struggles with identity

2. Irony: Liberation, subversion of traditional narratives, reclamation of identity —> euphemistic language by colonial powers

   Metafiction: Power of literature, subversion of trad. narratives —> dissemination

‘Later, Chika will learn that, as she and the woman are speaking, Hausa Muslims are hacking down Igbo Christians with machetes, clubbing them with stones.’

‘The woman’s crying is private, as though she is carrying out a ritual that involves no one else.’

‘It will strike her that she cannot tell if the partially burned man is Igbo or Hausa, Christian or Muslim.’

1. Prolepsis: Moral burden

   Juxtaposition w/ gruesome imagery: Moral burden

2. Emotional imagery: Relationship

3. Grotesque imagery: Human cost of war

   Situational irony: Relationships

‘This is agenda writing, it isn’t a real story of real people.’

‘She wondered whether this ending, in a story, would be considered plausible.’

1. Repetition: Oppression from power structures (colonial), struggles with identity, stereotyping

   Binary opposition: Literary gatekeeping, oppression from power structures

2. Metafiction: Liberation, subversion of traditional narratives, power of literature

   Internal monologue: Reclamation —> Truth could be deemed less valid than fiction

‘I made quite sure he spotted me, sweet, sixteen, never been, babe, waif, and bought me a drink.’

‘He stood in a clearing, reading his verse in his wolfy drawl, a paperback in his hairy paw.’

1. Alliteration & assonance: Stereotyping

   Asyndeton: Struggles with identity

2. Allegorical figure: Oppression from power structures (patriarchal)

   Zoomorphism: Power imbalance in relationships, oppression from power structures —> vulturine

   Symbolism & zoomorphism: Literary gatekeeping

‘I took an axe to the wolf as he slept, one chop, scrotum to throat, and saw the glistening, virgin white of my grandmother’s bones.’

1. Metaphor: Liberation from power structures

   Gruesome/violent imagery: Subversion of traditional narratives, power balance in relationship, reclamation of identity

   Improved use of language: Power of literature

   Allusion to original fairytale: Subversion of traditional narratives, reclamation of identity

‘He brought me pearls and necklaces and rings, he called them ‘girly things’.’

‘He kissed my stone-cool lips. I lay still as though I’d died.’

1. Rhyme: Oppression from power structures (patriarchal), stereotyping

2. Irony: Struggles with identity, power imbalance in relationship

   Enjambment —> simile: Struggles with identity, power imbalance

‘So I changed tack. Grew warm, like candle wax. Kissed back.’

1. Volta: Liberation, reclamation, subversion, power balance in relationship

2. Simile is allusion: Juxtaposition: Liberation, reclaamation, subversion, power balance

‘Others are sudden. Your accent wrong. Corners, which seem familiar, leading to unimaginable, pebble-dashed estates.’

‘I remember my tongue shedding its skin like a snake, my voice in the classroom sounding just like the rest.’

1. Truncated sentences: Struggles with identity

   Direct address: Isolation & alienation, struggles with identity

   Juxtaposition: Expectation w/ reality: Isolation & alienation

2. Sibilance, simile, symbolism: Belonging, struggles with identity —> deceptive and unnatural

   Symbolism (tongue): Belonging, struggles with identity —> assimilation

‘In his darkroom he is finally alone with spools of suffering.’

‘A hundred agonies in black and white from which his editor will pick out 5 or 6 for Sundays Supplement.’

1. Paradox: Moral burden

   Metaphor & sibilance: Moral burden

2. Hyperbole: Oppression from power structures (media), literary gatekeeping

   Alliteration: Oppression from power structures

‘He stares impassively at where he earns his living and they do not care.’

‘The reader’s eyes prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.’'

1. Juxtaposition (his economic reality & moral apathy of others): Moral burden

   Diction: Oppression from power structures

2. Rhyme & alliteration: Limitations of the arts