An Easy Passage by Julia Copus

key themes

  1. nostalgia for adolescence

  2. freedom

  3. concepts of personal identity

  4. shift from youth to adulthood

Key Quotes

‘the sharp drop of the stairwell; she must keep her mind on the friend’

falling into adulthood. up to interpretation as to how big the drop is. liminal - transition on edge

‘warm flank of the house’

The subject finds some safety in the zoomorphism of the 'warm flank of the house', 'warm' connotes a comforting, protective and almost maternal nature of the house.

‘flushed faced secretary who, with her head full of the evening class she plans to take’

Adults lose the impulsivity of being a teenager. emphasises a sense of youthful naivety and the inevitable transition into dull suburbia. The 'flush-faced' also carries connotations of embarrassment, a notion which is exaggerated sonically through the alliteration and hyphenation, quickening the pace which the phrase is read. There is a sense of unfulfillment associated with the secretary, a figure of adulthood, she is unable to commit to anything, instead 'she plans'.

‘dropping gracefully into the shade of the house’

shade is the reality of Adulthood. nothing she imagined. The poet's lexical choice of the adverb 'gracefully' has strong conventional associations with femininity, perhaps suggesting that there is an inevitable slip into heteronormativity with the coming of adulthood.

what to include in an essay

  • the lack of structure - recklessness of being a teenager

  • flow of consciousness

  • light imagery

  • on the edge of childhood

  • sees adulthood as heaven