2545949
| Question | Answer |
| Basking Shark | Norman MacCaig |
| 'To stub an oar on a rock' | infinitive clause to create suspense and tension; suggests immovability of the object beneath |
| 'To have it rise with a slounge' | Neologism - amalgamation of 'slouch' and 'lounge' conveys the slow motion of the creature |
| 'that happened once (too often) to me' 'But not too often - though enough' | first suggests that it was an encounter that he did not wish to repeat second is a contradiction - implies that on reflection it was scary, but worthwhile |
| 'That roomsized monster with a matchbox brain' | exaggerated contrast - shark's physical size and brain size emphasised |
| 'He displaced more than water' | idea that the poet was metaphorically displaced by the encounter |
| 'He shoggled me centuries back - this decadent townee' | 'shoggled' - informal, not threatening; a throwback to prehistoric times - a glimpse of the early evolutionary stage of land animals from marine ones; 'decadent' suggests he has lost purpose in life by leaving the city / too immersed in hedonism |
| 'Swish up the dirt and, when it settles, a spring is all the clearer' | the dirt is the murky thought of how human have evolved into what they are now; analogy - the primeval slime which both the poet and shark were created from |
| 'So who's the monster?' | clear that the poet now feels as though the monster is now humanity and not the shark as he originally thought typical of MacCaig's metaphysical approach, the encounter has raised large philosophical questions about our ethics and place in the natural world. No easy answer mentioned; allows the reader to draw their own conclusions |
| Aunt Julia | Norman MacCaig |
| 'Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic very loud and very fast. I could not answer her - I could not understand her. | begins with warm, affectionate childhood memories establishes one of the main themes - frustration at barriers in communication tone is affectionate and emphasises that Julia is a dynamic, vigorous and forceful character |
| 'paddling with the treadle of the spinningwheel' | we see her engaged in her domestic life duties of spinning Harris tweed; long line accentuates the lengthiness of the process and creates a sense of movement and activity |
| 'marvellously out of the air' | conveys the illusion of the task of spinning |
| 'She was buckets and water flouncing into them. She was winds pouring wetly round house-ends. She was brown eggs, black skirts and a keeper of threepennybits in a teapot | employs personification comparing his aunt to the elements of the landscape, and the objects and garments that are most evocative to him; these metaphors use her as a symbol associated with the landscape, lifestyle and culture of Harris |
| 'She lay silenced in the absolute black of a sandy grave' | contrasts to the coziness of the 'absolute darkness' - conveys the frighteningly bleak void of death; contrasts to the other stanzas as she is no longer doing anything, compared to before when she was always busy |
| 'with a seagull's voice' | she has left such a strong impression that he can still imagine her welcoming him; metaphor used to connect Julia with the natural world |
| 'and getting angry, getting angry with so many questions unanswered' | the questions could be her questions in Gaelic, or his questions that he never got to ask, or the universal queries about the meaning and mysteries of life; repetition of 'angry' suggests that MacCaig is warning us to cherish culture in case it's lost forever; 'unanswered' - in a line on its own - emphasises poets frustration; is ambigious and could be interpreted in many ways |
Want to create your own Flashcards for free with GoConqr? Learn more.