Flashcards
For My Grandmother Knitting - Liz Lockhead
Cards in this deck (11)
- 1"For my Grandmother Knitting"Child's perspective
Child has to describe her, as grandmother cannot describe
'Knitting' Grandmother has pulled together her family like threads into a
tight-knit group - 2"no need they say, but the needles still move"Family patronising her
Feels useless, no longer needed
'they' shows distance and unimportance, as 'they' are not named, leads us to side with grandmother, and not 'they'
She ignores patronising comments,
defies them
Enjambment: She carries on
Can't stop knitting because she fears to become useless
Feels like knitting is the only way for her to be part of her children's world, so she is not alienated. - 3"Their rhythms in the working of your hands"'rhythm': She has been steady and continuous, and will be forever
'working': like clockwork of machinery:
she does not get tired, and completes her works to perfection like a machine
Her work is deeply engraved within her - 4"as easily as if your hands"Broken-up lines
At present times, things are broken up within her family - 5"sure and skillful hands of a fisher-girl"Knitting requires skill (intricate)
Grandchild recognises the hard work she puts into them, and raising the family
in general
'fisher-girl': Grandmother is doing manual work like she once did. Wants to feel useful - 6"master of your moments" "deft and swift" "still-ticking quick silver fish"Assonance and alliteration
Slides out of your mouth so deftly we can feel her skill on our lips - 72nd stanzaContinuous enjambment and lack of punctuation. Shows how woman didn't have the time to stop as she was
constantly working.
We (and everyone) don't have time to examine all the work she is doing
Very short lines: quickens pace - 8HandsExtended metaphor for grandmother's life:
Bride - Taking care of Husband - Caring for children - Painful
Represents aging - 9"Swollen-jointed. Red. Arthritic. Old"A lot of punctuation and stops (caesura)
She is old and can go on for less long: Uselessness she and other people view her
Despite the hard work, we all experience the cruelty of aging - 10"As if your hands remembered" "As if your hands had forgotten"Automatic actions, like a mother's instinct/ nature automatically guides her to provide for her children
Refuses/ has forgotten to get older, as she continues to knit - 11StructureChronological event which highlights transition to old age.
Use of the word 'they' throughout creates generation gap between her and
her children
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- Description
- Here are my notes on this poem. Good luck! =) * Some credit to azittoun for their amazing mindmap!
- Created by
- Diana Domingues
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