WorksheetsOriginally
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 20mins
The poem is probably inspired by...
Something Duffy's teacher said to her as a child
Duffy's family moving from Scotland to England as a child
A story Duffy read in a newspaper about migration
The real life experiences of refugees
Which Scots word in stanza three might indicate that the speaker still has links to their Scottish roots?
Culture
Skelf
Aye
Dreich
"Do I only think I lost a river, culture, speech, sense of first space and the right place?" This _____________ suggests the speaker is confused about what identity is made of.
complex sentence
rhetorical sentence
complex question
rhetorical question
Which short fragmented sentence suggests that the speaker has mixed feelings and uncertainty about their identity and origins?
And I hesitate
Where do you come from?
strangers ask
Originally
"My parents' anxiety stirred like a loose tooth
in my head." What does this simile suggest?
The need for the parents to see a dentist
An undiagnosed mental health problem
A nagging irritation that they don't fit in
A successful transition to a new home
Which phrase suggest that the speaker found it difficult to fit into their new school?
Others are sudden
Your accent wrong
Leaving you standing
My parent's anxiety
The repetition of which word uses repetition, caesura and enjambment to draw attention to the cries of the brothers who want to return to Scotland?
Paw
Home
Stared
Cried
Which hyperbolic verb in stanza one emphasises the loss of control amongst the brothers at being forced to leave home?
singing
bawling
cried
rushed
Which word at the start of Stanza Two moves the poem from a personal experience to one of universal significance?
All
Childhood
Some
Others
'As the (a) rushed back to the city'
'I (a) at the eyes of a blind toy, holding its paw'
'All childhood is an (a) .'
'Corners, which seem (a) , leading to unimagined pebble-dashed estates'
But then you forget, or don't recall, or (a) '
'feel only a (a) of shame'
'Originally? And I (a) '
'Fell through the fields'
Metaphor suggests speed, and lack of control'
'Miles rushed back to the city'
Personification - highlights the desire to return to their previous home
'Blind toy'
Personification - just as the toy cannot see, so too the poet unaware of what is happening to them
'bawling'
Word choice - emphasises the intensity of the upset felt by the children
'holding its paw'
Word choice - suggests a need for comfort, security and reassurance
'All childhood is an emigration'
Metaphor - compares the universal experience of growing up to change and transition
'my parent's anxiety stirred like a loose tooth'
Simile - suggests a constant irritation, worries about fitting in are ongoing.
'big boys'
Word choice - suggests fear and intimidation of the people in this new enviornment.
'corners, which seem familiar'
Word choice - suggests confusion and disorientation. Speaker struggles with the unfamilar new place
'I want our own country'
Word choice - emphasises a sense of belonging to Scotland and highlights scale of distress.
'my tongue shedding its skin like a snake'
Simile - suggests adaption to new life, growth, change and leaving old life behind.
'skelf of shame'
Word choice - use of Scots suggests connection to heritage but shame is now only small. Adapting.
'But then you forget'
Word choice - Use of conjunction signals a change of thought. Transition in time, reflective tone.
'just like the rest'
Word choice - connotations of similarity, suggesting acceptance and understanding.
'And I hesitate'
Word choice - connotations of uncertainty, indecision -the speaker is unsure about identity.
Which techniques are used to suggest the quantity of things lost by the speaker:
'Do I only think
I lost a river, culture, speech, sense of first space
and the right place?'
Enjambment
List
Contrast
Rhetorical Question
