Which of these techniques does MacCaig NOT use in this poem?
A regular rhyme scheme
Free verse
Repetition
Why did MacCaig find it difficult to communicate with Julia?
She was deaf
He did not understand Gaelic
She could not read
MacCaig remembers his aunt using the spinning wheel. What fabric is associated with Harris?
Tweed
Jute
Cotton
In Stanza 3, the poet recalls lying in bed at his aunt’s house. Which of these words best describes how he felt?
Afraid
Lonely
Safe and secure
Which technique is used in the line She was buckets/and water flouncing into them?
She was buckets/and water flouncing into them
Alliteration
Simile
Metaphor
In Stanza 4, Julia is compared to elements like the wind and the rain. What does this convey about her character?
That she enjoyed the outdoors and rural lifestyle
That she wanted to move to a warmer climate
That she often became angry when the weather prevented her from working
What had happened to Aunt Julia by the time MacCaig learned a little Gaelic?
She has learned to speak English
She had moved to the mainland
She had died
By the time I had learned/a little, she lay/silenced Which technique is employed in these three lines?
By the time I had learned/a little, she lay/silenced
Enjambment
Caesura
Even after her death, the poet imagines his Aunt still getting angry. What could be the cause of her frustration?
getting angry
That she is still annoyed that the language barrier never allowed her to communicate fully with some of her family
That she is bitter because she never married
That she had a long running feud which was never resolved
Aunt Julia was a real person, but on a wider scale what else could she represent?
The dangers of global warming
A culture and way of life that is in danger of being lost
Loneliness and isolation