Discuss how the experience of growing old is powerfully conveyed in one of the poems you have studied.
The poem ‘For My Grandmother knitting’, written by Liz Lochhead, is about a grandmother who is feeling left out by her family. The speaker, is the grandmother speaking in hindsight, she talks about her past life explaining to the reader why she feels ignored. She feels left out because of growing old and the family not understanding her. This poem conveys the experience of growing old by showing the separation the person feels, the physical effect and mental effect it has, the dislike they feel for growing old, the gap with the modern life and --------------------.
In ‘For My Grandmother Knitting’ Lochhead explores the experience of growing …show more content…
In the poem, stanza two talks about the grandmother past how she use to possess the skill to ‘slit a still-ticking quick silver fish.’ Lochhead uses a sibilance to create an image of dexterity and uses assonance to create an image of quickness which is very contrasting to the image of the grandmother. When the fish is described as ‘still-ticking’, a metaphor is used as the fish is not ticking such as a clock would do but is still alive making the process of slitting the more difficult, showing again her skill and speed. This could also suggest the time passing but as the grandmother has the fish in her hand she has time in control, as she becomes older she loses that firm grip she had on controlling time. We know that this part of the stanza is in that past as the next line ‘hard work it was too’, the voice is referring to her past life wishing she still had such skill as losing it just is proof of her becoming old. In addition throughout stanza three the word ‘hands’ are repeated to make the reader realise that the grandmother´s hands are her link to her past, how they were her source of income supporting her and her family. Now that she has grown old the grandmother can only find one use for her hands and that is
The poem ‘For My Grandmother knitting’, written by Liz Lochhead, is about a grandmother who is feeling left out by her family. The speaker, is the grandmother speaking in hindsight, she talks about her past life explaining to the reader why she feels ignored. She feels left out because of growing old and the family not understanding her. This poem conveys the experience of growing old by showing the separation the person feels, the physical effect and mental effect it has, the dislike they feel for growing old, the gap with the modern life and --------------------.
In ‘For My Grandmother Knitting’ Lochhead explores the experience of growing …show more content…
In the poem, stanza two talks about the grandmother past how she use to possess the skill to ‘slit a still-ticking quick silver fish.’ Lochhead uses a sibilance to create an image of dexterity and uses assonance to create an image of quickness which is very contrasting to the image of the grandmother. When the fish is described as ‘still-ticking’, a metaphor is used as the fish is not ticking such as a clock would do but is still alive making the process of slitting the more difficult, showing again her skill and speed. This could also suggest the time passing but as the grandmother has the fish in her hand she has time in control, as she becomes older she loses that firm grip she had on controlling time. We know that this part of the stanza is in that past as the next line ‘hard work it was too’, the voice is referring to her past life wishing she still had such skill as losing it just is proof of her becoming old. In addition throughout stanza three the word ‘hands’ are repeated to make the reader realise that the grandmother´s hands are her link to her past, how they were her source of income supporting her and her family. Now that she has grown old the grandmother can only find one use for her hands and that is