SHOUNIK JOSHI 10TH FOREIGN – CAROL ANN

DUFFY
MIND MAP

POINT- THE NEED TO BELONG

Evidence- twenty years
Explanation- even after huge time span of twenty years the narrator
still doesn’t feel like that she belongs there
Exploration-brings out the emotional aspect of the character and
how far she is from the people. As there is no scheme which can
suggest the chaos to the readers also with equal number of lines
refers to the mundanity followed for good twenty years. Moreover
after living foe twenty years the person still finds the city ‘strange’
Evidence- foreign accent echo
Explanation- this shows that the poet still is integral with her original
accent and has not forget it yet after such long years and is
something which completes her persona
Exploration- even the smallest of the details keep on reminding her
that she still is a foreigner. The echoing nature suggests that the
incidents happening in their life hit back like a voice echoes and
makes her feel like she’s still a foreigner
Evidence- dark city
Explanation- the word dark may suggest the darkness, solemnness
and the agony inside the speaker
Exploration- such a technique not only emphasises the narrator’s
isolated and bland surroundings but also signifies the blind eye the
narrator turns towards the rather apathetic locals hence making it a
‘dark’ city for her

POINT- DICTION
Evidence- recites the letter
Explanation- rehearses the letter, this probably shows that she is
missing her native land and is rehearsing the letter in her head also
the yearning memories those tend to stay
Exploration- Once more there is a divide between the internal voice
and the external. They write in their native language and “recite” it
that way in their head, but outside of this context there is no time for
them to use it.one element that segregates her is that she thinks in
one language and speaks in another
Evidence-mother singing
Explanation- this brings in the theme of nostalgia as she remembers
the voice of her mither but refers to it as singing
Exploration- auditory imagery manages to evoke pity from the
readers as they are reminiscent of these jovial time in their lives
additionally, the narrator’s mother’s voice is what soothes her when
she feels trapped , while translating all her emotions into this city’s
dialect. Apparently the singing might be a source of strength to
battle this quarantined battle this twenty years.
Evidence- brick wall
Explanation- the speaker found her name written in red on a brick
wall, the brick wall can be a symbol of the stubbornness of the
society and its rigidness or sturdiness of the unchanging society and
something she is ‘against’ of
Exploration-As the readers imagine a name ‘sprayed in red’ on ‘a
brick wall’. They too feel the atrocities offered to a foreigner. The
imagery of the colour ‘red’ intensifies the hatred towards a foreigner.
It further suggests that the locals want to establish a metaphorical
‘wall’ , one which does not permit the foreigner’s thoughts or culture
to remain in the country . the sheer act of spraying her name shows
the lack of respect they hold for her persona.

POINT- SYNTAX
Evidence- ‘.Work.Sleep.’
Explanation- a very short reference the person’s routine and gives a
sense mundanity and the short sentences talk about the many things
but has a very diffused state of mind (scattered thoughts showcased
by cesura)
Exploration- as there are three full stops between ‘.Work.Sleep.’ it
makes the readers to stop and read it with more focus which lets
them relate with the agony the speaker is going through and that
desperate need of some companionship can be felt. As an evidence
the full stops were intentional pauses to bring in the upper case
letters once again portraying the magnitude of the pain… something
the writer did not wanted to convey in lower case letters

Evidence- second person ‘you’

Explanation- in many places the poet hints on the second person
‘you’ to present that she still does not belong there and creates an
environment where it lets the readers think that it’s someone else
pointing out the person in the poem and that ‘someone’ happens to
be the whole society of the ‘strange’ and ‘dark’ city
Exploration- even after long twenty years she still lacks the
acceptance This happens in tandem with “you” observing a
derogatory slur written on the wall in spray paint, further alienating
“you” from “your” place of residence. The poem ends with this
person wondering what it would be like to peacefully drift off to
sleep without wondering where and how they can belong.
Evidence- ‘,from time to time,’
Explanation- over here the narrator hints on something she
encounters constantly, might be the loneliness which is also one of
the most profound theme of the whole and the person emits a feel
of intensity throughout the poem
Exploration- this can also consist of the discrimination she feels time
to time and the constant citation of her outsider essence something
causing her distress. And again its between two commas which
makes the reader stop and read it with more focus. This also
suggests that the poet wants the reader to disburse more thought
into understanding her current state, just like when she asks readers
to cast themselves int the place of the main character when she
exclaims ‘imagine’. And when the person asks the readers to
understand her better, this shows her inadequacy for fellowship and
the lack of warmth also suggested by the word ‘night’ and ‘snow’