1. Box Room
Liz Lochead

2. Summary
This poem is by the Scottish poet Liz Lochhead. It tells the story of a young woman (the speaker of the poem) visiting her boyfriend's childhood home to stay for the weekend. The speaker meets the boyfriend's mother, and after a perfunctory meeting, is shown to the small bedroom (box room) where she will be sleeping. It is the boyfriend's old childhood bedroom. The mother makes several barbed remarks which attempts to undermine the speaker'. It is clear that the mother is very protective of her son and does not approve of the speaker as his current girlfriend.

3. What you need to know… Imagery
Minor Sentences: sentences without a verb
Word Choice
Enjambment: Deliberately cutting off a line in the middle of a phrase to emphasise a word at the beginning or end of a line.
Parenthesis: A pair of brackets.
Direct Speech
Imagery

4. Rhyming scheme
Repetition
Questions
Personification
Pun / Word play
Symbolism

5. Oxymoron
Ambiguous or double meanings

6. Minor Sentences
“First the welcoming. Smiles all round. A space for handshakes.”
These minor sentences sound awkward and forced. This reflects the awkwardness as the two women greet each other.
They almost sound like stage directions which suggests the two women are simply acting out the roles they know they should play, but actually dislike one another.

7. Word Choice “Friend” : “pathetic / shrine”
The capital F suggests that the mother has chosen this word carefully – she sees the speaker as only a friend, not a girlfriend. She makes this attitude clear through what she says.
“pathetic / shrine”
A shrine is a holy place of worship, usually for a saint or god. The word suggests the mother clings to her son as if she worships him. The speaker’s disgust at this is conveyed by the word “pathetic” which is a slamming condemnation of the mother.

8. Word Choice “self-defence”
By describing her laugh as self-defence, the speaker shows that she is aware of the conflict between herself and the mother; she is ready to battle the mother to keep hold of her boyfriend.
“you grin gilt-edged from long discarded selves”
“gilt-edged” means the pictures are in frames of gold. This hints at how the mother has turned the room into a “shrine” for the son, idolising him. However, he has changed over time as these photos are of “selves” that he has left behind.

9. Word Choice “closeted so – its dark”
Conveys a sense of claustrophobia and darkness. The room is literally small, but it also suggests the speaker feels trapped in her relationship.

10. Enjambment “A space / for handshakes” “my position / is precarious”
“Space” is emphasised at the end of the first line, suggesting that although the women are shaking hands, there is a ‘distance’ between them. This space is physically represented on the page by the gap between the end of this line and the start of the next.
“my position / is precarious”
Placing “position” at the end of the line imitates on the page how precarious the girl feels about her situation (in the relationship.) She feels like she is ‘on the edge’.

11. Parenthesis (Oh, with concern for my comfort)
This is almost like an aside – a comment being made to the reader by the speaker. Here, we sense irony – the girlfriend suggests the mother doesn’t care at all about her comfort.
(But where do I fit into the picture?)
These brackets contain a rhetorical question the speaker is asking of herself. She has been prompted by the pictures on the wall, but is actually questioning her place in her boyfriend’s life.

12. Direct Speech “…This room was always his – when he comes home
It’s here for him. Unless of course’ she said,
‘He brings a Friend.’ She smiled ‘ I hope the bed
Is soft enough? He’ll make do tonight
In the lounge on a put-u-up. All right
For a night or two. Once or twice before
He’s slept there. It’ll all be find I’m sure – ”
The speaker quotes the mothers words directly. By doing this, she makes the reader consider the mother’s words carefully. We detect the mother’s sarcasm and subtle digs and hints. (“make do” “a night or two” “once or twice before” etc..)Quoting the mother directly perhaps also suggests the speaker is mocking the mother. Her dislike is very clear.

13. Imagery (Metaphor) “her pathetic shrine to your lost boyhood”
The speaker calls the boxroom a shrine. She is suggesting that the mother has deliberately kept memories of the boy’s childhood alive, by devoting herself to keeping the room exactly the same as it was.
“She must think she can brush off time with dust.”
Here the speaker suggests that dust represents time and that by dusting the room and keeping it clean, the mother is trying to stop the passage of time – trying to cling to her son’s childhood.

14. Imagery
“Your bookshelves are crowded with previous prizes, a selection of plots grown thin.”
Physical books are compared with the boyfriend’s past relationships – relationships which have ended. “Crowded” suggests he has had a lot of previous girlfriends. “Grown thin” suggests they ended because he became bored with them, like someone becoming bored by reading the same story over and over again.

15. 2nd verse
Explain how the speaker is feeling in this section. Does she still feel secure in her relationship?
What is the change in tone?
Identify two rhetorical questions. What effect do they create?
Identify personification. Explain the image.
Think about the word “shatters”. What is the significance of this word?

16. First the welcoming. Smiles all round. A space
For handshakes. Then she put me in my place –
(Oh, with concern for my comfort).

17. ……………………………‘This room
Was always his – when he comes home
It’s here for him. Unless of course,’ she said,
‘He brings a Friend.’ She smiled ‘I hope the bed
Is soft enough? He’ll make do tonight
In the lounge on the put-u-up. All right

18. For a night or two. Once or twice before
He’s slept there. It’ll all be fine I’m sure –
Next door if you want to wash your face.’
Leaving me ‘peace to unpack’ she goes.

19. ……………………….My weekend case
(Lightweight, glossy, made of some synthetic
Miracle) and I are left alone in her pathetic
Shrine to your lost boyhood. She must
Think she can brush off time with dust
From model aeroplanes. I laugh it off in self defence.
Who have come for a weekend to state my permanence.

20. Peace to unpack – but I found none
In this spare room which once contained you. (Dun-
Coloured walls, one small window which used to frame
Your old horizons). What can I blame
For my unrest, insomnia?

21. ……………………….Persistent fear
Elbows me, embedded deeply here
In an outgrown bed (Narrow, but no narrower
Than the single bed we sometimes share).
On every side you grin gilt edged from long-discarded selves
(But where do I fit into the picture?)

22. …………………………………Your bookshelves
Are crowded with previous prizes, a selection
Of plots grown thin. Your egg collection
Shatters me – that now you have no interest
In. (You just took one from each, you never wrecked a nest,
You said).

23. Invited guest among abandoned objects, my position
Is precarious, closeted so – it’s dark, your past a premonition
I can’t close my eyes to, I shiver despite
The electric blanket and the deceptive mildness of the night.

24. Thinking about Character
Task:
Draw a three ringed Venn Diagram. Label each ring for each character: Speaker, Mother, Boyfriend

25. Thinking about Character
Task:
Write out any parts of the poem which tell you something about the character in the appropriate ring. Explain in a few words what this tells you.
Are there any overlaps? Write these into the crossing sections of the diagram.

27. Point (what I will show in this paragraph)
Evidence (quote from the poem)
Explain (explain how this proves my point, unpack any techniques, and give a personal reaction to theme)
Link back to question (show how this answers the question) ©

28. Writing about Character
Task: To write a mini essay (3 paragraphs) about each of the 3 characters and their role in the poem.
S: The speaker / mother / boyfriend is…..
Q: We know this because “……..”
U: Demonstrate that you understand the quotation.
A: Analyse techniques used in the quotation. Use technical vocabulary to show how the reader is made aware of this aspect of character. Mention the reader’s response / reaction.

29. Writing about Character
Task: To write a mini essay (3 paragraphs) about each of the 3 characters and their role in the poem.
P: The speaker / mother / boyfriend is…..
E: We know this because “……..”
E: Demonstrate that you understand the quotation. Analyse techniques used in the quotation. Use technical vocabulary to show how the reader is made aware of this aspect of character. Mention the reader’s response / reaction.
L: Link back to the question. What does it tell you about their role in the poem?

30. Character Peer Assessment Is there a clear opening statement (P)?
Does the quotation link to the statement?
Is there a clear analysis, demonstrating understanding of the quotation?
Have they used technical language in their analysis?
Is there a link to the question?

31. Theme
Past Motherly love Love Childhood Loneliness Doubt Sleep Jealousy Ambiguity
Write an explanation, including quotations, about how each of these words fits into the poem.
See if you can add to the list.

32. Tone
Write about a poem which features a contrast or variety of different tones.
Show what techniques the writer uses to create these tones and go on to explain how they give you a clearer understanding of the poem’s subject.

33. Stanza 1 – tone of defiance / aggressiveness / sarcasm
Quote
Points for Evaluation
(Oh with concern for my comfort)
Sarcasm created by the aside in brackets.
Pathetic Shrine
Connotations of ‘pathetic’
Connotations of ‘shrine’
She must think she can brush off time with dust from model aeroplanes
Metaphor – time& dust
Accusatory tone: repetition of “she”
Illustrates the mother’s relationship with the son.
I laugh it off in self-defence.
Connotations of “self-defence” suggest a battle between the women.
“Laugh” shows speaker’s attitude.
Who have come for a weekend to state my permanence
Emphasis of being last line of stanza 1, reflects how defiant and strong the speaker feels.
“Permanence” – demonstrates speaker’s intentions.

34. Essay Writing: Introductions
Text
Author
Genre
Link to Question
Summary

35. Analysis: Step One Identify the Technique
NAME THE TECHNIQUE BEING USED
EXPLAIN WHAT IS BEING DESCRIBED
When talking about ________ Lochhead uses [name technique]……
When describing ____________ Lochhead employs a [name technique]
In lines ______ Lochhead uses [name technique] when describing _______________
The use of [name technique] helps give the reader an impression of ____________
Using [name technique] in lines ________ helps give the reader a picture of _________
The poet describes ____________________ in line ________ using [name technique]

36. Step Two: Explain how the technique works
Word Choice – give connotations
Imagery (similes & metaphors) – identify the 2 things being compared
Personification – explain what is being personified
Enjambment – explain what word is emphasised and where it is
Parenthesis – explain what words are in parenthesis and why
Ambiguous meaning – what are the two possible meanings?

37. Step Three: Explain the effect
EXPLAIN WHY THE TECHNIQUE IS USED
WHAT DOES IT TELL THE READER ABOUT THE THING BEING DESCRIBED?
REITERATE HOW IT RELATES TO THE QUESTION?
E.G.
What does it tell us about the characters in the poem?
What does it add to the reader’s understanding of the whole situation?
What does it make the reader think about?
What does it tell us about the poet’s message?
How does it relate to Lochhead’s theme?
How does it make you feel?

38. Useful Evaluative Phrases:
Shows
Suggests
Hints
Indicates
Demonstrates
Implies
Gives the impression of/that...
Illustrates
Evokes
Conjures up the idea of...
Creates a feeling of...
Brings to mind...

39. Box Room’ by Liz Lochhead is a poem which describes the encounter between a girl (speaker) and her boyfriend’s mother when she visits to stay for the weekend. The girlfriend spends time in the ‘box room’ of the title (the boyfriend’s old bedroom). The poem describes her encounter with the boyfriend’s mother, as well as her observations when in the room. Through its first-person account of the girl’s stay, the poem suggests that her surroundings affect her deeply, undermining the confidence she had about her relationship and reducing her to doubt. The ending suggests that the girl realises her boyfriend is not who she thought he was, and that the relationship cannot continue.
There are two clear tones present in the poem. The defiant, assertive tone of the first stanza presents the speaker’s strong attitude when in conflict with the mother. However, there is a shift in the second stanza to a more doubtful, uncertain tone when the speaker begins to question her relationship. These two different tones are created through a number of techniques, including: the use of parenthesis, word choice, metaphor, oxymoron, questions and syntax.

40. Later in stanza two, the doubtful tone which is now well established, is furthered by the description of the “abandoned objects” in the room. Seemingly innocuous childhood items begin to take on deeper significances for the speaker as she considers her relationship. She is left feeling like her relationship is hanging in the balance. This is emphasised through her use of enjambment in line 33.

41. Q
The phrase “my position / is precarious” is split between the two lines so that the word “position” is at the end of the line.

42. U+A+T
Although she is literally talking about her position: being in the box room, the clever use of the line break conveys a different idea too. Placing the word “position” at the end of the line literally puts it in a ‘precarious’ place on the page – hanging off the end of the line. This reflects what it describes; it mirrors how the girl feels her place in the relationship is uncertain and could be about to end. This adds to the tone of the stanza, emphasising the uncertainty and instability the poet clearly feels. Not only does her stay in the box room make her feel uncomfortable in the boyfriend’s house, it also makes her feel uncomfortable in the relationship.

43. Conclusions
Once you’ve completed the main body of your essay, write a conclusion summing up your response.
Recap on the techniques you have mentioned and link back to the question once more.

44. Conclusion
While this poem appears to be a straightforward description of an insignificant experience, it is made clear that the events described have had a major impact on the speaker.
Overall I feel … … towards the girl / mother because…
Through her use of [list the techniques you have mentioned] Lochhead creates a dramatic and unsettling picture of a relationship breaking down. The message of the poem is clearly that someone’s background and past are an important part of their character, and that the past can affect the present in many ways. In the opening stanza the reader sides with the speaker, admiring her strength of character and wit when in conflict with the mother. By the end of the poem, our sympathy has been cemented as we fully appreciate the speaker’s vulnerabilities exposed in the equivocatory second stanza. It is largely Lochhead’s skilful use of the two contrasting tones which achieve this effect.