The Wedding Iain Crichton Smith

Features to Revise: Characterisation Setting Language Key incident(s) Climax / turning point Plot Structure Narrative Technique Theme Ideas Description

Characterisation The narrator – feels uncomfortable (ill-fitting suit). The groom – confident / stylish. The bride – somnambulant, fixed smile didnt speak. The Father – uncomfortable. The Mother – shy / nervous. Highland girls at the wedding (outfits / looked at ease and fresh and gay).

Setting Reference to Cortina City setting with references made to islands as home. Staid atmosphere in the church v. sunshine outside. References to traditions of home (the islands).

Language...an exercise in pre-marital warfare, a primitive pre-marital battle. WORD CHOICE Description of the bride as being somnambulant. IMAGERY Father twisting his neck...chafed by his collar. IMAGERY / DESCRIPTION Large reddish hands stuck out of his white cuffs CONTRAST Gaelic telegrams made wedding more authentic and false PARADOX Sharp-witted, city-bred waitresses ALLITERATION

Language cont. Imprisoning collar METAPHOR Use of CONTRAST (then and now / here and there) in Fathers speech. a murmur of conversation which rose in volume as if to drown the memory of the speech SIMILE Comparing the brides dress to a shroud SIMILE Hes never ploughed any ground, I think METAPHOR Reference to how the father blossomed METAPHOR Father was more at home than the audience at end of poem PARADOX

Key incident(s) The wedding ceremony (division in the church / the lack of enthusiasm for the service). The Father of the Brides speech and the atmosphere which follows. The boy singing the Gaelic song, but not knowing all of the words. The father sings and the young audience applaud him and urge him to continue.

Climax / turning point When the father sings his song and the audience are enthralled, with the result that he seemed to be wholly at home and more so than his audience were.

Plot Narrator is guest at a wedding in the city. The bride is from an island, her groom from a city. The brides parents feel uncomfortable and none of the young people appreciate hearing about the past / the islands. At the end, the father sings a Gaelic song and captures everyones attention. The father feels at ease at the end of the story.

Structure Story is told chronologically in first person. – INTRODUCTION Sets the scene / wedding – RISING ACTION / CONFLICT The division between the brides family and the grooms / island and city – CLIMAX The brides father makes his speech – FALLING ACTION Awkward atmosphere follows – RESOLUTION Brides father singing in Gaelic unites everyone. Islanders feel at home / city folk appreciate islanders.

Narrative Technique First person narrator. Events seen through his eyes – he is an outsider (links to theme / setting). Narrator is not emotionally engaged – reliable / matter-of-fact.

Theme The loss of island / Gaelic culture / identity and why it needs to be preserved.

Ideas Stuffiness of church (minister savouring the sun). Relaxed atmosphere in city compared to islands (minister not wearing a gown). Fashionable stylish city dwellers v. old-fashioned islanders. Wedding has to be endured (inaudible, murmured something, interminably the little boy with the horseshoe about to cry). Narrators lack of emotional involvement. Would be different if it was a Highland wedding, according to narrator. Brides silence – loss of a language / cultural identity. No Gaelic heard outside the church. Father having to shout over the music.

Ideas cont. Expensive hotel – materialistic / flashy city life. Dialogue at the bar – multi-cultural city. Reference to girl having a baby and thinking about returning to the islands. Good place to grow up / bring up family. Other young people disparaging about islands. Reference to American adopting island culture. Awkward, unappreciative response from the young to the fathers references to old cultures. To the father, the city folk seem like primitive barbarians like Africans (this would seem racist if he wasnt so naive). When reminded of it, young people appreciate their culture. City folk appreciate learning about the islands culture too.

Description Of characters (their appearance / speech / actions and reactions / thoughts and feelings) Of setting (time and place / atmosphere) Of theme (imagery / symbolism used to describe the theme / problem of declining language / loss of identity)