Casehistory: Alison (head injury) U.A.Fanthorpe

Learning Objectives AO1 – respond to texts critically and imaginatively, select and evaluate textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations. AO2 – explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas, themes and settings.

Casehistory: Alison (head injury) (She looks at her photograph) I would like to have known My husband’s wife, my mother’s only daughter. A bright girl she was. Enmeshed in comforting Fat, I wonder at her delicate angles. Her autocratic knee Like a Degas dancer’s Adjusts to the observer with airy poise, That now lugs me upstairs Hardly. Her face, broken By nothing sharper than smiles, holds in its smiles What I have forgotten.

She knows my father’s dead, And grieves for it, and smiles. She has digested Mourning. Her smile shows it. I, who need reminding Every morning, shall never get over what I do not remember. Consistency matters I should like to keep faith with her lack of faith, But forget her reasons. Proud of this younger self, I assert her achievements, her A levels, Her job with a future. Poor clever girl! I know, For all my damaged brain, something she doesn’t: I am her future. A bright girl she was.

Imagine looking from an older age at a photograph of your younger self. What things might you comment on? ?

Casehistory: Alison (head injury) (She looks at her photograph) I would like to have known My husband’s wife, my mother’s only daughter. A bright girl she was. Who is she looking at? Who is this person? What does ‘was’ suggest?

Enmeshed in comforting Fat, I wonder at her delicate angles. Her autocratic knee What is the effect of using enjambment? What do we learn about Alison before and after her accident? Domineering, high and mighty

Like a Degas dancer’s Adjusts to the observer with airy poise, That now lugs me upstairs French artist famous for painting ballet dancers. Contrast between before and after the accident.

Hardly. Her face, broken By nothing sharper than smiles, holds in its smiles What I have forgotten. Why is ‘smiles’ repeated?

She knows my father’s dead, And grieves for it, and smiles. She has digested Mourning. Her smile shows it. The two identities are shown by the use of two different pronouns. Why is the poet emphasising the smiling? Caesura – break in line made by punctuation.

I, who need reminding Every morning, shall never get over what I do not remember. What emotion is portrayed here? Why does she need reminding?

Consistency matters. I should like to keep faith with her lack of faith, But forget her reasons. What is the effect of the short sentence?

Proud of this younger self, I assert her achievements, her A levels, Her job with a future. Refer to stanza 1 – how is the girl described?

Poor clever girl! I know, For all my damaged brain, something she doesn’t: I am her future. A bright girl she was. Why does Alison feel pity for the girl in the photograph?