‘Hieroglyphics’
by Anne Donovan
‘Hieroglyphics’ – Ann Donovan
Questions
1) How is the story narrated (in which person, who by,
using what kind of language) and what effect do you
think this has?
2) How does the author show the contrast between the
way that Mary speaks and the way that her teachers
speak? Quote as evidence.
3) It is clear to us that Mary is dyslexic, although this is
never explicitly said. Write down a quote from the
start of the story which shows the impact that this is
having on her.
Now we are going to identify the attitudes that
other characters have towards Mary and her
learning and look at how this influences the
reader’s reactions toward Mary.
Key point: all the other characters and their
apparent feelings / attitudes towards Mary are all
informed from her own perspective. These may not
be the actual attitudes / feelings, but this is what
Mary interpreted from their actions and words.
4a) Different people respond in different ways to
Mary’s difficulties. Write down in your own words
(and back up with quotes as evidence) how the
following characters treat her:
• Her mother
• The ‘Remmy wummin’ (Support for Learning
teacher)
• Her p7 teacher
• Most teachers in secondary school
• Mr Kelly
• The Headteacher
• Miss Niven
b) Write a comment explaining how each characters’
response makes you feel.
5) How do other pupils start to treat Mary as a
consequence of Mr Kelly’s attitude, and how does
this make her feel? Quote as evidence.
6) The turning point in the story is when Mary says,
‘wan day ah couldnae take it oany longer’. How does
Mary use her creative ability to rebel against Mr
Kelly?
7) What does the ending of the story tell us about Mary
and her strength of character? Quote as evidence.
8) One of the ways that the author shows us
Mary’s intelligence is through the clever
imagery which she uses in her narration.
Choose three figures of speech which you feel
are particularly effective and for each one:
• Show that you understand the link between
the connotations of the imagery and the
literal meaning of the words.
• Comment on the effect this image has i.e.
how the connotation of the imagery helps to
enlarge, or refine your idea of what is being
described.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
1)
How is the story narrated (in which person, who by, using
what kind of language) and what effect do you think this
has?
The story is narrated in the first person. The character of
Mary narrates the story in the Glaswegian dialect of Scots,
from the perspective of looking back on her experiences.
This mode of narration gives the reader a clear sense of
what Mary’s experience is like and allows the reader to feel
sympathetic towards the character.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
2) How does the author show the contrast between the way
that Mary speaks and the way that her teachers speak?
Quote as evidence.
Mary does not use Standard English grammar, her tone is
chatty and conversational, she uses Scots vocabulary
and phonetic spellings to reflect her pronunciation of
words. Mary’s narrative reflects the way she speaks and the
fact that she has problems reading and writing Standard
English:
“The class were aw sittin up like circus lions at this point,
wonderin whit the ringmaister wis gonny dae next.
Sometimes he would launch intae a big long speech and
then ye didnae huv tae dae oany work. Which wis hunky
dory as long as you wereny the wan he'd lamped oanty.”
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
2) How does the author show the contrast between the way
that Mary speaks and the way that her teachers speak?
Quote as evidence.
• The teachers use Standard English grammar and spelling,
complex vocabulary and a formal tone:
“And since the function of reading is to communicate,
what point is there in writing something which is utterly
unintelligible?”
“Yes, but I'm sure all your paperwork is up to date, and
there is evidently splendid work going on in the room. But
what is this child doing drawing pictures of Egyptians?
Should she not be on to the 'Victory for Democracy' Unit
by now?”
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
3) It is clear to us that Mary is dyslexic, although this is never
explicitly said. Write down a quote from the start of the story
which shows the impact that this is having on her and
comment on its effect on the reader.
“Ah mind they were birlin and dancin roond like big black
spiders. A couldnae keep a haunle on them fur every time ah
thoat ah'd captured them, tied them thegither in some kindy
order they jist kep on escapin.”
This creates sympathy from the start and gives a clear sense of
the frustration that Mary has to contend with in her life. This
simile compares Mary’s ability to read to the difficult and
frustrating activity of catching a spider: ‘birlin’ and ‘dancin’
convey the frenzied actions and lack of control that we have when
trying to catch a spider and this illustrates the lack of control that
Mary has over words on a page; ‘captured’ and ‘escapin’ imply
that Mary is in constant conflict with the words but she can never
command them.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
4a) Different people respond in different ways to Mary’s
difficulties. Write down in your own words and back up with
quotes as evidence how the following characters treat her Her mother:
• She seems to think that Mary has trouble reading because
she is not applying any effort to her work:
“She's lazy, ye mean.”
“She's eight year auld an she canny read nor write yet.”
Her mother is unsupportive – the Primary teacher is clearly
trying to point out that there is ‘a genuine difficulty’ preventing
Mary from progressing; however, the abrupt interruptions from
her mother suggest that she blames Mary for her lack of
progress: “She's lazy, ye mean.” The fact that Mary recalls the
words of her mother many years after the event demonstrates
how much of an influence her mother’s lack of support had on
her.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
4a) Different people respond in different ways to Mary’s
difficulties. Write down in your own words and back up with
quotes as evidence how the following characters treat her Her mother:
• Mary believes that her mother thinks she’s stupid (‘daft’)
because she is illiterate, but is capable of carrying out
practical tasks like shopping, housework etc:
“Ma mammy thoat ah wis daft, naw, no daft exactly...Ma
mammy knew ah could go the messages an dae stuff
roond the hoose and talk tae folk, ah wis jist daft at school
subjects, the wans that involved readin or writin oanyway.”
The fact that her own mother is so unsupportive and dismissive
of her makes us pity her more.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
4a) Different people respond in different ways to Mary’s
difficulties. Write down in your own words and back up with
quotes as evidence how the following characters treat her The Support for Learning teacher:
• She was pleasant to Mary to start with, but Mary feels that
she became disgusted, bored or fed up ( “scunnered” )
when Mary was unable to do the work and thought that she
was not trying hard enough:
“She wis nice tae me at furst but then when ah couldnae
dae the hings she wis geein me she began tae get a bit
scunnered. A hink she thoat A wis lazy...”
This is a shocking attitude for a Learning Support teacher to
display and the fact that Mary recognises this attitude in her
makes us feel sympathy for her.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
4a)
Different people respond in different ways to Mary’s
difficulties. Write down in your own words and back up
with quotes as evidence how the following characters treat
her - Her p7 teacher:
• She is pleasant to Mary, but instead of making the effort to work
with her to help her overcome her problems with reading and
writing, she gives her tasks to keep her busy (like colouring in)
and menial jobs to do:
“And efter a while the extra lessons stoaped. They were dead
nice tae me at school but. Maisty the time the teacher gied
me the colourin in tae dae an when ah wis in Primary seven
ah goat tae run aw the messages an helped oot wi the wee
wans. No wi their readin of course, but gettin their paints
mixed an takin them tae the toilet an pittin oot the mulk fur
them.
• She patronisingly refers to her as her ‘little assistant’:
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
4a)
Different people respond in different ways to Mary’s
difficulties. Write down in your own words and back up
with quotes as evidence how the following characters treat
her - most teachers in secondary school:
• They feel sorry for her, but make no effort to try to teach her
because they believe she is incapable of learning anything:
“Ah knew whit they were thinkin of me right enough, ah could
see it in their eyes, but maisty them jist thoat ah wis a poor wee
sowl that couldnae learn oanythin, so whit wis the point a them
tryin ae teach me?”...
“She's a poor wee soul but she tries very hard.”
• Instead of teaching her, the teachers gave her menial tasks to
do to keep her busy:
“look how neatly Mary's coloured in the borders of the wall
display.”
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
4a)
Different people respond in different ways to Mary’s
difficulties. Write down in your own words and back up
with quotes as evidence how the following characters
treat her – Mr Kelly:
• He bullies Mary and ridicules her. Having reviewed her
writing, Kelly suggests that it resembles Hieroglyphics and
makes himself look clever by embarrassing her:
“he hud tae make hissel smart by drawin attention tae me.”
• He says in front of the class:
“And since the function of reading is to communicate, what
point is there in writing something which is utterly
unintelligible?”
• He makes Mary feel embarrassed and humiliated:
“Ah wis mortified, pure mortified”
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
4a)
Different people respond in different ways to Mary’s
difficulties. Write down in your own words and back up
with quotes as evidence how the following characters treat
her – The headteacher:
• He patronises her, talking about her as if she, and the
rest of the class, cannot hear him:
“She's a poor wee soul but she tries very hard.”
• He recognises the effort she applies, but his description
of her as a “poor wee soul” shows that he does not think
she is capable of learning anything and that she is not
worth teaching.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
4a) Different people respond in different ways to Mary’s
difficulties. Write down in your own words and back up with
quotes as evidence how the following characters treat her –
Miss Niven:
• She is nice to Mary and encourages her to do something
which she enjoys and is good at, drawing hieroglyphics:
“And ah turnt oot tae be dead good at it.” She makes her feel
special by giving her a pen to do them with:
“Miss Niven even gied me a special fine black pen fur daein
the outlines... stuck in a coarner a the room wi a pile a libry
books roond me, drawin they wee sideyways people wi their
big fish eyes... She let me keep the wee fine black pen
though, she's dead nice, Miss Niven.”
• Although Mary describes her as ‘dead nice’ and she doesn’t
humiliate her, like Mr Kelly, neither does she make any effort
to actually teach her or help her overcome her problems.
Mary is repeatedly failed by others: her mother and
her teachers. Even those teachers who are nice to
her do not make any effort to help her to overcome
her difficulties, instead giving her little jobs to keep
her busy, and Mr Kelly bullies and ridicules her.
She seems to be very aware of the attitudes of
these adults towards her and this builds up a
strong sense of sympathy in the reader as she
shares her experiences with us.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
5) How do other pupils start to treat Mary as a consequence of
Mr Kelly’s attitude, and how does this make her feel? Quote
as evidence.
• They start to distance themselves from her and isolate her:
“And from that day sumpn funny startit tae happen that ah
couldnae unnerstaun. The class stopped talkin tae me but
it
wisnae like they'd aw fell oot wi me...but they widnae say
much and they never startit a conversation wi me. And
there seemed tae be an empty space aw roond me in the class,
fur naebdy sat next tae me if they could help it...
And it wisnae jist in his class either, ah could of unnerstood
that aw right fur who wants tae sit near the target practice?
But it wis in every class, and the playgrund and the dinner
school.”
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
5) How do other pupils start to treat Mary as a consequence of
Mr Kelly’s attitude, and how does this make her feel? Quote
as evidence.
• Mary feels unhappy and left out of the fun and
companionship of school. She likens her situation to
being the only one without a partner to dance with:
“And when ye move up tae the big school it's a time
when friendships kindy shuffle roond like wanny they
progressive barn dances, and ye make new wans an ye
lose auld wans and somehow in the middly aw this
process ah fund masel oot the dance wioot a partner.
And it wisnae nice.”
• This effectively conveys her sense of isolation and the
fact that she has no friends. The short sentence “And it
wisnae nice” is an understatement of her feelings.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
5) How do other pupils start to treat Mary as a consequence of
Mr Kelly’s attitude, and how does this make her feel? Quote
as evidence.
Mary’s isolation from her peers adds to the reader’s sense of
sympathy for her.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
6) The turning point in the story is when Mary says, ‘wan day
ah couldnae take it oany longer’. How does Mary use her
creative ability to rebel against Mr Kelly?
• Mary is ultimately able to take pride in her class work
despite the attitude of her teachers. She decides to show
her creative ability by rebelling against Mr Kelly and
writing a whole story in her own hieroglyphics:
“And then wan day ah couldnae take it oany longer...
So ah startit tae write aboot ma journey tae the next
world and the hings ah wid take wi me, aw in wee
pictures.”
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
7) What does the ending of the story tell us about Mary and
her strength of character? Quote as evidence.
• Mary is ultimately able to take pride in her class work
despite the attitude of her teachers. As she collects in the
class’s work she sees that the class have ‘aw different kinds
of hand writing’ and this realisation that everyone has
different abilities encourages her to take pride in her work:
“So ah drew a wee picture of masel wi a cheery face on it,
pit ma story right on tap ae the pile and planted the whole
lot doon in the centre of his desk.”
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
7) What does the ending of the story tell us about Mary and
her strength of character? Quote as evidence.
• The ‘cheery face’ that Mary draws is representative of her
feelings of happiness with her work and the sense of
achievement that she has gained, while the placement of
her work ‘right on the tap’ shows her pride in her work.
• This shows how Mary has overcome the negativity of
others, worked out how to overcome her problems and
become a confident individual.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
8) One of the ways that the author shows us Mary’s
intelligence is through the clever imagery which she uses in
her narration. Choose three figures of speech which you
feel are particularly effective and for each one:
Show that you understand the link between the
connotations of the imagery and the literal meaning of the
words.
Comment on the effect this image has i.e. how the
connotation of the imagery helps to enlarge, or refine your
idea of what is being described
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
8) “Ah mind they were birlin and dancin roond like big black spiders.
A couldnae keep a haunle on them fur every time ah thoat ah'd
captured them, tied them thegither in some kindy order they jist
kep on escapin.”
• Mary likens the process of trying to read to the frustrating act of
trying to catch a spider.
• ‘birlin’ and ‘dancin’ convey the frenzied actions and lack of
control that we have when trying to catch a spider and this
illustrates the lack of control that Mary has over words on a
page; ‘captured’ and ‘escapin’ imply that Mary is in constant
conflict with the words but she can never command them. The
• image shows how difficult and frustrating she finds trying to
read.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
8) “he used tae squint at ye through wan eye as if he wis
examinin ye through a microscope an hid jist discovered
some new strain a bacteria that could wipe oot the entire
population a Glesga.”
• This image compares the way that Mr Kelly looks at the
pupils to the way a scientist would look at a dangerous
bacteria under a microscope.
• This conveys Mr Kelly’s superior attitude towards the
pupils, emphasising how much he looks down on them and
the fact that he sees them as unpleasant and something
he would like to distance himself from.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
8) “If ye kin imagine the class like a field a racehorses then he wus
gaun at such a pelt that only the first two or three could keep up wi
him. The rest wur scribblin furiously, their airms hingin oot thur
soackets, sighin an moanin ower their jotters, and then he'd tease
them wi a pause that wis jist a toty bit aff bein long enough tae let
them catch up, an then, wheech, he wis aff again lik lightnin.
Me, A wis the wan that fell at the furst fence.”
• This image compares trying to keep up with work in Mr Kelly’s
class to taking part in a frantic horse race: the teacher is racing
ahead and only a few of the most able pupils manage to keep up
with him. He would deliberately wait until the majority of the class
had just about caught up, then would carry on without giving them
a chance to rest. Mary describes herself as the “wan that fell at
the furst fence” .
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
8) CONT./
• This image reinforces how mean Mr Kelly is as he sees to be
deliberately tormenting most of the pupils by making it
impossible for them to keep up.
• Mary’s difficulties are highlighted by the fact that she is so far
behind the others she is like a horse that does not even manage
to jump over the first fence - the fence symbolises her literacy
problems which stops her from having any hope of keeping up
with the rest of the class.
• The description of the race is in one long sentence with several
commas, emphasising the endless struggle of most of the class
to keep up. In contrast, Mary’s immediate failure is emphasised
by using an abrupt, short, one sentence paragraph.
•
• This image highlights Mary’s sense of failure and increases our
sympathy for her.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
8) “The class were aw sittin up like circus lions at this point,
wonderin whit the ringmaister wis gonny dae next”
This image likens Mr Kelly to a circus ringmaster and the
class to lions under his control.
This suggests the tension in the class and that the other
pupils are potentially harmful (as shown when they start to
ignore Mary and isolate her). It also shows that Mr Kelly
enjoys controlling them and enforcing his power over them
and enjoys showing off for his audience.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
8) “And when ye move up tae the big school it's a time when
friendships kindy shuffle roond like wanny they progressive barn
dances, and ye make new wans an ye lose auld wans and
somehow in the middly aw this process ah fund masel oot the
dance wioot a partner. And it wisnae nice.”
• This metaphor compares making new friends at school to taking
part in a dance – everyone pairs up with new friends, but Mary
has been left without a dance partner / friend.
• This image is effective in suggesting that Mary, by missing out
on friendships, is missing out on the fun that school has to offer.
The word ‘dance’ suggests fun, happiness and moving around in
partnerships. However, Mary is missing out on this. The
simplicity of the sentence ‘And it wisnae nice’ is really an
understatement as to how she feels. This makes us understand
that not only does her learning difficulty have educational
implications, but also social implications.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
8) “Ma writin looked a bit like wee scarab beetles scurryin
aboot the page and when he corrected it, it wis as if the wee
beetles hud aw startit bleedin.”
• This simile likens Mary’s writing to scarab beetles, and the
corrections made on it to blood coming from the beetles.
• This emphasises how messy, random and unintelligible
her writing looks, and links to the story’s title and content
as scarab beetles are linked to ancient Egypt. The
corrections made by Mr Kelly, presumably in red pen,
cover the page and the reference to blood suggests how
painful the process of writing is for Mary, and how
demoralising it is for her to see all these corrections.