Box Room
Liz Lochead
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.
What you need to know…
 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
 Rhyming scheme
 Repetition
 Questions
 Personification
 Pun / Word play
 Symbolism
 Oxymoron
 Ambiguous or double meanings
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.
Word Choice
 “Friend” :
 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.
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.
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.
Enjambment
 “A space / for handshakes”
 “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’.
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.
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.
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.
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.
 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?
 First the welcoming. Smiles all round. A space
 For handshakes. Then she put me in my place –
 (Oh, with concern for my comfort).
 ……………………………‘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
 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.

……………………….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.
 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?
 ……………………….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?)
 …………………………………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).
 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.
Thinking about Character
 Task:
 Draw a three ringed Venn Diagram.
Label each ring for each character:
Speaker, Mother, Boyfriend
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.
1.Point (what I will show in this
paragraph)
2.Evidence (quote from the
poem)
3.Explain (explain how this
proves my point, unpack any
techniques, and give a personal
reaction to theme)
4.Link back to question
(show how this answers the
question)
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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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
Stanza 1 – tone of defiance /
aggressiveness / sarcasm
Quote
(Oh with concern for my comfort)
Pathetic Shrine
She must think she can brush off time
with dust from model aeroplanes
Points for Evaluation
Sarcasm created by the aside in
brackets.
Connotations of ‘pathetic’
Connotations of ‘shrine’
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.
Essay Writing: Introductions
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Text
Author
Genre
Link to Question
Summary
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]

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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?
Step Three: Explain the effect

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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.
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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?
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Useful Evaluative Phrases:
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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...


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.
 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.