Case History: Alison
(head injury)
Subject/theme
• A woman who is looking at a picture of her past self after a serious
head injury.
• She can’t remember her past life very well, but is looking at her
younger self when she was “ clever”.
Point of View
• First person
• Repeated use of “I” at the beginning of stanzas and lines.
• Personal pronoun shows she is concentrating on herself now.
• However, when she refers to her past self she says “ she”, showing
she is detached and not the same now, she is a different person.
Language
• ''Enmeshed'' - the feeling of being trapped/caged in
- comforting, protection
• ''Digested Mourning'' - her emotions can’t be seen on the outside
• ''shall never get over what I do not remember'' - oxymoron, reflects
her confusion
• Repetition of language and phrases: “clever girl…bright girl” shows
she is obsessed with this aspect of her past self.
Imagery
• ''Degas dancers'' - the image is frozen in time, she cannot bring back
the past, painting is blurred(impressionist)
• “ autocratic knee” – shows she was self entitled, ready for great
things (like an autocrat), use of knee shows she won’t bow or go on
her knees for anyone.
• “ airy poise” imagery of Degas dancers, like a ballerina. This contrasts
to “Lugs” which is an ungainly and heavy image.
• This comparison shows the change in her physicality as well as brain
and intellect.
Form/Structure
• Enjambment
- when a sentence goes over two lines of a poem e.g. “ lugs me
upstairs/Hardly”
- reflects the disruption in her life, she cannot keep thoughts going as
before when she was “bright”
• Three line stanzas are a regular pattern except at the end with a a
single line stanza “ A bright girl she was”. Shows this is the main
thought and point of poem because it is isolated.
Tone of voice
• Accepting tone – she has accepted her head injury, e.g. ‘’digested
Mourning’’ shows that she has got over it.
• ‘’I know, for all my damaged brain’’ – she understands what has
happened.
Links
• Medusa- a changing woman, becoming someone different who you
do not recognise.
• Horse Whisperer – Loss, in this case herself.