We remember your childhood well Think about the title. The poem is a dramatic monologue: The speaker sounds very much on the defensive: clearly the grown-up child has complained about something or asked an awkward question. The parent insists that the child was brought up well and was loved

Conflict? There is a lot of tension between the speaker and listener. We get the impression that the listener is not given much chance to speak - or, if they do, that it is ignored

As readers, we cannot be sure whose memory is more accurate - the parents' or the child's. Is the child exaggerating about the horrors that appear to have taken place? Or, are the parents trying to convince themselves that the events didn't happen?

Structure The poem consists of six regular 3 lined stanzas Each stanza begins with a statement that denies what the child believes to have happened - 'Nobody hurt you'

Diction and Tone Colloquial diction with slang mixed in Dark undertone to cliches: Anyone’s guess (slang-casual confidence) Skidmarks of sin… All contributes to a: Dismissive and patronizing

Language There are many frightening ideas in the poem that are suggested but not developed: "The bad man on the moors" (line 2), a door being locked (line 3), the child being "sent ... away" (line 13). definite sense of fear on the part of the child. "skidmarks of sin" (line 16) what is “laid you wide open for Hell" (line 17).

violent verbs - 'hurt, argued, forced, begged' - which add to the sense of danger.

Onomatopoeia is used to describe the voices, "Boom. Boom. Boom Onomatopoeia is used to describe the voices, "Boom. Boom. Boom. We associate a booming sound with explosions and bombs Also relates to the sound of the authority’s voices (parents, teachers, despots)

theme "the secret police of your childhood” Poem about memory, childhood, truth and lies. A parent trying to soft peddle a difficult childhood?

Punctuation Caesuras in middle of lines. Tension pause in conversation. End stops. No room for argument Speaker has last word

terms Colloquialism: in a conversational manner that may include slang: Connotations: emotional association a reader has for a certain word: Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds at beginning of sentences; Assonance: repetition of same vowel sound : open, broken; remembered, tendered Consonance: identical consonant sound at end of word preceded by different vowel: Home, same, breath, worth

Stealing Dramatic Situation? Dramatic Monologue Angry tone Speaker is a young misfit who yearns for something better. Speaking to a counselor, perhaps?

Structure 5-5lined regular verse. Unrhymed and irregular in meter. Begins and ends with question. Nothing unusual about syntax Stanzas control the poem…keep it from spilling over. Contains the energy

Language Contrast of colloquial and poetic diction Slang: “Better off dead.” One word sentences Lyrical lines: “A tall white mute/beneth the whinter moon.” Sharp violent verbs: piercing my gut Slice of ice

language Metaphor: snowman, Simile: “ avmind as cold as the slice of ice within my own brain. Caesuras in the middle of the lines.

Musical devices Internal rhyme: “I started with the head/ better off dead Slice of ice Alliteration: ripped out in rags Repetition: Again. Again. Assonance: mute, moon, mats, mind: