Techniques - St Patrick's College b6c2i

St Patrick’s College – Techniques Quote

 

Technique Structure: Free verse Rhythm: slow, conversational tone and use of long vowels First person, past tense Pun ‘impressed’



Symbol

 

1 Impressed by the uniforms of her employer’s sons

St Pat’s “What was best” 2 Our lady watched with outstretched arms, her face overshadowed by clouds.

I stuck pine needles into the motto Luceat Lux Vestra I thought it was a brand of soap 3 For eight years Like a foreign tourist, uncertain of my destination every time I got off. 4 For eight years I carried the blue, black and gold I’d been privileged to wear Could say The Lord’s Prayer in Latin, all in one breath. 5 Our lady, still watching above, unchanged by eight years’ weather With closed eyes I fervently counted Venite Adoremus Saw equations I never understood Taking the right-hand turn out of Edgar Street for good Prayed that mother would someday be pleased with what she’d got for her money

Colloquial Cliché modified  Symbol  Personification of sustained religious iconography (Polish tradition as Roman Catholic)  Ironic imagery/paradox  Mood: ominous timbre Imagery

Latin Humour Pun ‘lux’ Repetition x3  Simile  Metaphor  First person singular  Repetition  Imagery  Word choice  Possibly sarcastic  ive tone Humour Allusion – religious Ironic imagery Repetition

Explanation Reflection as adult on school life



‘pressed’ incites ironing – suggests mother works as a maid (migrant minimum wage)  Uniforms of the rich/educated/successful – which mother wants Peter to be a part of Familiar Describes mother’s motives  NB – statues cannot provide warmth/comfort  Gesture of , inclusivity, protection – ironically not the feeling Peter gets   

Welcoming yet a lack of humanity/belonging Foreshadows NB/lack of understanding of school Defacing the motto of his school – undercuts school/mother’s motive  Evergreen pine – not native “let your light shine” Dark Highlights dislocation Time has no effect on belonging; endurance  Detachment/lack of connection/alienation/displacement  For lack of direction/identity  Isolation, just routines of comings and goings Suggests burden Identified with school Either doesn’t appreciate the school, or understands the money gone into it for him (an outsider – poor)  No religious thought  Merely a silly accomplishment, trivialised  Time no effect on belonging/identity/connection to place

Religious language – used for ironic purpose Latin Metaphor

No religious meaning to Peter – rituals lack meaning

Subtle tone

Relief to escape, sense of satisfaction Negative associations with school – no feeling of loss Belonging to parents more important than school

Religious reference

“oh come let us adore him” No understanding of self/school

Suggests education became a commodity

That the darkness around me wasn’t “for the best” before I let my light shine.

    

Juxtaposition – dark/light Repetition “for the best” Irony Ambiguity Faster rhythm – short/sharp vowels

Questions whether it was ‘for the best’ School’s motto ironically has no intrinsic value, yet P hopes for its future worth e.g. opportunities he couldn’t find at school/B to a wider environment Making sense of the past