Casehistory: Alison (head injury)

FORM AND STRUCTURE
1. poem alternates between first person narrative and Alison describing herself in third person
2. Enjambment makes Alison's memories seem disjointed
3. stanzas are often broken linked through enjambment
  Annotations:
  - ENJAMBMENT: continuation of a sentence or clause over a line break
4. A dramatic monologue
5. Begins and ends with isolated lines
  1. Highlights Alison's dislocation from her past
6. Emphasis of the separation of the 2 selves and has a disorientating effect on reader
STORY
1. A young woman is looking at a photo of herself
2. She is remembering her former life before she suffered a head injury and lost her memory
3. She talks about how different her life was before
  1. As if she's another person now
4. Has to remind herself everyday that her father is dead
5. she feels sorry for her former self whose end is soon to come
LANGUAGE
1. contrast
  1. Suffered lots of physical change but also mental damage
  2. Stark contrast between past Alison who's full of hope and her present self
2. Pronouns
  1. refers to her former self as "SHE"
  2. Only uses "I" to talk about the present
  3. She's disconnected from her former self
3. Language of injury
  1. She constantly reminds us of her injury
  2. Becomes defining feature of who she is
  3. Lots of images of brokenness and injury
MY IDEAS
1. The first line is a stage direction making her seem more distant to readers as if they are just watching over her life
2. Caesura and enjambment in the poem give the effect that her thoughts are jumbled and she is not able to continuously speak about her past as she cannot remember what happened
  1. It also gives the poem a smoother flow as if it was being spoken
3. The last line uses the word "was" which is a past participle
  1. this gives the effect that her hopes and dreams of the past are all lost as she s no longer that girl she speaks of
4. Identity seems to get lost throughout the poem as the girl talks about herself as if she has 2 different identities
  1. current self and former self
FEELINGS AND ATTITUDES
1. Confusion
  1. frequently mentions that her memory loss causes confusion
2. Grief
  1. Central stanza about her father highlights her grief
    1. Has to be reminded of his death every day
      1. will never get over it
  2. Unable to mourn her father's death because of her brain damage
  3. Despite brain damage she is still consumed by her sadness
3. Loss
  1. Talks about what she's lost since the accident
  2. thinks like a healthy body
    1. the ability to remember things
      1. past achievements by her former self
  3. hopes and dreams she once had are also lost

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Casehistory: Alison (head injury)

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	Created by princessscout over 11 years ago