13

Cards (4)

  • context
    based on experience of growing up in London + experience of Damilola Taylor - killed on the way home from the library + issues with racial profiling
    themes - identity / racism / social prejudice/ social class / loss of innocence / isolation
    links - name journeys / like an heiress
  • "the biggest + brightest stars"
    mp - speaker recalling police visiting their primary
    superlative - emphasise potential of children / create vastness + brilliance, have a big future. Excessive use can be ironic
    metaphor "stars" - elevate status / unique / for good / fragile, foreshadowing short potential
    emotive adjective "brightness" - sense of hope / optimism / emotive power - heightened by contrast with later events > disillusionment and loss
  • "two men cast lots for your organs"
    mp - speaker's encounter with police
    noun phrase "two men" - power imbalance / vulnerability of 13 yr old / contrast innocence with threatening adults
    verb phrase "cast lots" - dehumanisation / game of chance > speakers fate is redecided / religious connotations > should be determined by God but speaker is sacrificed
    concrete noun "organs" - objectifies speaker / strips humanity, treated as commodity
  • "dying stars / on verge o becoming black holes"
    p - speaker reflects on police encounter
    enjambment - build suspense / draws attention to dying stars - mirror slow fading + doom
    adjective "dying" - vulnerability / loss of potential / contrast "brightest stars"
    noun "black holes" - symbolise destruction / swallowing light + destructive impact of systematic racism , inescapable