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My Mother Said I Never Should - Language
I used to borrow the silver teapot from Next Door.

My Mother Said I Never Should - Language

This Literature quiz is called 'My Mother Said I Never Should - Language' and it has been written by teachers to help you if you are studying the subject at high school. Playing educational quizzes is a user-friendly way to learn if you are in the 9th or 10th grade - aged 14 to 16.

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This high school English Literature quiz takes a look at language. Language in My Mother Said I Never Should by Charlotte Keatley draws on emotion, relationship, childhood rhymes, birth, life, work, protest and death. The language is simple, clear and modern, which makes the richness of its subtext all the more outstanding. The women in the play can barely communicate to one another without causing offense or dragging up old grievances. Interspersed with the scenes set in real time are those of the Wasteground, in which the characters as children communicate in the long-remembered superstitious short-hand of the playground.

Analyzing language in a text

Texts are understood primarily through the language with which they are written and read. All authors choose individual words, phrases and imagery with precision. Paying very close attention to the detail of language will help you to begin to understand the symbolic meanings and associations which lie beyond the obvious literal meanings. Imagery, such as metaphor, simile and personification, and other literary effects, are created through an author’s skillful and thoughtful use of language. The effective creation of setting, characterisation and dialog also depend on an author’s care and ability in using language.

Paying very close attention to the language of a text will help you to increase your understanding dramatically. Find time to linger over the words and imagery, thinking about the multiple possible meanings which exist in addition to the surface meaning. Ask yourself what each individual choice of words, or combinations of words, might suggest. Note any ideas that come to mind as you read. Any time and care which you devote to the language will be repaid by an increased ability to analyze literature.

1.
DORIS: I'm not talking about that. (Cradles folded sheet). I'm talking about the desire . . . for little arms reaching up and clinging round your neck. (She buries her face in the sheet, then holds it out to Margaret to do likewise.)
Which of the following emphasizes the domesticity in Doris's lines?
The denial in her first sentence
Her actions, described as cradling the sheet
Her mention of the word "desire"
The description of her action as burying her face
The word "cradles" is appropriate because she and Margaret are discussing the desire for children; Doris cradles the sheet as she once cradled her daughter
2.
ROSIE: My outside's the same as my inside. That's why when I talk Mom thinks I'm being rude.
What does Rosie think Margaret perceives as rudeness?
Hiding her feelings on the "inside"
Being unpleasant with the intention to offend
Honesty
Telling other people what they ought to think
Rosie expresses outwardly what she feels inwardly, but Margaret perceives this as being rude
3.
DORIS: My father turned up once, after we'd moved to Jubilee Street. Mother took him back, of course.
Which use of language demonstrates that Doris sees some aspects of male/female relationships as inevitable?
Turned up
Once
Took him back
Of course
Doris has fairly low expectations and goes on to express her feeling that she's lucky at least that her own husband didn't beat her
4.
DORIS: When Jack's parents came visiting I used to borrow the silver teapot from Next Door. Got in a fix one day, because Next Door's in-laws popped by the same afternoon.
What effect does the capitalisation of "Next Door" have?
It gives the impression that Doris did not know her neighbors' names
It gives the impression of a proper place name
It implies that Doris did not get along with her neighbors
The capitalisation is a mistake and does not convey any impression
"Next Door" becomes a proper noun. It somehow becomes grand and yet generic at the same time (in some ways, Next Door could be anywhere)
5.
DORIS: And do you know, she doesn't look the sort to even open a book. But she's quite the best, the comments she comes out with in class. She can't spell, of course. (Pause.) But it just goes to show: you can't judge by appearances. Jack was wrong.
What information is conveyed by Doris's pause?
It shows that she is still keeping secrets in the family
It shows that she is losing the power of speech in her age
It shows that she is not sure what she ought to say to her great-granddaughter
It shows that she is reconsidering what she has just said
Doris is changing the habits and attitudes of a lifetime and has learned to challenge her own prejudice
6.
MARGARET: After you phoned . . . after you asked us . . . Daddy went upstairs and got your old high chair down from the attic. (Pause.) Like sisters, he said. A new little sister . . .
Which of the following words describes Margaret's and Ken's emotions at the thought of taking Rosie in?
Resigned
Full of dread
Eager
Anxious
Margaret and Ken, who were unable to have more than one child, respond eagerly to the idea of raising their grandchild as their own daughter
7.
DORIS: We're coming at Christmas. Or don't you want us this year?
What is the effect of Doris's negative phrasing?
Doris implies that Margaret and Ken do not wish her and Jack to visit
Doris implies that she hopes Margaret and Ken do not want her and Jack to visit
Doris implies that she does not really wish to visit Margaret at Christmas
Doris's phrasing has no particular effect
This is one of the many examples of passive-aggressive communication in the play. Margaret is required to reassure Doris that of course they are welcome
8.
ROSIE: But your job's only typing, Mum.
What effect does the use of the word "only" have here?
It indicates that Margaret is dissatisfied with her life
It diminishes the importance of Margaret's work
It implies that Rosie has a limited vocabulary
It implies that Rosie has no imagination
Margaret's job cannot compare with the glamor of Jackie's
9.
MARGARET: Will we win the war?
DORIS: Not if you don't keep quiet and go to sleep.
How might Doris's response best be described?
Evasive
Truthful
Thoughtful
All of the above
Doris repeatedly avoids answering Margaret's fearful questions, either truthfully or comfortingly. She avoids emotions by behaving as if life is perfectly normal
10.
ROSIE: Secrecy kills. (Pause.) — Nuclear secrecy.
What effect does the pause have in this line?
It seems as if Rosie is trying to remember the word "nuclear"
Rosie seems distracted by someone else
The pause hints that Jackie was about to interrupt
The pause emphasizes the biggest secret in the play, that of Rosie's own birth
Rosie has no awareness that she has accidentally stumbled into Margaret's and Jackie's discussion of the biggest secret in the family
Author:  Sheri Smith

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