Birdsong Notes- Chapter 2

Birdsong Notes Chapter 2 (pg 18-23)

Chapter 2 synopsis- A detailed description of the St. Leu Quarter- referred to as “medieval and old fashioned”. Stephen visits Azaire’s factory in which he meets Meyreaux a leader of the strike syndicate. Azaire is trying to persuade Meyreaux to discontinue strike activity however Meyreaux is unmoved and the meeting ends. Stephen describes Isabelle in great detail referring to her as ‘pulse’ in his diary.   (AO1-understanding of text)

Repetition of “There was/were” emphasises the poverty and low financial background of the people here. e.g. “There were washing lines attached to crooked walls and drainpipes” (AO2- language/structure)

The motif in this chapter is the large amount of noise emphasised by Faulk’s use of nouns such as “racket” and emotive verbs such as “screaming” to convey the chaotic surroundings.

Faulks uses repetition of “There was” and “There were” to emphasise the level of noise and actions taking place in the surroundings- “there were voices from the crowded bakeries and shops”.  (AO2-language)

Repetition of these past tenses foreshadows how the war will have an effect of bringing silence to Amiens due to the lack of people left from the mass number of deaths in the war. The paragraph therefore parallels with Stephen’s short return to Amiens after being granted permission from Gray, an army officer- “He had suddenly understood what had happened to all the students who used to shout out their orders and fill the air”(pg 312) Use of “fill the air” as a figure of speech conveys a tone of remorse in this chapter.

This emphasises the dramatic impact war has on many people’s lives as it results in…