Language

The language of “Pink” by Judith Thompson mimics the way a ten-year-old child would talk in a deeply grieving state. The author uses simple words, omits punctuation signs, and uses capital letters to suggest shouting: “NELLIE NELLIE NELLIE NELLIE NELLIE I want you to come back ….” (p. 175, ll. 5-6)

Furthermore, to create the feeling of an unedited speech flow and make the monologue more authentic, the writer does not always respect grammar rules, but uses a more colloquial, informal language:

…what you guys don’t understand, what you didn’t see, is apartheid is for YOU. IT’S FOR YOUR GUYS’ FEELINGS, see, like we got separate washrooms cause you like to spit, and if we said, ‘Eww yucch, don’t spit,’ it would hurt your feelings… (pp. 175-176, ll. 8-3)

Imagery

Imagery is used very little in the text and only in connection to actions—the author creates mental images in connection to how Nellie acted or the way she looked: “…I hated the way you looked without your uniform, so brown and so plain, not neat and nice anymore, you looked so...

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Repetition

The main language device used in the text is repetition. While she speaks, Lucy constantly repeats words and expressions. Sometimes the repetitions add emphasis to her words and help suggest Lucy’s grief like in the beginning when she repeats Nellie’s name (p. 175, ll. 3-5).

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