Language

The language used by Anne Cassidy in “Shopping for One” is fairly simple and quite easy to understand. Some challenges may occur because of the abrupt switch from dialogue to inner monologue and free indirect speech, like in the following example:

"Begged me take him back."
She gritted her teeth together. Should she go and change it for a larger size? Jean looked behind and saw that she was hemmed in by three large trollies.

The choice of words is relevant for the setting: a supermarket. Consequently, there are frequent enumerations of various grocery items: “…giant bottles of coke crammed in beside twenty-pound bags of potatoes and 'special offer' drums of bleach.”; “She looked into her shopping basket: individual fruit pies, small salad cream, yoghurt, tomat...