The Shirt Itself
This is the color of the shirt that gives the poem its title.
What is Red?
The red shirt symbolizes this painful historical and emotional phenomenon.
What is war (or trauma)?
A central theme of the poem, this is how past violence continues to impact the present.
What is memory (or the legacy of trauma)?
Atwood is known for using this poetic technique that appeals to the senses.
What is imagery?
What is the human cost or labor behind objects?
Who is Margaret Atwood?
The poem describes the shirt as being made of this material, common in military or prison garments.
What is Cotton?
Atwood uses this bodily fluid as a metaphor to link the shirt to violence.
What is blood?
The poem reflects on how everyday objects carry these invisible emotional or historical weights.
What are memories or stories?
The poem lacks a strict rhyme scheme or meter, making it an example of this form.
What is free verse?
The speaker imagines the past not as distant but as this.
What is ever-present (or close)?
The red shirt is said to be made by both prisoners and this group of innocent individuals.
What is children?
This item of clothing serves as a reminder that atrocities can seem ordinary in daily life.
What is a shirt?
By connecting the red shirt to labor by prisoners and children, the poem critiques this global issue.
What is exploitation?
The phrase “textile ghost” is an example of this figure of speech.
What is a metaphor?
The poem challenges readers to notice this in everyday items.
What is hidden history (or meaning)?
The speaker claims the red shirt was “stitched by hand & mind,” suggesting a connection to this abstract element.
What is a memory?
The shirt appears to “wear” this, suggesting memory has physical presence.
What is the past?
The poem suggests that forgetting the past can lead to its this—an eerie kind of return.
What is repetition (or haunting)?
Atwood's tone in the poem is best described using this adjective: reflective, bitter, or joyful?
What is reflective?
Atwood often writes about feminism, politics, and this other major theme, also found in the poem.
What is violence?
This poetic phrase describes the red shirt's haunting nature: “It is not just cloth, it is a ___.”
What is a textile ghost?
The line “the needle went in and out” highlights this poetic device.
What is repetition (or metaphor)?
Atwood links violence and creativity, suggesting even trauma is woven with this.
What is art (or storytelling)?
The repetition of the word “made” emphasizes this aspect of the poem’s message.
What is the human cost or labor behind objects?
The red shirt’s origin is not told through a history book, but through this narrative voice.
What is personal or poetic voice