IOP They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair. The stanza begins with ‘they eat beans mostly’, which is a statement towards their low economic standing, as beans are a cheap yet nutritious source of food, often consumed by those who are poverty-struck. "pair" refers to the couple "yellow" represents faded/ old paper and demonstrates imagery to help visualise an old couple which emphasises the significance of the elderly within the poem. The descriptions ‘old’ and ‘yellow’ illustrate something that is worn down, having lost its vibrancy and is no longer used. is referring to an old couple who is already far beyond the prime of their life. "eat beans" - the bean is a motif that can symbolise poverty, beans could signify a low socioeconomic level as they are cheap but hold high nutritional value The narrator/ speaker has a third person perspective, influencing the word choices, juxtaposed to a first or second person perspective; it gives the reader a sense that the narrator is an outsider. Dinner is a casual affair. Diction -> Dinner conveys comfort, home, a place of residence Brooks has a style of writing that is easy to understand the inner themes by writing in plain language while being to the point. Casual affair ->this could signify the old couple 's lives currently uneventful. This is supported in the next few lines by the phrase ‘Dinner is a casual affair’ and the repetitions of the word ‘plain’. This is a commentary on how devoid of excitement their lives