Duffy Unit PDF

Duffy Higher Unit.
notebook June 02, 2015
The Poetry of Carol Ann Duffy
‑ War Photographer
‑ Originally
‑ Valentine
‑ Havisham
‑ Mrs Midas
‑ Ann Hathaway
1
Duffy Higher Unit.notebook June 02, 2015
Pre‑reading tasks
Research the following
• Background
• Achievements
• Style
2
Research tasks for developing understanding of the texts.
1. Valentine
Who was St Valentine?
2. Havisham
Who was Miss Havisham?
3. Anne Hathaway
Who was Anne Hathaway? How does history paint the relationship between
her and William Shakespeare?
4. Mrs Midas
What is the myth of King Midas? What is the moral of this myth? How does
this moral connect to today’s society?
What is The Field of the Cloth of Gold?
5. War Photographer
What does the job of being a war photographer involve? Who is Don
McCullin? What does he do?
6. Originally
Research Carol Ann Duffy’s childhood and background.
3
Listening
You are going to listen to a short extract from ‘The South Bank Show’
which will last several minutes. ‘The South Bank Show’ is an arts
programme originally produced by ITV from 1978 to 2010. It is non‑
fiction. Each programme is one hour long. It covers topics like: music
of all genres, poetry, comedy, actors, composers…
This is the link: hp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZPLIg5tFI8
Your teacher will play the extract twice but you may ask to see/hear it
as many times as is helpful to you. You can ask to have it played as
often as you need to, pausing where appropriate. You may take notes
as you listen. These will not be assessed but may be useful for you.
4
War Photographer
by Carol Ann Duffy
5
Real Photographers
“The dilemma for the
photographer... is the
question of what to do do I
take the photograph? Or do I
do something to help?”
“I remember all the

associations connected to
that photograph... it may just
be a body, but I might know
whose body that is.”
Ken Guest
(Afghan war photographer)
6
Excerpt from documentary

War Photographer (2001)
• Directed by Christian Frei
• Experience of James Nachtwey
> "The worst thing, as a photographer, is to feel that I'm
benefitting from someone else's tragedy. This idea haunts
me . . ." James Nachtwey
7
Emoonal Responses
• Take a moment to look at the following photographs

and consider:
> What emotions do they stir up?
> What would your first reaction be if you had been there?
> What might have been going through the photographer’s mind?
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9
10
11
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Kevin Carter
What would your first reaction be if you were there and saw
this lile girl?
What if you had been warned not to touch or help anyone for
fear of spreading disease? Would you leave her or help?
13
• Kevin Carter took this photo in 1993 while on a trip to

document the famine in Sudan.
• At this time, war photographers and photojournalists

were told not to touch or help victims for fear of
spreading disease or endangering themselves.
• The photograph inspired a massive surge in

charitable donations, but Kevin Carter was also
heavily criticised for not helping this girl.
• He commied suicide 3 months later and his family

believed it was, in part, due to his horror at his loss of
natural human reactions.
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• One of Kevin Carter’s famous quotations about

photographing violent or horrific scenes is:
> “I have to think visually. I am zooming in on a

shot of the dead guy and a splash of red. You are
making a visual here. But inside something is
screaming, ‘My God.’ But it is time to work. Deal
with the rest later.”
• What does this tell us about the difficulty of the job

of a photojournalist?
15
Some Interesting Clips and Documentaries on

War Photographers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNeVZjMVn0o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGKZhNK_pHw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be172jhQLOA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv11KilBpHQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5SLVAxt7NI
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Listening Practice
Questions in pupil workbook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVZe4rQKcls
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Don McCullin: In His Own Words
On his darkroom: ʺEven my darkroom is a haunted place.ʺ
On doing the job: ʺI have been constantly accused of taking terrible pictures and people
saying, did you ever help anyone? Of course I did, but I donʹt want to brag about it.ʺ
On helping a woman in Cyprus: ʺI scooped this old lady up in my arms. It was like
scooping up some rag doll that had fallen out of a childʹs pram. I just ran and ran with
her. I donʹt know why I did it, but I didnʹt really want to see that old lady get shot down
and killed.ʺ
He is tormented by the memory ʺthat haunts me to this dayʺ of a starving child among
hundreds he encountered in Biafra in 1969: ʺHe was an albino boy and he was standing
looking at me, barely managing to stand on his spindly legs... he was making me feel so
ashamed.ʺ
On what he saw in Beirut: ʺit was murder from the word go... everywhere I went that day
I could see another person being murdered in front of meʺ.
In 1982, during an assignment to war‑torn Beirut, ʺa day of reckoningʺ came when he visited
an abandoned hospital with children ʺtied to the beds, covered in flies... lying in buckets of
their own filth, starving hungry, dying of thirstʺ. He was then taken to a room where “blind
and insane” children were kept – when the door was opened they came flooding out ʺin their
own filth and mess... like blind rats... I donʹt think I was ever more ashamed of
humanityʺ.
ʺI donʹt think I could have touched on more tragedy under one roof than I saw in that
hospital that day... Iʹve never forgoen it.ʺ
On his memories of what he has experienced: The past returns ʺon a regular basis, as fresh as
if it was happening today, to haunt meʺ.
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Close Reading Practice
Homework: Complete the ʹWar Photographerʹ close reading in your workbooks.
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Some Key Background Information
• Places mentioned in the poem
• Key vocabulary in the poem
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NORTHERN IRELAND: BELFAST

• The scene of many conflicts between its Roman
Catholic and Protestant populations.
• These opposing groups in this conflict are now often
termed republican and loyalist respectively, although
they are also referred to as 'nationalist' and 'unionist'.
• The most recent example of this conflict was known as
the Troubles – a civil conflict that raged from around
1969 to the late 1990s.
• Belfast saw some of the worst of the Troubles in
Northern Ireland
• Bombing, assassination and street violence were
common
• Over 1,500 people were killed in political violence in
the city from 1969 until 2001.
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LEBANON: BEIRUT
• Between 1975 and the early 1990s a civil
war killed up to 100,000 people and left
much of the country and its economy in
ruins.
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CAMBODIA: PHNOM PEHN

• Phnom Penh is the capital city of Cambodia.
• In 1975, the Khmer Rouge and their leader, Pol Pot took
control of Cambodia.
• They had a vision of turning people into “base people”
or “new people” – they thought that the ideal human
was a simple uneducated farmer.
• Pol Pot’s forces killed any people perceived as
educated, "lazy", or political enemies. Between 1975 –
1979, 3 million people died – nearly half the population
of the whole country.
• The Khmer Rouge saying was “to kill the grass, you must
also kill the root”. This means they killed the whole
family and all friends of “enemies” because they didn’t
want anybody to want revenge.
• The use of land mines was very prevalent. In fact, it is
estimated that there could be as many as 10 million
unexploded mines still in Cambodia today.
• Many people were buried in mass graves. A number of
these were found in a place dubbed 'the killing fields'
at the end of the conflict. One of the most shocking
was a grave found to contain the bodies of over 400
women and babies.
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Some key vocabulary

(for those of you who no nothing about the world before the digital camera!)
SPOOLS
• Before everything became digital, there was such
a thing as film cameras
• Spools are what contained the film
• Each spool let you take between 26‑30

photographs
• When it was full, you then had to get it

developed.
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DARKROOM
• This is where films are developed.
• The lights are red in the room
• The film is put in a series of

chemical solutions to develop the
film
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Exploring the poem
Task 1 – Overview
Answer the following questions about the poem
o What happens in the poem? (events)
o What is the poem about? (themes)
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Exploring the poem
Task 2 – Annotation
Annotate your copy of the poem, highlighting examples of the following

(and any other relevant) techniques
o Word choice
o Imagery
o Sentence structure
o Alliteration
Add as much analysis to your annotations as you can (and remember to

continually add to this as you learn more about the poem)
o Think about the effects of the various techniques that you have found,
especially in relation to the poem’s themes
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Religious Imagery in the Poem
Red light of the darkroom, compared to sanctuary lamps:
ʺthe only light is red and softly glows,
as though this were a church...ʺ
Christian churches often have at least one lamp continually burning, not only
as an ornament of the altar, but for the purpose of worship. In the Catholic
Church, for instance: ʺIn accordance with traditional custom, near the
tabernacle a special lamp, fueled by oil or wax, should be kept alight to
indicate and honour the presence of Christ.ʺ
The sanctuary lamp can represent the eternal presence of God or show that
the light of Christ always burns in a sin‑darkened world. Such sanctuary
lamps are often coloured red. This distinguishes this light from other candles
and lights within the church and highlights its importance.
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Religious Imagery in the Poem
All Flesh is Grass
This is a biblical quotation from Isaiah 40:6‑8
The full quotation reads:
“All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is the

flower of the field. The grass withers, the
flower fades when the breath of the Lord
blows on it; surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the

word of our God will stand forever.”
The point being made is that compared to the eternal and everlasting word
of God, human life is fleeting and transient. It is a reminder that we are all
mortal.
In the poem this reference adds to the images of death which abound:
“mass...explode beneath the feet of running children...half‑formed
ghost...blood stained into foreign dust...agonies...” The photographer’s job
means he is constantly faced with death. He of all people must know that
“all flesh is grass”.
Positioning the biblical reference after a list of war‑torn countries also

emphasises the shortness of life experienced by people caught up in those
conflicts. Indeed, the lives of the people the photographer captures are likely
to be even shorter than any other human elsewhere on the planet.
The word ‘grass’ forms a rhyming couplet with the word ‘massʹ before it.
Taken alongside ‘Phnom Penh’, the reader is perhaps reminded of a mass
grave biodegrading into the soil. This is enhanced by the word ‘flesh’ which
dehumanises the bodies of the dead: they are simply meat.
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Annotating the poem
In his darkroom he is finally alone
with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.
1. Consider the word ʹdarkroomʹ ‑ think about the literal and metaphorical
interpretations. Consider what it means to be in a ʹdark placeʹ.
2. Think about connotations and placement of the words ʹfinally aloneʹ.
3. ʹspools of sufferingʹ ‑ identify the techniques and their effects in this image. What
do we know about his photographs?
4. ʹordered rowsʹ ‑ consider what else could be in ʹordered rowsʹ in a war zone. Also,
consider what this helps us to learn about the photographer.
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The only light is red and softly glows,
as though this were a church and he
a priest preparing to intone a Mass.
1. Consider the connotations of the word ʹredʹ.
2. Consider the image comparing the photographer and darkroom to a priest

and church. What does this help you to understand about the photographer
and his aitude towards his job? Think also about the effect of the word
ʹintoneʹ.
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Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.
1. What is the significance of the place‑names in line 6? Comment on

two literary techniques.
2. Explain what is meant by the image: “All flesh is grass”. (Line 6)
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He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays
beneath his hands which did not tremble then
though seem to now.
1. Consider the use of sentence structure in the opening line. What effect does it
have and what impression does it create of the photographer?
2. ʹSolutions slopʹ ‑ consider the techniques used and their effects. (i.e. is there more
than one interpretation of ʹsolutionsʹ?)
3. Consider the use of contrast ‑ what does it tell you about the photographer? How
do his emotions differ and why do you think this might be?
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Rural England. Home again
to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,
to fields which donʹt explode beneath the feet
of running children in a nightmare heat.
1. ʹRural Englandʹ ‑ think about the effect of the minor sentence and the
connotations of ʹruralʹ. Does this contrast with the other place names mentioned in
the poem?
2. What is ʹordinary painʹ and what ʹsimple weatherʹ gets rid of this pain?
3. Think about ʹrunning childrenʹ ‑ in rural England, what image does this conjure
up? What effect, therefore, do the words ʹexplodeʹ and ʹnightmare heatʹ have on the
reader?
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Something is happening. A stranger’s features
faintly start to twist before his eyes
a half‑formed ghost.
35
He remembers the cries
of this manʹs wife, how he sought approval
without words to do what someone must
and how the blood stained into foreign dust.
36
A hundred agonies in black‑and‑white
from which his editor will pick out five or six
for Sundayʹs supplement. The readerʹs eyeballs prick
with tears between the bath and pre‑lunch beers.
From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where
he earns a living and they do not care.
37
Practice Scoish Context Questions

Developing Understanding of skills and questions
Identify the skill(s) required for each question
Question Skill(s)
What is the tone of the first stanza and

how does the writers use of language
create this tone?
Explain the contrast in the two sides of

the photographers life, as shown in
stanza two.
Explain how the writers use of

language between lines 13‑18 creates a
change in pace or tone.
How effective you find lines 19‑24 as a

conclusion to the poem?
Skills Bank
Using own words Explaining Analysing imagery
Summarising Working out meaning Analysing structure
Inference making Understanding links Analysing tone
Finding evidence Analysing word choice Evaluation
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Breaking down the questions:
1 What is the tone of the first stanza and how does the writer’s use of
language create this tone? 3
Step 1: Identify the tone
Step 2: Identify a language feature that creates this tone (word choice,
sibilance, imagery, listing, minor sentences, word order)
Step 3: Analyse the language feature.
Task One: Complete this answer:
• The tone of stanza one is sombre and reverent.
• Duffy uses listing in order to create this tone in the final line of the stanza: ʺBelfast.
Beirut. Phnom Pehn.ʺ
• In pairs, complete the analysis:
> Think about:
> the blunt nature of the list mirroring the blunt nature of the photographers
work ‑ what does this show about his aitude towards what he has seen?
> Sounds like a roll call ‑ what might this suggest? Could the list go on?
> the places ‑ war torn and affected by genocide ‑ what is the effect of presenting
these places so starkly? Also, think about location ‑ 3 continents ‑ what is Duffy
showing?
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1 What is the tone of the first stanza and how does the writer’s use of
language create this tone? 3
Candidates should discuss how the poet uses poetic technique to create a tone in
the opening stanza. 1 mark should be awarded for one main tone introduced in
the opening. 2 marks should be awarded for comment on language/literary
techniques.
2 marks may be awarded for one detailed, insightful comment on one example;
OR
2 marks may be awarded for two more basic comments on two examples (1+1).
0 marks for reference/quotation alone.
Possible answers include:
Tones:
Peaceful
Respectful
Reverent
Sombre
Ordered/organised
Or any other appropriate choice
References:
Reference to the religious imagery
Use of sibilance
Use of listing
Or
Word choice of ‘softly (glows)’, ‘ordered rows’, ‘finally (alone)’…
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2. Explain the contrast in the two sides of the photographers life, as shown in
stanza two. (2)
Step One: Identify what his life in the war zone was like.
Step Two: Find a quotation to support this
Step Three: Analyse the quotation
Step Four: Identify what his life is like when he is back home
Step Five: Find a quotation to support this
Step Six: Analyse the quotation
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2. Explain the contrast in the two sides of the photographers life, as shown in
stanza two.
Candidates should identify the difference between his life as a photographer

in a war zone and his life back home.
2 marks may be awarded for detailed/insightful comment plus reference; 1

mark for more basic comment plus reference.
Showing understanding of ‘ordinary pain’
Understanding of the small scale of problems at home ‘which simple

weather can dispel’
Home, ‘rural England’, having ‘fields which don’t explode’, suggesting

that he is used to seeing violence elsewhere.
Explanation of ‘nightmare heat’
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3. Explain how the writers use of language between lines 13‑18 creates a
change in pace or tone. (2)
Step 1: Identify either the change in pace or the change in tone (e.g. does it
speed up/slow down)
Step 2: Identify a technique which creates this effect
Step 3: analyse this technique commenting on how it creates the effect.
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3. Explain how the writers use of language between lines 13‑18 creates a
change in pace or tone.
Candidates should discuss how the poet uses poetic technique to create a change in
pace or tone in the third stanza.
2 marks may be awarded for one detailed, insightful comment on one example;
OR
2 marks may be awarded for two more basic comments on two examples (1+1).
Possible answers:
pace is quickened at the start of the stanza/slows towards the end
‘Something is happening.’ Short sentence, quickening pace, clear sign of

action.
Use of enjambment to quicken pace.
The use of an iambic rhythm structure to create speed.
Use of alliteration of ‘f’ and ‘s’ to create speed.
Anguished tone/ hard‑hiing/harrowing…
• Slowing of pace at the end through use of rhyming couplet/slowing effect of the
repeated ‘st’ sound.
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4. How effective you find lines 19‑24 as a conclusion to the poem? (3)
Step 1: You need to identify key features of a conclusion, i.e., does this
continue (or contrast with) the ideas/language from the previous
stanzas?
Step 2: For each mark, you will need to identify a feature of language
or an idea from the last stanza and clearly show how it either
continues or contrasts with the rest of the poem. (e.g. The mention of
ʺSundayʺ links back to the priest and mass in stanza one. However,
rather than continuing the reverent tone of the first stanza, this
religious connection is in stark contrast and demonstrates the lack of
reverence and remembrance from the editor and the readers.)
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4. How effective you find lines 19‑24 as a conclusion to the poem?
Candidates should show understanding of the term “conclusion” and

show how the content of lines 19 – 24 continues ― or contrasts with ―
ideas and/or language from the previous lines.
3 marks can be awarded for three appropriate, basic comments.
A detailed/insightful comment on one example may be awarded 2

marks.
Other examples are acceptable.
Possible answers:
Summarises / emphasises the lack of interest from the photographer’s

home (the editor’s selection of ‘five or six’/’they do not care’)
Illustrates society’s superficial interest ‘prick with tears between the bath
and the pre‑lunch beers’/ contrasts with the obvious care the photographer
has for his job.
Further demonstrates the emotional effect his job has on the

photographer – the numbing effect shown by ‘impassively’.
The photographer seems have just arrived home at the start and is seing
out again at the end/ suggests the never ending nature of conflict and his job
Shows how the photographer has got back ‘in the zone’ – no longer
shaking/emotional, now focused and neutral again…
Reference to Sunday links back with the priest and the mass in stanza 1.
‘a hundred agonies in black and white’ refers back to the photographs

developed in stanza 1/2 and taken in stanza 3.
Internal rhyme: ‘beers’ & ‘tears’ creates a contemptuous tone highlighting

poem’s theme/poet’s (or character’s) aitude towards the way conflict is
perceived in England.
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Practice Questions
Questions
1. Many of the main ideas or concerns of the poem come across clearly in the
first stanza.
(a) Identify two of these main ideas or concerns from stanza one. (2)
(b) Show how two examples of the poet’s use of language in stanza one
help to clarify or illustrate his meaning. You should refer to two of word
choice, structure or imagery (4)
2. Show how any two examples of the poet’s use of language in stanza two
effectively contribute to the main ideas or concerns of the poem. You should
make reference to imagery, word choice or any other technique. (4)
3. With reference to word choice or imagery, explain how the poet conveys
their ideas in stanza 3 of the poem. (2)
4. How effective do you find any aspect of the final stanza as a conclusion to
the poem? Your answer should deal with ideas and and/or language. (2)
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Before we start looking at the next poem,

complete the close reading passages in
ʺOriginally Resourcesʺ in your workbook.
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Originally
49
Overview
As the title suggests, she considers to what extent our

identity is shaped and defined not only by our
environment but by changes in dialect and culture.
The initial catalyst for the poem, the memories of the

move and her gradual assimilation into her new
home, provokes a bigger, more philosophical
meditation on the subject of childhood itself.
Perhaps the most significant line in the poem comes at

the start of stanza two when she asserts that ‘All
childhood is an emigration,’ revealing clearly the
universal truth that the process of growing up is
always synonymous with change.
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Form and Stucture

Like much of Duffy’s work, the poem has a regular
structure and the three stanzas of eight lines help to
divide the poem into a straightforward chronology:
Overview Task
• Summarise the events described in each stanza.
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• Stanza one recalls the journey from Glasgow towards her

new home;
• Stanza two explores her initial sense of not fiing in to this

new landscape;
• Stanza three considers the larger question about how our

sense of identity is formed, shaped and affected by such
transitions.
52
However, underneath this apparently ordered

structure, the poet’s anxiety and uncertainty is
revealed through the lack of a regular rhythm or
rhyme scheme which reinforces the lack of order in her
own life at this time.
53
The fact that the poem is mainly composed of a series

of fragmented memories, occasionally using
deliberately childish words or phrases, is reminiscent
of the way most of us recall our own childhood and
adds to the authenticity of the poem.
54
Technique Presentations
For each poem, pupils will be placed in groups and allocated

a technique for analysis.
Groups will prepare presentations which will be designed to

inform classes on the use of a particular technique in the
poem.
Presentations should include:
1. A defining explanation of the technique
2. Quotations
3. Analysis of quotations
4. Discussion of effects.
55
Originally Techniques:
Group 1: Imagery
Group 2: Structure
Group 3: Narrative technique
Group 4: Word choice
Group 5: Sound techniques
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
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Key themes
In this poem, Duffy reveals the importance of
early childhood memories and experiences in
shaping identity and also considers the impact of
significant domestic changes during the formative
years.
It is clear that even though Duffy was only six

when she moved to England, her sense of
Scoishness has stayed with her.
66
Themes
However, this affinity has resulted in a sense of
confusion about her own identity and where she belongs
and the poem is her own aempt to define more
precisely where her true origins lie.
Although asserting that all childhoods involve change

and transition, she feels a distinct pull towards this
country that she left so young and there is a definite
feeling of loss running through the poem.
In recalling how easily her brothers were able to adapt

she emphasises her own sense of separateness.
67
Questions
1. By referring closely to stanza 1 analyse the use of poetic technique to

emphasise the dramatic impact moving to another country had on the family.
2
2. Look at stanza 2.
“All childhood is an emigration”
Explain fully what the poet means by this. 2
3. In lines 12—16 analyse the use of poetic technique to convey the distress of
the family members caused by their “sudden” emigration to a new
environment. 3
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of stanza 3 as a conclusion to the poem. Your

answer should deal with ideas and/or language. 3
68
Worked Answers to Originally Context Questions

• Word choice of “we”/ “our” suggests a sense of comforng group
identy/defining event in family history
• Repeon of “our” suggests the need for group identy in the face
of new circumstances
• Word choice of “fell” suggests a loss of control over event /helplessness

in the face of change
• Word choice of “cried” / “bawling” suggests the degree of distress

caused by the move.
• The sequence “the city …. rooms” suggests a poignant re‐tracing of the

route / desire to return
• Word choice of “vacant” suggests the physical / emoonal empness of the

place that used to be home
• The climacc conclusion to the sequence “city … any more.” suggests the
finality of the move
• The word choice of “stared” suggests a stunned reacon to the move.
• The contrast of the poet’s reacon ― “stared” ― with the reacons of her
brothers ― “cried” / ”bawling” ― highlights the poet’s shocked reacon
• Symbolic use of “blind toy” ― like the poet the toy is unfeeling and
unaware of what is happening
• Word choice of “holding its paw” suggests a desperate need for comfort /
reassurance
69

• Childhood is a journey from safety / security / the familiar
• Childhood is a journey into the unknown / to independence / potenally risky
and dangerous situaons.
70
• The posioning / abruptness of the minor sentence “Your accent wrong”

suggests lack of acceptance / sense of exclusion.
• The parenthesis / posioning of “which seem familiar” suggest a sense of

confusion / disorientaon / déjà vu triggered by the new environment.
• The word choice of “unimagined” suggests some unspeakable horror.
• The word choice of “big boys” suggests the inmidang appearance of the boys/
the vulnerability of the poet.
• The detail “eang worms ” suggests outlandish / disgusng behaviour.
• The word choice of “shoung” suggests the inmidang nature of the way the boys
are speaking.
• The word choice of “you don’t understand” suggests confusion / alienaon.
• The image “anxiety … loose tooth” suggests that a loose tooth causes
annoyance but the parents’ concerns about the move won’t go away
• The word choice of “in my head” suggests that the parents’ concerns have made a
deep impression on the poet.
• The italics / the phrase “I want … country” suggests the strength of the desire to
return.
• The word choice of “want”/ “our”/ “own” suggests the depth of her desire for the
familiar.
71

Ideas
• The poet has moved on in her life, and she has adapted to her new life
• This move has created a sense of uncertainty as to her true origins, and sense of
belonging
Language
• “But” suggests a change from her previous outsider status to becoming
assimilated into the new environment.
• The sequence “you forget … or change” suggests the gradual /
indeterminable process of assimilaon.
• “The idea of “brother swallow a slug” links back to “eang worms” and suggests her
brother’s acceptance of the local culture.
• The use of the dialect word “skelf” suggests a hankering back to previous home or
limited influence of previous culture on her.
• The image “skelf of shame” suggests that just as a “skelf” is a splinter of wood, so
is her sense of shame in betraying her past rather limited.
• The image “my tongue … snake” suggests that just as a snake sheds its old skin,
she is shedding her old life / adapng to suit her new life.
• The idea of “my voice … like the rest” links back to “Your accent wrong”
suggesng the poet’s connuing assimilaon into her new culture.
• The list “I lost … the right place?” suggests an awareness of the amount she has
lost by emigrang.
• The use of the queson at the end of the previous list introduces uncertainty ―
has she actually “lost” the items in the list?
• The posioning / abruptness of “And I hesitate” suggests the poet’s uncertainty
about her cultural identy or where she really belongs
72
The last question will always be worth 10

marks and will always ask you to compare
the poem to at least one other. For example,
5. Discuss how Carol Ann Duffy uses contrast in this poem and at least one other to
highlight the poems’ main concerns. 10
Although we canʹt fully answer this question

yet, we can start to chart some similarities.
73
Find examples of contrast in both War

photographer and Originally
Contrast
War Photographer Originally
74
Valentine
by
Carol Ann Duffy
75
Complete the spider diagram thinking about the

concept of Valentineʹs Day. Write down as many
words/phrases as you can that sum the whole
thing up
Valentineʹs
Day
76
Just Imagine. . .
• It is Valentine’s Day. There is a special someone you would

love to get a card or romantic gift from. You wake up, full of
anticipation for the most romantic day of the year. . . .
• What springs to mind when you think of Valentine gifts and cards?
• What are you hoping the postman has brought you?
• Let’s see what the postman has brought you. . .
77
Here’s your gift. . .

What is your initial impression of this
gift?
Why do you think they might have

given you it?
While reading the poem, think about

the speaker’s reasons for giving an
onion as a gift.
78
The Big Picture
• What is this poem about?
• In your groups try to come up with an answer.
79
The Big Picture

How would you describe the poet’s view
of love?
Is it positive?
negative?
realistic?
cynical?
a mixture?
Can you identify a turning point in the poem?
80
The Big Picture
• On the surface, the poem is about giving an unusual

present for Valentine’s Day
• However, it is really an exploration of love and the nature

of relationships between two people.
• The central image is of an onion and it is used throughout

the poem as an extended metaphor for love.
81
The Big Picture
• The poet seems to reject any overly sentimental

and materialistic ideas about love.
• Instead she tries to present a more‘truthful’and

realistic picture of what love really is and what
being in love truly means.
• Now you are going to explore how Duffy

achieves this.
82
Literal meaning
What is the poem literally saying? Break the poem into four
different sections: lines 1–5, lines 6–11, lines 12–17, lines 18–23. You
can work in pairs to sum up what is happening in each section.
83
Lines 1–5
The speaker does not appear to like traditional gifts of love and
instead wants to give a seemingly unpleasant and unusual gift of an
onion. It is compared to the moon and has positive connotations of
the hope felt at the start of a new relationship.
Lines 6–11
The speaker insists that the lover take the onion even if it brings
sadness and tears. Just as an onion’s juices can make a person cry,
so can the arguments and heartbreak that go along with the reality
of modern relationships.
Lines 12–17
Rejection of traditional tokens of love is reinforced and repetition of

the more realistic idea of an onion is given. The speaker embraces
the passion that goes along with a modern relationship but also
accepts that it may not last forever.
Lines 18–23
Explore how relationships can lead to marriage but may also end in
heartbreak. The speaker acknowledges that the (often painful)
memories of a relationship can stay with a person, just as an onion’s
scent will linger.
84
Connotations
Examine what lines carry positive or negative connotations.

To begin this, you should go through the poem and put a +
(positive) or – (negative) symbol next to the lines that have
the corresponding connotation.
85
86
Connotations
Complete the following table:
Words with connotations of Words with connotations of

traditional/fake love modern/realistic love
87
88
Discussion points
1. Why has Duffy chosen so many contrasting phrases of

traditional and modern love?
2. In what ways do these contrasting ideas help to show Duffy’s

aitude towards what real relationships should be like?
3. What do learners think about giving traditional/clichéd gifts in

today’s society? Have they ever given any of these gifts?
89
In groups
In your group, you are going to discuss a statement from the

poem and try to explain it to your classmates.
Think about:
• What the poet is saying about love
• How she says it
• Tone, language and structure
90
Group 1 Group 4
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper. Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
It promises light possessive and faithful
like the careful undressing of love.
Group 5
Group 2 Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding‑

ring,
It will blind you with tears
if you like.
like a lover.
Group 6
Group 3
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
It will make your reflection
cling to your knife.
a wobbling photo of grief.
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
Extended Metaphor
98
The poet uses an extended metaphor which describes

something (her relationship) as if it is the thing it resembles (an
onion).
You are going to explore this metaphor in more detail.
99
Arrange the stages of the metaphor

into the correct order.
Use your copy of the poem to help

you.
100
Stages of Extended Line What is the poet saying about

Metaphor nos relationships?
An onion is light
underneath a darker
outer skin
Onions make a
person’s eyes water
Raw onions leave a

strong taste on the
lips
Onions are made up

of rings
The smell of an
onion lingers on the
skin
Onions are chopped

up
101
Stages of Extended Line

What is the poet saying about relationships?
Metaphor nos
An onion is light
As a relationship unfolds, different aspects of a
underneath a 3‑5
person are revealed. Also ‑ sexual relationship.
darker outer skin
Onions make a
7 Relationships can hurt you and make you cry
person’s eyes water
Raw onions leave a

strong taste on the 14 The memories of a relationship are hard to forget
lips
Onions are made up Wedding rings ‑ marriage is the ultimate commitment

19
of rings in a relationship
The smell of an
Heartache, pain and bierness continue after the end
onion lingers on the 22
of a relationship
skin
Onions are chopped Break up, destruction of relationship ‑ love can hurt
23
up us
102
Structure and Tone
103
Tone
Tone Word clues
Not
Direct/Honest/ Onion, brown paper, Moon,
Lines 1‑5 realistic/Romantic/
Positive/hopeful undressing
Promises, love
Here. It will
Blunt/direct/Sad/
Lines 6‑11 Blind, tears, wobbling, grief
frustrated/Honest
Trying to be truthful
Not
Direct/Passionate/
Lines 12‑17 Fierce, kiss, lips, possessive, faithful
Cautious/realistic
For as long as we are
Take it. Lethal.
Direct/blunt/Open‑ If you like.
Lines 18‑23 minded/Hurt/
cynical/wary Cling (×2),
scent, knife
104
105
Structure
As you have now analysed how the tone shifts throughout
the poem, it is important to note the structure of the poem
itself as this gives us clues to the speaker. Work in pairs,
making notes on what you observe about the structure of the
poem.
Things to look out for:
Minor sentences
Direct Statements
Repetition
Rhyme
Rhythm
106
107
108
109
The four longer sections in the poem reflect different stages in a

modern relationship – from the hopeful, romantic beginning
through to the potential marriage or painful break‑up.
Why does Duffy put the phrases ‘Here.’, ‘Take it.’ and ‘Lethal.’
on lines on their own? Consider the activities on tone and think
about how the commands are effective in conveying Duffy’s
message.
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
You are now going to work in groups to produce a

poster on an aspect of the poem which will form part
of a wall display.
You will be asked to produce notes on one or more of

the following aspects of the poem:
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
Practice Questions
Question Skill(s)
By referring closely to lines
1‑5, evaluate their effectiveness
as an opening to the poem.
Discuss how the writer
effectively creates this persona
through her use of word
choice, structure and/or tone.
Analyse how the writers use of
imagery and/or symbolism is
effective in conveying the
personas opinions on love.
By referring to this poem and
at least one other by Carol Ann
Duffy, discuss how she
explores the theme of love in
her work.
126
Questions on ‘Valentine’
Complete the first three questions

1. By referring closely to lines 1‑5, evaluate their effectiveness as an opening to the
poem. 2
2. Discuss how the writer effectively creates this persona through her use of word
choice, structure and/or tone. 4
3. Analyse how the writer’s use of imagery and/or symbolism is effective in conveying
the persona’s opinions on love. 4
4. By referring to this poem and at least one other by Carol Ann Duffy, discuss how
she explores the theme of loss in her work. 10
127
Homework:
Complete the close reading questions on

pages 15‑16 of your workbook.
128
Links between the poems
War Photographer
Originally
Valentine
129
Compare and Contrast
The final question in the Scoish Context Critical Reading section

asks you to compare Duffyʹs poems. All through this unit, you
will be asked to find points of comparison. Although these three
poems may not seem very similar, there are some points of
comparison to consider.
130
Key Ideas: Time and Memory
Originally and War Photographer
• Originally shows time bringing about identity loss due to

gradual assimilation into, homogeneity with, a new
community. Her memories of Glasgow gradually fade
over time, a change that causes some guilt.
• War Photographer shows time bringing about delayed

shock when the developing photographs remind the
photographer of the horrific original experiences. His
memories don’t fade over time. The photographs preserve
his memories.
131
Key Ideas: Theme of Loss
Originally, War Photographer and Valentine
• In War Photographer, photographs document loss of life –

children presumably die in minefields; a dead man whose wife
assented to the photograph being taken is described as a “ghost”.
Also he “stares impassively” at the war zones he works in as if
having lost the power to be shocked or moved.
• In Originally, Duffy herself has lost her original home, accent, and
ultimately her Scoish, Glaswegian identity .
• In Valentine, it is shown that couples can lose fidelity and ultimately

relationships.
132
Key Ideas: Destruction
• War Photographer deals with the violent destruction of war:

children being victims of landmines, a husband dying in front of
his wife, blood soaking into ground.
• In Valentine, possessiveness and infidelity can destroy
relationships. “Lethal” and “knife” suggest violent, wounding,
hurtful ends to relationships.
• In Originally, Duffy’s memories of Glasgow as home, Glaswegian

accent, Scoish dialect and sense of identity are destroyed by
moving to England.
133
Key Ideas: Pain

• War Photographer deals with the physical and emotional pain of

war victims remembered and captured in pictures; the idea of pain
being on a scale, comparing the extreme pain suffered in war
zones to “ordinary pain”, trivial annoyances, of rural England;
lack of pain felt by Sunday supplement readers on seeing images
of war; disguised pain felt by the photographer on returning to
work in a war zone.
• Valentine suggests the intense emotional pain, the wounding
caused by the break up of a relationship.
• Originally shows Duffy’s family’s emotional pain – anxious

parents, crying brothers – at leaving the familiarity of their home;
Duffy’s guilty pain at eventually becoming assimilated in her new
surroundings.
134
Key Ideas: Loneliness or Solitude

• War Photographer begins with the photographer being “finally
alone”, having the peace and solitude to develop pictures and deal
with his feelings of shock about the war zones he has experienced.
• Valentine suggests that relationships eventually bring “grief”, are

not permanent, that fidelity lasts only up to a point, leading to
break ups which leave former partners alone.
• Originally shows Duffy, lonely at first, moving to England where

all is unfamiliar and where “no one you know stays”.
135
The Final Question

Candidates should discuss:
The representation of love in this and other poems by Carol Ann Duffy to
highlight a main concern. They should also refer to appropriate textual evidence
to support their discussion.
Up to 2 marks can be achieved for identifying elements of commonality as

identified in the question.
A further 2 marks can be achieved for reference to the extract given.
6 additional marks can be awarded for discussion of similar references to at least

one other poem by the poet.
Candidates can answer in bullet points in this final question, or write a number of
linked statements.
136
Havisham
137
Dramatic Monologue
Dramac monologue refers to a type of poetry.
These poems are dramac in the sense that they have a
theatrical quality; that is, the poem is meant to be read to
an audience.
A monologue means that these are the words of one
solitary speaker with no dialogue coming from any other
characters. Think of one person standing alone on a stage
speaking to an audience.
138
Poets write dramatic monologues to express a point of

view through the words of a character.
However, the tricky part is that often the opinions stated by

that character are not the same as the views of the poet.
Most of the time, the speaker is trying to convince someone

of something, and may or may not be telling the whole
truth.
Sometimes what the speaker doesnʹt say is just as revealing

and interesting as what he or she does say in the poem.
139
The speaker has a listener within the poem, but we too are his / her
listener, and we learn about the speaker’s character from what the
speaker says.
In fact, the speaker may unintentionally reveal certain aspects of

his / her character – often unsavoury.
Each dramatic monologue should display:
1) a speaker
2) an identified audience
3) an occasion
4) an interplay between speaker and audience, which takes place

in the present
5) revelation of character
140
Duffy’s monologues typically consist of an uninterrupted

narrative spoken by a single character to a specific audience.
It is important to remember that the speaker is not the poet

herself, but rather a persona created by Duffy.
Duffy creates a living, breathing human being (often the wife

of a famous historical person) with a complex personal history
and view of the world.
141
Havisham
• The speaker in the poem is the character of Miss Havisham,

taken from the Dickens novel ‘Great Expectations’.
• In the novel, she is deserted at the altar on her wedding day

by her husband‑to‑be.
• She is completely devastated and never recovers.
• She continues to wear her decaying wedding dress, adopts a

daughter and brings her up teaching her to hate all men.
142
The first encounter with Havisham in Dickens'

novel:
143
Miss Havisham’s only companion is Estella, her

adopted daughter. Estella is beautiful, and Pip
develops a strong infatuation, an infatuation that
turns into love as he grows older.
But it is unrequited love, as Miss Havisham has

made it her dark lifeʹs project to raise Estella as a
cruel‑hearted girl who will break menʹs hearts,
satisfying Miss Havishamʹs own desire to spurn
love.
144
First reading:
Beloved sweetheart bastard. Not a day since then
I haven’t wished him dead. Prayed for it
so hard I’ve dark green pebbles for eyes,
ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with.
5 Spinster. I snk and remember. Whole days

in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall; the dress
yellowing, trembling if I open the wardrobe;
the slewed mirror, full‐length, her, myself, who did this
to me? Puce curses that are sounds not words.

10 Some nights beer, the lost body over me,
my fluent tongue in its mouth in its ear
then down ll I suddenly bite awake. Love’s
hate behind a white veil; a red balloon bursng

in my face. Bang. I stabbed at a wedding cake.
15 Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon.
Don’t think it’s only the heart that b‐b‐b‐breaks.
145
Form and Structure

Work together to identify:
Rhyme / Half‑rhyme (or lack of)
Rhythm: do any of the lines have a regular rhythm? (Are there any
lines with a regular paern of stressed and unstressed syllables?)
Enjambment
Discuss: what effect do these techniques have on Havishamʹs voice?
146
Form and Structure

The poem is wrien in four unrhymed stanzas. Duffy has said
that she enjoys the way stanzas help her to concentrate and fix
her ideas more effectively, and has described them as being
almost like mini‑canvases.
The lack of rhyme and the presence of enjambment help to

create a more defined voice in the poem. However, while this
can often produce a more natural, realistic speech paern, in
this case it has the opposite effect: Havisham’s voice is choppy
and stilted, which emphasises the lack of order and structure
to her thoughts.
147
Form and Structure

Similarly, although at first glance the poem looks fairly regular,
there is no fixed meter. The first line is the only one with a regular
rhythm ‑ it is wrien in iambic hexameter (12 syllables: 6 stressed, 6
unstressed in a regular rhythm) ‑ but this is then ʹtorn awayʹ from
the reader (much like her marriage and ʹregular rhythm of lifeʹ was
ripped from her) and the rest of the poem has no fixed rhythm.This,
and the occasional slightly off‑kilter half rhymes and assonance,
help to reinforce this lack of logic and the erosion of the speaker’s
psyche.
148
In groups
You are now going to discuss questions on the poem in groups

and take notes of your ideas.
Try to answer them as fully as possible, and be ready to share

your ideas with the class.
149
Group Discussion Questions
Title
1. Why does the poet omit Miss Havishamʹs title and refer to her by her
surname only?
Stanza 1
2. What does the oxymoron in line one reveal about her feelings?
3. Explain the image ‘dark green pebbles for eyes.’
4. Explain the image ‘ropes on the back of my hands.’
Stanza 2
5. Why does the poet write “spinster” on its own? What does Miss
Havisham think about this word and its relevance to her?
6. What is her aitude to the fact she is unmarried?
7. Comment on the use of the word ‘stink’.
8. Comment on the use of the word ‘cawing’.
9. What is the effect of “Nooooo”? Why is the word wrien in this way?
10. Comment on the last line – can you explain the structure?
Stanza 3
11. What connotations are there for ‘puce’ (dark red)?
12. What is the speaker describing in lines 10‑13?
13. What might this reveal?
Stanza 4
14. What could the ‘red balloon’ symbolise and what is the
significance of it bursting?
15. Comment on the use of onomatopoeia.
16. What is the tone of this verse?
17. What is the effect of “b‑b‑breaks” in the final line? Why is

repetition used in this way?
150
The whole poem: discussion
• The poet is effectively exploring a number of themes in this poem.

What do you think they are?
• How far does the poet want us to sympathise with Miss Havisham?
• Does the reader have to know about Great Expectations to

understand the poem?
• Does Miss Havisham have a fair view of men? What do you think of
her view of being an unmarried woman?
• Perhaps the most important part of the poem is the question “who
did this / to me?” How far does the poem show that Miss Havisham
is responsible for her own misery, and how far does it support her
feelings of self‑pity and her desire for revenge?
151
Themes
The key theme in this poem is the corrosive nature of hatred on the
human psyche. In giving Miss Havisham a voice outside of Dickens’
novel, the poet is able to crystallise perfectly how the single event of
being jilted can completely shaer and destroy a human being, and
erode any love or compassion that could once be felt.
The mood throughout is bier and caustic as Duffy clearly conveys

how love can quickly be replaced with hatred and violence.
The wedding imagery, the cake, the dress and the honeymoon, are
all used to reinforce how quickly experiences and events associated
with joy can be soured and become toxic symbols to feed and
nourish hatred instead of love.
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
Practice Questions
Question Skill(s)
Show how the writer
effectively creates a damaged
or isolated character in the
persona of Havisham.
Examine the connotations of
the different colours used
throughout the poem and
what they add to your
understanding of the character
or theme of the poem.
How effective you find the
final line as a conclusion to the
poem?
Discuss how Carol Ann Duffy
uses the dramatic monologue
form in this poem and at least
one other to highlight the
poems main concern(s).
166
Questions
1. Analyse how the writer effectively creates a damaged or isolated

character in the persona of Havisham. 4
2. Analyse the connotations of the different colours used throughout the

poem and what they add to your understanding of the character or theme of
the poem. 4
3. Explain how effective you find the final line as a conclusion to the poem.
2
167
Final Question: 1.Discuss how Carol Ann Duffy explores the theme of love in this poem
and at least one other. 10
Discussion:
Havisham and Valentine: Similarities and Differences
Similarities Differences
Valentine explores the possible
Both poems focus on a excitement and hope of love,
characters perspective of love whilst Havisham only describes
and the potentially disastrous the sadness and bierness of
consequences of a failed broken love.Valentine aims to offer
Subject maer
relationship.Both poems a realistic perspective of modern
confront the bier nature of the relationships but Havisham can
memories and hurt that could seem more extreme and obsessive
accompany rejection. in the way it deals with the subject
of a failed relationship.
Language
Ideas and
aitudes
Form and
structure
168
Anne Hathaway
169
What do you know about William Shakespeare?
170
What do you know about William Shakespeare?
Shakespeare was born in Straord‐upon‐Avon, England, in April 1564 and died

on 23rd April 1616. We know that he was bapsed on 26th April 1564 and
scholars now believe that he was born on April 23rd. He therefore died on his
fiy‐second birthday.
During his life, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets. This means
an average 1.5 plays a year since he first started wring in 1589. His last play The
Two Noble Kinsmen is reckoned to have been wrien in 1613 when he was 49
years old. While he was wring the plays at such a pace he was also conducng
a family life, a social life and a full business life, running an acng company and a
theatre.
Few people realise that apart from wring his numerous plays and sonnets,
Shakespeare was also an actor who performed many of his own plays as well as
those of other playwrights. During his life Shakespeare performed before Queen
Elizabeth I and, later, before James I who was an enthusiasc patron of his work.
171
We’re going to look at one of Shakespeare’s love sonnets, before

looking at a modern sonnet about Shakespeare’s wife.
172
Shakespearean Sonnets ‑ Structure

• There are fourteen lines in a Shakespearean sonnet.
• The first twelve lines are divided into three quatrains

with four lines each.
• In the three quatrains the poet establishes a theme or

problem and then resolves it in the final two lines, called
the couplet.
• The rhyme scheme of the quatrains is ABAB CDCD EFEF.

The couplet has the rhyme scheme GG.
173
174
175
176
Now that you know more about the structure of a

Shakespearean sonnet, you are going to work in groups to
work out the correct structure of the muddled up sonnet
which you have been given.
Remember the rhyme scheme:
abab cdcd efef gg.
Here’s a clue to start you off: the first line is
“My mistressʹ eyes are nothing like the sun;”
177
Muddled Sonnet
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
As any she belied with false compare.
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
178
179
So, what is Shakespeare saying in this sonnet?
180
So, what is Shakespeare saying in this sonnet?

This sonnet is generally considered a humorous
parody of the typical love sonnet and plays an
elaborate joke on the conventions of love poetry
common to Shakespeare’s day.
The sonnet compares the speaker’s lover to a number

of other beauties—and never in the lover’s favour. Its
message is simple: the dark ladyʹs beauty cannot be
compared to the beauty of a goddess or to that found
in nature, for she is but a mortal human being.
Shakespeare says that she is not a goddess and is not

as beautiful as things found in nature, another typical
source of inspiration for the average sonneteer.
Yet the narrator loves her nonetheless, and in the closing
couplet says that in fact she is just as extraordinary
(ʺrareʺ) as any woman described with such exaggerated
or false comparisons; he insists that love does not need
these conceits in order to be real; and women do not
need to look like flowers or the sun in order to be
beautiful.
It is this blunt but charming sincerity that has made

sonnet 130 one of the most famous in the sequence.
181
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway was William

Shakespeareʹs wife.
182
Background and Narrative Voice:
She was seven years his senior and already pregnant when the 18‑
year‑old Shakespeare married her.
Shakespeare left for her their second best bed in his will.
While a lot of Shakespeare scholars assume that this was a sign

that Shakespeare didnʹt love her but Duffy interprets the will
differently in the poem ‑ in Shakespeareʹs day beds were much
more extravagant and often cost the equivalent of a house. Also,
the best beds were reserved for guests suggesting that their second
best bed was their marital bed. The second best bed in ʺAnne
Hathawayʺ is a symbol of love and devotion.
• Discussion: An insult or a last romantic gesture from the

playwright?
183
Overview
• This poem comes from the “The World’s Wife”, Duffy’s first themed
collection of poems.
• In this set of poems, Duffy considers both real and fictional characters, stories,
histories and myths which concentrated on men, and gives voice to the
women associated with them.
• Although “Havisham” was printed a year earlier, it would make a good

comparison with this poem since both take the perspective of a woman living
without her lover: Havisham having been jilted at the altar, while Hathaway
has been widowed.
184
ʹItem I gyve unto my wife my second best bed ...ʹ
(from Shakespeareʹs will)
The bed we loved in was a spinning world
of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas
where we would dive for pearls. My loverʹs words
were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses
on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme
to his, now echo, assonance; his touch
a verb dancing in the centre of a noun.
Some nights, I dreamed heʹd wrien me, the bed
a page beneath his writerʹs hands. Romance
and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste.
In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on,
dribbling their prose. My living laughing love ‑
I hold him in the casket of my widowʹs head
as he held me upon that next best bed.
185
The Big Picture
• Who is the narrator?
• Summarise, in detail, what you think the poem is about.
• What themes are conveyed in this poem?
186
Comparing Sonnet 130 and ‘Anne Hathaway’
In Sonnet 130 Shakespeare compares his mistress to the standards

normally required of women in poetry, and concludes that even
though she is not the divine goddess other poets write about, to
him she is just as beautiful in spite of, or maybe even because of,
her human imperfections.
Anne Hathaway is about a marriage where the couple create their

own romance, one that does not involve conforming to other
people’s expectations. The poem allows the reader an insight into
a relationship of mutual love and respect, where the couple create
a retreat from the rest of the world through poetry, a world which
is symbolised by the second best bed. The power of literature and
the imagination is hence a central idea in the poem. The poem
creates significance around the bed which can only be truly
understood by the couple themselves. The poem is hence in one
sense about reinventing material objects.
187
Comparing Sonnet 130 and ‘Anne Hathaway’
Another theme that runs through the poem is Anne’s loss of her
husband and her genuine grief. A reader might perhaps expect
Anne Hathaway to be angry and resentful, permanently
overshadowed and side‑lined by her husband, but Duffy’s Anne
is only full of admiration and love for her husband, cherishing
her precious memories that nobody else can share. Although
Duffy gives Anne a voice, she actually subverts the reader’s
expectations through the emotions expressed by the character.
188
Form and Structure

• Identify the rhyme scheme. Does it fit in with a traditional
Shakespearean sonnet?
• Identify the meter
• Highlight examples of alliteration and assonance in the sonnet.

Discussion: think about what the poem is describing and
consider how this might relate to Duffyʹs use of these two
techniques.
• Highlight enjambment. Discussion: what words does the use

of enjambment emphasise and what effect does it have on the
ʹflowʹ of the poem?
189
Form and Structure
Duffyʹs Anne Hathaway is a sonnet spoken in the voice of Anne

Hathaway.
Because Duffy imagines the speaker as one distinct character, we

can call this poem a dramatic monologue.
It follows the most basic sonnet rule in that it has fourteen lines.
However, it breaks a lot of rules.
It has no formal rhyme scheme and its meter isn’t always exactly
iambic pentameter.
190
Form and Structure

Fiingly, Duffy employs the sonnet form so adored by Shakespeare.
This 14‑line structure is often associated with love poetry, and is highly
appropriate given the subject maer of the poem.
Shakespearean sonnets contain three quatrains and a couplet. (A quatrain is a

stanza of exactly four lines, often with an alternating rhyme paern.)
The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFEFGG.
The quatrains usually present the key ideas explored by the poet with the
resolution or ʹvoltaʹ (an Italian term which literally translates as: the turn)
arriving in the couplet.
191
Form and Structure

In the poem, Duffy quite literally employs a softer rhyme with a
much more relaxed, less restrictive rhyme scheme, combined with
overtly sensual, erotic language and imagery.
She uses a regular meter but her deliberate choices of assonance

and alliteration are designed to imitate the random touching made
during love making, so that it is almost as though the words
themselves are grazing each other.
192
Form and Structure
Duffy makes frequent use of enjambment in the poem to

show how freely and without obstruction love flowed
between the couple, as well as to place emphasis on
important words or phrases.
193
Imagery
The entire poem is a metaphor comparing the couple’s
love making to the process of artistic and poetic
creativity.
194
Imagery
What metaphor is used to describe the following:
The bed (lines 1‑3)
Her lovers words (lines 3‑4)
Their bodies (lines 5‑6)

His touch (lines 6‑7)
The bed (again) (lines 8‑9)
What is the effect of each image? What impression do they create of

the relationship and of the speaker?
195
Central Themes
Discussion: What are the central themes of this poem?
Points to consider:
• What types of love are being described?
• What characterises their relationship?
• Why does she refer to specific language techniques in the sonnet?
• Think about the last line ‑ what is significant about ʺcasket of my widowʹs
headʺ. What does it show about their relationship and her feelings
towards him?
196
Central Themes
• This poem deals with the themes of passionate, sensual erotic love as well as
death and remembrance.
• In the poem, Duffy really concentrates on conveying that this was a marriage
based on an all encompassing deeply physical relationship. She uses the
actual legacy of the bed left by Shakespeare to his wife to meditate on this
specific aspect of their relationship.
• In doing so, she presents a couple completely in tune with each other both
sexually and emotionally.
• Fiingly, in a poem about the world’s greatest ever poet and wordsmith, she
uses language itself as an extended metaphor to convey the intensity of their
passion.
• As well as emphasising the profound physical connection of the lovers, Duffy

also considers that the most fiing way to honour our dead loved ones is by
preserving the most enduring, vivid aspects of their character in our
memories, thus allowing them to continue to survive.
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211
212
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215
Question Skill(s)
The main theme of the poem is

introduced in the title and the first
5 lines. Identify one main theme
and show how poetic technique is
used to introduce this theme.
By referring closely to lines 3 10

analyse the use of poetic
technique to emphasise the
passion in their relationship.
Explain what Anne Hathaway

means when she states that I
dreamed heʹd wrien me, the
beda page beneath his writerʹs
hands
How effective you find lines 13‑14

as a conclusion to the poem?
Discuss how Carol Ann Duffy

uses a persona in this poem and at
least one other to highlight the
poems main concern.
216
Scoish Context Questions

1. The main theme of the poem is introduced in the title and the first 5 lines.
Identify one main theme and show how poetic technique is used to introduce
this theme. 3
2. By referring closely to lines 3 – 10 analyse the use of poetic technique to

emphasise the passion in their relationship. 2
3. Explain what Anne Hathaway means when she states that 2
‘I dreamed heʹd wrien me, the bed
a page beneath his writerʹs hands’
4. How effective you find lines 13‑14 as a conclusion to the poem? 3
5. Discuss how Carol Ann Duffy uses a persona in this poem and at least one
other to highlight the poems’ main concern. 10
217
5. Discuss how Carol Ann Duffy uses a persona in this poem and at least one other to
highlight the poems’ main concern. 10
• Anne Hathaway: wife of William Shakespeare (persona of real,

historical character)
• Havisham: jilted bride of Mr Compeyson in Dickens’ novel Great

Expectations (persona of fictional character)
218
5. Discuss how Carol Ann Duffy uses a persona in this poem and at least one other
to highlight the poems’ main concern. 10
Some Key Ideas

LOVE
• Havisham portrays love that has been ruined by the fiance

jilting the bride, turning love to festering, vengeful hatred.
• Anne Hathaway portrays love that is mutual, passionate,
fulfilling: “spinning world…shooting stars…drama…”
MARRIAGE
• Anne Hathaway is about a happy marriage, an equal

partnership, ended only by widowhood, leaving happy
memories.
• Havisham is about a marriage called off at the last moment and
the devastating effect on the remainder of the jilted bride’s life.
LOSS
• In Havisham, a jilted bride has lost her fiance and all the
happiness and fulfilment she expected in the later years from
marriage: her status as wife, the experience of sex. She has lost
her youth and years of her life, stagnating and festering with
hatred.
• In Anne Hathaway, a widow speaks of her lost husband.
LONELINESS
• Havisham shows a lonely spinster, abandoned by her former

fiance, unable to move on with her life, imagining what she has
lost, her former love twisted to violent hatred.
• Anne Hathaway shows a widow left alone but consoling herself

with her precious memories of a happy life with her husband.
219
Mrs Midas
220
Context:
Who was King Midas?
If you donʹt know who he was, think

about if youʹve ever heard the expression
to have ʹthe Midas touchʹ? What does it
mean?
221
King Midas
• In Greek mythology, King Midas was granted a wish by

the god Dionysus. Midas chose to have the ability of
having anything he touch turn to gold.
• However, Midas touched his daughter and she became a

gold statue. He also couldn’t eat anything because his
food turned to gold.
• He eventually begged for his powers to be reversed.
222
Mrs Midas
• This is a dramatic monologue told from the point of

Midas’ wife.
• It explores how she feels about the situation with

her husband and her perspective on his wish – of all
the things he could have wished for, he wished for
this. What does this say about what kind of person
he is?
223
With comical undertones, a wide range of emotions

is expressed through the persona of Mrs Midas as she
speaks out against her husband’s foolish actions and
gradually separates herself from him.
She leaves him to waste away in isolation while she

laments the loss of their physical relationship and the
chance to have a baby together to fulfil their dreams.
224
Useful vocabulary/things to know
• Blanching – method of cooking – boil something for a

short period of time and then submerge it in cold
water to halt the cooking process
• Fondante d’Automne – a delicious type of pear with

sweet flesh
• Field of the Cloth of Gold – A place of meeting

between King Henry VIII and King Francis 1
• Miss Macready – Mrs. Midas’ history teacher
• Burnished – Polished metal
• Aurum – Latin word for gold
• Luteous – a moderate greenish yellow
• Tutankhamun – An Egyptian pharaoh
• Halcyon – calm, peaceful days
• Ore – type of rock that contains important metal

elements
• Pan – Greek God of nature
225
Initial Reading: Overview
> How is Midas presented?
> How is Mrs Midas presented?
> What does the poem say about men?
> What does the poem say about marriage?
226
Duffyʹs take on the poem...
The rhythm of the poem comes very much

from my own family, my mother and my
grandmother, which were actually Irish, so it
is in an Irish voice, “What in the name of God
is going on?” and “Look, we all have wishes;
granted; /But who has wishes granted?” etc. I
wanted to bring into the poem some of the
rhythms of the exasperation of women.
227
Initial Reading: Technique spoing
• Read the poem and working with a partner, highlight / note

any techniques that you find. Look for prominent examples
of the devices we have considered so far in our analysis of
the other 5 poems.
228
Form and Structure: Prompts

• What form does the poem take?
• The poem is wrien in 11 stanzas, each 6 lines long. However, the

lines are unpredictable in length. What might this represent?
• What do stanzas 1‑6 detail? What tone is created in these stanzas?
• What does the rest of the poem deal with?
• What does the last line of the poem reveal about Mrs Midas?
• Can you find any examples of internal rhyme (rhyme within the
lines)?
• If you havenʹt already, highlight examples of enjambment.
229
Form and Structure

• Modern reseing of a familiar legend.
• Dramatic monologue from a female perspective, similar

to the other poems in The World’s Wife collection, in
which well‑known male characters from myths or history
are presented from the viewpoint of the forgoen or
disregarded women in their lives.
• Duffy focuses on an aspect of this well‑known character

King Midas and presents an imaginary response from his
wife’s viewpoint, providing fresh, thought‑provoking and
comical insight into their lives.
230
Form and Structure
• 11 stanzas (verses) of irregular line length.
• Each stanza 6 lines long; regular length unrhymed.
• Approx. 12 – 15 syllables = relaxed, narrative effect.
• Unpredictable length of lines reflects how unpredictable life

becomes for Mr and Mrs Midas.
231
Form and Structure

• Stanzas one to six deal with the discovery of King Midas’
granted wish, and the sheer panic at the realisation and of
the tremendous power he has been given. At the same
time, a comic tone is maintained throughout, as Mrs
Midas even catalogues everyday items being turned to
gold.
• The remainder of the poem reveals the harsh heartfelt

implications of Midas’ gift, highlighting the damage it has
done to the couple’s relationship and their future together.
The final line in the poem sums up Mrs Midas’ regret at
the loss of physical contact with her isolated husband.
232
Form and Structure
• Internal rhyme (rhyme within the lines) used as well

as personification and frequent enjambment to
convey the speaker’s train of thought.
• Gives the narrative a feeling of prose.
• Rhythm in the ideas too, as concepts build on one

another and become clear to the reader.
233
Tone and Style

• A conversational feel created with asides and
interjections (interruptions) of added or qualifying
information. Effect = intimacy between the speaker and
listener.
• Conversational tone – since we notice the story we

almost forget how horrific and weird the events are.
• References to touch are subtle at the start but in the

second half of the poem, the notes of tenderness are
more evident.
234
Allusion
This is when in one piece of literature, there is a reference to another
piece of literature, literary idea or well‑known reference.
No specific explanation is required in the text and the reference is

therefore loaded with connotations and ideas.
There are allusions in Mrs Midas:
‘Field of the Cloth of Gold’
ʹTutankhamunʹ
Task: Research these two references and

identify their connection to Midas/Mrs Midas.
235
‘Field of the Cloth of Gold’

The site of a meeting that took place in France from 7 June to
24 June 1520, between King Henry VIII and King Francis I of
France.
The glamour and extravagance of the meeting showed two

princes out‑doing each other with their show of riches.
Relevance to Mrs Midas?
236
Tutankhamun
• Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh (ca. 1332 BC – 1323 BC).
• The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter and George Herbert of

Tutankhamunʹs tomb received worldwide press coverage.
• The tomb was largely intact so the archaeologists were able to

understand the manner of the burial and all the riches of the
King were sealed in the tomb which was a tremendous find.
• It sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt.
237
Discussion Questions
1. What is your favourite description and why?
2. What ideas and connotations are suggested by the seing (time and place) of
the poem?
3. What descriptions or words are unfamiliar – how might their context help you
work out their meaning?
4. Mrs Midas adds in pieces of extra information as asides, to help her narrative
along. Identify a couple of these and suggest why she does this.
5. Identify examples or evidence of humour and word play – what does it add to
the poem and your view of the speaker?
6. There are a number of idioms and well‑known phrases which are referenced in
the poem – find two and comment on the effectiveness of their inclusion.
7. What themes might be present in the poem?
8. What is your over‑riding feeling about what kind of person Mrs Midas is?
238
Analysis
• We’ll analyse the first stanza together using a few questions as

the basis for discussion, then you will work in groups to
analyse the rest of the poem.
> Briefly note down what is happening in each stanza.
> What techniques have been used?
239
It was late September. I’d just poured a glass of wine, begun
to unwind, while the vegetables cooked. The kitchen
filled with the smell of itself, relaxed, its steamy breath
gently blanching the windows. So I opened one,
then with my fingers wiped the other’s glass like a brow.
He was standing under the pear tree snapping a twig.
240
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249
250
251
252
Themes
The main themes are:
> greed
> consequences of our actions
> loneliness and solitude
253
Greed
Greed is certainly a recurring theme as this is what

motivated Midas to make his wish in the first place.
The damaging effects are portrayed throughout with

both husband and wife, in the end, being left alone to
suffer the effects of wishing to possess a substance
which ultimately feeds no one.
254
Consequences of our actions is a prevalent theme as both

Midas and his wife pay the price of not really taking the time
to deliberate and think through what would follow if they
chose one action over another.
255
Loneliness and solitude are all that is left for both characters
by the end of the poem as a result of one selfish act.
A life of solitude is chosen as soon as Midas is granted his

foolish and selfish wish.
256
Identify the skill(s) required to answer each question.
Question Skill(s)
Look at stanza 7
the kiss that would turn my lips to
a work of art.
Explain fully what the poet means
by this.
By referring closely to lines 31
36, analyse the use of poetic
technique to achieve a humorous
tone.
By referring closely to the first
stanza, evaluate its effectiveness
as an opening to the poem.
In this poem Duffy uses a myth in
order to explore a deeper truth
about humanity. By referring to
this and another poem or poems
by Duffy you have studied
discuss how she uses poetry to
explore the deeper truth behind
ordinary experience.
257
Questions
1. Look at stanza 7
‘the kiss that would turn my lips to a work of art.’
Explain fully what the poet means by this. 3
2. By referring closely to lines 31 – 36, analyse the use of poetic technique to

achieve a humorous tone. 4
3. By referring closely to the first stanza, evaluate its effectiveness as an opening to

the poem. 3
4. In this poem, Duffy uses a myth in order to explore a deeper truth about
humanity.
By referring to this, and another poem or poems by Duffy you have studied,
discuss how she uses poetry to explore the deeper truth behind ordinary
experience. 10
258
The Final Question
Points of Comparison
Themes
• Task: Think about the six poems and add three more themes to the table
below.
Identity Love Relationships
Isolation Hypocrisy Loss

Transition Reality Heartbreak
Giving voice to
Writing about
those who do not Suffering
writing
have one
259
Comparison: Themes
Identify which texts share each theme.
Find a quotation from the text to support this.
Theme Text(s) Evidence
260
Comparison: Tone
Task:
Identify the predominate tone in each poem
Find evidence to support this identification
Identify the technique(s) used to create the tone of the poem and analyse its
impact.
Technique/
Poem Tone Evidence
Impact
Valentine
Havisham
War
Photographer
Originally
Anne
Hathaway
Mrs Midas
261
Comparison: Narrative Technique

On the table below:
1. Identify the perspective(s) used in the each poem by quoting evidence of its
usage in the correct column.
2. Identify who narrates the poem.
3. Under ‘Narrator’s characterisation summary’ identify the features of the

narrator’s character. Provide evidence.
Narrative Narrative Narrative Identify Narrator

perspective/ Perspective perspective/ the characterisation
evidence / evidence evidence Narrator summary
Valentine
Havisham
Anne
Hathaway
Mrs Midas
War
Photograph
er
Originally
262
Comparison: Techniques
Task:
Create a table charting the similarities in

poetic techniques.
263
Comparison: Evaluation
Task 1:
Consider each poem. Identify any words that could be used to describe the
reader’s response to the poem or parts of the poem and note it in ʹEvaluationʹ.
Do this for each poem.
Task 2:
Find a quotation from the poem which provokes this response and complete
the table below in your joer/notes.
Link between
Poem Evaluation Quotation quotation and
the evaluation
Valentine
Havisham
Anne
Hathaway
Mrs Midas
War
Photographer
Originally
264
Comparison: Key Ideas

4 of the 6 poems deal with the idea of LOVE
Find quotations to support each of the following:
• Anne Hathaway portrays love that is mutual, passionate, fulfilling:

“spinning world…shooting stars…drama…”
• Mrs Midas portrays love that was mutual and passionate but was ruined
by her husband’s “idiocy…greed…selfishness” and is unfulfilling by ending
their sex life and preventing her from having the baby she longed for.
• Havisham portrays love that has been ruined by the fiance jilting the
bride, turning love to festering, vengeful hatred.
• Valentine pragmatically portrays love that is initially mutual and

passionate, but shows it can be ruined in time by infidelity or destroyed by
possessiveness which becomes dangerous and is “Lethal” to relationships.
265

4 of the 6 poems deal with the idea of marriage

• AnneHathaway isaboutahappymarriage,anequal
partnership,endedonlybywidowhood,leavinghappymemories.
• Valentine suggeststhatmarriageisoptional;“platinumloops
shrinktoaweddingring”hintsmarriageisperhapstoo
possessive,constricting.
• MrsMidas portraysamarriagethatendsinaseparation
whichthewifewouldnothavewanted,duetotheunreasonable
behaviourofherhusband.
• Havishamisaboutamarriagecalledoffatthelastmoment
andthedevastatingeffectontheremainderofthejiltedbride’s
life.
266

4 of the 6 poems deal with the idea of the ending of relationships

• Anne Hathaway shows a happy relationship brought to an
end only because of the death of Anne’s husband. She treasures
happy memories of their time together.
• Valentine suggests relationships can bring unhappiness, in

some cases due to a partner being unfaithful, or danger, in a
partner’s extreme possessiveness, thereby requiring someone to
be cut out of another’s life.
• Mrs Midas shows the unhappy demise of a relationship due

to a partner’s behaviour and presumably the death of the
husband.
• Havisham shows much frustration over aspects of a

relationship and life with status as married woman denied the
bride by a relationship abruptly ended almost before it had
begun.
267

5 of the 6 poems deal with the idea of time and memory
• WarPhotographer showstimebringingaboutdelayedshockwhenthe
developingphotographsremindthephotographerofthehorriicoriginal
experiences.Hismemoriesdon’tfadeovertime.Thephotographspreservehis
memories.
• AnneHathaway showsmemoriesofhertimewithherhusbandbeing
preserved,notfading,storedinthe“casket”ofherownmindlikeShakespeare’s
bodyinhiscofin.
• MrsMidas showshowcertaininsigniicantthingslikesunlightorapplescan
jolthermemoryofherhusbandbothatthetimeandbeforethebreakupoftheir
marriageandbringbackvividrecollectionsthathaven’tfaded.
• Havishamshowshowtimecanpreventmemoriesfromfading:overtimethe
weddingdresshasyellowed–ironically,akindoffading‐andtheweddingcake
remaineduneaten,notjustjoltingbutexistingasconstantremindersofan
unhappyevent.
• Originallyshowstimebringingaboutidentitylossduetogradual
assimilationinto,homogeneitywith,anewcommunity.Hermemoriesof
Glasgowgraduallyfadeovertime,achangethatcausessomeguilt.
268

All of the poems deal with the theme of loss
• In War Photographer, photographs document loss of life – children

presumably die in minefields; a dead man whose wife assented to the
photograph being taken is described as a “ghost”. Also he “stares
impassively” at the war zones he works in as if having lost the power to
be shocked or moved.
• In Anne Hathaway, a widow speaks of her lost husband.
• In Havisham, a jilted bride has lost her fiance and all the happiness
and fulfilment she expected in the later years from marriage: her status as
wife, the experience of sex. She has lost her youth and years of her life,
stagnating and festering with hatred.
• In Mrs Midas, a wife speaks of her lost marriage, lost physical

closeness with her husband and the lost opportunity to have a baby.
• In Originally, Duffy herself has lost her original home, accent, and
ultimately her Scoish, Glaswegian identity.
• In Valentine, it is shown that couples can lose fidelity and ultimately

relationships.
269

5 out of 6 of the poems deal with the idea of destruction
• War Photographer deals with the violent destruction of war:

children being victims of landmines, a husband dying in front of his
wife, blood soaking into ground.
• Havisham deals with vengeful violence towards the fiance who

jilted bride: her desire to strangle, bite and stab. Her life, hopes, youth,
heart, have been destroyed by him and she longs to destroy him in
return.
• Mrs Midas shows a marriage and potential family destroyed by the

stupidity, greed and thoughtless selfishness of a husband.
• In Valentine, possessiveness and infidelity can destroy relationships.

“Lethal” and “knife” suggest violent, wounding, hurtful ends to
relationships.
• In Originally, Duffy’s memories of Glasgow as home, Glaswegian

accent, Scoish dialect and sense of identity are destroyed by moving to
England.
270

All of the poems deal with the idea of pain, whether emotional or physical
• War Photographer deals with the physical and emotional pain of

war victims remembered and captured in pictures; the idea of pain
being on a scale, comparing extreme pain suffered in war zones to
“ordinary pain”, trivial annoyances, of rural England; lack of pain felt
by Sunday supplement readers on seeing images of war; disguised pain
felt by photographer on returning to work in war zone.
• Havisham deals with the extreme emotional pain and heartbreak

felt by a jilted bride; the physical pain she imagines being able to inflict
in revenge.
• Valentine suggests intense emotional pain, wounding caused by the

break up of a relationship.
• Mrs Midas shows a wife’s regretful emotional pain at a marriage so

needlessly, thoughtlessly ruined; a husband’s physical pain during
starving to death, thin and hallucinating.
• Originally shows Duffy’s family’s emotional pain – anxious parents,

crying brothers – at leaving familiarity of home; Duffy’s guilty pain at
eventually becoming assimilated in her new surroundings.
271

All of the poems deal with the idea of loneliness or solitude
• War Photographer begins with the photographer being “finally

alone”, having the peace and solitude to develop pictures and deal with
his feelings of shock about the war zones he has experienced.
• Valentine suggests that relationships eventually bring “grief”, are not

permanent, that fidelity lasts only up to a point, leading to break ups
which leave former partners alone.
• Havisham shows a lonely spinster, abandoned by her former fiance,

unable to move on with her life, imagining what she has lost, her former
love twisted to violent hatred.
• Originally shows Duffy lonely at first moving to England where all is

unfamiliar and where “no one you know stays”.
• Anne Hathaway shows a widow left alone but consoling herself with
precious memories of a happy life with her husband.
• Mrs Midas portrays both husband and wife as lonely – he is dying in

solitude in an isolated caravan, she is alone at home, missing him and the
opportunity to be a family with a baby.
272
Comparison: Structure ‑ ways in which the

construction of the poems reflects their content
• Valentine is wrien in free verse, is seemingly unstructured, rather

than having any conventional form or paern, in keeping with idea that
love should not be constricted by marriage or possessiveness.
• Havisham is wrien in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The regularity of the

stanza paern suggests the social conformity of marriage, but the
unequal length of the lines, the fact that many are run‑on lines and the
lack of any regular rhyme scheme suggest the random, irrational
thoughts and feelings of persona and her unconventional existence as
perpetual spinster amongst the mouldering remains of wedding
paraphernalia.
• Mrs Midas is wrien in 11 stanzas of 6 unequal length lines each and

with no regular rhyme scheme. The poem is a dramatic monologue and
the length of it reflects in how much detail the persona wants to confide
in us. The irregular line length and lack of rhyme make it sound like
natural speech, a friend telling all to a friend.
• Originally is wrien in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. This regularity

suggests the continuity of being Scoish despite the outward changes
while the lack of end rhyme suggests changes and differences. Stanza 1
describes the journey from Glasgow; stanza 2 the initial isolation in
England and stanza 3 assimilation and the acceptance of change. Each
stanza is a stage in a progression, in keeping with the progression of
growing up and changing described in the poem.
• War Photographer is wrien in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each, with a

regular rhyme scheme of abbcdd paern in every stanza, i.e.: 2 tercets per
stanza comprising single line unrhymed followed by rhyming couplet.
This very strict paern, exactly repeated, suggests every print from film
is an exact replica, every photograph an exact record of horrific events.
The regularity of the stanzas and rhyme scheme also suggest the
orderliness of life at home in England in contrast to the chaos of war
abroad.
• Anne Hathaway is wrien in 14 lines, like a sonnet traditionally

associated with love poetry and used extensively by Shakespeare – and
so very appropriate as the poem is about love. Many lines have a
traditional 10 syllable length and iambic pentameter rhythm but not all
and the rhyme scheme is not exact, so it does not conform precisely to the
sonnet form, supporting Duffy’s view of Anne as not conforming to the
traditional idea of her as the illiterate, abandoned wife at home in
Stratford while Shakespeare was pursuing his career in London. Run‑on
lines between quatrains suggest the close connection and continuous
flow of love between the couple. The final rhyming couplet used in
Shakespearean style makes an emphatic, clinching conclusion to the
poem: her declaration that she holds on to her treasured memories of him
in the same way as he treasured her physically in life.
273
Using the poems as inspiration for the folio.
War Photographer
‑ War photography is nothing but voyeurism for the masses.
‑ Numb to the suffering. People don’t care about war and suffering in other countries.
‑ One man’s terrorist is another’s hero.
‑ The First World War was maintained by lies.
‑ There was nothing great about the Great War.
‑ Appeasement is an ideology for cowards.
Havisham
‑ The problem with society today is that people have ‘Great Expectations’
‑ It’s not the things that happen to us in life that maer but how we deal with them.
‑ Morality is decaying.
Valentine
‑ Love is a form of psychosis. Discuss
‑ Love is essential for survival. Discuss
‑ We live in a material world.
‑ Stop the commercialisation of love.
Originally
‑ Change is never easy.
‑ What makes Scotland so Scoish?
Anne Hathaway
‑ ʺAfter all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up
worth more dead than alive.ʺ
‑ Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, Act 2
‑ We live in a world of desires not love.
‑ Writing is an art form.
Mrs Midas
‑ Love is not enough.
‑ A ‘selfie’ is nothing but a symbol of the decline of society.
‑ We live in a selfish and self‑obsessed society.
274
275

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Duffy Higher Unit.

notebook June 02, 2015

The Poetry of Carol Ann Duﬀy

Research the following

Research tasks for developing understanding of the texts.

Who was St Valentine?

Who was Miss Havisham?

What is The Field of the Cloth of Gold?

Research Carol Ann Duﬀy’s childhood and background.

This is the link: hp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZPLIg5tFI8

by Carol Ann Duﬀy

“I remember all the

Excerpt from documentary

• Take a moment to look at the following photographs

• Kevin Carter took this photo in 1993 while on a trip to

• At this time, war photographers and photojournalists

• The photograph inspired a massive surge in

• He commied suicide 3 months later and his family

• One of Kevin Carter’s famous quotations about

> “I have to think visually. I am zooming in on a

• What does this tell us about the diﬃculty of the job

Some Interesting Clips and Documentaries on

Questions in pupil workbook

Don McCullin: In His Own Words

On his darkroom: ʺEven my darkroom is a haunted place.ʺ

Close Reading Practice

Homework: Complete the ʹWar Photographerʹ close reading in your workbooks.

Some Key Background Information

• Places mentioned in the poem

• Key vocabulary in the poem

NORTHERN IRELAND: BELFAST

CAMBODIA: PHNOM PEHN

Some key vocabulary

• Spools are what contained the ﬁlm

• Each spool let you take between 26‑30

• When it was full, you then had to get it

• This is where ﬁlms are developed.

• The lights are red in the room

• The ﬁlm is put in a series of

Exploring the poem

Answer the following questions about the poem

o What happens in the poem? (events)

o What is the poem about? (themes)

Exploring the poem

Annotate your copy of the poem, highlighting examples of the following

Add as much analysis to your annotations as you can (and remember to

Religious Imagery in the Poem

Red light of the darkroom, compared to sanctuary lamps:

ʺthe only light is red and softly glows,

as though this were a church...ʺ

Religious Imagery in the Poem

All Flesh is Grass

This is a biblical quotation from Isaiah 40:6‑8

The full quotation reads:

“All ﬂesh is grass, and all its beauty is the

The grass withers, the ﬂower fades, but the

Positioning the biblical reference after a list of war‑torn countries also

Annotating the poem

In his darkroom he is ﬁnally alone

with spools of suﬀering set out in ordered rows.

2. Think about connotations and placement of the words ʹﬁnally aloneʹ.

The only light is red and softly glows,

as though this were a church and he