FOREIGN

CAROL ANN DUFFY

 ‘FOREIGN’
• Adjective
1. of, from, in, or characteristic of a
country or language other than one's
own.
2. strange and unfamiliar.
• "I suppose this all feels
pretty foreign to you"
It is possible to argue that the
word ‘foreign’ has pejorative
connotations.
This means that the
thoughts/feelings we have about
the word have gotten worse over
time. The semantics of the word
have changed slightly.
Pejoration: the process by which the
meaning of a word becomes negative
or disparaging over a period of time,
WHAT ARE THE CONNOTATIONS OF
THE WORD ‘FOREIGN’?
Think-pair-share
 READ THE POEM INDIVIDUALLY

1 2 3 4
Read the poem Read a second Make notes about Try to decipher
independently time – make any key images the tone/main
annotations as or themes that feelings in the
you go stand out poem
 What do you think the
poem is about?
SHARE IDEAS
WITH YOUR
What are the main
PARTNER feelings or ideas?

Can you decipher any of

the main themes?
 • ‘Foreign’ by Carol Ann Duffy forces the reader to become an
alienated foreigner in the city they’ve lived in for twenty
years.
• The poem begins with the speaker describing the reader’s
surroundings to them. It is written in second person, meaning
that “you” will be the main character. It is clear from the
beginning that the character the speaker has created does not
feel at home in this place. They think in a different language,
and struggle with their own foreign accent.
SUMMARY OF THE
• As the poem continues, this person’s world is developed
POEM further and fear is added into their life. There is a moment
where they forget how to speak their second language, forget
how to read coins, and are unable to understand the spoken
word. This happens alongside “you” observing a derogatory
slur written on the wall in spray paint, further alienating “you”
from “your” place of residence.
• The poem ends with this person wondering what it would be
like to peacefully drift off to sleep without wondering where
and how they can belong
 The poet has made use of the 2nd person
perspective in an effort to cast the reader into
the role of “foreigner” that she has crafted. It
also reads as if the speaker is attempting to
convince the reader of something. It is likely
SUMMARY
CONTINUED that these are the poet’s experiences,
especially considering the detail into the
emotions that the “you” in the story
experiences. Perhaps she is hoping to make
others understand how it feels to be a
‘foreigner’.’
 W H AT I S
HA P P E N I N G I N
E A C H S TA N Z A ? Stanza What is happening?
What is the tone/atmosphere like?
Do you notice any changes from the
stanza before?

1 In the first stanza the speaker….

2
3
4
 Dramatic monologue

There is no particular rhyme scheme

STRUCTURE The lines are consistent in length, which gives it an overall even
and rhythmic feel. This could represent the mundane regularity of
the speaker’s life: they feel the need to just ‘get by’ on a day to day
basis.

The use of second person makes it seem as though the speaker is

trying to convince the reader of something. It also distances the
speaker from the experiences described in some ways, which helps
to reinforce the sense of alienation the speaker feels
 USE THIS VIDEO AND
THE FOLLOWING
SLIDES TO HELP WITH
Y O U R A N N O TAT I O N S

• https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=kqXCFTrq8ug
 The speaker has lived here for
20 years, but they still hear
their own ‘foreign accent’ –
suggesting he/she has always
and will always feel out of
place

Imagine living in a strange, dark city for twenty years.

There are some dismal dwellings on the east side A ‘dwelling’ is a place,
and one of them is yours. On the landing, you hear and the adjective ‘dismal’
your foreign accent echo down the stairs. You think suggests that the speaker
in a language of your own and talk in theirs. is living in a small, sad
house. The alliteration of
The reader is immediately the ‘d’ sound creates a
drawn into the poem – the tone of sadness.
imperative sentence and The use of the pronouns ‘your’
forceful verb ‘Imagine’ forces ‘theirs’ reinforced the divide
us to put ourselves into the that exists between the speaker
perspective of the speaker. and the community
The use of the word
‘then’ here indicates a
quick change from the
last stanza, as though the
speakers thoughts flicker
back and forth There seems to be a
constantly. The speaker conflict between the
is ‘writing home’, which speaker’s internal voice
suggests they don’t feel and their external voice
Then you are writing home. The voice in your head – they recite things in
accepted by in the place Recites the letter in a local dialect; behind that
they reside. The only their local dialect, but
Is the sound of your mother singing to you, there is no time for them
way they can access their All that time ago, and now you do not know
home is through the form to use it in the society
Why your eyes are watering and what’s the word for this. they live in. The verb
of a letter.
‘recites’ gives us the
impression that they
Strong emotions are evoked Sensory description practice this regularly.
by the simple process of highlights perhaps that
writing a letter. The speaker the speaker longs to be
seems very nostalgic for their back home - s/he even
home. remembers the sounds of
voices
This creates the impression The simile and use of caesura here help to
that perhaps the speaker is show the shock of the speaker. ‘Red’ is
largely disliked within the repeated from the line previous and the
community. Perhaps they are words and short and simplistic – this may
an immigrant (negative reflect the speaker’s lack of vocabulary, but Holophrastic
connotations). The colour also shows their simplistic one-way view of sentences seem to
imagery creates a feeling of the world they live in. They feel neglected highlight the idea
hostility and danger. and distanced from the place they live in. that the speaker
just wants to get
Repetition You use the public transport. Work. Sleep. Imagine one night through each day.
from the first You saw a name for yourself sprayed in red There is no
stanza, against a brick wall. A hate name. Red like blood. enjoyment. The
creating a It is snowing in the streets, under the neon lights, caesura used (full
cyclical as if this place were coming to bits before your eyes Sibilance used stop mid-line)
structure – we here – harsh ‘s’ helps to stress
are forced to sounds to how this is a
empathise The speaker has never seen snow reinforce the repetitive cycle.
with this before – they view it in a negative speaker’s feeling
speaker way of pain
Repetition of ‘imagine’ – we are drawn
into the poem once more, and also Again the language is colloquial, whilst
addressed directly. ‘one of you’, internal rhyme is used. The speaker wonders
creating a division between us and the what it might be like to simply ‘go to bed and
speaker. dream’. The internal rhyme highlights how
simplistic a wish this is and ye tit is
The colloquial language here is unachievable for him/her.
derogatory in nature. The italics further
highlight how the speaker feelsdelicatessen,
like an Metaphor used here
And in the from time to time, the coins
outcast – it is like an accusation. highlights their
in your palm will not translate. Inarticulate,
alienation –
because this is not home, you point at the fruit. Imagine
forgetting what the
that one of you says, Me not know what these people mean.
coins represent
*It like they only go to bed and dream.*Imagine that.
restricts them from
communicating. The
Hints of the setting – a European eatery. speaker seems
Again emphasises that this is all Creates an animalistic image – the overwhelmed by
‘foreign’ to the speaker. speaker is reduced to behaving like simple daily tasks.
an animal to communicate. This
reinforces the idea that they are
becoming more and more
overwhelmed here.