Carol Ann Duffy explores the theme of childhood. Discuss in reference to at least two poems.

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Carol Ann Duffy explores the theme of childhood. Discuss in reference to at least two poems.

A common theme in many of Carol Ann Duffy’s poems is childhood. Most of her poems include some element of childhood. The perspective of her poems are rarely in that of a child’s, as she often explores the themes of childhood by referring to the characters childhood memories. However in some of her poems she explores the theme of childhood through the characters. Duffy has written about her own personal experiences but has inverted the poems to address the audience as many readers from the same decade would have experienced the same scenarios as Duffy explores in her poems

This is particularly true in the poem "In Mrs Tilscher's Class". In “In Mrs Tilscher's Class Duffy presents childhood as an innocent stage of a person's life where they are engrossed in this metaphorical "perfect" world within the classroom, away from the dangerous outside world. This ‘perfect’ world portrayed by Duffy shows and emphasises childrens innocence at this time in their lives. The child in this poem says “this was better than home” and “the classroom glowed like a sweet shop” portraying the image of perfection within the childs mind. Innocence is one of the ways in which Duffy explores childhood in her poems.

“Litany” also explores the theme of childhood and like many of Duffy’s other poeoms uses the theme of childhood, to signify the loss of innocence. Duffy uses the character in the poem to explore the theme of childhood. Litany is about the construction of a false world, with children being protected from anything unsavoury such as ‘cancer’ and ‘leukaemia.’ The whole poem is in a formal tone to mirror the setting of the ‘false world’ portrayed. However the young child then says to their mother that ‘a boy in the playground, told me to fuck off.’ This immediatley contrasts with the setting of the formal tone, it shocks and manipulates the reader into giving an emotive response. The child has learnt the power of language and knows that what their saying is offensive. The use of the words ‘fuck off’ show the beginning of the childs loss of innocence.

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Duffy’s poem ‘Lizzie, six’ is predominantly about childhood, but unlike the many of her other poems, the theme of childhood is not explored through memories but through the characters within the poem. ‘Lizzie, six’ is about a young child experiencing sexual abuse. The poem is in the perspective of two people, Lizzie, the young child and the abuser. The structure of the poem shows the speech alternating from each of the characters. The main theme in the poem seems to be loss of innocence as the Lizzie’s abuser has taken it away from her. Lizzie’s speech symbolises her youth ...

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