Duffy's Style
Duffy's Style In her poems Carol Ann Duffy explores many subjects and themes including love, a female's perspective of well known legend, dream-like poems, other people and poems from her own experience. Some poems with these themes include, 'Valentine', 'Mrs. Midas', 'Dream of a Lost Friend', 'War Photographer' and 'Originally'. Many of Duffy's poems are in a speaking voice (monologue). Some are humorous, some serious and others are very realistic. The poet uses images and imagery, sensory and emotional writing to convey ideas. To make the reader aware of an important part of the poem or to keep an idea with them, Duffy uses a variety of sentence structures and different styles. She often uses narrators. A persona (which most of her poems are set in) allows Duffy to express an idea from another point of view. The structure that she uses in her poems contains regular stanzas and both internal and external rhyme. In this essay I will be discussing the poems Valentine, War Photographer and Prayer. I have chosen Valentine, as it is a poem that has a touch of humour but also brings about a serious point about love. It makes the reader think about love from a different angle and it challenges people's ideas about valentine. War Photographer is a poem that is written from a serious view. I have chosen this poem as it makes the reader think about someone who has had
Compare 3 poems by Carol Ann Duffy in which she shows us that things are not always as expected
Yr 10 Poetry Essay Claire Anderson Carol Ann Duffy Title: Compare 3 poems by Carol Ann Duffy in which she shows us that things are not always as expected. Carol Ann Duffy is a renowned poet across the UK and her work is very popular. Many different age groups can study her poems as they can be interpreted and understood in different ways. She achieves this in her poems by the descriptions and varying linguistic devices used. One of the reasons that Carol Ann Duffy's poems are so popular is that they are often quite unexpected. Duffy is not afraid to tackle difficult or unpleasant topics. She writes her poems very personally and with deep feelings. This makes it a lot more powerful to the reader and evokes some kind of reaction within them. Duffy's poems go deeper than first impressions. It is only after reading them several times that you can gain any understanding of the ideas and feelings that she is trying to get across. The reason for this is that the poems usually steer away from the conventional views and expectations. Often Carol Ann Duffy will open the poem on a line that is unusual, or shocking. This makes the poem seem more intriguing and perhaps surprising. 'Valentine' is a poem that is surprising and shocking from the first line. A title such as 'Valentine' indicates a poem that will be about love and
How has Duffy used classical myths in order to comment on the nature of relationships between men and women in The Worlds Wife(TM)?
How has Duffy used classical myths in order to comment on the nature of relationships between men and women in 'The Worlds Wife'? Carol-Ann Duffy wrote a collection of poems called 'The Worlds Wife' in which she mocks men and shows various Greek mythology and fairytales from a woman's perspective. She uses various literary techniques such as enjambment and cynical reference to portray and comment on the use of classical myths, in order to illustrate the nature of relationships between men and women. This essay will focus on four of these Greek myths, Medusa, Eurydice, Mrs Tiresias and Mrs Midas. The style of writing in which Duffy undertakes shows her to be very indiscreet in what she says and very orthodox, as she writes completely, almost the opposite of what many people think when it comes to characters in her poems. In the world's wife, Duffy has focussed a great deal on mythical characters, but manipulates them to the extent that she interprets them to be the opposite of what they are truly known to be in Greek mythology. Duffy, also a radical feminist, focuses on the woman's perspective, whereas Greek mythology is greatly depicted from a male's perspective, whereas Duffy looks at what the women had to put up with. Firstly, Mrs Midas, in Greek legend was the wife of Midas who wished that everything he touched be turned to gold, this wish was nonetheless granted.
Poems by Carol Ann Duffy.
Poems by Carol Ann Duffy Many of Carol Ann Duffy's poems are about people. Choose two poems, in which, particular people are described and explain how the structure and language of each poem makes the people interesting. Carol Ann Duffy is a famous poet she has written many great poems such as 'Valentine' and 'Stealing'. Both of the poems are about people and their feelings. In Valentine and Stealing Carol Ann Duffy has written them in a way, which the reader feels emotionally involved with the person in the poem. This is because the people and their feelings are expressed in a way, which they seem personal to the person who 's telling them. She makes the people in the poems interesting, making the reader want to read on. The two poems Valentine and Stealing are about people and their lives but they are shown in different ways. Stealing is about a man who tells us what he has stolen that's unusual. The Stealer then gradually starts to tell a story about the time he stole a snowman. In the story he tells us his feelings in why he steals. Valentine is a totally different poem to Stealing. Valentine is about a woman who gives her lover an onion for Valentines Day. The onion is symbolic, to describe there relationship and that they have problems as a couple. In Valentine Carol Ann Duffy describes the feelings of the woman to her lover. Valentine When you think of Valentine
War Photographer - This poem is the only one by Ms. Duffy.
War Photographer This poem is the only one by Ms. Duffy (in this selection) which is written in the third person. It is about a person who is clearly not the poet. The surface subject of the poem is the war photographer of the title but at a deeper level the poem explores the difference between "Rural England" and places where wars are fought (Northern Ireland, the Lebanon and Cambodia), between the comfort or indifference of the newspaper editor and its readers and the suffering of the people in the photographs. War Photographer (from Standing Female Nude, 1985) comes from Duffy's friendship with Don McCullin and Philip Jones Griffiths, two very well-respected stills photographers who specialised in war photography. But the photographer in the poem is anonymous: he could be any of those who record scenes of war. He is not so much a particular individual as, like the poet, an observer and recorder of others' lives. He is an outsider ("alone/With spools of suffering") who moves between two worlds but is comfortable in neither. The "ordered rows" of film spools may suggest how the photographer tries to bring order to what he records, to interpret or make sense of it. The simile which compares him to a priest shows how seriously he takes his job, and how (by photographing them) he stands up for those who cannot help themselves. His darkroom resembles a church in which his red
"My grandmother", "Piano", "At Castle Boterel" are poems which are concentrated on the main idea of 'looking back".
"My grandmother", "Piano", "At Castle Boterel" are poems which are concentrated on the main idea of `looking back". All three poems are written in first person fully enabling the reader to understand the poets experiences when they are reflecting back to their past. This also helps the reader to get in touch with the emotions of the writer. The images of their past are described in a detailed way enabling the reader to experience the memory with them, showing us the value and the importance of the poet's reflection. The poem `My Grandmother' is the only negative experience poem out of the three is . about the poet expressing her regretful feelings to the reader about her childhood, when she didn't spend much time with her grand mother and refused the first and last offer to go out with her. "...how I once refused to go out with her, since I was afraid" `Piano' is a poem full of a warm, positive atmosphere which shows the wonderful loving and caring the poet experienced and received from his mother when he was a child. The poet looks back to the past at the time when he was protected and cared for by his mother, in a relaxing environment where there was no need to worry about anything. He misses those days now knowing that he is unable to go back.. In `At Castle Boterel' the poet reflects back to the past and shares the reader the most enjoyable times
Carol Ann Duffy - Childhood and Youth
"Explore the way Carol Ann Duffy presents ideas of childhood and youth in the 20th century in at least three poems" Carol Ann Duffy has portrayed her views on childhood and youth in various ways in the three poems, "Mrs Tilscher's Class, "Education for Leisure" and "Comprehensive" 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 depicts in her poems, this is particularly true in the poem "Mrs Tilscher's Class". In Mrs Tilscher's Class Duffy presents childhood 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. The child is on a journey to knowledge in the last year of primary school and becomes more experienced, and developed through this discovery. The theme of wanting something from life is carried on with "Education for Leisure" where a young person, most likely a teenager is desperate to be recognised, "I have had enough of being ignored". The teenager wants to be noticed and have an impact at school, as presently he is going through the education system with no feeling or desire to achieve anything. In this poem childhood is presented as an isolation from the rest
Duffy sometimes creates a character for the speaker of her poem - What methods does she use to do this in valentine and before you were mine?
Duffy sometimes creates a character for the speaker of her poem. What methods does she use to do this in valentine and before you were mine? Carol Ann Duffy is a very honest, non idealistic poet that usually writes against the conventional stereotype of what life and love between people is all about. She uses techniques such as metaphors and personal opinions to express a very meaningful incite into what the character and speaker of the poem thinks and feels. Valentine is usually associated with the 14th of February, a day where you send cards, flowers, usually roses; red things and cute things that represents the "loveliness" of love and an opportunity to show your partner you care and love them. Carol Ann Duffy goes entirely and at first shockingly, against this stereotype; instead of talking about romantic love, she writes about cynical love. This poem's basic structure is based on the presentation of this gift, "I give you an onion." The reader is able to get a visualisation of what is happening in the present tense. The reader is able to imagine the transfer of the onion from her hand into her lover's. As she is giving a present that is staggeringly opposing tradition; she has to justify the reasons behind why she has decided to give her lover an onion, to prove it is the right gift to the reader and her lover and the reasons behind why she has chosen it. For
Discuss the ways in which Carol Ann Duffy explores the theme of alienation in Stealing, Education for Leisure and Originally
Discuss the ways in which Carol Ann Duffy explores the theme of alienation in "Stealing", "Education for Leisure" and "Originally" This essay analyses and evaluates the underlying theme of alienation in these three poems. It compares and contrasts the ways in which the different poems present alienation to the reader and how effectively this has been portrayed. Alienation is when a person is socially withdrawn or isolated from others, causing aggression or loss of friendliness. Duffy attempts to interpret and reveal the thoughts and feelings of those who are alienated. Each poem presents a different interpretation of people in various situations, some more affected by alienation than others. This essay also describes how the language, structure and imagery help to convey the theme of alienation successfully to the reader. Finally this essay suggests other interpretations of the poem and discusses to what extent the speakers in the poems are really alienated. Stealing is written in five stanzas with use of half and internal rhymes and there is a regularity in the line lengths. The internal rhyme makes phrases such as, "I wanted him, a mate with a mind as cold as the slice of ice within my own brain," stand out to the reader. This extended metaphor creates a repulsive image of open flesh and blood in the reader's mind, making the reader push the thought away perhaps, referring
An evaluation of TWO poems on the theme of 'outsider'- 'Education for leisure' by Carol Ann Duffy and 'Miracle on St David's Day' by Gillian Clarke.
An evaluation of TWO poems on the theme of 'outsider'- 'Education for leisure' by Carol Ann Duffy and 'Miracle on St David's Day' by Gillian Clarke. This essay will explore the similarities and differences between the two poems 'Education for leisure' which was written by Carol Ann Duffy and 'Miracle on St. David's Day' by Gillian Clarke. The theme focused on the poems is 'outsider'. In 'Education for Leisure' the man is an outsider because he is being ignored, however in 'miracle on St. David's Day', the patient is well taken care of but is an outsider in his mind because he is sick and cannot speak. He wants to be an outsider so that no one can notice him. Firstly, the poem 'Education for leisure' creates a negative atmosphere caused by the treacherous outsider. Every stanza concludes with a full stop. The poem has five verses overall. Duffy has written this poem in the style of a diary, rather than constructing the words to rhyme. This is shown by the word 'I'. She has also used metaphors to express the circumstances '...boredom stirring in the streets.' This phrase shows that the day is awfully uninspired and no one is in prospect. This day is like any other day for the man because his life is filled with sadness. He feels uninspired and may feel frustrated due to the 'boredom'. He wants to destroy something, 'I am going to kill something.' This phrase is directly