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Course: English
Scottish Texts: Poems by Carol Ann Duffy
Level: National 5
September 2013
This advice and guidance has been produced for practitioners and other staff who provide learning, teaching and support as learners work towards qualifications. These materials have been designed to assist practitioners and others with the delivery of programmes of learning within the new qualifications framework.
These support materials, which are neither prescriptive nor exhaustive, provide suggestions on approaches to teaching and learning which will promote development of the necessary knowledge, understanding and skills. Staff are encouraged to draw on these materials, and existing materials, to develop their own programmes of learning which are appropriate to the needs of learners within their own context.
Staff should also refer to the course and unit specifications and support notes which have been issued by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
Edition: New Selected Poems 1984–2004, published by Picador, 2004.
ISBN 978-0-330-43394-5
Acknowledgement
© Crown copyright 2013. You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit or e-mail: psi@nationalarchives..uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information, you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
Any enquiries regarding this document/publication should be sent to us at enquiries@.uk.
This document is also available from our website at .uk.
Contents
Introduction
Critical reading skills 4
Focus author and texts 5
Selected poems 5
Approaches to analysis
Guide to approaching analysis 7
Context 8
Co-operative learning activities – ‘Valentine’ 17
Methods of notetaking and recording poem analysis progress 26
Beginning comparison 34
Recording thematic links 36
Question types and response markers 40
Prompts to enable learners to record links 53
Making links between the poems 54
Thematic linking of poems 57
Wider learning
Rolled-up skills sampling opportunities 58
Further reading and resources 72
Introduction
Critical reading skills
In this resource the learner will develop the following skills, knowledge and understanding.
Knowledge of language
• The distinction between connotative and denotative uses of language.
• The names and uses of the main word classes: noun, pronoun, adjective, article, verb, adverb, preposition and conjunction.
• The names and uses of the basic syntactic units: sentence, clause, phrase/group.
• The more commonly used conventions of written language.
• A critical terminology for discussing a wide range of texts, including Scottish texts.
Command of:
• skills of inference making and summarising
• knowledge of literary forms and genres, including aspects of heritage
• knowledge of literature, language and media contexts
• knowledge of literary techniques and devices, including characterisation, use of dialogue, structure, word choice and tone, narrative stance, mood, creation of a sense of place, and conventions of genre, syntax and layout
• skills required for discursive and creative writing.
It is intended that the activities in this pack will contribute to the development of many of these areas. Practitioners will, of course, recognise that the approaches taken in the analysis of the poetry included here will support and enhance learners’ close-reading skills too.
Focus author and texts
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish–English poet who is the current British Poet Laureate, having been appointed to the role in 2009; it is also important to note that she is the first female and LGBT person to have this position. Her style is contemporary and she is renowned for giving voice to those who have been alienated or edited in history. Duffy also writes from a personal perspective about complex situations, but her use of language makes these works highly accessible and intriguing.
Although she was born in the Gorbals, Glasgow in 1955, Duffy moved to Staffordshire with her family at the age of six. She became a prominent poetic figure at the University of Liverpool and published her first collection, Standing Female Nude, in 1985. This was the catalyst for Duffy’s prolific public career, which has also encompassed many volumes of poetry for children.
In her current role as Poet Laureate, Duffy has written original poems that showcase her dry wit on topics such as the Olympics, climate change, political scandals, and Prince William and Kate Middleton, to mention a few. She is also doing highly significant work in raising the profile of poetry in Britain, most recently in co-ordination with the Queen’s Jubilee.
Duffy’s poetry has previously featured on both the Scottish and English curriculums; the addition of her work to the National 5 and Higher qualifications set text list highlights her prominence as a leading British writer.
Selected poems
The following Carol Ann Duffy poems have been selected for their representations of personas. They all describe experiences and/or the subsequent impact as told from an individual’s perspective.
• ‘Valentine’ – explores the different stages of a modern relationship through the extended metaphor of an onion.
• ‘Havisham’ – re-examination of Dickens’ character Miss Havisham and her bitter heartbreak, as evoked through brutal imagery.
• ‘War Photographer’ – the damaging observations of conflict, its victims and its distant observers, told through the eyes of the photographer who captures the brutal images.
• ‘Anne Hathaway’ – a sonnet that gives voice to Shakespeare’s ‘neglected’ wife. Here she tells her romanticised version of their relationship.
• ‘Mrs Midas’ – examines the consequences of selfish and vain decisions in modern relationships, written using the myth of Midas and from the perspective of his fictional wife.
• ‘Originally’ – Duffy’s personal poem about her experiences with dual identity. Her physical transition from Scotland to England is explored, as is the transformation from child into adult.
Approaches to analysis
Guide to approaching analysis
As a suggested starting point, this unit will focus firstly on detailed analysis of ‘Valentine'. In many ways, this poem is the most accessible for all abilities in a National 5 class, and it has the clearest links to the other five poems. The unit will then go on to show what learning and teaching activities could be used to create links between ‘Valentine’ and the other five set Duffy poems.
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The following steps will provide a brief guide about how to approach a basic analysis of ‘Valentine’. This process can be repeated for analysis of other specified Duffy poems. Teaching and learning ideas for each step are provided further on in this pack.
1. Understand context – explore learners’ understanding of modern ideas of love and relationships. Use of pictures and video clips is also important here. Examine a brief biography of Carol Ann Duffy. Provide each learner with a copy of the poem.
2. Denotation and connotation – examine the literal and figurative meaning of the poem’s title.
3. Expectation – gather ideas and predictions about what will happen in the poem.
4. Reading – read through the poem several times: as a class with the practitioner leading, silently, to a partner, in a group etc.
5. Initial observations – discuss first impressions of the poem and what themes are emerging.
6. Rhythm/rhyme – examine the free-verse style and use of singular words/phrases to deliver tone and meaning (it might be handy at this point to number the lines).
7. Annotation – make detailed notes on the poem (individual copies, if possible) in order to understand meaning – detailed instructions for making the annotation are provided in the following section.
8. Group/pair learning activities – learners embark on a series of activities in order to analyse key literary devices and consolidate understanding of meaning.
9. Evaluation – learners demonstrate their learning through activities involving sample answers, analysis paragraphs of specific techniques for peer assessment, games and quizzes, creation of booklets/cards/blogs/letters etc (specific activities detailed later).
10. Comparison – begin to incorporate ideas from the next poem. For progression of challenge and theme, a suitable poem to use next would be ‘Havisham’.
Context
Listening exercise – A view of Carol Ann Duffy
Listen to and watch the following clip from BBC Learning Zone Class Clips:
In this clip actress Sunetra Sarker talks about her discovery of Carol Ann Duffy and particularly the poem ‘Valentine’. Ask learners to write down five descriptions that Sunetra Sarker gives about Duffy’s work.
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Research task: Who was Saint Valentine? (Individual task)
As a homework exercise, ask learners to research the story of St Valentine. A suggested template for recording the information is provided below. Learners can organise their findings into bullet points. Emphasis should be placed on using their own words.
Useful websites:
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Pre-knowledge – Traditional Valentine’s gifts and activities (working in pairs)
• Ask learners to create a large spider diagram with the heading Valentine Traditions in the middle.
• On one half of the spider diagram learners should write down as many traditional gift ideas as they can think of (teddy bears, roses, cards, cuddly hearts, picture frames etc).
• On the other half of the spider diagram ask learners to write down as many stereotypical Valentine’s day activities as they can think of (going out for dinner, walk on beach, boat ride, cinema etc).
• Collaboration: ask learners to share their ideas with another group and add any new ideas from other groups.
Guide for annotating ‘Valentine’
The following instructions will help practitioners to guide learners in annotating ‘Valentine’. Further observations will probably be made by learners during this process, in which case originality of thought is always encouraged.
Although some prints of ‘Valentine’ vary with the number of lines, the correct version to be used for assessment procedures is published in the edition specified at the start of this pack.
There are 23 lines in the version of the poem that is used here.
‘Valentine’
Title: denotation and connotation
• Note down the denotation of Valentine (answers may include a saint who was associated with traditional ideas of love, a gift given as a token of one’s love, an allocated day for celebrating love and relationships).
• Note down the connotations of Valentine (answers may include love, romance, flowers, hearts, fancy dinners, chocolates, wine, cherubic, bow and arrow, the colour red, cards, marriage, girlfriend/boyfriend).
• You may also choose to explore the negative connotations of St Valentine’s Day at this point (answers may include overrated, expensive, lonely people, unnecessary, embarrassing, exploitative, heartbreak, sadness).
• It is unknown at this point who the speaker is or what perspective of Valentine will be offered. Ask learners if the title gives them any clues to the who or what.
Initial thoughts and speaker
Read through the poem closely as a class. Ask learners to write down their first thoughts about what the poem is trying to say at the bottom of the page. It might be useful to use the following discussion prompts in groups or pairs:
• What does the speaker think about St Valentine’s Day and the gifts that people give?
• Why does the speaker think that an onion is an appropriate gift to give to a loved one?
• Who is the speaker and do you think they are addressing a specific person? If so, who?
• Do you think the speaker is feeling a specific emotion(s) throughout this poem? If so what is it/are they?
• What words stand out as being unusual to you?
• Does the speaker’s mood shift throughout the poem? In what ways?
• Do you like the poem? Why/why not?
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. Learners can work in pairs to sum up what is happening in each section. A practitioner’s guide is given below.
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.
Task: What is Duffy’s tone?
Learners should think of the poem in terms of the four sections above. Use a blank version of the grid below to help learners examine Duffy’s tone in each section. This should also help learners to understand how each section of the poem links to the others.
| |Tone |Word clues |
|Lines 1–5 |Direct |Not |
| |Honest/realistic |Onion, brown paper |
| |Romantic |Moon, undressing |
| |Positive/hopeful |Promises, love |
|Lines 6–11 |Blunt/direct |Here. It will |
| |Sad/frustrated |Blind, tears, wobbling, grief |
| | |Trying to be truthful |
| |Honest | |
|Lines 12–17 |Direct |Not |
| |Passionate |Fierce, kiss, lips, possessive, |
| | |faithful |
| |Cautious/realistic |For as long as we are |
|Lines 18–23 |Direct/blunt |Take it. Lethal. |
| |Open-minded |If you like. |
| |Hurt/cynical/wary |Cling (×2), scent, knife |
Once the practitioner has reviewed correct answers, learners should annotate their copies of the poem with notes from their grids.
Structure
As learners 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. Learners should work in pairs, making notes on what they observe about the structure of the poem. Answers are given below.
• ‘Valentine’ is written in free verse.
• This helps the speaker’s voice to have a more realistic feel to it, hence mirroring the realistic nature of the onion as a gift.
• The voice has particular impact in lines 1, 11 and 12 when Duffy explicitly states her rejection of traditional and clichéd Valentine’s gifts – these lines also lie outwith the extended metaphor of the onion.
• ‘Not a red rose or a satin heart’ (line 1) and ‘Not a cute card or kissogram’ (line 12) are direct, blunt statements that use examples in order to demonstrate their lack of any real meaning.
• Why does Duffy use repetition of ‘Not a’ at the start and middle of the poem?
• ‘I am trying to be truthful’ (line 11) is a direct statement that emphasises the speaker’s belief in a more honest approach to love and relationships.
• 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? Ask learners to consider the activities on tone and how the commands are effective in conveying Duffy’s message.
Connotations
1. Learners should now examine what lines carry positive or negative connotations. To begin this, they should go through the poem and put a + (positive) or – (negative) symbol next to the lines that have the corresponding connotation.
positive – lines 3, 4, 5, 8, 14, 15, 19, 20
negative – lines 1, 7, 10, 12, 21, 22, 23
(The above is a guide and it may be the case that the connotations of lines are debated!)
2. Learners should now think about words throughout the poem that they feel to be significant in conveying Duffy’s message. Looking at these words, learners should place them in the appropriate columns below (this one is filled in but learners should be provided with a blank table):
|Words with connotations of traditional/fake love |Words with connotations of modern/realistic love |
|Red rose |Onion |
|Satin heart |Blind |
|Moon |Tears |
|Promises |Lover |
|Light |Wobbling |
|Undressing |Grief |
|Photo |Fierce |
|Cute card |Possessive |
|Kissogram |Lethal |
|Kiss |Cling |
|Lips |Knife |
|Wedding ring | |
|Scent | |
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 attitude 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?
Learners should now annotate their copies of the poem with the words in the table above. It is a good idea to use different coloured pens to show the different connotations of the words (traditional/fake or modern/realistic).
Literary/poetic devices
The extended metaphor of the onion
Carol Ann Duffy uses the image of an onion to signify modern love and relationships. Below is a question and answer guide to analysing the key comparisons in the poem and what effect they have on the overall image.
Suggestions for annotation
• Learners can write their answers as annotations and the practitioner’s answers can be used for further discussion.
• Underlined quotations can be placed on to a grid with blank boxes beside them for answers (see example following questions and answers below).
• A spider diagram could be used to help explode each part of the comparison before transferring the answers to the annotation.
• Analysis could be transferred to electronic form and an interactive quiz created for use with a smart board.
Further co-operative learning ideas for understanding the onion metaphor are provided later in this pack.
Key
L = learner’s question
P = practitioner’s answer
Underlined sections should be annotated on poems and further description of the effect of the metaphor added.
Lines 2–5
• L: ‘onion’ – why is it an unexpected gift?
P: It is an unusual gift because it does not have any traditional romantic connotations and does not look or smell particularly pleasant
• L: ‘It is a moon wrapped in brown paper/It promises light’, What does the introduction of the metaphor say about love and relationships?
P: The metaphor compares the onion to the moon. There is a double meaning here of the physical resemblance but there are also connotations of how we might ‘wrap’ traditional gifts that we give to loved ones. The onion becomes symbolic of modern relationships, with the ‘light’ being the positivity and feeling of hope experienced at the start of a new relationship
• L: ‘... the careful undressing of love’ – what does this say about the nature of a new relationship?
P: This refers to the initial stages of love, which can be delicate and precarious; love takes time to develop as we peel back the layers of a person’s personality. It can also be interpreted as a literal ‘undressing’; sexual intercourse that takes place between two lovers. On a literal level, an onion’s skin requires care to peel back.
Lines 6–10
• L: ‘It will blind you with tears like a lover’ – how is this comparison effective in highlighting the negative qualities of a relationship?
P: When cut, an onion is pungent and has juices that can make you cry. This is like relationships because arguments and disagreements are considered to be part of a realistic, functioning relationship.
• L: ‘It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief’ – how does this image contribute to the potential hurt that goes along with a relationship?
P: The image describes the way a person’s appearance and vision blurs when looking in the mirror after crying. This could be caused by an onion but the same effect is created when someone feels devastated after falling out with a lover. The word ‘grief’ is particularly strong in emphasising the feeling of hurt.
Lines 13–17
• L: ‘Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful’ – what stage of a relationship does this part of the metaphor demonstrate?
P: This reflects a more committed and passionate part of a modern relationship. It is clear from word choice such as fierce, possessive and faithful that feelings have intensified and there is a desire for loyalty and longevity.
Lines 18–23
• L: ‘Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring, if you like’ – how is the comparison effective here in showing one possible outcome of a relationship?
P: An onion’s skin gets smaller from the middle to either end, which Duffy imagines to be similar to a wedding ring. This is the ultimate sign of commitment and a potential ‘happy ending’ in a relationship. However, whilst Duffy does not necessarily believe in marriage, she would do it if it was something that was important to a lover.
• L: ‘Lethal. Its scent will cling to your fingers, cling to your knife.’ – what is the other outcome of a modern relationship and how can this affect a person?
P: These days it is realistic to accept that a long-term committed relationship can also end in a painful break-up. Just as the sickly-sweet smell of an onion can stay with you, so can the memories of a person or relationship – this can be extremely bitter and painful.
The above answers can be referred to, as well as expanded upon, throughout the teaching and learning activities for ‘Valentine’.
Co-operative learning activities – ‘Valentine’
The following teaching and learning activities will enable learners to understand the poem thoroughly before beginning to link it with the other Duffy poems. Each activity suggests if it can be completed in a pair, group or individually.
Task: Grid comparison
Learning intention: understanding how the metaphor of the onion extends throughout the poem.
Complete the grid below with detailed analysis of how the onion reflects key stages of a modern relationship. This could also be used as a tool before annotating learners’ copies of the poem (pairs).
|Onion |Love/relationships |
|‘It is a moon wrapped in brown paper/It promises light’|The metaphor compares the onion to the moon. There is a |
| |double meaning here of the physical resemblance but there |
| |are also connotations of how we might ‘wrap’ traditional |
| |gifts that we give to loved ones. The onion becomes symbolic|
| |of modern relationships, with the ‘light’ being the |
| |positivity and feeling of hope experienced at the start of a|
| |new relationship. |
|‘It will blind you with tears like a lover’ | |
|‘It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of | |
|grief’ | |
|‘It’s fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive | |
|and faithful’ | |
|‘It’s platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring, if you | |
|like’ | |
|‘Lethal. Its scent will cling to your fingers, cling to| |
|your knife.’ | |
Task: Storyboarding ‘Valentine’ (this activity can be adapted and used with all of the poems on the Duffy list) (pairs/groups/individual)
Learning intention: to visualise the effectiveness of the four metaphorical images contained within the poem.
Using the template below, create visuals that demonstrate each key part of the metaphor.
|‘It is a moon wrapped in brown paper/It promises light’ |‘It will blind you with tears like a lover/ It will make |
| |your reflection a wobbling photo of grief’ |
|‘It’s fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and |‘Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring, if you |
|faithful’ |like/‘Lethal. Its scent will cling to your fingers, cling |
| |to your knife.’ |
Task: Peer-learning analysis (class)
Learning intention: to micro-analyse the structure and meaning of ‘Valentine’ through active peer learning.
• Create a larger version of the poem and cut out each of the 23 lines.
• Give each learner/pair (depending on class numbers) one of the lines and ask them to write a brief explanation of what it says/means. Copies of annotations will be useful here.
Example
|Take it. (line 18) |
|Explanation of effect/meaning: |
|Duffy’s tone at this point is direct and assertive. She is commanding her lover to accept this unusual gift as a |
|symbol of her truthfulness, honesty and desire to approach the relationship in a realistic manner. |
• Get learners to stand in a large circle with the poem in the right order. Ask each learner to read out firstly their line and afterwards the meaning.
• This activity will allow Learners to understand the poem through learning of one another’s interpretation. Further annotations on poems can be made upon completion of the task.
Task: Research activity/group collaboration – exploring our perceptions of what love is (groups)
Learning intention: to enhance understanding of the unusual representation of love and relationships in ‘Valentine’.
• An important theme explored in this poem is the way in which we have come to stereotype ideas of love and relationships.
• The following task will enable learners to understand how traditions of love have changed throughout the years and therefore lead to Duffy’s attitude that they have become clichés.
• Discussion point: Ask learners to consider how our perceptions of love and relationships have changed through the years.
• In groups of six, ask each learner to assign themselves a different decade: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
• As a homework task or in an ICT suite, ask learners to research the following areas of their decade. Use of the template below is optional.
|TYPICAL GIFTS |DATES/CUSTOMS |
|RELATIONSHIP/ |COMMITMENT/ |
|BEHAVIOUR |FUTURE |
• Following on from the individual research activity, ask learners to collaborate their findings. Use a similarities/differences grid to note the comparison between decades. There are many possibilities for displaying learners’ findings for this task but some options are:
➢ a visual display/poster divided into six sections showing each different decade
➢ a timeline highlighting what each decade has in common with the others.
➢ an information booklet called ‘Love Through the Ages’, showing how the ideas of love and relationships have changed over time.
• There should also be an explanation towards the end about how Duffy’s onion fits in to the progression of love.
• There are opportunities for group peer assessment.
Task: Agony aunt blog (pairs)
Learning intention: to relate to the tone, attitudes and range of emotions in ‘Valentine’.
(This task will also work well for ‘Mrs Midas’, ‘Anne Hathaway’ and ‘Havisham’, where the fictional characters become the senders of the letter.)
• The next stage for studying modern love and relationships is to examine the problems and consequences that can arise.
• The concept of an ‘agony aunt’ seems somewhat old-fashioned, but people will always have worries and will therefore always need to seek advice – this means that an agony aunt becomes a constantly evolving art form!
• The following websites provide good examples of agony aunt problems:
• Ask learners to take note about the types of problems that are written about and specific language/phrases that are common for both the sender and responder.
• Class discussion – create a bank of ideas that learners can use for a subsequent writing task.
• Initially, learners should work individually on writing a letter to an agony aunt that addresses a common problem associated with modern love/relationships.
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• Options for presentation: letters could be hand-written, typed or posted anonymously on a blog/website created by the practitioner (an example free site to use is ).
• Learners should respond to either their partner’s letter or an anonymous one.
• This task enables learners to understand the complexities of modern relationships and therefore how the metaphor of the onion in ‘Valentine’ gains further relevance.
Task: Valentine’s cards (pairs/groups)
Learning intention: to identify how unusual but realistic the gift of the onion is.
• This is a short, fun task that helps learners to understand how unusual the gift of the onion is.
• Provide learners with a range of old Valentine’s cards and ask them to explore:
a) the images that appear on the front
b) the messages that appear on the front and inside.
• The following websites might be useful for examples:
• Ask learners to make a card that delivers the message of ‘Valentine’. Whilst it may seem to learners like an anti-Valentine’s card, remember to emphasise that it is an individual’s interpretation of their love and relationship. It should contain both visuals and language from the poem.
• Learners should peer assess each other’s cards based on images and effective use of quotation from the poem.
Task: Hot-seating (groups)
Learning intention: to understand the themes, tone, attitude, ideas, language and style of the poem.
• Divide learners into groups of three. Emphasise to them how they will eventually be presenting to the class.
Group roles
1. Hot-seat presenter: should devise around 10 questions (five to be directed towards the poem’s speaker, six to the recipient).
2. Giver of the onion: should devise up to eight reasons why they thought it was appropriate to send an onion as a gift to a girlfriend/boyfriend.
3. Receiver of the onion: should devise up to eight responses to how they felt when they received the onion.
Examples
Presenter: ‘Why didn’t you play it safe and give your girlfriend a box of chocolates?
‘Do you understand how this onion represents your relationship?’
Giver: ‘The onion symbolises my commitment to my lover.’
‘I often cry when I cut an onion, this is the same feeling when I am hurt following an argument.’
Receiver: ‘Well, at first I was a bit puzzled because I didn’t want an onion, I wanted the big bunch of flowers that they get in the films!’
‘I can see similarities between the onion and the moon.’
Hint: Learners can be as original and witty as they like with this task but they must try to get into character and demonstrate the ideas and tone of the poem.
• Ask a group to peer assess another’s by offering constructive comments. You could use a template like the one below.
|Role |Quality of questions |How well they captured|How they linked to |How they linked to |
| | |the emotion |poem’s language |poem’s images |
|Interviewer | | | | |
|Giver | | | | |
|Receiver | | | | |
Task: Group presentation – Love is ... (groups)
Learning intention: to gain a thorough understanding of how love can be expressed through metaphors.
• This task will enable learners to better understand the metaphor of the onion through creation of their own, as well as the theme of love.
• Learners should work in groups of four for this task.
• Supply each group with a range of nouns – these could be in the form of the words written separately on slips of paper or pictures.
• Aim to give each group around four nouns each – some possibilities are in the word-bank below.
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• Learners must now create their own metaphors beginning with the phrase ‘Love I s...’ and ending with a description of how the noun could act like love.
For example:
Love is a mobile phone
It is reliable and can be kept close by
It comforts in times of boredom and clears up confusion
It always keeps you entertained
But be careful with it, its casing is delicate
If you damage it, you will lose it
Love is a winter coat
You can snuggle in to it when you need comfort
It wraps around you to keep you warm
And is always there when you feel cold
Don’t take your coat for granted
If it rips, love it even more, don’t trade it in for a new one!
• Once learners have developed extended metaphors for each of their nouns, ask them to present these to the rest of the class.
• Learners can peer assess each group and a visual display could be created of each metaphor.
Task: Talking activity – Object mini-talk (this is a challenging task that can be an additional homework exercise) (individual)
Learning intention: to develop solo talking skills whilst showing understanding of the onion metaphor through personal experience.
• Ask learners to think of an object that for them symbolises another experience in their life.
• Examples could be an apple that reminds a learner of family picnics at the beach as their parent would always pack them, a box of crayons that gradually wore down throughout primary school, a packet of tissues that has a strong association with an elderly relative.
• Using the following structure, ask learners to write a short talk about the significance of the object to the real-life event.
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• This short talk could be delivered to the class or completed in smaller groups/pairs.
Methods for note-taking and recording poem analysis progress
This section will provide suggestions and templates for learners to record their progress in learning the six Carol Ann Duffy poems. One of the difficulties learners may experience is keeping track of what they have learnt about each poem, as well as how they compare to one another. Having a variety of options with which to record learning should assist learners in securing their understanding.
English departments and individual practitioners will already have records of progress in place for the set texts study. The following resources are designed to further support this.
Hand-written/electronic diary (for use with a single poem or ongoing in order to keep a personal record of all poems studied)
Many learners find it useful to keep regular updates of their learning in their own personal diary. Depending on the software that is available to learners, this could be hand-written or in electronic form. There are many free electronic diary downloads available for use on the internet.
How to use the diary
At the beginning of learners’ study of the set poems, they divide their diary into six large sections – electronic diaries should instantly create new pages and have options for further memos/visuals.
Following each lesson on an aspect of one of the poems, learners update their diary with what they have learnt that lesson and how they have learnt it. There should also be an option for learners’ own personal opinion of the texts and how challenging they are finding them. This will provide opportunities for reflection of learning and progress.
Alternatively, this could also be used for an ongoing homework task on a weekly basis.
Learners may want to gain further ownership of their personal poem diary by acquiring their own memory stick or notebook for the ongoing project. You could also ask learners to design front covers for their diaries – drawn by hand or created on a computer visuals programme.
The following template could be used for a diary entry. It is half-completed to show an example of how to fill out the diary.
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Mobile phone note-taking apps
One of the best ways for learners to learn all six poems thoroughly and in time for the exam is to continue to build on their knowledge of each and have a way of accessing their notes quickly and efficiently.
Most learners in our classrooms today will have an iPhone, smartphone or simpler mobile device tucked away in their schoolbags. Take advantage of the fact that these will have a free note-taking app on them that could be used to keep a record of learning. Some of these apps are:
• Evernote
• Catchnote (can also be accessed via Facebook or Google accounts)
• Fetchnotes
It is likely that learners will know of many more!
Following the study of each poem, ask learners to take a note of the following on their mobile phone apps (standard template on next page):
subject matter
language
form and structure
ideas and attitudes.
|Subject matter |Language |
| | |
|Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s ‘neglected’ wife, delivers|Fairytale imagery is evoked in the first two lines of the |
|a monologue that refutes the idea they had a loveless |poem – ‘forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas’. This|
|marriage |has the effect of creating an idyllic representation of the |
|She describes their intimate moments in the ‘second |love shared between Shakespeare and Hathaway. |
|best bed’, famously (and somewhat callously!) left to | |
|her in her husband’s will. | |
|Ideas and attitudes |Form and structure |
The template on the previous page could provide a way of recording analysis of each of the six poems. A possibility could be to create an A3 booklet with six blank templates on which to record findings on each of the poems.
Paper copies of analysis could be kept in the classroom and learners could use their note-making apps for further revision purposes. It is a good idea to give learners regular quizzes about their learning in order to sustain learning progress and to ensure that records are being kept up to date (further ideas for quizzes are given later).
Learners might also like to electronically capture images of their classroom revision tools (such as their annotated copies of the poem). If school policy allows, learners can take pictures of these for personal revision purposes.
Self-assessment: Poem skills grids
It is essential for learners to assess their own understanding of each of the poems at different points of the study. The following self-assessment grid for ‘Havisham’ could be used post study of the poem and/or pre exam.
Learners could comment on their level of study or a simpler tick system could be used.
|I can ... |Confident |Not bad |I don’t know this at |Further comment |
| | | |all | |
|Explain the context of | | | | |
|the poem and who the | | | | |
|character is | | | | |
|Identify and explain the | | | | |
|effectiveness of two | | | | |
|metaphors | | | | |
|Quote and analyse the | | | | |
|oxymoron at the start | | | | |
|Identify and explain an | | | | |
|example of onomatopoeia | | | | |
|Explain two points of | | | | |
|structure, including the | | | | |
|use of enjambment | | | | |
|Select four examples of | | | | |
|word choice to | | | | |
|demonstrate tone | | | | |
|Explain the emotions felt| | | | |
|by ‘Havisham’ with | | | | |
|reference to structure | | | | |
|and imagery | | | | |
These skills and techniques boxes are based on likely areas of analysis from the SQA specimen papers that are currently available.
The further comment box should be used by learners to explain why they feel this is their level of knowledge.
For example, a learner who ticks the confident box about metaphors might say: ‘I scored highly on the quizzes and have responded correctly to several questions in class about the metaphors.’
This grid could also be the basis for a further learning and consolidating knowledge task.
Task: Peer-learning of key techniques
• Take in all of the self-assessment grids and use them to record learners’ understanding of each poem.
• Pair up a learner who feels confident in their knowledge with a learner who feels less confident.
• Taking each of the seven analysis areas from the grid in turn, ask each pair to construct a bullet-pointed response to them. The template below could be used.
|Explanation of the context of the|‘Havisham’ is based on the character of Miss Havisham from the Charles Dickens’ |
|poem and who the character is |novel Great Expectations. The character in the book lives a lonely, troubled life |
| |after having been left at the altar by her one true love. Duffy’s poem gives |
| |further voice to character and the truly bitter, heartbroken state that she is now |
| |in. |
|Identification and explanation of| |
|the effectiveness of two | |
|metaphors | |
|Quotation and analysis of the | |
|oxymoron at the start | |
|Identification and explanation of| |
|an example of onomatopoeia | |
|Explanation of two points of | |
|structure, including the use of | |
|enjambment | |
|Tone and four examples of word | |
|choice to demonstrate this | |
|Explanation of the emotions felt | |
|by ‘Havisham’ with reference to | |
|structure and imagery | |
Beginning comparison
It will not be possible to predict which Duffy poem will be used in the final exam and it is therefore essential that learners have a good knowledge of all six poems. However, it is clear that some of the poems fit together more naturally than others and this may be a way of studying the texts themselves. For example, ‘Anne Hathaway’, ‘Mrs Midas’ and ‘Havisham’ all have a historical and/or fictionalised character at their centre, which is certainly an important way to link those three poems.
Some practitioners may choose to teach the poems in chunks – two or three at a time with several weeks’ break in between. Others may prefer to teach all six at once in the form of a prolonged unit of study. It is important to remember that there is no right or wrong method here, simply what works best for the practitioner and/or class.
What is important, however, is to keep in mind that learners will need to keep track of their learning, whichever way they learn it.
The following section of this pack will focus on learning and teaching activities that will help you to compare and combine each of the poems. Using the suggested grids below will enable learners to keep track of their comparative work.
A very simple way for learners to begin comparing poems is by using a grid like the one below and the basic areas for poetry analysis. If this is the first comparison, it will be best to complete these in groups or pairs. Grids could be photocopied for each learner’s use.
Comparison of ‘Havisham’ and ‘Valentine’
| |Similarities |Differences |
|Subject matter |Both poems focus on a character’s |‘Valentine’ explores the possible |
| |perspective of love and the |excitement and hope of love, whilst |
| |potentially disastrous consequences |‘Havisham’ only describes the sadness|
| |of a failed relationship. |and bitterness of broken love. |
| |Both poems confront the bitter |‘Valentine’ aims to offer a realistic|
| |nature of the memories and hurt that|perspective of modern relationships |
| |could accompany rejection. |but ‘Havisham’ can seem more extreme |
| | |and obsessive in the way it deals |
| | |with the subject of a failed |
| | |relationship. |
|Language | | |
|Ideas and attitudes | | |
|Form and structure | | |
As a pre-exam revision task, it is possible to carousel larger grids. Groups could move round different stations and add to grids that might be comparing two different poems. For example, one station could have an analysis of ‘Anne Hathaway’ and ‘Mrs Midas’, whilst another could have ‘Originally’ and ‘War Photographer’.
This would enable learners to get a range of different comparison possibilities and to consolidate their individual knowledge of each poem.
Recording thematic links
The following sections examine ways of linking poems according to specific themes. As a way of recording these links throughout the study, there a range of suggested templates is given.
The most important aspect to remember about the poems is that each one of them deals with a persona and is an individual’s account of an experience.
Template 1: Love and relationships from the speaker’s perspective. This grid can be altered according to themes that the practitioner wishes to examine.
Template 2: Who am I? Exploring characters in ‘Havisham’, ‘Anne Hathaway’ and ‘Mrs Midas’. In this task learners fill the templates with all the words they have come to associate with these characters.
Template 3: How is my persona explored? (use A3 paper)
|Exploring themes: Love and relationships |
|For each poem, bullet point what the speaker’s attitude is towards love and relationships, and how this is revealed |
|in the poem |
|Points to consider: context, characterisation, language, structure, content, figures of speech, tone, style, |
|emotions, mood |
|‘Valentine’ |‘Havisham’ |‘Anne Hathaway’ |‘Mrs Midas’ |
Follow-up task: Ask learners to use two different highlighters to highlight the crossover ideas between the four poems.
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Exploration of personas
Persona: A voice or character representing the speaker in a literary work ()
| |Use of first-person and pronouns |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|3. Duffy’s realistic approach to modern relationships is |4. In the final stanza, Duffy makes her thoughts clear on |
|explored further in lines 13–17. Show how one example of |possible outcomes of a relationship. With reference to one |
|language demonstrates this. 3 |example of language, identify her tone and possible emotions. 3 |
• Place one blank grid (ideally A3) on each table and give each group the task of adding one annotation to each question. A time frame of around 2–3 minutes could be given before learners move on to the next table and add further annotations to each grid.
• By the end of all rotations, groups should have a detailed analysis of the key words/phrases in each question.
• An alternative, and slightly easier, way of doing this task is to simply have a blank grid with a box for each question. Learners then fill each box with key analysis phrases for answering the questions.
Task: Developing answers (groups, pairs or individual)
• Using answers for the tasks above, learners should now be able to mould their notes into longer answers for each task.
• Further support could be given by learners working in groups or pairs for this, but if learners are ready they could attempt to write fuller answers on their own.
• Use the following prompts to help learners. These could be used to support group/class discussion beforehand.
Question 1
• Word order: Consider the repetition of the word ‘Not’ and why it is placed at the start of lines 1 and 12.
• Images: Why is it significant to mention the specific examples of the traditional gifts?
• Structure: Think about why the lines stand alone from the other stanzas.
• Structure: Why is there a direct statement of intention on line 11?
Question 2
• Imagery: Explain why it is unusual to give a lover an onion.
• Imagery: Consider the connotations of a ‘moon’ and how it ‘promises light’; link to positive feelings in relationships.
• Imagery: Think about how an onion can ‘blind you with tears’ and make your ‘reflection a wobbling photo of grief’; link to negativity in relationship.
• Figures of speech: How does the gift of an onion become representative of something more?
• Contrast: Explain the different images of love and relationships.
• Remember to quote!
Question 3
• Structure: Consider why Duffy repeats the statement ‘I give you an onion’ in line 13.
• Ideas and attitude: Look at what the words ‘fierce’, ‘possessive’ and ‘faithful’ show about Duffy’s view of the nature of relationships.
• Ideas and attitude: Furthermore, how does the phrase ‘for as long as we are’ show that the speaker is realistic about the outcome of a relationship?
• Remember to quote!
Question 4
• Imagery: How is the metaphor extended using the scent and physical traits of an onion to represent a relationship?
• Tone/emotion: Select words that demonstrate how the speaker feels about a relationship coming to an end.
• Structure: Consider why certain words/phrases are isolated here and what effect this has on the speaker’s feelings.
• Remember to quote!
Using the prompts, learners should now be able to construct model answers for each question. Get learners to swap their answers and mark how well their partner has responded to each question (for further detail refer to the skills sampling section).
Using quotations – how to P.E.E.
By the time a learner has reached National 5 level, it will be expected that they have written critical essays before and will have therefore used quotations. Most learners will already be familiar with the P.E.E. structure (Point. Evidence. Explanation) for helping to develop arguments in essays. Before tackling the 8-mark question, learners should be reminded of this structure.
A way to do this, and to act as a warm-up to the final question, is to ask learners to select the poem that comes to mind as being the most similar to ‘Valentine’. It is likely that they will select ‘Havisham’ or ‘Anne Hathaway’. For this example, ‘Havisham’ will be used.
Question: Show how one example of language makes the speaker’s strong emotions clear at the start? (2 marks)
Ask the learners to provide a response to this question using the P.E.E. structure and prompts in each paragraph. The following template could be used for this.
Hint: Look at the marks to indicate how much information is needed.
P –
E –
E –
Subsequently, learners should take their notes from the P.E.E. grids and structure fuller answers. Remind learners that if the quotation is just a word then it can be structured in the prose.
For example:
The speaker’s furious anger and bitterness is made clear with the use of the word ‘bastard’ ...
However, if the quotation that the learner wishes to use is longer than one line, structurally it should be placed on a separate line and indented:
For example:
In the first stanza, Duffy uses two metaphors to emphasise the physical effects of her rage and heartbreak:
‘so hard I’ve dark green pebbles for eyes
Ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with’
This creates two powerful images ...
Learners must remember the correct structuring of P.E.E. and accurate formatting of quotations in order to answer questions thoroughly. Further exercises for practising this skill are given in the skills sampling section.
The final question!
Below is an example of how the final question in the exam paper might look. This is taken from the currently available SQA specimen papers.
With close textual reference, show how the ideas and/or language of this poem are similar OR different to another poem or poems by Duffy which you have read. (8 marks)
The first step in approaching this final question is to break down what it is actually asking the reader to do. Ask learners to divide the question up into parts and write a note of what that part is asking the learner to do.
It might look something like this:
|Line |What it is asking you to do |
|With close textual reference … |Quote specific examples from the poem extract here, as well as quoting from |
| |others |
|… show how the ideas and/or language |Analyse the ideas, imagery, language, structure, tone etc of ‘Valentine’ |
|of this poem … | |
|… similar OR different … |Compare these techniques |
|… to another poem or poems by Duffy… |Link what you have shown about ‘Valentine’ to the poems with themes such as |
| |love, relationships, heartbreak, commitment, ideals, compromise, etc |
| |Most likely links are to ‘Havisham’, ‘Anne Hathaway’ and ‘Mrs Midas’ |
Once learners have a good idea about what the question is asking, it will be important to consider what poems to pair the given extract with. The initial four questions should have established what the key themes are for that specific poem. Learners should therefore use their learning of how the poems fit together to narrow down which other poems to use.
Remember that in order to achieve the full 8 marks learners must refer to at least two other poems and at least three techniques. Exact wording from the specimen paper (questions on Burns’ ‘Song Composed in Autumn’) is given below.
Candidates should show awareness of the ideas and/or language of the wider works of Burns, and be able to relate this awareness to ‘Song Composed in Autumn’.
Additional guidance
8–7 marks
Candidates should identify at least three features/ideas in the poem and be able to comment on these in at least two other poems. The discussion should be supported by detailed quotation from the poems being discussed.
Skilled discussion of other Burns’ poetry in relation to ‘Song Composed in August’. (8)
Still skilled, but lacking in some assurance. (7)
(See the National 5 English Critical Reading Specimen Paper Marking Instructions for a full breakdown of assessment criteria.)
It is therefore clear that learners must discuss three of the six poems they have studied in order to achieve full marks. It will not be specified which poems should be used and learners should therefore be able to quickly draw on their knowledge of the poems in order to form a response.
For example, if ‘Valentine’ is the poem extract given, learners will be expected to consider two of the other Duffy poems that link to it. A way of doing this quickly is to consider what the four questions are asking for. In the case of the example given:
• structure/word ordering
• imagery, particularly metaphors
• attitude/word choice
• tone and emotions.
Once learners have reminded themselves of the questions’ purpose, this can be used to structure the mini essay for the 8-mark question. Learners will be able to develop a more thorough essay if they draw mainly on similarities – it will also be easier than just describing why it is different to two other less well-connected poems, and probably less random.
As mentioned, most thematic similarities can be drawn from ‘Anne Hathaway’ and ‘Havisham’. ‘Mrs Midas’ is a further possibility, but it is a longer text to deal with.
Below is a possible essay plan for comparing ‘Valentine’ with ‘Anne Hathaway’ and ‘Havisham’, using the four questions as a basis for its structure.
Introduction
Briefly describe the thematic connections that link all three poems. Discuss the purpose of the essay, ie to show the similarities between the poems, as well as highlighting one or two key differences.
Paragraph 2: Short summary of each of the poems and the speaker in each
Mention how they are all personas. What happens to them and how do they feel about it? At end of paragraph, summarise their specific similarities, eg first-person speaker, subject matter of love and its disappointments, language and imagery, etc.
Paragraph 3: Structure and word order
How is each of the poems built? Are they split into stanzas? Are any words or phrases on lines of their own? Is there enjambment? Is there any inverted word order? What is the effect? Remember to focus on the similarities but there is nothing to say that differences cannot also be analysed. For example, it should be noted that ‘Anne Hathaway’ has the form of a sonnet but this could be linked to her relationship with Shakespeare.
Paragraph 4: Language and imagery
What kind of language is used in each of the poems? How are strong feelings of love and/or rejection evoked through specific use of language in each? Select an image from each poem and show how they are similar. For example, all three poems reference intimate moments as part of a relationship, which could be linked.
Paragraph 5: Tone/attitude/emotions
What is the tone of each speaker in the poems? In what ways are they similar to each other? Quote words/phrases here to demonstrate the tone. How are strong emotions about love/relationships demonstrated in the poems?
Conclusion
In your conclusion you should sum up your main points. Describe three techniques that you have analysed in reference to the poem. Explain any deeper meanings/messages you think the poems are trying to show, particularly emphasising the similar messages that the poems share.
Below is a word bank for phrases that could be used for a comparative essay.
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It does seem like a lot to cover in the time-frame! It is important to think of the essay in terms of covering three or four techniques and three poems. Try to simplify it as much as possible and ensure that learners know the basic areas of analysis for poetry in order to quickly and coherently structure an essay plan.
It is worth a reminder at this stage that learners are advised to complete this final section in essay format but bullet points are acceptable if time is restricted.
The next sections will provide prompts for learners to link the poems, followed by teaching and learning activities to help learners compare the poems. There are further essay-writing tasks towards the end of this pack.
Prompts to enable learners to record links
The overall philosophy of the new Curriculum for Excellence and National qualifications is the emphasis on learners facilitating their own learning experiences. Whilst it is important that learners are thoroughly taught the poems, there is an expectation that they will be able to recognise where the thematic links lie between the six poems.
Once the most obvious links between the poems have been identified, learners can begin a deeper analysis of comparing those two or three poems.
If ‘Valentine’ is taught as an initial text, introduction to subsequent poems could take the form of a research task (again, if poems are being studied one at a time, research tasks could be given individually or all at once if comparisons want to be made evident from the start). The following tasks/websites could be used to find out background information for each.
Remember to keep a record of all progress and learning!
1. ‘Havisham’
Who was Miss Havisham?
2. ‘Anne Hathaway’
Who was Anne Hathaway? How does history paint the relationship between her and William Shakespeare?
3. ‘Mrs Midas’
What is the myth of King Midas? Considering the moral of the myth, why is it appropriate that Duffy has used this to explore modern relationships?
And for a bit of fun, the latest ‘Skittles’ advert (great for demonstrating the misery of the wish!)
4. ‘War Photographer’
What does the job of being a war photographer involve? How do you think he/she feels at the end of the day?
5. ‘Originally’
Whilst you should never absolutely assume that the speaker is the poet themselves, it is certainly useful to look at biographies of Carol Ann Duffy’s life when investigating this poem. Find out some information about her childhood and background.
Further web links are given at the end of this pack.
Research could be used to develop notes on the themes of each poem, which could then allow learners to make connections between similarities and differences.
Making links between the poems
Regardless of method or time-frames of study, learners should have had the opportunity to study each of the six poems individually. As the original emphasis is simply on learning and teaching, comparison could be drawn out in many possible ways with many combinations of the six poems.
The following ways could help learners to make wider links between the poems.
1. Learning wall
This is a method of study that could be implemented at the beginning of the year when a class are beginning to examine the six poems. If a classroom has space, it could cover a large section of the wall and be added to as each poem is studied.
Start with a basic structure as shown below:
• As each poem is studied, add the appropriate analysis to the learning wall.
• For example, if ‘Mrs Midas’ was studied, learners could add notes about the tone/emotion, structure, language and themes.
• The learning wall will get a lot bigger as the study proceeds!
• Once all the poems have complete annotations, begin a colour-coding system that links all of the similar points together.
• For example, for ‘Mrs Midas’ and ‘Havisham’ learners may have noted under tone/emotion that both can be seen as bitter, confused and heartbroken, and may therefore colour this in green.
• Alternatively, lines could be drawn between the similarities on the learning wall.
• Learners should be able to examine the learning wall and see links at a glance. They could also capture it as an image on phones/iPads but this will be up to the practitioner.
2. ‘Valentine’-based spider diagram
• If learners have used ‘Valentine’ as the foundation for studying the subsequent poems, it could be used to make links to the other poems.
• See the partly completed template for this below.
• Similar to the learning wall task, this should be done on a larger scale.
• Any of the Duffy poems could be used as the central focus for analysis and learners could narrow it down to just looking at three of the poems that fit well together.
• Again, a colour-coding system could be used to indicate where poems share techniques.
Thematic linking of poems
One of the best and easiest ways of linking and comparing poems is through the ideas and themes conveyed.
The task that follows could be based on the themes shown below. These themes are present in at least two of the six Carol Ann Duffy poems.
|IDENTITY |LOVE |RELATIONSHIPS |
|ISOLATION |HYPOCRISY |LOSS |
|TRANSITION |REALITY |HEARTBREAK |
Task
• This task will enable learners to see how two poems can fit together under the umbrella of one of the themes.
• Learners should work in pairs for this task.
• Cut up the themes on the grid and distribute one to each pair of learners.
• Ask each pair to select two poems that clearly display this theme and get them to write four ways that this theme is shown individually in each poem.
• For example, ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Originally’ both examine the reality of experiences from different perspectives.
• Learners should then describe how this shows similarities and differences between the poems.
• Learners could also begin to tie in some of the other themes to their area of study.
• This could be a collaborative written task or delivered to the class as a presentation.
• A further possibility is to create a visual display of learners’ understanding of how the particular theme links the poems together.
• Repeat this task so learners get to experience a different theme and different poems.
• It would be practical at this stage for learners to complete an individual mini essay of their findings.
Wider learning
‘Rolled-up’ skills-sampling opportunities
This section contains a variety of learning and teaching tasks that will help learners to combine their knowledge of the six poems. Many of the tasks can also double-up with National 5 learning outcomes in reading, writing, talking and listening.
By this point learners should have knowledge of each of the poems individually. The first tasks could be applied to furthering understanding of any of the poems as each works on the premise of the overall theme of personas.
Each task will be divided into a combination of writing, talking, reading and listening exercises
The tasks allow learners to show their learning of the six poems by creating a product of their knowledge. It will begin with tasks that examine each persona individually, followed by further opportunities for learners to teach others about what they have produced.
1. Writing task: Facebook profile
Skills to be gained: subject matter, characterisation, ideas/attitudes, speaker’s perspective, themes, language
• Many learners will have a Facebook profile and it is an interesting way to gain immediate access to information about others. This makes it an excellent format for creating character profiles.
• This task could be completed electronically using a standardised format or on larger paper templates.
• Either allow learners to select their own persona from one of the poems or assign a range around the room. Alternatively, write the names of the speakers on slips of paper and get learners to randomly select one.
• The speakers are
the giver of the onion from ‘Valentine’
Miss Havisham from ‘Havisham’
Anne Hathaway from ‘Anne Hathaway’
Mrs Midas from ‘Mrs Midas’
the war photographer from ‘War Photographer’
the speaker from ‘Originally’.
• Learners create a Facebook profile from that character’s perspective. They should complete each of the following layout headings:
profile picture and timeline cover
background information, such as where they live, their education, job and their relationship status
three or four pictures showing images of their lifestyle
most recent status update, eg the war photographer might have remarked ‘Just returned from Afghanistan and am still shaken from the horrors I have witnessed’
several wall posts from friends and family.
• Knowledge of subject matter, attitudes and ideas from the poem must be demonstrated. Specific language from the poem can also be displayed on the page.
2. Writing/reading task: Autobiography
Skills to be gained: characterisation, subject matter, mood, ideas/attitudes, speaker’s perspective, themes, language, creative writing skills
• In this task learners will explore who each character is by writing a chapter of their autobiography.
• As with the Facebook profile, learners could have a choice of which character to use or be assigned one.
• For all poems, possibly with the exception of ‘Originally’, this is a creative writing piece as learners will need to write from that character’s perspective and imagine what they are experiencing.
• It is possible to do ‘Originally’, but the practitioner will need to decide if a learner is to imagine they are speaking as Carol Ann Duffy or as an imaginary person having the experience of growing up and moving country.
• Learners should use their poem as a focus for what they write about. For example, if they write as Mrs Midas, they may describe the point at which the marriage truly broke down and Midas moves into the caravan; if it is Anne Hathaway, they may write their fictional account of a day spent with Shakespeare and how this may not have been what the public perceived.
• Once the writing has been completed, learners should read each other’s work and give some constructive feedback. They could assess both the understanding of the character/ideas from the poem and the writing skills.
• Whilst this is creative task, learners should also demonstrate that the ideas they have used have come from the poem.
3. Writing/talking task: Scrapbook/collage
Skills to be gained: characterisation, subject matter, ideas/attitudes, a speaker’s perspective, themes, language, tone, style
• This could be used as an extension of the previous creative writing task or as a stand-alone task.
• Some educational facilities will have the option of doing this electronically but to gain the full effect, it may be better done using card, paper, newspapers, pictures, tickets, leaflets, objects etc.
• Selecting one of the personas, learners create a scrapbook of their life, including short descriptions of each object or picture placed in the scrapbook.
• It may be necessary to show learners examples of scrapbooks and explain what they do.
• As a homework task, learners gather all of the resources they will need to create a scrapbook for their character.
• For example, if a learner is exploring the character of Havisham, they may get torn bits of wedding invitations, dark pebbles, rope, a deflated red balloon, material that could be a veil, a heart, pictures of a mirror, a wedding cake, perhaps even a miniature ‘male corpse’!
• It is important to note to learners that this is also a written task and they will therefore need to label and explain each item using examples from the poems.
• Display the scrapbooks around the classroom as a learning wall and ask learners to peer assess one another’s work.
• This could also be a talking task as learners explain their decisions to another learner or smaller group.
4. Writing/talking task: Personal perspective
Skills to be gained: subject matter, ideas/attitudes, speaker’s perspective, themes, reflection, personal writing skills
• This will enable learners to relate to the themes in each poem and also produce a piece of writing that could be used as a folio piece.
• Options for a personal writing piece based on each poem are:
‘Valentine’ – Write about an object that has personal significance to you and the memories it reminds you of.
‘Havisham’ – Write about a time when you suffered a significant disappointment and how you dealt with it.
‘Anne Hathaway’ – Write about a time when a judgement was made about you and/or a relationship you have that wasn’t true.
‘Mrs Midas’ – Write about a time when you were affected by a decision that someone else had made.
‘War Photographer’ – Write about a time when you witnessed conflict and/or hypocrisy and the impact it had on you afterwards.
‘Originally’ – Write about an important transition that you have had to make in your life.
• Some learners may want the option of writing a poem for any of these tasks.
• This could also be delivered as a solo talk.
5. Writing task: ‘How to’ information booklet
Skills to be gained: subject matter, ideas/attitudes, narrative stance, speaker’s perspective, themes, style, tone, form and structure, mood, denotation/connotation
• This task will enable learners to compare two of the poems and also to teach others about those two poems.
• Learners should work in pairs for this task and a range of poem pairings should be distributed around the room, eg one pair does a ‘Havisham’/’War Photographer’ comparison, another does a ‘Mrs Midas’/’Anne Hathaway’ comparison, etc.
• Learners develop an information booklet that teaches the reader how to analyse two of the poems and how they could be connected in their subject matter, form and structure, ideas and attitudes, and language.
• The instruction booklet should demonstrate the analysis skills learners have gained and show knowledge of the poems.
• The booklet should have an illustration on the front and three main sections: one on each of the poems and the third a comparison detailing what the poems have in common (the similarities/differences grid from earlier in the pack could be used for this).
• Once completed, put two pairs together who have analysed different comparisons and get them to teach the other pair what is in their booklet.
6. Writing task: Text conversation
Skills to be gained: characterisation, subject matter, ideas/attitudes, speaker’s perspective, mood, themes, style
• Many learners either own a phone or will have seen a phone that displays a text message conversation in the following way:
• Learners should write their own text conversation between two of the speakers of the poems who they believe have the most in common.
• For example, the speaker of ‘Originally’ might speak to the war photographer about where they feel their identity most belongs and how they are perceived by others.
• A template could be provided or this could be done electronically.
• In order to keep the task focused, supply each learner with a list of subjects that must be covered, eg four images from the poem must be suggested, eight words from the poems combined must be quoted within the texts, similarities of themes shared between the poems must be referenced.
• Learners could be paired up to deliver their text conversations to smaller groups or to the rest of the class.
• This task will enable learners to understand the specific voice of the poems and to draw comparisons with each of the speakers.
7. Writing/reading task: Critical essays and sample answers
Skills to be gained: subject matter, ideas/attitudes, speaker’s perspective, themes, style, tone, form and structure, denotation/connotation, P.E.E., comparative language, critical essay structuring
• Whilst many of the writing tasks here are designed to engage learners by getting into the head of each of the personas, it is also important for learners to write critically about each of the poems.
• Practice essays should be completed on individual poems, as well as comparisons.
• Ongoing practise of P.E.E. should be incorporated in critical essay writing tasks.
• A way of making this more manageable is to write mini essays on an aspect of each poem and then build up to the longer comparative piece of writing.
• For example, learners could write a mini essay on tone and attitude in ‘War Photographer’ and another mini essay on themes in ‘Mrs Midas’.
• Marking criteria for the questions in the sample paper should be shared with learners and used for peer-assessment purposes.
• Learners could also use the sample material available to create questions for their peers.
• Remind learners of the importance of using positive feedback as well as offering constructive comments for improvement.
8. Writing/talking/listening task: Persuasion for poem comparisons
Skills to be gained: subject matter, ideas/attitudes, speaker’s perspective, themes, style, tone, form and structure, denotation/connotation, persuasive techniques (rhetorical questions, rule of three, commands, use of ‘you’, emotive language, comparatives/superlatives, repetition), public speaking
• By National 5 level most learners will have gained knowledge of persuasive techniques. Here they will be used to argue that two poems are similar to one another.
• This is a difficult task that is best suited to higher ability classes.
• As a further challenge, poems could be used that make the least natural pairings, eg ‘Originally’ and ‘Havisham’.
• Learners write a speech that argues for poems to be paired with one another because of their similar themes, ideas, tone, language, structure, etc, for example:
Who is Miss Havisham? Why does tragedy blight her existence? What sort of a heartless cad would leave her in such a state of hopeless bitterness? Ah yes, she may call him a ‘bastard’ but cannot deny that he is still her ‘beloved’. She deserves our sympathy, our kindness, our help. Havisham is a poem that highlights the potentially twisted nature of man and vividly condemns the behaviour of some. It is of the utmost importance that the stark similarity can be seen with the courageous but ultimately dejected plight of the battered war photographer. Like Havisham, he has come to view our society and traditions as a disappointment, his language ...
• Get learners to deliver their speeches to smaller groups.
• Ask each member of the group to keep track of the content with a peer-assessment sheet that asks them to evaluate both the use of persuasive techniques and how well they have referenced the techniques of the poem.
• Encourage learners to ask further questions at the end of each speech.
9. Talking/listening task: Chat show
Skills to be gained: subject matter, ideas/attitudes, speaker’s perspective, themes, style, tone, structure, public speaking
• This is similar to the ‘Valentine’ hot-seating task but in this case all speakers could be called to the sofa.
• The task could also be done on a smaller-scale with the poems grouped into threes.
• Learners should each take on a role of one of the speakers of the poem. This could be done at random or learners could select which role they wanted to play.
• Learners are to imagine that their character has been asked to appear on a chat show and must be prepared to answer questions on the following:
name, age and where they live
occupation, hobbies/interests
views on relationships
how they see their own identity (eg do they have a role to play in society?)
how they imagine that other people perceive them
what they think about their childhood and how they see their future.
• The practitioner should decide if he/she wishes to act as chat show host or if this role is given to a learner (perhaps a less-confident learner). This person should prepare questions similar to the outline above.
• Each learner should respond to the questions in character, ideally adopting a tone and style appropriate to their persona.
• Learners should be encouraged to also respond to other speakers on the panel (similar to ‘The Graham Norton Show’). This should also help to identify where there are clear links between poems, for example Miss Havisham and Mrs Midas might have a lot in common with each other!
• Ask the learners watching to evaluate the performance of each person on the panel.
10. Talking task: Informative solo talk
Skills to be gained: subject matter, ideas/attitudes, speaker’s perspective, themes, style, tone, form and structure, denotation/connotation, solo talk skills
• Learners write and deliver a solo talk on two chosen poems to the class or a smaller group.
• This could take a similar format to the written task of the information booklet. In other words, it could be structured into three sections: one on each of the chosen poems and the other a comparison between the two.
• The choice of poems could be down to the learner or assigned to create a good range across the class.
• This could be accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation or other visual aids to enhance the audience’s understanding.
• Peer assessment could be in the form of audience members writing down three new pieces of information they learn about those two poems.
11. Reading task: Assessing comparative essays
Skills to be gained: understanding, analytical and evaluative language, structuring quotations, structuring critical essays, comparative phrases
• Learners should work in groups to analyse a range of model comparative essays of varying skill.
• If Duffy essays are available, these will be ideal, but other essays that compare one poem to another will be suitable.
• Ask learners to make notes on the following:
quality of introduction and conclusion – do they state purpose clearly and sum up effectively?
topic sentences and if paragraphs sustain this
depth of analysis
linking phrases and critical language
accuracy of P.E.E. structure.
• Groups should be supplied with the National 5 marking criteria and assess what they would give to each essay.
• Equipped with this analysis, groups should now plan out their own essays based on the specimen question.
12. Listening task: Poetry readings
Skills to be gained: critical listening skills, style, tone, language, emotions, denotation/connotation, structure attitudes, language, talking
• This task should help learners to understand the way that the poem is supposed to be said.
• It should examine where emphasis should be placed upon specific words/phrases and how this reflects the tone, attitudes and emotions of the speaker.
• It should also help with pronunciation and meaning.
• Learners work in pairs and take it in turns to slowly read through each poem aloud. Some learners may feel nervous about this but try to reassure them that everyone is taking part and think carefully about pairings; it may be okay here to pair friends with friends.
• Learners should read through the poem carefully, being sure to look out for structural points and punctuation.
• Ask the partner to listen carefully to the other’s reading and to give verbal feedback about how accurately they captured the feelings of the speaker and why. Select specific examples of words/phrases that were spoken well.
• If some learners are feeling brave, ask them to recite the poem in front of the class.
Tasks which sample skills and knowledge
This final section will focus on further suggestions for learning and teaching activities that should enable learners to secure their knowledge of the texts before sitting the final exam. The emphasis here is on final consolidation of textual knowledge and understanding, as well as focusing on practising sample questions.
The first tasks detailed below focus on learners working in groups in order to interrogate the different texts in engaging ways.
Task: Duffy Pursuit – the board game
Learning intention: to understand important aspects of each poem through creation and play of group board games.
• This is an extended group task that will require learners to have a good knowledge of each poem in order to progress to the middle and win.
• In groups of no more than four, learners design a board and questions for six categories, in this case, the six different poems.
• The board games will be based on the well-known Trivial Pursuit and will therefore require players to journey round the board collecting pieces of ‘pie’ after answering questions on each category correctly.
• Learners should be supplied with materials such as large sheets of card in different colours, assortment of paper in different shapes, colours and sizes, marker pens, coloured pens and pencils, glue and sticky tape, and other available decorative materials to make their boards and counters.
• It may be necessary to show learners examples of Trivial Pursuit and to explain the concept if unknown.
• This should be a collaborative group effort and initial roles could be assigned such as board architect, board artist, counter builder, rules writer.
• It should be emphasised that once the initial design has been completed, every member of the group must be in charge of writing the questions and assigning the colours, eg ‘War Photographer’ brown, ‘Mrs Midas’ orange.
• The questions must be challenging and appropriate to the areas of study for the exam.
• It may be the case that learners in the group feel themselves to be ‘specialists’ within the group for a certain poem, and will volunteer to write those questions.
• The two poems that learners have found to be most difficult should be written as a group effort.
• Traditionally in Trivial Pursuit, the winner is the person to get a question correct in each category and then travel to the middle where they face a difficult question selected by the other players. The middle question could be structured like an exam question and the other players select the three poems to answer on.
• Once all the Duffy Pursuits have been created, ask each group to move round each game and play it for at least a 20-minute slot each. This will allow learners to gain a full impression of the game and to respond to several of the questions written by the other groups.
• Supply a peer-assessment sheet to each group/learner to comment on the playability/design and challenge of the questions. This should be completed after testing each game and the assessment sheets given to each design group.
• Game-play time will be variable depending on the quality of the play and the value of the questions.
Task: Duffy – the computer game
Learning intention – to consolidate understanding of the different personas and important technical aspects of each poem through development of computer programmes.
• These days it has become very easy to create actual computer games using websites and software available on most computers. Learners will probably know of many sites that can do this.
– Some sites worth exploring are , and , but there are many more.
• If time or resources are limited, this task can easily be conceived on paper with storyboards and explanations of concept that can be presented to the class.
• The task itself asks learners to design a simple idea for a computer game that creates a world where personas from the Duffy poems exist.
• This will enable each learner to consider the themes shared by each persona and to create puzzles and challenges in their games based on the poems’ techniques.
• Before beginning this task it will be useful to have a class discussion about the types of computer games that learners already play and whether or not they have developed their own games before.
• This task is probably best completed in pairs in order to develop learning through collaboration with others.
• Initially, learners should come up with ideas for their computer game – it should have up to three of the personas explored in the poems and contain a question element that will allow learners to progress to the next stage/level.
• The settings that the games are set against should show relevance to those of the poems, eg ‘War Photographer’ could be set against a warzone backdrop, ‘Valentine’ in a supermarket vegetable aisle or a card shop for the irony!
• One idea is that the character/player has to answer questions about poems of that setting before moving on to the next.
• It is highly likely that learners will have experience of creating these games before and will therefore have their own ideas about how to explore themes and characters through the medium of computer games.
• Remind learners throughout that there must be a puzzle/question element to their games in order to demonstrate revision of exam techniques.
• Pairs should present their computer games/concepts to the rest of the class and the practitioner could offer formative feedback on their efforts.
Task: Whole-class quiz!
Learning intention – to consolidate knowledge and understanding of the six Duffy poems through competitive quiz-zing!
• This task should be structured around the traditional format of a pub quiz (but without the alcohol!)
• The class should be divided into six different teams, with each being responsible for a different set of questions for a poem.
• To increase the fun and competitive nature of this task, ask learners to give themselves a team name, eg ‘The Havisham Harridans’ or ‘Originally the Winners’. They could even design a banner or flag if there is time.
• Ask each team to use their study notes and copies of the poem to develop ten questions for their poem that can be used in the final quiz. These should be based on characterisation, context, themes, narrative stance, attitudes, tone, emotion, structure, rhythm, language, imagery, tone etc.
• Each team should submit their ten questions, as well as a marking scheme. Quiz answer sheets should be given to each team.
• This will be most effective if a competitive quiz atmosphere is created in the class.
• Highlight that there will be six rounds but each team can only answer on a possible five and therefore the final mark will be out of 50.
• The practitioner could act as quiz-master and ask questions in each round, giving no more than a minute or two for teams to answer each question.
• At the end of the quiz, get teams to swap answer sheets and go through each answer.
• Count up the marks and the winning team at the end could get a prize.
• It is also possible to have a bonus round where each team writes an extended response to a four-mark question.
Task: Question-development
Learning intention – to understand the question types in the final exam paper
• Learners should work in groups of four for this task, on the basis that there will be around four questions in the first part of the Scottish text extract questions.
• Firstly, give each group a set of sample questions for one of the poems, eg the examples used in this unit for ‘Valentine’ or specimen questions from additional SQA material or examples from new National 5 textbooks.
• Below is a general framework that has been adapted from the initial SQA specimen paper and applied to ‘Havisham’.
[pic]
• It is clear from the questions in the box above that there is room for learners to adapt the wording of these questions to other poems they have studied.
• Using the example questions, the group write a new set of questions for a different poem that has been studied.
• Each member of the group should write one question.
• Once the questions have been developed, share the marking criteria with the groups for the original example questions that were supplied.
• Using these as a basis, now ask each learner to write a possible answer for the question that they have written.
• The current specimen marking instructions use bullet points to demonstrate the range of answers possible. Encourage learners to use the same format and to put as many possible answers as they can.
• Now get learners to swap their questions with another group for them to answer.
• Learners can work as a group to answer questions or complete them individually before putting them together.
• Original groups should mark the effort of the other group and share their success with them.
Task: Final question response
Learning intention – to understand how to construct a response to the final 8-mark question using critical essay skills
• In this task learners should work together in developing a bullet-point essay plan for the final plan before going on to write their own individual responses to each task.
• Learners should work in the same groups as the previous task to ensure continuity and consistency of response.
• Groups should continue to respond to the poem that they answered questions about.
• Share with learners the marking criteria for gaining high marks for this question in the SQA marking instructions and supply each with a large A3 sheet of paper/card.
• Groups should write a detailed bullet-point plan for responding to a question. The specific quotations that are to be used should be included in this plan.
• Once plans have been constructed, supply each group with a blank feedback sheet.
• Now ask learners to move round each group and write down feedback notes for what works well about the plan and what could be improved.
• Groups should add any suggested feedback to their plans and should then go on to write their own individual essay responses to the question. This could be done under exam conditions and timed to give learners a good idea of what they can achieve in a certain time-frame.
• Individual responses should then be swapped with another member of the group for peer assessment based on the criteria in the marking instructions.
• The current SQA marking instructions for the 8-mark question could be divided up for peer assessment in the following way:
|Criteria |Comment: How well have they covered this aspect? Examples should be provided |
|Three features/ideas from poem | |
|extract identified | |
|Comment on these features/ideas in at| |
|least two other Duffy poems | |
|Detailed quotations and analysis | |
|evident throughout | |
|Accurate critical essay language and | |
|structure, including introduction and| |
|conclusion | |
|Overall skilled discussion between | |
|three Duffy poems | |
• At this stage, encourage formative assessment in the form of detailed comment on what went particularly well and what could be improved.
• The practitioner could also contribute additional comments to enable learners to learn from this model answer.
Remember to also refer back to the question types and response markers section for further guidance about how to approach question types and sample answers.
Practitioners will know from experience that learners really benefit from model answers and further question exemplars. As the National 5 qualifications continue to evolve, the resources available will increase and as learners continue to engage with the material, the best ways of responding to questions will become apparent.
Further reading and resources
The following titles could support study of the National 5 qualifications and the six selected Carol Ann Duffy poems:
How to pass National 5 English, by David Swinney (Hodder and Gibson, to be published September 2013).
National 5 English Practice Past Papers for SQA Exams, by Craig Aitchison (Leckie and Leckie, to be published October 2013).
New Selected Poems, by Carol Ann Duffy (Picador, 2009).
The World’s Wife, by Carol Ann Duffy (Picador, 2000).
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens (Wordsworth Classics – Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1992).
Shakespeare’s Wife, by Germaine Greer (Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2008).
The Poetry of Carol Ann Duffy: Choosing Tough Words, by Angelica Michells and Antony Rowland (Manchester University Press, 2003).
The Deregulated Muse: Essays on Contemporary British and Irish Poetry, by Sean O’Brien (Bloodaxe Books Ltd, 1997).
Carol Ann Duffy (Writers and Their Works), Deryn Rees-Jones (Northcote House Publishers Ltd, 2010).
Links to websites
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Links to websites used in this resource
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Descriptions of Duffy:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Who was St Valentine?
1950s
Dear Agony Aunt Ann,
Help! I have been seeing someone for a few weeks – she is pretty, funny and always posts the funniest videos on Facebook. But last night we went out and she thought it would be romantic to give me a tomato!!! What does this mean?! Does she love me or doesn’t she? I mean, there I was expecting a box of chocolates...
tea towel book watch bedside lamp candle peach
winter coat bracelet glass of milk football DVD
mobile phone car table bar of chocolate cup
slow cooker boiler A4 ringbinder stapler
How did the object seem fresh and exciting with its association to your real-life experience at the start?
How did you begin to see the negative aspects of this experience through the object?
As time went by, how did your connection to this object/real experience become stronger? In what ways did this create negative and positive feelings?
How do you currently feel about this object/experience? Can you see the role that it will play in your future?
Date of lesson: 18th June 2013
Poem and focus: Havisham – poetic techniques
Learning intentions: to understand how Duffy uses poetic techniques to show Havisham’s heartbreak
Activities: Working in pairs – each pair was given two lines of the poem and we had to spot if a poetic technique had been used and what effect that had on the tone of the poem. We also refreshed our knowledge of techniques such as metaphor, alliteration and simile, and learnt what oxymoron meant.
Who did I work with today and what did I learn from them?
What new knowledge did I gain about this poem today?
How can I use this to compare to the other poems?
Did I find this difficult?
What I liked/did not like about this:
HAVISHAM
ANNE HATHAWAY
MRS MIDAS
‘Valentine’ quiz
[pic]
Question 1
(a) What are the traditional gifts of love that Duffy mentions?
(b) Are any words repeated in lines 1, 11 and 12? If so, what are they?
(c) Is it possible to re-phrase any of these lines?
(d) What is Duffy’s attitude here?
Question 2
(a) What figure of speech does Duffy use to introduce the image?
(b) What is the contrast?
(c) Quote two words/phrases that show both sides of the contrast.
Repetition of the word ‘not’ at the start of lines 1 and 12
Direct, honest statement of desire to avoid clichés of love
Duffy gives the stereotypical examples of a ‘red rose’, ‘satin heart, ‘cute card’ and ‘kissogram’
Critical, disdainful and unconvinced
Point (here you will need to identify what the strong emotion is)
Evidence (you should quote from the first two lines of the poem – look at the first three words!)
Explanation (describe how specific words in the quotation link clearly to the strong emotion – for a thorough answer, you could also explain how the quotation sets the tone for the rest of the poem)
To show similarities
similarly likewise in the same way both like in the same manner
just as again
To contrast/show difference
however in contrast even though on the other hand conversely but
otherwise as opposed to nevertheless on the contrary yet still
To further a point
furthermore additionally as well likewise equally important moreover
another besides for example along with for this reason indeed
to repeat also to emphasise with this in mind
To conclude
consequently accordingly to sum up thus in summary finally to clarify
as a result therefore it is clear all in all
Subject/themes
‘Valentine’
Language
‘Anne Hathaway’
‘Mrs Midas’
Form/structure
Carol Ann Duffy poetry
Tone/emotion/attitudes
‘Havisham’
‘War Photographer’
‘Originally’
All poems except ‘War Photographer’. This has the effect of emphasising what is said as one person’s voice and experience.
Shifting tone
Use of metaphor
First-person speaker
‘Valentine’
Direct/blunt/honest tone
Explores love and relationships
‘Mrs Midas’ also looks at the reality of modern relationships and the decisions that we make when in them. Memories that stay with a person and wishing it had been different.
Words in line of their own
Contrasting images
Hey Anne, how are things going with Wills?
Not too bad, but people down at the market have been whispering in a not-so-subtle way. (
Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. I know that there were those rumours a while ago.
But that’s just it, they are rumours! It’s so frustrating, they don’t know what really happens in a relationship.
I know how you feel. I would just die if anyone found out about the crazy decision my husband has just made.
Oh no, what has Mr Midas done now?!
‘Havisham’ questions
1. The emotions and attitudes of the speaker in the poem come across clearly in the first stanza.
a) Identify two of these main ideas or concerns from stanza 1.
2
b) Show how two examples of the poet’s language in stanza 1 help to illustrate her meaning 4
2. Show how any two examples of the poet’s use of language in stanzas 2 or 3 effectively contribute to the main ideas or concerns of the poem. 4
3. How effective do you find any aspect of the final stanza as a conclusion to the poem?
Your answer might deal with ideas and/or language. 2
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