Mean Time Overview

Duffy's Biography

Duffy started writing when she was 15. She met Liverpool poet Adrian Henri, and lived with him until 1982. She took a philosophy degree. Duffy had a relationship with another Scottish poet, Jackie Kay, and together they had a daughter. Her poems are studied at GCSE, A-Level and at a Higher Education level. In 2008, her poem 'Education for Leisure' was removed from AQA's GCSE anthology, as it was considered to be too violent. She is the current poet laureate for England, and is the first female, Scottish and openly gay poet to hold this position. Initially, she turned down this position. What is a poet laureate?Official poet of the government. They are commissioned to write poetry for state occasions, such as royal weddings, funerals or coronations and current issues like the war in Afghanistan, climate change and species extinction.

Duffy's Poetry Duffy's titles are straightforward - usually as an abbreviated highlight of the poem. Duffy writes about people who are 'misunderstood and marginalised' and says we are all 'outside of everything else', meaning we are all isolated in some way.

Context

What is context? Put simply, it is information around a text. This information could be historical, sociological, political or about the author's life. Latin translation;'Con' means 'together''Textere' means 'to weave'The dictionary definition of 'context':the circumstances that the setting for an event, statement or idea can be fully understood.What are the different types of context?Critical context - academic information around a text e.g) references to Swiss mercenaries in 'Nostalgia'General information - definitions of keywords e.g) what is a biographer and what is their role?

Poetic Forms

Ballad - narrative/song form, 4 line stanzas Dramatic monologue - 1 person talking/narrating, personally addressing readers. Monologues are usually found in plays, which means DM's have a strong sense of character. Elegy - written to mourn the death of a person (something that resembles this style is called elegiac) Lyric - explores or expresses a state of feeling rather than narrates an event, could be set to music, but not necessarily Narrative - describes an event or series of events. The poet may take on the role of a character in the story (1st person) or adopt the voice of a narrator (3rd person) Ode - lyrical poem but more detailed, more complex and longer, explores an idea - whether political, philosophical, intellectual or personal Rap - modern style of poetry, often associated with heavy use of rhyme, word play and strong rhythm Shape - written in the shape of a particular object (e.g. George Herbert, The Altar) Sonnet - there are two types of sonnet, Petarchan and Shakespearian. Both forms of sonnet were originally used to write love poetry. Petarch, an Italian, was the first to write love poetry in Europe. Shakespeare added the rhyming couplet at the end of Petarch's sonnet form, making the form 14 lines long.

Language Styles archaic (old fashioned) formal (universal) informal (personal) Casual/colloquial (using dialect) Time specific Personal/intimate Contemporary

Types of Rhyme True rhyme - typical rhyme where the ending of sounds match (e.g. 'cat' and 'hat') Syllabic rhyme - rhyming last syllable (e.g. 'beaver' and 'silver') Assonant rhyme - rhyming of vowel sounds in words with different consonant sounds (e.g. 'tip' and 'limp') Initial rhyme - the same consonant sound at the beginning of words (e.g. 'blue' and 'blow') Near rhyme - rhyming of final consonants, but not vowels or initial consonants (e.g. 'bent' and 'rant') Thorn rhyme - line that doesn't rhyme, contradicts the rhyme scheme Click here for more

Other Key Terms:Psychological landscape - the narrator projects their feelings on to their surroundings.

How to Structure an Analysis

Follow this structure to cover all the bases of a poem in the exam: Discuss the language and imagery within the poem. What is its effect? Discuss the mood/tone of the poem. How has the poet created it? Discuss the structure and form of the poem. What is its effect? Summarise the above content to formulate an opinion of what the poem could be about. Discuss the themes included in the poem. How typical is it compared with other poems within the collection? The poem is different/similar to the others because...

Develop you point: Make your 'penguin' or topic point. Where do you get your evidence from to prove your point? (quotation if possible) How can you tell that the evidence/element proves your point? Why has Duffy done this? What is the significance of this? (i.e. the effect on the reader) Do you need to refine/retune your original point? OR: Make your 'penguin' or topic point. Indicate your evidence for thinking this (quotation if possible). Explain what the quotation/evidence means. What does this suggest about the character/situation/theme? What is the attitude/idea of the writer? Add any historical context that could affect the meaning. Explain the effect of the language techniques, words or phrases in the quotation. What is the effect on the reader/audience? What is implied? Relate back to the question. How to develop structure and form points: How do ideas develop or change between the different sections of poems? If a poem consists of a series of quatrains (4 line stanzas), but finishes with a couplet, why? What's the effect of this? If the number of lines in each stanza varies, what does that tell you about the content of each stanza? Are short stanzas less important, or more focussed? Why has the poet divided the poem into different stanzas? What is contained in each stanza? What occurs between the stanzas? Do the poet's ideas seem to jump? Are the stanzas arranged chronologically? Is there an image in each stanza?

Remember: to summarise the poem to focus on form and structure more to think about how ideas develop over a poem to consider how the organisation of words helps Duffy to show her ideas

Types of Rhyme

True rhyme - typical rhyme where the ending sounds match e.g. 'cat' and 'hat'Syllabic rhyme - rhyming the last syllable e.g. 'beaver' and 'silver'Assonant rhyme - rhyming of vowels in words e.g. 'tip' and 'limp'Initial rhyme - same consonant sound appearing at the beginning of words e.g. 'blue' and 'blow'Near rhyme - rhyming of final consonants, but not the vowels or initial consonants e.g. 'bent' and 'rant'