Carol Ann Duffy Poetry has layers Literal verses Figurative language Literal language the most obvious reading meaning giving an actual example Eg He ran as fast as he could when confronted by the savage dog ID: 411409
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Slide1
‘Stealing’
Carol Ann DuffySlide2
Poetry has layers - Literal verses Figurative language
Literal language
– the most obvious reading/ meaning (giving an
actual
example
)
E.g
.
He ran as fast as he could when confronted by the savage dog
.
(
Yes he did. He just ran
)
Figurative language
– alternative readings/ meanings that go beyond the obvious which are more abstract or
metaphorical
. (Presenting your meaning imaginatively
)
E.g
.
I'm so hungry I could eat a horse
.
(
You wouldn't would you? It just means you could eat a large meal
)
Common examples of
figurative language
use are:
Simile
Alliteration
Metaphor
Idiom
Personification HyperboleSlide3
‘The most unusual thing I ever stole?’
‘A snowman.
’
‘
..a matewith mind as cold as a slice of icewithin my own brain.’ ‘..a fierce chillpiercing my gut.’‘Life’s tough.’‘Mirrors.’
Literal/ figurative/ both? Why?Slide4
Identify which of the following features are present within the poem
Stealing? Label them.
Alliteration
Short
sentences
Single line stanzasQuestioningSimileMetaphorPersonification
Enjambment
Sibilance
Irony Synesthesia (combining two senses – e.g. hearing a sound, evokes a sensation of colour)
R
hyme
Internal
rhyme
Distinctive Rhythm/
metre
R
epetition
Assonance
Caesura
Foregrounding
Obvious Structure
Form
Interesting
use of language/ syntax/
SemanticsSlide5
Stealing
The most unusual thing I ever stole? A snowman.Midnight. He looked magnificent; a tall, white mute
beneath the winter moon. I wanted him, a mate
with a mind as cold as the slice of ice
within my own brain. I started with the head
.Better off dead than giving in, not takingwhat you want. He weighed a ton; his torso,frozen stiff, hugged to my chest, a fierce chillpiercing my gut. Part of the thrill was knowingthat children would cry in the morning. Life's tough.Sometimes I steal things I don't need. I joy-ride carsto nowhere, break into houses just to have a look.I'm a mucky ghost, leave a mess, maybe pinch a camera.I watch my gloved hand twisting the doorknob.A stranger's bedroom. Mirrors. I sigh like this -
Aah
.
It took some time. Reassembled in the yard,he didn't look the same. I took a runand booted him. Again. Again. My breath ripped outin rags. It seems daft now. Then I was standingalone among lumps of snow, sick of the world.Boredom. Mostly I'm so bored I could eat myself.
One time, I stole a guitar and thought I might
learn to play. I nicked a bust of Shakespeare once,flogged it, but the snowman was the strangest.You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?Slide6
Themes
SufferingEmpowermentSelf-destruction
Methods
Enjambment to present the speaker’s inner voice
Effective use of punctuation
Representation of natural speechDiamond 9 – rank the importance of lines and justify your thinking
What?
Why?
How?
Which of these triangles represents a commentary structure?Slide7
How can the poem
Stealing be structurally likened to another Duffy poem?Compare how Duffy presents one crafting method in
Stealing
to how she uses this method in another of her poems.
For example, Duffy uses enjambment in
Stealing to convey the self destructive nature of the speaker’s inner voice. How does she use enjambment in another of her poems? Review and reflection