Carol Ann Duffy
YEAR 11 2021
,About the Poet
• Born 1955, Glasgow
• Aged 6, moves to Stafford, attends Stafford Girls’ High
(which she loves) though the move itself is traumatic
• Aged 16 – meets Adrian Henri of the Merseybeat
movement – she develops an interest in performance
poetry (poetry to be read aloud)
• Known for her use of “simple words in a complex way”
– the use of accessible, everyday vocabulary is a feature
of much of her poetry
• Poetry features ideas of childhood, school (which she
loved), and issues of identity
,Head of English – the Headlines
• A dramatic monologue using the persona of a narrow-minded, dismissive teacher (we
assume the head of English) during a poet’s visit to a school. Duffy actually wrote the poem
on the way back from a school visit in 1980
• The teacher is dismissive and quite arrogant
• Duffy uses free verse to give the teacher a voice. The teacher, who is very traditional in her
outlook on poetry, cannot ever achieve the formal elegance of Kipling or Keats, whom she
references in the poem: any rhymes are incidental/accidental in the way that she speaks…
, Head of English – The Big Ideas
Look back at the poem.
The students are rigidly controlled by the Head of En
Note down any instances limits their freedom and patronises them
where these things are
happening →
The Head of English falsely praises the poet to demo
bitter and condescending attitude towards them
The Head of English is mocked by Duffy for being ego
self-important and archaic (old-fashioned) in her att
YEAR 11 2021
,About the Poet
• Born 1955, Glasgow
• Aged 6, moves to Stafford, attends Stafford Girls’ High
(which she loves) though the move itself is traumatic
• Aged 16 – meets Adrian Henri of the Merseybeat
movement – she develops an interest in performance
poetry (poetry to be read aloud)
• Known for her use of “simple words in a complex way”
– the use of accessible, everyday vocabulary is a feature
of much of her poetry
• Poetry features ideas of childhood, school (which she
loved), and issues of identity
,Head of English – the Headlines
• A dramatic monologue using the persona of a narrow-minded, dismissive teacher (we
assume the head of English) during a poet’s visit to a school. Duffy actually wrote the poem
on the way back from a school visit in 1980
• The teacher is dismissive and quite arrogant
• Duffy uses free verse to give the teacher a voice. The teacher, who is very traditional in her
outlook on poetry, cannot ever achieve the formal elegance of Kipling or Keats, whom she
references in the poem: any rhymes are incidental/accidental in the way that she speaks…
, Head of English – The Big Ideas
Look back at the poem.
The students are rigidly controlled by the Head of En
Note down any instances limits their freedom and patronises them
where these things are
happening →
The Head of English falsely praises the poet to demo
bitter and condescending attitude towards them
The Head of English is mocked by Duffy for being ego
self-important and archaic (old-fashioned) in her att
