Salome Objective: To explore the themes, language and structure across the poem.

Carol Ann Duffy Carol Ann Duffy often uses the internal monologue style of writing, in which she speaks a character’s inner thoughts. She also likes to give a voice to characters in fiction who have often not been understood, or have been ignored, by audiences.

Objective: To explore the themes, language and structure across the poem. From the New Testament: The historical Salome was a daughter of Herodias and Philip (he was one of the ruling family in Palestine). She danced before the ruler, Herod Antipas (Philip's half-brother and her uncle), who promised to grant any request she might make. Prompted by her mother, Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist, the man who had called her marriage ‘unlawful’ and at once he was executed. The name of Salome is not used in the gospels but is known from the Jewish historian Josephus. Salomé's story was made the subject of a play by Oscar Wilde that premiered in Paris in 1896, under the French name Salomé. In Wilde's play, Salome takes a perverse fancy for John the Baptist, and causes him to be executed when John spurns her affections. In the finale, Salome takes up John's severed head and kisses it. What sort of woman is Salome?

Objective: To explore the themes, language and structure across the poem. 1.Is there anything about Salome that makes her a good role model for women? 2.How is the poem structured so that a relationship is built between the speaker and the reader? 3.How far is this really a very modern kind of story? What modern references does Duffy make throughout the poem? 4.What biblical references do we see throughout the poem? Why are these important? What do they show us about her? 5.What is the significance of her comment ‘life’s a bitch’ at the end of the poem? Who’s life is a bitch? Why may it be an ironic statement? 6.How has Duffy used language to make this poem feel honest and truthful? What is the effect of this on the reader?

Band 5 Sophisticated and Impressive  Sophisticated interpretation of the writer’s ideas and attitudes  Sophisticated links and comparison between texts  Sophisticated analysis of language, structure and context  Unpicks quotes imaginatively using PEEE/L Band 4 Confident and Assured  Confident, assured and developed interpretations of writer’s ideas and attitudes  Confident comparison between texts  Assured analysis of language techniques, structure and context  Unpicks quotes precisely using PEEE/L Objective: To explore the themes, language and structure across the poem. With Shakespeare, we tick the context box by discussing the audience’s beliefs and reactions. What do we discuss for Carol Ann Duffy?