Before you were mine Carol Ann Duffy

Objectives  To explore what the speaker thinks of herself and her mother  To be able to comment on the use of language and structure within the poem.

Starter  What did you parents do before you were born?  Have you learned anything interesting about their pasts?

Context  The poem was written when Duffy found an old photograph of her mother with her friends before she was born.

Before You Were Mine  Read through the poem twice.  As you read it through, think about the difference between the mother’s life before and after the poet was born. What changed? The poem

Before we begin…  What does the title of the poem tell us about the poet’s relationship with her mother?  What is the overall mood of the poem?

Stanza 1  What did the poet used to do in her younger days?  What is the significance of the last line? How does the poet see her younger mother?

Stanza 2  What does the line ‘in the ballroom with the thousand eyes, the fizzy, movie tomorrows the right walk could bring home’ mean?  What would her mother do if she was late home? Did she care?

Stanza 3  What does the first line of this stanza tell us about how the speaker saw herself as a young child?  Why are the red shoes ‘relics’?  What does the metaphor ‘your ghost clatters towards me…’ mean?

Stanza 4  What s the significance of ‘cha cha cha!’?  What does ‘stamping steps from the wrong pavement’ refer to? What is it telling us abut the poet’s mother’s life?  Does the poet blame herself for how her mother ended up? What do the last three lines mean?

Pronouns  The poet uses ‘I’ and ‘You’ throughout the poem.  First person makes the reader feel more involved. But who is the poet speaking to?

Structure  The poem is written in present tense as if many of the events are happening now. Why did Duffy choose this method?

Assessment Answer the following question: Explore the ways that Carol Ann Duffy reflects on her mother's past and shows her affection for her in Before You Were Mine.