‘Before You Were Mine’ Carol Ann Duffy

Thinking – What ideas do these words present? Shriek Dance Stamping winking High-heeled shoes Glamorous Ballroom Scent Sparkle Fizzy lights love Feedback your ideas

First Impressions What kind of person do you think Duffy’s mother was? Put these adjectives into the ‘Diamond 9’ with the most appropriate at the top and the least appropriate at the bottom. disobedient Fun-loving loud glamorous friendly flirty happy irritating shy

I'm ten years away from the corner you laugh on STRUCTURE: The first three stanzas – the time before she was born into her mum’s life STRUCTURE: present tense used to describe a past event. Creates a vivid image – could be looking at a photograph? I'm ten years away from the corner you laugh on with your pals, Maggie McGeeney and Jean Duff. The three of you bend from the waist, holding each other, or your knees, and shriek at the pavement. Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn. Compares her mother with Marilyn Monroe – glamorous, desirable film star, but also a tragic figure. Informal language Conversational Tone

I'm not here yet. The thought of me doesn't occur Language suggests energy and exciting possibilities - she may have hoped for life like the movies Could be the glittering mirrorballs or it could be the men watching I'm not here yet. The thought of me doesn't occur in the ballroom with the thousand eyes, the fizzy, movie tomorrows the right walk home could bring. I knew you would dance like that. Before you were mine, your Ma stands at the close with a hiding for the late one. You reckon it's worth it. Her mother had freedom before the poet was born, but also restrained by her own mother Possessive Her mum wasn’t scared of the consequences of enjoying herself

The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh? The narrator was a demanding baby Conversational tone Onomatopoeia Simile appeals to the senses -so vivid that she can smell her mother Synaesthesia– senses are blurred The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh? I remember my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics, and now your ghost clatters toward me over George Square till I see you, clear as scent, under the tree, with its lights, and whose small bites on your neck, sweetheart? Relics: sacred, religious objects from the past. Her mother’s glamour is precious? Unused? ‘Ghost’ highlights how it’s in the past too? Sounds like something a parent would say to their child but here it is the other way round

Cha cha cha! You'd teach me the steps on the way home from Mass, Alliteration shows her mum’s defiance and energy Stars a reference to the Hollywood ‘walk of fame’ Contrasts with the ‘right walk home’ Maybe she has made the wrong choice in life? Cha cha cha! You'd teach me the steps on the way home from Mass, stamping stars from the wrong pavement. Even then I wanted the bold girl winking in Portobello, somewhere in Scotland, before I was born. That glamorous love lasts where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine. As a child the narrator wanted her mother to be ‘bold’, but her birth meant that her mum couldn’t be a ‘bold girl’ anymore STRUCTURE: Repetition of ‘and’ emphasises how many energetic qualities the narrator thought her mother had Repeating this emphasises the difference between then and now. It also develops the possessive tone by repeating the word ‘mine’ STRUCTURE: The Caesura emphasises that the narrator’s birth was a turning point in her life

Structure and form 4 stanzas, each with 5 lines Neat and regular Time always steadily moves on Photos neatly arranged in an album Cyclical structure Enjambment – movement of time conversational Stanza 1 – Mother’s past Stanza 2 – Mother’s past Stanza 3 – Child’s memory Stanza 4 – Child’s memory

Informal language Synaesthesia Onomatopoeia Caesura Alliteration Possessive language Admiration Simile Repetition Nostalgia Glamorous Exciting Conversational Tone Intimate Present tense Informal language Synaesthesia Onomatopoeia Caesura Alliteration Possessive language Admiration Simile Repetition Nostalgia Glamorous Exciting Conversational Tone Intimate Present tense Informal language Synaesthesia Onomatopoeia Caesura Alliteration Possessive language Admiration Simile Repetition Nostalgia Glamorous Exciting Conversational Tone Intimate Present tense Informal language Synaesthesia Onomatopoeia Caesura Alliteration Possessive language Admiration Simile Repetition Nostalgia Glamorous Exciting Conversational Tone Intimate Present tense Informal language Synaesthesia Onomatopoeia Caesura Alliteration I’M – PALS – THREE – SHRIEK – MARILYN – FIZZY – DANCE – MINE – POSESSIVE – RELICS – CLATTERS – SCENT – SWEETHEART - STARS – GLAMOROUS – SPARKLE - MINE I’M – PALS – THREE – SHRIEK – MARILYN – FIZZY – DANCE – MINE – POSESSIVE – RELICS – CLATTERS – SCENT – SWEETHEART - STARS – GLAMOROUS – SPARKLE - MINE I’M – PALS – THREE – SHRIEK – MARILYN – FIZZY – DANCE – MINE – POSESSIVE – RELICS – CLATTERS – SCENT – SWEETHEART - STARS – GLAMOROUS – SPARKLE - MINE I’M – PALS – THREE – SHRIEK – MARILYN – FIZZY – DANCE – MINE – POSESSIVE – RELICS – CLATTERS – SCENT – SWEETHEART - STARS – GLAMOROUS – SPARKLE - MINE