before you were mine

Question 1

context

Answer 1

• raised roman catholic
  -> religious references
• 1950s of being a woman
  -> conventions of society, women were expected to adhere to during this period (stay at home, raise children, not work)
  -» inevitability of the role of women, fate a women was destined to have in this period, predetermined, already set, inescapable

Question 2

meaning

Answer 2

• starts wiht her looking at a picture of her mother and her friends from 10 years before she was born - reminds her of Marilyn Monroe
• looking at her mother at a danse - idealistic youthful promise, movie and a dance, future sort of thing
• saying that life before speaker was probably best, metahoricallty after her was better now she id a ghost, her glamourous life before her is now dead
• saying that she thinks her mum should have been in a more glamourous setting, looks at her mum and wants the carefree version she once was

Question 3

STRUCTURE - tightly controlled

Answer 3

• inevitability of structure mirrors the inevitability of future life and role of women
• ti8ght control ocv faughter over mother

Question 4

STRUCTURE - cyclical - both begins and ends on pavements

Answer 4

• ends on pavement
• also last word and title of poem being the same reflects the cycle nature of existence
  -> fate, predetermined
  -» critique of fated role of women

Question 5

STRUCTURE - caesura

Answer 5

• ” before i was born.”
  -> daughter believes she is to blame, makes us stop and think that the speaker is saying it is her fault

Question 6

LANGUAGE - rhetorical question

Answer 6

• “sweetheart?”
  -> role reversal
• questioning parent
• child calling her sweetheart, possessive link
• perhaps patronising

Question 7

LANGUAGE - “relics”

Answer 7

• rare and antique
  -> so different to life speaker knows her to lead
  -> value and precious, valuing mother

Question 8

LANGUAGE - “clear as scent”

Answer 8

• simile
  -> synaesthesia
  -> blending sight with smell
  -» strong memories remind us of scents and sensory imagery
• thinks of this very strongly

Question 9

LANGUAGE - vivid imagery

Answer 9

• “red, polka dot”
  -> layers of description (behind the photo she is basing the poem off)
• red connotes passion and beauty

Question 10

LANGUAGE - “thousand eyes, the fizzy movie tomorrows “

Answer 10

• hyperbolic “thousand eyes” - lots of pride for her mother and thinks other people must be fascinated with her also
• “fizzy movies” = relates to Marilyn comparison
  -> connotes film which contrasts with the harsh realities of life she was subjected to when Duffy was born and responsibilities of being a mother

Question 11

LANGUAGE - the opening

Answer 11

• temporal deixis “ ten years away”
• events moving away and reflection
  -> important speaker feels the connection between herself and her mother had on her life
• relaxed, informal and colloquial tone of “pals” suggests she is comfortable about her mother and they have an intimate bond
• “shriek” verb suggests a jovial and playful image, speaker is mulling over the carefree life her mother was able to live before her birth which is contrasts to the pressures placed on mothers in the socially strict 1950s
• “Marilyn”, single word sentence = compares her mother to famous actress, emphasises a separation between her mother in the past and then during Duffy’s childhood
  -» Monroe is iconic and a symbol of glamour and female sexuality
  -»> intrinsically linked to a woman’s individual freedom
  -> committed suicide = could maybe be referencing unhappiness around speakers birth (?)

Question 12

quotes

Answer 12

• ” ten years away”
• “pals”
• “shriek”
• “marylin.”
• “thousand eyes, the fizzy movie tommorrows”
• “red” and “polka dot”
• “clear as scent”
• “relics”
• “sweetheart?” - to questioning mothers love bites
• “before i was born”