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Poetry > Before You Were Mine > Flashcards

Flashcards in Before You Were Mine Deck (22)
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1
Q

Written by

A

Carol Ann Duffy (autobiographical)

2
Q

Published in

A

1993

3
Q

Form

A

Four quintains - consistency reflects steady passage of time and its inevitable changes

4
Q

Structure

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Cyclic - begins and ends with the mother on a pavement - emphasises the different circumstances

5
Q

Stanza openings

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‘I’m ten years away’, ‘The decade ahead’ - distances narrator from the mother

6
Q

Contrast between beginning and end

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‘right walk home’ and ‘wrong pavement’ - suggests narrator thinks mother made the wrong choice

7
Q

Caesura

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‘before I was born.’ - narrator’s birth was turning point in life

8
Q

Excited language significance

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Highlights how glamorous the mother’s life was before the narrator’s birth

9
Q

Glamorous imagery

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‘your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn’ - comparison to iconic photo of Marilyn Monroe highlights her glamour but also suggests future unhappiness like Marilyn’s (who committed suicide young)

10
Q

Film imagery

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‘fizzy, movie tomorrows’ - suggests the mother dreamed of having a movie star life like Marilyn Monroe

11
Q

Mother’s rebelliousness

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‘You reckon it’s worth it.’ - the caesura beforehand suggests she is responsible and taking time to consider the consequences - emphasises the fun she was having

12
Q

Mother’s energy

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‘stamping stars’ - alliteration stresses defiance and energy

‘sparkle and waltz and laugh’ - repetition emphasises energetic nature

13
Q

Possessive language

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Reverses usual maternal relationship - it is the child stopping the parent from having fun

14
Q

Mother’s dreams

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‘the thought of me doesn’t occur’ - suggests her pregnancy was not planned so perhaps the mother did not want a child which is why she gave up her dreams

15
Q

Restraint from the narrator’s grandmother

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‘Before you were mine, your ma stands at the close’ - the narrator was not the only person holding the mother back - emphasises rebelliousness

16
Q

Narrator’s misery

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‘I wanted the bold girl… before I was born’ - narrator wanted mother to be like her old self

17
Q

Repetition for contrast

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‘before you were mine’ - repeated to emphasise the differences between then and now - ‘mine’ develops possessive language further

18
Q

Colloquial language

A

Indicates a close relationship with a strong bond

19
Q

Conversational language

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‘eh?’, ‘sweetheart? - reflects intimacy and high trust in the relationship

20
Q

Role reversal

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‘whose small bites on your neck’ - the narrator addresses her parent as if she were her mother - reflects narrator’s regret and guilt

21
Q

Precious relationship

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‘relics’ - these are sacred religious objects - highlights their closeness

22
Q

Simile

A

‘clear as scent’ - imagination is so vivid she can smell her mother - could suggest she spends a lot of time imagining her mother’s past life