Exam Response
Exam Response A
Qu. 7 MARK 36
Carol Anne Duffy and Sheenagh Pugh both use their poetry to write about youth and the process of growing up. Although the write about many of the same ideas, such as the idea that the old prey upon the innocence of youth, their different approaches to the subject matter mean that the poems are often vastly different.
In Lizzie, six, Carol Anne Duffy presents a dysfunctional relationship between a young girl and a man, possibly her father or step-father. Duffy presents the contrast between adulthood and youth through the use of two voices which contrast starkly with one another. The child’s voice begins with a very pleasant tone, with simple yet happy language. Words such as “moon… fields…love” are all very non-threatening, and imply a certain freedom, if only the child’s freedom of imagination. However, the tone of the child’s voice gradually becomes more sinister, until the final line “I’m afraid of the dark”. In addition to the common connotations of black representing evil and isolation, this could signify the change in the child, who, as she is growing up is forced to lose her youthful imagination and curiosity as a result of the abuse she suffers.
The structure of Lizzie, six also creates tension. The division into five stanza’s of equal length, each with one question, the child’s answer and two lines of the adult’s response create an acute sense of repetition, and the repeated monotony of the structure echoes the repetitive nature of child abuse, which seems in this poem to be escalating. The fact that the final word of each stanza – “there… chair… stair… bare… care” rhymes adds to this dull throb of repetition.
The contrast between the voice of Lizzie and her abuser is extreme, and perhaps Duffy wished for this contrast to reflect the changes one goes through in the transition from child to adult. One technique which highlights the contrast is the use of the same word by the child and adult. For example,
Qu. 7 MARK 36
Carol Anne Duffy and Sheenagh Pugh both use their poetry to write about youth and the process of growing up. Although the write about many of the same ideas, such as the idea that the old prey upon the innocence of youth, their different approaches to the subject matter mean that the poems are often vastly different.
In Lizzie, six, Carol Anne Duffy presents a dysfunctional relationship between a young girl and a man, possibly her father or step-father. Duffy presents the contrast between adulthood and youth through the use of two voices which contrast starkly with one another. The child’s voice begins with a very pleasant tone, with simple yet happy language. Words such as “moon… fields…love” are all very non-threatening, and imply a certain freedom, if only the child’s freedom of imagination. However, the tone of the child’s voice gradually becomes more sinister, until the final line “I’m afraid of the dark”. In addition to the common connotations of black representing evil and isolation, this could signify the change in the child, who, as she is growing up is forced to lose her youthful imagination and curiosity as a result of the abuse she suffers.
The structure of Lizzie, six also creates tension. The division into five stanza’s of equal length, each with one question, the child’s answer and two lines of the adult’s response create an acute sense of repetition, and the repeated monotony of the structure echoes the repetitive nature of child abuse, which seems in this poem to be escalating. The fact that the final word of each stanza – “there… chair… stair… bare… care” rhymes adds to this dull throb of repetition.
The contrast between the voice of Lizzie and her abuser is extreme, and perhaps Duffy wished for this contrast to reflect the changes one goes through in the transition from child to adult. One technique which highlights the contrast is the use of the same word by the child and adult. For example,