AS Level Revision

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AS Level Revision

• The Worlds Wife
• by
• Carol Ann Duffy

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What does the exam involve?
Choosing your poems and activity 1
Comparisons, making links and activity 2
Choosing your evidence and activity 3
Points to remember
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What does the exam involve?

• There are two important assessment objectives to
  focus on in this open book examination.
• The first is AO4, so you will have to consider a
  variety of interpretations of the poems.
• The second is AO3, which requires you to focus on
  the language, form and structure. This is made
  easier by the fact that you will have your text
  in the exam.

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Approaching the questions

• Many of the questions will specify just one poem
  for you to focus on, leaving it to you to choose
  which poems to compare it with.
• Other questions will focus on a theme and give
  you a completely free choice as to which poems to
  write about.
• Therefore, you need to be clear on how the poems
  can be grouped together.

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Choosing your poems

• Over the following 10 pages you will find some
  typical examination style questions.
• Below each question there will be a choice of
  poems you may choose to write about in response
  to that question.
• Click on the selection of poems that you feel are
  the most appropriate choice for that question.

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Question Time!
Q 1/10
How has Duffy used classical myths in order to
comment on the nature of relationships between
men and women? Three appropriate choices when
answering this essay are
Mrs Midas, Mrs Sisyphus and Medusa.
Mrs Quasimodo, Thetis and Penelope.
Mrs Lazarus, Delilah and Pilates Wife.
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Question Time!
Q 2/10
In Mrs Darwin, Duffy uses humour in order to
challenge historys view of Darwins theory of
evolution. Choosing three more poems, comment on
how Duffy uses humour to promote her viewpoint to
the reader. Three appropriate choices when
answering this essay are
Queen Kong, Mrs Sisyphus and Salome.
Elviss Twin Sister, Frau Freud and Mrs Icarus.
The Kray Sisters, Salome and Circe.
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Question Time!
Q 3/10
Duffy presents male/female relationships as
being essentially flawed and that it is usually
women who find themselves suffering for this.
How do you respond to this statement?
Refer to at least 3 poems in your response.
Three appropriate choices when answering this
essay are
The Kray Sisters, Circe and Pope Joan.
Mrs Quasimodo, Elviss Twin Sister and Demeter.
Ann Hathaway, Mrs Beast and Mrs Sisyphus.
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Question Time!
Q 4/10
In telling the story of Samson and Delilah from a
female perspective (in Delilah), Duffy offers the
reader a new insight into a biblical story. Using
this and two other poems of your choosing,
comment on how Duffy offers new perspectives on
Bible stories. Two appropriate choices when
answering this essay are
Pope Joan and Mrs Faust.
Pilates Wife and Queen Herod.
Salome and Pygmalions Bride.
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Question Time!
Q 5/10
In rewriting traditional childrens tales, Duffy
is attempting to redress the origins of many of
the stereotypes that she sees as impacting on
womens lives in the 21st century. What evidence
can you find in at least 3 of her poems to
support this viewpoint? Three appropriate
choices when answering this essay are
Queen Kong, Mrs Quasimodo and Eurydice.
Pygmalions Bride, Mrs Icarus and Mrs Aesop.
Mrs Beast, Little Red-Cap and Mrs Rip Van Winkle.
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Question Time!
Q 6/10
How does Duffy bring an air of tragedy to the
stories of women who were previously condemned or
ignored? Three appropriate choices when
answering this essay are
Circe, Mrs Faust and Mrs Sisyphus.
Pilates Wife, Mrs Aesop and Salome.
Mrs Lazarus, Medusa and Mrs Midas.
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Question Time!
Q 7/10
Ranging throughout the anthology, or focussing on
three poems of your choice, comment on how Duffy
creates contrasting and distinctive female
voices. Three appropriate choices when
answering this essay are
Pope Joan, Mrs Darwin and Mrs Aesop .
The Kray Sisters, Elviss Twin Sister and Mrs
Beast.
From Mrs Tiresias, Mrs Icarus and Mrs Lazarus.
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Question Time!
Q 8/10
The prevailing mood throughout the anthology is
one of anger. Referring to at least 3 poems in
your response, comment on how Duffy creates this
mood of anger. Three appropriate choices when
answering this essay are
The Kray Sisters, The Devils Wife and Demeter.
Mrs Beast, Penelope and Eurydice.
Mrs Aesop, Mrs Sisyphus and Medusa.
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Question Time!
Q 9/10
The most successful of all of Duffys poems in
the collection are her love poems. With
reference to at least three of her poems, comment
on how successfully you think Duffy writes about
love. Three appropriate choices when answering
this essay are
Penelope, Delilah and Thetis.
Mrs Quasimodo, Pygmalions Bride and Circe.
Ann Hathaway, Queen Kong and Demeter.
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Question Time!
Q 10/10
One of Duffys greatest achievements is in
allowing us to sympathise with characters who are
traditionally thought of as embodying evil.
Comment on this statement, referring to at least
3 of her poems. Three appropriate choices when
answering this essay are
The Devils Wife, Mrs Faust and Medusa .
Salome, Mrs Quasimodo and Eurydice.
Circe, Queen Kong and The Kray Sisters.
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Comparisons

• One of the keys to success in this exam is the
  ability to find similarities and differences
  between the poems you are writing about.
• Your ability to compare will help you to offer
  alternative interpretations of the text (the
  focus of AO4) as you can show that different
  poems suggest alternative attitudes, etc.

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Making links

• Over the next series of pages you will find some
  Venn diagrams, each comparing 3 poems.
• Two of the circles are labelled with the correct
  poem, but the third is unlabelled. You must
  choose from the three choices which is the
  correct poem title to label that circle.

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Question Time!
Q 1/5
Female beast
Queen Kong
Unrealistic view of nature of relationship shown
by narrator
Which of these choices would match the green
section?
Shows love
Relationship ends in death of male
Had previous experiences with men
Women hunt men
Relates relationship and poetry
Sexual relationship
Little Red-Cap
Links with other women
Males objectified
Anne Hathaway
Female takes on traditionally masculine role
Relationship allows self-discovery
Male beasts
Use fairy tales
Uses images of nature to present relationship
Explicitly feminist stance
Mrs Quasimodo
Mrs Beast
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Question Time!
Q 2/5
Hunted for man
Queen Kong
Which of these choices would match the green
section?
Loved him more than he loved her
Love leads to mans death
Sexual relationship between man and woman
Negative and positive emotions explored
Senses used
Relates relationship and poetry
Queen Herod
Love a mother feels for her daughter
Relationship is life-changing
Male dies
Bittersweet tone
Anne Hathaway
Compares their relationship with others
Feelings of love related to the seasons
Sonnet form
Relationship related to dream or fantasy
Cyclical structure to poem
Mrs Midas
Demeter
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Question Time!
Q 3/5
Justifies actions she is condemned for in the
bible
Delilah
Which of these choices would match the green
section?
Alliteration to mimic cutting action
Actions literally damage men
Relationship shown as loving
Explore male/ female relationships
Sexually explicit
The Devils Wife
Uses rhyme and half rhyme throughout
Gives female perspective on the experiences of a
male bible character
Females in control
Pilates Wife
Dismissive of biblical heroes
Unapologetic tone
Critical tone
Alliteration represents hard feelings
Mrs Lazarus
Predominantly anachronistic
Salome
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Question Time!
Q 4/5
Short and to the point
Mrs Icarus
Which of these choices would match the green
section?
Simple language choices highlight simple actions
Unites women
Men end as failures
Laugh at their husbands
Teasing not angry
Frau Freud
Questions the validity of his work
Husbands voice is presented
Women more intelligent
Humorous
The Kray Sisters
Shows effect on relationship of mans behaviour
Literally belittles her husband
Conversational tone
Sexually derogatory
Repetition creates humour
Mrs Beast
Uses his achievements against him
Mrs Aesop
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Question Time!
Q 5/5
Uses Cockney Rhyming Slang
The Kray Sisters
Which of these choices would match the green
section?
Uses historical events to place the poem
Focus on female/female relationships
Creates a sense of geographical place
Explicitly feminist stance
Images of sisterhood
Uses historical figures
Relates to female icons
Uses accent of Southern States
Frau Freud
Uses a traditionally masculine voice
Women have followed deliberate paths
Elviss Twin Sister
Uses religious imagery
Portrays a male/ female relationship
Choices still benefit them
Focuses on a new take on a male icon
Sexually explicit
Penelope
Mrs Beast
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Choosing your evidence

• Choosing appropriate poems in order to answer
  your question and knowing the similarities and
  differences between them is just part of the
  battle to get a good exam grade. It is also
  important that you are able to choose effective
  quotations in order to prove your points.
• The right quotations tell the examiner that you
  have a detailed knowledge of the text (AO2), and
  give you the opportunity to make incisive points
  about the language and structure (AO3).

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Choosing your evidence

• Over the following 12 pages you will find a
  series of statements that you might make in an
  essay. Beneath will be a choice of three
  quotations that you could use to justify that
  statement.
• Click on the quotation that you think is the most
  effective in proving your point.
• If you get it right, have a go at the next one.

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Question Time!
Q 1/12
If I made the point that Duffy uses enjambment
in the poem Little Red-Cap in order to create a
sense of ambiguity about the central
character the quotation that I would choose is
I lost both shoes but got there,
sweet sixteen, never been, and bought me a
drink, my first.
I took an axe to a willow to see how it wept.
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Question Time!
Q 2/12
If I made the point that Duffy uses black humour
relating to King Midas mistake to show the
impact it has had on Mrs Midas life the
quotation that I would choose is
In fact, I put a chair against my door, near
petrified.
He sat in that chair like a king on a burnished
throne.
And who, when it comes to the crunch, can
live with a heart of gold?
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Question Time!
Q 3/12
If I made the point that Duffy uses one line
stanzas in from Mrs Tiresias in order to
highlight her annoyance with her husband the
quotation that I would choose is
Life has to go on.
His flirts smile.
Then he started his period.
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Question Time!
Q 4/12
If I made the point that Duffy presents Mrs
Aesop using crude parodies of her husbands
stories in order to show her feelings of
contempt for her husband the quotation that I
would choose is
I laughed last, longest.
a heart blacker than the pot that called the
kettle.
the bird in his hand shat on his sleeve,
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Question Time!
Q 5/12
If I made the point that in the poem Queen
Kong Duffy both belittles and objectifies
men the quotation that I would choose is
I picked him, like a chocolate from the top
layer of a box
My little man.
I wear him now about my neck
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Question Time!
Q 6/12
If I made the point that Duffy uses
personification to demonstrate how important the
bells are in the life of Mrs Quasimodo the
quotation that I would choose is
Their generous bronze throats gargling, or
chanting slowly
Our neighbours Who raised their marble hands in
greeting
The belfry trembled when she spoke for him.
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Question Time!
Q 7/12
If I made the point that Duffy uses a stream of
consciousness in The Devils Wife to show how
the voice in the poem is losing her mind the
quotation that I would choose is
Different. Fancied himself. Looked at the girls
But I cannot remember how or when or precisely
where.
I never not in a million years it was him.
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Question Time!
Q 8/12
If I made the point that Duffy uses ellipsis in
Frau Freud in order to show the reluctance of
the voice in the poem to totally embarrass her
husband and contradict his ideas the quotation
that I would choose is
Im as au fait with Hunt-the-Salami as Ms M.
Lewinsky -
the average penis not pretty
the weapon, the python -
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Question Time!
Q 9/12
If I made the point that Duffys use of
anachronism in Salome gives the reader a new
perspective on the sexual behaviour of the bible
character the quotation that I would choose is
and there, like I said and aint life a bitch
- was his head on a platter.
hungover and wrecked as I was from a night on the
batter.
Id done it before... woke up with a head on the
pillow beside me whose? what did it matter?
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Question Time!
Q 10/12
If I made the point that in the poem Mrs
Beast, the voice in the poem shows greatest
respect for women, is prepared to uses beasts to
her advantage, but actively dislikes Princes the
quotation that I would choose is
theyre bastards when theyre Princes. What you
want to do is find yourself a Beast.
But behind each player stood a line of
ghosts unable to win.
the captive beautiful, the wives, those less
fortunate than we.
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Question Time!
Q 11/12
If I made the point that Duffy compares the life
of Elviss Twin Sister with the life of Elvis
in order to make a comment on the nature of fame
and celebrity the quotation that I would choose
is
pray for the immortal soul of rock n roll.
It puts my trademark slow lopsided smile back on
my face.
Long time since I walked down Lonely
Street Towards Heartbreak Hotel.
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Question Time!
Q 12/12
If I made the point that Duffy creates a sense
of freedom for Mrs Rip Van Winkle while her
husband slept the quotation that I would choose
is
I sank like a stone into the still, deep waters
of late middle age
And while he slept I found some hobbies for
myself.
The Leaning Tower. The Pyramids. The Taj Mahal.
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Points to remember

• You must make sure you write explicitly about how
  Duffys language and structure creates meaning.
• You should try to offer alternative
  interpretations of Duffys poems.
• Ensure that your comparison runs throughout your
  essay dont write about each text separately.

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