Carol Ann Duffy

1. Thursday 21/11/2012Aims and Objectives-To contextualise the poem and poet.-To introduce the class to the concept of the dramatic monologue.-To read and begin annotating and analysing “Medusa” by Carol Ann Duffy.

2. Carol Ann Duffy • Born in Glasgow, 1955. • She is the first female AND the first Scottish Poet Laureate – basically the national poet, traditionally appointed by the queen. • Her poems address issues such as oppression, gender and violence in an accessible language. • She likes to “use simple words, but in a complicated way." • “In each poem, I'm trying to reveal a truth”.

3. The Dramatic Monologue Carol Ann Duffy is especially skilful in her use of dramatic monologue, fashioning and assuming the voices of mythological, historical, and fictive characters, such as Medusa or Lazarus’s imaginary wife. Often she uses the dramatic monologue to give voice to a silenced or marginalised female perspective, wittily playing on the ironic contrast between the traditional version of a narrative and her own.

4. Three Features of Dramatic Monologue • The speaker of the poem is obviously not the poet. The poet has adopted a specific persona and the poem is about a specific situation at a critical moment that applies to the character. • This person talks to and interacts with one or more other people. We know of these others and what they say and do, only from clues in the discourse of the speaker. • The reason why the poet chooses to adopt a particular persona and what they say in the poem reveals to the reader, in a way that enhances its interest, the speaker's temperament and character.

5. Activity ? In pairs write a dramatic monologue, keep your persona a secret from the other groups – they will have to guess who you are after. You can be anyone you want, think of famous people or characters, or you could be someone on the class… Adopt a specific persona during a specific situation at a critical moment that applies to the character. Talk to and interact with one or more other people. Try not to be too obvious about anything, only give clues in the discourse of the speaker. What your persona says should reveal some aspect of the speaker's temperament and character. You have 5 minutes.

6. Activity 2 - Understanding • The first poem we will be working with is “Medusa”, by Carol Ann Duffy. • Many of you will be familiar with the name Medusa, but what do you know about her? • Share your knowledge on a mind map on the board.

7. Who is Medusa?

8. The story of the Gorgon Medusa is both sad and deeply symbolic. Like many of the great myths of the Western literary tradition, the story of Medusa comes from Ancient Greece where our ancestors believed that their lives were controlled by a host of different gods who lived high on Mount Olympus. Chief among the gods was Zeus and his wife Hera. However, many of the gods, Zeus included, liked to visit earth and follow the lives of mortals. Zeus and many of his extended family were also known to forge relationships with mortals, sometimes without their permission, which saw many children born with godly heritage. In addition to the gods there were also many monsters for mortals to cope with. Many of the monsters started out as gods and mortals who had been cursed for a mistake or moment of pride and arrogance.  

9. According to the Greek legend Medusa was the beautiful daughter of the Greek Gods Phorkys and Keto, who were the children of Gaia (Earth) and Okeanos (Ocean). She was one of three sisters known as the Gorgons. The other two sisters were Sthenno and Euryale. Medusa was the only mortal out of the three. She was once very beautiful and lived far in the north were the sun didn't visit. Being very curious, she wanted to see the sun, and asked the Goddess Athena for permission to visit the south. The Goddess Athena refused to allow her to visit. Medusa grew angry and dared to say that Athena hadn't given her permission because she was jealous of her beauty. Athena, a Goddess known for her violent temper and thirst for vengeance, was angered and punished Medusa by turning her hair into snakes and cursing her by making her so ugly that who ever looked into her eyes would turn into stone. Cursed and terrifying to behold, Medusa hid herself away where her anger and bitterness turned her into a fearsome monster.  

10. Later, the hero Perseus fought Medusa and killed her by only looking at her in a mirror on the back of his shield. This allowed him to get close enough to cut off her head which he used to defeat the Kraken, a huge monster created by the gods to guard the prison of the fallen gods whom Zeus and his brothers defeated to claim the throne of Olympus.

11. Medusa by Carol Ann Duffy

12. The Poem • Now read the poem a couple of times. • Remember that Carol Ann Duffy often uses dramatic monologue to give us another side to a traditional story.

13. Activity 2 - Analysis - The next step in getting to know this poem is to start annotating and analysing it. • To make things easier we will divide the poem up. Each pair will have a different section of the poem to focus on. Annotate and take notes on what is happening in your section. • Use your technique list to help you. • Once this is completed, each group will present to the class their annotations and their answers so that everyone gets an understanding of the poem as a whole.

14. MEDUSA A suspicion, a doubt, a jealousygrew in my mind,which turned the hairs on my head to filthy snakesas though my thoughtshissed and spat on my scalp.

15. My bride’s breath soured, stankin the grey bags of my lungs. I’m foul mouthed now, foul tongued,yellow fanged.There are bullet tears in my eyes.Are you terrified?Be terrified.It’s you I love,perfect man, Greek God, my own;but I know you’ll go, betray me, strayfrom home.So better for me if you were stone.

16. I glanced at a buzzing bee,a dull grey pebble fell to the ground.I glanced at a singing bird,a handful of dusty gravelspattered down I looked at a ginger cat,a housebrickshattered a bowl of milk.I looked at a snuffling pig,a boulder rolledin a heap of shit.

17. I stared in the mirror.Love gone badshowed me a Gorgon.I stared at a dragon.Fire spewedfrom the mouth of a mountain.

18. And here you comewith a shield for a heart and a sword for a tongueand your girls, your girls.Wasn’t I beautifulWasn’t I fragrant and young?Look at me now.

19. Questions to ask about a poem? Why do you think Duffy chose to write a dramatic monologue from Medusa’s point of view? What is the speakers attitude to the ideas in the poem? What’s the mood and atmosphere of the poem? What creates this? Can you identify words that use the senses? Which senses does the poem focus on? What are the last few lines about? What do you think the poem as a whole is about?

20. Duffy’s Medusa The reason Duffy has chosen to breathe new life into Medusa is that this is a character quite simply packed full of fascinating imagery and symbolism. She is woman, after all, who has been persecuted by both men and women and has ultimately been cursed for a combination of her youthful beauty and pride. It is for this reason that Medusa makes such a good metaphor for aging, the bitterness of betrayal and the fleeting nature of youth and beauty. If there is one theme or idea that runs through the character of Medusa it has to be loneliness. This poor woman has been forced to live apart from human society for almost the entire span of her life. Her curse did far more than make her ugly, it made her a monster to be feared by all humans. We have to ask ourselves, should we pity Medusa? What is more monstrous, Medusa or the curse?

21. What’s the mood and atmosphere? What creates this? • Can you identify words that use the senses? Which senses does the

22. Possible Questions • 12. Choose a poem which features a complex character. • Show how the complexity of the character is presented and discuss how significant this aspect of characterisation is to the impact of the poem. • 13. Choose a poem in which aspects of structure (such as verse form, rhyme, metre, repetition, climax, contrast, narrative development …) play a significant role. • Show how the poet uses at least two structural features to enhance your appreciation of the poem as a whole. • 13. Choose a poem which seems to you to be critical of a person or a point of view. • Discuss how effectively this criticism is presented by the poet. • 16. Choose a poem in which the tone is sinister or seductive or cynical. • Show how the poem creates this tone and discuss its relative importance in your appreciation of the poem. • 13. Choose a poem in which the central concern(s) is/are clarified for you in the closing lines. • Show how these closing lines provide an effective clarification of the central concern(s) of the poem. • 14. Choose a poem in which there is an element of ambiguity. • Show how the poet’s use of ambiguity enriches your appreciation of the poem as a whole. • 15. Choose a poem in which the creation of mood or atmosphere is an important feature. • Show how the poet creates the mood or atmosphere, and discuss its importance in your appreciation of the poem as a whole. • 12. Choose a poem in which the poet explores one of the following emotions: anguish, dissatisfaction, regret, loss. • Show how the poet explores the emotion and discuss to what extent he or she is successful in deepening your understanding of it. • 14. Choose a poem in which contrast is important in developing theme. • Explore the poet’s use of contrast and show why it is important in developing a key theme of the poem. • 12. Choose a poem which deals with conflict or danger or death. • Show how the poet creates an appropriate mood for the subject matter and go on to discuss how effectively she/he uses this mood to enhance your understanding of the central idea of the poem. • 15. Choose a poem in which the speaker’s personality is gradually revealed. • Show how, through the content and language of the poem, aspects of the character gradually emerge. • 12. Choose a poem in which there is a sinister atmosphere or person or place. • Show how the poet evokes this sinister quality and discuss how it adds to your appreciation of the poem. • 14. Choose a poem in which there is effective use of one or more of the following: verse form, rhythm, rhyme, repetition, sound. • Show how the poet effectively uses the feature(s) to enhance your appreciation of the poem as a whole.