Before You Were Mine

Question 1

Written by

Answer 1

Carol Ann Duffy (autobiographical)

Question 2

Published in

Answer 2

1993

Question 3

Form

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Structure

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Stanza openings

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Contrast between beginning and end

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Caesura

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Excited language significance

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Glamorous imagery

Answer 9

‘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)

Question 10

Film imagery

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Mother’s rebelliousness

Answer 11

‘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

Question 12

Mother’s energy

Answer 12

‘stamping stars’ - alliteration stresses defiance and energy

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

Question 13

Possessive language

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Mother’s dreams

Answer 14

‘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

Question 15

Restraint from the narrator’s grandmother

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Narrator’s misery

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Repetition for contrast

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Colloquial language

Answer 18

Indicates a close relationship with a strong bond

Question 19

Conversational language

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Role reversal

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Precious relationship

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Simile

Answer 22

‘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