Commonality Flashcards
Identity commonality
Duffys poems often use identity to show how past experiences can shape you into the person you are today. Duffy wants us to consider our own experiences of change and transition, both positive and negative aspects of change, and how these influence our lives and who we are today.
Identity quotes (seen)
“the woman who married the fool who wished for gold”
“Burned in my breasts” loosing female identity, wife to woman
Identity quotes (unseen)
- “I say her phrases to myself”
- “Nothing is silent, nothing is not silent” what doesn’t exist in here and now still influences who you are
- “Homesick, free, in love”
- “Originally? And I hesitate”
- “I want our own country”
- “Shedding its skin like a snake”
She was aware of identities changing and growing up and she accepted this, she loved it and regretted it
Love commonality
Duffys poems often use the theme of love to explore ideas such as memory and how these can help us through change. Duffy wants use to consider the true nature of love and the difficulties that come with it, as well as how relationships change since change is inevitable, she wants us to reflect on love in our own relationships.
Love (seen)
“I think of him in certain lights”
“His hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch”
Love (unseen)
- “We were passionate then”
- “Unwrapping eachother rapidly”
- “Homesick, free, in love”
- “Blind you with tears like a lover” non traditional, different stages of lobe which aren’t all positive
- “Possessive and faithful”
- “The classroom glowed like a sweatshop”
Loss commonality
Duffy often uses loss to explore concerns such as change and growth and relationships. She wants us to consider our own experience and how since change is inevitable, we all experience loss
Loss (seen)
“I miss most”
“So he had to move out”
Loss (unseen)
- “But now I fear his honeyed embrace”
- “Restful shapes moving” anxious thoughts
- “Heavy sexy sky”
- “Untidy, hot, fractious”
- “Do I only think I lost a river, culture, speech, sense of first space and the right place”
- “He remembers the cries of this man’s wife”
Isolation (seen)
“Under the cover of dark”
“So he had to move out”
Isolation commonality
Duffy often uses isolation in her poems to explore central concerns such as relationships and characters. Duffy shows that we all experience change which can cause feelings of isolation from others. She wants us to consider how we cope with life’s changes
Isolation (unseen)
- “Separate beds”
- “Keep his hands to himself”
- “Your accent wrong”
- “You don’t understand”
- “In his darkroom he is finally alone”
- “Mrs tilchser loved you” and “Mrs tilchser smiled and then turned away” protected by the teacher and isolated from harsh realties, but then she must face them
Memory commonality
Duffy often uses memory and past experiences to explore central themes such as change, transition and identity. She wants us to consider how our memories effect our everyday lives, and who we are as people because of our experiences. These memories can also comfort us in times of change
Memory (seen)
“I miss most”
“His hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch”
Memory (unseen)
- “Inky tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks”
- “You could travel up the Blue Nile”
- “We were passionate then”
- “Nothing is silent, nothing is not silent”
- “Which did not tremble then though seem to now”
- “All childhood is an emigration”
Emotional conflict commonality
Duffys poems often highlight the emotional conflicts within individuals at significant times in their lives, particularly times of change. She wants us to consider how change carries different feelings of optimism and negative feelings of regret, and how we cope with emotional feelings during change and resolve our feelings.
Emotional conflict (seen)
“Lack of thought for me”
“I miss most”
Emotional conflict (unseen)
- “It was then I started to scream”
- “Too blue swapped for a cool grey”
- “Heavy sexy sky”
- “Blind you with tears like a lover”
- “Holding its paw”
- “Possessive and faithful”
Change commonality
Duffy often uses change in her poems whilst describing her poem experiences in order to explore themes such as identity and emotion. She wants us to consider how transition in life makes us the people we are today, and how our experiences help shape us as well as the mix of emotions that come with change.
Change (seen)
“So he had to move out”
“We’d a caravan” and “under the cover of dark” contrast, a measure of how separate they have become
Change (unseen)
- “But now I fear his honeyed embrace”
- “We were passionate then”
- “Green, erotic pond”
- “I am homesick, free, in love”
- “Inky tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks”
- “Shedding its skin like a snake”
Contrast commonality
Duffy uses contrast in order to explore the central ideals of change. Through exploring experiences of change in relationships and childhood, she encourages us to reflect on our own journeys of change and transition
Contrast (seen)
“We’d a caravan” and “under the cover of dark”
“I miss most”
Contrast (unseen)
- “Our mother singing our fathers name to the turn of the wheel”
- “Possessive and faithful”
- “Not a red rose or a satin heart” contrasts with title
- “Too blue swapped for a cool grey”
- “The way I say things when I think”
- “Which did not tremble then though seem to now”
