English Flashcards
Pre intro
Today, in this individual oral for IBDP English language and literature I will be exploring the broad global issue of culture, community and identity and, more specifically, how rigid societal norms confine women’s identity and growth.
Intro
My literary work is the poem “The Little Red Cap” by Carol Ann Duffy from the collection “The World’s Wife”. The poem reimagines Little Red Riding Hood, with a major difference being that in Duffy’s version, the protagonist is on a journey of self discovery. The second text is a cartoon by feminist cartoonist Liza Donnelly. The cartoon depicts two young girls playing with dolls on a bedroom floor. Donnelly’s political cartoons commonly use humour to criticise the societal gaze on women. Thus the two extracts connect to the global issue as they highlight how entrenched societal narratives perpetuate the illusion of choice and trap women within predefined identities, ultimately preventing them restricting their intellectual and personal growth .
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To start, I will discuss the poem “Little Red Cap”. Throughout the poem, Duffy applies intertextuality in the traditional narrative of the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood but subverts it to highlight the restrictive nature of patriarchal expectations that women face in pursuing growth. She further mirrors this idea by using free verse to reflect freedom from traditional constraints.
Point 1 EV 1
From the beginning of the poem Duffy highlights the external Societal expectations on female identity
Evidence: Duffy describes Little Red Cap as “sweet sixteen, never been, babe, waif” in the poem’s opening lines.
Explanation: These descriptors, each implying innocence and purity use diction to expose how society constructs young women’s identities using restrictive labels. Through subtle assonance, duffy suggests that from a young age, women are socially conditioned to remain “sweet” and “naive”. These one dimensional labels define Little Red Cap’s identity externally and act as limitations on her potential for growth, as they box her into narrowly defined traditional roles and restrict her from exploring a more complex sense of identity.
P2 EV 1
Point 2: Moreover Duffy further Presents Intellectual Growth Is as a Male Domain, Accessible Only Through the Wolf
Evidence: “my first. You might ask why. Here’s why. Poetry”
Explanation:The rhyme at the end of “why” and “poetry” and the second person address draw readers’ attention to when the protagonist emphasises literature and learning as key elements of the Wolf’s character. The line’s Conversational tone challenges formal poetic traditions and highlights how Little Red Cap is not necessarily attracted to the wolf because of any of his inherent qualities, but rather because of what he represents, which is growth and an opportunity to explore her potential in a world beyond the rigid norms that currently seek to confine her identity.
P2 EV 2
Evidence: The idea is similarly echoed on the lines “The wolf, I knew, would lead me deep into the woods / Away from home”
Explanation: In these lines, the “woods” and “wolf” with their connotations of danger and predation symbolise the unknown and new knowledge while home acts as a metaphor for the “safe” traditional norms that Little Red wants to escape from. The phrase “The wolf I knew would lead me” emphasises Little Red Cap’s lack of agency in accessing intellectual growth. She believes that she must rely on the wolf to lead her, illustrating how societal conditioning confines women to roles of dependency not letting them forge their own path.
P3 EV 1
Point 3 : Towards the end of the poem however Little red cap Reclaims her Identity through Violent Rebellion
Evidence: In line —– “I took an axe to a willow to see how it wept”
Explanation: The willow symbolises tradition and conformity, and the violent act of cutting it down reflecting her rejection of traditional norms.
P3 EV 2
Evidence: Similarly in the line “I ripped out his red throat and tore open his belly
Explanation: Little Red Cap violently breaks free of the wolf, her freedom from the wolf also again symbolises her rejection of societal constraints and thus the reclamation of her identity.
P3 EV3
Evidence : Furthermore in the line “Out of his belly sprang my grandmother’s bones, glistening virgin.”
Explanation : the line parallels how women have been caged in by patriarchal expectations throughout history. The “glistening, virgin white” of the bones further symbolises how purity and the imposed roles of women are the tools used for this entrapment. It suggests that by killing the wolf the speaker has not just freed herself from the age-old power dynamic playing out between them, she has also struck a blow at generations of male domination.
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The motifs of violence and struggle used in the stanza are both woven throughout the text and symbolise the effort required for women to gain knowledge and autonomy in a world that inherently seeks to confine and restrict them from reaching their true potential.
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Moreover, the global issue is also central to multiple other poems in the World Wife collection.
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Point 1: “Mrs. Beast”, for instance, focuses on a woman who redefines traditional power dynamics in her relationship.
Evidence AND Explanation: Throughout the poem, the speaker makes references to the “tragic girls in her head” or “the wives less fortunate than we”, repeatedly focusing on women and girls who did not have the same agency she does . This idea is further expanded on using vivid imagery in the line “But behind each player stood a line of ghosts / unable to win.” The line of ghosts is a metaphor to the women who were unable to escape the shackles of traditional society’s rigid expectations and thus weren’t able to realise their potential. Mrs. Beast’s defiance of patriarchal norms reflects her pursuit of her own self-actualization through power and independence.
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BOD 2 : “That’s him pushing the stone up the hill, / the jerk.” In Mrs. Sisyphus,” the protagonist’s husband is endlessly pushing a boulder up a hill. The speaker clearly expresses her frustration and boredom with her husband’s futile endeavour, as her life seems defined by waiting and supporting him in order to fulfil her role as a traditional Greek wife. The dynamic emphasises how women’s roles are often limited to being spectators or supporters of male ambition, rather than pursuing their own growth and self-actualization.
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Moving on to the cartoon by Liza Donelly the global issue is clearly highlighted through textual and visual elements.
The cartoon depicts two young girls playing in a bedroom, surrounded by stereotypically feminine elements like dolls, pink and purple colours, and a unicorn painting.
Zoom in lit point 1
The cartoon depicts two young girls playing in a bedroom, surrounded by stereotypically feminine elements like dolls, pink and purple colours, and a unicorn painting. These elements have two main roles. Firstly Through spatial arrangement and visual symbolism, the colours and elements that surround the girls reflect how gender expectations surround every aspect of women’s lives offering no escape from the indoctrination, not even within the privacy of their own bedrooms.
