Past Qs

Question 1

‘A collection dominated by the all-powerful figure of the mother.’

Question 2

‘Women are presented as failing to bring about change.’

Question 3

Examine Duffy’s presentation of female suffering across time.

Question 4

‘Relationships between women are presented as fragile and damaged in Feminine Gospels.’

Question 5

Examine the significance of men within the collection.

Question 6

‘Poems full of anger and bitterness.’

Question 7

‘The Laughter of Stafford Girls’ High’ has nothing in common with the rest of the collection.

Question 8

Examine the significance of violence in Feminine Gospels.

Question 9

‘By dedicating Feminine Gospels to her four brothers, Duffy makes it clear that her poems are aimed just as much at educating men as they are at empowering women.’

Question 10

The collection ‘fails because it falls apart into three totally separate sections that have nothing in common with each other’.

Question 11

Duffy presents women as dangerous and destructive in the collection.

Question 12

‘Duffy celebrates the fact that modern women now enjoy advantages and opportunities that women in the past never had.’

Question 13

The poems that follow ‘The Laughter of Stafford Girls’ High’ in the collection have nothing to say about the position of women in society.

Question 14

The title of the collection suggests Duffy’s agenda is to challenge traditional male ideas about the “gospel truth”.

Question 15

This collection ‘excludes men as subjects and makes no attempt to engage them as readers’.