*Valentine* - Carol Ann Duffy

Question 1

Context for Valentine

Answer 1

Carol Ann Duffy
First female poet Laureate
published her first poem at 15 - defies norms like the poem
encourages readers to take alternate views
feminist

Question 2

structure

Answer 2

free verse - unconventional view of love

Question 3

‘not a red rose

Answer 3

or satin heart’ - immediately subverting traditional views of love

Question 4

‘a moon

Answer 4

wrapper in brown paper’ - ‘wrapper’ portraying how love needs to be uncovered

Question 5

‘it will

Answer 5

blind you with tears, like a lover’ - simile portraying the image that love is blind. onions can cause pain and damage like love

Question 6

‘i am trying

Answer 6

to be truthful’ - struggling with normal love

Question 7

‘not a cute

Answer 7

card or kissogram’ - subverting the traditional images of love. also saying how money is unnecessary

Question 8

‘its fierce

Answer 8

kiss will stay on your lips’ - fierce implying passion and intensity. ‘stay on your lips’ presents the long lasting affects of love, both positive and negative. oxymoron of fierce kiss

Question 9

‘as we are

Answer 9

for as long as we are’ - loving, eternal image at first but could be interpreted as a realistic view that they may end.

Question 10

‘its scent will

Answer 10

Cling to your fingers, cling to your knife’ - ends with a very violent image. suggesting the dangers of love. verb ‘cling’ repeated portrays how love/lovers is often persistent