"Stealing" Carol Ann Duffy

• Engels
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Goals for today 

Consideration of a poem by Carol Ann Duffy 

Note expansion to find salient points 

Concepts in the poem and techniques 

The poetic persona 

"Stealing" 

Read and listen to the text given to your group.

The title is "Stealing" 

Cut up and arrange the text so that it becomes a poem. Think about where you would like the emphasis to fall. Will you make stanzas? If so, how many and why? 

Consider carefully the message and the persona. 

We will check your choices against the original. 

Answer these questions 

Who?

What? 

When? 

Where?

Why?

Answer these questions 

• Who? A bored and angry young delinquent who steals. 
  
• What? a snowman, a bust of Shakespeare, (joy-ride) cars, a camera, a guitar 
  
• When? the persona is bored or angry 
  
• Where?In gardens, from houses and homes
  
• Why? to relieve the boredom and anger
  
• Expand this kernel sentence: steals items
  

Answer these questions 

To relieve feelings of anger and boredom, the young delinquent steals items, such as a snowman, a guitar and a bust of Shakespeare, from people's homes and gardens. 

What concepts does this poem address?

• Selfishness
  
• Isolation 
  
• Boredom
• Alienation 
  
• Anger 
  
• Greed 
  
• Materialism 
  
• Self-loathing

For the concepts that you have generated, write next to each stanza which concept you feel is highlighted in that stanza.

What was stolen?

Why might the poet have chosen these items? 

Questions 

The poem starts and ends with two forms of interrogative. 

1. What kind of question is the first one?

2. What kind is the last one? 

3. What impression do these two questions give of the persona and the situation in which they are 'speaking'? 

Hypophora = A figure of speech where the speaker raises a question and then answers it.

Rhetorical question = a question to which no answer is required: used esp for dramatic effect. The answer is implied. 

Goals for today 

Consideration of a poem by Carol Ann Duffy 

Exploration of some authorial choices made by the poet 

The poetic persona guiding question 

Visualising the poetic persona 

Rikard

Robin 

Coen 

Anna 

Kate

Zoë

Elsje

 

Andrea

Emilia 

Aamu 

Kim 

Hugo 

Erik

Shamatmika

Ella 

Lena 

Mia 

Damien 

Cleo 

Neysa 

Megan 

Dheeshitha

Alastrina 

Poem as a whole 

1. How does the personification of the snowman enlighten the reader about the poetic persona? 

2. How does the sibilant alliteration (specifically m-,s- and w- sounds) reflect the experience of stealing the snowman and how the poetic persona feels about that initial event in the first stanza? 

3. How is enjambment and end stop lines used to speed up or slow down the reading process?

Hypophora = A figure of speech where the speaker raises a question and then answers it.

Rhetorical question = a question to which no answer is required: used esp for dramatic effect. The answer is implied. 

Poem as a whole

1. Look closely at the use of colloquial and slang language. Find examples of this and explore what information they give about the poetic persona and us, as the readers.

2. Discuss the metaphor of "I am a mucky ghost". 

3. Mark the use of "I". What is the effect of the amount of use of the first person singular pronoun? Note when "you" is used. 

Hypophora = A figure of speech where the speaker raises a question and then answers it.

Rhetorical question = a question to which no answer is required: used esp for dramatic effect. The answer is implied. 

Poem as a whole

1. Look at the asyndeton (lack of coordinating conjunctions where they would be expected), usually in a list. "cars to nowhere, break into houses", "leave a mess, maybe pinch a camera". What feeling do you get about the persona through this "voice"? 

2. The speaker seems to feel some affinity to the snowman in the first stanza. In the fourth stanza he destroys the snowman. Symbolically what could this suggest?

Hypophora = A figure of speech where the speaker raises a question and then answers it.

Rhetorical question = a question to which no answer is required: used esp for dramatic effect. The answer is implied. 

"Stealing" 

Guiding question:

How does the persona of the speaker impact and shape the reader’s response to this poem?

Upload an image depicting the poetic persona of this poem

"Stealing" 

1. Put your image into your class notebook (add a tab 'Carol Ann Duffy Poetry' if you do not already have that tab). 

2. Add to the image quotes, the techniques seen in those quotes and how these quotes support your visual of the poetic persona.