Transcript A2 English Unit 4 Poetry – Carol Ann Duffy

A2 English Unit 4
Poetry – Carol Ann Duffy
Oslo
Oslo
 The title is the name of a real place.
 It is the subject of, but not named in the poem.
 Four quatrains and a couplet to end.
 Odd numbered lines rhyme or half rhyme.
 Lines of almost equal length create a regular
rhythm.
Oslo
 Speaks directly to the reader.
 Starts as instructions on what to do in a strange
town.
 Town personified as revealing itself.
 Your own town could never do that because you
have grown up learning it gradually.
Oslo
 Being a foreigner, not speaking the language
turns a person into a baby again, innocent.
 Cliché- what can’t speak can’t lie?
 Strangers, foreigners are seen as invisible –
why?
Oslo
 Suggesting some bad behaviour. Getting up to
mischief in a new place where no-one knows
you.
 Innocent baby or grown up & naughty?
Oslo
 Enjambment from second to third stanza.
 Time passes, going from planning to go
there to actually going through the door.
 Brief phrases, indicating the speed at which
events take place.
 Ready to gamble.
Oslo
 The writer implies this is the time for naïve
tourists rather than “real” gamblers.
 How are they described?
 Repetition of bet suggests compulsive
nature of activity.
Oslo
 Fourth stanza starts with a cliché- win
some/lose some.
 Comparing gambling to life in general?
 Hasn’t caught the gambling bug as line one
suggests writer is bored.
 Child like – what next?
Oslo
 Hotel seen as home whilst in this foreign
town.
 With only a numbered key, impersonal – no
winnings.
 Writer appears to know Oslo quite well.
 Norwegian wood = sly reference to Beatles
song – common referent in Duffy’s work.
Oslo
 Last line of stanza –

For now, you’re lucky –
 Why?

Moves onto last stanza – couplet – implies you
may have lost money at tables but somebody
loves you.
Oslo
 Very complex & full last two lines.
 Based on more clichés Lucky at cards/unlucky in love, or vice versa
 Wishing on a star
 Choose a star with lover and agree both will look
to it.
Oslo
 “Sieve” – suggests selecting one from many.
 Several incomplete phrases or sayings
throughout poem.
 How much of what is here follows Duffy’s
frequent use of conversational style?
 Where does she use figurative language?
Oslo
 What is the general mood of the poem?
 How did you come to these conclusion?
 What can you cite from the text to support
your views?