Global Issue
5 minutes
1 minute intro
field of inquiry Politics, power, justice
name of the text, collection of carol ann Duffy’s poem
author
global issue
why is it global
why is it important
brief summary of chosen extract
how it relates to the global issue
thesis statement: 2 techniques for this poem and how they are also utilized in Duffy’s other
works
1:50 extract
1:50 all works
20 second conclusion
escalate and summarize
My oral will be relating to the field of inquiry Politics, power, justice.
In todays english oral I am going to focus on this particular field of inquiry: Politics power and justice,
and I am going to delve in to some poems from the collection of The world’s wife by Carol ann duffy, to
answer this global issue, societal norms between relationships that are youngsters and old, as well as
the power dynamic between those relationships. Just to clarify young and old is not only by age but also
but also symbolise the experience and the power in the relationship. This is an important issue because
the youngsters in the relationship could get manipulated and harmed while unnoticed. The chosen
extract is the poem little red cap which illustrates an unbalanced relationships, between a young girl
that’s attracted to the wolf., I will elaborate on how allusion and symbolism reveal the global issue and
see how the book use diction and metaphor to address the significant problem.
Zooming out on the collection of world wife, the author also employs diction to reveal the
possessiveness during the relationship in the poem of Queen Kong , the repetitive use of “My little man”
“My man” underlines the possessiveness of him the use of my, is to show queen kong is in control of
him as if he is a belonging to her which is lead by taking advantage over the difference in size and power
They have, this could lead to manipulation and unhealthy relationships, just like in the current society.
Also in line 26 “I’d gently pick at his shirt and his trews” the repetition use of “I” which shows there is
only one perspective in the poem, which shows as if she is the main character in the relationship, and
the little man is not important because he doesn’t even have a name the author always uses “him” “he”
to represent the little man in the poem, we cant even view the little man’s perspective that’s why the
harm that they receive in this kind of relationships are always unnoticed just like in the global society
the youngsters the weak never speaks up, and all the perspective we see is just from the superior and
the older. In the other hand the author also applies metaphor on her text to signifies the possessiveness
and vulnerability ,queen Kong again, again in line 26 “I’d gently pick at his shirt and his trews, peel him,
put the tip of my tongue to the grape of his flesh” Kong is happy to “peel him” and lick the grape of his
flesh, it reminds us that it’s is an ape treating her man like to eat a banana, as if he is nothing just to feed
her up from her hunger to pleasure, he is there just to satisfy her. This shows the use of her dominant
power in the relationship.
In the extract, the little red cap the author utilises Allusion and symbolism to vividly depict the
unbalance between the young and old in a relationship. The poem little red cap alludes to the fairly tale
little red riding hood in the title in the character (the wolf, the RRH) and also in monologues in line 10
“what big eyes he had” what big teeth he had”. It uses this technique to make authors aware that RRH is
no more a kid but, has turned to an adult , and sexual maturity according to the theme of the poem,
which in line one says “At child hood’s end” which signifies he end to child hold and steeping in to
adulthood. In line 6“It was there that I first clapped eyes on the wolf” this is when she met the wolf and
she was attracted by his confidence, this reflects In the original fairy tale where she met the wolf and
didn’t know he was the antagonist of the story, they both didn’t know they will harmed by the wolf,
they are just prey’s in his eyes, to achieve his satisfaction of pleasure or hunger. The are still very young
and naïve, they could be easily harmed by the outer world. Just like the global issue people would
manipulate people with a lack of experience in a community and manipulate.
The author also employs symbolism to show how little red cap have evolved to a adult from a child
in line 5 “the edge of the wood” symbolises the cross between childhood and adult hood, so now she
can make her own decisions, and doesn’t need to follow the rules her mother made. In line 26 the
“white dove” in this part of the poem symbolises artistic expression which the female persona looks for.
However this hope is consumed by the wolf, illustrating how the power dynamic not only exists sexually
but also in an artistic sphere.
A romantic couple with large age gaps could lead to various consequences that are not usually seen
when being the younger individual. One may see the older partner as wiser, but this could lead to an
imbalance between the power dynamic of the relationship as it could lead to oppressive or even abusive
relationships similar to the relationship Carol Ann Duffy was in for around ten years. The author is trying
to covey a message to audience who could be in similar situations not to repeat the same mistakes,
especially when the partner is in a more powerful position in terms of the relationship.