The following poems, “Stealing” and “Theme for English B” are examples of monologue
poems, poems that have a specific character addressing another person. This kind of
poem may or may not use rhyme.
Stealing
by Carol Ann Duffy
The most unusual thing I ever stole? A snowman.
Midnight. He looked magnificent; a tall, white mute
beneath the winter moon. I wanted him, a mate
with a mind as cold as the slice of ice
within my own brain. I started with the head.
Better off dead than giving in, not taking
what you want. He weighed a ton; his torso,
frozen stiff, hugged to my chest, a fierce chill
piercing my gut. Part of the thrill was knowing
that children would cry in the morning. Life's tough.
Sometimes I steal things I don't need. I joy-ride cars
to nowhere, break into houses just to have a look.
I'm a mucky ghost, leave a mess, maybe pinch a camera.
I watch my gloved hand twisting the doorknob.
A stranger's bedroom. Mirrors. I sigh like this - Aah.
It took some time. Reassembled in the yard,
he didn't look the same. I took a run
and booted him. Again. Again. My breath ripped out
in rags. It seems daft now. Then I was standing
alone among lumps of snow, sick of the world.
Boredom. Mostly I'm so bored I could eat myself.
One time, I stole a guitar and thought I might
learn to play. I nicked a bust of Shakespeare once,
flogged it, but the snowman was the strangest.
You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?
How do you react to this speaker? What kind of person is he? (I assume a he, do you?)
What evidence is in the poem that helps you to describe his character?
NOTE: Duffy wrote this poem based on a real event: her children’s snowman was stolen
from her yard in England!
THEME FOR ENGLISH B
By Langston Hughes (1951)
The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you--Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it's that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me---we two---you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York too.) Me---who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records---Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white--yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me--although you're older---and white--and somewhat more free.
This is my page for English B.
This poem is a bit more political. What do you know about relations between blacks and
whites in America? How does this help you to understand the poem?
Writing a monologue
This workshop developed from my teaching of [Carol Ann] Duffy's poetry both at GCSE and A level. Poetry
taught for examinations can be killed by dissection and annotation. I wanted students to experience using
language in ways which the poet does. In turn this would inform their own responses to her work.
The workshop activity comes at the end of a period of paired discussion and sharing of ideas about Duffy's
characters, the language she creates for them and the way she uses the language in the situations she puts
them in. (Such poems could include 'Stealing', 'Havisham', 'Fraud', 'Like Earning a Living' and 'The
Biographer'.)
a)
Each student selects a separate card with an occupation or very brief character description written on it.
(Examples I have used include: bookie; undertaker; former child star; referee; game show host; jilted lover;
politician; gossip columnist and hairdresser.) Make sure each character has his/her own distinct vocabulary,
workplace and/or history which the student can draw on. Every card should be different. Give the students
plenty of choice. Make sure you choose a card too and take part in the drafting. The details on the card can
be kept secret or shared with others in the group - depending on how you want to handle the writing stages.
b)
Students should quickly compile list of words, phrases, actions, items of equipment or processes, images,
and places which could be connected with the character. Encourage writers not to reject any ideas at this
stage. Once initial ideas are written down students can make suggestions for each others' lists.
c)
Ask students to think about why the character might be speaking in a poem. What is the present situation for
that person? What could have happened previously? Explore possibilities together. For example has the
referee just shown someone the red card? Has the politician been involved in a scandal? Encourage them to
jot ideas down and then to underline those with the most potential.
d)
A period of intensive drafting. Students should begin to edit their lists of words and ideas from (b) and (c).
Encourage them to group words, link ideas together and say words aloud to test out different combinations.
As they develop their drafts they should begin to focus on a structure and think about Duffy's sentence and
line structures, her use of very short sentences etc.
e)
After twenty minutes drafting encourage sharing of work in progress with a partner. Pass the drafts on
several times if they are comfortable with this. Make sure drafts are read aloud. Ask students to focus on:
what they like about the drafts;
points of comparison with Duffy's writing;
two suggestions for the draft;
two questions.
f)
Further drafting, polishing and (eventually) performance.