{"id":488,"date":"2015-12-03T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/?p=488"},"modified":"2016-10-25T08:50:54","modified_gmt":"2016-10-25T07:50:54","slug":"poetry-divorce-by-jackie-kay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/2015\/12\/03\/poetry-divorce-by-jackie-kay\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry – Divorce by Jackie Kay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"untitled\"taken from https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mindaugasdanys\/3766009204<\/a><\/p>\n

divorce annotations to copy<\/a><\/p>\n

Explain how the speaker\u2019s sense of irritation is conveyed in lines 1-6.
\nThe speaker\u2019s sense of irritation is conveyed quite clearly in the opening statement of the poem. She uses full words instead of shortening them down. i.e. she says \u2018did not\u2019 instead of \u2018didn\u2019t\u2019. This makes it clear she wants the listener to understand how angry she is and that she did not agree to do anything.
\nThe word choice in these lines also exemplifies her anger. She identifies the idea of an agreement with the word \u2018promise\u2019. The agreement alluded to is staying together forever. She is saying here that she never made any contract or treaty or oath to stay with this person. <\/p>\n

What is the speaker\u2019s attitude to her parents (line 6-14)?
\nIn lines 6-14 the speaker is annoyed and aggravated by her parents. This is first expressed at her mother who she feels is ungrateful. She states that her mother \u2018never, ever said a kind word\u2019 showing that she feels her mother is indifferent towards her or does not love her properly. The build up here of \u2018never, ever\u2019 suggests that she can\u2019t remember it ever happening.
\nShe mocks her father\u2019s mocking of her with \u2018Are you off in the cream puff, Lady Muck?\u2019 It is clear from her derisory follow up \u2013 \u2018in this day and age?\u2019 that she thinks her father\u2019s nickname for her is derogatory and it upsets her. <\/p>\n

How does the tone change in the second stanza and how is this achieved?
\nThe tone goes through several changes in the second stanza. The first one is when the tone shifts from attacking to authoritative. She is no longer picking on her parents but stating simple facts. \u2018I want a divorce\u2019 is a clear statement about her desires. It is a direct assault on her parents stating that she wishes to leave them.
\nThe stanza then takes on a whimsical and poetic tone. She begins to talk about other parents but manages to make them sound mythical and fantastical through the word choice. She says \u2018there are parents\u2026 whose faces turn up to the light\u2019. The use of \u2018light\u2019 makes us think about goodness and sunshine and makes these parents sound happy. <\/p>\n

Choose two examples of imagery from lines 16-23 and explain in detail how each adds to your understanding of the poem.
\nThere are two examples of imagery in lines 16-23 and both of them are metaphors dealing with other types of parents. The first metaphor states there are parents who \u2018speak in the soft murmur of rivers\u2019. This compares the way these parents speak to the sound of rivers. These rivers are soft and calm and soothing. The speaker clearly thinks these parents are lovely as they never raise their voices and are lovely all the time.
\nThe second example still focuses on how the parents sound and now compares their singing to \u2018the colourful voices of rainbows\u2019. This sounds like when they singing happy colours come out of their mouths. They seem joyous and magical. You could imagine having a wonderful time with these parents. Both of these metaphors add to my understanding of the poem as I understand that the speaker really wants happy parents and feels she doesn\u2019t get on well with her own. <\/p>\n

This poem is about a first person experience. How does Kay use style and techniques to put this across.
\nThis is a very strong dramatic monologue from a child to her parents asking for a separation.
\nThe first thing that makes this clear is the title. She chose to call this poem \u2018divorce\u2019. From this word we know that the poem is going to be about two things splitting up, in this instance it is a child pulling away from her parents.
\nThe second thing stylistically is the structure of the poem. This is interesting for two reasons. The poem is in two stanzas, which could refer to the two parts involved \u2013 the parents and the child. On the page they are separated by the gap, demonstrating their split, but coming together to make the poem thereby representing the family unit. The other thing to note here is that each stanza is 14 lines long. Usually sonnets are 14 lines long, and normally a sonnet is a love poem. Here though, it is used for the opposite purpose \u2013 the speaker declares her lack of love for her parents in demanding a divorce.
\nThe final thing to say about this poem is that it is very clearly a dramatic monologue as the speaker constantly uses the word \u2018I\u2019. this makes it clear that the poem is a list of demands and actions. \u2018I want a divorce\u2019, \u2018I will file for divorce\u2019. The strong use of \u2018I\u2019 at the start of sentences convinces you that the speaker knows what she wants. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

taken from https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mindaugasdanys\/3766009204 divorce annotations to copy Explain how the speaker\u2019s sense of irritation is conveyed in lines 1-6. The speaker\u2019s sense of irritation is conveyed quite clearly in the opening statement of the poem. She uses full words instead of shortening them down. i.e. she says \u2018did not\u2019 instead of \u2018didn\u2019t\u2019. This makes it … Continue reading Poetry – Divorce by Jackie Kay<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2785,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3432],"tags":[7071,136],"class_list":["post-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-5","tag-jackie-kay","tag-poetry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2785"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":701,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions\/701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/HomeoftheBrave\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}