Main purpose.
- Rote learning of grammar schools becomes metaphor for restrictions on women in society.
- “Laughter”: becomes a way od defying institutionalisation.
- Advocating for empowerment of female voice.
Form of poem.
- Semi-autobiographical, Duffy went to Stafford’s Girls High.
- Narrative poem.
- Epic.
Method.
Italics throughout.
- Echoing the voices of characters throughout.
How does this poem stand out in athology?
- Realsim contrasts metaphysical tone of rest of anthology.
Motif of laughter.
- “whoops… like birds in a cage.”–> motif of birds, image of restriction.
- “scattering giggles like noisy confetti.”
- “high above sky seagulls, like schoolgirls, laughed.” Freedom of rejecting societal norms/ institutionalisation.
Semantic field.
References to rote learning.
- “Brathay, Coquet, Crake”: asyndetic listing (repeated throughout poem) of English rivers.
- “Beaufort Scale”: scale for storm severity.
- Alphabetical.
- Mundane nature of standardised/ pointless learning.
Use of nature to describe female voice.
- “distant thunder.”
- “like a tropical wind.”
- Laughter/ defiance develops from “confetti”/ “bird” to a powerful, natural force.
- Power of female voice, supposed to be demure. laughing quietly. DEFYING expectations.
- Similar to “Loud.”
Different verbs for laughter.
Same semantic field as “Loud.”
- “cackling.”
- “snicker.”
- “yodelled.”
- “roared.”
- Verb choices become more dynamic, development/ progression of the rebellion.
“like noisy confetti.”
Sig
- Sudden, celebratory excitement from environment of girl’s grammar school once they all defy the institutional rules.
Bird imagery throughout.
- “trilled like baby birds.”
- “whoops… like birds in a cage.”
Enjambement significance.
- Never-ending, unstoppable nature of girl’s laughter.
Sig of snowball extended metaphor.
- “size of a classroom globe… to a huge balloon.”
- Symbol for increasing rebellion; snowball effect.
- Originally related to image of school “classroom globe” before defiance.
Growing uncontrollable laughter.
What overarching method?
Related to?
- Conceit.
- Related to “Loud”, “Tall” –> laughter starts to have a metaphysical essence to it, tranforms into “thunder.”
Significance of teachers’ names vs student’s names.
- Teachers “Doctor Bream”, “Miss Fife” –> given a title.
- Dehumanised by education system?
- Contrasts girls who have first+ middle names –> unique NOT institutionalised+ forced to all fit under unanomous identity.
Austerity of teachers.
- “Cambridge cap and gown.”
- Exclamatories: aim to exert authority–> “SILENCE!” all caps, repeated.
- Rhetorical questions: accusatory, intimidating tone –> “what’s so amusing?”/ “we can all share the joke?”
Image of spreading laughter.
- “laughter seeped under doors, up coridoors, into the gym.”
- Affects the teachers +students alike.
Music motif.
- Symbol of rejecting strict rules + regulations.
- Freeing emotions music can induce.
- “music reminded her of Miss Fife”/ “fur elise.”
Ultimate revolution due to girl’s laughter.
“you girls have laughed this once great school into the ground.”
Sig of 47 stanzas.
- Age Duffy was when writing poem.
- Adds to autobiographical nature, along with “Carol Anne” (herself!) being main character
Towards end of poem
Death/ gothic imagery to describe the destruction of archaic education system.
- “small coffins”/ “tombstones”/ “grave.”
- Duffy warning, if we don’t revolutionalise education, it will simply die out!!
Lasting image.
- “waves lifted her under her arms and danced her away.”
- Links to teacher: “letting the night sigh under her clothes.”
- FREEDOM induced from the revolution of laughter.
