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Carol Ann Duffy Analysis

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The poems Education for Leisure and Stealing were both written by the poet Carol Ann Duffy during the time period when crime and unemployment rates were high. In ‘Education for Leisure’ Duffy portrays the persona as a figure who is hungry for power, neglected from society and is not appreciated for his work. On the other hand in ‘Stealing’ the persona is presented as a person with an unstable mind state and feels that he is capable to do anything and steels things to prove he is powerful. Firstly, both persona 's are seeking the urge to gain power. In ‘Education for Leisure’ the persona claims “I am going to play god”. This quote shows the arrogance of the persona. The literal meaning is the persona is pretending to take the role of God. …show more content…

In ‘Education for Leisure’ the persona states “I am going to kill something today. Anything.” the literal meaning for this quote is that the persona is going to harm something or someone, the connotation on the other hand could be that the persona has lost his mind, the reason being is “kill” is a very strong word and it does not just mean hurt someone, it is taking someone’s life away from them, which is not an act a normal would perform. Secondly, “.Anything.” suggests that he does not care on who he hurts, as long as he fulfils his desire, in addition to that, Duffy uses this word as a sentence which creates an effect on the reader that the persona is suborn and does not change is mind easily like a child. Another quote to prove this is “I pour my goldfish down the bog”, this quote can clearly tell us he is psychopathic as he is harming something that has done no harm, this also could implement that he has gone through a lot of stress and torture which could be the leading reason of his behaviour, too much stress could change the state of mind. The effect on the reader would be that the persona has a deluded state of …show more content…

In ‘Education for Leisure’ the first line in the poem is “Today I am going to kill something. Anything.” this quote shows his aggressiveness and anger, furthermore, the word ‘kill’ is a very violent and sinister word. Violence is also shown in the in this quote “He cuts me off. I get our bread knife and go out”, in this quote it shows he is willing to us anything to hurt a person as he uses a “bread knife” which is not a tool used for killing. The overall effect on the reader would be that the persona has a short temper and takes out his actions is a very vicious and wild way. Comparably, in ‘Stealing’ the persona also shows violence in their actions. The persona 's actions are very violent as he says “I booted him.Again.Again.” the literary device Duffy uses is repetition, this shows how aggressive he is as he uses the word ‘again’ twice which shows he repeatedly booted the snowman. The persona also “breaks into houses just to have a look” which tells us how wild and brutal he is, as he destroys people’s property and probably goes to their houses to steal things. This creates an overall effect on the reader on how aggressive and wild the persona

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