the map-woman

meaning behind the poem? how is this conveyed? 2 points

• a woman’s relationship with her own identity

• extended metaphor of a woman’s body as a tattooed map

themes? 2 points

• past, present and future

• mental health and struggles

significance of the focal character only being referred to as ‘a woman’?

suggests she could be anyone, universal effect

significance and technique in ‘she covered…up [the map] with a dress, with a shawl…’

asyndetic listing - implies frantic continuous effort to hide her true self

technique and significance in ‘but - birthmark, tattoo - the a-z street-map grew’?

internal rhyme - pulls the stanza together and emphasises their significance

significance in ‘a precise second skin’?

suggests a conscious effort to hide the person underneath

significance in ‘broad if she binged, thin when she slimmed’? 2 points

• shows changing identity

• mental health issues manifesting through physical eating disorders

significance of ‘a precis of where to end or go back or begin’?

uncertainty foreshadows emotional turmoil

‘over her breast was the heart of the town’?

the town is vital to her identity, the streets represent her veins and arteries

significance of list starting ‘from the market square to the picture house…’? 2 points

• all landmarks found in duffy’s hometown of stafford

• vague enough to apply to anyone

• ‘like shadows’ implies hiding parts of her identity 

‘if you crossed the bridge at her nipple…you would come to the graves’ sigificance?

nipples feed babies, graves mark the dead - life and death are intermingled

significance of lack of pronouns in ‘the beloved mothers and wives…’?

these people have no relation to the woman, her memories are blurred and she is isolated

‘you could sit on a wooden bench as a wedding pair ran…and wonder….where and when you would die’ significance? 2 points

• characterises the woman as an outsider

• contrasts romance with death and loneliness - hopeless themes

‘waiting for time to start’?

trauma or bad experiences make her feel like her life is meaningless

‘tiny face trapped in the window’s… thick glass like a fly’ significance? technique?

simile - struggling to escape from something essential to their identity 

‘when she showered, the map gleamed on her skin’?

it doesn’t wash off - her experiences and suffering are integral to her identity

‘blue-black ink’?

reminiscent of a bruise - her memories pain her

significance of the mentions of ‘watching the beatles run for a train’ or 'dustin hoffman screaming…or the spacemen in 2001’?

references a hard day’s night, the graduate, and space odyssey 2001 - all films about escape

‘sponged, soaped, scrubbed’ - techniques and significance? 3 points

• alliterative

• sibilance

• evokes desperate imagery 

‘empty bandstand’ significance?

implies loss of joy

significance of the ‘prison and hospital’ and ‘clear as an operation scar’?

imply physical and emotional abuse

significance of the verb ‘vanished’?

suggests she doesn’t want to be associated with the town

significance of the onomatopoeia ‘belching’?

negative connotation

‘she knew you could run the way back home - there it was on her thigh’ significance?

implies owning her sexuality and desire for privacy

significance of aysndetic list ‘she lived down south, abroad, n route…’?

emphasises obsession with escaping the past

‘the map was under her stockings, under her gloves’ significance?

the map and her past experiences can be hidden but not removed

'‘delicate braille’ meaning?

people are blind to the influence her past has on her

‘…she felt her father’s house pressing into the bone’ significance? 2 points

• emphasises permanence of the memories

• implies pain and stress from memories

significance between words ‘looped’ and ‘repeatedly’?

cyclical nature of her emotions

technique and effect in ’ice cream van crying’? 2 points

• transferred epithet

• negative twist on typically happy childhood memories 

‘a snarl of children’s shrieks’ technique and meaning? 3 points

• zoomorphism

• implies negative childhood experience 

‘the motorway…was a roaring river of metal and light’ technique and significance? 3 points

• metaphor

• the world is moving on without her

• ‘light’ could imply hope (later proved futile)

effect of ‘cheerio, au revoir, auf wiedersehen..’?

irony - the world is saying goodbye, leaving her behind

‘only her face was clear…her baby-blue eyes unsure’ significance?

innocence contrasts previous stanzas

significance of ‘linen, satin, silk..’?

material luxuries don’t distract from mental problems

significance of ‘the map perspired…seethed on her flesh’?

her inner self wants to escape - violent connotation in ‘seethed’

‘a lover’s hands caressed the map…lost tourists wandering…all fingers and thumbs’

implies failed attempts at coping through sex

‘her skin sloughed like a snake’s’ significance and techniques?

• alliteration, simile, sibilance

• reminds of the snake in the garden of eden

‘papery camisole’, ‘silvery, sheer…gloves’ tone and significance?

erotic tone juxtaposed with fragility

‘her parents’ skulls grinned at the dark’ implication?

her parents were abusive

‘what was she looking for?’ technique and significance?

rhetorical question - unanswered, the woman’s struggles continue

‘her skin was…a shroud to be dead in, a newspaper for old news to be read in, gift-wrapping, litter, a suicide letter’ significance?

all things that are thrown away - depressive tone

irony in ‘the…sun glittered behind her’?

seems hopeful, but ‘glitter’ is fake

‘deep in the bone…hunting for home’ significance and technique? 2 points

• rhyming couplets

• her memories will never leave her