GCSE (9-1): Literature: Poetry: AQA Love and Relationships: Before You Were Mine: Context

Author's name

Carol Ann Duffy

1955

when Carol Ann Duffy was born

country of origin

Glasgow, Scotland

Duffy's parents

Scottish father and Irish mother

poet laureate definition

a poet given a special position by the king or queen, who is asked to write poems about important public occasions

2009 - 2019

when Duffy served as the 20th Poet Laurette, a role where she was expected to write verse on occasions of national significance; the first female Poet Laureate

upbringing

raised Roman Catholic, she spent her childhood in Staffordshire with her sister and four brothers

Duffy's relationship with poetry during her childhood

aged seven she wrote a poem to continue the story of Alice in Wonderland as she was sad that it had ended. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer

universal appeal of Duffy's poems

Her poems have a wide appeal and frequently appear in 'The Nation's Favourite...' collections as well as on the National Curriculum

setting of the poem

It appears to be set in the 1940's or 1950's, just before Duffy was born

pop culture definition

modern popular culture transmitted via the mass media and aimed particularly at younger people

1950s pop culture

the 1950s were characterised by an explosion of pop culture featuring rock and roll, hot rod cars, an increase in the popularity of sports and an increase in entertainment TV networks

the reason for explosion of 1950s pop culture

a form of rebellion against the dark times of the war years and the economic depression that had just passed; people wanted to be free of the severe restrictions they had experienced during those tumultuous times

common topics in Duffy's work

Duffy's work is traditionally about seeing beneath the restrictions imposed upon her characters by their society and about understanding of the speakers as individuals.