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Carol Ann Duffy creates voice in 'Comprehensive' by using seven different characters and personalities, each one unique to its own and each one extremely separate from the others. The first speaker is an African female and we know this because she talks about Africa and how she has games which are similar to 'hopscotch', which is known to be played mainly by small girls. We can tell that the transition from Africa to England was difficult for this girl as she says how she likes 'Africa better than England'.
She reminisces with her mother about their life in Africa, she finds this a good way of dealing with the life she has now in England.
The language used by speaker one is broken, it is very plain and blunt which may suggest that they have not been living in England long. Wayne is an English, lower class, teenage male who is extremely racist and sees no future for himself.
We know he is racist as he talks about 'paki-bashing' which means that he does not like Asian people, who are mentioned again in his stanza when he says 'I don't suppose I'll get a job.
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“ Very organized ,I enjoyed and Loved every bit of our professional interaction ”
It's all them coming over here to work'. He almost blames Asian people for taking his job away, when in-fact it is clear that he will not have a job due to his laziness and clear ignorance. The language used by Wayne makes it obvious that he has not had a good education as he has a very limited vocabulary.
His sentences are short and direct, without any grammar.
Speaker four is Muslim and from their first sentence they tell us that they are quite religious. The speaker longs for home as he talks about the space he had to play in his village, he also shows disappointment as he says how people told his family that 'everything was easy'. Clearly, he does not agree. His English is not very good and his grammar is poor, the short sentences he uses emphasizes the anger and frustration he feels with England.
Michelle is of working class who we, as the readers, can tell has not had much of an education because of the way her sentences are structured - short and blunt. She seems to think that she does not have much of a future ahead of her and the repeating of such phrases as 'worst luck', 'she wont let me do anything' and 'its just boring', emphasize her depressed feelings. The way in which she says 'get engaged. Probably work in Safeways' tells the reader that she believes she must follow the cycle which people live in, she knows she is wasting her life away but cannot be bothered to do anything about it.
Ejaz is the only character who makes any friends, but only within his own ethnic group. 'He asked me in Urdu' stands out in this particular stanza because it was of importance, otherwise enjambement is used to make the stanza read monotonously. The sixth speaker is a young, white, male. He talks about foreigners, 'My sister went out with one' and separates them as if they are a different species. He tells us how he cant help but 'take the piss' out of the boys who wear turbans, but how he would like to be friends with them.
This gives us the impression that this speaker wants to fit in with the other children at school, so does not give people who are from a different nationality a chance, or the respect they deserve. He tells us of his plans to emigrate, giving the impression that he wants to escape.
This speaker is the most ambitious one out of them all. We know he is from the English language by the way he speaks about foreigners, and his language itself. Although it is clear he has not had a very good education, his grammar is good comparing it to the other characters. Speaker number seven is Asian and we see this by his big family background, as boys are named after other family members. 'At first I thought I was dreaming, but I wasn't. Everything I saw was true'. He finds England hard, but he says he is ambitious and this quote proves that. He cannot believe his eyes.
The structure of 'Comprehension' is a fairly simplistic one. Carol Ann Duffy uses enjambement in this poem so as to create the effect that the characters are speaking continuously and so that the poem would be read without any particular rhythm that many poems are read with.
The poem is supposed to be more of a conversation, where each child gives his or her view on certain things in their life. This suits the monotonous lives of the seven characters. Not one of them seems to fully enjoy life, as they all seem to complain that it is 'boring'. Each personality is set out in a different stanza, so as to separate them so the reader can differentiate between the characters.
The structure of 'Head of English' is set out in five stanzas. Carol Ann Duffy uses enjambement so that the poem is read without a rhythm, but as a block of text.
There is only one voice speaking throughout the poem. With each stanza, more time goes past as the beginning of the poem is the start of the class and the end is lunchtime, where the guest poet is told to leave. The short sentences emphasize the anger or resentfulness that the teacher feels towards to guest. As the poem ends, sentences become shorter, as if she is hurrying the end of the time she must spend with the poet.
Carol Ann Duffy uses the intentions and language of the speakers and the structure of the poem to create the illusion of the speaking voice. 'Comprehensive' was a good poem to compare with 'Head of English' because they are both by Carol Ann Duffy, which makes it especially interesting to compare her characters.
Comprehensive Carol Ann Duffy. (2020, Jun 01). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/carol-ann-duffy-2-3680-new-essay
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