Comparing Head of English

The purpose for the head of English is to in some way give English teachers a bad name. Carol Ann Duffy is a visiting poet to an all girls school, at the school she finds that the head of English is unwelcoming and tries her best to make her feel small. She wants the audience to know the ordeal that she went through, so this is in some way to get revenge and to entertain the audience by showing what her version of a stereotypical English teacher is like.

She is also mocking her, by over elaborating on her actions and the things she says.

The purpose for R. E your poem and recent visit is a reply to the poem Head of English. Andrew Mayne is saying that it is unfair to give all English teachers a bad name, and tries to show through his writing what they are really like. He finds the poem offensive and so in return tries to offend Carol Ann Duffy in some way, by using the same style of mocking ness and over elaborating.

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His purpose to the audience is to show humour about the way in which he mocks carol Ann Duffy for her poem.

Also, its purpose is to entertain and to prove a point to anyone who has read the poem head of English, so he is standing up and going against the views of Carol Ann Duffy. The attitudes and values of the head of English is that she doesn't like visitors coming into the school and teaching 'her' pupils.

She believes that she is just as good as a poet as the one visiting, that's why she treats the poet unfairly. She is also somewhat jealous of the poet (perhaps because she has made something of her life, whereas she hasn't).

She feels the poet is telling her what to do and how to teach and she feels that this is rude as she is the guest. The head of English values poets with a good reputation and poets, which have a good and defined structure (e. g. Kipling). The teacher also doesn't like teaching students with English as their second language, so in this way she is very racist to people's culture and values, which are not her, own. Carol Ann Duffy is obviously presenting this poem as a way in which English teachers should not behave; she feels that she should show a bad example to help to show a good one.

She believes that children should be able to express themselves and not feel suppressed by a teacher (which is what the head of English does). So the poet has a very different attitude and values to that of the person she is writing about. The attitudes and values of RE your poem and recent visit is that the poem is unfair to the portrayal of English teachers, so Andrew Mayne feels that it is wrong to classify teachers in such a manner. His answer back is to specifically create humour and to mock the views of Carol Ann Duffy to make fun of her.

The structure of head of English has 6 line stanzas, which creates the feeling of speech. This is not a typical poem, it is structured in a different way, old-fashioned poems should be very regular and structured. (Whereas this isn't). Gemma Lee Carol Ann Duffy is an innovative poet. So she does not follow the rules of what a typically good poem should be like, she is an individual. This is why the head of English doesn't like her methods she feels as if it is going against the poets before her who 'created fantastic poems'.

The structure of RE your poem and recent visit is made up of 5 lines (5 verses) however; the last verse has 6 lines. This is a typical regular metre, the way in which a classical poet would structure his/her work. His structure somewhat mirrors that of Carol Ann Duffy but he has 5 lines instead of her 6. This is to show that he can write a poem in the same fashion as that of Carol Ann Duffy but use the 'proper' structure, to show her that he to can write poetry just as good as her. The punctuation of this poem has a special device, to create the feeling of speech. Mirroring how Carol Ann Duffy relates to the head of English.

So in a way the very structure of this poem is still proving a point to the poet as well as mocking her. Both of the poems show that the vocabulary used is very similar, similar in getting the point across and similar to creating humour. They both use words to show the fact that they are well educated, and produce a sarcastic tones underneath aswell. They also use pronouns, which indicates a very formal way of writing. This is to perhaps insult the other person but to do it in a polite and well-structured way, thus creating a good argument and doing it in a dignified manner.

Both of these poems are very similar, the way in which they convey sarcasm is done in such a way that it is not completely obvious to the reader. If done in the wrong manner it could be seen that either one has the upper hand, which would not be good for either person, this is why Andrew Mayne mirrors the structure and vocabulary of Carol Ann Duffy. They both get their points across in a very clever and informative way, so neither person wins the argument. Both poems are well written and appeal to the audience just as well; their purpose is also conveyed very well, so it is clear.