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If words could kill…

If words could kill…. Killers in the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage. 'Killing' poem shocks teachers.

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If words could kill…

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  1. If words could kill… Killersin the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage

  2. 'Killing' poem shocks teachers English teachers in east Yorkshire have refused to include a poem on an exam syllabus because of its violent content. Tutors at Sydney Smith School, Anlaby, Hull, have even said they will tear the page from the book if they have to. But the work, included in a GCSE poetry anthology for schools, has been defended by an examination board as a "fictional view of an adolescent's feelings".

  3. 'Killing' poem shocks teachers (ctd.) The school's head of English Gill Gildenberg said: "I never thought I would hear myself saying this but we do have to take a responsible attitude. It really does worry me that we could be endorsing violent feelings. It is something which children would readily identify with. It is about an unemployed individual who seeks recognition by killing. It is a very powerful poem - but that is my point, we do not want blood on our hands."

  4. 'Killing' poem shocks teachers (ctd.) The poem was written by Glaswegian-born writer and philosophy graduate Carol Ann Duffy. The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), the largest examination board in the UK, has included the book in its study list for 15 and 16-year-old students in 2004. Accompanied by a picture of a kitchen knife stuck vertically into a block of wood, it begins: "Today I am going to kill something. Anything.”

  5. 'Killing' poem shocks teachers (ctd.) Ms Gildenberg has written to AQA to complain. But George Turnbull, spokesperson for AQA, said: "We are sorry for any offence. It is a poem selected by teachers and was approved by the government watchdog, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. It is a fictional view of an adolescent's feelings. Pupils can do the course without touching the work."

  6. Education for Leisure By Carol Ann Duffy

  7. Today I am going to kill something. Anything. I have had enough of being ignored and today I am going to play God. It is an ordinary day, a sort of grey with boredom stirring in the streets.

  8. I squash a fly against the window with my thumb. We did that at school. Shakespeare. It was in another language and now the fly is in another language. I breathe out talent on the glass to write my name.

  9. I am a genius. I could be anything at all, with half the chance. But today I am going to change the world. Something's world. The cat avoids me. The cat knows I am a genius, and has hidden itself.

  10. I pour the goldfish down the bog. I pull the chain. I see that it is good. The budgie is panicking. Once a fortnight, I walk the two miles into town for signing on. They don't appreciate my autograph.

  11. There is nothing left to kill. I dial the radio and tell the man he's talking to a superstar. He cuts me off. I get our bread-knife and go out. The pavements glitter suddenly. I touch your arm.

  12. The Hitcher By Simon Armitage

  13. I’d been tired, under the weather, but the ansaphone kept screaming: One more sick-note, mister, and you’re finished. Fired. I thumbed a lift to where the car was parked. A Vauxhall Astra. It was hired.

  14. I picked him up in Leeds. He was following the sun to west from east with just a toothbrush and the good earth for a bed. The truth, he said, was blowin' in the wind, or round the next bend.

  15. I let him have it on the top road out of Harrogate - once with the head, then six times with the krooklok in the face - and didn't even swerve. I dropped it intothird

  16. and leant across to let him out, and saw him in the mirror bouncing off the kerb, then disappearing down the verge. We were the same age, give or take a week. He'd said he liked the breeze

  17. to run its fingers through his hair. It was twelve noon. The outlook for the day was moderate to fair. Stitch that, I remember thinking, you can walk from there.

  18. Similarities • 1st person narrator • Personal account: autobiography • Sense of immediacy • Envy  Revenge • Against society • Against individual • Ordinary day • Weather • Matter-of-fact tone • Egotism • ‘Hitcher’ = has ‘the answer’ • ‘Education for Leisure’ = ‘plays God’

  19. Differences • Tense • ‘Hitcher’ = past • ‘Education for Leisure’ = present • Ending • ‘Hitcher’ = murder has already happened • ‘Education…’ = about to strike (cliffhanger) • Humour • ‘Hitcher’ =  • ‘Education…’ =  • Graphic descriptions • ‘Hitcher’ =  • ‘Education…’ =  (left more to our imagination)

  20. Final Thoughts “It really does worry me that we could be endorsing violent feelings. It is something which children would readily identify with. It is a very powerful poem - but that is my point, we do not want blood on our hands.” WHAT DO YOU THINK?

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