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Elvis’s Twin Sister. Elvis’s Twin Sister. The poem has two subtitles. The first is a line from Elvis Presley's 1961 hit song Are You Lonesome Tonight? The second is a statement by the female singer Madonna.
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Elvis’s Twin Sister • The poem has two subtitles. The first is a line from Elvis Presley's 1961 hit song Are You Lonesome Tonight? • The second is a statement by the female singer Madonna. • Elvis Presley did not have a twin sister in reality but the sister whom Carol Ann Duffy imagines for him is very different from Madonna. • Instead she is modest and simple, though with a cheerful character, rather like Elvis's public persona.
Elvis’s Twin Sister • The poem plays on the humorous contrast between the life, manners and dress of the nun, and the flamboyance of rock and roll. • For example, despite her nun's vow, Sister Presley swings her hips in the same way as Elvis, though perhaps without the same effect. • She wears a habit and carries a rosary, but she also has the blue suede shoes immortalized by Elvis's 1956 rendition of the song of this name. • The Gregorian chant (sung unaccompanied) has simple melodies, like Elvis's songs, but is otherwise very different in its calm and gentle mood, and its Christian lyrics. • In the early days of Rock and Roll, its critics called it the Devil's music.
Elvis’s Twin Sister • The sister identifies the convent with Elvis's home, Graceland- Elvis chose the name Graceland because of his own Christian belief. Her exclamation “Lawdy” is a popular version of “Praise the Lord”. • Perhaps the biggest difference between sister and brother, though, is that, among the sisters of the convent, no one is ever “lonesome” - and it is a long time since she “walked/down Lonely Street/towards Heartbreak Hotel”. (This is another reference to Elvis's music - he recorded Heartbreak Hotel in 1956. Elvis is listed as co-writer of this and many of his other hits, but did not really write it. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, insisted that Elvis have his name added so that he would receive writing royalties.)
Elvis’s Twin Sister • The form of the poem is quite regular - five line stanzas with occasional rhymes. • Sometimes these are quite amusing as when Duffy uses the Southern sound of “y'all” to rhyme with “soul” and “rock and roll”. • The references to the song lyrics give it an air of authenticity - though this is quite lightly done.
Elvis’s Twin Sister • The poem is a light-hearted exploration of ideas of fame, friendship and family. It begs the question whether it is better to have been Elvis (or even Madonna) or his sister - is fame better than modest contentment, great wealth better than friends?
Elvis’s Twin Sister • Look at the poem. Find evidence that the Sister Presley finds life in the convent: • Peaceful & relaxing • Friendly. • Highlight the items of clothing and possessions within stanzas 3 & 4. Which items do you think are usual or unusual to wear? Seeing as Nuns are expected to wear plain and simple garments what does this tell us about her: • Attitude towards appearance • Her relationship with the novices, (young trainee nuns.)?
What is Sister Presley’s attitude towards religion in the poem? Elvis’s Twin Sister
Elvis’s Twin Sister Sister Presley What are her faults? What are her good points? Are we supposed to like or dislike Sister Presley?
Elvis’s Twin Sister • What facts do you learn about Elvis? Elvis Facts!
Elvis’s Twin Sister • Highlight the use of slang or dialect words in the poem. • ‘digs’ in the 50’s and 60’s meant to like. Why has Duffy chosen to use this term? • How could the term ‘brother’ be interpreted?
Elvis’s Twin Sister • Rhyme can be used to create certain effects in poetry for example for emphasis, humour to create a link within the reader’s mind. • Find 3 examples of rhyme within the poem and explain what effects are achieved by each.
Elvis’s Twin Sister • Find examples of how religion and rock ‘n’ roll are linked together. • Does Duffy intend the reader to be : • Offended by Sister Presley treating rock ‘n’ roll as something religious. • Amused that she appears to be devoted to rock ‘n’ roll than she is to God?
Elvis’s Twin Sister • Read the following statements and decide which statement is most likely to least likely and state why you think so. Most likely Least Likely
Elvis’s Twin Sister • To amuse the reader by creating a rock ‘n’ roll nun. • To satirise people’s tendency to worship musical heroes. • To offer a tongue-in-cheek suggestion about what might have happened to Elvis Presley. • To ridicule gender stereotypes by mixing up a male superstar and a female nun. • To show she’s a big Elvis fan.
Elvis’s Twin Sister • Do you agree with Madonna's claim? Or is Elvis in a different class from her? • Is Elvis's sister (as imagined in the poem) a more attractive person than she would be if she were a big star like him? • What do you think of the language of the poem? How well does Carol Ann Duffy (a Scot living in England) create a sense of a speaker from the southern USA? (Elvis was born in Mississippi and grew up in Tennessee.) • How does Carol Ann Duffy make use of Elvis's song titles and lyrics in the poem? • Is the poem comic or serious? Do you like it or not?
