The Way My Mother Speaks

The Way My Mother Speaks By Brodie Rothery and Finlay Johnson

Summary The Way My Mother Speaks similar to other Duffy poems such as “Originally” and “Mrs Tilschers Class”, she is recollecting over her memories of her transition through childhood to adulthood. Throughout the poem she reminisces over the safety and guidance that her mothers voice brings to her particularly during arduous times. Duffy becomes very worried during her transition from childhood to adulthood and her mother’s help to calm her.

Key Themes • Transition/Change • Movement • Childhood Excuses • Nostalgia • Love • Identity (national and personal) • Sexuality • Safety/Security • Anxiety

Tones • Uncertainty • Reassuring • Nostalgic • Anxious • Comforting • Cheerful • Optimistic • Loving

Structure • Duffys stanzas are bound together by her mothers words, this breaks up her train of thought. • This union between mother and daughter is emphasized by the brevity of the stanza and the inclusion of the two women in it. • The next two stanzas then, could represent the 'journey' or the different stages ahead of the speaker in becoming an adult, which she embarks on, equipped with the close connection she had with her mother.

Analysis of quotes Stanza 1 “under the shallows of my breath”- Anxiety “The day and ever. The day and ever”- Safety and Security Stanza 2 “The train this slow evening/goes down England/browsing for the right sky”- Movement “What like is it” – Safety and Security Stanza 3 “Only tonight/I am happy and sad/like a child” - Nostalgia “I am homesick, free, in love/with the way my mother speaks” - Love

Techniques • Metaphor • Simile • Enjambment • Repetition • Assonance

The Way My Mother Speaks

The Way My Mother Speaks

Presentation Transcript

My Mother is a Baker

Are You My Mother?

A Chair for My Mother

MY MOTHER

I CANNOT REMEMBER MY MOTHER

Ballad to my mother

Are you my mother?

My Mother…

My Mother

A Chair For My Mother

My Mother,

Praise Song For My Mother

The Computer Speaks

My Way

My Mother

My Relationship With My Mother

Annoying habits of my Mother

Are you my mother

My Way

Dear My Mother:

My Shopping, My Way

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