Bible links for "The World's Wife"

This is a very useful website for quickly accessing relevant parts of the Bible to remind yourself of the contextual information for this group of poems:

http://www.biblegateway.com/

Use the Quicksearch from the main page, making sure "New International Version" is selected from the other side. (This is the most straightforward version to access)

Type in the following references to find the relevant characters:

Delilah - Judges 16: 4-20 (OLD TESTAMENT)
Salome - Mark 6: 17-8 OR Matthew 14:1-12 (NEW TESTAMENT)
Queen Herod - Matthew 2
Pilate's wife - Matthew 27: 19
Mrs Lazarus - John 11

(Don't forget, the names refer to a book of the bible. The first number is the chapter, the second number is the verse)

Some of these figures appear in history or are significant in art. It is worth having a quick browse online or in an encyclopaedia to find out more about them.

Welcome to the class of 2009/10!

Please use this space to share your thoughts about "Spies." What do you like? What aren't you keen on? Any predictions or questions?

Get posting...


P.S. Here is a page which contains lots of weblinks for "Spies". They are mainly reviews. DON'T READ THEM TOO SOON AS THEY MAY SPOIL THE STORY FOR YOU but the link will be here when you come to forming your own views about the book towards its end.

http://thehieroglyphicstreets.wordpress.com/category/england/

The Kray Sisters - the real life inspiration

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Kray

This article gives you a good insight into the sort of men Duffy based her "unusual us" girls on.

Myra Hindley - The Devil's Wife?

To find more out about Hindley, read her obituary on the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/452614.stm

This is the famous photograph of her taken during her time in police custody. What does the expression suggest to you? How do you think the public and media would have responded to such an image when put together with a consderation of her crimes?

This 1997 painting by Marcus Harvey took the iconic image of Hindley and reproduced it with children's hand prints. What is your opinion of this piece of art?

HOMEWORK due on Monday 2nd March

Do you agree with the following statements? Explain why in your comment, referring as closely as possible to the poems concerned.

1: "In "Mrs Quasimodo", Duffy doesn't do women any favours. She portrays them as bitter, shallow and complying with the way they are mistreated by men."

2: "Duffy is wrong to have written from the viewpoint of a notorious murder in "The Devil's Wife."

I have left you an example of the sort of level of detail that you should aim for. You need to have the poems in front of you while you answer, ideally.

Queen Kong - the original film

Here's a clip of the iconic finale to the 1933 film. (It won't play in school, sorry).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qBA750YNiE

Think about who it encourages us to sympathise with, who wields the power and influence, and how the film depicts women.

HOMEWORK due Thursday 26th February: How did you vote in the poll and why?

Vote in poll on the right hand side, then leave a comment explaining why you chose a particular poem as your favourite so far. I have left an example to get you started.

Hints:
Try to think about HOW the poems are written, not just their plot/characterisation.

If you have trouble with the poll, just write your vote in as a comment.