How can you tell what class I’m from?
I can talk posh like some, With an ‘Olly in me mouth, Down me nose, wear an ‘at not a scarf, With me second hand clothes. So why do you always wince when you hear Me say “Tara" to me Ma instead of “Bye Mummy dear”? How can you tell what class I’m from? ‘Cos we live in a corpy, not like some, In a pretty little semi, out Wirral way, And commute into Liverpool by train each day. Or did I drop my unemployment card, Sitting on your patio (we have a yard)? How can you tell what class I’m from? Have I a label on me head, and another on me bum? Or is it because my hands are stained with toil, Instead of soft lily-white with perfume and oil? Don’t I crook me little finger when I drink me tea, Say toilet instead of bog when I want to pee? Why do you care what class I’m from? Does it stick in your gullet, like a sour plum? Well mate! A cleaner is me mother, A docker is me brother, Bread pudding is wet nelly, And me stomach is me belly And I’m proud of the class that I come from. What's it all about? The Class Game is a poem about prejudice and the way that we treat others dependent on their social status. It covers class and the attitudes we have towards it. What's the point of view? I think it's fair to say that the narrator of this poem, whether it is Mary Casey or not, is a proud 'Scouser' (what we call somebody from Liverpool). A proud and poor Scouser, at that. Think about the structure This is an interesting poem that uses simple repetition in its confrontation "how can you tell what class I'm from?" This repetition emphasises the fact that the narrator is hacked off at being judged based on her social class - this is then supported by her repeated, confrontational questions - "why do you always wince..?" and "Did I drop my unemployment card..?" The poet doesn't make the poem easy to read. There's a plethora of half-rhymes, the odd internal rhyme, and also some strange compositions (see the 'mouth/scarf' half-rhyme) that mean the poem is tough to read out loud, especially if you're not a Scouser yourself. You have to make an effort to read it - suggesting that the poet wants you to suffer! Perhaps she wants you to see the efforts she needs to make herself to be accepted, and does this by making you work hard to see her message. The use of rhyming couplets, in comparison, is very simplistic. This could be a reflection of how basic and simple the differences between people are, and to emphasise the fact that it's quite infantile to judge someone based on their class. And the language too The most obvious point I can make here is that the narrator uses colloquial language. She spells phonetically when referring to herself "me mother/me brother", and uses dialect forms - "corpy" and "wet nelly". This could be for two reasons:
The narrator also refers to specifically Liverpudlian things and ideas - "round Wirral way" and "commute into Liverpool by train" - these are things that will only really make true sense to you if you are from Liverpool yourself, especially the reference to the Wirral, which is often seen as the "posh half" of Merseyside. This "inside joke" reference excludes many from the narrative, and again reinforces that the narrator is happy in her bubble and has no interest in impressing anyone who simply judges her based on her class. The tone of the poem is confrontational throughout, even defiant at times - especially in the last line, where the narrator underlines her arguments with a bold statement "I'm proud of the class that I come from". Her constant questioning of the reader is similar to Agard's Half Caste where he constantly demands answers. Like Agard, Casey doesn't get the response she wants and so she is forced to repeat herself. Imagine other methods There is use of juxtaposition in this poem - the juxtaposing of "toilet" and "bog", or "bread pudding" and "wet nelly" - this use of contrast emphasises the class divide, especially as the colloquial forms seem to sound so much more vulgar or crude. There is a sense of sarcasm in the poem, too - the narrator seems to want to ridicule the people addressing her. There is sarcasm behind the confrontation, which suggests that she has simply just had enough of the way people judge her to the point that she's not even prepared to engage sensibly any more. Other poems for comparison
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An OverviewWe are studying the Conflict cluster from the Edexcel anthology. This exam is closed-book, so you will need to familiarise yourself with each poem's form, structure and language, in addition to how each poem is related, before the exam. ArchivesCategories
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