the class game*

• what technique is the first line of the poem?

  • rhetorical question: sounds defensive as if the speaker is responding to an insult
  • immediacy: introduces the theme of class as the main topic
• what is the emphasis of the similie, "does it stick in your gullet like a sour plum?"

  mocking posh people who may feel uncomfortable with the slang
• what is the significance of the word "label" in the poem?

  metaphor: she is showing that she isn't hiding and that labels can dehumanise people- self-fufilling prophecy
• what is the significance of half rhymes in the poem?

  sometimes used to play on the stereotypical view of the working class being less intelligent
• what does "stained with toil" tell us?

  "stained" implies the permanancy of class
• who wrote the poem + where was it first published?

  mary casey, voices
• "how can you tell what class im from?

  immediately introduces the theme of class as the main topic of the poem, and by opening with a question, the poet is instantly challenging stereotypes and expectations of labelling and class within society. Cyclically relates to the final line, "and im proud of the class that i come from."
• "have i a label on me head, and another on me bum?"

  this challenges the reader's immediate stereotypes of her class, highlighting how she has experienced being labelled just because of the way she talks. Metaphor: labels can dehumanise people, and degrade them down to just their class.
• who was Mary Casey?

  a housewife from Liverpool who contributed 4 poems to a poetry magazine called "Voices."
• when was the poem published in Voices?

  1979