The Class Game

• Where is Mary Casey from and what is her job?

  She is a housewife from Liverpool
• What year was the poem written in and why is this important?

  1979. This was when Margeret Thatcher became Prime Minister.
• What did Margaret Thatcher do?

  Implemented economic policies which led to a recession. This meant the rich received tax cuts while the poor saw their wages drop.
• What is the big idea of "The Class Game"

  To reduce judgement based on lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Mary Casey challenges the reader's class stereotypes.
• Who wrote "The Class Game"?

  Mary Casey
• Why is the poem written as a monologue?

  The speaker can impart personal, emotional, and didactic information to the reader. This makes the message feel more realistic.

  It also allows the speaker to voice their inner conflict and frustrations.
• Why does the poem contain a masculine rhyme?

  It carries a more forceful and direct sound. This mirrors the speaker's confrontational attitude toward the class system.
• Complete the quote:

  "Or is it because my hands are stained with toil?

  Instead of soft lily white with perfume and oil?"
• What does "stained" in the quote "My hands are stained with toil" suggest?

  Stains are associated with something dirty and undesirable, implying that hard labor is something society views as inferior.
• What are hands in the quote "My hands are stained with toil" symbolic of?

  It is symbolic of the physical work. The speakers identity is shaped by labor and the class they belong to.
• Why is "Or is it because my hands are stained with toil" a rhetorical question?

  To position the reader to think about why the speakers place in society is being judged based on their manual labor.
• Why is hands being "stained with toil" being compared to "soft lily white with perfume and oil"?

  The working class has "hands stained with toil" as they have markings of work on their hands while the more privileged are more pale: "lily white". This is because they don't have to work outside in the sun, meaning their hands can be nurtured and looked after: "perfume and oil".
• Complete the quote:

  "Have I a label on me head, and another on me bum?"
• What type of imagery is "Have I a label on me bum?"

  Humourours imagery
• What other poet uses humourous imagery?

  John Agard
• Why does Mary Casey ask if she has a label on her "head"?

  The head is where thoughts and intellect are associated. The speaker is questioning if society sees their mind and thoughts as inferior. An idea is created that they're being judged not only because of appearance but also due to preconceived notions of intelligence based on class.
• Complete the quote:

  "And I'm proud of the class that I come from"
• Why does "And I'm proud of the class that I come from" cyclically relate to the first line?

  Emphasises the inescapable nature of class divisions. Working-class people are continually categorised based on social background.
• What is the subject terminology for "And I'm proud of the class that I came from"?

  Declarative statement. This is important as it concludes the message.
• Why is important that the quote "And I'm proud of the class that I come from" is a defiant note?

  It shows she doesn't care about the differences between her class and the others. She has pride regardless.