The Class Game by Mary Casey LO To

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem Starter Task Upper Class What social class would you describe yourself as and why?

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem Is ‘social class’ still important in the 21 st century? Does it aff ect the way that yo u are treated by othe rs, or the way that you treat other peo ple? HINT hav’. ‘c d r o w e h t t u Think abo havs’ ‘c o d s s la c l ia What soc our y e r a t a h W ? o belong t avs? h ‘c f o s n io t p e preconc

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem • Not much is known about Mary Casey, except that she was a housewife from Liverpool. • Casey was a contributor to a poetry magazine called “Voices, ” which existed from 1972 -1984. • “The Class Game, ” published in 1979, was one of four poems of Casey’s that appeared in the magazine. • “Voices” published poems by working class writers. These authors were not professional poets and had no literary reputation; they were ordinary people who wrote largely about their everyday experiences.

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem • Some critics were rather snobby about “Voices, ” and even the academic who had started the magazine, Ben Ainsley, wrote in the introduction that “I can make no great claims for these pieces, except that they are, it seems to me, varied, interesting, freshly written, and in most cases the work of men and women taking up a pen late in life; with some qualms, though with real curiosity as to how it will turn out. ” • This implies that he had some doubts about the ‘literary value’ of the work. http: //www. mancvoices. co. uk Why d o you t hink that m ost of t he literary not see elite did t these w he work of orking poets a class interes s ting or import ant?

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem 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. wince = cringe, look pained corpy = old liverpudlian slang for council house Wirral = a suburb of Liverpool that has a reputation for being ‘posh’ toil = work gullet = windpipe docker = somebody who works in a shipyard

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem 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. Theme of Class Casey is challenging the reader’s class stereotypes. She argues that she is labeled by others in a certain way Although people judge her and are prejudiced against her she is very proud to be working class

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem 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. Theme of Class The poet uses comparison to show the difference between the classes. Working class council houses compared to middle class houses in nice areas Working class hands that are made dirty through work, compared to the clean hands of middle class women who do not work

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem 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. Form & Structure • This poem is a monologue • Rhyming couplets used in places (AABB rhyme scheme) Ø Simple rhyme scheme reflects the ‘simple’ lives of the working classes • However, not always rhyme or sometimes half-rhyme is used Ø Reflects the stereotypical view of working classes as stupid

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem 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. Form & Structure • Irregular structure – one long stanza – but the repetition of the line breaks it up into sections Ø Rejects traditional elitist poetry format • Enjambment is used throughout Ø Again, reflects the stereotypical view of working classes being unable to write ‘proper’ poetry

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem 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. Form & Structure • Question/answer structure Ø Asks a question of her audience and then suggests an answer • Last few lines are different Ø Instead of asking the audience why they think she is working class, she asks why it matters

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem 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. Imagery Metaphor Her hands are marked from work, unlike the hands of middle/upper-class women who do not work Simile She is asking the upper classes whether they can accept her and her class. They are unable to ‘swallow’ her and the way she speaks - it makes them choke. Also links to the idea of having a ‘posh’ accent as ‘speaking with a plum in your mouth’

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem 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. Language Colloquial (informal) language, Liverpudlian slang and nongrammatical forms used throughout Ø Reflects her class and her ‘real’ way of speaking Ø Rejects the traditional elitist language of poetry When she is describing ‘posh’ people, she self-consciously uses standard English. Ø This is a parody of ‘posh’ speech – she is making fun of them and the way they speak

The Class Game by Mary Casey LO: To have a clear understanding of the poem 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. Questions 1. Who is the poet speaking to? 2. What does she want from the upper classes? 3. What does she want from the working classes? 4. What is the tone of the poem? 5. Why do you think there are so many rhetorical questions in the poem?