Ask the Expert Tutor: The World’s Wife
As part of our ‘Ask the Expert Tutor’ series, we will be discussing Carol Ann Duffy’s collection of poems, The World’s Wife, which is frequently studied for the IBDP.
The World’s Wife is a collection of dramatic monologues by Carol Ann Duffy, first published in 1999. What makes this text so useful to study at IBDP is its clear and explicit relevance to many global issues. Duffy wrote the collection to give a voice to the often neglected female figures throughout history, myth, and culture. The poems in the collection can be termed ‘dramatic monologues’, or poems from the perspective of a character (rather than the poet themselves). This means that there’s a large variety of tones and registers used throughout the poems, depending on the subject. Some of the poems in The World’s Wife are funny, others are disturbing, others still are barely more than haikus. However, they’re all united by their common purpose–to express the perspective of the women behind the ‘Great Men’ of history.
Postmodern fiction is often studied at IBDP, in part due to its examination of structures of power, making it well-suited for use in Internal Orals. The World’s Wife can certainly be termed a postmodern text, one that is focused specifically on feminist questions.
Duffy uses the metafictional features of her poetry to encourage readers to consider important issues of gender, both in the reality of our daily lives, as well as historically. She confronts readers with how women have been perceived and silenced throughout history, causing them to consider the ways they may alleviate this in the modern world.
The fact that such an explicit purpose is attached to Duffy’s poetry collection means that readers can consider it (and analyse it) from the perspective of the feminist postmodern.
All students, whether a Higher or Standard Level, will have to undertake the Internal Oral in their chosen Language A at IBDP. This is a 10 minute prepared presentation comparing 2 literary extracts (in the case of English Literature), or a literary extract and a non-literary extract (for Language & Literature). The presentation is then followed by 5 minutes of questions from your teacher.
The Internal Oral is a very doable task for students that are organised and prepared. Quite often, we would advise students to pick a poem for their IO (if they’ve studied any), as it makes selecting the extract easier. Then, the topic of the presentation is decided by selecting a ‘Global Issue’. The IB is quite broad in their definition of this. However, they do specify that it needs to be specific, felt in local contexts, and transnational
In the case of The World’s Wife, many Global Issues will be related to feminist issues, but it’s still important to be more specific than that. For example, if a poem like ‘Demeter’ is your literary extract, then a generic Global Issue of ‘feminism’ or ‘women’ does not really meet the criteria of specificity from the IB. Instead, a student preparing for their Internal Oral with this poem might select ‘Generational trauma felt between mothers and daughters’, or ‘The sadness felt by neglected mothers’.
This way, your presentation becomes more specific, and therefore it gives you the chance to be more analytical in your evaluation of the Duffy poem.
Many IB students find themselves intimidated by the prospect of taking their Internal Oral. Every year, our expert team of English tutors guide students to success through their exams, including the oral presentation.
What’s more, our tutors are highly experienced in teaching Duffy’s The World’s Wife to a high standard for any assessment, regardless of whether a student wishes to use it for their Internal Oral or not.
If you wish to find out more about how we can support you or your child through your study of Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry, or want more information on the IB more generally, reach out today to arrange unparalleled, high quality support.