Medusa's Destructive Power

Fuelled by HATE
1. "There are bullet tears in my eyes. Are you terrified?"
  1. "Be terrified"
  2. Rhetorical question intimidates
Fuelled by SELF-LOATHING
1. "My bride's breath soured, stank in the grey bags of my lungs"
  1. "I'm foul mouthed now, foul tongued, yellow fanged"
Fuelled by JEALOUSY
1. "a jealousy grew in my mind, which turned the hairs on my head to filthy snakes"
  1. "and your girls, your girls"
Duffy uses powerful IMAGERY to create the character of a strong, powerful woman
1. Her tears are bullets
2. sibilant 's' sounds spit out the force of Medusa's rage
  1. "filthy snakes"
    1. "soured, stank"
  2. "as though my thoughts hissed and spat on my scalp"
3. The alliterative effect of the 'f' sound, emphasises Medusa's self disgust
  1. "I'm foul mouthed now, foul tongued, yellow fanged"
4. Images of destruction
  1. "I stared at a dragon. Fire spewed from the mouth of a mountain"
  2. "I looked at a ginger cat, a housebrick shattered a bowl of milk"
Poem ends with an ambiguous statement which could be interpreted as a threat
1. "Look at me now"
  1. This is ambiguous because it could mean two things: Medusa is filled with regret at what she has become OR her glance will turn you to stone

Resource summary

	Created by juliemarr about 9 years ago