Flashcards for The Class Game

The Middle-Class Questioner

The Middle-Class Questioner is only hinted at in "The Class Game" by Mary Casey, yet they play a crucial role in driving the poem's drama.

character

The Speaker

The Speaker takes center stage as the first-person voice and sole protagonist of "The Class Game," a bold dramatic monologue where a working-class woman directly challenges the social biases wrapped up in accent, clothing, and behavior.

character

“How can you tell what class I'm from?”

This line comes from the poem's speaker, a working-class woman, in Mary Casey's (sometimes credited to Mary Lamb in certain collections) bold dramatic monologue "The Class Game."

The working-class speaker / narrator · Opening lines

“D'you think I care what class I'm from?”

This bold line is taken from Mary Casey's poem "The Class Game" (1986), which serves as a striking example of working-class protest poetry.

The working-class speaker (voice of the poet, Mary Casey)

“I can tell by the way you talk and walk and look”

This line is from Mary Casey's poem "The Class Game" (sometimes attributed to Carol Ann Duffy in various curricula but generally credited to Casey).

The working-class speaker (dramatic monologue voice)

“I'm working class and proud of it”

This bold statement is from Mary Casey's poem "The Class Game," published in the 1980s as part of the Voices anthology series for British secondary school students.

The working-class speaker (voice of Mary Casey)

“Can you tell by the clothes I wear?”

This line kicks off Mary Casey's bold poem "The Class Game," which was published in the 1980s as part of the Voices collection aimed at working-class readers in Britain.

Poetic speaker (voice of Mary Casey) · The Class Game

“Can you tell by the way I speak?”

This line is from "The Class Game," a poem by Mary Casey, who is also known as Mary Dorcey in some collections.

The working-class speaker (poetic persona of Mary Casey)

Accent and Dialect

In Mary Casey's "The Class Game," accent and dialect symbolize class identity and social boundaries.

Clothing and Appearance

In Mary Casey's "The Class Game," clothing and physical appearance serve as clear indicators of social class.

The Game

In "The Class Game," Mary Casey uses the term "game" to highlight the strict and performative aspects of Britain's class system—a series of unspoken rules that dictate who belongs and what they are worth.

Dramatic Monologue

The poem unfolds as a continuous speech from a working-class speaker who confronts a middle-class interrogator.

Rhetorical Question

Casey propels the poem with a series of rhetorical questions directed at the implied middle-class listener: 'Can I help it if my voice / Has the edges and sounds of the street?' and 'Can I help it if I never learned / To speak proper?'

Irony

The poem's main irony lies in the fact that the speaker, who is looked down upon for not 'speaking proper,' actually shows a keen rhetorical intelligence that her critics lack.

Repetition

The phrase 'How can you tell?' appears repeatedly, serving as a structural anchor that increases the challenge for the listener.

Anaphora

Casey employs anaphora—repeating the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines or clauses—to create a sense of growing intensity.

Juxtaposition

Throughout the poem, Casey juxtaposes working-class and middle-class signifiers without comment, allowing the contrast to speak for itself.

Imagery

Casey roots abstract class prejudice in keenly observed physical details.

Free Verse

The poem uses free verse, lacking a fixed metre or rhyme scheme, allowing Casey to capture the rhythms of spoken anger instead of adhering to traditional literary forms.

Simile

Casey employs simile infrequently but effectively to highlight how class judgments operate.

Apostrophe

The poem consistently addresses a 'you' who remains unnamed, yet the speaker hints at their traits — the accent, the assumptions, the social ease — through negative reactions.

Motif

The voice — its sounds, its 'edges,' and how correct or incorrect it seems — flows throughout the poem as a key motif.

Volta

The poem starts by laying out a list of complaints before making a significant turn — similar to a sonnet's volta, even though it's not structured as one — toward a powerful moment of self-assertion.