Understanding 'Valentine' by Carol Ann Duffy
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can understand how Duffy presents the speaker’s views on love.
Key learning points
- The poem ‘Valentine’ is an unconventional love poem, which subverts the conventions of traditional love poems.
- The speaker gives her lover an onion and explains why this is a better metaphor for their relationship than a rose.
- The onion arguably represents both the joy in relationships, but also the pain and suffering that people endure.
- Arguably, the poet feels that conventional romantic gifts are cliché, and limit people’s freedom of expression.
- The tone shifts throughout the poem; the poem ends with an ominous tone, perhaps to show the dangers of possessive love.
Keywords
Cliché - an opinion or gesture that is overused and lacks originality
Unconventional - not conforming to what is usually or typically done or expected
Cynical - distrustful of other people’s sincerity
To subvert - to go against something
To romanticise - to view something in an unrealistic or idealistic way
Common misconception
Pupils think that the speaker does not love their partner very much.
The speaker does love their partner - very much. The speaker, unlike other lovers, refuses to make promises that they aren't 100% sure they can't keep - they arguably find promising 'forever' unrealistic.
Teacher tip
When discussing how Duffy subverts traditional love poems, you could read Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 18' to the students and get them to identify the conventions of love poetry from this poem, before comparing it to Duffy's poem.
Equipment
You will need access to a copy of the Eduqas poetry anthology for this lesson.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sexual content
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.If someone gave you conventional gifts for Valentine's day you might expect...
Q2.What is typical of love poetry?
Q3.If something is not not conforming to what is usually or typically done or expected it is...
Q4.The attitude or general feeling presented by a writer in a text is known as...
Q5.What do we mean by the word 'subvert'?
Q6.If something is cliché it is...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the keywords with their definitions.
Q2.What is the poem 'Valentine' about?
Q3.In the poem 'Valentine' what does the speaker offer her lover?
Q4.In 'Valentine' the speaker feels that conventional romantic gifts are...
Q5.On which tone does 'Valentine' end?
Q6.The poem ‘Valentine’ is an unconventional love poem, which the conventions of traditional love poems.
To help you plan your 10 English lesson on: Understanding 'Valentine' by Carol Ann Duffy, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 English lesson on: Understanding 'Valentine' by Carol Ann Duffy, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 English lessons from the Poetry anthology (Assessment until summer 2026) unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.