Year 10 English – Dramatic Monologue Showcase

This term, Year 10 have been investigating the dramatic monologues of Carol Ann Duffy from her collection The World’s Wife. They have been considering how Duffy uses this form to give a voice to the otherwise ignored, overlooked, or misunderstood.

To conclude the unit, students were asked to research, write and perform their own dramatic monologue in the same style as Duffy’s The World’s Wife. They each chose a woman from history, literature, or mythology, whose voice they thought needed to be heard and imagined what this woman’s ‘version’ of her story might be if she had the chance to tell it.

On Friday, we celebrated some of these dramatic monologues with a whole cohort showcase in the Senior Centre. We heard from a range of female ‘voices’ including Eva Braun, Sleeping Beauty and the Queen of Hearts. The performances were unique and imaginative, with each inspiring the audience to re-evaluate preconceived ideas about each woman’s story. 

Congratulations to Isabel Warusavitarne (Year 10) who was selected as the winner of the showcase by our judges Penny Hewett, Head of Year 10, and last year’s winner, Elena Tulloch (Year 11). A special mention to Luella Farah (Year 10) and Angelina Xu (Year 10) who were awarded as runners up for their joint monologue written from the perspective of Eve from the biblical story of Adam and Eve.

Isabel’s monologue titled ‘Rosalind Franklin’ is included at the end of this article. When asked about why she chose to write from the perspective of Rosalind Franklin, Isabel said:

‘Rosalind Franklin was British scientist in the 1950’s. She discovered the structure of DNA, but her work got stolen by two male scientists, Watson and Crick however she died before knowing her work was stolen. I wanted to give her a voice because her work got pushed to the side as a female in STEM and she never got the chance to express her feeling after her work was stolen.’

The Year 10 English teachers would like to congratulate all students in Year 10 for the courage and creativity they demonstrated when completing this task. 

– Emily Marsh
English teacher and Head of Year 9

Rosalind Franklin

You probably don’t know my name,
I’m a woman in the shadows,
Overlooked, underrated, dismissed,
As they stepped into the light.

I tore through the labels they gave me,
I studied while they spoke over me,
They took the credit and the stage,
And you probably don’t know my name.

I saw the structure of life,
The helix; caught in silver light,
But they buried me in the footnotes,
So, you probably don’t know my name.

They built their glory on my death,
Their names inked in every textbook,
As I watch from the sky,
You probably don’t know my name.

You’ve heard my words,
Now I take back the silence,
They wrote me out, line by line,
But you will remember my name.

Click on image gallery for full size images.