‘Your Shoes’ by Michele Roberts

Ideas to develop your understanding

1.  To whom is this story addressed? Why?

2.  Underline in your text, examples of the tone, tracing the mood of the voice and noting the changes.

3.  Using two different colours, highlight the positive and negative aspects of the mother’s attitude and behaviour towards her daughter.

4.  Write a paragraph in your exercise book explaining what overall conclusions you can draw about her as a mother, and her relationship with her daughter.

5.  Do you sympathise with the mother? Justify your position.

6.  Is the story about:

·  A mad woman with a shoe fetish

·  A bad mother with a guilty conscience

·  A good mother with an impossible daughter

·  Something else?

7.  The mother reveals a lot about her life, feelings and relationships. Copy the chart below and complete it.

GOOD POINTS / BAD POINTS
Relationship with her mother.
Relationship with her father.
Feelings about growing up.
Relationship with her husband.

8.  The mother seems to contradict herself quite often: e.g. “I love you, I love you so much” (line 200), but she also says: “I’ve always thought of you as just an empty-headed blonde” (line 99). Highlight the contradictions in your text, and then write a paragraph exploring and attempting to explain them.

9.  We only hear the mother’s voice in this story, but we are made aware of the views of other characters. What views and opinions are held by the daughter and the husband? Write them carefully in your exercise book in list form. What do these opinions tell us about these characters?

10.  What do the following sentences tell us about the mother?

“I locked the wardrobe door on those rebellious shoes” Line 12

“At least this paper has ruled lines my writing can’t fall off” Lines 24-6

“I’ve tied the shoes’ laces together so they won’t get separated or lost. White laces that I’ve washed and ironed” Lines 34-6

“My daughter sleeping on a pile of filth I can’t bear it.” Line 92

“I hold you to my breast and rock you like my mother never rocked me” Lines 194-5

11.  During the story the mother gives the shoes a variety of roles. Mark on your text every time they are personified or referred to, and try to identify their significance at that point.

12.  What themes and ideas do you think the writer might be trying to explore in this text? Write a paragraph explaining your opinions.

Further reading:

To develop your understanding of some of the ideas in this text I suggest that you read Junk by Melvin Burgess and Stone Cold by Robert Swindells. The Beatles’ song ‘She’s Leaving Home’ also looks at these issues. A “difficult” parent/child relationship is also articulated in Eminem’s track ‘Clearing Out My Closet’.

Write additional further reading ideas here

‘Your Shoes’ copyright © Michele Roberts

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