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Accelerate your ability to analyse poetry – and deepen your appreciation of the female position – with a quick study of ‘Better Man’.

  • MUSIC FOCUS: Ellie Goulding.
  • ACTIVITY FOCUS: Answer some quickfire questions about ‘Better Man’.

ACTIVITY 1

Listen to the pulsating ‘Better Man’ and focus closely on the lyrics immediately below.

‘Better Man’

“Took the confidence I had
You can watch me take it back
I’m the future and the past
That’s a perfect hourglass
Tried to make me lose my cool
Hold my karma in my hands
Every time I get a chance
Baby, I’m a better man”

ACTIVITY 2

Look again at the section of lyrics below and highlight/write down examples of:

  • active verbs
  • passive verbs
  • plosive alliteration
  • symbolism
  • metaphor

“Took the confidence I had
You can watch me take it back
I’m the future and the past
That’s a perfect hourglass
Tried to make me lose my cool
Hold my karma in my hands
Every time I get a chance
Baby, I’m a better man”

Ellie Goulding dishes on famous female friends and celebrity exes

ACTIVITY 3

Answer these questions:

  1. How does the juxtaposition of the passive and active verbs emphasise the singer’s strength?
  2. Typically – throughout art and literature – the “hourglass” image has been used to suggest what about a woman?
  3. How does Ellie Goulding’s use of the “hourglass” image differ? Why is the image significant in this lyric? How does Goulding’s use of the “hourglass” image relate to her feminist stance?
  4. Why does the alliteration feel well-placed at the end of this section? What idea about the singer does the alliteration underline?
  5. Think about all the answers you have come up with so far. What is Goulding suggesting about women?
  6. Finally, think about that metaphor: “better man”. How do these two words impact on your understanding of a woman’s position? If the rest of the lyrics suggest that a woman has the strength to stand on her own two feet, to define her own life, to be in charge of her own space – how does the ‘Better Man’ title remind us that the battle for equality might not be over yet?

Please do send your answers in. We want to publish the most exciting thoughts!

In the mood for listening to more Ellie Goulding? Of course you are! Practise your GCSE Language skills at the same time.