Pearson Edexcel · A-Level · English Literature
Course version: 9ET0 · Version from Sept 2015
Poetry – Section A: Post-2000 Poetry – Poems of the Decade: An Anthology…
Full specification wording
Component 3: Poetry – Section A: Post-2000 Poetry – Poems of the Decade: An Anthology of the Forward Books of Poetry 2002–2011: Genetics Sinéad Morrissey
Sinéad Morrissey's 'Genetics' explores how a child physically carries traits from parents whose marriage has ended.
Checked against the Pearson Edexcel 9ET0 specification (opens in a new tab) on .
- Point 15 of 20
- 4 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
Sinéad Morrissey's 'Genetics' explores how a child physically carries traits from parents whose marriage has ended. The central conceit joins the father's fingers to the mother's palms in the speaker's hands, so the separated parents still 'touch' in the body they made together. The 19-line poem uses the villanelle's five tercets and final quatrain, but its two refrains recur with deliberate verbal changes and its rhyme often relies on slant rhyme. That balance of repetition and variation embodies inheritance: children resemble their parents without becoming exact copies. The closing address to a partner turns from the parents' past to the possibility of passing a new combination of traits into the future.
What earns the marks
- Analyse the hands as a bodily 'marriage register': the father's fingers and mother's palms remain joined in the child after the parents separate.
- Examine how five tercets and a final quatrain preserve the villanelle pattern while the two refrains change each time they return.
- Evaluate how varied refrains and slant rhymes formally express resemblance without exact replication across generations.
- Discuss the final address to a partner as a hopeful turn towards a future child and a new genetic combination.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Describing the refrains as exact.
Put it right: Compare their altered wording to show how recognisable patterns recur with difference.
Treating the hands as a map of the parents' separate journeys.
Put it right: The fingers and palms physically join, preserving evidence of their former union in the speaker.
Reading the final quatrain as a rejection of inheritance.
Put it right: The speaker offers inherited fingers to combine with the partner's palms in a future child.
Exam tips
- Quote paired variations such as 'made me by my hands' and 're-enact their wedding with my hands' before explaining the modified refrain.
- Link the verbs 'touch', 'link' and 'bequeath' to physical connection across separated people and future generations.
- Use the exact villanelle structure—five tercets, a final quatrain and two alternating refrains—to connect form with inheritance.
Try the lesson
The start of the Component 3: Poetry – Section A: Post-2000 Poetry – Poems of the Decade: An Anthology of the Forward Books of Poetry 2002–2011: Genetics Sinéad Morrissey lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
The speaker says her father is in her fingers and her mother in her palms; although the parents live apart, they still 'touch where fingers link to palms'. What do the speaker's hands therefore represent?
Listen
Sinéad Morrissey's 'Genetics' explores how a child physically carries traits from parents whose marriage has ended. The central conceit joins the father's fingers to the mother's palms in the speaker's hands, so the separated parents still 'touch' in the body they made together. The 19-line poem uses the villanelle's five tercets and final quatrain, but its two refrains recur with deliberate verbal changes and its rhyme often relies on slant rhyme. That balance of repetition and variation embodies inheritance: children resemble their parents without becoming exact copies. The closing address to a partner turns from the parents' past to the possibility of passing a new combination of traits into the future. A strong answer earns marks for these points. Analyse the hands as a bodily 'marriage register': the father's fingers and mother's palms remain joined in the child after the parents separate. Examine how five tercets and a final quatrain preserve the villanelle pattern while the two refrains change each time they return. Evaluate how varied refrains and slant rhymes formally express resemblance without exact replication across generations. Discuss the final address to a partner as a hopeful turn towards a future child and a new genetic combination. A common slip: Describing the refrains as exact. Instead, compare their altered wording to show how recognisable patterns recur with difference. Exam tip: Quote paired variations such as 'made me by my hands' and 're-enact their wedding with my hands' before explaining the modified refrain.
Key words
Say what each word means before you turn the card.
Family and Inheritance
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Separation and Divorce
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Identity
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
The Body
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
See every definition
- Family and Inheritance
- The idea that a child physically carries traits from parents whose marriage has ended, resembling them without becoming an exact copy.
- Separation and Divorce
- The ending of the parents' marriage, after which the separated parents still 'touch' in the body they made together.
- Identity
- The speaker's sense of self as formed by inherited fingers and palms that preserve evidence of the parents' former union.
- The Body
- The hands in which the father's fingers and mother's palms remain joined, acting as a bodily 'marriage register' after the parents separate.
There is more to this lesson
The full lesson goes on to check your understanding and help you earn the marks. Create a free account to carry on, with your progress saved.
A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge
Test your understanding of Component 3: Poetry – Section A: Post-2000 Poetry – Poems of the Decade: An Anthology of the Forward Books of Poetry 2002–2011: Genetics Sinéad Morrissey
Active recall beats re-reading. Take an instant quiz now to test what you’ve learned and lock it into long-term memory.
A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge