Duck Feet (Part Wan, First Year)
Duck Feet is a contemporary novel written by Ely Percy. It was published in 2021.
The novel has won the Scottish Book of the Year and Scottish Fiction Book of the Year at the Saltire Awards.
The story follows Kirsty Campbell throughout her time at secondary school (the fictional Renfrew Grammar). The events of the novel are set in the mid-2000s.
Though Duck Feet spans the entirety of Kirsty’s complex secondary school experience and the months directly after leaving high school, the final Scottish Set Text exam paper at National 5 focuses only on the first section of the novel. Therefore, you are only required to study 'Part Wan' of the novel. This section covers Kirsty’s first year at school.
Looking for some quick revision? Try an interactive quiz for National 5 English.
Image source, STEVE LINDRIDGE / Alamy ImagesWhat is the plot of Duck Feet (Part Wan, First Year)?
Part Wan contains 30 chapters. A lot happens to a young person over the course of a school year. In summary, during these chapters, Kirsty starts secondary school, attends a range of different subjects, and has social experiences outside the school day.
The chapters are episodic, so each one reads like a short story or A short, descriptive piece of writing that captures a moment in time., but when read in order they progress the action of the novel as a whole.
Video - Reading from Duck Feet
In this clip from BBC Authors Live, Ely Percy reads an extract from their novel, Duck Feet, in which Kirsty is learning to swim.
Ely Percy reading an extract from Duck Feet on BBC Authors Live
Ma da's got bad feet. He says it's cause when he was wee, his mother made him wear shoes that didnae fit him. She made him squash his feet intae shoes that used to be his brother's, cause she couldnae afford to buy new wans fur the baith ae them. He's got curly toes noo because ae it: thir aw twistit aroon on top ae each other lik the plaits ma ma pits in my hair. You can see aw the big blue veins in his feet like sumdy's drew them on wae a felt tip pen. He canny bend his toes right an he has tae wear steel toe caps tae work in case anywan stauns on them.
Oor school's gonnae be starting swimming lessons soon an ah cannae wait. Ah cannae swim yet. So ah asked ma da if he'd take me tae the baths tae let me practice. He said naw. Ah said, 'How no?' He says 'cause ah cannae bloody swim that's how no.'
Ah said, 'Aye but yi don't need tae be able tae swim to go in the pool.' He didnae say much afterwards, he jist pointet at his toes and said, 'if you wur me, would you want tae show aff feet lik that?'
The swimming baths was pish. They pit me doon the shalla end wi this pure midden ae a boy cawd Colin wae wan E that looks like he's never had a bath in his life, and this lassie called Harpreet that wears a mad swimming cap cause it's against her religion tae get her hair wet.
Ah got made to wear these big stupit yella airm bands. Aw the boys in my class laughed at me. Aw ma pals were up at the seven foot mark, daein lengths and dancin fur rubber hula hoops. Ah said tae ma da, 'how'd yi no go see a shiropodist?'
'A shi-ropodist?' he said, 'what would ah want wae a shiropodist?'
Ah said, 'mibby he could help fix yir feet and then yi'd be able to take me swimmin.'
Ma da jist laughed at me, though. 'A shiropodist?' he said, 'he'd take wan look at these feet, chop the bliddy things aff.'
Ah only says it to him cause, see my wee sister, she'd bad feet when she was a wean. She managed to get her feet fixed. This guy in the StartRite shoe shop. He fittet her wae the wrang size of shoe. She ended up wae her toes aw up and down like Gourock. It wis aw cause she had wee skinny ankles an big broad feet an he packed her toes into wee narra shoes. Ma ma knew something wisny right aboot they shoes cause fur a whole week after she bought them, my sister wouldnae stop gurning. She kept pullin the shoes aff and flinging them ootae the pram. We were coming back fae the Sunday school one morning. This guy chased after us cause he fun wan shoe at the top of Ard Road, the other wan halfway doon Vennacher.
When ma ma took the shoes aff that night ma wee sister's feet were aw red raw and covered in blisters and her wee toes were aw twistin thegither lik a corkscrew.
Ma da took the shoes back to the shop the next day, and ah've never seen him that angry. Ah thought he was going to punch the guy's lights oot. Ma wee sister was lucky that her bones hadnae set properly, and the shiropodist managed tae gie her these wee things for in between her toes: they wur lik braces made of plasticine stuff. They looked a wee bit like the jelly false teeth you used to get aff the ice cream van. The shiropodist was dead nice an made me a bouncy ball oot a plasticine stuff fur me to play wi when ah wis sitting in the waiting room.
Thir wis deep sea divers in the bath today. Ah swum half a breadth and ah stopped at the edge ae the pool tae watch them, they hud snorkels and oxygen tanks an everythin. Wan ae them had a pair ae green flippers, and she wis pittin them on when sumdy fae up the deep end, shoutet 'heh, duck feet!' And evrubdy else started laughing. Then Chris Rice fae ma Regi class shoutet at me, 'heh, how'd yi no get a perra duck feet tae go wi yir wings?' That wis whit gave me the idea.
BRIAN - Brilliant, I love that. Let's have a round of applause.
Friendships
Part Wan of Duck Feet mainly focuses on the relationships between Kirsty and her classmates. The author explores the complexity of friendships and how difficult it can be to navigate personal relationships.
- Kirsty's relationship with her best friend from primary, Charlene, starts to fracture as Charlene is increasingly drawn towards teenage drama, gossip, and troublemaking.
- She remains loyal to Charlene – when her friend’s mental health decays and she suffers disordered eating (to the point of hospitalisation), Kirsty is there to support her.
- Kirsty enjoys new friendships with a diverse group of pupils in her classes, particularly with Harpreet, Chris Rice, and Yvonne.
Personal growth and development
In Part Wan, Kirsty and her classmates are becoming teenagers. Growing up is a key theme and part of what makes this novel a Bildungsroman.
- Kirsty grows in independence: going shopping to Glasgow, attending gigs, and trying vegetarianism.
- She learns new skills, such as swimming and social dancing, as well as developing subject-specific knowledge (ie. in Office and Information Studies, French, PE, and Home Economics).
- She experiences teenage rites of passage (such as attending school discos, having her first kiss, falling out with friends, getting a part-time job) and enters puberty.
Community and social issues
Through Kirsty's point of view, the author explores various issues that affect the local community and wider society. By the end of Part Wan, Kirsty better understands aspects of:
- her community such as unemployment, poverty, hard-work, Social and political division within a society based on religious or sectarian views and affiliations - often leading to hostility and conflict between these groups., and inter-family conflict
- personal and social issues such as faith, mental health, and sexuality
What kind of book is Duck Feet?
Duck Feet is what is known as a Translation from the German "educational" or "formative" "novel"., a story that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the The chief character in a literary work. as they grow up.
Some features of Bildungsroman evident in Duck Feet are:
- first person protagonist narrative
- theme of growing up
- seeing the protagonist evolve in maturity and identity.
The book is structured chronologically:
- in three parts (First Year, Fourth Year and Sixth Year)
- in Part Wan, chapters 1-30 take us through Kirsty's first year at Renfrew Grammar, until the summer holidays.
This straightforward narrative helps the reader follow her progress, and that of the other characters. We see her grow and mature as the story continues.
Other famous Bildungsromane include:
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
- The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Revise plot in Duck Feet
Revise plot in Duck Feet with interactive quizzes for National 5 English.
Information and support
If you, or someone you know, have been affected by the issues in this article, the following page contains a list of organisations and information for young people that may be helpful: Information and Support: Bitesize
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