Commentary on Text Transformation of 2 Black Men on a Leicester Park Bench by Grace Nichols

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Carina Popescu

ELLB4 – Commentary on Text Transformation of “2 Black Men on a Leicester Park Bench” by Grace Nichols

My text transformation is based on the poem, “Two old black men on a Leicester park bench” by Grace Nichols.

The genre of this text is a non-fictional dramatic monologue from the point of view of one of the men, although he sometimes slips into a stream of consciousness when reminiscing on his past. With background research I began to develop a story for the characters. I decided that they would be Jamaican as Grace Nichols who wrote the poem I used as my base text is originally from Guyana and this influences her writing.

The text itself really interested me as there were so many ways I could have taken it.

“Do you dream revolutions you could have forged or mourn some sunfull woman you might have known.” This part of the poem influenced me the most as my character mourns about the war and a woman he fell in love with.

The narrator is the man on the bench who remains nameless so the audience can create an image of him by themselves because whilst doing research I discovered that once someone recognises a name it often makes them think of the person they know rather than the character that has been created.

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Not much is known about what he looks like; emotions are the main factor in this story. The story being told from the characters point of view helps the reader form an allegiance with him as they feel the emotions he feels. In reality he is cheating on his wife which should make us dislike him but it does the opposite as we feel what he is feeling and become understanding.

The story begins with a rhyme, “Half of our lives were spent fighting, fighting on their behalves, they have us to thank for the air they breathe, yet no ...

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