Compare 'Old Father' and 'Island Man'

Text from Other Cultures Text 1, 'Old Father' written by Hugh Boatswain is a narrative poem, it tells the story of a man who come from the Caribbean to come live in England in 1959. The man stays in England for quite a while and he begins to change his identity, for example he starts by wearing bright cloths, straightening his hair, driving a white car, walking about with blond women and going to the pub with white men. At the pub he also makes fun of his own people and eventually starts to ignore them, he also stops eating traditional Caribbean food such as dasheen, yam and saltfish. Text 2, 'Island Man' written by Grace Nichols is a different kind of poem, it does not tell a story, just a series of images. Each stanza in the poem describes a collection of different images. Island Man is a poem about a Caribbean man who lives in London. In the first stanza the man wakes up in his bed, dreaming about the beaches and blue waves of the Caribbean. In the second stanza the man is also thinking about the Caribbean and the wild sea birds and the fishermen pushing their boats out to sea. I feel that the reason why the Caribbean man is thinking about the Caribbean is to escape the smell and grime of a London morning. In the third and fourth stanzas Grace Nichols uses a lot of colourful, vivid descriptions. Contrasts are dramatic: the grey and dull skies of London to the yellow sandy

  • Word count: 1503
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Poetry Coursework

How are the relationships between men and women represented in "My Last Duchess", "First Love" and "How do I love thee"? The poems "My Last Duchess" (1842), by Robert Browning, "First Love", (1821), by John Clare and "How do I love thee" (1850), by Elizabeth Barrett Browning are all concerned with the relationships between men and women. These poems all portray the relationships in different ways and present love and the consequences falling in love has, in different ways. In the first poem "My Last Duchess", the Duke is in control as he is a very proud man. The Duke is very confident and this makes him arrogant. The relationship in this poem is portrayed as unequal and it is dominated by pride and not love. The Duke speaks very formally, this links with his power and pride; he also doesn't show any emotion in his words. In the second poem "First Love", the woman is in control and the man is broken hearted because his first love is over, and it has not been sustained. It is unrequited love because of this the relationship is ambiguous. The poem "How do I love thee" presents a positive relationship. The woman reinforces how much she loves him, and nothing can get in the way. It is written in the form of a sonnet, which is a traditional form of love poems. "My Last Duchess" begins with the speaker showing off the portrait of the Duchess. "That's my last Duchess painted on

  • Word count: 3042
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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"A Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez.

The book "A Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez is about a murder in a small South American Village. It is based on an actual murder that took place in 1951 in the town of Sucre, Colombia. This novel provides a detailed insight to the culture of Latin America as it pertains to many aspects of an individuals life. Instances such as religion, marriage, death, and justice and interactions due to the concepts of honor and gender. Culture in most respects should be looked at holistically. Examining specific ideas and concepts within it become seemingly difficult because they form an intricate web, which can be related to other concepts and premises. Actions, dialog and even the descriptions of objects, people, and scenes enable readers to formulate a basic outline of the culture exhibited by the society expressed by Marquez. The story takes place in a small South American town some time in the mid-nineteenth century. While the story makes no direct mention of the year or city many sources indicate it was based on an actual event and dealt with people the author knew directly. It is an unconventional recollection of the author to the events prior to, during, and following the murder of a Santiago Nasar, wealthy young local Arab man. A native woman of the town, Angela Vicario had become the love interest of a flamboyantly rich and young Bayardo San Roman, son of

  • Word count: 1362
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare the ways in which Wordsworth presents London in Upon Westminster Bridge with Blakes view of London in his poem London.

Compare the ways in which Wordsworth presents London in "Upon Westminster Bridge" with Blake's view of London in his poem "London". London, the best place you could ever dream of or the worst nightmare? London in 1700's was a different city, they didn't have cars instead of that they had horses, there was less pollution and fewer roads. People used to wear more formal clothes. In this piece of coursework I am going to compare 'London' by William Blake and 'Upon Westminster Bridge' by William Wordsworth. William Wordsworth used to live on countryside, he only seen the positive side of London as William Blake lived in London and saw the realistic world. Blake only has seen the negative side of London. When you are looking from the bridge you can have a good overview and the bad side about looking from the bridge is that you can't see the details because you are distances. Wordsworth visit London in the morning and in most of the country's in the morning everything is quiet because the city is asleep. Wordsworth had a sad life because when he was around 8 years his mother died, and when he was 13 his father died, when he visited London that could be a runaway from problems that he might have and be able to forget about the sad moments. He also might feel that he is not overruled by somebody else, he could feel free. Both of the poems are about London but both of them got

  • Word count: 1005
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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This Room And Love After Love Comparison

i) In love after love, Derek Walcott describes the process of reaching fulfilment; choose one other poem and compare. Imtiaz Dharker's 'This Room' is written to create an impression of seeking 'freedom', where her room is 'breaking out' and seeking 'space, light and empty air'. In this poem dharker describes the room as going wild, with everything in it trying to escape to 'freedom'. On the other hand, Derek Walcott's poem of 'Love After Love' is telling us how to love our selves after ending a relationship or better how to love yourself before loving another. Walcott uses words such as elation and smile to show that his poem is all about learning, accepting and celebrating who you are. Dharker personifies the bed as 'lifting out of its nightmares'. This shows that all negativity is being left behind, as chairs move out their usual 'dark corners'. Alliteration and metaphors are also used to create an image and convey a sense of freedom as the chairs 'crash through clouds'. In love after love, Walcott shows that learning to love yourself will not come immediately, but 'the time will come'. He emphasizes that there is joy involved, as he says that it will be with 'elation' as you 'greet yourself' as you look at yourself in the mirror. The first stanza ends with the idea that you will smile at your self. Dharker's stanza three of 'this room' goes on to carry the theme of

  • Word count: 746
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and contrast the poems "I am not that woman" by Kishwar Naheed and "women work" by Maya Angelou.

Compare and contrast the poems "I am not that woman" by Kishwar Naheed and "women work" by Maya Angelou. The poems that I am going to discuss are "I am not that woman" by Kishwar Naheed and "women work" by Maya Angelou. Kishwar Naheed is one of the leading poets of Pakistan and writes in Urdu, in her poetry, Naheed writes about the tradition of arranged marriages. She represents the culture of Asian women. Women in Naheed poetry seem to be treated like slaves. Maya Angelou is a black American who grew up in Arkansas. Angelou has had a celebrated career as a poet and recited a poem at the inauguration of adoration of Bill Clinton. The presentation of women in Angelou's poetry is also that there treated like slaves. The first poem that I am going to discuss about is "I am not that woman" by Kishwar Naheed. The theme of this poem is that she's not that woman. In the poem, the poet writes about the woman that she is not. In the first verse the tone is angry because she's saying about things that she is not. The speaker in the poem is Maya Angelou because she is saying why she doesn't like the way the women are treated in her culture. There are no stanzas in the poem. The poet uses repetition to reinforce the message that she is trying to get across. For example the words "I am not that women" are repeated. In the poem the women would appear to be speaking to the people who

  • Word count: 720
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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different cultures poetry

Robert Harrison 11S GCSE English Literature Coursework Poems from different cultures In this essay I am going to look at and compare two poems called Half-Caste by John Agard and Search for My Tongue by Sujata Bhatt. Half-Caste is about being mixed race as Agard's mother was white but his father was black and he came to England from the Caribbean. The word 'half-caste', can be used to describe people of mixed race but is considered rude and insulting. Search for My Tongue is about Bhatt who was born in India and spoke Gujarati as their first language but then moved to the U.S. and learnt English and describes what it is like to speak and think in both languages. Both Poems use a mixture of English and their own language which in the case of Half-Caste is Agard's West Indian Dialect and in Search for My Tongue is Bhatt's native language Gujarati. In 'Search for my tongue' there are two meanings as a tongue is not only the part of your mouth, but also it can mean a language, so your mother tongue is your first language. The poem seems to be about Bhatt feeling that she is losing her first language and she is trying to find it again. Whereas in 'Half-caste' Agard is writing about how other people view people of mixed race and is asking them questions by saying 'explain yuself', which is repeated throughout the poem and it almost seems that he is having an argument with

  • Word count: 1034
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Business Culture.

Business Culture Business culture is the overall running of the company there are many types of business culture and the type of business culture resembles the type of management. There are four main types of business culture, they are: Power Culture This is the centralisation of power. This type of culture is usually found in small organisations where control rests with a single individual or a small group of people. The company spreads out from the single central figure. The advantage to this type of structure is that decisions can be made very quickly; this makes the company very versatile. A disadvantage to this type of structure is that it is very autocratic and the employees may not get a lot of autonomy this may result in a bad atmosphere within the company. Power culture does also exist in large companies but is not as common. Role Culture This type of culture was first used in the nineteenth century in government departments, then during the twentieth century when companies started to get bigger introduced this type of culture. This type of culture splits the company up into functions then each function is arranged in a hierarchical way. The higher an employee is in the company the more decisions they can make. This means that this type of culture can motivate certain employees but can have a negative effect on other employees depending on the employees in the

  • Word count: 689
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare how the poems What Were They Like and Vultures present the cruelty of war.

Compare how the poems "What Were They Like" and "Vultures" present the cruelty of war. Both poems, "What Were They Like" (WWTL) and "Vultures" has conflict as a common theme. "WWTL" is about the Vietnam war and the lasting effect of war on the culture, whereas "Vultures" is loosely about WWII and the conflict between good and evil. One of the ways that Levertov presents the cruelty of war in "WWTL" is through the ignorance of those in conflict. The structure of the poem takes the form of question and answer, which could perhaps be seen as a soldier asking a person of a higher status, because of the use of 'sir'. By asking about the past, the soldier is ignorant of the effect that he has on the 'people of Viet Nam'. In the same way the 'Daddy' in "Vultures" ignores the 'fumes of human roast'; but action cannot be without consequence, which causes the experience 'clinging rebelliously'. Here both poets imply that not knowing the consequences of war is the cruellest act of all, otherwise lives and culture would not be lost. In "Vultures", the cruelty of war is also shown through the conflict of good and evil. Achebe contrasts the beauty of 'love' to the ugliness of vultures; this shows that those at conflict can unite even with their differences. He admires the 'pebble on a stem' as well designed, similar to that of a tank, but at the same time well designed machines could

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  • Word count: 688
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare the ways in which the poet presents people in night of the scorpion and one other poem?

Compare the ways in which the poet presents people in night of the scorpion and one other poem? Night of the scorpion is a poem about a woman getting stung by a scorpion and the events that follow it. The poem two scavengers... is about the comparison between two garbage men and a couple going to work. Although the two poems sound totally different, they both convey the message about equality in society. In night of the scorpion the people are peasants. They are religious people. The crowd of peasants have a different religious belief than us. They believe that if they chant about god then this will help cure the mother. They believe that chants will help cure the mother, this is shown by when the peasants said, "with every movement the scorpion made his poison moved in mothers blood." The father although being a peasant he is not religious like the other peasants, he is a rationalist. Although of his rationalist ways, when he is faced with the possibility of loosing his beloved wife he looses all of his rational thoughts, and tries every conceivable possibility to save his wife. "My father the, sceptic, rationalist, trying every curse and blessing, powder, mixture, herb and hybrid. He even poured a little paraffin upon the bitten toe and put a match on it." Although the father does not believe in the religious side of the society he tried all of them at the thought of

  • Word count: 762
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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