How do the poems, 'Half-Cast', 'Nothings Changed,' and 'Two Scavengers in a truck, Two beautiful People in a Mercedes,' expree Anger?

Courtney Lomas

All three poems express their anger towards discrimination: 'Half-Caste' and 'Nothings Changed' are written about how racism has affected them and their lives, 'Two Scavengers...' express views on class discrimination.

'Half-Caste' is written as if it is been spoken in a Caribbean dialect, giving the impression the speaker is of a mixed race.In the poem he illustrates the way he feels about how he is treated as a ''half-caste,half person.'' The longer stansas in the poem tell the story of how his race has affected his life, and the way he feels about himself, and the shorter stansa are used to introduce and close the poem. The poems irregularity in terms of lay out, may illustrate the irregularity this man feels in his life,he feels he doesn't feel accepted in either the black or the white community. He quotes ''am i half a man?''This proves his distress,and although he uses humour the poem has a serious message.Agard uses repetition effectively thorught the poem, for example, ''explain yuself, wha you mean?'' This line is used in every stransa.Agard alkso uses surreal comparissons to express his emotions to the reader such as ''black key...white key''Here he is contrasting the black race, and the white race and wander where he stands in the middle.

'Nothings Changed' by Tatamkula Afrika also uses surreal ides to illustrate his point.For example, ''A bomb, to shiver down the glass.''His ideas and the use of harsh vocabulary really shows the reader what he thinks!The poem is not written to be read in a certain dialect as this might add an element of humour and this poem is not intented to be funny. This is in contrast to the way 'half-caste' is written, althught they both use similar ideas.The dis-oganisation and lack of uniformity in terms of the poems rhythm and rhyme pattern suggests the same ideas about the ...

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'Two Scavengers...' In this poem Felinghetti uses no uniform structure, the poems lines are layed out scattered accross the page, again, as in the other poems, he could be referring to the unreal way in wich 'different'peple are treatyed.The punctuation throughout the poem is non- exsistant i think this could be to fit in with the stereotypical 'rich white' persons view of a black person- that they are un-educated. Although on studying the structure of the poem closely, the way the lines are arranged allows a pause after each line.The phrases the writer wants to emphasise are usually highlighted by leaving these on a seperate line containing only a few words.

John Agard, the writer of the poem 'Half-Caste'expresse his anger by using a form of sarcasm. He compares his life and they way he is treated to normal everday examples, and although his poem has a solemn message he adds humour for example he calls Tchaikovsky's symphonys 'half-caste' as he mixes a 'black key wid a white key.' The humnour in this poem contrasts with the sombre language and effect used in the other poems.The poems all agree that the way they are being treated for being outside of society. They each convey this message in different ways ie. humour, comparisson, effective truth writing. All of the writers use a techniqwue of comparing there ideas to ideas in the readers 'everyday life' to their harsh comparisson of their 'everyday' lives.

All three writers use voacabulary suited their poem style and by adding effects such as a dialect creates an idea of realism for the reader and puts them in the writers world. The writers also use 'personal', this makes the reader share their feeling of anger towards the situation. For example throughout 'Two Scavengers...' Ferlinghetti uses ideas of comparison of the rich and poor, so the reader think where would i be sitting in that situation...in the Mercedes, or in the dustbin truck, althought this idea is based on completely stereotypical ideas they are very true.Afrika tell the reader exactly how she feels throughout the poem, by doin this she almost make the reader feel 'guilty' as if they are the one sitting inside the 'rich white restaurant' watching the speaker with their nose pressed up against the window; thus making the reader take Afrika's oppinion very seriously.Afrika,Ferlinghetti, both use depressive vocabulary such as 'crushed,' 'brashed,' to illustrate their frustration and along with a sense of humour seriousness and the harsh vocabulary are also added into 'half-caste' , when words such as 'spiteful' and 'shadow' are used throughout the poem.

All three poems although using differnet techniques all get their message across that they want change! Ther messga eis not kept a secret they cnvey it very obviously. All three poems have a line at one point in the poem that sums up what they feel, Agard says ''I will tell you the other half of my story.'' Here he clearly states he does not want to be judged purely on his race. All three poems also use comparisson ie,'rich', 'poor','beautiful', 'scavengers', this adds an element of intrique as well as illustrating the idea iof the poem.

All the poems are written to make the reader understand the situations and to encourage people to not judge the 'different' people in society.