What does the poem 'Nothing's Changed'

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Cara O’Toole 11P                   English Coursework. 20/09/2004

What does the poem ‘Nothing’s Changed’

Have to say about identity? How does

Tatamkhulu Afrika convey his ideas?

This is an autobiographical poem The word ‘identity’ the characteristics that make you who you are, everyone is an individual and unique, this is expressed through peoples culture and tradition, Culture is a way of expressing your identity, for example what music you like to listen to and what you enjoy, tradition is used to reinforce your sense of identity.

Afrika was adopted at an early age, he grew up not knowing his biological parents.Afrika grew up in a white home, growing up as a white South African, meaning he got treated better, as Apartheid was in place and the law at that time, but as he grew up, Afrika learnt that his father was a black man, meaning he would have been discriminated against, had he grown up with his biological parents. Afrika wanted to pay tribute to his heritage , his early background, culture and tradition by pretending that he is a fully white blooded person. Afrika is proud of his black origins and has changed his name to show that he is partly black. Afrika often describes throughout the poem how disgusted he feels about the way black and mixed race people are treated.

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The poem opens with monosyllabic words;”small, round, hard stones click” this shows how he is reflecting his anger. In the third linen Afrika uses very aggressive verbs “seeding grasses thrust”, reflecting his anger once again. His uses onomatopoeias an alliterations throughout the poem, I think he does this to make the poem more interesting to read. In line 8 he talks about the “amiable weeds” this is a contrast with the aggressive use of verbs “seeding grasses thrust”. He uses repetition of the word “and” to show how his anger is gradually building up

Afrika writes about returning to ...

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