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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There was no news that a hurricane was coming our way, and also where we live hurricanes

Clash with the hurricane Chapter 1 I woke up early morning and turned on the TV. I could not see anything clearly because I did not have my glasses on. Only red flashing lights from the TV appeared in my eyes. I got up and went and put on my glasses. The red flashing lights that were coming from the TV now made sense to me. 'BREAKING NEWS' I used the remote controller and went and put up the volume. 'Indestructible hurricane has blown over the Big Ben' I could not believe what I was hearing. 'The hurricane has taken over 230 lives and still has not finished its quest for destruction. The hurricane is now appearing to be heading for North Surrey' the news reporter man reported. 'God, I live in North Surrey' I thought to myself. I began to be frightened and scared.The pictures that are being shown on TV are horrendous and horrific. Men and women are laid on the floor covered in blood, helplessly. Trees have been battered to the ground. Cars have been toppled over. House windows and doors has been smashed open. Buildings have been left completely damaged. The cry of

  • Word count: 1008
  • 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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Compare and contrast the poems "Vultures" and "Night of the Scorpion", analysing how they communicate a sense of their cultural background.

Ashleigh Rothwell 10WX Poetry Coursework Vultures and Night of the Scorpion. Task Compare and contrast the poems "Vultures" and "Night of the Scorpion", analysing how they communicate a sense of their cultural background. Vultures I feel that the title "vultures" denotes a sense of scavenging as I view vultures as scavenging birds. As the title is vultures it must be set in a hot country as this is the traditional habitat of this species. My view of vultures is that they are ugly, unpleasant, greedy and savage. The setting is in Nigeria which is a part of Africa where many of these birds are found. At a glance it looks as though it is free verse but as you study it more carefully it actually has four verses each with a different part to play. All the observations; "greyness", "drizzle", "sun-break" and "nestled close" are all found in the first verse. This verse sets the scene for the reader. In the second verse the author is commenting on the observations he has made. He mentions the "charnel house" which is a place where the bones of dead people are placed. This is particularly appropriate because when the vultures have finished with the corpse then all that remains are the bones; picked clean and left to bake in the midday sun. The author also comments on the unusual way that vultures can in one minute be evil with their prey and the next be loving and nestling close

  • Word count: 1246
  • 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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"Back Home Contemplation" - Write about the ways in which the poems in this section are linked.

Remind yourself of "Back Home Contemplation". Write about the ways in which the poems in this section are linked. Consider: - -Register and tone -Form and style -Any other features of language you consider to be important. The section "Back Home Contemplation" represents an important section n of the entire novel. It pulls together the idea of the black woman from Africa to the Caribbean. It embodies all the experiences, emotions and feelings by showing her memories of the childhood she experienced and sharing them with the reader. "Back Home Contemplation" discusses the memories, which Nichols had as a child, which are shown in the form of a snapshot memory. The lexical framework, which Nichols uses, emphasises the imagery used throughout the section. She uses an ongoing image of water throughout the section in order to show her ties to her family. The water represents the way in which her family are all streams flowing from one origin but in different directions. This is shown in "Hey There Now!" which says "my sunchild branching from my mountain river". By using this technique Nichols shows to the reader how highly she thinks, not only her close family, but of the people of her origin. She uses the idea of water to represent strength, protection and a necessity for life. This shows the reader the importance of this section to Nichols and also sets the scene for

  • Word count: 1328
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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What are Hurricanes?

What are Hurricanes? Hurricanes are violent tropical storms, an atmospheric movement in which the wind blows spirally round towards a centre of low barometric pressure. They are characterised by very strong winds and torrential rains. Hurricanes kill more than 20,000 people a year. Worldwide, that is more than any other form of natural disaster. A large hurricane can release more energy in one day than all the energy used in a year by the USA. How are they formed? Hurricanes develop in tropical areas, over the sea. The sun's rays heat the air and water, which are more concentrated at or near the equator. The hot air rises up, carrying with it large amounts of water in the form of fine droplets (water vapour). The warm air spirals upwards, leaving an area of calm in the centre, called the 'eye of the storm.' This 'eye' can be dangerous because as it passes over, people are fooled into thinking that the storm is over, when in fact the worst is still yet to come. This 'eye' especially passes overhead after a hurricane roars ashore. The heavy rains and wind of the hurricane are suddenly followed by clear skies and almost an eerie calm. Within an hour or two, however, the 'eye' passes and the opposite side of the storm hits, bringing with it the destructive winds and flooding rains again. The size, or intensity of a storm depends on its wind speed. Hurricanes are graded

  • Word count: 851
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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West Indian carpenter - What the poem is about.

What the poem is about * The poem describes the workshop and daily life of a highly skilled West Indian carpenter (lines 1-20). * His livelihood is threatened by imported steel and formica furniture (lines 21-26). * On Sundays, the carpenter becomes a sculptor, carving out of his imagination wooden figures which resemble the effigies of old African gods (lines 27-47). * He is reminded of Africa and feels anger. How the poem is written Structure and sound The poem is arranged in couplets (pairs of lines), but there isn't a regular pattern to these couplets. The line endings don't always come where we would expect them. The sense seems to 'cut' suddenly from one line to the next: The knuckles of his hands were sil-/ vered knobs of nails hit, hurt and flat-/ tened out with blast of heavy hammer. This creates a kind of unpredictability in the movement of the lines. It makes us read them more tentatively. We have to find our way through the poem. What does this suggest about the carpenter? The poem is full of sounds: * Make a list of all the alliteration you can find in the poem. What's the effect? 'it shone like his short-sighted glasses' (line 4) 'nails hit, hurt' (line 6) Can you hear the sound of the plane gliding over the wood and the harsh banging of the hammer? * There is some repetition of sounds in the poem too: 'dug out / wood out' (lines 1-2) 'hurt

  • Word count: 1309
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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In what ways is Grace Nichols Using an Individual, Characteristic Poetic Voice For Forest?

In what ways is Grace Nichols Using an Individual, Characteristic Poetic Voice For Forest? The ways in which Grace Nichols using an individual, characteristic poetic voice is very different from other poets such as Ted Hughes or Seamus Heaney. From a first impression of the poem, we can see there is no set poem structure. This is a free verse poem, almost in a conversational style. The fifth and sixth stanza's begin with 'and' and 'but' respectively as if it is speaking to the reader personally. This is unlike many poems and is free of style. I believe that Grace Nichols is British but with a strong Jamaican or Caribbean background. We can predict this by the fact that the poem is written in English originally and the English used is not Standard English. This poem is in dialect English, the word forms, which are non-standard as in many cases, prove this the word 'is' is not present. Also there are no definite articles throughout the poem. Throughout the most common words in English like 'the' and 'a' are very rare within the poem. There are therefore no grammatical words. There are only indefinite articles, which are words that actually have a meaning, also called lexical. Grace Nichols is once again confirmed as being from the Caribbean region by the Spanish links given in the poem. The word 'eldorado' meaning 'golden one' is a Spanish word. In history, the Spanish went

  • Word count: 1297
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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discuss the feelings in the poem my ants from pakistan

Discuss how the girl feels in the poem 'my aunts from Pakistan'. The poem is about a girl who was born in Pakistan. She came to England when she was small. When she got older she received gifts from her aunts in Pakistan. She received traditional Pakistani clothes. When ever she thought about her nationalities she did not feel whole. The poem was written to show how the girl felt when her friends laughed at her clothes. It was written because if we were in that situation what would we do? Would we be unhappy or happy? This confused her about her split identity of half Asian, half British. There are a lot of different emotions in the poem. The girl feels confused about her nationalities. She says, 'my costume clung to me', when she tries on the salwar kameez she feels like it doesn't suit her. It's like wearing a costume. The girl feels embarrassed when her friend asks her to see her 'weekend clothes'. The structure of the poem is a free verse this means there is no set structure. This reflects the confusion about her identity. The lines are short, this also shows her confusion. There are lots of images in the poem to do with colour, 'peacock-blue', apple green saree' this shows how colour full and bright Pakistan is and compared to the dull denims and corduroy of Britain. Some of the images about Pakistan are not very good 'camel skin lamp' she thinks about how cruel

  • Word count: 610
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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