I have chosen Half-Caste and Nothing's Changed because both discuss the issue of racism.

I have chosen Half-Caste and Nothing's Changed because both discuss the issue of racism. Half-Caste is about the subject of treatment against mixed race people being one himself. Likewise Nothing's Changed is based on discrimination, deliberating about non-whites and whites being treated differently. However John Agard comes across in a sarcastic method and Tatamkhulu clearly shows his anger and opinion in an angry mood. Both Tatamkhulu Afrika and John Agard portray racist attitudes as a unlawful punishment because of only their ethnic group. John Agard is a mixed race individual who wrote about the half minded people who think and use the word 'Half-Caste'. On the other hand the poem Nothing's Changed is about the whites and non-whites in the area called District Six in the period of which apartheid was alleged to be over. Both express anger, Nothing's Changed more than the other. John Agard expresses his point across in a humorous characteristic. Each poet is talking about the same issue, racism being the issue in this case but express their ideas and attitudes in different and similar ways. 'yu mean when Picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas', and 'yu mean when light an shadow mix in de sky is a half-caste weather'. This being from Half-Caste shows that things that people witness are a mixture of things and aren't looked at as half of something so why are John

  • Word count: 1563
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How do poets from other cultures and traditions show suffering because of their identity?

How do poets from other cultures and traditions show suffering because of their identity? All sorts and types of people suffer through things like racial or cultural identity, because they may be a different colour or come from some where else, or even just because they talk differently. In the poems I have studied Half-Caste, Ogun and Nothing's Changed, the poets put across feelings of hurt and anger mostly because of this discrimination. The main message in the poem of half-caste is that the writer, John Agard, feels as if people only see him as half a person because of this term 'half-caste.' It tells us that he suffers every time people look or talk to him because he assumes they immediately think he is 'half-caste' which is what he believes means half a person. In reality he does not want anyone to look at him any differently from themselves. This is brought across by many techniques. The imagery that John Agard puts into people's mind with the poem is that it is about just half a person: '...I close half-a-eye, consequently when I dream, I dream half-a-dream...' The quote above shows the narrator is using irony to question what the reader thinks of him, by saying he is 'half-caste.' It also shows that he thinks the term 'half-caste' is ridiculous, saying this is what I must do if I'm half a person. The language used in the first and second stanza changes from

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare How Agard Challenges Particular Values and Ways of Thinking in Listen Mr. Oxford Don and Half Caste

Compare How Agard Challenges Particular Values and Ways of Thinking in 'Listen Mr. Oxford Don' and 'Half Caste' The poems, 'Listen Mr. Oxford Don' and 'Half Caste' were both written by John Agard, and in both of these poems, Agard challenges the status quo. In 'Listen Mr. Oxford Don', he challenges the use of language and in 'Half Caste', he challenges views of ethnicity. In the poem 'Listen Mr. Oxford Don', Agard characterizes Mr. Oxford Don as the 'Guardian of English', and the idea of a person who uses the 'correct' form of English. In this poem, Agard challenges the view that Standard English is the correct form of English, and other forms of English are of a lesser status. In the poem 'Half Caste', Agard challenges the reader prejudices towards people of mixed ethnicity. In 'Listen Mr. Oxford Don', Agard uses repetition of particular words and imagery to help him convey his ideas. He uses the phrase, "is a dangerous one" twice in the poem. He also uses sentence like, "I ent have no gun" to create the image of violence. Words such as, 'bashing' and 'slashing' are also used by Agard which suggest him being very threatening. The reason that Agard creates all these violent images is because he wants us to know that he's a peaceful man, but he can be very dangerous if people think that English has to be spoken in a particular way. Unlike 'Listen Mr. Oxford Don', in 'Half

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Comparing John Agard

Nothings changed & Half caste I am going to be pointing out the content and the structure of tatamkhulu afrika Nothings Changed and John Agar's Half Caste. Both poems use different type of text and language. Both writers make you read between the lines to show how they express their feelings. I will also be identifying the purpose, poetic spelling and the image and rhythm Of the poem. Both poems deal with the same issues, which is the way of life. These poems are fantastic as you analyse them. An image is a picture that is imprinted from a book or poem. I am going to analyse the imagery that the writers show in the poem. The two writers show a great deal of imagery because it is an important element that the writer tries to show. Half caste uses an angry image towards the reader.' Explain yuself'. Just those words put an explosive image that the writer is telling an angry poem. Nothings changed use a more calm sense of imagery to explain him in a lower tone. The describes the surroundings very well and puts this image in your mind.' Amiable weeds'. This is a quick summery of the ground because you start to see and build up an image of the surroundings. The language shown in the two poems Nothings changed and half-caste are effective because both poems try to make a point. John agard and tuamkhulu Africa use the same type of language, which is anger and expression.

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Difference between poems

Comparing and Contrasting 'Still I Rise' And 'Half-Cast' Both poems are a response to other people's idea of the poet's cultural identities. The poems are written as though the poet is replying to some one directly. 'Half-Cast' is about a multi cultural person who is standing up against racism and against people look down upon them because of their ethnicity. John Agard is arguing with the person who is being racist to him by questioning if 'Half-Cast' means he is half a man. 'Still I rise' is about a woman, Maya Angelou who has had a traumatic personal and cultural history but still she rises above it. She has had to face racial and sexual prejudice, but she still stands strong. In 'Half-Cast' John Agard opens the poem with a polite but angry request. This opening is only an angry one because of the following lines. 'Excuse me; standing on one leg, I am half-cast' This sarcasm is showing that he is trying to be nice but is annoyed about it. The first line is very polite but immediately after the poet is acquiring the 'reader' of suggesting he is half a man by using the words 'half-caste'. He uses informal language throughout the poem, the language is also written in john Agard's dialect. It makes you say the words how it sounds. This could be the poet celebrating his culture. 'Explain yuself, Wha yu mean' This also makes you as the reader feel the anger, annoyance and

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Halfcast and Unrelated incidents

'Compare and contrast how other cultures are shown in Half-Caste and Unrelated Incidents'. The poems I am comparing are "Half-Caste", written by John Agard possibly during the twentieth century, due to that being the era Agard moved to England, encountering racism and misunderstanding of other cultures. The other poem is "Unrelated Incidents" written by Tom Leonard in 1969, the date is also shown in his poem by mentioning "BBC" which was created 50 years earlier. Both poems share many similarities such as; they make important points about shared identities as well as individual identity, cultures and the use of phonetics. These poems can also be linked as protest poems, poems that raise and to a degree complain about issues related to their cultural origins. "Explain yuself", a repeated phrase throughout "Half-Caste", portrays that Agard is complaining about our closed minds, and our ignorance to judge people on their appearance. However, the phrase may also mean that we do not express ourselves vividly. Moreover, "yoo scruff", also repeated throughout the stanza of "Unrelated Incidents", portrays that Leonard voices his complaints in insults, a different approach from Agard, in turn making this poem least effective from Agard's, because not many take notice in something to which they are being offended. "Half-Caste", in my perspective, is about how differently people are

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How are anger and frustration presented in 'Nothing's Changed' and 'Half-Caste'?

How are anger and frustration presented in 'Nothing's Changed' and 'Half-Caste'? In this essay I am going to talk about how anger and frustration is linked between two poems. The two poems are called 'Nothing's Changed' and 'Half-Caste'. I am going to explain four topics about each poem. These are: language, discrimination, culture and racism. Each one I will explain how they link with the poems. For example racism shares a main part in both poems because they are both about inequality and difference. Both Poems are autobiographical so both authors have had their own experience meaning that the anger shown is very descriptive. The first topic I am going to talk about is the racism that is linked between the two poems. First I will look at the poem 'Half-caste' then 'Nothing's changed'. I would say that 'Half-Caste' is quite an angry poem because the poem John Agard has written is about difference. It is about difference because it mentions the word 'half-caste' and the word is used to describe people born of parents of a different colour. This word can be used as an insult against a different race, which shows racism. Here is an example that shows how racism is shown "Yu mean when Picasso mix red and green". He talks about the colours and how they combine together to produce a new whole, which is different. But the whole he talks about is precious and unique. People call him

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Half caste. Half-Caste This fantastic poem is mainly about how John Agard feels about people using the phrase half caste.

Heiman A. 09.10.2008 Half-Caste This fantastic poem is mainly about how John Agard feels about people using the phrase "half caste". The poet uses several clever examples to show the way he feels, like "yu mean when Picasso mix red and green" and "well in dat case England weather nearly always half caste" John Agard obviously feels strongly about this because he is sick and tired of people using that word to de grade people and also of the way he questions about the phrase "half caste" . He also makes us think about what it must be like to be a half caste in a culture like ours today. There are two means by which the poet helps to create a shape or structure in this poem. Most obviously he uses the term half caste to make the poem appear to be like a speck, saying to everyone that the term half caste can be insulting. John Agard uses some very cleaver images to make his point about the use of the word half caste. There are several in the poem, but I will concentrate on the images of the weather "yu mean when light and shadow mix in the sky is a half caste weather" I think that this is the most successful because the words "light" and "shadow" are completely different, and are perfect for what John Agard is trying to say. The poet also uses the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparing poems 'halfe cast' and 'nothings changed'

In this essay I am going to compare the way the theme of racism is dealt with in the poems 'Half caste' and 'nothings changed'. I will analyse the poems and then compare them. The things I will be comparing are the similarities and differences, the layout and also the use of language. I will be looking at both of the authors Tatamkhula Africa (Nothings Changed) and John Agard (Half caste) intentions and then decide which one of the poems I think is most effective. I am going to begin with a comparison of the purposes of the two poems. Nothings changed is about a black man looking back at his childhood and realising that 'nothings changed', he is upset about this as although segregation is said to have gone, he feels as if it is the same as before. Half-caste is about a mixed race man who is asking for an explanation for why they are treated like half a person. He refuses to be called half-caste as he finds it offensive. In both of these poems, the writer is dealing with the issues of racism. The two writers are expressing their anger and want the readers to take notice of how they feel. The two writers both use repetition throughout the poem. Tatamkhula used the phrase 'nothings changed' as both the title and the ending of the poem, this emphasises the fact that his whole poem is based on the fact that he feels that nothing has changed in his life, mainly on the aspect of

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Poems from different cultures - Half Caste, by John Agard.

Poems from Different Cultures Poetry is used by writers' world wide to express them. Many of these poems are very negative and show it in the use, and misuse, of language. Other poems are more positive. Poets often use their work to express difficult situations. 'Half Caste' is a good example of this because it portrays the writer in a negative situation that the writer expresses his opinions about. 'Unrelated incidents' is a similar type of poem with a varying, but overall alike problem. The poem 'Not my business' is a more literal poem. The poem is similar because it shows the poet in a difficult situation but the way the poet expresses himself is completely different. In Half Caste, by John Agard, the difficult situation is one of prejudice. The writer is expressing his dislike of the prejudice he suffers because he is of mixed race or, in his words, 'half caste'. The word half-caste is shown to be the culprit in this poem and the entire poem ridicules the word and those who use it. The writer uses various strategies to achieve this goal. In the first paragraph the writer immediately draws the reader's attention with an apology, "excuse me," he says. This draws the reader's attention because it is a very abrupt way of starting a poem and the reader continues to read to see what he is fact sorry for. Immediately, Agard shows that he was in fact being sarcastic. He uses

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