The poems No Problem written by Benjamin Zephania and Half-Caste written by John Aguard illustrate strong feelings towards race
How do the poets present the theme of Change in the poems Half-Caste and No Problem? The poems No Problem written by Benjamin Zephania and Half-Caste written by John Aguard illustrate strong feelings towards race. The poets are writing about their feelings towards their life. Looking at them we can empathise with them and their plight. Comparing them allows us to experience their pain. Looking at the way they were written provides us with insight to those who suffer from racism. In the poem No Problem Benjamin Zephaniah who is from Jamaica tells of how bad life was in England, but even after all of this he still doesn't hold any grudges himself. In this poem he uses slang words not proper English this emphasises that he is not from England and that he feels he is an outsider. "Silly playground taunts, an racist stunts" this also tells me that he was not welcome in the society in which he lived. It also shows that even from a young age when he was still at school he was racially abused and that people ridiculed him because of his race. The racist stunts imply that he was victimised for being different from other people and as he moved to England in the 1980's when there was a lot of riots between black people and the police this would have been a great change to the laid back lifestyle of Jamaica where most people in the neighbourhood knew everyone else. Then moving to
How the poets create and use a metaphor in 'This room'. Compare this to one or more poems are also use metaphors
How the poets create and use a metaphor in 'This room'. Compare this to one or more poems are also use metaphors In many of the poems I have been looking at the public use a variety of language. Much of the make-up of the poem is a plague on wives, other as consist of questions however I will be looking at the use of metaphors. I will be looking closely at the poem 'This Room' and another 'Half Caste'. I will start by commenting on the poem 'This Room'. 'This Room' uses many metaphors to portray the poets feelings. He uses many metaphors to show how he is feeling trapped and also to show how he is feeling that new horizon is forthcoming. For example, line six, 'The bed is lifting out of Its nightmares' This quotation shows how the poet feels that he is starting a new chapter in his life and therefore all about things before have been pushed aside. The poet also tries to use this line to portray that he is beginning a new phase in his life. This is again about identity and how he fears his old identity but wants to form a new identity. The other poem chose is 'Half Caste'. This Poem again uses metaphors however on a much larger scale this is shown throughout the poem, sometimes using absurd metaphors. The poem sometimes doesn't make sense because it was written in a Caribbean style which also gets messages across better. For example, 'yu mean when light and
Afro-Caribbean Poetry.
AFRO-CARIBBEAN POETRY In this essay I will be studying the various items of poetry from many Afro-Caribbean poets. One of the poets is Langston Hughes who was born in Joplin, Missouri on the first of February 1902. He started writing poetry after moving to Lincoln, Illinois. The poems I will be studying are "Mulatto" and "I, Too". The next poet I will be looking at is Grace Nichols. Nichols was born in Guyana in 1950, she came to England in 1977 this is when she developed her fiction and verse writing. The poem I will be studying is "Praise song for my mother". The next poet I will look at will be Dr Benjamin Obadiah lqual Zephaniah, he was born in Birmingham, but he spent most of his time in Jamaica. After he spent some time in prison he decided to use his energy for good and educate himself. The poem I will study "I love me mudder". The last poet work I will be looking at will be John Agard. Agard was born in Guyana in 1949, the country was still a British colony until 966. In 1977 Agard moved to England. This is where he became the light of the new West Indian British dawn of various bardic compositions. Agard is a poet whom blends calypso styled language with unique sounding spoken word. The work I will be studying is "Half-caste" I have paired the poems up. The pairs either share the same topic, tone or language. One of the pairs
Poems From Other Cultures
GCSE English Coursework Poems From Other Cultures Of the two poems from the other cultures booklet, I have decided to compare "Half-caste" by John Agard and "Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. In this essay I will discuss the meaning of the two poems and what the poet is trying to get the reader to think and / or realise. The poem describes four people held together for a moment at a red traffic light. There are two scavengers, garbage men 'on their way home' after their round, and two beautiful people, an elegant couple 'on the way to his architect's office'. The garbage men's day ends where the young couple's begins. The poet compares the two pairs in detail, and then seems to ask - at the end of the poem - whether America really is a democracy. The poem's structure is fairly free. The poet doesn't use punctuation; instead, he begins a new line when he wants us to pause in our reading. This slows the poem down and gives us time to appreciate each idea. The poem appears very fragmented on the page. This might suggest the fragmented or 'broken' nature of society? The language used in this poem is used in different ways to convey his ideas. For example; the title shows us straight away that the poem will be about the contrasts between two pairs of people. 'Scavengers' is a belittling term for the garbage men because it
Using the poems 'Telephone Conversation' By Wole Soyinka and 'Nothing Said' by Brenda Agard explain how the poets convey and challenge the message in their poems. Also compare the similarities and differences.
Using the poems 'Telephone Conversation' By Wole Soyinka and 'Nothing Said' by Brenda Agard explain how the poets convey and challenge the message in their poems. Also compare the similarities and differences. Both 'Telephone Conversation' and 'Nothing Said' can be recognised from the outset as poems reflecting the injustice bestowed upon black British citizens in the late 20th century. Each poem contains material for protest, and displays a point the narrator believes strongly in, due to their black origin, however, both poems reflect upon different experiences. Whilst 'Telephone Conversation' exhibits the difficult situation in which many black men found themselves when seeking accommodation, 'Nothing Said' talks of a tragic disaster that occurred in 1981, affecting the entire black community. Both poems deal with colour racism in a separate, yet effective, manner and are compelling in their own individual way. As the title suggests, Wole Soyinka's poem is a 'Telephone Conversation' between a Black African man and a white landlady. The title clearly shows that the poem is about speech and communication, and, throughout, Soyinka demonstrates the frustration of the black man when seeking somewhere to live and facing racial abuse. This is a typical incident that confronted many black British citizens when seeking accommodation, and Soyinka obviously wants the reader to relate
I have chosen to compare the poem
Comparison of Half-Caste and Nothings Changed From the poems I have studied and spent time analysing, I have chosen to compare the poem "Half Caste", by the poet John Agard and the poem "Nothings Changed" by the poet Afrika. My task is to show a detailed analysis and comparison of both poems I will show what I believe to be the poet's feelings and comment on them. I shall also give my own personal opinion on what I believe about the poems and how it made me feel. In the first poem I studied "Half Caste" the poet John Agard has expressed his feelings in an unusual but I believe a unique way. The poem is referring to how angrily Agard feels towards the term half-caste, however his anger is disguised by his humour. Agard uses his sense of humour throughout the poem; this clearly gets his emotions across to me being the reader. For example Agard introduces himself "standing on one leg" as he is a half caste person he humorously makes out, he is only half a person and this is why he stands on one leg. I feel that Agard has this shadow of humour that is covering up his real emotions, this maybe a sign of fear, as he doesn't know how to show his true feelings so instead he humours the reader and himself. Agard writes the poems as if he's talking directly to you, this technique of talking directly to you makes you feel more emotional I felt a little insecure and this makes you
Discuss how the poets use language to express a sense of culture and identity in Half Caste
Discuss how the poets use language to express a sense of culture and identity in Search for my Tongue and Half-Caste In this essay, I am going to discuss how the poets, Sujata Bhatt and John Agard use language to express a sense of culture and identity in their poems, Search for my Tongue and Half-Caste. The first poem I am going to write about is Search for my Tongue. Sujata Bhatt was born in 1956 in a country called Ahmedabad. In 1968, she emigrated to the United States of America. Search for my Tongue's mood begins with confusion and progresses to acceptance of their cultural identity. In the poem 'Search for my Tongue' Sujata Bhatt shows how her identity is important to her in quite a lot of ways. Bhatt describes that when she loses her mother tongue over her other language, she is losing part of herself, her home language and her culture. She tells us this by saying "If you had two tongues inside your mouth and you lost the first one, the mother tongue..." This can be found from line 4. The quote tells us she is forgetting her other language (or her other tongue) and so her importance of identity comes from her language. In English speaking, we sometimes use the word 'tongue' to mean 'language' as well as your actual 'tongue'. The poet compares the ability to speak two languages to having two tongues in your mouth, which she calls 'the mother tongue' (which is the
Comparing Three Poems 'Half-Caste' 'Search For My Tongue' & 'Unrelated Incidents'.
Comparing Three Poems 'Half-Caste' 'Search For My Tongue' & 'Unrelated Incidents'. Each of these three poems talk about certain problems faced by specific groups of people in today's society. The poems have been written specifically to illustrate to people who have been brought up with derogative ideas about different types of people, that there are people who are different, but are neither superior nor inferior to themselves. The main themes that run common in all 3 poems are the ideas of individualism, respect, culture and equality. The poem 'Half-Caste' by John Agard talks about the stereo typed judgement about half-caste people in society today. John Agard's main argument in the poem is that being a half-caste person does not make you half a human being. He talks about how people make 'assumptions' about half-caste people. "...and when I'm introduced to yu I'm sure you'll understand why I offer yu half-a-hand..." This quote suggests that non half-caste peoples attitudes towards half-caste people is that they are not human, and do not do everyday things the way they would do themselves. Agard exaggerates his ideas in order to make his argument a lot clearer. "..an when moon begin to glow I half-caste human being cast half-a-shadow..." It is obvious that half-caste people do not caste shadows different to anyone else, but the emphasis on the ridiculousness of the
This essay will be comparing 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan' talking about the difficulty in belonging to two cultures and 'Half - caste'
Both poems I have chosen are about identity and both use first person narrator to talk about autobiographical experiences. This essay will be comparing 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan' talking about the difficulty in belonging to two cultures and 'Half - caste' which uses attacking language to get the poems point across. In presents from my aunts in Pakistan the writer describes gifts of the clothes and jewellery sent to her in England by her Pakistani relatives, she is drawn to the loveliness of the things given but feels much more comfortable in denim and corduroy. The poem is made of long lines, these lines aren't aligned neatly on the page but instead they are spread across the page, sometimes starting on the right hand side or the left. This symbolizes how the girl is feeling inside; it shows that she's torn between her Asian culture and her English Culture whereas in the poem Half-caste Agard does not use Standard English and punctuates the way he wants, this shows that he believes there isn't a right or wrong way of writing or even speaking. "When yu say half-caste yu mean when Picasso mix red and green is a half-caste canvas". In many ways the poem seems like it is related to her, as if it is telling a story whereas John Agard is from Guyana he decides to tell the poem in an informal style. In 'Presents from my Aunt in Pakistan shows' her feelings by
Half Caste written by John Agard and Nothing's Changed written by Tatamkhulu Afrika, both explore the portrayal of racism
Question: How is racism portrayed in 'Half Caste' and 'Nothing's Changed?' Half Caste written by John Agard and Nothing's Changed written by Tatamkhulu Afrika, both explore the portrayal of racism. John Agard uses irony and satire to show emphasis and ridicules the social stigmata towards half-caste. Afrika uses his poem to illustrate the diverse conditions of two social cultures within his society. John Agard uses a unique structure. He uses the structure of his poem to add dramatic importance to what he says. The first and last stanzas are both three lined and isolated from the poem. This is added to emphasize him isolation in society. Nothing's Changed is written in seven stanzas, one of which is considerably smaller, 'no sign says it is: but we know where we belong.' This emphasizes his anger and feelings towards his position in society. Nothing's Changed is written in an angry tone, with emotional words such as, 'shiver down the glass' to create a sense of depression. Monosyllabic words in the direct stanza are used to create a sense of anger and perhaps slow the poem down for dramatic effect. Half Caste is also written in an angry tone. The uses of derogatory term such as, 'ah rass,' are used to emphasize his attitude towards the ignorant people in society. Half Caste uses a sense of rhyme in bits of the poem. The rhymes are in rhyming couplet form,
