'Nothing's Changed' A poem by Tatamkhulu Afrika
Robert Gibson T10 'Nothing's Changed' A poem by Tatamkhulu Afrika 'Nothing's Changed' is by a South African poet named Tatamkhulu Afrika, it expresses his thoughts towards the Apartheid in South Africa. We watched a film interpretation of this poem with interesting scenes. The film starts with low camera shot of a can or a circular piece of rubbish in the grass reflecting the bright sky and a reflecting and dark image of an elderly man walking past with a stick. The low camera shot makes us feel as if we were actually in the grass or a piece of rubbish in the grass. The reflection gives the audience an idea that the writer's poem is all reflecting back on the past and maybe the blurred image of the man reflection could symbolise how blurred his life is, or how he doesn't know where he stands with the apartheid situation. This is the first of many reflections throughout the film also it also illustrates a 'small mean O' which is mentioned later on in the poem; 'Leaving small mean O of small, mean mouth.' Soon after, a man with old-fashioned brown shoes, treading on dusty stony ground, by showing only a sketchy reflection and the shoes of the man, creates a sense of mystery and wonder about who it is. Just after this a young boy briskly walks past, bends down and picks up a stick, it appears to the audience that it is the same person who is seen in the reflection and the
I have been asked to compare two poems. I will be writing about
I have been asked to compare two poems. I will be writing about "Nothing's changed" by Tamamklula Afrika and "Charlotte O'Neil's song" by Fiona Farrell. Both poets are protesting about the injustices and inequalities of their own respective cultures. In "Nothing's Changed" Afrika protests about the differences in the way that black and white people are treated in South Africa. The poem illustrates how, although the South African apartheid system was abolished in the early 1990s nothing had really changed beyond paperwork. Afrika was once quoted in an interview as saying "We may have a new constitution, we may have on the face of it all a beautiful democracy, but the racism in this country is widespread. We try to pretend to the world that it does not exist but it most certainly does, all day long, every day, shocking and saddening and terrible." He reinforces these feelings in his poem. He begins the poem in a calm mood. He describes his walk down the path towards district six in a calm, almost leisurely way. When he reaches district six the sense of calm leaves and the anger in the poem starts to become apparent. He talks about how there is no sign to show the name of the area but he can feel it. "No board says it is: But my feet know, And my hands, And the skin about my bones, And the soft labouring of my lungs, And the hot, white, inwards turning Anger of my
'Not my Business' by Niyi Osundare compared with 'Nothing's Changed' by Tatamkhula Afrika
In 'Not my Business' by Niyi Osundare when compared with 'Nothing's Changed' by Tatamkhula Afrika, the shared theme of injustice and segregation come across and are present in both poems. 'Nothing's Changed' is quite specific with its whereabouts and period: South Africa and post-apartheid. The poem, like its poet, is consumed with anger and bitterness and this is portrayed through its use of repetition of certain words (such as the repeated use of the word 'and' in the second stanza and the line, '...leaving small mean O of small, mean mouth' in the sixth stanza). The second stanza is stressing each part of his body with the use of the word 'and' because it is stressed; the tone becomes more heated and irate so the rhythm becomes quicker as if the poet were flying into a rage. The poem is in mainly-eight-line stanzas which each transpire developments in the plot (except for the The first stanza seems as if like it doesn't fit the rest of the poem; as it has nothing in it that could be interpreted as being about apartheid. However, the way that this stanza is worded, with hard consonants and sounds; it gives the area in which it describes, a hard and unruly feel, which was just as well because the description illustrates a harsh scene of weeds, stones and litter. But then, at the end of the first stanza, after all that, comes the last two lines: '...in tall, purple
Compare 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' by Moniza Alvi and 'Nothings Changed' by Tatamkhulu Afrika - Comment on the conflict between two cultures in the poem and the way the poets express this.
Compare 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' by Moniza Alvi and 'Nothings Changed' by Tatamkhulu Afrika. Comment on the conflict between two cultures in the poem and the way the poets express this. In 'Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan' the speaker is a girl who has one English parent and one parent from Pakistan. As a result she feels torn between the two very different cultures. She does not feel at home in either England or Pakistan. She shows this by saying "I longed for denim and corduroy" When trying on the Saris and Salwar Kameezes. She feels English in Pakistan and Pakistani in England "I could not rise out of its fire half-English" This quote means that she can rise up out of the Pakistani clothes because she is not fully Pakistani or English. Another quote that shows this is "I tried on each satin-silken top- was alien in the sitting room" This means that wearing the Pakistani clothes made her feel out of place in the English sitting room. She feels similar to Tatankhulu Afrika in 'Nothings Changed' because he is also stuck between two cultures the 'blacks' and 'whites'. This is shown by "Whites only inn" This quote demonstrates the metaphorical barrier between the two cultures. The speaker in 'Nothings Changed' is a black man who returns to district six. In this poem the conflict between the two cultures is caused by the decades of apartheid government
Compare and contrast the ways in which the poets present injustice in "Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes" and "Nothing's Changed".
Compare and contrast the ways in which the poets present injustice in "Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes" and "Nothing's Changed". "Nothing's Changed" by Tatamkhulu Afrika is a protest against white authority- and against supremacy over all underprivileged, mistreated, weaker members of society by any power group. The focus of this disapproval is the Apartheid approach which subjugated white South African thinking. Tatamkhulu Afrika, writer of "Nothing's Changed", lived in Cape Town's District 6, which due to apartheid in the 1960's was unfortunately declared a 'whites only' area. Afrika was forced to evacuate his home land and some many years later, just after the official end of apartheid, Afrika set about writing this poem during a time of hope, in which his poem became an autobiographical verse. In "Nothing's Changed" Stanza one, Afrika invites the reader to stand in his childhood shoes and observe the on goings during apartheid. Although Afrika is recalling a past experience, through writing in the present tense Afrika incites the reader to relive the occurrence. By doing this he creates a vivid read in which the reader can identify with. As the poem develops it is easy for the reader to imagine that he too is walking, seeing and breathing everything that Afrika also overcame. Afrika continues to make the reader feel as if they are there
Poetry Coursework:Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes (Lawrence Ferlinghetti) and Nothing's Changed (Tatamkhulu Afrika)
Poetry Coursework: Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes (Lawrence Ferlinghetti) and Nothing's Changed (Tatamkhulu Afrika) The American Constitution clearly states that all men are created equally and should have the same opportunities as each other. However, Ferlinghetti believes this is not true. In his observation he sees the garbagemen or 'scavengers' tired and weary from their route, working hard but still in unavoidable poverty. Also using a word like scavengers he compares the garbagemen to rodents scrounging a living at the bottom of society. He then sees the 'elegant' couple in an 'elegant' Mercedes, loving their life, not a care in the world, both wealthy and smart. The woman 'so casually coifed' and the man in 'a hip three piece suit' who, have both benefited from the inequality of the American Constitution, taking it easy in their heavenly life. Ferlinghetti understands the unfairness of the Constitution but knows deep down that it cannot change and will never change. In the poem Ferlinghetti makes many contrasts between the scavengers and the elegant couple. The title shows us straight away that the poem will be about the contrasts between two pairs of people. 'Scavengers' is a derogatory term for the garbagemen because it suggests that they live off the rubbish of others - a scavenger beetle lives off rotting flesh. However,
Both Chinua Achebe and Tatamkhulu Afrika explore the dark side of human nature in the poems: "Vultures" and "Nothings Changed" By closely referring to the language and structure of both poems, compare the way the poets present their concerns
Both Chinua Achebe and Tatamkhulu Afrika explore the dark side of human nature in the poems: "Vultures" and "Nothings Changed" By closely referring to the language and structure of both poems, compare the way the poets present their concerns Both of the poets are trying to explain the evil that can go on in people's minds and how race and colour can make huge differences in the way that people can be perceived. They do this in very different ways and as both of the poets had very different backgrounds, they bring their own experiences into the poems. Whilst Afrika is an Egyptian and as such was of mixed race, he was raised as a white man so that he would not suffer some of the racial abuse that exists in Egypt. Chinua Achebe on the other hand is a black-African and was not that badly treated. He was born in 1931 and was very well educated. He was kept away from the racial abuse and in his poem he has tried to make the reader decide on what was happening. He has not told the reader what to think, unlike Afrika, he has let the reader judge for himself. In the first four lines of Afrikas' 'Nothing's Changed' the poet has tried to make sure that you feel relaxed, using calming words and images such as 'Seeding grasses' and 'Round hard stones click'. Those words bring about a mental image of a meadow, calm with nothing wrong anywhere. It uses repetition of 's' sounds and gives
How do the poets create a sense of place in 'Limbo' and 'Nothing's changed'?
How do the poets create a sense of place in 'Limbo' and 'Nothing's changed' Limbo I feel as though Brathwaite is trying to create an atmosphere or 'sense of place' by merging rhythm with short-syllable words, along with repetitive stanzas, creating hypnotic chants that give a sense of movement and events. The first stanza starts off 'And limbo stick is the silence in front of me, limbo'. Again this gives off a sense of movement, and the fact that Brathwaite uses short syllable words, means that it is going at a certain pace. Usually, if someone were to describe his or her thoughts and feelings that he or she experienced at a carnival or festival, to truly make the person understand and 'feel' what the experience could have been like, the best way to put it across would be to show 'movement'. If what Brathwaite was trying to describe was at a slow, laborious tempo, a stanza like that of four, 'stick hit sound, and the dark still steady' would be, for instance, written as ' there was the sound of the stick hitting...' and vice versa. If it was at a quick pace, where the order of events were shorter, the simplest way to portray this would be to write short syllables (or most commonly 'monosyllabic' words) and rhythmically patterned stanzas. It is made clear in stanza four and seven that he is onboard a ship, '...and the ship like it ready' or ' long dark deck and the water
How do the poets convey anger
How do the poets convey anger in the poems you have studied? Give your own response to the poetry, indicating your own point of view In 'Nothing's Changed' the poet expresses his anger in many ways. The persona is a black South African man, angered at the way black people were treated in South America during apartheid. However, the way they were treated is not what angers him so much. It is the fact that the abolition of apartheid has not really changed the perspective of white people or the treatment of black people. The main thing that stands out in this poem is the comparison between the posh restaurant for white people and the 'working man's café'. 'Crushed ice white glass, linen falls, the single rose .' This gives an example of the high quality, indicating expensive glassware, white tablecloths and the decoration. This description clearly indicates the superiority of the restaurant. This comparison is made very vivid by the description of the persona. Also ,this symbolises conflicting cultures, the white people, dining in a posh, new restaurant with clean tablecloths and expensive items, whereas the black people dine on cheap takeaways at a plastic table without a tablecloth, spit pieces on the floor and wipe their hands on their jeans. 'it's in the bone.' [line 40] This indicates the poets perceptive on the influence culture has. It shows that the
History coursework on sources
How useful are sources A-H in our investigation of the changing role of Fountains Abbey? Candidate number- 3145 Source A is a letter from the Archbishop Thurston of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1132. It tells us about the events that are taking place at Saint Mary's where the Monks originally came from, he explains about how the monks are living their lives in the monastery and he promotes the idea of Fountains Abbey because he thinks they would benefit from it. The source doesn't tell us exactly the events that are taking place at Saint Mary's and he cannot tell us because he is an outsider looking in on Saint Mary's. The source does tell us what Fountains role is hoped to be, and that is a new home for the monks to escape from the lack in roles at their previous Monastery and a chance to live in extreme discipline and for them to fill their role as monks. The source does not actually tell us what the actual role was when the monks arrived at Fountains and whether it changed. The source could be seen as not so reliable because the source is quoted by Brother Hugh of Kirkstall in his 'fountains chronicle' in 1207. Firstly, because it is quoted, things could have been changed to promote monks. Secondly, he is not actually from Fountains Abbey or Saint Mary's so he is an outsider and cannot possibly really know the truth of what is actually going on in the