Half Caste written by John Agard and Nothing's Changed written by Tatamkhulu Afrika, both explore the portrayal of racism

        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, ‘wha yu mean, Ah listening to yu wid de keen,’ this is to give a flow throughout the poem.  John Agard uses a strong Jamaican accent to lure the reader in.  However Nothing’s Changed is written in free verse as though is was telling a very important story.  Both poem uses rhythm.  In Afrika’s poem he uses rhythm changes when the narrator is directly speaking to the reader.  He also uses a repetition of ‘and’ to make the sentences longer.

        There are various uses of imagery in both poems.  John Agard expresses his poem with repetition.  He uses ‘explain yuself’ various times to create a very direct dialect between him and the reader.  He also uses comparison to show his points.  Moreover sarcasm is used, ‘an mix a black key wid a white key is a half caste symphony.’  This is used to prove Agard’s points about racism.  The final imagery is alliteration, ‘I half-caste human being cast half a shadow.’  The alliteration of the letter ‘H’ is used to represent the title of the poem to show power of the derogatory term ‘Half Caste.’

        The main imagery in Nothing’s Changed is the extended metaphor of the glass,’ shiver down the glass.’  This is to show the reader the division between white and black people.  

        Half Caste vocabulary is unique as it uses a Caribbean dialect.  However Nothing’s Changed uses comparison only and the vocabulary is nothing special.

        In conclusion both Half Caste and Nothing’s Changed talks about racism in some way.  They both have similarities and differences.  They both use a unique structure to express the poem.   The poets are uses many types of imagery to put their point across to the reader.  Both Agard and Afrika explore the portrayal of racism.