The poem has a sarcastic tone to it and I think it’s to show how he thinks that people are not thinking when they use this phrase, he expresses this by saying “when you say half-caste/yu mean when Picasso/mix red and green/is a half-caste canvas”. Which shows that they are saying they are lower class or lesser than themselves, because saying that Picasso’s paintings are ‘half-caste’ is him saying you wouldn’t say this about Picasso’s paintings, so why should I be different. The poet’s attitude towards this phrase and the people who use it is very aggressive and it shows when he says “ explain yuself” this could be seen as aggressive because telling someone to explain themselves is implying that they should justify why they said or did whatever they did. The phrase is used quite frequently in this poem which shows he wants people to explain why he is being called half-caste. Also him repeating this emphasises how much he wants to know why.
Half-Caste – My Version John Agard’s poem ‘Half-Caste’ expresses his anger against the derogatory term “half-caste” used against people of mixed race, and highlights the unreasonable and illogical judgements it represents, by comparisons to celebrated mixed art, weather and music which are considered positive and not subject to the prejudices he has witnessed as a Caribbean man living in England. Prejudice, judgement and discrimination are prominent themes in the poem as Agard attacks offensive language used against him; born out of the racial and cultural tensions he experienced England. Agard opens with a direct and accusatory, but nonetheless humorous tone in the first line as he sarcastically asks the reader to “excuse” him, to take notice of the man who, being ‘half-caste’, only has “one leg”. Agard’s mocking of the connotations of “half-caste” continues throughout the poem with a humorous tone that remains interrogatory and entwined anger. Despite the opinions and abuse of his harassers the poetic speaker remains proud of his cultural heritage shown by the use of his native Caribbean dialect.
In what ways do ‘half cast’ and ‘unrelated incidents’ explore being part of two different cultures? ‘Unrelated incidents’ by Tom Leonard is written in his own Glaswegian dialect. The poem appears to be a parody of a BBC news reader’s Accent; Tom Leonard is sending a message that the public would not take the news seriously if it was read with a voice like “lik/wanna you/scruff” This quote shows that the BBC is in a way, snobbish and looks down on ordinary working class people like Tom Leonard. His poem is a stand against ‘RP’ accents, like those of the news readers at the BBC. Tom Leonard lays out his poem as news reporter would read on an auto cue.
Compare Half Caste and Unrelated incidents ‘Half Caste’ is a poem that reflects John Agard’s anger at the way he is being treated as he is mixed race. His poem has repeated images of half things to show this growing dissatisfaction and anger at this. He uses humour to try to engage the audience. ‘Unrelated incidents’ is aimed at challenging the audience’s perception of how dialect influences who we are and what is socially acceptable. Half Caste has a disjointed, irregular structure to emphasise the accusatory tone of the poem and it's subject matter.
Agard uses humorous sarcasm, “excuse me, standing on one leg, I’m half-caste” and dialect, “explain yuself, wha yu mean” to express his opinion. The tone of this poem is quite outspoken and yet funny but makes clear that he feels that the term ‘half-caste’ is an outdated phrase and is offensive. Though this might be a light-hearted approach towards the subject of racism, the last six lines suddenly turns serious, making us pay attention. The way that it is presented to the reader, is that he feels very strongly about this subject, and it suggests that he is not the only person who feels this way about the offensive term that is ‘half-caste’. This poem uses a fast pace to reflect the passion and anger that Agard has on this particular subject.
This poem demonstrates figurative language which is language employing figures of speech; language that cannot be taken literally or only literally. This poem also has several different poetic devices, which is a device that contributes to content and poetic structure that does not involve meaning in term of language. The first verse of this poem Terence friend is speaking to him about how sad all his poems are; all of them are about death. His friend is telling him he needs to lighten up and get drunk. His friend says, “It gives a chap the belly-ache.
Question: Choose two poems with the experience of living with two cultures, and show how the experience is reflected in the language of the poems The two poems chosen are ‘’Half-Caste’’ by Jhon Agard and ‘’Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’’ by Moniza Alvi. The first poem ‘’Half-Caste’’ by Jhon Agard talks about his past and his dislikes of the term ‘’half-caste’’. He thinks when people call you half-caste they are calling you ‘half’ a person but really he is a whole person. He personally thinks that ‘‘half-caste’’ is a ridiculed term and very racist. The second poem ‘’Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’’ is about a mixed race girl who tells us about the gifts she receives from her aunts in Pakistan.
The title almost seems to drag out the letters of the word, contrasting against the rest of the poem, which due to the rich enjambment, results in a more broken and muddled effect. In the first stanza, Mr Bleaney’s weakness is portrayed well with the phrase ‘they moved him’, suggesting his lack of power and need for aid, which differs from the common idea of masculinity. The line ‘thin and frayed’ uses an everyday object, as it refers to the curtains, to connote Mr Bleaney himself in an equally weak way. In the third stanza, the line ‘no room for books or bags’ could suggest Mr Bleaney’s lack of social skill or education, symbolising his limitations in life and portraying him as weak once again. In stanza’s four and five, the idea of cyclical routine helps to reflect his sedentary life, displayed with the line ‘I know his habits- What time he came down/His preference for sauce to gravy’ in stanza four.
This man was metaphorically out of his depth. The second factor to consider in this poem is the methods that the author used. Throughout the poem, the narration shifts between first and third person, almost like a conversation between the living and the dead. In the first stanza, Smith uses a colon to switch the point of narration. “But still he lay moaning: I was much further out than you thought.” this also repeats in the last
On the contrary, McGough poem has a different viewpoint about war from Brooke’s poem. For example: ‘Patriots are a bit nuts in the head Because they wear red, white and blue- tinted spectacles’ Not only that the poetry form is written as a free verse, but it is written as a free rhyme scheme as well. However, McGough wrote this poem as a parody. He imitates and exaggerated war into