Describing the Cultures from Half-Caste and Presents from My Aunts in Pakistan

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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. She likes these vibrant gifts but feels weird wearing them because they are uncomfortable and she prefers wearing English clothes-‘denim’ and ’corduroy’. She tries to imagine what her homeland (Pakistan) is like for she traveled to England when she was just a few months old. She feels as if she doesn’t fit into both countries and thinks she’s all alone. The poem Half-Caste is about Jhon Agard who is mixed race. He came from Guyana in 1977 to England; like many others from the Caribbean he is mixed race, his mother Portuguese but born in Guyana and his father black. One of the things he likes about living in England is the wide range of people he meets: ‘’the diversity of the cultures here is very exciting…’’. This is about prejudice people who don’t think with an open mind. The poem is written in non-slandered English; he mixes Caribbean dialect to show he isn’t ashamed of being mixed race. He uses words like: ‘’dat’’ which is that, ‘’dem’’ which is them, ‘’yu’’ which is you; ‘’wah’’ which is what and ‘’da’’ which is the. This poem is written exactly how it is supposed to be said to be said because this poem is supposed to be preformed and read aloud. This

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