Starter Task Read through the poem carefully and jot down any wordsterms that you dont understand in your exercise book LO To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to assert racial identity ID: 636094
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Slide1
Half-caste by John Agard
Starter TaskRead through the poem carefully and jot down any words/terms that you don’t understand in your exercise book
LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to assert racial identitySlide2
Half-caste by John Agard
Excuse mestanding on one legI’m half-caste.
Explain yuselfwha
yu
mean
when yu say half-casteyu mean when Picassomix red an greenis a half-caste canvas?explain yuselfwha yu meanwhen yu say half-casteyu mean when light an shadowmix in de skyis a half-caste weather?well in dat caseengland weathernearly always half-castein fact some o dem cloudhalf-caste till dem overcastso spiteful dem don’t want de sun passah rass?explain yuselfwha yu meanwhen yu say half-casteyu mean tchaikovskysit down at dah pianoan mix a black keywid a white keyis a half-caste symphony?
LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity
Form & StructureThe poem is free verse (without rhyme)This creates a conversational feel, as if the poet is directly challenging the readerThe speaker is the poet himselfMakes it hard for the reader to ignore what he is sayingThe use of ‘half-caste’ as the titleMakes the reader aware that this will be about raceThe phrase suggests something that is half-finished, which makes us think it could be about something that is incomplete,
Explain
yuself
wha
yu
mean
Ah listening to
yu
wid
de keen
half of
mih
ear
Ah looking at
yu
wid
de keen
half of
mih
eye
an when I’m introduced to
yu
I’m sure you’ll understand
why I offer
yu
half-a-hand
an when I sleep at night
I close half-a-eye
consequently when I dream
I dream half-a-dream
an when moon begin to glow
I half-caste human being
cast half-a-shadow
but
yu
must come back tomorrow
wid
de whole of
yu
eye
an de whole of
yu
ear
an de whole of
yu
mind.
an I will tell
yu
de other half
of my story.Slide3
Half-caste by John Agard
Excuse mestanding on one legI’m half-caste.
Explain yuselfwha
yu
mean
when yu say half-casteyu mean when Picassomix red an greenis a half-caste canvas?explain yuselfwha yu meanwhen yu say half-casteyu mean when light an shadowmix in de skyis a half-caste weather?well in dat caseengland weathernearly always half-castein fact some o dem cloudhalf-caste till dem overcastso spiteful dem don’t want de sun passah rass?explain yuselfwha yu meanwhen yu say half-casteyu mean tchaikovskysit down at dah pianoan mix a black keywid a white keyis a half-caste symphony
?LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and
humour to to assert racial identityStanza 1 sits on its ownSuggests that the poet is separate from society / doesn’t fit inHelps to re-emphasise the subject of the poem
Explain
yuself
wha
yu
meanAh listening to yu wid de keenhalf of mih earAh looking at yu wid de keenhalf of mih eyean when I’m introduced to yuI’m sure you’ll understandwhy I offer yu half-a-handan when I sleep at nightI close half-a-eyeconsequently when I dreamI dream half-a-dreaman when moon begin to glowI half-caste human beingcast half-a-shadowbut yu must come back tomorrowwid de whole of yu eyean de whole of yu earan de whole of yu mind.an I will tell yude other halfof my story.
Most lines are split in half
Incomplete – like him, suggests they are not good enough
Lists of examplesShows that there are many of them, so it makes his point stronger
Repetition of ‘half’Increases the irony of it
No punctuationReinforces the ironic idea it is half-finishedIncreases the speed of the writing, making it sound more angry
Rhyme used to build up rhythm – Caribbean street poetrySlide4
Half-caste by John Agard
Excuse mestanding on one legI’m half-caste.
Explain yuselfwha
yu
mean
when yu say half-casteyu mean when picassomix red an greenis a half-caste canvas?explain yuselfwha yu meanwhen yu say half-casteyu mean when light an shadowmix in de skyis a half-caste weather?well in dat caseengland weathernearly always half-castein fact some o dem cloudhalf-caste till dem overcastso spiteful dem don’t want de sun passah rass?explain yuselfwha yu meanwhen yu say half-casteyu mean tchaikovskysit down at dah pianoan mix a black keywid a white key
is a half-caste symphony?
LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identityMakes the idea of being half-caste seem immediately ridiculous
Explain
yuself
wha
yu
meanAh listening to yu wid de keenhalf of mih earAh looking at yu wid de keenhalf of mih eyean when I’m introduced to yuI’m sure you’ll understandwhy I offer yu half-a-handan when I sleep at nightI close half-a-eyeconsequently when I dreamI dream half-a-dreaman when moon begin to glowI half-caste human beingcast half-a-shadowbut yu must come back tomorrowwid de whole of yu eyean de whole of yu earan de whole of yu mind.an I will tell yude other halfof my story.Phonetic spellingIncreases our awareness of the speaker’s voiceHighlights that these are the words of an actual person
Repetition of ‘
yuself’Highlights that you, the audience, are the issue and not the speaker
Suggests again that the speaker is not considered a complete human by society. This is absurd - just like you can’t have half a shadow, you can’t have half a person
Doesn’t use capitals for the names of these great (white) artists.
Asserts that we are all one, equal raceSlide5
Half-caste by John Agard
Excuse mestanding on one leg
I’m half-caste.Explain yuself
wha
yu meanwhen yu say half-casteyu mean when Picassomix red an greenis a half-caste canvas?explain yuselfwha yu meanwhen yu say half-casteyu mean when light an shadowmix in de skyis a half-caste weather?well in dat caseengland weathernearly always half-castein fact some o dem cloudhalf-caste till dem overcastso spiteful dem don’t want de sun passah rass?explain yuselfwha yu meanwhen yu say half-casteyu mean tchaikovskysit down at dah pianoan mix a black keywid a white keyis a half-caste symphony
?LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and
humour to to assert racial identityWritten in a mixture of standard English and Caribbean dialect – suggests it is a ‘whole’ – the mixture makes it better
Explain
yuself
wha
yu
meanAh listening to yu wid de keenhalf of mih earAh looking at yu wid de keenhalf of mih eyean when I’m introduced to yuI’m sure you’ll understandwhy I offer yu half-a-handan when I sleep at nightI close half-a-eyeconsequently when I dreamI dream half-a-dreaman when moon begin to glowI half-caste human beingcast half-a-shadowbut yu must come back tomorrowwid de whole of yu eyean de whole of yu earan de whole of yu mind.an I will tell yude other halfof my story.
Direct Speech & Personal
PronounsRepetition of ‘yu’ reminds us he is talking to us directly and almost jolts us into changing our mindset
‘I’/’Ah’/’I’m’/’my’ remind us that this is a real (whole) person speaking
Image of Picasso’s paintings – when Picasso mixes colours on a canvas, we don’t call it half a pictureImage of the weather – when light and shadow mix in the sky, we don’t call it half-weatherWhen Tchaikovsky mixed notes from white and black keys on a piano, it wasn’t half a symphony
Like these things, mixing race/ blood /culture makes it betterSlide6
Half-caste by John Agard
LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity
Poem to compare to
Reason for comparing
Example