Half-caste by John Agard LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to assert racial identity Starter Task Read through the poem carefully and jot down any words/terms that you don’t understand in your exercise book

Half-caste by John Agard LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste. Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when Picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when light an shadow mix in de sky is a half-caste weather? well in dat case england weather nearly always half-caste in fact some o dem cloud half-caste till dem overcast so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass ah rass? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean tchaikovsky sit down at dah piano an mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony? Form & Structure The poem is free verse (without rhyme) This creates a conversational feel, as if the poet is directly challenging the reader The speaker is the poet himself Makes it hard for the reader to ignore what he is saying The use of ‘half-caste’ as the title Makes the reader aware that this will be about race The 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.

Half-caste by John Agard LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity Stanza 1 sits on its own Suggests that the poet is separate from society / doesn’t fit in Helps to re-emphasise the subject of the poem Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste. Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when Picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when light an shadow mix in de sky is a half-caste weather? well in dat case england weather nearly always half-caste in fact some o dem cloud half-caste till dem overcast so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass ah rass? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean tchaikovsky sit down at dah piano an mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony? Lists of examples Shows that there are many of them, so it makes his point stronger 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. Repetition of ‘half’ Increases the irony of it No punctuation Reinforces the ironic idea it is half-finished Increases the speed of the writing, making it sound more angry Rhyme used to build up rhythm – Caribbean street poetry Most lines are split in half Incomplete – like him, suggests they are not good enough

Half-caste by John Agard LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity Makes the idea of being half-caste seem immediately ridiculous Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste. Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when light an shadow mix in de sky is a half-caste weather? well in dat case england weather nearly always half-caste in fact some o dem cloud half-caste till dem overcast so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass ah rass? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean tchaikovsky sit down at dah piano an mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony? Phonetic spelling Increases our awareness of the speaker’s voice Highlights that these are the words of an actual person 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. 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 race

Half-caste by John Agard LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste. Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when Picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when light an shadow mix in de sky is a half-caste weather? well in dat case england weather nearly always half-caste in fact some o dem cloud half-caste till dem overcast so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass ah rass? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean tchaikovsky sit down at dah piano an mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony? Image of Picasso’s paintings – when Picasso mixes colours on a canvas, we don’t call it half a picture Image of the weather – when light and shadow mix in the sky, we don’t call it half-weather When 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 better Written in a mixture of standard English and Caribbean dialect – suggests it is a ‘whole’ – the mixture makes it better 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. Direct Speech & Personal Pronouns Repetition 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

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