What techniques does John Agard use of half caste?

What techniques does John Agard use of half caste?

Agard uses direct speech (e.g. ‘I’/ ‘yu’) and many commands (such as ‘Explain yuself’) to point his thoughts directly at the reader, and to make the poem challenging and confrontational.

What is John Agard’s most famous poem?

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?” So questions the narrator of John Agard’s well-known poem ‘Half-caste’, a wry, imaginative and darkly comic take on racial misconceptions and divisions.

What inspired John Agard to half caste?

Agard was born in what is now Guyana in 1949; he is of Afro-Guyanese descent, and his mixed-race upbringing is probably his inspiration for writing this poem. ‘Half-Caste’ is his most famous poem. He moved to England in the late 1970s and became a lecturer on Caribbean culture.

What is the poem Flag by John Agard about?

John Agard dictates excerpts of his poem ‘Flag’ and the ‘journey of questions’ the poem invokes. He discusses the symbolism of flags, from a simple piece of cloth to Imperialism, and asks if humanity waves a flag or if we are controlled by our own ideology.

How does half-caste show identity?

Half-Caste and other poems (2005) The collection explores multiple race issues faced by black and mixed race people living in the United Kingdom. The poem is a reflection of the feelings evoked in Agard as a result of being labelled ​“half-caste”​ upon moving to the UK.

What is the significance of the title half-caste?

Half-caste is a term used for individuals of multiracial descent. It is derived from the term caste, which comes from the Latin castus, meaning pure, and the derivative Portuguese and Spanish word casta, meaning race.

What does Agard mean?

Danish and Norwegian: habitational name from Ågård ‘farm by the stream’. French: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements agi(n) ‘edge (of a sword)’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘bold’.

What language does John Agard?

Patois
John Agard FRSL (born 21 June 1949 in British Guiana) is an Afro-Guyanese playwright, poet and children’s writer, now living in Britain….John Agard.

John Agard FRSL
Born 21 June 1949 Grantham, British Guiana
Language Patois
Nationality British
Education St Alban’s Academy

What does half-caste mean?

“Half-Caste” is a 2005 poem written by John Agard. Agard was born in Guyana (at the time British Guyana) in 1949 and moved to England in 1977. Contextualized in England, the poem explores the use of the word “half-caste,” a derogatory term referring to people of mixed race.

How does Agard present ideas about power in the poem flag?

Flags are highly symbolic objects. However, here Agard juxtaposes his simple description of a flag as a ‘piece of cloth’ with the powerful symbolism of a flag. In other words, it’s just a piece of cloth but has the power to bring a nation to its knees. He repeats this structure throughout the poem.

When did Agard write flag?

John Agard first published ‘Flag’ in his 2005 collection, Half-Caste and Other Poems, at a time in his life when he lived in Britain.

How does John Agard present the theme of identity in the poem half-caste?

When we talk about identity we signify how a person is portrayed. Agard’s poem ‘Half Caste’ presents the idea of originating from another culture negatively whereas Dharker’s presents the idea positively. Agard does not use any punctuation in his poem ‘Half-Caste’. Dharker on the other hand uses Standard English.

What techniques does John Agard use of Half Caste?

What techniques does John Agard use of Half Caste?

Agard makes use of metaphor, comparing ‘half-caste’ to art, the weather and music, which makes the poem a kind of parable – many teachers use analogy in their teaching to get the point across.

What race is John Agard?

John Agard FRSL (born 21 June 1949 in British Guiana) is an Afro-Guyanese playwright, poet and children’s writer, now living in Britain.

What style of writing does John Agard use?

In their blend of puckish wit, social observation and playful humour, these poems often revel in disrupting the establishment and accepted opinion; they run the stylistic gamut from freewheeling, grammarless performance pieces to traditional metered and rhymed forms, as well as mixing ‘straight’ English with the …

How old is John Agard?

72 years (June 21, 1949)
John Agard/Age

Why is imagery so important in half-caste?

The speaker opens the poem by taking the term “half-caste” literally, joking that being half-caste means the speaker is stuck “standing on one leg.” The imagery suggests a person who is lacking in some way—incomplete—and thus underscores the racist thinking behind the term “half-caste.” This idea of only being half a …

What do you mean half-caste?

Half-caste is a term for a category of people of mixed race or ethnicity. It is derived from the term caste, which comes from the Latin castus, meaning pure, and the derivative Portuguese and Spanish casta, meaning race.

What is angry John Agard?

About this poem is that it has made me stop using the term ‘half-caste’, but it also makes me angry about abuse words which I suffer from people who use them thoughtlessly.

What is in a name John Agard?

In “What’s in a Name?” Rumplestiltskin’s name is revealed, and leaked to the press: “Damn whoever told/my name my name/to the paparazzi/for they have split/the beans of me/unlit/the spark of me/unsung/the lark of me/unstrung/the bow of me/tolled/the very bell of me/indeed tweaked/the inner nose of me.” But Agard is …

What is John Agard saying about identity?

The poet feels blinded from his own identity; the white-owned historical narrative has ‘Bandage up me eye with me won history/ Bind me to me own identity’. This is a shocking idea, that someone should feel blinded, deliberately denied knowledge of his own ancestors and role models.

Who is Maya Angelou why is her poetry so significant?

Maya Angelou was an American author, actress, screenwriter, dancer, poet and civil rights activist best known for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman.

Why did John Agard write check out history?

Checking Out Me History is a poem of two sides. Agard wants us to be aware of both the things he was taught at school and the things he did not learn in the mainstream curriculum that he feels are important.

What do you mean Half Caste?

What did John Agard say about half caste?

This John Agard poem criticises the use of the term “half-caste”, a popular British slur against mixed-race individuals. The poem demonstrates Agard’s subtle cleverness. He… Read More Is a half-caste canvas? Is a half-caste weather?? When yu say half-caste? Is a half-caste symphony?

Why does Jodi McAnuff dislike the term half caste?

Mixed race footballer Jodi McAnuff dislikes the term, saying that ‘”it means you’re half of something, like there’s something missing.” It is this idea that John Agard explores in his poem. Poem Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste.

Why does Agard say he is half a person?

• In the second half of the poem Agard talks sarcastically about being “half” a person. He then ends by asking the reader to come back “wid de whole of your mind.” • He repeats key phrases e.g. “Explain yuself”and “half-caste” to emphasise his message. • The short lines and lack of punctuation make the poem feel aggressive and confrontational.

What kind of voice does John Agard have?

Agard uses the dialect with which he grew up, with the phonetic spelling that enables it to be universally understood. The voice is that of the poet, challenging another person who uses the derogatory term ‘half-caste’.