‘Half-Caste’ by John Agard - questions PDF

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‘Half-Caste’ by John Agard A unique and energetic force in contemporary British poetry, John Agard's poems combine acute social observation, puckish wit and a riotous imagination to thrilling effect. Born in Guyana, South America in 1949, Agard moved to Britain in the late seventies. Perhaps unsurprisingly, cultural differences, class divisions and subverted racial stereotypes abound in his often questing, questioning work, from poems that adopt the Caribbean tradition of limbo dancing as a symbol of freedom and otherness, to darkly comic, bitingly sardonic pieces such as 'Half-caste', one of Agard's best-loved poems, which brilliantly turns that phrase offensive absurdity inside-out (from poetryarchive.org) Questions: 1. In your own words, explain the message of the poem as succinctly as you can Half caste is a poem about how language can demean and sometimes hurt people because of the meaning and how the term “half caste” can be very offensive to people who are of mixed race. Agard expresses his anger through the use of humour and sarcasm to the people who call him “half caste” and how the associations with the term are very much untrue and degrading as it is a term that is very subjecting. 2. Are there any words that people use about you (even without meaning to), or your friends/family, that make you feel angry/misunderstood/undervalued? What are they and why? 3. Why does Agard object to the term “half-caste”? Is there a better term we could use? He has personal connection to the term. He has personal experience of the term being directed at/used about him. Agard objects to the term “half caste” as it perhaps suggests that people who are mixed race are not complete (half of something) and objects to being called “half a human”. He defends his identity as a whole human being and demand that people change their attitudes and start thinking about the meaning behind the term. A better term that could be used is biracial or mixed race as they don't imply inferiority. 4. What examples does he give to show how absurd the idea of a “half-caste” human being is? Why are they effective? “Standing on one leg I am half caste”, “half caste canvas”, “half caste symphony”, “offer half a hand”, “dream half a dream”, “Half caste weather”. The use of these examples is very effective, where in this poem Agard draws several comparisons to situations where two colours mix to make something beautiful and something unique and whole , however people only accept that type of mixing but don't accept the mixing of blood and races, regarding mixed race as something impure or incomplete. 5. A mixture of languages (Caribbean dialect and ‘correct’ British English) is used to emphasise his mixed heritage - find examples “Ah rass” and “Ah looking at yu wide de keen half of mih eye” are examples of Caribbean dialect while “Close half a-eye consequently when I dream” are examples of correct british english.‘This very powerfully gets across the fact that Agard is of mixed heritage.

6. What is the tone of the opening stanza? Humourous and sarcasm. Agard starts the poem with “excuse me” which grabs the reader’s attention and has a tone of urgency as Agard has something important to say , “standing on one leg, I am half caste” uses sarcasm and mockery, and expresses his anger and bitterness. 7. What is the effect of the repeated imperative, “Explain yuself’”? The uses of imperative creates a sense of urgency and addresses the reader directly, where his tone is challenging and threatening even demanding an explanation and the reader to change their attitude, which emphasizes the confrontational nature of the poem. A sense of being pushed or harried into becoming more careful when using the term “half caste. 8. Unpack the imagery here: “and when moon begin to glow/ I half-caste human being/cast half-a-shadow”. Connotations/associations?

has a sinister vampire like tone and the author seems to by where this has connotations of creatures that come out at night as being evil and dangerous and perhaps people have this misconception that people of mixed race aren’t human perhaps even sinister or evil. Half a shadow again emphasizes the absurdity of the term “half caste”, where people think that people of mixed race aren’t fully human hence the sarcasm in “half a shadow”. 9. Explain the effect of the last four lines of the long middle stanza. What does Agard want us to do? He wants readers to give him their full attention and respect. Dismissive tone however offers an opportunity to learn. He is turning the term ‘half caste” back on the reader which makes it challenging. 10. Agard uses the personal pronouns “I” and “yu” a lot in this poem - reasons? The use of personal pronouns such as “ yu” to point this thoughts and address the reader directly urging them to think about what Agard is saying, where he challenges the reader to change their thinking and attitude and come up with a better term to use rather than “half caste”. This also make the poem confrontational and argumentative. (Makes it more personal and includes the reader). Uses Enjambment in the poem (run on sentences). It reflects his frustration and anger by the long and continuous stream, as if he wants to get it off his chest....