Essay About Agard
Páginas: 2 (373 palabras)
Publicado: 7 de enero de 2013
Literatura Anglesa S.XX
About “Half- Caste”, by John Agard
In my opnion, “Half-Caste” is a hard and direct critic against racism and people’s preconceptions of race identity. John Agard’stries to make readers think about this by questioning and giving examples that illustrates the ridicoulous of considering just half-part of something instead of accepting things just as they are.The poem starts with a three-line stanza in wich Argard introduces the main subject of the poem, “I’m half-caste” and immediately thereafter in the following verse, ‘Explain yuself / wha yu mean /when yu say half-caste’. Thus, Agard does engage the reader in the poem, creating a field of confrontation and making him the target of his criticism. We can see how the writer uses the whole first partof the poem to challenge people who looks down on those of mixed nationality. His tone of protest is constant throughout the poem and he intends to make clear the arguments that those who despisethe “half-caste” hold.
On the second part of the poem, Agard provides a mix of images that highlight the idea that there are things that should not be separated or split, and if divided, they wouldnot only lose their function, but also their utility, their nature and beauty. For example, he names many parts of the human body, as well as he mentions the weather in England or Picasso and Tchaikovsky,as well-known artists, who are easily recognizable by the audience, and refers to their creations:
‘when yu say half-caste
yu mean when picasso
mix red and green
is a half-caste canvas/’In conclusion, we can realise that Agard is always dropping deeper questions between the lines of this standard-creole English poem: Why didn’t anybody question the mix of colours that Picasso made?Could anyone give you just half-a-hand? Could be possible to compose a symphony with only black keys? All these interrogations lead all us to the same conclusion: maybe mixes are not that bad,...
About “Half- Caste”, by John Agard
In my opnion, “Half-Caste” is a hard and direct critic against racism and people’s preconceptions of race identity. John Agard’stries to make readers think about this by questioning and giving examples that illustrates the ridicoulous of considering just half-part of something instead of accepting things just as they are.The poem starts with a three-line stanza in wich Argard introduces the main subject of the poem, “I’m half-caste” and immediately thereafter in the following verse, ‘Explain yuself / wha yu mean /when yu say half-caste’. Thus, Agard does engage the reader in the poem, creating a field of confrontation and making him the target of his criticism. We can see how the writer uses the whole first partof the poem to challenge people who looks down on those of mixed nationality. His tone of protest is constant throughout the poem and he intends to make clear the arguments that those who despisethe “half-caste” hold.
On the second part of the poem, Agard provides a mix of images that highlight the idea that there are things that should not be separated or split, and if divided, they wouldnot only lose their function, but also their utility, their nature and beauty. For example, he names many parts of the human body, as well as he mentions the weather in England or Picasso and Tchaikovsky,as well-known artists, who are easily recognizable by the audience, and refers to their creations:
‘when yu say half-caste
yu mean when picasso
mix red and green
is a half-caste canvas/’In conclusion, we can realise that Agard is always dropping deeper questions between the lines of this standard-creole English poem: Why didn’t anybody question the mix of colours that Picasso made?Could anyone give you just half-a-hand? Could be possible to compose a symphony with only black keys? All these interrogations lead all us to the same conclusion: maybe mixes are not that bad,...
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