Transcript Half-Caste - Welcome To Biddick Academy

Half-Caste
Learning Objectives:
1. Consider the context of the poem
2. Use the poem to consider cultural
implications and views of different
races
1. To note how these are presented in the
poem
What does the term HALF-CASTE
suggest?
• Discuss this in your pairs and be ready to
present your views in 2mins
HALF
• Less than whole
• Less important
• Not properly formed
CASTE
• Indian term for social class, the
lowest of which is considered
‘untouchable’
• Used as in colour; the ‘cast’ of
something
• Cast, made or formed
•'The diversity of
About
the
poet
cultures
here
is
very exciting'.
I think humour can be very powerful. Humour breaks
down boundaries, it topples our self-importance, it
connects people
• John Agard came to England from Guyana in 1977.
• Like many people from the Caribbean, he is mixed race - his mother
is Portuguese, but born in Guyana and his father is black.
• One of the things he enjoys about living in England is the wide
range of people he meets:
• He doesn't like the view of racial origins, which is implied in the word
'half-caste', still used by many people to describe people of mixed
race.
• The term now is considered rude and insulting.
The poem uses the following techniques
Do you understand them?
• Repetition
• Repeat to reinforce an
idea or image
• Non-standard English
• English that doesn’t follow
the normal ‘rules’
• Patois/Creole language
• Non-standard, dialect form
of a language
• Key ideas/images
• Important pictures and
thoughts
John Agard - Half Caste
Poem opens
apologetically or
belligerently?
Opening stanza is a joke
Excuse me
standing on one leg
I’m half-caste.
Speaker stands on one leg because he
is only half made/half a person
Using the word caste as if it is
cast i.e. made
Explain yuself
Tone is more demanding and blunt than the
5
wha yu mean
first stanza
Written in his dialect (patois) with
when yu say half-caste
non-standard punctuation
yu mean when Picasso
emphasising the fact that the
mix red an green
speaker stands outside of society
is a half-caste canvas/
10 explain yuself
Agard ridicules the notion of Half-caste by
wha yu mean
applying it to art and, notably, the British
when yu say half-caste
Weather
yu mean when light an shadow
mix in de sky
15 is a half-caste weather/
explain yuself
Agard puns the
well in dat case
wha yu mean
words half-caste
england weather
25 when yu say half-caste
and overcast for
nearly always half-caste
yu mean tchaikovsky
humour
in fact some o dem cloud
sit down at dah piano
20 half-caste till dem overcast
an mix a black key
so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass
wid a white key
ah rass/
30 is a half-caste symphony/
The poet reprises
his earlier joke/pun
on a mixed race
person being half
formed: the “halfcaste” uses only
half of ear and eye,
and offers half a
hand to shake,
leading to the
absurdities of
dreaming half a
dream and casting
half a shadow.
Once again the
poet uses humour
and absurdity to
emphasise his view
of the term
35
40
45
50
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.
The poet is
asking/telling you to
be more open minded
and thoughtful both in
terms of your attitudes
and the way you
speak
Final pun on the word half, like
a joke, the poem ends with a
punchline
Stanzas vary
in length,
possibly like
the rambling
of an upset
speaker?
Repetition gives a
rhythm to the
poem and
emphasises the
number of reasons
that this term is
stupid/racist
What is the tone
or mood of this
poem?
Angry,
Unhappy,
humorous?
What is
Agard
suggesting
about the
listener?
Patois and nonstandard
punctuation
suggest this is a
poem to be
heard rather
than read
EVIDENCE
I half-caste human
being/cast half a shadow
What mood or emotion would you
associate with each line?
Angry?
I’m sure you’ll understand/
why I offer yu half-a-hand
Sarcastic?
Yu mean Tchaikovsky…is a
half-caste symphony
Amazed?
Explain yuself/Wha yu
mean/Ah listening to you
wid de keen/half of mih ear
Assertive?
Excuse me/standing on one
leg/I’m half-caste
Shy/Apologetic?
When yu say half-caste/yu
mean when light and
shadow mix in de sky
Well in dat case/England
weather/nearly always halfcaste
Perplexed/Confused?
Ironic/Sarcastic?
What are the themes of this poem?
• Agard attacks the assumptions behind the term
‘half-caste’ and ridicules it in the process
• Though the poem is light-hearted in tone, the
argument of the last six lines is very serious
• We need to give people our full attention and
respect
• Don’t use the term half-caste when discussing
the poem’s meaning. Instead, use the term
‘mixed race’
• How is ‘mixed race’ better than ‘half-caste’?
Why did Agard write the poem?
"This imposition of half, half, half on a person's total
human complexity implies that some sort of 'purity' has
been subverted. A child of mixed race is a tangible, loving
expression of human beings from different cultural
backgrounds getting together - that should be seen not as
something threatening, but as something enriching..."
Writing about poems
The poet says excuse me standing on one leg I'm half-caste. Halfcast means when you have two different races, like when a canvas is
red and green.
mix red and green is a half-caste canvas.
But he says if you come back tomorrow you will see a different
(whole) person instead of only half the story.
and I will tell you de other half of my story.
•candidate seems to have grasped roughly what the poem is about
•however, the paragraph is poorly expressed, so the ideas are very unclear
•the writing is poor with words being joined together
•the quotes don't quite connect with what is said about them
•suggests F/G candidate
Writing about poems
The argument of the poem comes out in the way it is written. You could almost
say that the poem is written in a mixed language - it's a kind of English, but it's
also in Caribbean. The poet writes 'wid' and instead of 'with' to show that the
speaker has a Caribbean accent. Some people might call this half-caste
language, saying that it's not proper English, but Agard would say it's just a
different variety of English. Also, he writes in a jokey style, like I explained above,
it's like he's teasing people who think he's "only" half-caste, and taking the mickey
is a good way of putting your ideas across, and making people think again, which
is why Agard wrote the poem. So the way the poem is written suits what it's trying
to say
•good drawing together of ideas
•two good general points clearly made
•because this is a conclusion, it relates to detailed points made earlier
•suggests A/B candidate
Review
• How important is it for the poet to write in
non-standard English?
• The poem makes a serious point but uses
humour to do so. What kinds of humour do
you find here and how well do they work?
• How does John Agard explore the
meanings of “half” and “whole” in this
poem?