HalfCaste JOHN AGARD POET PLAYWRIGHT The diversity of

Half-Caste JOHN AGARD – POET - PLAYWRIGHT

• '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.

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

Starter Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste Explain yuself wha yu mean when you say half-caste yu mean when picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas/ In pairs, answer these questions: What does this poem seem to be about? What tone/ mood is suggested by these lines? What dialect of English do you think this is?

• . . . NOW LOOK AT THE REST OF THE POEM • The speaker asks if Picasso mixing red and green is a half-caste canvas. There are two other comparisons offered as explanations as to what being ‘half-caste’ means. What are they? What do you notice about these comparisons? What does the speaker appear to think about the label and title - ‘Half -caste’?

What does the term HALF-CASTE suggest? HALF • Less than whole • Less important • Not properly formed CASTE • Used as in colour; the ‘cast’ of something • Indian term for social class, the lowest of which is considered ‘untouchable’ • Cast, made or formed

Repeated ideas Here are some of the repeated words in the poem: dream explain eye half-a half-a half-caste half-caste half-caste halh-caste i i i i’m i’m keen key mean mean mix mix say say weather wha wha when when when whole you you’ll yu yu yu yuself yuself What do you notice? ‘Explain yuself’ appears four times. Why? Is it aggressive or not?

Tone Give the following key lines a score from 0 -10 indicating the tone or mood. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Very negative - - Neutral -----Very positive Angry? Detached? Excited? Confrontational? Energetic? Defeated? Sarcastic? LINE A B C D E F SCORE Excuse me standing on one leg Explain yuself wha yu mean England weather nearly always half-caste Ah listening to yu wid de keen half of mih eye But yu must come back tomorrow An I will tell yu de other half of my story

• WORDS- EXTENDED METAPHOR • Throughout the poem, a picture is built up of half a person, which the writer clearly thinks is being implied by calling people ‘half-caste’. 1. on one leg 2. listening with the keen* half of your ear 3. looking with the keen* half of your eye 4. I offer you half a hand 5. when I sleep at night I close half an eye 6. when I dream, I dream half a dream 7. When moon begin to glow. . . I cast. . . half a shadow

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

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 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

The type of English the writer uses: – The first three lines are standard English; perhaps this is to make sure that he is listened to, as he feels that his own accent and dialect may make people judge him. The rest of the poem is in Afro-Caribbean dialect which helps him to reinforce his pride in his own identity and cultural background. It is also perfect for a performance poem.

Structure • The layout for Half Caste- John Agard is a performance piece as it was written to be read out loud with tone. The poem is made up of three stanzas of different lengths. He also writes in short sentences and no punctuation. This makes it easier to see the non-standard English. • In the first half of the poem, he shows how ridiculous the term “half caste” is by asking the listener to explain what he/she means. In the second half of the poem, he extends the irony by describing himself as only having half a body and then tells the listener to go away and think about what he has said.

Question Explain how Agard uses language and form to put forward his views about injustice in “Half-Caste”

Model answer Explain how Agard uses language to put forward his views about injustice in “Half-Caste” • In the poem Agard uses a range of vocabulary to explain how he feels about the term Half-Caste. Repetition of “Explain yuself” ensures that the reader is aware that Agard is demanding a response. It can be suggested that the speaker feels that the term “Half. Caste” is offensive because it has associations of rejection. He uses humour/PUN with the description of “standing on one leg” to ridicule the notion of a person being half a person. Furthermore, it can be argued that Agard uses Creole language to present the idea that he is proud of his heritage. The tone of the poem clearly presents Agard’s feelings of injustice relating to the racist term of Half-Caste and it can be argued that he finds this term insulting.

Plenary Why did Agard write the poem? "This imposition of 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. . . "