half caste and Parade s End essay

HALF-CASTE and PARADE’S END
M-meaning
Half-Caste is a poem written by John Agard, and is a protest about the way he is treated because of his mixed parentage. He believes that humour is an effective way of challenging people’s opinions. He mocks the idea of mixed race people being ‘incomplete’; he is baffled and amused at the idea of being a half a person; he is angry that people are prejudiced and narrow-minded. He speaks with his native accent in English and this along with his anger makes his tone sound a lot more personal and directed towards the people who use the term. Similarly, Nagra explores Parade’s End with themes of racial tension through the conflict of poverty and wealth between Asians and whites. A successful black family from the South is threatened by the Yorkshire working class locals.
S-structure
In Half-caste, the first stanza introduces the serious subject with humour by poking fun at the term ‘half-caste’, which is then repeated many times throughout the poem, to emphasize the idea of being half a person. Middle stanza is long and rambling and gives the impression of a rant. It highlights that it is nonsense that a half-caste is incomplete, which is supported by the lack of punctuation which quickens the pace as if the narrator is bursting to get his view across. Similarly, Nagra uses enjambment, as there is no punctuation between the lines, for instance, in ‘Bolted two metal bar’, which emphasizes the important need to lock the shop, as there have been thieves before. Furthermore, Agar uses a lack of capital letters, with ‘england’ or ‘picasso’, which could perhaps suggest that everyone is of equal status, which Nagar also uses similarly with phonetic spelling of ‘Yorksa’, to reinfore the difference felt between the two cultures.
Despite this, the use of rhythm is not present in ether of the two poems, as both have a very similar purpose, and don’t want the poems to sound neat and happy, but to sound as rough as rough as they can, to get across the meaning that it is something very serious. Nevertheless, Agard uses some occasional rhymes like “an mix a black key/wid a white key” these rhymes help to make the point of mixing more important. These lines rhyme skipping one line at the starting word and ending word or vowel sound, which help to make it clear that he is speaking at you and try to impact the reader with words like “ear” and “eye”.

I-imagery
In Parade’s End, imagery is used to explore the racial tension between the family and the locals. ‘The few who warmed us a thumbs up’, which suggests friendliness through the metaphorical use of the word ‘warmed’ reinforced by the colloquial phrase ‘thumbs up’. However, the word ‘few’ also represents a lack of support, suggesting that they are not really part of the community, which is furthermore emphasized by the ‘Champagne-gold’ colour of the car, which suggests wealth, as well as a metaphor for the way the family wants to fit in. Similarly, Agar uses metaphorical language – he compares being a mix of race to the different colours of a painting, showing it’s beautiful and the weather showing it is natural. Piano music uses a mix of black and white keys to create melody, but people do not call it half-caste. He also use metaphors with the word half caste, “is a half caste symphony?” this metaphors are used because they explain that it is impossible to have half caste of this inanimate objects and uses this to explain why it shouldn’t be used for humans too.

L-language
John Agard use phonetic spelling to show the pronunciation of the word from his dialect. He does this to make the poem more personal and strong and it makes you feel like he is really talking to you especially when he uses words like "dem", "yu", "wha" and "dah" which also show that he is proud of his roots. He also used figurative language to make the point of the poem clearer like the use of repetition of the words “half caste”, “explain yu self”,”half”, “whole” this words are repeated because they are the most powerful in the context of the poem. On the other hand, contrasts are used in Parade’s End, to depict the conflict between races and status. For example, the repeated use of the pronouns ‘our, us, we’ are used to emphasise the racial tension between the family and the locals ‘Council mums at our meat display’. The shop is used by the locals but the family is badly treated by them and is made clear by what the mums have to say, as there is a clear divide. Similarly, this is alos presented with the ‘valley of high rise flats’ and ‘cu- de-sac’d semi detatched’, to show the working class landscape versus comfortable life-style, as well as the use of images of poverty, shown by the dole, corned beef, graffiti, etc.

E-effect
Both poems have a very similar purpose, and both end by giving a message to the reader, to be more open minded and thoughtful. Agar finally ends the poem, by saying ‘an i will tell yu de other half of my story’; a final pun on the word half, like a joke, which creates a final punchline, leaving the reader to reflect on the subject on his own. Similarly, Nagra ends the poem with a final metaphor, as the family return to their Asian identity. ‘Then we swept away the bonnet-leaves/from gold to brown of our former colour’ suggests that racism has left them out in the cold. The word ‘leaves’ suggests autumn is where they belong as they are prevented from enjoying the ‘gold’ of summer. The threats and violence is a reminder that they are always judged by the colour of their skin and will never fully enjoy the fruits of their success.