half-caste*

• who is the author + when was it written?


  • john agard
  • 2005
• what is the significance of how the poem starts?

  • "excuse me"
  • an incincere apology to establishe a sarcastic tone
  • by being polite, he wants people to take notice (formal introduction)
• "consequently when i dream, i dream a half dream" what is the significance of this?


  he doesn't have the chance to dream a whole dream, but white people do, because they are privellaged and are given more oppurtunities.
• how is contrast used in the poem?

  • in the first half, repetition of the word "half"
  • in the next half, repetition of the word "whole"
• what is the structure of the poem?

  free verse (sometimes rhyming free verse)
• what is the effect of using his own dialect?

  colloquial language, linking to his identity
• "yu mean when picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas"


  metaphor: mixing two different things together produces something beautiful and valuble; he is comparing his dual hertiage to something impressive and of great value.
• "(...) mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony"


  the idea of a half-caste symphony is absurd. Symphony means a harmonious coming together of sounds, not something that doesn't sound nice and so showing that a person of mixed race isn't something absurd. A piano uses black and white keys but it isn't called half-caste, so the speaker questions why people of dual heritage are described as such.
• "explain yuself. what yu mean?"


  use of an aggressive tone makes him seem defensive: he is challenging the stereotypes that he constantly faces. He wants a response from the reader, a justification as rhetorical questions are a technique used when wiriting arguments.
• "wid de whole of yu eye, an de whole of yu ear, an de whole of yu mind"


  there is a contast between "whole" and the previous repetition of "half" showing that he is no less of a person due to his dual heritage and that it is nothing to be discriminated against for.
• what is john agard's dual heritage?

  his dad is from Guyana and his mum is Portuguese.
• "standing on one leg"


  the idea of somebody standing on one leg implies that they are not not fully stable or secure in their identity, which is a misconception about people of dual heritage.