1. Half-caste by John Agard
LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to assert racial identity
Starter Task
Read through the poem carefully and jot down any words/terms that you don’t understand in your exercise book

2. Half-caste by John Agard
LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity
Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste. Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when Picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when light an shadow mix in de sky is a half-caste weather? well in dat case england weather nearly always half-caste in fact some o dem cloud half-caste till dem overcast so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass ah rass? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean tchaikovsky sit down at dah piano an mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony?
Form & Structure
The poem is free verse (without rhyme)
This creates a conversational feel, as if the poet is directly challenging the reader
The speaker is the poet himself
Makes it hard for the reader to ignore what he is saying
The use of ‘half-caste’ as the title
Makes the reader aware that this will be about race
The phrase suggests something that is half-finished, which makes us think it could be about something that is incomplete,
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.

3. Half-caste by John Agard
LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity
Stanza 1 sits on its own
Suggests that the poet is separate from society / doesn’t fit in
Helps to re-emphasise the subject of the poem
Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste. Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when Picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when light an shadow mix in de sky is a half-caste weather? well in dat case england weather nearly always half-caste in fact some o dem cloud half-caste till dem overcast so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass ah rass? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean tchaikovsky sit down at dah piano an mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony?
Lists of examples
Shows that there are many of them, so it makes his point stronger
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.
Repetition of ‘half’
Increases the irony of it
No punctuation
Reinforces the ironic idea it is half-finished
Increases the speed of the writing, making it sound more angry
Rhyme used to build up rhythm – Caribbean street poetry
Most lines are split in half
Incomplete – like him, suggests they are not good enough

4. Half-caste by John Agard
LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity
Makes the idea of being half-caste seem immediately ridiculous
Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste. Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when light an shadow mix in de sky is a half-caste weather? well in dat case england weather nearly always half-caste in fact some o dem cloud half-caste till dem overcast so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass ah rass? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean tchaikovsky sit down at dah piano an mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony?
Phonetic spelling
Increases our awareness of the speaker’s voice
Highlights that these are the words of an actual person
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.
Repetition of ‘yuself’
Highlights that you, the audience, are the issue and not the speaker
Suggests again that the speaker is not considered a complete human by society. This is absurd - just like you can’t have half a shadow, you can’t have half a person
Doesn’t use capitals for the names of these great (white) artists.
Asserts that we are all one, equal race

5. Half-caste by John Agard
LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity
Excuse me standing on one leg I’m half-caste. Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when Picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean when light an shadow mix in de sky is a half-caste weather? well in dat case england weather nearly always half-caste in fact some o dem cloud half-caste till dem overcast so spiteful dem don’t want de sun pass ah rass? explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste yu mean tchaikovsky sit down at dah piano an mix a black key wid a white key is a half-caste symphony?
Image of Picasso’s paintings – when Picasso mixes colours on a canvas, we don’t call it half a picture
Image of the weather – when light and shadow mix in the sky, we don’t call it half-weather
When Tchaikovsky mixed notes from white and black keys on a piano, it wasn’t half a symphony
Like these things, mixing race/ blood /culture makes it better
Written in a mixture of standard English and Caribbean dialect – suggests it is a ‘whole’ – the mixture makes it better
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.
Direct Speech & Personal Pronouns
Repetition of ‘yu’ reminds us he is talking to us directly and almost jolts us into changing our mindset
‘I’/’Ah’/’I’m’/’my’ remind us that this is a real (whole) person speaking

6. Half-caste by John Agard
LO: To understand how Agard uses imagery and humour to to assert racial identity
Poem to compare to
Reason for comparing
Example