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Name________________________________________________________ Form ____________________________________________________________

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Poems in Cluster Two 1) Half-Caste by John Agard 2) Search for my tongue by Sujata Bhatt 3) Unrelated Incidents by Tom Leonard 4) Not my Business by Nivi Osundare 5) Presents from My Aunts by Moniza Alvi 6) Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols 7) This Room by Imtiaz Dharker 8) Love after Love by Derek Walcott. In your English exam paper, you will be expected to answer a question on poems from different cultures. These poems are written by people who either live in different cultures or were born in different cultures. All the poems are in your “AQA Anthology” and you will be allowed to have a copy of the anthology in your exam with you. In the exam you will be expected to answer one essay question but write about two poems. Some poetry terms that you might find useful Metaphor A figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one thing is another. Some examples of metaphors are: The world’s a stage; he is a lion in battle, drowning in debt, and a sea of troubles.

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Rhyme The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words. The pattern of rhyme in a poem is using a different letter for each final sound. Simile A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word “like” or “as”. Here is an example. “What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up? Like a raisin in the sun? As you read and complete this booklet and then use it to revise from always try to answer the following key questions:

1. What is the poem about? 2. What is the stance or viewpoint of the poet? 3. What is the purpose of the poem? 4. What is the poet trying to convey? 5. Why did the poet write this poem? 6. what are the emotions or mood of the poet? 7. What does the poet want you to feel? How does the poet achieve this? 1. S Structure (stanza, divisions etc) 2. L Language (the use of words) 3. I Imagery (what is the effect of similes and metaphors) 4. M Movement and rhythm (regular or irregular? Effect? 5. S Sounds (alliteration, rhyme, assonance, onomatopoeia)

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Half-caste by John Agard The poem “Half-Caste” is by ______________________. The term Half-caste has been and is still used by some to describe – ___________________________________________. The poem is about how – ____________ race people are seen by the poet to be viewed in society as ____________ rate citizens. John Agard uses the example of the artist _______________ and comments because _____________ used a mixture of _______________ in his paintings does this make him a ___________________class ______________________. John Agard within the poem makes use of ______________________ throughout the poem, with reference to the English Weather Agard asks the question: should the English weather be _______________ because it is full of ____________________ and __________________. Agard does this further with reference to the composer _________________________________ and does this for two reasons. One to ask the ___________________________ is a person described as Half Caste ________________________________ a person, or a second _______________________ citizen? Secondly, to demonstrate the _____________________ of judging someone as __________________________ worthy of respect. Agard use of Language in the poem, for example words such as “Yuself “ and “Yu” are __________________________ this may have been done to show that he is having an ____________________ with the reader. As discussed above

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the use of ___________________________ for example, with reference to the English ___________________________, may be an attempt at Agard to use – _____________________. This is a powerful use of language and helps to Breakdown boundaries and highlights the ‘stupidity’ of the term ________________________ . John Agard uses ____________ standard English, why does he do this? Consider why John Agard uses ________ standard English and give some examples of this from the poem, what does he achieve by this?

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Unrelated Incidents by Tom Leonard (1976) This poem ________________________ by Tom ________________ is being spoken by a _______________________________ reader, he is stating that if he was to read the ______________ using an accent like the ordinary _____________ on the street, then the public would __________________ what is he saying as the truth and think that is was _________________. Therefore the poet is stating that a newsreader would never reveal his or her ______________________ to the viewer, therefore are the BBC using a ______________________ message of what they are saying. Do the BBC __________________________ think they are higher _____________ than everyone else? Are they _______________________. The language of the poem is the _________________ version of the Glaswegian Accent (using letters to represent the sound of the speech) , this equates that if the poem is read exactly as it is written the reader will sound like they are talking in a ____________________________.

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The poem has short sentences and no _________________________. The Poem further uses slang and __________________________________ language. What is the effectiveness of this? And, how does the poet want you to see this poem? i.e. is it serious or amusing?

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Task one Compare the poem “Unrelated incidents” to “Half-Caste using the Grid Below

Unrelated Incidents Half-Caste

What is similar between the two poems? How are the two poems different? What happens in the poem?

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How is the Poem set out on the page? Does the poem use any forms of Imagery How would you describe the use of language and sound?

Unrelated Incidents Half-Caste

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Task one continued Using the grid above, plan how you would write an essay comparing the two poems “Unrelated incidents” and “Half Caste”. Choose a theme as a focus e.g. the use of language or prejudice. Paragraph one You are going to write an introduction to your essay, you should explain what happens in each poem and the focus you have chosen. You might want to use the following sentences to help you We have studied the poems…. In the first poem… In the second poem…..

Paragraph two In this paragraph you should look at how the two poems are similar. What do they have in common? You will need to include:- What are the poems about How are they set out Do they use any similes or metaphors, repetition, comparison

etc

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You can use these sentences to help you These poems are similar in some ways. One way

is……………….. Also…….. Therefore….. Another way is……

Paragraph 3 In this paragraph you should write about how the poems are different. You should write the same as you did in paragraph two but this time for the differences

Conclusion In this paragraph you should link back to the chosen theme.. How to get a GOOD GRADE in a poetry essay

Use quotes from the poem Comment on the theme and structure Keep a good flow to your essay and don’t repeat yourself!

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Search for my tongue by Sujata Bhatt Task one: complete the paragraphs using the words in the box below, some of the words may be used more than once! The poem, an extract from a longer poem gives a ______________________ of the poet’s viewpoint and feelings of what it is like to speak and think in two _____________________. The poet who is originally from ________ is concerned that she will lose her __________________ language as she lives in the UK, as continues to speak _______________. The poet is in fear that as she has to speak, read and write in ________________ she will forget how to read and write in her _____________ language. As the Poem progresses she keeps her mother’s _____________ which refers to the language that learnt as a ______________ in her dreams, it can be argued that this is her way of ______________ her origins and roots. By the end of the poem the poet is ____________________ that this language and _________________ will always be a part of her identity.

Snapshot English India own tongue maintaining confident culture child languages Native

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Not my business by Nivi Osundare Task one: complete the following paragraphs using the words in the table below, some are used more than once! The poem is concerned with shared ____________________. It deals with a highly ______________________ topic that can be attributed to any country of the world, the topic of – __________________. The poet, from a _________________ background is writing with regard to his home country of __________________, this is shown by the name of __________________ which is an _______________ name. It has been shown that this poem can also be connected with _________________________________ and the oppression of the __________________ by the _____________ party. The poet uses the word ________________ which leaves the reader to guess who he is referring to. The poem is a collection of ____________________ stories, the first being the story of ________________________ he is beaten in the morning and taken away in a jeep. The second is about _____________________. His family are awoken in the __________________ and he is taken away for a

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___________ time, we are given a hint that he returns. Lastly there is _______________, who has been an exemplary worker (she has a “stainless record”) but finds that she has been given the sack without any warning or reason. After each story the poet asks what business it is of hers. All she has to concern herself with his her “yam” (_____________________) showing that in some countries _______________ is the weapon of the ________________.

Food hunger oppression Chinwe Responsibility controversial Africa Nigerian Danladi Akanni African Night “they” Long World war two Jews Nazi three tyrants

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Presents from my aunts by Moniza Alvi Task one: place the words in the box below into the paragraphs, remember some can be used more than once! In this poem the poet is describing herself as a _______________ year old girl. The Poet herself was born in _______________ as was moved to _______________ when she was only a child. She, like the poet in “_________________________________” is in fear of losing her own _____________________ identity, but in this poem the poet has little recollection of life in ______________________, and her memory is from old _____________________ and __________________ articles The poet in the poem is describing the ____________________ and ______________________ sent to her by her aunts in _______________________ she is drawn by the loveliness of the items but feels ____________________ wearing them. She feels more comfortable in _____________ and ___________________. The poet makes contrasts with the clothes she has from ___________ and _________________ (dull and boring) and the clothes that she receives from her aunts in _______________________. The poet is making an attempt to ____________________ what life would be like in this ____________________________.

Pakistan Spencer’s Photographs Jewellery awkward Remember Newspaper England Marks

13 world Search for my tongue Cultural corduroy Clothes

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Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols (1987) The poem is based on a true life event which occurred in – ______________ when a storm hit the UK which had formed in the Bay of Biscay, France, and the _____________________ of this to a Hurricane in the Caribbean in 1906 called “Hurricane ____________. The Poet, who is from the ____________________ is reminded of her own origins and her travel to England in the same way as the Hurricanes that ‘hit’ the _____________________ travel to ___________________. The poem begins in the ‘third person as describes how a woman is _______________________ by a hurricane. The Poem develops into the first person stance and the woman addresses the wind as ______________ and asks why he is creating so much _________________________. The names the poet gives to the hurricane is ______________ and ________________________ who are both storm _____________ and are now symbols of the _____________________ Caribbean’s. Huracan refers to the Carib Indians god of __________________, and it is for these reasons that the poet describes the woman as

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feeling that _____________________ has come with a _______________________ for her. The poem makes use of __________________ and ______________________ and this can be linked to images of the poet feeling, as a child that she was ___________________ from her home and images of her family being _____________________ as ________________________ when she first arrived in England

1987 slaves Woken imagery Shango Symbols comparison Hattie Caribbean God message Havoc Oya England Gods Winds

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Task two: answer the following question How is the poet’s cultural identity explored in this poem?

Make it clear what experience the poet is writing about. Refer to anything you know about the context of the poem

which helps you to understand the poem. Remember to comment in detail about how the poem is written,

referring to particular words and phrases.

Include in your answer

How she describes the storm, and how this relates to her identity.

What the experience of the storm has enabled her to understand.

Use quotes from the poem, remember S.L.I.M.S!

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This Room by Imtiaz Dharker Task one: complete the following paragraphs with the words in the box below, remember, as before, some can be used more than once! The poem this room by ______________________, is a puzzling poem. The first stanza of the poem describes a room becoming to ________________ for the space it has and is breaking ___________ of the walls. One viewpoint is that the room is in-fact a person’s __________________. That our __________ gives people invisible boundaries with regard to their ___________________, race, social _________________. Other people don’t understand this _______________________ and the restrictions it places on a person’s _________________. Another viewpoint is that it is to do with a person’s ______________________ and lifestyle choices, that as we develop and grow as people are ideas, opinions and viewpoints change or are further _______________________ and we grow to a point were we need more _______________________ to maintain ____________________ and grow. Stanza two and three continue on to describe how things are moving,

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this may be to do with personal ________________________ how are lives take on so many new ________________________ that there are many different and new ______________________ open to a person, more than one way to leave the ________________________! The Final stanza of the poem continues on to describe the “excitement”. The Poet it has been suggested is focusing on the point that she __________________ find her _____________________. That as her life profoundly ________________________ she has to find herself in the _________________________.

Chaos changes out opportunities room Imtiaz Dharker culture language exclusion lifestyle Large personality developed space Interest fulfilment directions feet cannot changed experience

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Love after Love by Derek Walcott Complete the following paragraphs with the words from the box below, some can be used more than once and some are missing you have to find them in the poem! The poem “Love after Love” by ________________________, is based on the theme of ____________________________. The Poem explores the topic of finding who we are in society, he uses the example of two ________________________ people, meeting and making __________________________. The first stanza of the poem develops the idea of ________________ of time, when you meet _____________________, a recognition of who you _________________. This is referred to in the poem as “______________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________” The second stanza goes on to discuss how we interact with ________________ and the world around _______________, the poet emphasises that in society, as we develop we become a ______________________ to ourselves as we believe other people’s ideas _____________________ and viewpoints, that whilst we

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________________ agree with them, we have no _____________________ but to follow, in a temporary __________________ to yourself and your ideas and ______________ (if you have friends who don’t like a certain pop group and you are trying to fit saying “you hate them too”, even if you really like them when on your own). As the poet states you become a _____________________ to yourself, you start to lose your identity. The poet develops the idea that as we get ________________, and therefore wiser! We look back over our life and ‘________________’ our true selves once more.

Rediscover stranger older don’t Derek Walcott forecast self-discovery Friends Different yourself disloyalty are Others us opinions choice Re-discover

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