Samuel Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 So. I'm doing my GCSE English at the moment, and we've been analysing two poems from alternative cultures (to be politically correct, you know). And I thought they're kinda cool so you might wana try reading them =D | From the AQA Anthology. Half-Caste To be read in a Carribean accent. It's phonetic mostly. It was written by John Agard in 1977, I believe. I'll be meeting the poet next year. The name and theme, 'half-caste', refers to a person whose skin colour is mixed (from a white parent with a black parent, to produce a colour skin which is neither predominantly one nor the other); and is sometimes an insult in the UK. The lack of grammar is intentional. It's against being called halfcaste. 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 dont 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/ Explain yuself wha yu mean Ah listening to yu wid de keen half of mih ear Ah lookin at yu wid de keen half of mih eye and 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 I've written a lot about it, so I know all about the structures of both of the poems; got any questions, ask. from 'Unrelated Incidents' This is a poem by Tom Leonard, written in 1976. It is written in his own dialect of language; from Glasgow (Scotland). Of course, thats nto a majorly alternative culture, but meh. Again, this is much more phonetic and everything is intentional. The reference to the BBC (the government-back British TV station) accent is that in those days, to make it clear to everyone, all news readers had to read the news with no detectable accent; a monotone voice; no one will take the news seriously if it's read with a 'voice lik/wanna yoo/scruff'. this is thi six a clock news thi man said n thi reason a talk wia BBC accent iz coz yi widny wahnt mi ti talk aboot thi trooth wia voice lik wanna yoo scruff. if a toktaboot thi trooth lik wanna yoo scruff yi widny thingk it wuz troo. jist wanna yoo scruff tokn. thirza right way ti spell ana right way to tok it. this is me tokn yir right way a spellin. this is ma trooth. yooz doant no thi trooth yirsellz cawz yi canny talk right. this is the six a clock nyooz. belt up. 'Belt up' means shut up. Which is your favourite? =D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Even we haven't done poems from different cultures yet. And we're about 7 months away from being tested on it. Urgh. I've read that second one in the Anthologies. Phonetics rock so much, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel Posted October 4, 2006 Author Share Posted October 4, 2006 They do indeed =D Although, our teacher's attempted Scottish accent sounded more like a Carribean accent than the one she used for the first poem -_- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 <_< One weird teacher. Then again, no doubt you've read about Mr. Alsop in my blog. Heh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Luna Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 I like the second one. It's got more accent in it. Arr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxy! Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Wow. Word-y. I like poetry, and those sounded pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HBK Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Lol, it's funny. We are going to give "Os Lusiadas" this year, a portuguese-navigation poem text written by Luis de Camoes in the 14th century. It talks about the portuguese discoveries in Asia and how we passed the Cabo de Boa Esperanca in Southern Africa. The funny thing is, it's written in portuguese-latin text. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts