Poem A: ‘Half-caste’ by John Agard
Poem B: ‘The Class Game’ by Mary Casey
Poem C: ‘Conscientious Objector’ by
Edna St. Vincent Mallay
STRUCTURE
Similarities
Differences
Half-caste
The Class Game
• Enjambment – keeps the structure of the poem whilst still making sense of the
poem.
• Four stanzas of varying length and lines of
varying length. Longer stanzas start with
‘Explain yuself’ – repetition.
• Narrow layout, perhaps to reflect the
narrow-mindedness of some people? Or to
resemble someone standing on one leg?
• One long continuous stanza. No
breaks, to not break argument and
shows frustration with the class
differences? However, clear verses are
shown with repetition of the line “how
can you tell what class I’m from?”
Similarities
MEANING
Half-caste
• Prejudice against other races, half-caste.
• Being half-caste doesn’t make you any less
of a person, or half a person. The poem is
mocking people who think this. It doesn’t
matter what race you are.
Differences
The Class Game
• Prejudice against other classes.
• It doesn’t matter what class you are,
everyone is proud to be who they are.
Similarities
IMAGERY
Half-caste
• Examples of mixtures and half-and-half
combinations (cloudy weather, Picasso
mixing blue and green) to show how
ridiculous it is of people to look down on
them because they are half a nationality.
• Creates a ridiculous image in the reader’s
mind of a person with only half of
everything to show how ridiculous the
people who are prejudice against halfcaste people really are.
Differences
The Class Game
• Examples of pictures comparing the
two lifestyles.
“Or is it because my hands are stained
with toil?
Instead of soft lily-white with perfume
and oil?”
Rough hands, muddy and leathery against
pale, delicate fingers. Two very different
images.
LANGUAGE
Similarities
Differences
Half-caste
The Class Game
• Non-standard English, showing how the poet might speak.
• Addressing the reader. Questioning the reader.
• Demands explanation. Minimal use of
punctuation. Not even a capital on the
name Picasso. Incorrect grammar.
• Rhetorical questions used.
• Incorrect grammar showing the poet is
lower class.
• Lots of local dialogue and sayings – “Bread
pudding is wet nelly” – showing where he
comes from and that he’s different, but
why must it matter?
Similarities
Half-caste
EFFECTS
Differences
The Class Game
• Thought provocative, remains interesting by use of humorous language yet they
both have very important and serious arguments.
• Makes reader wonder whether class
• Makes reader wonder whether race
matters in modern day society or not and
matters in modern day society or not and
that class shouldn’t be important.
that race shouldn’t be important.
• Class divisions are formed by people who
• Racial divisions are formed by people who
believe they are superior or inferior to
believe they are superior or inferior to
others.
others.