English Identity Poems Paragraphs

Half-Caste

Agard uses satire throughout the poem in order to mock and ridicule racist people who think that being half-caste is not as good. I know this because the poem states,’Excuse me, I’m standing on one leg. I’m half-caste.’ The satiric metaphor emphasises that white people think that half-caste people are half as good in every way, since people have two legs but Agard mentioned about standing on one. Essentially, Agard imitates what white people think of different races in order to persuade them to stop being racist Contextually, this relates to the prejudice that ethnic minorities face even today

He also makes more satirical comments about western culture, especially things that are a mix of two. One metaphor to show this is,’Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste. Yu mean when Picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas.’ This underlines that if white people discriminate against half caste people, who are a mix of two colours, they also have to discriminate against the paintings of Picasso, a great Western artist, which are also a mix of two colours.

Finally, he uses anaphora throughout this free-verse poem to express his points numerous times. This is because the text states,’explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste,’ numerous times in the second massive stanza when he uses satire to do with Western culture. The phrase contain an imperative verb with a possessive pronoun,’explain yuself,’ creates a demanding tone, symbolising that Agard is eager and keen to know what people think about the word,’half-caste.’

Still I Rise

Angelou uses rhetorical questions in some verses of the poem to do with her certain characteristics which might make people discriminate against her culture(Black women) and then she responds to them with similes related to money. I know this because in stanza 5, the text states,’Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it hard ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard.’ Only the wealthy upper classes have gold mines, despite Black people being denied economic opportunity historically. This puts her in a position to threaten the reader, proving her point about anti-racism.

The volta of the poem is after the seventh verse, when Angelou moves away from the ABCB rhyme scheme and moves to a six line verse, ending with a rhyming couplet(ABABCC rhyme scheme). The Bs in the rhyme scheme are just the phrase I rise. I know this because the text states,’ Out of the huts of history’s shame / I rise. Up from a past that’s rooted in pain / I rise I’m a black ocean leaping and wide Welling and Swelling I bear in the tide.’ The epistrophic enjambement of the phrase,’I rise,’ after the volta symbolises Angelou’s message that she has repeated throughout the poem. No matter how much people discriminate, she will still rise up to fight it. Furthermore, the metaphor’,’I’m a black ocean,’ shows that despite some people thinking that black people are,’inferior,’ oceans are very powerful, so Angelou is also representing authority and power.

In verses one and six, she makes some satirical comments relating to racial discrimination in the first three lines of those verses. However, she contradicts those arguments in the fourth line. The 6th stanza states,’You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your hatefulness. But still, like air, I’ll rise.’ The anaphora of ‘You may,’ in the first three lines symbolise the satire that Angelou is trying to prove to change the reader’s view, as shown in the last line.

Comparison of Hijab Scene #7 and Refugees

The poems,’Hijab Scene,’ and ,’Refugees,’ are trying to prove similar types: don’t be influenced by common stereotypes and don’t indirectly discriminate against ethnic minorities. However, the poets convey contrasting tones and styles of language in their poems. In Hijab Scene, Kahf uses an angry and demanding tone to express her views, through the use of anaphora in some cases, but also sarcasm. In line three to five, the text states,’No, I would not like to defect[meaning emigrate] I’m already American, But thank you for offering.’ The ironic phrase at the end symbolises that she is quite angry with the prejudicial stereotypical assumptions that she has dealt with.

On the other hand, Bilston is not writing it from the perspective of someone who has faced numerous discrimination he just wants other people to understand, so he uses more encouraging and uplifting tone, rather than anger and satire. This is because the poem states,’The world can be looked at another way,’ and ‘We should make them welcome here.’ In the second quote, the personal pronoun with the modal verb,’We should,’ resembles that everyone has a part to play in making refugees welcome and it should happen.

One similarity of the two poems is that they both challenge stereotypes. In Hijab Scene, the second and third lines state,’No, I’m not from that country where women can’t drive cars.’ Mentioned in the title of the poem, a Hijab is a body scarf that Muslim women wear for their Islamic beliefs. The author was originally from Syria, a country which is predominantly comprised of Muslim people and a country which women are allowed to drive cars. So she may be stating this to prove to the readers to not be persuaded by this stereotype. Refugees also criticises stereotypes, as shown by the quote,’They are not cut-throats and thieves with bombs up their sleeves, layabouts and loungers, chancers and scroungers.’ This challenges the stereotype that refugees and immigrants are boisterous, rude and violent

The form of these poems is quite varied. Whilst neither of them have any rhyme, assonance or verse, the number of lines, length of lines and other factors are different in these two poems. In Hijab Scene, the author first challenges two common stereotypes in three lines through the use of anaphora :’No, I’m not […]’ Then, she rejects a choice to ‘defect’ and ironically thanks the person who offered. After that, she uses 4 lines to present a rhetorical question, which is in a very demanding manner. Then she repeats anaphora but this time with,’Yes I […]’ and spends the last four lines on proving her point that she has made using a metaphor. EastHowever, Refugees was actually written like it discriminated refugees but can be written from bottom to top to view the author’s real feelings. There are clusters of lines that start with a negated sentence (e.g. They are not welcome here we should make them go back to where they came from). The next line is,’They cannot.’ If you read backwards from they cannot, it sounds fine.

Comparison of Hijab Scene #7 and Still I Rise

The autobiographical poem,’Still I Rise,’ by Maya Angelou and the free-verse ‘Hijab Scene #7,’ by Maohja Kahf are trying to prove similar points: highlight examples of stereotypes to do with their native backgrounds and challenge them. Maya Angelou is from an African-American black background whereas Maohja Kahf is from a Syrian-Islamic background, and people have heightened Islamophobia in a post-9/11 Western context. This essay will compare these two poems, in numerous factors such as: structure, language and theme.

Firstly, both the poems use varied styles of repetition to prove their points. An example of this shown in Hijab Scene #7 is,’No, I’m not bald under the scarf / No, I’m not from that country where women can’t drive cars.’ The anaphora used in these 2 lines of ,’No, I’m not.’ with the caesura underscore the point twice through the use of negation that Kahf is trying to make concerning the subversion of stereotypical ideas. This example is specifically to do with Muslim women, because people think that women in Islamic countries cannot drive cars. Similarly, verse six of Still I Rise states,’You may shoot me with your words/ You may cut me[…]But still, like air, I’ll rise.’ The directly addressing anaphora of ,’you may,’ along with harmful verbs afterwards in this stanza implies that Angelou will still fight racial abuse and stereotypes, no matter how much she is criticised. This is also shown by the adverb,’still,’ and the simile. However, Still I Rise uses much more rhetorical questions, especially when Angelou directly challenges the reader about one of her characteristics with imagery related to money. This is shown in the quote,’Does my haughtiness offend you?/‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines.’ Through the use of the simile, Angelou shows that she is confident and has self-belief inside her. This is because gold mines are a symbol of wealth and nobility, despite the stereotypical belief that black people are denied economic opportunity. Ultimately, Kahf stays literal as she may be misinterpreted due to misinformation about Islam but Angelou exaggerates wealth to resist the direct racial abuse that she receives as shown by the anaphora of,’You may.”

However, the structure of these poems is very contrasting: in Still I Rise, there is a fixed rhyme scheme for the first seven verses(ABCB), with the Bs occasionally having the sound ‘-ise-‘, for I’ll rise, resembling the title of the poem. These first seven verses include: her directly challenging the reader with rhetorical questions,’Does my sassiness upset you?’ responding to them with powerful wealth-related imagery,’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells.’ and anaphora,’You may.’ The volta of the poem is after the seventh verse, where the rhyme scheme and overall feel of the poem changes. In the 8th and 9th verses, rhyme scheme is ABABCC(3 more Bs in 9), ending with a rhyming couplet and the Bs being enjambment for ‘I rise.’ The tone is more uplifting in these verses following the volta. I know this because the rhyming couplet in the eighth verse is ,’I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, welling and swelling I bear in the tide.’ The metaphor along with the motivating present participles show that Angelou’s tone has changed drastically from defiant to motivated, since an ocean is powerful and leaping. This is also resembled at the end of the last stanza: the triple anaphora and enjambment of,’I Rise.’ She might have done this in order to captivate the reader: prove her point more simply that she has stated throughout the whole poem. Kahf’s poem is more free verse: it has no stanzas and has less structure overall. She uses anaphora at the start, along with irony and a rhetorical question, which takes up 4 lines. So Kahf’s structure is a lot more basic than Angelou’s, whose poem is a lot longer. The contrast in structure matters because Angelou’s reflects hope and progress through the rhyme scheme, Volta, couplets and enjambment of ‘I Rise,’ towards the end. Kahf’s lack of structure symbolises that there is ongoing tension and no solution to Islamophobia.

Finally, these two poems have similarities and differences to do with their themes. Kahf presents her views using an angry, satirical tone as shown in the quote,’No, I would not like to defect. I’m already American. But thank you for offering.’ Through the use of an ironic last sentence, Kahf implies that she is fed up about people making assumptions about her, since she satirically mocks the stereotype that she is not American. In spite of that, Angelou expresses her feelings strongly through the use of a moderately similar tone: defiant and confident. This is because she challenges the reader directly seven times through the use of rhetorical questions:’Does my sassiness upset you?/Did you want to see me broken?[…]’. The second rhetorical question creates tension on the reader, making them wonder if they wanted Angelou to suffer from racial discrimination, through the use of the verb,’want,’ and the adjective,’broken.’ Overall, the tone in a poem shapes how the reader responds. Kahf wants to confront, whereas Angelou wants to celebrate resistance.

In a nutshell, Angelou’s poem is more didactic: she represents pride and resilience, especially after the volta. However, Kahf exposes ignorance and discomfort in her poem to make the reader feel uncomfortable and change how they respond. Overall, they both highlight examples of common stereotypes and look to sublimate them.