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Half Caste

Total questions: 20

Worksheet time: 10mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Which artist's work is used as imagery in Agard's poem?

a)

Van Gogh

b)

Picasso

c)

Dali

d)

Monet

2.

Which musician's work is used as imagery in Agard's poem?

a)

Chopin

b)

Mozart

c)

Tchaikovsky

d)

Taylor Swift

3.

What connects the three major choices of imagery in the first half of Agard's poem?

a)

They are often viewed as stereotypically middle-class, exclusionary, intellectual topics.

b)

They are all either produced by or include direct reference to British ethnic minorities.

c)

They are all things that Agard doesn't fully understand.

d)

There is no connection whatsoever. He chose at random.

4.

Which of these statements are true about Agard's background?

a)

His father is from the Caribbean and his mother is Portuguese.

b)

He was born in Britain in 1977.

c)

He was born in Portugal in 1949.

d)

He was born in Guyana in 1949.

e)

He moved to Guyana in 1977.

5.

Which of these statements are true about the term "Half-Caste"?

a)

It has connections to the caste system of strict class segregation in India.

b)

The term has roots in the Latin for "pure", and the Spanish and Portuguese for "race".

c)

Agard views it as akin to "half-blood" and "half-breed".

d)

One person self-identifying as "half-caste" doesn't mean others of the same ethnicity must.

6.

Which of the statements about Half-Caste's structural features are true?

a)

Juxtaposition is used in the second stanza to show diversity creates something more rather than something less.

b)

The lack of conventional punctuation represents an unwillingness to conform to imposed conventional structures.

c)

The repetition in the second stanza reflects Agard's legitimate confusion about the situation, and is a polite request.

7.

Which of these statements about Half-Caste's language features are true?

a)

The phonetic spelling and colloquialisms force the reader to hear the speaker's experience through the speaker's voice.

b)

The imagery of "half-a-hand" and "half-a-eye" is meant to connote the mistrust created through use of the term.

c)

The irony of "yu must come back tomorrow" references the experience of ethnic minorities with "polite" racists.

8.

Where was John Agard born?

a)

Barbados

b)

Guyana

c)

Cuba

d)

Havana

9.

True or false: half-caste is an offensive term to denote a person whose parents are of different races.

a)

True

b)

False

10.

What does 'half-caste' have connotations of?

a)

impure

b)

intelligent

c)

inferior

d)

impeccable

11.

Which themes are key in Agard's poem?

a)

Family

b)

War

c)

Experience

d)

Identity

12.

True or false: Agard writes in his Caribbean dialect and doesn't use Standard English.

a)

True

b)

False

13.

What is it called when the speaker talks directly to the listener?

a)

Rhetorical question

b)

First person

c)

Direct address

d)

Dialect

14.

What is it called when a poem has no rhyme scheme or rhythm?

a)

Blank verse

b)

Free verse

c)

No verse

d)

No rhyming verse

15.

What are the opening lines of the poem?

a)

when I'm introduced to yu / I'm sure you'll understand

b)

An I will tell yu / de other half / of my story

c)

Excuse me / standing on one leg

d)

Explain yuself / wha yu mean

16.

What are the closing lines of the poem?

a)

Excuse me / standing on one leg / I'm half-caste

b)

An I will tell yu / de other half / of my story

c)

Explain yuself / wha yu mean

d)

When I'm introduced to yu / I'm sure you'll understand

17.

Complete the quotation: 'when you say half-caste / yu mean tchaikovsky / sit down at dah ___________ / an mix a black key / wid a white key'

a)

Desk

b)

Piano

c)

Table

d)

Organ

18.

What is 'Explain yuself / wha yu mean' an example of?

a)

Imagery

b)

Dialect

c)

Repetition

d)

Rhetorical question

19.

True or false: Agard uses lots of punctuation throughout the poem.

a)

True

b)

False

20.

When was Half-caste written?

a)

1996

b)

2006

c)

1986

d)

2016