Hello everyone.

My name's Ms. Keller, and welcome to today's lesson.

In this session, we are going to be reading and understanding one of my favourite poems, which is "Half-caste" by John Agard.

So by the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to explain how Agard present the conflict between race, identity and societal viewpoints.

So let's explore today's key words.

We've got mixed race, dual heritage, facetious, caste, and derogatory.

Now do take some time to pause the video and read through these definitions carefully because we will be encountering these words throughout the lesson.

But I would just like to start off by drawing your attention to the first two words there at the top, mixed race, which means individuals of multiple racial heritage, and dual heritage, which means having ancestry from two distinct cultural or ethnic backgrounds.

Now, we can see the similarities between these two words here because they involve somebody's parents and the heritage of somebody's parents being different.

So it refer to somebody who comes from two parents who are from different places.

Now, these two words, mixed race and dual heritage are really important words to remember when analysing this poem because historically people often use the term half-caste to refer to mixed race people or people of dual heritage.

However, we don't say that anymore and we think it's disrespectful and inappropriate to do so.

So do remember as we go through the lesson that we've got these two terms here that are much more inclusive.

So in today's lesson, we are going to start off by exploring the wider context of the poem, and then we're going to explore the poem itself.

So I'd like to start off by thinking about this term half-caste that John Agard uses in the title of the poem.

So as we were just discussing, this term was historically used to refer to people who were mixed race, but we don't use it anymore, and we can argue that, that is because it has negative connotations, meaning that we are able to read negative subtle meanings into this term.

So this is my first challenge to you is take some time to have a look at this term and break it down and really think about the implied meanings that come from this particular term.

So take some time to think about it on your own and then perhaps discuss it with the people around you, or if you are working on your own, that's okay.

Just make some notes on your paper or in your exercise book.

So pause the video here while you take some time to discuss it and when you're ready to feedback together, click Play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

A really fascinating discussion there to start off the lesson.

So well done for really giving that a good go and trying to be very creative in your interpretations of this term.

I think that really helped us to pull out some really quite nuanced interpretations.

So let's just pick up on a few ideas that I overheard.

Well, first of all, I could hear lots of people picking up on that first part of the word, half, and discussing this idea that it gives the impression that somebody's identity is incomplete, perhaps because it's focusing on this idea that they are only half of each identity, perhaps they're half of one thing.

And this idea of talking about somebody's identity as incomplete, we could definitely view as a negative representation of someone.

And then onto this second part of the word then, caste.

I wonder if anybody knew of the historical links with this word.

So well done, if you were picking up on the idea that the word caste could link to the caste system, which is a hierarchical class-based system that operates in different countries in the world.

It traditionally began in India.

But essentially people are born into a caste, which is a certain status that cannot change.

And the status is usually categorised by the job that your family does, your economic wealth, and it is not something that is easy to change.

And so the usage of this word caste here implies that there's a hierarchy to race or heritage and that it could be linked to status because we've got that word, caste.

The term half-caste, as we said earlier, is no longer considered appropriate or respectful.

So it is not a word that needs to be in our vocabulary today.

And for this reason, it is really important to choose our language carefully when we're analysing this poem.

We will perhaps need to use this term if we are quoting evidence from the poem, but it's really important that we don't use it when we're explaining our own ideas.

And instead perhaps we use terms like mixed race or dual heritage, which acknowledge and celebrate the diverse backgrounds.

So we've got that real shift there from that half implying that perhaps somebody has half an identity to dual heritage, which is actually celebrating the fact that somebody comes from two different cultures.

So that's really important to remember.

So now it's time to explore the life and influences of the poet John Agard.

So John Agard, his writing was very influenced by his cultural background and the experiences that he had when he moved to the UK in 1977.

So he was born in Guyana, which is an island in the Caribbean, and Agard himself is of dual heritage.

His father was Caribbean and his mother was Portuguese.

So he has these dual cultural influences there of this Caribbean heritage and his Portuguese and European heritage.

And his love of language stemmed from listening to cricket commentaries as a child in Guyana because this was his first real impression of British standard English as compared to the form of English, which he's known as a Creole that is spoken in Guyana.

And he was very passionate about his Caribbean identity and worked as a lecturer for the Commonwealth Institute in the UK, helping to promote a better understanding of Caribbean culture.

So he was very passionate about his own culture and his own Caribbean heritage, but also equally as passionate about sharing that heritage and educating people and raising awareness of it in his new home in the UK.

So let's pause here and tick our understanding so far.

So how does the term half-caste have negative connotations? So take some time to have a look at these four options and decide which one you think best responds to that question.

And when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer, click Play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back and well done to those of you who said A and C, because remember we have those two meanings where we break that word down.

Half implies that somebody's identity is incomplete or fragmented, and caste has that link to the caste system, which implies that someone's race is linked to hierarchy or status.

So now it is time for the first practise task of today's lesson.

And what I would like you to do is think really carefully about your answer to this question.

Why do you think Agard was inspired to write the poem "Half-caste" and that do you think that in the question is really important? Because that indicates that I'm looking for your personal opinions, your personal knowledge of this text.

So I would like you to discuss that question with the people around you and make some notes about your responses.

And if you're working on your own, just take some time to think and maybe draw yourself a mind map and then make some notes about your interpretations of what we've discussed so far.

So when you are discussing, you should consider perceptions of the word half-caste and also what you know about John Agard and his life.

So take some time to give this a really good go and have a detailed discussion about this wider context.

And then when you're ready to feedback together, click Play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back some really fantastic discussions taking place there and I can hear lots of people actually debating their opinions because you didn't necessarily agree.

And that is always fantastic because a spirited debate encourages people to have to support their ideas with compelling reasons.

So that is really, really good sign.

So here is how some of our Oak students responded to this discussion task.

So Aisha said, "I think John Agard was inspired to write this poem because he objected to the derogatory term half-caste and wanted to show that being mixed race is something to be celebrated." So Aisha's using that lesson keyword, that derogatory, which means has negative connotations or the underlying sense of negative judgement.

And Sam says, "Arguably Agard was inspired to write this poem because he wanted to challenge negative depictions of mixed race people.

He highlights how terms such as half-caste have subtle derogatory connotations." And we've got that word derogatory again there.

So my question to you is this, whose response do you think is more detailed and why? So take some time to read through these responses again and discuss them with the people around you, deciding who you think gave the best response.

And when you're ready to discuss it together, click Play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back, some really interesting discussions there.

And I was particularly impressed by the way that I could hear lots of you starting to evaluate the effectiveness of each response.

So I overheard lots of people suggesting that both of these responses were valid, which they definitely were.

And also, impressively, they both use quite a lot of those key words such as derogatory, mixed race, which is a really good vocabulary through which to talk about the issues in this poem and the wider context.

I'll be tempted to argue here that Sam's response is slightly more detailed because it begins to think about the connotations of that term.

So it actually starts to engage with the language, whereas I think Aisha's response seems focused a bit more on big ideas and issues.

So we have made it to the halfway point of today's lesson and a massive well done for all your hard work so far.

So now we've explored the wider context.

It's time for us to begin looking at the poem itself.

So grab your copy of your anthology and take some time to read "Half-caste" independently.

Here is a glossary for some of the unfamiliar words that you might find in the poem.

So do make sure you check back if you come across any words that you aren't sure of.

So pause the video here and take as much time as you need to read this poem carefully, and then when you are ready for to go through it together, then click Play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

What did you think of the poem? I think I'm quite biassed because this is one of my favourite poems. I really like the poem's playful tone, and I really like the way that I can hear a relatable human voice in this poem.

So I hope that you enjoyed reading it as well.

So let's explore the text in a bit more detail, and I'd like to do this through a few discussion questions to draw out your interpretations of the text.

So first of all then, what do you notice about the poem narrative voice? So pause the video here while you have another look over the text and take some time to discuss this with the people around you or make a few notes in your exercise book or on your paper.

So pause the video and click Play when you're ready for us to discuss this together.

Okay, welcome back.

Some really interesting responses that I overheard there, and I definitely heard lots of people picking up on this idea that the poem's narrative voice is written phonetically, and that word means it's written to represent the individual sounds that make up words.

So here this represents an accent or a dialect, perhaps symbolising the speaker's Caribbean identity.

So when we're reading the poem, it's not spelled using standard English spellings, instead it's spelled so that we can almost hear the speaker's voice reading the poem to us.

So we've got some examples there from the poem.

We've got you spelled yu, wha which is what, dah which is the, and dem which is them.

So here we can hear how the sounds just slightly shift the accent that we would read that poem aloud in.

So over to you then for another question.

So lots of the words in this poem have been shortened.

So what impression does this give us of the speaker of the poem and of the poem's tone? So pause the video here while you have a think and take some time to discuss it and when you're ready to go through it together, click Play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Could hear lots of people with similar ideas here.

So lots of people were picking up on this idea that shortened words gives the poem an informal and conversational tone, which arguably makes the speaker seem more realistic and relatable to readers.

So this is picking up on that idea, I said earlier that I like this poem because I think the speaker sounds like a real human person, somebody that I could possibly have met in my lifetime, somebody that I perhaps could relate to.

So now let's take some time to look at some interpretations of the poem.

So we've got two of our eight students here, Alex and Sophia, who were discussing how they interpreted the text.

So Alex said, "This poem links to conflict because it explores the speaker's inner conflict about their dual heritage and cultural identity." Whereas Sophia says, "This poem links to conflict because it explores the speaker's interpersonal conflict with other people who use the term half-caste in a derogatory way." So my question to you is this, which interpretation of the poem do you most agree with? So pause the video here and have a really good look at Alex and Sophia's interpretations and perhaps go over the text again and see if you can find some evidence to support the one you most agree with.

And when you are ready to go through it together, click Play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

Lots of spirited debate there with people not necessarily all agreeing on which student they most agreed with.

So actually Alex's response is a common misconception about this poem.

It isn't actually an exploration of someone's inner conflict about their dual identity, but rather a celebration of it.

So actually our speaker doesn't feel conflicted about their dual heritage, that instead responding to perhaps other people's conflict, the conflict it causes between our speaker and other people who use this term half-caste in a derogatory way.

So now we know that Sophia's interpretation here is more accurate.

Can we find any evidence in the poem to support this interpretation? So pause the video here and go over your copy of the poem with a fine tooth comb and help Sophia to find some evidence to support her argument.

So pause the video here and click Play when you're ready to go through this evidence together.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's explore some evidence from the poem that supports this interpretation.

So first of all, the speaker begins with a direct instruction to a silent listener.

Explain, and it starts with that verbal, the very first word, that imperative sentence, which we know is a sentence, a command that begins with a verb.

So it's getting the listener's attention straight away, it's talking to someone else.

So this implies that the poem is a response to something that someone else has said or done because we're the speaker is beginning the poem by asking or demanding this explanation from another person.

So we're already getting this idea of interpersonal conflict, conflicts between more than one person.

So I would like you again to have a think, what might this poem be a response to? Why is the speaker demanding an explanation from this listener? So pause video here while you have a think.

Take some time to discuss it and when you're ready to discuss it together, click Play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

I could certainly hear lots of people touching on a similar idea to my interpretation.

So I would argue that Agard here is demanding this explanation because the speaker has heard the silent listeners say this term half-caste, and we get that impression on line six.

And throughout the poem, Agard repeats this imperative verb, explain, returning our focus to the other person.

So all of the ideas in this poem are framed around this idea that our speaker demands an explanation.

They demand to know why the listener uses this outdated and disrespectful term, half-caste.

So we can actually argue in this poem that the speaker is being facetious and we've got one of those important keywords from today's lesson.

And that word facetious means treating serious issues with inappropriate humour, often to entertain or provoke amusement.

So this idea of dealing with serious issue, but perhaps putting a lighthearted spin on it and taking it to perhaps a comedic or humorous extreme in order to demonstrate your serious point.

So Agard takes issue with the term half-caste and the implication that we were discussing earlier that it suggests that somebody's identity is fragmented because it's made up of these two halves.

So as the poem goes on, the speaker repeatedly demands to know what the listener means by this term.

So these implied meanings are actually really important to Agard, really important to the speaker of the poem.

And then Agard goes on to give many examples of things in life that are made up of combined elements, half of one thing perhaps and half of another, in order to explore how ridiculous it would be to describe these things as half-caste.

So can you find any of these examples, scenarios in the poem? So we're thinking about this idea of two elements that are combined.

So pause the video here and take some time to go over the text again.

And when you think you have found an example or multiple examples, click Play and we'll go through it together.

Okay, welcome back.

I definitely overheard that some of you had drawn out some of these examples then.

So in the poem there are three main examples of Agard using this facetious type of humour.

So first of all, we have got a canvas and the idea that in order to create a painting we necessarily need to mix different colours because, obviously, a painting in just one colour would be quite dull to look up.

We also have the idea of weather.

And Agard makes the point that certain weather conditions involve a combination, a mixture of light and dark.

And then finally we had the example of music and the famous composer, Tchaikovsky.

And Agard again suggests that Tchaikovsky's music wouldn't have been nearly in any ways interesting if it didn't have this combination of notes.

So my question to you is this, what serious point do you think that Agard is making with these facetious examples? What point is he making about this serious issue or using this term half-caste and these negative connotations? What is his serious message in these almost ridiculous examples? So pause the video here while you take some time to discuss it and when you're ready to feedback together, click Play and we'll continue.

Welcome back.

So we could actually argue that Agard's point here is he's focusing on the beauty and he's suggesting that the most beautiful things in the world, such as art or nature or music, are made by combining different elements.

And that uniformity when everything is the same, isn't complex and it isn't interesting.

So actually these things in life that we value for their beauty, we value for how interesting they are, are precisely beautiful and interesting because of this mixture of identity.

So therefore this combination or this mixture, this diversity is something to be celebrated.

So let's pause here and check our understanding.

So what does that word facetious mean? So have a look at the four definitions below and decide which one you think best describes the meaning of that word, facetious.

Pause the video, take as much time as you need and click Play when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer.

Okay, welcome back and well done to those of you who said B, treating serious issues with inappropriate humour often to entertain or provoke amusement.

So now it is time for the final practise task of today's lesson, and I want us to get to grips with the text.

So what I would like you to do is to write a paragraph answering the following question, how does Agard further play on the meaning of the term half-caste in lines 31 to 53? So we are looking here at the next part of the poem, the end of the poem, and why do you think he does this? So here are some images that should prompt you, perhaps, towards some of the key quotations between lines 31 and 53.

So see if you can use these images to guide your response.

And what I would like you to do is to make sure that you are supporting your ideas with evidence from the text and link into that wider context that we were discussing in the first half of the lesson, especially to help you consider the writer's intentions and influences.

So especially when you're thinking about, why Agard has made the choices that he has.

So pause the video here and take as much time as you need to give this a really good go.

And when you're ready to feedback together, click Play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Can I just say a massive well done for all the hard work that I could see everybody putting into that task? We hadn't actually analysed that part of the poem together, so we were really relying on your personal interpretations there.

And it was so great to see so many of you drawing out those key quotations in order to support your ideas.

So well done if you were doing that as well.

So just hear some of the ideas that you might have explored in your response.

And remember, it was a personal interpretation, so don't worry if this response doesn't look exactly like yours.

As long as you were using that all important evidence and what you knew, this wider context of the poem to support your ideas, it's likely that they were also valid.

So Agard explores the negative connotations associated with half-caste playing on the meaning of the word half, and the implication that people can be half of one thing and half of another.

He humorously refers to having half of different body parts, eyes, ears, and hands, or aspects of being human, dreams, shadows.

At the end of the poem, he turns this idea around on the silent listener, using the modal verb, must, to request that the listener come back with the whole of their eyes, ears, and mind to listen to the other half of the speaker's story.

Arguably, here Agard is suggesting that the silent listener, yu, is narrow-minded and only knows half of the speaker's story.

Here, Agard draws on the idea that a lack of cultural education fosters misunderstanding, fueling racism and discrimination through ignorance and stereotypes.

So can we give this response of what went well and an even better if? Pause the video for a second, have another read through and see if you can think about something that it's doing really effectively, but also a suggestion for something that this response could do next time in order to add some extra detail.

So pause the video here while you take some time to discuss it and click Play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

I could certainly hear lots of different suggestions there coming out of those discussions.

So if it were me and I was marking this response, I think I would've probably given the following feedback.

So what went well? I think there was a really great analysis of evidence from the text and exploration of the key ideas.

I think it's really clear that the student who wrote this answer has a really good understanding of the poem and also of Agard's use of methods in these key quotations.

For an even better if, I think that this response could have made a few more links to this wider context of the poem, and there was something in the analysis that particularly stood out to me, an important link that I felt the student could have made to context.

So this is my final challenge to you then.

Can we help this student get their answer to that finish line? Can we help them to redraft and add in that all important contextual knowledge? So pause the video here while you have a think and help them redraft add in another sentence and when you're ready to feedback, click Play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Some really fantastic suggestions there.

So we could have said something like this, "Agard himself is mixed race and spent much of his career working in schools to promote understanding of Caribbean culture.

This implies that his cultural heritage is important to him and he's passionate about encouraging people to celebrate diversity and difference." So just linking to that analysis there, at the end of that student's response, I felt there was that perfect opportunity to make that link to how and why, we think that Agard might have been promoting dual heritage in this poem.

Okay, so we've made it to the end of today's lesson and I hope that you're feeling a bit more confident when it comes to reading and understanding the poem, "Half-caste." So let's just summarise what we've covered in today's lesson.

John Agard was born in Guyana to a Caribbean father and Portuguese mother.

Half-caste was a term which was used to describe people who are mixed race.

Agard objects to the term half-caste, as it implies mixed race people are only half a person.

He uses a facetious tone in the poem to explore the derogatory meanings linked to the term half-caste.

And finally, Agard embraces the joy that having mixed identities can bring.

So thanks again for joining me in today's lesson and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

Have a fantastic day, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.