"Half-Caste" is a poem by Guyanese poet John Agard that looks at people's ideas and usage of the term "half-caste", a derogatory term for people of multiracial descent. The poem is included within Agard's 2005 collection of the same name, in which he explores a range of issues affecting black and mixed-race identity in the UK. The poem is written in the first-person. Agard uses phonetic spelling throughout the poem, in order to create the voice of the speaker. It was included in the AQA Anthology , [1] and is currently included in the Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9–1) English Literature Poetry Anthology, meaning that many British school pupils study the poem for their GCSE English Literature qualification. [2] A snippet of Agard reading the poem is included in British rapper Loyle Carner’s 2022 single Georgetown, referencing his own mixed-race identity. [3]
Dame Carol Ann Duffy [] is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, resigning in 2019. She was the first female poet, the first Scottish-born poet and the first openly lesbian poet to hold the Poet Laureate position.
AQA, formerly the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, is an awarding body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds examinations in various subjects at GCSE, AS and A Level and offers vocational qualifications. AQA is a registered charity and independent of the government. However, its qualifications and exam syllabi are regulated by the Government of the United Kingdom, which is the regulator for the public examinations system in England and Wales.
The Advanced Extension Awards are a type of school-leaving qualification in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually taken in the final year of schooling, and designed to allow students to "demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills to the full". Currently, it is only available for Mathematics and offered by the exam board Edexcel.
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based secondary qualification similar to the GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising prior attainment. It was developed by Cambridge Assessment International Education. The examination boards Edexcel, Learning Resource Network (LRN), and Oxford AQA also offer their own versions of International GCSEs. Students normally begin studying the syllabus at the beginning of Year 10 and take the test at the end of Year 11. However, in some international schools, students can begin studying the syllabus at the beginning of Year 9 and take the test at the end of Year 10.
Gillian Clarke is a Welsh poet and playwright, who also edits, broadcasts, lectures and translates from Welsh into English. She co-founded Tŷ Newydd, a writers' centre in North Wales.
Grace Nichols FRSL is a Guyanese poet who moved to Britain in 1977, before which she worked as a teacher and journalist in Guyana. Her first collection, I is a Long-Memoried Woman (1983), won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. In December 2021, she was announced as winner of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.
Imtiaz Dharker is a Pakistan-born British poet, artist, and video film maker. She won the Queen's Gold Medal for her English poetry and was appointed Chancellor of Newcastle University from January 2020.
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance has produced Anthologies for GCSE English and English Literature studied in English schools. This follows on from AQA's predecessor organisations; Northern Examinations and Assessment Board (NEAB) and Southern Examining Group (SEG).
John Agard FRSL is a Guyanese playwright, poet and children's writer, now living in Britain. In 2012, he was selected for the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. He was awarded BookTrust's Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2021.
The A-Level is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational authorities of British Crown dependencies to students completing secondary or pre-university education. They were introduced in England and Wales in 1951 to replace the Higher School Certificate. The A-Level permits students to have potential access to university if their grade is of satisfactory quality.
The General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level, or A Level, is a main school leaving qualification in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is available as an alternative qualification in other countries.
"What Were They Like?" is a poem by Denise Levertov written as a protest against the Vietnam War, envisaging a future where the "genocide" that the American bombing campaign began has been completed, and nothing is known of Vietnam or its culture. Major themes within the poem include: war, culture and anger. It is included in the AQA, OCR and Edexcel anthologies that English students study for GCSE.
"Elvis's Twin Sister" is a poem by Carol Ann Duffy that is said to reflect "the hidden lives of generations of overlooked women" as part of the collection The World's Wife, of 30 similar poems dealing with the female relatives of famous men throughout history. The poem is sometimes studied by schoolchildren in the United Kingdom as part of the AQA syllabus for GCSE English.
"Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" is a poem by Moniza Alvi. Alvi describes a few gifts that she receives from her aunts. This is a metaphor for her Pakistani culture, and she says how much it clashes with her English culture. The poem is about the poet's struggle to find which culture she truly belongs to; Pakistani or English. It is included in Cluster 2, Poems from Different Cultures, of the AQA Anthology.
Poetry Live is a series of annual events in venues across the UK where poets perform their poetry for school children studying GCSE level English Literature.
Additional Mathematics is a qualification in mathematics, commonly taken by students in high-school. It is applied to a range of problems set out in a different format and wider content to the standard Mathematics at the same level.
Wong Phui Nam was a Malaysian economist and poet. Born to a Peranakan family in Kuala Lumpur, Wong began learning English at age 9. He became interested in poetry, and while studying at the University of Malaya Singapore campus he wrote English language poetry while participating in a student literary magazine.
Riverside Campus is an 11-18 mixed, secondary free school and selective sixth form situated in Barking Riverside, London, England. It is one of the largest schools in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, with currently over 1,200 students on roll.
Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner, known professionally as Loyle Carner, is an English hip hop musician. After supporting various rappers during their tours, he released his debut album, Yesterday's Gone, in 2017, which garnered a nomination for the 2017 Mercury Prize. He released his second album, Not Waving, but Drowning, in April 2019. Carner has been nominated for three Brit Awards.
Hugo is the third studio album by English hip hop artist Loyle Carner. It was released via Virgin EMI Records on 28 October 2022.