Comparing Three Poems Half-Caste Essay Each of these three poems talk about certain problems faced by specific groups of people in todays society. The poems have been written specifically to illustrate to people who have been brought up with derogative ideas about different types of people, that there are people who are different, but are neither superior nor inferior to themselves. The main themes that run common in all 3 poems are the ideas of individualism, respect, culture and equality. The poem Half-Caste by John Agard talks about the stereo typed judgement about half-caste people in society today. John Agards main argument in the poem is that being a half-caste person does not make you half a human being. He talks about how people make assumptions about half-caste people. and when Im introduced to yu Im sure youll understand why I offer yu half-a-hand This quote suggests that non half-caste peoples attitudes towards half-caste people is that they are not human, and do not do everyday things the way they would do themselves. Agard exaggerates his ideas in order to make his argument a lot clearer. ..an when moon begin to glow I half-caste human being cast half-a-shadow It is obvious that half-caste people do not caste shadows different to anyone else, but the emphasis on the ridiculousness of the mere idea of a different type of shadow makes the idea of half-caste people being different just as ridiculous. He explains quite cleverly how degrading the term half-caste can be by comparing half-caste people like himself to very worldly ideas that you would not title half-caste. Yu mean when light an shadow mix in de sky is a half-caste weather His examples are all of things that people would associate with beauty, such as nature, art and music. His point being that if people call humans of two colours half-caste, then everything else with mixed colours must be aswel. People wouldnt think twice about labeling a human half-caste, but when talking about nature or music and it would again be completely ridiculous to call Tchaikovskys composition a half-caste symphony. The poem itself also relays the message of individualism. It is written in phonetics to demonstrate his own personality with the language being English, but with his own Guyanan dialect. The readers are then forced to read the poem in a certain way, which enforces the message behind the poem. Tom Leonard also uses this effective technique in his poem from Unrelated Incidents. This poem talks about status and social acceptance. Leonard talks about how people are reluctant to sit secure in the knowledge of a person with an accent, compared to someone who speaks with what is thought of proper, standard English in an English accent. He puts across the idea of how na�ve and narrow-minded people can be. if a tokaboot thi trooth lik wanna yoo scruff yi widny thingk it wuz troo He suggests that people would believe anything from the mouth of a proper speaking person, no matter how insane it may be and totally dismiss what a person with an accent like his, is saying. Even if it was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so to speak. The way in which he has put this idea across is by using what is very commonly known to be quite English a typical example of where this sort of discrimination occurs. The news, where you will mainly hear the news read from a person who speaks with the right accent. This is thi six a clock news thi man said n thi reason a tok wia BBC accent iz coz yi widny wahnt mi ti talk aboot thi trooth wia voice lik wanna yoo scruff The poem is a parody of a typical British news broadcast, it is ironic the way in which Leonard has used his own dialect and spoken in the style of the commonly known news. It is obvious that Leonard is frustrated and angry at the fact that him and others alike would be looked down upon because of the way they talk. Similarly with John Agard we can see the resentment towards those people who treat half-caste people differently and Tom Leonard with the way society looks upon people with accents that differ from their own. However, Sujata Bhatts Search For My Tongue discusses society and culture from a different perspective. The problem she finds herself faced with is trying to make a correct balance with her own culture and heritage and the culture in which she lives in. She explains her fear of losing her mother tongue and never being able to be totally accepted by the foreign tongue. Her concern with the mother tongue being lost is very explicit in the poem: And if you lived in a place where toy had to speak a foreign tongue, you mother tongue would rot, rot and die in your mouth until you had to spit it out She explains how hard it is to keep your mother tongue healthy in a place where there is no use for it, and eventually it would become useless and you would eventually forget it about it. She talks not just about language but her whole culture and how she was brought up, what she was brought up to believe and live by and how society and different cultures sometimes make you forget. However she gets across to the reader that somehow, sub-consciously while she dreams, she dreams in her own language and reminds herself of her language and that she is still who she has always been and always will be. modhama pakay chay it blossoms out of my mouth. The tongue is described to blossom out her mouth jus as she thinks she has forgotten it. This imagery of blossoming is beautiful and emphasises how important it is to be who you are because it is beautiful from whatever background and culture you belong to.
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Marks and spencer - Essay Example One of foremost steps in creating a successful marketing strategy is that of Market Segmentation, which refers to the division of a whole market for a product into smaller segments based upon the characteristics or aspects that are shared by the groups. By conducting market segmentation, a business is able to understand and evaluate various aspects of each division, group or segment in order to target a group or several groups that are then catered to with different marketing mixes (Vieceli & Valos 1998). As buyers become more diversified and unique, market segmentation acts as a key tool in designing the marketing strategies of successful organizations who understand that the diverse characteristics of customer needs, wants and preferences make it a requirement for any business’ success that the nature of its customer’s needs and wants is precisely defined and then handled accordingly (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel 2011). Market Segmentation can be conducted on the basis of four primary variables that are Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral and will be discussed individually based on their relevance and applicability to Marks and Spencer. Geographic Segmentation: World region or country: The primary market for the retailer is still the United Kingdom; moreover, it has also expanded into Asia, Africa and other European nations. City or metro size: The location of Marks and Spencer shops is primarily Major cities with population crossing 4 million and mainstream cities with population above 1 million. Density: Urban and suburban population. Demographic Segmentation: Age: Middle-aged. The average age of a customer can range from 35-55. Gender: The existence of product categories such as women’s clothing, lingerie, beauty, kids, home furniture, food and gifts seems to attract a largely female audience but that does not mean that men are not M&S buyers. Family life cycle: Customers are usually single, married, married couples with children, unmarried couples and older people who are family oriented. Income: ?30,000 and above per annum Psychographic Segmentation: Social Class: Usually middle class and upper middle class buyers looking for products that are of a decent quality but also economical and suitably priced at the same time. This suggests that customers of M&S seek good value for money. Personality: Customers are not generally perceived as trendy, fashionable or imaginative when it comes to choices related to clothing. Older customers are not considered to be ambitious or achievers who wish to shop at the retailer to project a sense of success and affluence (Business World). Behavioral Segmentation: Occasions: The M&S shopping experience is not limited to special occasions; buyers may shop at M&S for regular commodities and go to other high-end retailers for special occasion shopping such as Christmas. This was reflected in a drop in sales of M&S by 3.8% for general commodities during the holiday season of 2012 (Ruddick 2013). Benefits Sought: Users seek economy and convenience when shopping at M&S as much of the commodities are affordable and not high-priced. Loyalty Status: Customer’s buying behavior for regular and basic commodities such as grocery and basic clothing is low involvement, habitual buying behavior. Therefore,
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