Nothing’s Changed

Question 1

form

Answer 1

free verse - mirrors bad structure in society

Question 2

abundance of enjambement and caesura

Answer 2

conveys how disconnected and broken society is

Question 3

context

Answer 3

written is port apartheid South Africa in 1995; 1966 - apartheid government had homes and shops of black people destroyed (incl. District Six) to create a white only area; grew up in south africa; fought against apartheid; imprisoned in 1987 for acts of terrorism and kept in same person as Nelson Mandela

Question 4

main themes

Answer 4

importance of place in creating identity; reminiscent; capture a particular moment in time; conveys political message

Question 5

‘Small round hard stones click’

Answer 5

sibilance; onomatopoeic; abrasive sound reflects feeling of irritation with his environment

Question 6

‘amiable weeds’

Answer 6

juxtaposition as weeds aren’t friendly

Question 7

‘and my hands,/ and the skin about my bones,/ and the soft labouring of my lungs’

Answer 7

anaphora - emphasises how overwhelmed he feels; personification - he almost feels panicked, so his lungs have to work hard

Question 8

‘and the hot, white, inwards turning/ anger of my eyes’

Answer 8

enjambement - can’t contain his emotions and quickens the pace of the poem

Question 9

‘Brash with glass/ name flaring like a flag’

Answer 9

simile - reflects insensitivity towards deprivation of local community; f alliteration shows his frustration

Question 10

‘incipient Port Jackson trees:/ new, up-market, haute cuisine’

Answer 10

overwhelmed with the wealth that is now there; white people have been importing valuable items; he no longer feels like he belongs

Question 11

‘the single rose’

Answer 11

usually a sign of wealth; the seen and unseen; cruel affluence in midst of poverty

Question 12

‘Nothing’s changed.’

Answer 12

title at the end to prove his point that even though his home looks different, it still has a lot of racism and discrimination