Sample A* Essay - Poems from different cultures - Cluster 1

How is contrast used in 'Two Scavengers'? Compare this with one other poem's use of contrast.

Contrast is used in both 'Scavengers' amd 'Nothing's Changed' as a device to show the ways different people are treated in the same, supposedly equal, society. 'Nothing's Changed' uses contrast to show the difference between rich,white South Africans and their black,poor counterparts ; even after aparthied had been abolished. In 'Scavengers' the poet uses the contrast of people on opposite ends of the wealth spectrum to criticise the idea of a democracy with equal opportunity.

Structure is used in both poems to further indicate the contrast between differnet sectors of society. In 'Nothing's Changed' the two lines ' No sign says it is. But we know where we belong' are seperated from the otherwise regular structure to represent the mental barrier that stops the society from becoming an equal one. It suggests that even though apartheid has ended there is still segregation of race and class. The rest of the poem is in a regular structure which suggests that the people are held strongly and rigidly within their social class and it is hard to break free of this in order to better yourself. The structure of 'Scavengers'is very irregular as it is written in free verse. The irregular line lengths could be to make the reader's eye skip from one line to another. It could also be to indicate that the people are reluctant to come together and always edge away from each other, so they are never equally lined up at the traffic lights and nor are they equal within their society. Enjambment is also used by the poet as a device to show that the engines of the cars are still running or alternatively that the differneces between the two couples will never change ans willn go on and on into the future.

Language is used to contrast a 'whites only inn' and a 'working man's cafe' in 'Nothing's Changed'. Words such as 'haute-cuisine' , 'rose', 'linen' and 'crushed ice' give a luxurious,exclusive and elegent image.The 'brash glass' and 'guard at the gatepost' suggests that the restaurant has barriers to prevent black South Africans entering even though segregation was meant to have stopped a long time ago. The 'whites only inn' is a pun as the word 'inn' has two differnet meanings. The literal meaning would just suggest a restaurant but 'in' would mean nly whites were allowed to or could…