Compare and contrast two poems that contain different representations :: English Literature:

Compare and contrast two poems that contain different representations of school pupils. 'Comprehensive' is a representation of a comprehensive school, in the way that the diverse mixture of cultures are included in the poem. Each pupil has a different life and culture, and the pitfalls of comprehensive schools are clearly shown by the way in which each pupil is represented. The first pupil is African, and homesick, and is not happy in England. It seems as though she misses her culture, and feels as though she is being stifled by the British culture. This is also true of 'In Which The Ancient History I learn Is Not My Own.' The boy represented in this poem is homesick, and also feels stifled by the British culture, due to the fact that he is being almost forced into it, thus not allowing him to enjoy his own Irish culture. The teacher wants him to learn 'The English Kings, the famous battles and God's grace in History' which causes him to begin to forget his own History, which he is desperately trying to hold on to. The second pupil in 'Comprehensive' is a boy named 'Wayne,' who is depicted as a stereotypical boy. He is precocious in the way he thinks he is 'too old for games' and believes he is old enough to support something so controversial, when clearly he does not understand it to a full extent. He holds a very patriarchal view, especially when it comes to women. He believes that they are there to have their knickers pulled down, as it were and cook for him. Such a strong attitude as this for a pupil of only fourteen years of age inevitably will cause friction between him and his peers and teachers. And in a school of mixed culture, this would not bode well. Although the teacher has not such a derogatory attitude as Wayne, she is similar in the way that she has very strong views that she places upon the young Irish boy in, 'In Which The Ancient History Is Not My Own.' The Teacher is very patriotic, and expects the pupil of a completely different culture to be the same about England. An example of this is when the teacher describes the Roman Empire as 'the greatest Empire ever known- until our time of course.' This is the kind of attitude that is almost stripping the boy of his patriotism of his own land, and restricting him from learn about his own History. He has had to take on another cultures history and been forced to take it on as his own. Similarities can be made between the young Irish boy and 'Ejaz' and