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Tom Leonard, ‘the 6 O’clock News’ & Grace Nichols, ‘Hurricane Hits England’

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Tom Leonard, ‘the 6 O’clock News’ & Grace Nichols, ‘Hurricane Hits England’
Tom Leonard, ‘The 6 O’Clock News’ & Grace Nichols, ‘Hurricane Hits England’

In their poem, both Leonard and Nichols have discussed the private individuality where one does not feel accepted by her/his social identity. Both poets took a glance at individuals who feel left out of the society because of their private identity; Leonard is focusing on identity through language while Nichols is focusing on cultural identity.
Private identity can be taken to consideration from many different aspects. In the case of Nichols, the woman is examined by her cultural identity, which, when combined with hurricanes that represent her home she has found her inner self once again according to the line, “come to break the frozen lake in me”. However on the other hand the “talk wia BBC accent….aboot thi trooth” lines of Leonard is suggesting that the poet is imagining a BBC newsreader explaining that, if he read the news in Glaswegian dialect people would not believe it, indicating the newsreader is suffering a major difference between private and social identity.
Both poems have been written to express the feelings and anger one might have where there is a distinction among their real identity compared with the expectations of the society. Leonard’s audience is English citizen with proper English. Yet Nichols’ s audience is citizen with double nationality, whom might have difficulties feeling obligated to choose one nationality only. However this idea of belonging somewhere specific is strictly a con-argument. In the poem Hurricane hits England, the lines “O why is my heart unchained?” and “Shaking the foundations…. is the earth.” Indicate that with the memories of her past, she remembered who she is and decided that she does not have to leave anything of herself behind to feel accepted in the society and that she might be exactly who she is, wherever she is. As to observe an other case from The six O’clock news, the lines “thirza right way ti

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