2.4.15 Checking Out Me History

Question 1

Poet

Answer 1

John Agard

Question 2

Theme Code

Answer 2

K-RAG

Question 3

Themes

Answer 3

Identity, Power of Control, Power of Humans, Negative Emotion of Anger

Question 4

Quotes

Answer 4

• ‘Dem tell me… Dem tell me’
• ‘Bandage up my eyes’
• ‘1066’ and ‘dick whittington’
• ‘Toussaint L’Ouverture’
  ‘Nanny de maroon’
  ‘Mary Seacole’
• ‘A yellow sunrise’
• ‘I carving out my own identity’

Question 5

Main Structural Points

Answer 5

• Rhyme Scheme Build Up
• Enjambment

Question 6

Explain the quote ‘Dem tell me… Dem tell me’

Answer 6

Repetition
The repetition of ‘dem’ creates an accusatory tone, showing the speaker’s anger. He’s referring to the teachers that taught him history. Using his own dialect to reflect his pride.

Question 7

Explain the quote ‘Bandage up my eyes’

Answer 7

Metaphor
This has an injury-like connotations which imply that suggest that the speaker has been hurt by his sheltered upbringing, its a metaphor that he has never been taught and he never learns about his history as if he has been covered up and not explored. To add to this bandages are usually white suggesting he he is being blinded by white history, and he can’t see anything but white history.

Question 8

Quotes for the Main Structural Point

Answer 8

• ‘Toussaint L’Ouverture’
  ‘Nanny de maroon’
  ‘Mary Seacole’
• ‘Dem tell me about Nelson and Waterloo… but dem never tell me about Shaka the Great Zulu’

Question 9

Simplified Main Structural Point

Answer 9

N/A

Question 10

Main Structural Point

Answer 10

The poem feature 10 stanzas some of which are rhyming quatrains. The rhyme scheme forces the white historical figures, English folklore and English nursery rhymes with balck historical figures together. ‘Balloon’, ‘moon’, ‘spoon’ and ‘Maroon’. The building up of the rhyme, climaxes in the final line, it emphasises the final example. He is emphaising the importance of ‘Nanny de Maroon’ (Nanny of the Maroons). He wants us to stop and think about these black historical figures and that’s why Agard has chosen to put the black historical figures of ‘Toussiant’, ‘Maroon’, ‘Seacole ‘ and the final stanza with the poet himself. Both the rhyme and the structural choice to place them at the end makes us pause and think about the final name mentioned to emphaises their significance.
Agard uses enjambment, seen here ‘Dem tell me about Nelson and Waterloo… but dem never tell me about Shaka the Great Zulu’ . These could’ve been two lines but instead he used a conjunction of ‘but’ making it a compound sentence. This might be because he is angry, uncontrolled and unstrained with emotion. But he is also forces the reader to combine the white and black history, suggesting that both histories should be one, together rather than separated.
Three of the verse are about black historical figures are in itakics, to emphasises its importance. It is in free verse showing the lack of control, suggesting no one controls these people, they’re free spirits. And within these stanzas he uses metaphors and imagery relating to nature. ‘Stream’ and ‘river’. The positive and natural imagery suggests that these are positive and natural influences in the speaker’s life. The short lines and lakc of punctuation reflects his anger that he wasn’t taught about them in school.