Big 5 Poetry- 'Checking Out Me History' quotes and a technique

Question 1

‘Dem ___ __ / ____ ____ ___’

Answer 1

‘Dem tell me / Dem tell me’
repetition - emphasis their control, used as a refrain
Creole language- sign of his linguistic heritage, his own voice
phonetic spelling - authentic, failure of education

Question 2

‘Bandage up __ ___ ___ __ ___ _____ / Blind me __ __ ___ _______’

Answer 2

‘Bandage up me eye with me own history / Blind me to my own identity’
metaphorical verbs-> used to heal but also to ‘Blind’
Pronouns- shows it affects him personally

Question 3

‘1066 __ ___ ____’

Answer 3

‘1066 and all dat’
dismissive tone also comical
Eurocentric

Question 4

‘____-____ woman of _____ _____ ___’

Answer 4

‘see-far woman of mountain dream fire’
natural imagery- unstoppable power of Nanny and her actions
‘see-far’ - imagery of sight, contrasts ‘blind’ & ‘bandage’

Question 5

‘But now _ _____ __ __ ___ _____ / _ _____ ____ __ ______’

Answer 5

‘But now I checking out me own history / I carving out me identity’
Turning point - no longer controlled by Eurocentric view of history
contrast ‘Dem’ (first line) to ‘I’ - personal pronouns
‘now’ - present tense
‘carving’ - taken a long time

Question 6

Who wrote ‘Checking Out Me History’?

Answer 6

John Agard

Question 7

What are the big ideas in Checking out me history?
E________ has the p_______ to c______ our i_______
People can r_____ a_______ those in p_______

Answer 7

Education has the power to change our identity
People can rebel against those in power

Question 8

What Big 5 poem can you compare to checking out me history?

Answer 8

London