Checking Out Me History Flashcards
Context (John Agard)
Agard was born in Guyana and received a British education due to the country being colonised up until 1966. He was therefore given a eurocentric view of history whilst being denied his own cultural identity.
Guyana was originally a Dutch colony, part of the Dutch West indies company, during this time, Africans were sold as slaves to America and the Caribbean. Agard’s formative years were lived under British rule, however, eventually he saw his country become independant and realised how much of his identity he was deprived of.
Context (Checking out me history)?
The poem was inspired by reading a school textbook which claimed that West Indian history began with Columbus. It was published in the collection “Half caste and other poems” which was focused on both culture and racial identity. Agard published the collection after living in Britain for approximately 30 years. The poems were intended to be universal to apply to all people lving under oppression and being denied their cultural identity.
Rhyme in ‘Checking out me history’?
The rhyme scheme ties together the sections concerning white and black history, showing how Agard is attempting to end segregation through literary unification. Throughout a stanza, the rhyming is the same: “balloon”, “moon”, “spoon” and “maroon”. This makes each stanza predictable and the listener is waiting for the next line.
Enjabment in ‘Checking out me history’?
The connective “but” is used to tie together black and white history implying that they cannot be separated and black history cannot be ignored. The overflowing sentences also show that the speaker is attempting to express too much emotion to be constrained to a single line. This shows how much Agrd cares about the subject matter which has impacted him as a person.
Metaphors in ‘Checking out me history’?
Agard repeatedly uses violent metaphors to show the cruelty of colonialism. The line “blind me to me own identity” emphasises the deliberate nature of the abuse inflicted by colonial control. This also implies that his education has changed the way in which he views the world now.
The active vern used in “I carving out me identity” creates the impression that this is an ongoing process. This also has painful connotations which shows that this process is a painful one, implying that he feels pain ay having his identity withheld from him for so long. The verb “carving” has connotations of wood which shows how the speaker no longer has the neutral plasticity of a child so changing his worlview is long and difficult.
Motif of lightin ‘Checking out me history’
In the stanzas regarding black history, there are frequent references to light imagery. Agard refers to Toussaint L’ouverture as “de beacon to de Haitian revolution”. Nanny de Maroon as “fire-woman” and Mary Seacole as “a healing star” and “a yellow sunrise”. It can be inferred that the speaker associates these figured with loght due to their emotional significance to him. This also shows that they are a source of guidance for him and the importance of teaching children about these people.
