Checking Out Me History

Question 1

Themes (3)

Answer 1

• Power of humans: Ozymandias, London: Power of establishments e.g. church and education
• Anger
• Identity: Emigrée: outsider/tension between cultures/identity, The prelude: how a childhood experience had a profound impact

Question 2

About

Answer 2

The speaker having his own identity and history felt left out of lessons at school. He mocks British history while celebrating Black heroes ignored by the mainstream media. In the end, he realises his own history and identity through these figures.

Question 3

Big ideas (5)

Answer 3

1. Identity
2. Heritage
3. Presentation of childhood
4. What we learn vs what we choose
5. Outsider, Racism/discrimination

Question 4

Repetition of “Dem tell me”

Answer 4

Identity, Anger
Repeated twice in first 2 lines, Refrain of the poem
“Dem” – Caribbean dialect to indicate his heritage and his pride in that heritage
Creates own identity of the poem instead of using “them” sets it apart from the other poems
Gives us a first impression of the poet and how he speaks, angry and accusatory tone
He doesn’t care about what they teach him, he can’t relate, he is force-fed all the information, shows his boredom of the constant telling of things to him.
Refusal to accept standard English and normal spelling and grammar rules just as he refuses to adhere to a conventional society

Question 5

“bandage up me eye with me own identity”,”blind me to me own identity”

Answer 5

Identity, Anger
Normally a “bandage” is meant for healing, here it is used to cover up his identity, heritage, not being exposed to his own history, metaphoric image, ironic
His history has been distorted, altered for him to learn
“Blind” - he cannot see or discover his identity, he is isolated from it and instead taught others’ history
Alliteration of ‘b’ sound emphasises how history is not fully presented but is distorted and destructive.

Question 6

“a slave with vision”, “beacon”

Answer 6

Identity, Power of humans
“Vision” “beacon” – symbol of hope for future, change even though he’s oppressed as a slave, optimism/light – positivity
Contrast between what is told – nursery rhymes – and his own history of importance – said seriously as he wants to learn and educate others to portray his message

Question 7

“Columbus and 1492”

Answer 7

Identity, Power of humans
White people/education believe history ‘begins’ in 1492 of USA when it was discovered by Columbus but there were actually native people living there before him but there is no focus on them until this date
Revealing the truth to his audience, fighting back against the false history they were taught

Question 8

“a healing star among the wounded a yellow sunrise to the dying”

Answer 8

Identity, Power of humans
“healing star” – star provides light, hope, guidance, life and stands out in the night sky just as Mary Seacole stands out in Jamaican history but still not spoken about in white history education
She is efficient as a nurse, caring, solving issues
Seen as a mythological character compared to Florence Nightingale’s “lamp” she is a “star”
Extended metaphor for light/vision
“yellow sunrise” – hope, promise to those who are dying, Colour imagery of hope and peace
Non-European characters described more vividly and memorably

Question 9

“I carving out me identity”

Answer 9

Identity
“carving” – metaphor, shaping, delicate, carefully in a particular way or order as he is digging deeper into his heritage, create something so it isn’t lost or forgotten, embedding it into his mind and the mind of the reader to ensure black history is remembered
He is doing it himself “I”, “me” not with school
Last line reflects the struggle he has to create his own identity against the norm

Question 10

Structure (5)

Answer 10

• Mixed stanza forms suggests he is breaking away from the tradition he has been taught. The Caribbean history stanzas have shorter lines with no punctuation – a departure from conservative traditional forms of poetry.
• From line 6 there are 4-line stanzas (quatrains) focusing on British history but beginning by referring to a black historical figure
• The rhymes in the quatrain emphasises the childishness of what he has been told about the past and as well as mentioning the British historical figures also mentions characters from nursery rhymes alongside the use of enjambment to mock what he has been taught about the past and mock the attitudes of those who marginalise black achievements.
• The poet juxtaposes British history with his own history. When referring to British history one example is of a pantomime in order to make it look trivial in comparison to the Caribbean examples.
• The poem alternates between the two structures which are marked by two different fonts

Question 11

Context (5)

Answer 11

• The poem draws upon the poet’s experiences.
• He was born in Guyana (formerly British Guiana) in the Caribbean and moved to the UK in late 1970s
• His purpose is to make the reader consider the way in which we are taught history and how we conceive our identity
• The poem also challenges racist attitudes which are often unthinking
• Agard speaks for himself protesting about the way black culture has been ignored or marginalised. The “official” versions of history (particularly before the 1940s) are filled with white people because Agard and other would say that history has been written by white people and therefore excluding black men and women