Checking Out Me History Flashcards
1
Q
COMH: Brief Summary
A
The speaker is exposing the flaws of the British colonial education system; he lists figures of white history, which he was taught, next to figures of black history which were omitted from his education. It interrogates how citizens of British countries were not taught about their own cultural history and identities.
2
Q
COMH: Context (5)
A
- Growing up in British Guyana, John Agard received a British education.
- Agard was born in 1949, and Guyana remained colonised until 1966 so his childhood was shaped by colonialism.
- Much of Caribbean poetry parallels the themes that Agard typically wrote about, which stemmed from a history of enslavement and colonialism in that region.
- Checking Out Me History was published in 2005, which followed a period of many colonies gaining sovereignty such as Jamaica in 1962 and Antigua and Barbuda or Belsize in 1981.
- After living in Britain for 30 years and seeing the flawed and oppressive education system. COMH was published in a collection named “Half-caste and other poems” which explored the issues of race and identity.
3
Q
“beacon of de Haitain Revolution” “fire-woman struggle” “a healing star” “a yellow sunrise”
A
- Agard employs a motif of light to idealise references to black history, e.g. “beacon of de Haitain Revolution” “fire-woman struggle” etc.
- These references all play on the literary trope of light as a source of guidance or hope, for instance, “star” quintessentially provides a source of direction; it also characterises someone with a divine quality. This could be emblematic of how these historical figures carved out a passage to freedom and illuminated a route out of colonialism.
- Alternatively, the references to light could be a metaphor for these figures coming out of the shadows and theoretically “shining through”.
4
Q
“Bandage up me eye with my own history/Blind me to my own identity”
A
- The dichotomy between vision and blindness is explored through the metaphor “Bandage up me eye with my own history/Blind me to my own identity” as it seems the oppressive education system is responsible for this blindness. Moreover, the verb “bandage” has connotations of a wound - it could imply that the British education system are attempting to “heal” their colonies by providing them with a distorted view of history - this condemns the arrogance of colonisation.
5
Q
“lamp” “healing star” “yellow sunrise”
A
- Amongst an array of historical references, the allusion to Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole is particularly interesting as they paralleled each other’s achievements, yet a British education only pays homage to Nightingale. Both women were reputable nurses during the Crimean war who cared for soldiers near the battlefields, yet Nightingale was British and Seacole was Jamaican.
- We see parallels between them in the language of the poem again linking to this motif of light, Nightingale carries a “lamp” whereas Seacole is a “healing star” and a “yellow sunrise”.
- The natural imagery surrounding Seacole idealises her and conveys her intrinsic angelic qualities;, whilst a “lamp” performs the same purpose in providing light, it is artificial and man-made. It seems that he almost views Seacole as a divine being - this could be a metaphor for the way she was abstracted out of reality through the one-sided view of history people were taught, thus she is almost mythical.
6
Q
“1066 and all dat” “Toussaint L’Ouverture”
A
- The colloquialism “1066 and all dat” is a reference to the Battle of Hastings - which is central to the syllabus of British education, it was a battle to the throne of England. The colloquial tone almost derides how important this moment of British history is perceived to be. The phrase “all dat” casts over the details of the event, perhaps suggesting that they are not worth acknowledging. Alternatively, it could depict Agard’s struggle to remember this information as to him it is arbitrary as it is not relevant to his own culture and identity.
- In contrast, Agard details the story of “Toussaint L’Ouverture”, dedicating an entire stanza to it. It is punctuated with plosive ‘d’ and ‘p’ sounds which establish an immersive sense of excitement, rather than the previous dismissive and banal tone. “Toussaint L’Ouverture” led the Haitian slave revolution, making Haiti the first nation to be free of slavery. Thus, he is a symbol of hope and revolution; Agard intends to achieve emancipation with his work, just as “Toussaint L’Ouverture” did, provided on a less dramatic scale.
7
Q
COMH: Diatribe
A
The form of Agard’s diatribe (a verbal attack against someone or something) is chaotic and varied.
8
Q
COMH: Free verse
A
It is written in free verse with the periodic use of rhyming quatrains. Through this, we see him undulating between European literary traditions and extended stanzas of free verse which allow him to praise the characters of black history. This could be a metaphorical act of breaking free from European convention as he abandons poetic tradition to give voice to the past that is oppressed by this very tradition (poetry with a meter is generally what is taught within the British education syllabus).
9
Q
COMH: Longer stanzas
A
The extended, longer stanzas which discuss black history physically take up more space on the page; this may be an act of compensation - giving them the recognition that they were previously denied.
10
Q
COMH: Rhyming quatrains (3)
A
- Looking more closely at the rhyming quatrains, each reference to black history comes at the end of each stanza, perhaps critiquing how white history was prioritised. However, by it being the final image of the stanza, it remains more pertinent in the reader’s mind, so Agard is now giving them the acknowledgement they deserve.
- The rhyme scheme is used to combat segregation as it pairs together these symbols of black and white history.
- Alternatively, it imbues the stanzas that speak of white history with a rigid and rehearsed childlike quality - they sound like nursery rhymes. It could be an implication that this teaching of history is contrived and superficial; it lacks complexity.
11
Q
COMH: Enjambment (3)
A
- Enjambment appears consistently throughout the poem and Agard refuses to use any punctuation within the text. This could be a rebellion against education systems as it fails to employ the literary conventions regarding sentence structure. Alternatively, it could reinforce and pity how the contents of his diatribe are merely oral - meaning how his cultural history is not documented enough, and it is only spread through word of mouth.
- In another sense, it could display the intensity of his emotions, as he cannot contain and restrain himself within punctuation.
- You could also argue that it forces black and white history to merge; the use of the connective “But” rather than punctuation intentionally avoids creating a barrier between the two aspects of history and once again fights literary segregation.
12
Q
COMH: Repetition of “Dem tell me”
A
- The harsh accusatory phrase “Dem tell me” is repeated throughout the poem. The plosive “d” sound establishes a level of aggression and bitterness that Agard feels towards the education system. As it dominates the beginning of each stanza it could show the repressive and overbearing nature of the British colonial education; it branded itself over every time period in history which masked other cultural events.
- Moreover, “Dem” celebrates his regional dialect and a refusal to conform to the lexis of those that educated him. It is important to note that there are other examples of this unorthodox phonetic spelling within the poem such as “de” and “bout”; this is atypical for Agard’s poetry so it is clear that it is a deliberate act of defiance against literary norms for this poem.
- This concept of repetition could also allude to a superficial education as it gives the impression of rote learning which is when facts are simply repeated in order to memorise them. This makes the information seem futile, suggesting it was only memorised for the sake of an exam and lacked enough importance to otherwise endure in his memory.
