Checking out me history

Question 1

‘Bandage up me eye with me own history’

Answer 1

• ‘bandage’ - violent lang shows cruelty of colonialism, represents the partial view of history he is given
• ’ own’ - possessive pronoun shows his desperation and desire for ownership -> wants to understand his roots, necessity of knowing your heritage
• emphasises the deliberate nature of abuse inflicted by colonial control, implies that the education has impacted the way he views the world now - partial view

Question 2

‘Toussaint a slave with vision’

Answer 2

• Toussaint - leader in Haitian revolution, strong political and military skill, resulted in first free colonial society.
• change in structure, longer stanza shows the importance, unwilling to overlook, recounts their stories
• shows heroism and glory of war which exposes the hypocrisy of the establishment by not providing a proper education

Question 3

‘Nanny see-far woman…fire-woman’

Answer 3

• Nanny - outstanding Jamaican leader, figure of strength in fights against the British.
• images of ‘fire’ (light) and ‘vision’ contrasts with the blindness of formal education, motif of light also shows how these figures are a source of guidance
• in much the same way that the speaker deplored the lack of historical teachings about Toussaint, he criticises the lack of education provided about Nanny de Maroon - he communicates his understanding about this historical figure’s achievements, utilising the nature-based imagery to brings the story to life -> important story yet the British would rather teach about ‘de cow who jumped over de moon’ -> insignificant, trivial
• explores how the minority is subjected to alienation and challenges the view of education that focuses on the British and nursery rhymes as opposed to powerful black figures in the past

Question 4

‘But now I checking out me history I carving out me own identity’

Answer 4

• highlights his refusal to accept the version of history given to him by colonisers, emphasises how he will take control to use his own history to create his own identity
• volta ‘but I’ - turning point shows how Agard is taking ownership of his own identity and making the poem about himself rather than ‘dem’
• contrasts with start, journey to resolution
• ‘checking out’ - present continuous, shows this change him correcting and revising the history taught by the British will be eternal
• ‘carving’ - aggressive verb, shows the change as he becomes assertive in uncovering his history

Question 5

Structure

Answer 5

Mixture of stanza forms suggests he’s breaking the language rules he’s been taught. Caribbean history stanzas have shorter lines and a more broken syntax than the British history stanzas which emphasises them more and makes them appear more serious. British history stanzas are skipped over quickly with lots of satirical language which shows his lack of care as it is insignificant to him.

Question 6

Context

Answer 6

Agard began teaching Caribbean culture when he moved to the UK. Message that rebels against the established order and their teachings. Shows identity through non-standard spellings, reflective of their accent even though he struggles to find resemblance to his own identity.