Checking Out Me History Flashcards
John Agard
John Agard was born in Guyana, a Caribbean country in South America, but he moved to Britain in 1977.
His poetry often examines cultures and identities. ‘Checking Out Me History’ was published in 2007.
Form
The narrator uses a mixture of stanza forms, suggesting he’s breaking the confining language rules he’s been taught. The Caribbean history stanzas have shorter lines and more broken syntax than the British history stanzas — this emphasises them and makes them seem more serious. The rhyme schemes are also different — the British stanzas have lots of simple rhymes, making them sound childish.
Structure
The poem alternates between historical and fictional figures from Caribbean and British culture, emphasising the differences between them. The British figures are skipped over quickly, with little respect, whereas the Caribbean figures are covered in more detail.
Metaphors of vision and blindness
The narrator says that his education kept his true heritage hidden from him. Images of light are positive because they suggest an awareness of your own identity.
“With vision .. beacon “ - images of light and vision contracts with blindness of his formal education
“Blind me to me own history “ # metaphor allowing him to see his own history
Oral poetry features
The narrator uses techniques from oral poetry, such as repetition, strong rhythms, chanting and phonetic spellings. This links the poem to the oral tradition of reciting poetry aloud and telling stories, which are used as ways of communicating history. The use of Caribbean phonetic spellings creates a sense of pride in his background, and the use of standard English in lines 46-49 emphasises that the figures from his Caribbean heritage should feature in
the teaching of history.
“Dem tell me “ repeats phonetic lines from first stanza reminds us of the narrators anger - reminds us of his Caribbean heritage and personal identity
Anger
The narrator’s angry because the education system didn’t teach him about his culture.
He was unaware of his heritage even though it’s an important part of who he is.
Admiration
He respects the Caribbean figures he describes in the poem. He admires their achievements and wants to tell their stories to show the important role they played in history.
Celebration
At the end he says he will embrace his own identity in a positive way.
