Checking out me History Flashcards
Key Themes
Colonialism & Identity: The poem challenges how colonial powers erased or ignored the histories of oppressed peoples.
Education as Control: Agard highlights how schooling systems selectively teach history to uphold certain narratives.
Pride & Resistance: The poem reclaims stories of Black heroes (like Toussaint L’Ouverture, Mary Seacole) as acts of defiance.
Key Figures Mentioned
Toussaint L’Ouverture: Leader of the Haitian Revolution.
Mary Seacole: Jamaican nurse who aided soldiers in the Crimean War.
Nanny de Maroon: Jamaican freedom fighter against slavery.
Shaka Zulu: Legendary African warrior king.
Form and Structure
Irregular Structure = Rebellion Against Control
No set rhyme scheme or meter → Mirrors the speaker’s rejection of rigid, Eurocentric education.
Mixed line lengths (short and long) → Reflects the chaotic, fragmented history he was taught vs. the clarity of his own research.
- Two Distinct Sections
The poem alternates between:
Eurocentric myths (written in quatrains, tight and controlled):
“Dem tell me bout 1066 and all dat…
dem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he cat”
→ Mocking childish, trivial stories taught in schools.
Black/Caribbean histories (free-flowing, italicized for emphasis):
“Toussaint de beacon
of de Haitian Revolution”
→ Visual difference on the page shows reclaiming suppressed voices.
Language
Creole Dialect & Phonetic Spelling
“Dem tell me”, “wha dem want” → Asserts Caribbean identity and rejects “proper” English as a form of resistance.
Metaphors of Blindness
“Bandage up me eye with me own history” → Critiques how education erases identity.
Repetition
“Dem tell me” (×5) → Mimics brainwashing; contrasts with “But now I…” to show awakening
Context and Writer’s purpose
Colonial Education
British schools historically taught a Eurocentric curriculum, ignoring or marginalizing Black and Caribbean history.
Example: The poem references 1066 (Battle of Hastings) but not Toussaint L’Ouverture (Haitian Revolution).
Postcolonial Resistance
Written in 2007, but reflects long-standing frustrations about cultural erasure in former colonies.
Agard, a Guyanese-British poet, grew up under colonial rule, where Caribbean voices were suppressed.
Black Historical Figures
The poem highlights ignored heroes like Nanny de Maroon (Jamaican freedom fighter) and Mary Seacole (Crimean War nurse).
“Bandage up me eye with me own history / Blind me to me own identity.”
Thematic Analysis:
Colonial Erasure
The “bandage” symbolizes how Eurocentric education deliberately covers up the speaker’s true heritage, leaving them “blind” to their identity.
Links to the poem’s critique of controlled narratives in schooling.
Identity & Resistance
The violent imagery (“bandage,” “blind”) shows how cultural suppression is an act of psychological harm.
Contrasts with later lines (“But now I checking out me own history”), showing awakening and rebellion.
Technique Analysis:
Metaphor
“Bandage” → False guise of “helping” (schools claim to educate but erase).
“Blind” → Forced ignorance; echoes colonial brainwashing.
“Dem tell me / Wha dem want to tell me”
Themes:
Power & Control – Shows how history is selectively taught by those in authority (“dem”).
Marginalization – The passive voice (“tell me”) implies forced acceptance.
Techniques:
Repetition – Mimics indoctrination, emphasizing brainwashing.
Creole dialect (“Dem”) – Asserts cultural identity against “proper” English.
“But now I checking out me own history”
Themes:
Self-Discovery – Shift from passive to active voice shows empowerment.
Rebellion – Rejects imposed narratives.
Techniques:
Pronoun shift (“Dem” → “I”) – Claims agency.
Imperative verb (“checking out”) – Action against oppression
“I carving out me identity”
Themes:
Self-Definition – Rejects colonial labels.
Resistance – “Carving” implies struggle and artistry.
Techniques:
Violent verb (“carving”) – History is hard-won, not given.
Metaphor – Identity as a physical creation (like sculpture).
Agard’s Purpose:
Celebrates self-determination for marginalized people.
Plot summary
“Checking Out Me History” by John Agard is a defiant protest against the Eurocentric bias in education, exposing how colonial systems deliberately erased Black and Caribbean histories while teaching trivial Western myths. Through Caribbean dialect, vivid contrasts, and celebration of overlooked figures like Toussaint L’Ouverture and Nanny de Maroon, Agard reclaims these suppressed narratives, urging readers to actively seek their true heritage. The poem transforms from passive frustration (“Dem tell me”) to empowered self-discovery (“I carving out me identity”), ultimately challenging systemic oppression.
Comparison to London by william Blake
- Critique of Power & Oppression
“London”: Blake attacks institutions (Church, monarchy) for exploiting the poor (“black’ning Church,” “mind-forg’d manacles”).
“Checking…”: Agard critiques Eurocentric education for erasing Black histories (“Dem tell me wha dem want to tell me”).
Comparison: Both expose how power systems control narratives—Blake focuses on class, Agard on race.
- Voices of the Marginalized
“London”: Gives voice to the oppressed (chimney sweeps, soldiers, prostitutes) through their “cries.”
“Checking…”: Amplifies silenced Black heroes (Mary Seacole, Toussaint).
Comparison: Both highlight suppressed stories, but Agard celebrates resistance, while Blake emphasizes despair.
- Imagery of Blindness vs. Sight
“London”: The people are metaphorically “blind” to their oppression (“mind forged manacles”).
“Checking…”: Schools “bandage up me eye” to hide the truth, but the speaker gains sight (“now I checking out me own history”).
Comparison: Both use blindness imagery, but Agard’s speaker breaks free, while Blake’s Londoners remain trapped.
Bonus (AO4 Context Link):
Blake (1794) wrote during industrial oppression; Agard (2007) confronts postcolonial erasure. Both challenge authority’s control over truth.
Theme of Anger
Agard’s poem erupts with righteous fury at the systemic erasure of Black history under the British Educational System, using repetition and fractured syntax to mirror the speaker’s outrage. The insistent refrain “Dem tell me / Wha dem want to tell me”—with its deliberately broken grammar and phonetic Caribbean English—becomes a verbal rebellion, the staccato rhythm mimicking the pounding of a fist. The juxtaposition of trivial Eurocentric tales (“Dick Whittington and he cat”) with glorious, suppressed Black figures (like “Toussaint L’Ouverture”) fuels the poem’s central indictment of colonial education, framed through visceral blindness metaphors (“Bandage up me eye with me own history”). Here, anger isn’t destructive but transformative—the speaker weaponizes it to rip off the bandages of lies.
Theme of Identity
The poem constructs identity as an act of deliberate self-creation, forged through reclaimed language and history. Agard’s use of patois (“But now I checking out me own history”) isn’t just linguistic—it’s a political statement, rejecting the “proper English” of colonizers. The contrasting stanza structures embody this duality: rigid quatrains for shallow British stories versus free-flowing, rhythmic lines for Black heroes like “Nanny de Maroon,” whose natural imagery (“fire-woman struggle / hopeful stream to freedom river”) roots identity in resistance and ancestral pride. The closing line—”Carving out me identity”—uses active, physical verbs to show identity as self-determined, chiseled from the marble of suppressed histories.
