Checking Out Me History and The Émigrée Flashcards
Comparison 1
Both poems explore the memories of childhood.
Comparison 2
Both poems also explore the effects of conflict on their sense of identity.
Comparison 3
Both poems also attach emotional significance to cultural identity. They both end in a sense of hope to help explore these ideas.
Checking Out Me History 1
In Checking Out Me History, Agard demonises his childhood and his Eurocentric education during this time.
Checking Out Me History 1 - Quotes
“dem tell me”
“de dish ran away with de spoon”
“dem never tell me about nanny de maroon”
The Émigrée 1
In Contrast, in The Émigrée, the speaker romanticises her childhood.
The Émigrée 1 - Quotes
“my memory of it is sunlight-clear”/”November”
“bright filled paperweight”
“it tastes of sunlight” - every stanza ends in “sunlight”
Checking Out Me History 2
In Checking Out Me History, Agard exposes the damaging impact of colonial rule. This is evident through the use of violent language.
Checking Out Me History 2 - Quotes
“Bandage up me eye”
“Blind me to me own identity”
The Émigrée 2
However, in The Émigrée, the speaker highlights how tyranny has displaced her. Like in Checking Out Me History, Rumens also uses violent language to explore this idea.
The Émigrée 2 - Quotes
“branded by an impression of sunlight”
“sick with tyrants”
“i have no passport”
Checking Out Me History 3
In Checking Out Me History, Agard emphasises reconnecting with his cultural identity and sense of self.
Checking Out Me History 3 - Quotes
“but now”
“I carving out me identity”
The Émigrée 3
Likewise, in The Émigrée, the speaker uses her connection with her cultural identity to survive her displacement.
The Émigrée 3 - Quotes
“I comb its hair and love its shining eyes”
“my city takes me dancing”
“my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight”
“my memory of it is sunlight-clear”/”November”
- immediately associates happiness with place
- symbolise hope, optimism
- jxt “November”
- late autumn, cn cold/darkness
- acknowledges that her city going through difficult time
- November = month, will pass, shows optimism that conflict will too pass
- alt. little sunlight in Nov, trying to block out neg. details?
“bright filled paperweight”
-metaphor
“paperweight” cn permanence + stability, holds weightless/fragile things together
-memories fixed in place, will never leave her
-refuses to let go of memories
-perhaps believes only thing keeping identity together
-glass fragile - memories precious to her
“it tastes of sunlight” - every stanza ends in “sunlight”
- rep of sunlight, views home country as something radiant
- use of synaesthesia, inc vividness of xp
- sun = source of light energy - perhaps energised by memories
- light - symbol of hope, never gives up hope of returning home/peace in country
“branded by an impression of sunlight”
-metaphor
“branded” - eternally marked, cannot escape
-violent verb that carries connotations of permanence and ownership
-memory holds the power here – her view is unchangeable
“sick with tyrants”
- personification
- abuse of power as an illness
- city vulnerable/innocent
- potential for cure? illness temp?
- semantic field of warfare demonstrates war torn reality + tyranny in home country
“i have no passport”
“passport” - demonstrates pain inflicted by man-made borders as without a passport a person will face restrictions
-passport proof of identity, she feels her city, part of her identity, was stripped away from her as a result of the conflict
“I comb its hair and love its shining eyes”
- jxt semantic field of warfare
- personifies the country as something vulnerable like a child
- ignores current suffering for the more favourable view narratir had as a child as she seem to attempt to protect it
“my city takes me dancing”
“my” - personal pronoun, takes personal comfort in reflecting on her home city
“dancing” - element of magic/freedom (unlike other poem) in the city which emphasises her romanticised view
“my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight”
- jxt no shadow without light – symbolism of hope and positivity
- ends on sunlight - circularity
- opinion of homeland will always be positive, no matter what “darkness” there may be
- tone of hope
“dem tell me”
-semi phonetic spelling used to project accent and show pride +/ express strong sense of personal identity
“dem” jxt “me”
-immediately emphasises separation from GB education
-creates “us vs them” mentality
-repetition creates oppressive tone
-dull and boring - like edu system
-alt. rote learning - lack of personal relevance to him
“de dish ran away with de spoon”
- rhyme in this stanza used to create a mocking tone
- nursery rhyme as an eg of gb history - make it seem trivial
- demonstrate poet’s neg view of eurocentric edu
- unreal events = uselessness + irrelevance
- sm of childhood associated with gb history demonstrates how he feels is childhood hs been wasted as a result of his identity stripped away
“dem never tell me about nanny de maroon”
- jxt of pronouns, again draws attention to diff + hostility felt btwn the diff cultures - smth agard feels needs to change
- 3rd pp also shows the little respect speaker hs for decisionmakers who ignore black history
- draws reference to “Nanny de Maroon” - leader of the maroons, who led the Jamaican resistance against gbis
- demonstrates how he believes this is more relevant to him
- highlights white washing of edu
“Bandage up me eye”
- metaphor
- verbs imply covering up - exactly what he feels govt is trying to fo regarding the existence of black history
- verb also has cn of injury and harm, implying that being unable to explore roots can be disabling
- suggests deliberate attempt at abise inflicted
- bandange ironic - should be healing
“Blind me to me own identity”
-plosive ‘b’ sound create an underlying tone of aggression (seen throughout the poem) as well as reinforc how damaging the covering up of black history was
“but now”
- conjunction “but” changes trajectory of poem
- demonstrates how he is going to take action to reclaim his “own identity”, despite the whitewashing faced throughout childhood
“I carving out me identity”
-poem ends on tone of hope, like emigree
“identity” - final word of poem sums up the main theme, going to use his own history to create identity
“carving” - active verb - ongoing process, painful cn, drawn out proecess
