LIT2 - Poetry - Checking Out Me History Flashcards
Who wrote Checking Out Me History? Give some context about the poem:
-John Agard (from Guyana, a colony)
-about how those with power use it to control
-describes the powerlessness of the natives who had a Eurocentric education forced on them
Give 5 good quotes for Checking Out Me History:
-Dem tell me/Dem tell me/Wha dem want to tell me
-Bandage up me eye with me own history/Blind me to me own identity
-Toussaint de beacon/Of de Haitian Revolution
-balloon…moon…spoon…Nanny de Maroon
-But now I checking out me own history/I carving out me identity
Dem tell me
Dem tell me
Wha dem want to tell me
-accusative “dem” used to separate their minority group and the Europeans, and is used to emphasise how they haven’t realised the richness of their diverse population
-repetition reinforces the view that a Eurocentric education amounts to a process of indoctrination
-uses Creole dialect to signify his rebellion against the conventional form of English taught in schools
Bandage up me eye with me own history
Blind me to me own identity
-semantic field of injury used with the metaphors “Bandage up…blind me”, and shows their deliberate attempt to hide their history (ironic as a bandage should imply healing, but they have only caused blindness)
-plosive b’s hint at a sense of aggression
Toussaint de beacon
Of de Haitian Revolution
-a more interesting stanza is dedicated to the importance of Toussaint, and the rhymes are more complex in comparison to the childish nursery rhymes in the next stanza strengthening the idea that their own history is more complex and diverse
-light imagery gives connotations of hope and the salvation of their own history
-dramatic end to the figure’s own stanza, and signifies moral strength and courage
balloon…moon…spoon…Nanny de Maroon
-intertextual references to fictional nursery rhymes alongside the European historical figures, showing how Agard believes European history is just as trivial as the childish stories
-simple rhyme schemes like this mock the Eurocentric view of history as being childish and naive
-contrasts the indented and italicised stanzas about the black historical figures
But now I checking out me own history
I carving out me identity
-Agard writes about himself at the end of this stanza, matching how the end of other stanzas were important black historical figures, highlighting how discovering his own history has empowered him with a newfound sense of identity
-emphatic final line with verb “carving” suggests an arduous task of him leaving a permanent imprint of his identity on society, indicating that no one can erase himself and his history
Describe the structure and form in Checking Out Me History:
-punctuation is a form of control imposed on us, and the lack of it indicates Agard’s refusal to conform to the European restrictions forced on him
-form of oral poetry (indicated by phonetic spellings and a strong rhythm) which is used to tell a story that would be remembered, implying that Agard’s lesson from the poem must be remembered
