Checking Out Me History - John Agard

Direct address - Talking to reader
'Dem tell me' - Repetition, different to him, white people?
Rhyme - Mocking white history/what he is taught
'Nanny de maroon' - Ends on black historical figure, focus, important
'Blind me' - Metaphor, doesn't want him to see who he really is
'Bandage up me eye' - Metaphor, held back purposefully
Enjambment - Anger, lack of control, wants to get it out
'All dat' - Not important to him, vague
Song/rap - Black icons can't be controlled
'Mountain dream' 'Hopeful stream' ' freedom river' - Natural influences on him, nature
'Slave' - Noun, only black history taught
Italics - Emphasizes importance of black historical figures
'Wha dem want to tell me' - Forced, learn what they want, what they choose to show him
'I carving out me identity' - Metaphor, takes time, hard to do, ends on poet, important
'Beacon' - Hope
'I checking out me own history' - Doing it himself
'Caribs 'Arawaks' - Compound sentence , forcing black and white together
'Healing star' 'Yellow sunrise' - Metaphor, positive
'Mary Seacole' - Did more than Nightingale without help, still not remembered
Free verse, oral poetry
Non-standard phonetic spelling, no punctuation - Refuses to use, forces us to adopt his accent
Born and raised in Guyana, Caribbean (British colony)
Pride, white power, identity, culture, challegeing racist attitudes

Resource summary

	Created by Samira Choudhury over 7 years ago