Changing the way you learn

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

Checking Out Me History - John Agard

	Created by Samira Choudhury over 7 years ago