Checking out me history

• QUOTATION 1: 'Dem tell me Dem tell me"
• what does "Dem tel me Dem tell me" reveal?

  • "Dem"- written phonetically, mimicking his dialect

  -> proud of his identity and culture, not trying to hide/ conceal it

  +refusal to conform to British society and expectations

  • repetition- conveys anger and frustration, wants to ensure he is heard and not ignored

  +ideas of monotony and boredom- repeatedly taught the same history

  • "tell"- verb, being forced to learn, passive

  no control or influence

  • "me"- personal pronoun- tired of being invisible
• QUOTATION 2: "Bandage up me eye with my own history Blind me to my own Identity."
• what does "Bandage up me eye with my own identity Blind me to my own identity." reveal?

  • "Bandage"- verb, physically hurt by the way his people are being treated

  normally associated with healing, subverting traditional views

  Metaphor- forced to conceal his identity others want him to feel ashamed

  • "blind" hyperbolic metaphor- disability, physically oppression him ,not allowed to see the truth ,history deliberately hidden,
  • creating accusatory tone - "b,b" bilabial plosive alliteration

  +aggressive

  +violent lengths they got to sustain their power

  colonial undertones
• QUOTATION 3" mountain dream/ fire - woman struggle hopeful stream/ to freedom river"
• what does "mountain dream/ fire-woman struggle hopeful stream/ to freedom river." reveal?

  • description of Nanny demaroon- creates a semantic field of nature
  • nature imagery- connotations of pure and eternal

  constant resilience of black people.

  • -> "mountain" powerful, strong
  • -> "fire" unstoppable
  • "river" force and impact

  led the liberation of black people
• what is the structure of checking out me history?

  • longer stanza- emphasis passion for black history

  more to say about black history

  signifies how much all of the black history honourable people mentioned have contributed

  • short lines- shows how history cut short

  significance tat was denied in the education system

  • use of italic font- black people treated differently
• what was John Agards message?

  • denouncing the education system's Eurocentric focus and, by proxy, the way it erased black history

  his poem tells the reader to go and discover their own identity