CHECKING OUT ME HISTORY

• ~CHECKING OUT ME HISTORY~ (John Agard)

  Ideassssss

  1. Agard critiques the education system for only teaching us Eurocentric history and failing to acknowledge other historical figures.
  2. Agard is empowering us to educate ourselves and diversify our understanding of history and sense of hope to keep our identities more explicit in order to understand our background history and culture.
• CONTINUED...

  Eurocentric history being taught across the world means people feel they own history and culture is seen as insignificant- makes people feel lacking in power/ control and they lose their own identity. Agard reclaims this.
• FORM

  Agard does not follow a consistent rhyme scheme- his rhyming is sporadic and unpredictable all the way throughout. The sense of controlling the rhyme scheme could symbolise how the education system controls what we do/ don't learn about. -The freedom of the rhyme could also represent how Agard is empowering and encouraging us to take control of our own education and to diversify it ourselves. He is not limited by any poetic rules and we shouldn't be limited by the education system.
• IMAGERY 1

  "Dem tell me/ what dem want to tell me"

  Agard purposefully repeats "dem" as a way of showing us the divide between the education system and those that they teach. He is trying to exaggerate the separation between the two by presenting us with a "them" vs. "us" model as a way of showing the lack of inclusivity of the system.
• IMAGERY 2

  "Bandage up me eye with me own history/ Blind me to me own identity"

  Metaphor to compare the British education system to a bandage. The typical purpose of a bandage is to cover a wound- prevent the wound from becoming infected and speed up the healing process.

  "Blind me"- an inability to see. In this case, Agard compares the education system to a bandage in order to show us how they pretend to be teaching us the most important history which is the most beneficial to us.
• CONTINUED...

  However, in reality, they are causing us harm by limiting our understanding of society/ world and excluding a more diverse history from the curriculum.

  "bandage/ blind"- suggests he is unable to see who he is/ loss of identity due to not being taught his culture/ history. "Bandage"- wound- this teaching is damaging and will take a long to recover from.
• IMAGERY 3

  "And even when de British said no/ she still brave the Russian snow/ A healing star"

  Metaphor- is used to compare Mary Seacole to a "star" because like a start she created hope for survival for the wounded soldiers during the Crimean war. Agard uses this inspiring story of Mary Seacole as a way of providing us with hope that we can celebrate these diverse figures by educating ourselves on their accomplishments.
• CONTINUED...

  "Star"- guidance- suggest she led them to be healed and was a saviour to them. Shows how important historical figures are disregarded or seen as insignificant if outside European culture.
• LANGUAGE

  Agard writes using creole accent e.g. "dem tell me" -> The accent enables Agard to celebrate his Caribbean heritage and implicitly encouraging us to do the same.

  "Dem" represents society, teachers , everyone who has made him feel oppressed and insignificant. Shows how he lacks control.
• STRUCTURE


  Agard makes purposeful choices to have some parts of his poem written in normal text type and others in italics. He does this because he wants the part in italics to stand out and to show its importance because this part is the part on the black historical figures which have been neglected from the curriculum.

  The word "I" appears for the first time in the last two lines of the poem- suggests he is beginning to reclaim control and his own identity at the end of the poem.