Checking out me history - john agard

• Context

  • grew up in British Guyana - had a British education
  • Childhood shaped by colonialism - born in 1949 + independent in 1966
  • Parallels themes in Caribbean poetry - history of enslavement and colonialism
  • Published in 2001 following a period of many colonies gaining sovereignty - Jamaica 1962, Antigua barbuda and Belize 1981
  • Lived in Britain for 30 years and saw the flawed oppressive education system
  • COMH was published in a collection named “half caste and other poems” which explored issues of race and identity
• motif of light topic sentence

  In “checking out me history“ agard uses the motif of light to symbolise truth and enlightenment, highlighting how the speaker uncovers hidden histories that were hidden by the dark Eurocentric education system and to idealise black history
• Motif of Light- “beacon of de haitain revolution”/“fire women struggle“/“a healing star”/“a yellow sunrise”


  • literary trope of light as a source of guidance and hope
  • “Star” quintessentially provides a source of direction yet also characterises someone with a divine quality
  • Emblematic of how these historical figures carved out a passage to freedom and illuminated a route out of colonialism
  • Could be a metaphor for these figures coming out of the shadows - theoretically “shining through“
• motif of light - “bandage up me eye with me own history”/“blind me to me own identity“


  • dichotomy and juxtaposition between vision and blindness
  • written in patois and guyana creole
  • oppressive education system is responsible for blindness
  • verb “bandage” has connotations to a wound
  • British education system are attempting to control colonies by providing a distorted view of history
  • condemns the arrogance of colonisation
• topic sentence historical referenced

  agard uses powerful historical figures, from mary secole to toussaint louveture to challenge the Eurocentric blinded version of history embedded in the education system and to celebrate black identity and history
• historical references- Florence nightingale and Mary Seacole

  • allusion to Florence nightingale and Mary second is particularly interesting as they paralleled each others achievements
  • British education only pays homage to nightingale
  • Both reputable nurses in Crimean war
  • Nightingale carry’s a “lamp” and seacole is a “healing star”/“yellow sunrise”
  • Natural imagery surrounding seacole idealises her and conveys her intrinsic angelic quakiites
  • A lamp is artificial and manmade
  • Agard views Seacole as a divine being - a metaphor for the way she was abstracted out of reality through the one sided view of history
  • Thus she is almost mythical
• historical references - “1066 and all dat”


  • colloquialism referring to battle of Hastings central syllabus in British education
  • colloquialism almost derides how important this moment is perceived
  • “all dat” casts over the details of the event - not worthy of acknowledgement
  • could depict Agard’s struggle to remember information as to his it is arbitrary and not relevant to his identity
• historical references - “Toussaint L’ouverture“


  • dictates entire stanza
  • punctuated with plosive ‘D’ and ‘P’ sounds to establish an immersive sense of excitement rather than previous dismissive and banal tone
  • a symbol of hope and revolution, Agard intends to achieve emancipation with his work alike to L’ouverture did on a less dramatic scale
• form - free verse

  • it is written in free verse with periodic rhyming quatrains
  • Deviating between European literary traditions and extended stanzas of free verse to praise black history
  • Metaphorical act of breaking free from European convective as he abandons poetic tradition to give a voice to those opposed in the very tradition
• form - rhyming quatrains

  • each reference to black history comes at the end of the stanza critiquing how white history was prioritised
  • final image makes it more permanent in readers mind
  • combats segregation - pairs symbols of white and black history
  • imbues the stanzas speaking of white history with a rigid and rehearsed nursery rhyme quality
  • history is contrived and superficial
• structure - repetition

  • harsh accusatory phrase “dem tell me”
  • Plosive “d” sound establishes a level of aggression and bitterness
  • Dominates the beginning of each stanza to show repressive overbearing nature of British colonial education
  • “Dem” celebrates regional dialect and a refusal to conform to the lexis of those who educated Him
  • Unorthodox spellings “dem” “bout” atypical for Agards poetry- deliberate act of defiance against literary norms
  • Education is futile and only memorised for the sake of an exam
  • Lacked enough importance to endure his memory