checking out me history

• The poem "Checking Out Me History" by John Agard is about the speaker recounting the historical figures they were taught as a child, and then listing the figures from black history who were not mentioned. The speaker resolves to discover more about their own heritage.
• Checking Out Me History

  • The speaker is angry that they were not taught about black historical figures
  • The speaker is determined to research their own cultural identity
• John Agard was born in Guyana, which was a Dutch colony and then a British colony. He was given a Eurocentric view of history while being denied his own cultural identity.
• The poem was inspired by Agard reading a school textbook that claimed West Indian history began with Columbus. It was published in a collection focused on culture and racial identity.
• The use of repetition in the poem

  Creates an accusatory tone, showing the speaker's anger
• The italics used to highlight the accounts of black history


  Distinguish them from the Eurocentric history the speaker was taught
• The childish lexis and rhyme scheme

  Contrasts with the rich imagery used to describe black historical figures, showing the complex nature of their history
• The use of enjambment and the volta in the final stanza


  Show the speaker taking ownership of their identity and resolving to research their own history
• Agard uses violent metaphors and non-standard phonetic spelling to resist the oppression of colonial rule and the restrictions of the English language
• The lack of punctuation allows the poem to be interpreted in different ways, resisting oppression
• The angry tone created by the repetition of "dem tell me"


  Implies the speaker feels no one is listening to them
• The childish tone created by the simple rhyme scheme


  Implies the Eurocentric view of history is itself childish
• The poem can be compared to "Ozymandias" in its use of violent imagery to show the pain of oppression, and to "The Emigree" in its attachment of emotional significance to cultural identity