Checking Out Me History

• What are three points of comparison between Checking Out Me History and London?

  -use language to convey anger at authority

  -use repetition to emphasise their anger

  -show how authority aims to control every aspect of life
• What quotes can you use to compare Checking Out Me History and London on the topic of repression?

  -COMH: shows oppression to be mental and due to a lack of education on other cultures due to the ethnocentricity of the British education system because 'dem never tell me bout' Caribbean history

  -London shows oppression to be more physical, with 'chartered streets' and 'chartered Thames' which leave 'marks of weakness' on 'every man'
• How can you compare Checking Out Me History and London on the topic of people's response?

  -COMH shows people to feel angered at the biased British education system, and how they begin 'checking out me own history' to learn about figures such as 'Mary Seacole' who are left out of British curriculums

  -London shows that people have a far more passive response to authoritarian oppression, and instead become depressed, displaying 'marks of weakness, marks of woe'. This may be due to the severity of the government's control however, as it leads to 'blood' running 'down palace walls'
• How can you compare COMH and London on the topic of imagery presenting their anger at authority?

  -COMH uses the phrases 'bandage up me eye' and 'blind me' to indicate his anger and resentment towards the British education system through highlighting the oppression he himself faced with hyperbole and imagery of graphic injury

  -London used graphic injury of 'blood' running 'down palace walls' and a 'black'ning church' to indicate the corruption of the monarchy and religion which have been tainted by power
• How can you compare both poems on their use of repetition to emphasise their frustration?

  -COMH uses repetition of 'dem tell me' throughout to indicate the repetitiveness and monotony of his education, which centred only on white history

  -London uses repetition of 'chartered' and 'marks' to indicate the physical oppression people experience as a result of government control and the repetition of 'every' to highlight how an 'infant' and a 'man' alike are affected