Checking Out Me History

1. Checking Out Me History John Agard

2. Listen to the poem. Open the hyper-link below to hear Agard read his poem aloud. http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/john-agard-checking-out-me-history-poem-only/12247.html Think about what he is saying and how he is saying it.

3. The Title: Checking Out Me History Now you have heard Agard reading his poem aloud re-look at the title of the poem. Why has he written it ungrammatically according to Standard English? What is the effect?

4. Voice • Who is speaking in the poem? • What type and tone of voice do you imagine? Is s/he happy? Sad? Angry? Frustrated? Critical? Or something else?

5. He sings the parts about being taught White history and culture to show that it was something he learned in a childish, rote type of way but he speaks about the black heroes to add to his feeling that they are important and should be taught about in schools.

6. Dem tell meDem tell meWha dem want to tell me • Look at the word ‘Dem’ who do you think ‘dem’ (them) are? • Why do you think Agard uses repetition at the beginning of the poem? What is he trying to emphasise?

7. Personal response • Is there a message in this poem? • Is Agard trying to create an emotive response from you? • Is the response more powerful if you are black or white? Or is it a different emotional response? • Why?

8. Culture or history?

9. ‘nodemnever tell me bout dat’ • What is the effect of adding two negatives in this sentence?

10. Looking at Black history

11. Toussaint L’Ouverture The Slave who defeated Napoleon in Haiti.

12. Nanny de Maroon • Nanny de Maroon has been immortalised in songs and legends but certain facts about her have been documented: • She had exceptional leadership qualities; • She was a small wiry woman with piercing eyes; • Her influence over the Maroons was so strong it appeared supernatural ( • She was a chieftainess, or wise woman, who passed down oral legends and encouraged the continuation of customs, music and songs that had come with the people from Africa and that instilled them with pride and confidence. Nanny de Maroon (or of the Maroons) stands out in history as the only female among Jamaica’s national heroes. She possessed a fierce fighting spirit. She is described as a fearless warrior who used military tactics to fool the English. Nanny was a leader of the Maroons at the beginning of the C18th. She was known by both Maroons and the British settlers as an outstanding military leader who became in her lifetime and after a symbol of unity and strength for her people in times of crisis.

13. ShakakaSenzangakhona the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom. His statesmanship and vigour marked him as one of the greatest Zulu kings. He has been called a military genius for his reforms and innovations, and condemned for the brutality of his reign. Research continues into the character and methods of the Zulu warrior king, whose reign still greatly influences South African culture.

14. Caribs and Arawaks The 'Black Caribs' were descended from group of enslaved Africans who were marooned from shipwrecks of slave ships, as well as slaves who escaped here. They intermarried with the Carib and formed the last native culture to resist the BritishTheir descendants continue to live there today and are known as the Garifuna ethnic group. The original inhabitants of Jamaica are believed to be the Arawaks. They came from South America 2,500 years ago and named the island Xaymaca, which meant "“land of wood and water”. The Arawaks were a mild and simple people by nature. Physically, they were light brown in colour, short and well-shaped with coarse, black hair. The Arawaks led quiet and peaceful lives until they were destroyed when the Spaniards conquered Jamaica.

15. Mary Seacole Mary Seacole was born in Jamaica in 1805. She was a businesswoman, traveller, gold prospector, writer and nurse. Her father was a Scottish army officer, and her mother a descendant of African Slaves. It was her nursing skills that Mary used to good effect in the Crimean war (1855-1856) tending to the wounded servicemen there. At the end of the war, she came back to London and became a 'media star', due to her widely acclaimed work, which had been fully reported in the London newspapers.

16. ‘nodemnever tell me bout dat’ Agard repeats this line with some small alterations twice more in the poem. • Can you find where he repeats the line? • Why does he do this? • What effect does it have?

17. Looking at imagery

18. Bandage up me eye with me own history What do you think this means? Is it literal or metaphorical?

19. Blind me to me own identity • How can someone ‘blind’ you to your own identity? Don’t you know who you are? • What is Agard suggesting educators have done to his sense of identity by not teaching him about black history and culture?

20. ‘carving out me identity’ • What does Agard mean by this image? This is a wooden carving of a slave found in North Carolina, USA.

21. Structure • Why does Agard refer to more white history and culture than black? • Why does he devote more lines to explaining who Toussaint L’Ouverture, Nanny de maroon and Mary Seacole are?

22. Shape of the poem Look at the shape of the poem on the page. • Is it an odd shape? • What are the line lengths are they equal or very different? • Why has Agard presented the poem in this way do you think?

23. Plenary • What is the poem about? • What tone of voice does the narrator have? Why? • What images show something about the voice of the narrator? • What does the form (the rhyme, rhythm, dialect) of the poem indicate about the poet’s purpose for writing the poem? • What does the structure say about the poem’s ideas?