Checking Out Me History

John Agard

Read the poem through

Important things to know…

What do the following mean?

Dem -Me -Bout -Dat -Lick back -De – See-far woman –

-Them-My-About-That-Defeated-Of-A woman who has a vision of the future

Brief notes about the poem

• Agard is pointing out how in the English Curriculum students only seem to learn about white people because he believes it is written by white people for white people

• He believes history in the English Curriculum deliberately leaves out information about black men and women who deserve more recognition

Stanza one…

Dem tell meDem tell me Wha dem want to tell me

What’s the stanza about?

These three words are used at the start of all the stanzas that rhyme

The repetition highlights the control that white people have over history

Agard believes that if you control what people learn about the past, then you can control how people think and what they think about themselves

Stanza two…

Bandage up me eye with me own historyBlind me to me own identity

The alliteration on ‘b’ at the start of these lines shows that Agard believes that information has been deliberately distorted and hiddenThe use of the ‘b’

creates an angry tone

The use of non-standard English is used to show his own culture and background which he feels is not acknowledged by the English Curriculum

What’s the stanza about?

Stanza three…

Dem tell me bout 1066 and all datdem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he catBut Toussaint L’Ouvertureno dem never tell me bout dat

This quatrain is repeated throughout the poem – in each one a different famous white figure is mentioned. Each quatrain usually ends with the mention of a black historical figure who isn’t taught about

The childish rhyme shows how he feels about what he has been told about the past – this is why he mentions characters from nursery rhymes and myth – he is mocking what he has been told

What’s the stanza about?

Stanza four…

Toussainta slavewith visionlick blackNapoleanbattalionand first BlackRepublic bornToussaint de thornto de FrenchToussaint de beaconof de Haitian Revolution

These longer verses serve to concentrate on someone famous in black history

The mocking tone is not apparent in these sections. They are italicised so that they stand out visually

The lines are shorter and they are written in free verse – Agard is using an unconventional form to write about unconventional ideas

The use of occasional rhyme in these sections is irregular

These section are filled with metaphor and positive imagery to convince the reader about how amazing these people are

What’s the stanza about?

Stanza five…

Dem tell me bout de man who discover de balloonand de cow who jump over de moonDem tell me bout de dish ran away with the spoonbut dem never tell me bout Nanny de maroon

Note the lack of punctuation in the whole poem. Agarad is choosing to reject the rules of punctuation – the poem is therefore purposefully full of enjambment – this represents how he is rejecting white history too

What’s the stanza about?

Stanza six…

Nannysee-far womanof mountain dreamfire-woman strugglehopeful streamto freedom river

This language is unusual and original

What do the metaphors suggest to you about Nanny de Maroon?

The metaphors create a positive image of Nanny

What’s the stanza about?

Stanza seven…

Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson and Waterloobut dem never tell me bout Shaka de great Zulu

What’s the stanza about?

Stanza eight…

Dem tell me bout Columbus and 1492but what happen to de Caribs and de Arawaks too

What’s the stanza about?

Stanza nine…

Dem tell me bout Florence Nightingale and she lampAnd how Robin Hood used to campDem tell me bout ole King Cole was a merry ole soulbut dem never tell me bout Mary Seacole

What’s the stanza about?

Stanza ten…

From Jamaicashe travel farto the Crimean War she volunteer to goand even when de British said noshe still brave the Russian snowa healing staramong the woundeda yellow sunriseto the dying

This metaphor describes Mary Seacole in a positive light – a yellow sunrise is full of hope and promise for the dying

What’s the stanza about?

Stanza eleven…

Dem tell Dem tell me wha dem want to tell meBut now I checking out me own historyI carving out me identity

The repetition of ‘dem tell me’ could represent how Agard felt nagged when he was at school

Here the second line highlights how angry Agard is

Now that he knows about Toussaint; Nanny de Maroon and Mary Seacole he feels he is able to understand something about the culture he comes from

What’s the stanza about?

The poem…

• Is cleverly constructed to reclaim black identity

• Makes the reader aware that British history is only a point of view

• Introduces the reader to famous black people

• Reminds us that whoever controls the past, controls the present

The poem…

• Cleverly uses two types of stanza to show the differences between ‘official’ and ‘non-official’ history

• Shows that without a history and without a distinctive voice we may have no identity

Stanza two…

Bandage up me eye with me own historyBlind me to me own identity

Stanza two…

Bandage up me eye with me own historyBlind me to me own identity