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AQA GCSE POETRY ANTHOLOGY: CHARACTER AND VOICE

‘Checking Out Me History’ by John Agard

Learning Objectives:

- AO1: Respond to the using details from the poem to support your

opinion

- AO2: Analyse the writers’ methods (language, structure and form) and

the purposes of these methods

Pre-reading activity

1. Why do you think it might it be a good idea to teach young people

history at school? Note three reasons.

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2. Why do you think that British history is widely taught across the world?

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3. What reasons might there be to teach young people about the history

of other cultures as well as British history?

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Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk

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Take 3 minutes to discuss your opinions with a partner. Justify your ideas.

Add any further issues you have uncovered.

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First impressions Read the poem.

What are your first impressions of the tone and meaning? What, do you

think, is the speaker’s opinion?

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What type of poem is this?

This poem is a dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue is a piece of

verse that gives the speaker a voice to EXPRESS his / her feelings to a silent

audience.

In the case of ‘Checking Out Me History’, Agard’s speaker expresses a

desire to learn more about his / her own country of origin, not just

the British history s/he has been taught in school. Agard himself was born

in Guyana in South America in 1949 and moved to England in 1977.


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Poetry detective*Find table on next page (page 4).

What is the narrator of the poem taught at school? What does the narrator wish he or she was taught?

Instructions for teacher:

1. Enlarge, cut out and hide the statements around the classroom.

2. Put pupils into groups of three. One student within the group takes on the

role of scribe; s/he will need the empty table on page 5 and a pen. The

other two students are ‘runners’. (Teacher to differentiate accordingly.)

3. The task for the ‘runners’ is to find a statement, memorise it and then

return to the scribe who has to write down the information provided by

her / his runners. Runners are NOT allowed to pick up the statements or

to shout the facts across the classroom. Neither are they allowed to

memorise more than one fact before returning to the scribe.

4. The team must arrange the statements in the table under the relevant

heading.

5. This is a frantic activity but one that students enjoy and it often turns into a

race without the teacher even mentioning the word. Advice on movement

around the classroom might be necessary.


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TAUGHT NOT TAUGHT1066 Toussaint L’Ouverture

Dick Whittington Nanny of the Maroons

The man who discovered the

balloon.Shaka, Zulu King

‘Hey Diddle Diddle’ by

Mother GooseThe Caribs

Lord Nelson The Arawaks

The Battle of

Waterloo

Mary Seacole

Robin Hood

Florence Nightingale

Old King Cole

Christopher Columbus

TAUGHT NOT TAUGHTCopyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk

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Webquest Use the Internet to find 3 - 4 details about the historical figures that Agard

feels have been ignored or underrepresented.


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Toussaint L’Ouverture

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Nanny de Maroon

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Shaka


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The Caribs ____________________________________

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The Arawaks


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Mary Seacole

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Poetry detective Spot the following poetic techniques and devices at work in the poem. What

is their PURPOSE and EFFECT?


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techniques examples and analysis

short lines

italics

non-standard english

repetition

lack of punctuation

a range of historical

events / figures

rhyme

Let’s take a closer look Answer the following questions by providing quotes and analysis. Think

PEA - point, example, analysis.


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Stanzas 1 – 3

Dem tell me

Dem tell me

Wha dem want to tell me

Bandage up me eye with me own history

Blind me to me own identity

Dem tell me bout 1066 and all dat

dem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he cat

But Toussaint L’Ouverture

no dem never tell me bout dat

What can we infer about the speaker?

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Who do you think ‘dem’ refers to?

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Why do you think the poet has included a mixture of real events,

characters from children’s stories and nursery rhymes?

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Stanzas 4, 6 and 9

4 6 9Toussaint

a slave

Nanny

see-far woman

From Jamaica

she travel far


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with vision

lick back

Napoleon

battalion

and first Black

Republic born

Toussaint de thorn

to de French

Toussaint de beacon

of de Haitian Revolution

of mountain dream

fire-woman struggle

hopeful stream

to freedom river

to the Crimean War

she volunteer to go

and even when de British said no

she still brave the Russian snow

a healing star

among the wounded

a yellow sunrise

to the dying

Select an effective noun phrase used to describe each historical

figure. Discuss the effect of each noun phrase and how the speaker’s

praise for them is made clear.

Toussaint L’Ouverture______________________________________________________________

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Nanny de Maroon______________________________________________________________

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Mary Seacole______________________________________________________________

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Below is stanza four of the poem, rewritten in standard English.

From Jamaica, she travelled far to the Crimean War. She volunteered to go and even

when the British said no, she still braved the Russian snow. She was a healing star


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among the wounded, a yellow sunrise to the dying.

Give examples of / make a note of (up to you which; delete below as

necessary) the non-standard dialect and grammar forms that this has

revealed. Explore their effect.

techniques examples and analysis

ellipsis

lack of punctuation

enjambment

phonetic spelling

colloquialism

Why might the poet have used such short lines in these stanzas?

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Why might the poet have used italics for these stanzas?

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Stanza 10Dem tell me

Dem tell me wha dem want to tell me

But now I checking out me own history

I carving out me identity

What might the metaphor ‘I carving out me identity’ mean? Think about

the connotations of the verb ‘to carve’.

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What could you infer about the way the speaker feels about his or her

identity from this stanza?

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My Itchy Toes Smell Loads Complete the table below with what you consider to be the

most important quotes and poetic devices within each

category.

meaning

imagery

tone

Structure and Form

languageComparing poems


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- AO3: Make comparisons and explain links between texts, evaluating

writers’ different ways of expressing meaning and achieving effects

Use the Venn diagram to find the differences and similarities between

the two poems.

Sample exam question Compare the theme of history in ‘Checking Out Me History’ and ‘The

Horse Whisperer’.


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‘Checking Out Me ‘The Horse Whisperer’


Planning an essay Using MITSL as a guide, create an essay plan or spider diagram for your

essay question. You must include 3 - 5 points of comparison. Number each

point in the order you would write about them in your exam. When you write

your essay, remember to analyse structural and poetic devices for their

effect and meaning. Don’t just list.

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Checking Out Me History

5

10

15

20

25

Dem tell me

Dem tell me

Wha dem want to tell me

Bandage up me eye with me own history

Blind me to me own identity

Dem tell me bout 1066 and all dat

dem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he cat

But Toussaint L’Ouverture

no dem never tell me bout dat

Toussaint

a slave

with vision

lick back

Napoleon

battalion

and first Black

Republic born

Toussaint de thorn

to de French

Toussaint de beacon

of de Haitian Revolution

Dem tell me bout de man who discover de balloon

and de cow who jump over de moon

Dem tell me bout de dish ran away with de spoon

but dem never tell me bout Nanny de maroon


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30

35

40

45

50

Nanny

see-far woman

of mountain dream

fire-woman struggle

hopeful stream

to freedom river

Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson and Waterloo

but dem never tell me bout Shaka de great Zulu

Dem tell me bout Columbus and 1492

but what happen to de Caribs and de Arawaks too

Dem tell me bout Florence Nightingale and she lamp

and how Robin Hood used to camp

Dem tell me bout ole King Cole was a merry ole soul

but dem never tell me bout Mary Seacole

From Jamaica

she travel far

to the Crimean War

she volunteer to go

and even when de British said no

she still brave the Russian snow

a healing star

among the wounded

a yellow sunrise

to the dying

Dem tell me

Dem tell me wha dem want to tell me

But now I checking out me own history

I carving out me identity.

John Agard


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Acknowledgments and thanksWritten by Chantel Mathias and Amanda Fiegel

Introduction and copy by Karen Bishop

Audio file scripts and recordings by Barrie McDermid - www.podcastrevision.co.uk

Interactive resources and design by David Riley - www.triptico.co.uk

Images:

napoleonstark.wordpress.com voiceseducation.org mwhcp-per6.wikispaces.com clayvilla.com flmnh.ufl.edu famous.y2u.co.uk

Agard, John

‘Checking Out Me History’ Copyright © 1996 by John Agard reproduced by kind permission of John

Agard c/o Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency Limited.

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders of material reproduced in this collection. If

notified, we will be pleased to rectify any errors / omissions.


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Checking Out Me History' - WordPress.com · Web view2011/03/05 · Mary Seacole Robin Hood Florence Nightingale Old King Cole Christopher Columbus TAUGHT NOT TAUGHT Webquest ( Use