Checking Out Me History Objectives: To explore the poem Checking Out Me History focusing on how Agard has used poetic devices to portray the theme of power and conflict To use MITSL to develop a response to the poem

Name the historical figure – A prize for 6/6 Can they name all of the famous british people (not last one). Who is last one? (Touissant L'Ouverture – ended slavery in French colony of St Domingue and formed modern day Haiti Why have we not heard of him?

Checking out your history Why do we learn History at school? What do you remember learning about British History? Do you think you should learn just about British History if you don’t go to school in Britain?

Who or what do you recognise? 1066 Toussaint L’Ouverture Dick Whittington Nanny of the Maroons The man who discovered the balloon. Shaka, Zulu King Hey Diddle Diddle’ by Mother Goose The Caribs Lord Nelson The Arawaks The Battle of Waterloo Mary Seacole Robin Hood Florence Nightingale Old King Cole Christopher Columbus Be ready to feedback

Checking Out Me History What about the title? What do you think John Agard will discuss? Listen to his poem – what do you think his message is?

Stanza one… What’s the stanza about? These three words are used at the start of all the stanzas that rhyme Dem tell me Wha dem want to tell me 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 The repetition highlights the control that white people have over history

Stanza two… The alliteration on ‘b’ at the start of these lines shows that Agard believes that information has been deliberately distorted and hidden The use of the ‘b’ creates an angry tone Bandage up me eye with me own history Blind me to me own identity 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… 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 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 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… These longer verses serve to concentrate on someone famous in black history Toussaint a slave with vision lick back Napolean battalion and first Black Republic born Toussaint de thorn to de French Toussaint de beacon of de Haitian Revolution The lines are shorter and they are written in free verse – Agard is using an unconventional form to write about unconventional ideas What’s the stanza about? The mocking tone is not apparent in these sections. They are italicised so that they stand out visually These section are filled with metaphor and positive imagery to convince the reader about how amazing these people are The use of occasional rhyme in these sections is irregular

Stanza five… 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 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 the spoon but dem never tell me bout Nanny de maroon What’s the stanza about?

Stanza six… This language is unusual and original What’s the stanza about? Nanny see-far woman of mountain dream fire-woman struggle hopeful stream to freedom river The metaphors create a positive image of Nanny What do the metaphors suggest to you about Nanny de Maroon?

Stanza seven… What’s the stanza about? Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson and Waterloo but dem never tell me bout Shaka de great Zulu

Stanza eight… Dem tell me bout Columbus and 1492 but what happen to de Caribs and de Arawaks too What’s the stanza about?

Stanza nine… What’s the stanza about? 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

Stanza ten… This metaphor describes Mary Seacole in a positive light – a yellow sunrise is full of hope and promise for the dying 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 What’s the stanza about?

Stanza eleven… The repetition of ‘dem tell me’ could represent how Agard felt nagged when he was at school What’s the stanza about? Dem tell Dem tell me wha dem want to tell me But now I checking out me own history I carving out me identity 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 Here the second line highlights how angry Agard is

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

So where does the theme fit in? What is the ‘power’ in the poem? What is Agard suggesting? What type of conflict is shown and who is it between?

Get students to work on MITSL on their own today.

Your 50 word summary Answer the question in exactly 50 words: To explore the poem Checking Out Me History focusing on how Agard has used poetic devices to portray the theme of power and conflict?

Compare the ways poets present ideas about conflict in ‘Checking out Me history’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’ Checking out Me history Meaning (title) Imagery Tone Structure Language

Compare the ways poets present ideas about conflict in ‘Checking out Me history’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’

30 min response Using your information from your table or venn diagram write a response to the question: To explore the poem Checking Out Me History focusing on how Agard has used poetic devices to portray the theme of power and conflict?

Success criteria Is there: An introduction which includes both poems outlining their meaning and their titles? A section on imagery which compares both poems in relation to conflict using quotes? A section on tone which compares both poems in relation to conflict using quotes? A section on structure which compares both poems in relation to conflict using quotes? A section on language which compares both poems in relation to conflict using quotes?