1. 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

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. 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

5. 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?

6. 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

7. 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?

8. 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?

9. 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

10. 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?

11. 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?

12. 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

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

14. 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

15. 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?

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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?

21. Get students to work on MITSL on their own today.

22. 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?

23. 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

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

25. 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?

26. 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?