This has the effect of making the black icons he mentions seem more important and impressive “Toussaint a slave with vision”.
When non-standard English is used, it isn’t necessarily deliberate or trying to make a point like in ‘Checking out me History’ which I think forces a phonetic difference to create an atmosphere of ‘them’ versus ‘me (the narrator)’. White history is obviously irrelevant to the speaker's cultural identity. Free. Both poems ‘The Emigree’ and ‘Checking Out Me History’ explore a feeling of conflict over the persona’s own individual identity as a result of displacement and historical inaccuracy. Edexcel A Level History, Paper 3 N. Christie, B. Christie. Hi Zoe- This site was created for the OLD anthology, in which Singh Song and Checking Out Me History were in the same cluster as ‘poems from different cultures’. #powerandconflict
Read more. I carving out me identity .
Compare the ways poets present ideas about identity in 'Checking out me history' and in one other poem from 'Power and Conflict'. London WC1R 4HQ. The use of rhyme in the "Dem tell me" sections creates a sing-song tone that - combined with the use of nursery rhymes - suggests the narrator's contempt for the white version of history. ( Log Out / To much writing could be better by adding bullets points. He juxtaposes white icons with black icons, and often the white icons or histories are ridiculous “Dick Whittington and he cat” or linked to war and aggression “Lord Nelson and Waterloo”. #bayonetcharge Checking out me History is a poem about a Caribbean man’s frustration at the teaching of history- he believes that he is only taught about white historical figures and argues that some important black icons are neglected. "Checking Out Me History" was written by the British Guyanese poet John Agard and first published in 2005, in the collection Half-Caste.The poem focuses on the holes in the British colonial education system—particularly that system's omission of important figures from African, Caribbean, and indigenous history.
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Poet John Agard describes the process of writing his poem 'Checking Out Me History'. I decided to make a book on all the Power and Conflict poems for the English GCSE exams. This website and its content is subject to our Terms and
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Like Agard, Nagra uses a ‘voice’ which is directly linked to his own, as he is a British born Punjabi Indian, and the character speaks in what is referred to as ‘Punglish’ a Punjabi influenced version of standard English.
Key Quotations: ‘Dem tell me’, ‘Bandage up me eye’, ‘no dem never tell me bout dat’, ‘see-far woman’, I checking out me own history/ I carving out me identity’.
He argues for more freedom to learn about icons from other cultures- reflecting multi-cultural society more accurately. But now I checking out me own history.
#checkingoutmehistory The presentation of the poem pushes this idea further- as the black icons are written in italics, whereas the white icons are written in ‘normal’ font. #warphotographer. Square The first uses the repeated phrase Dem tell me to indicate the white version of history, mostly written in rhyming couplets, triplets or quatrains.
Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. The narrator of this poem, which can be read in full here, is introduced through their voice, relayed through words such as “dem” and “wha,” better understood as “them” and “what,” which indicates to the reader immediately that English is not likely the native language of the speaker. Checking Out Me History is a modern poem by the Guyanese poet, John Agard. The last line "But now I checking out me own history" suggests determination in the narrator's voice, and a … His descriptions of black icons are also ‘free’ from rhyme schemes, enforcing the theme of freedom which runs throughout. Whereas the sections on Toussaint L'Ouverture, Nanny de Maroon and Mary Seacole are celebratory in tone, emphasised by images of nature and using epic (out of the ordinary) vocabulary - words like vision, see-far and star. He uses non-standard phonetic spelling to represent his own powerful accent and mixes Caribbean Creole dialect with standard English. #tissue Tes Global Ltd is Created: Oct 14, 2012| Updated: Jul 4, 2014.
5. ( Log Out / We look at how history is taught and the conflict between fact and truths which is sometimes obscured by race or gender. 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 Interpretations of the poem: A man showing patriotism and national pride An accusation that the West’s influence on the teaching of history is an injustice.
For lesson purposes though, I agree that keeping it chunkier and more manageable does help! to tell me” • Repetition, dialect, caesura ... “Bandage up me eye with me own history / Blind me to me own identity” ... • Black history deliberately isolated or left out Themes Londonis about the lack of and abuse of power. Be able to identify techniques and explore the effect on the reader. The use of rhyme in the "Dem tell me" sections creates a sing-song tone that - combined with the use of nursery rhymes - suggests the narrator's contempt for the white version of history.
The impersonal and indefinite pronoun "that" dismisses British Euro-centric history: either an irrelevant or so well know it needs no explanation.
Although they are segmented, some may not find too much comfo... #aqa
Singh Song is a poem written from the perspective of a newly-wed Indian shop-worker in Britain, and tells the reader about his relationship with his bride and how this affects his work. His descriptions of the black historical icons use positive imagery referring to freedom “hopeful stream to freedom river” from slavery, and of positive role-models “A healing star… a yellow sunrise”. The speaker refers to figures and events from both white and black history. The poem gives examples of powerful black figures from history, often involved in conflicts themselves in one way or another. Change ), Example: Ideas and Feelings in Checking out me History, ARCHIVE Language: Exam Reading Section (exams ending 2016), Question 1: Retrieving and interpreting information, Question 2: Analysing headlines and pictures, Question 3: Inferring thoughts and feelings, Question 4: Comparing how language is used for effect, ARCHIVE Language: Exam Writing Section (exams ending 2016), ARCHIVE AQA Literature (for specification ending 2015).
The speaker tells us the reason for the address—that he has reclaimed his power, that he can see for himself now. Checking Out Me History Analysis Toussaint L’Ouverture Lines 1-9.
"Checking Out Me History" was published in 2007. Context: John Agard was born in British Guiana, now called Guyana, in South America (despite the location, Guyana has stronger cultural links to other Caribbean countries), in 1949.
This resource is designed for UK teachers. #english
The fact that he doesn’t give “dem” names suggests he doesn’t think very positively of them; they don’t deserve a name.
( Log Out / The choice to write in non-standard English perhaps reflects his disapproval of the idea of ‘standard English’- linking to his cultural identity. Précis: The poem shows anger at being forced to learn solely (white) British lessons and ideals, with ethnic Caribbean/African roots being erased from the education system.
The poem explores ideas about cultural identity- particularly looking at how ethnic cultures fit into Western (British) society. He repeats the phrase “dem never tell me” which emphasizes that the accused “dem” are withholding important information, and depriving him of something.
#prelude Preview. It is a poem that challenges us to consider the meaning of history, how we come to know about the past and accept versions of history. Themes: Racial identity and history are important to the poem and the poet writes with a phonetic style to capture their voice and create tone emphasising his Caribbean origins. Example essay: In what ways does Hill explore the theme of fear? Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. It is filled with a rich historical context that makes up the bulk of the poem's story, which is, in large part, a colonial story. for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die;
#exposure
It is filled with a rich historical context that makes up the bulk of the poem's story, which is, in large part, a colonial story. #mylastduchess He does this to emphasize that he is a black Caribbean man and therefore the issues he explores are relevant and personal to him. This could be significant as often literature uses italics to stress of emphasize a word within a sentence, he is perhaps trying to present his history choices as important in contrast to “dem’s” choices.
These remind us of the oral traditions of the Caribbean where many slaves were prevented from learning to read. 1066 and all dat. however very informative, and wel written. Conflict occurs when we see the contrast with what we are taught and what we are not, the nature of the characters and history involved being 'conflict' and the conflict of the victor (whom we remember) and those we don't.
#chargeofthelightbrigade
In British schools white history and white children's stories dominate the curriculum; the speaker in the poem feels mocked by this unfair and uneven emphasis. #kamikaze Black history is quoted to emphasise its separateness and to stress its importance.
In 1977, he and his partner Grace Nichols moved to Britain to pursue dreams of being professional writers.
She is a more ‘modern’ and westernised representation of an Indian woman. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. This is a powerpoint used to revise the poem quickly near to the exams but elements of it could be used in the initial teaching stages. In ‘Checking out me History’ John Agard uses a Caribbean dialect “lick back”, and phonetic spelling “dem… dat” which reflects the Caribbean accent, to create a clear character voice. All Assessment Objectives + Success Criteria, Extract From, The Prelude (1850) - William Wordsworth, The Charge of the Light Brigade (1854) - Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Storm on the Island (1966) - Seamus Heaney, War Photographer (1985) - Carol Ann Duffy, Checking Out Me History (2007) - John Agard, English GCSE AQA: Comprehensive Analysis of the Power and Conflict Poems. NOTE: This book's analyses are very long and wordy due to much information from different sources. ‘Singh Song’ has an overall positive and jolly tone. He argues for more freedom to learn about icons from other cultures- reflecting multi-cultural society more accurately.
Hope this helps! #remains #power He does this mostly through the character of ‘the bride’ who is shockingly untraditional “effing at my mum… stumble like a drunk… a red crew cut”, but is still connected to her Indian culture: “in all di colours of Punjabi…sari”. #conflict He builds what might be called a ‘stereotypical’ image of an Indian man. ( Log Out / View US version . #poppies