Checking Me Out History V1 Flashcards
Why is there a lack of punctuation in the poem
Gives the reader freedom to carve out how they want to read the poem / act of rebellion against the education system that he was taught/ missing punctuation could be a metaphor for how the education system missed his education of his history
Terminology and meaning of ‘ Bandage up me eyes with me own history’
Metaphor for the colonials who thought they were helping by bandaging but they didn’t since they blocked his history and blinded him from it
Why does the poet talk about his past education and how they taught him nursery rhymes and folklore stories
Poet want to point out how he was taught insignificant material in school such as the ‘dish who ran away with de spoon’ then important history of black history
Why is some text in italics and some aren’t
Italicised texts force us to slow down while reading by use of short line lengths. Slowing down helps us think more about the text and what he is trying to highlight to us
Give examples of light and sight in the poem and which line in the poem does it contrast (give quote)
Vision,beavon,see-far woman,hopeful,freedom and star contrast ‘bandage up me eye with me own history’
Why does the poet use present tense
To show how what he was taught in the past still impacts him now
What is the poet trying to point out about black history in the poem
Education systems don’t mention black history and that it isn’t spoken about whereas other things which aren’t important to education like fables and nursery rhymes are mentioned and glorified
What does the contrast of plural pronoun ‘dem’ (they) against the individual I show
Increase sense of tension and oppression he has against the education system
What does the word carving and ‘I’ suggest in ‘I carving out me identity’
Present continuous verb suggests its an ongoing process/ links with art creates something worthwhile-important and the I suggests how its an individual effort
What was the poet trying to convey in the poem
He wants to show how black history wasn’t mentioned whereas other useless things were and he wanted to fight back against the opression and tension he endured during the education system by mentioning black history he wasn’t taught in school
Examples of nature in the poem
Mountain,fire,stream,river,snow,sunrise
Repetition of ‘dem tell me’
The use of repetition here creates a accusstatory tone, showing the speaker’s anger
Blind ne to me own identity
Dem gell me bout de man who discover de balloonsnd de cow who jump over de monn dem tell me bout the dish who ran with de spoon but dem never tell me bout Nanny de maroon
Dem tell me bout florence nightingale and she lamp …. but dem never tell me bout Mary Seacole
