checking out me history Flashcards
(19 cards)
who wrote checking out me history
John Agard
who was john Agard
a caribean poet that had a british education and critises the british education system
what is the poem inpspired by
reading a school text book that needs to be changed to inculde black historical characters that should be remebered
what are the quotes for the motif of light
“beacon” “fire” “star” “sunrise”
at does the motif of light show
- light acts as a sourceof guidance and hope
- metaphor for historical characters coming out of the shadows and how they have lit up a path to freedom
“bandage up my eye with me own identity”
analysis
“bandage” has connotations of a wound - british education is trying to heal by provising a distorted view of history
what are the historical refernces in the poem
allusion to florence nighting gale and Mary seacole
significance of florence holding a “lamp”
lamps are artificial
significance of mary seacole carring a “healing star”
natural imagery shows human life and that she is a ‘divine being’
significance of refernce “1066 and all dat”
reference to battle of hastings with colloquialism
- he is mocking importance of the battle as he cant remeber it fully, “all dat”
what does mary seacole being being a ‘divine being’ show
how she was abstared from reality
why does he dedicate a stanza to “toussaint L’ouveture”
symbolises hope and change john wished to make like the hati nation
what does enjambment throughout the poem show
john trying to rebell against education about punctuation
shows his instense emotions
forces black and white history to merge
what is repeated through out
“dem tell me”
“dem tell me” analysis
- plosive shows aggression needed
- using tradtional language
- mirrors repetative learning in
what is a diatribe
switches between free verse and rhyming quadrants
what does the diatribe allow john to do
praise black characters with the serious tone
what technique is “but now”
a volta
what does the volta represent
a turning point in the poem from saying “dem” to “i”
he is taking ownership of his identity and history
