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Checking Out Me History

John Agard

Think: What influences our identity?

Starter

• Mind map as many names, dates and places you can think of from your History lessons.

• For example:– Hitler– 1066– King Henry VIII– Shakespeare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-sKYhLAQyI

FORM

STRUCTURE

HISTORICAL EXAMPLES

METAPHORS

PHONETIC LANGUAGE AND DIALECT

FEELINGS AND ATTITUDES

Dem tell meDem tell meWha dem want to tell me

Bandage up me eye with me own historyBlind me to me own identity

Dem tell me bout 1066 and all datdem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he catBut Toussaint L’Ouvertureno dem never tell me bout dat

Toussainta slavewith visionlick backNapoleonbattalionand first BlackRepublic bornToussaint de thornto de FrenchToussaint de beaconof de Haitian Revolution

Dem tell me bout de man who discover de balloonand de cow who jump over de moonDem tell me bout de dish ran away with de spoonbut dem never tell me bout Nanny de maroon

Nannysee-far womanof mountain dreamfire-woman strugglehopeful streamto freedom river

Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson and Waterloobut dem never tell me bout Shaka de great ZuluDem tell me bout Columbus and 1492but what happen to de Caribs and de Arawaks too

Dem tell me bout Florence Nightingale and she lampand how Robin Hood used to campDem tell me bout ole King Cole was a merry ole soulbut dem never tell me bout Mary Seacole

From Jamaicashe travel farto the Crimean Warshe volunteer to goand even when de British said noshe still brave the Russian snowa healing staramong the woundeda yellow sunriseto the dying

Dem tell meDem tell me wha dem want to tell meBut now I checking out me own historyI carving out me identity

TASK: Individually complete the table on the poem, finding evidence in the poem to support the given statements.

Challenge: In the last box, write your own statement about the poem and support with evidence.

Theme/idea Evidence from the poem to support my ideas about this statement

The speaker is angry that Black culture and history has been neglected.The speaker implies that the history he has been taught is a fiction.The poem makes clear that cultural transmission (the passing on of knowledge about culture and history) starts at a very early age.

The poet values the qualities of independence and courage.

The poet is careful to use humour to make his point in a non-threatening way.

The poem suggests that the process of education involves passive people being bombarded with information by those who have power and/or authority.

The poem equates ‘identity’ with knowledge of your own cultural and racial roots.

The poem can be interpreted as encouraging self-empowerment and pride in one’s culture.

TASK: Compare ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘Checking out me History’ in a Venn diagram. Think about the themes of history, power and heritage. Remember to include notes for AO2 (form, structure and language).

Venn Diagram: ‘Ozymandias’ on one side, ‘Checking Out Me History’ in another and points for both poems in the middle

Plenary

TASK: Write down what you have learnt today on a post-it note, share it with your partner and bring it to the board.