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This lesson focuses on a single, powerful poem: John Agard's Checking Out Me History. As the only poem in this lesson, we can explore it in greater depth — examining its context, language, form, and the way it connects to wider themes of power, identity, and resistance across the anthology.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Poet | John Agard (b. 1949) |
| Background | Born in Guyana (then British Guiana), moved to England in 1977 |
| Language | Writes in both Standard English and Guyanese Creole |
| Theme | The Eurocentric bias of the British education system; reclaiming Black and Caribbean history |
| Collection | Half-Caste and Other Poems (2005) |
| Form | Free verse with alternating registers — Creole and Standard English |
Agard is a Caribbean-British poet who has spent his career challenging racial prejudice and cultural erasure. Checking Out Me History is a direct attack on the British education system, which Agard experienced as one that taught white European history (the Great Fire of London, 1066, Dick Whittington) while ignoring the achievements of Black, Caribbean, and non-European figures. The poem reclaims these hidden histories.
The title itself is significant: "Checking Out" means both discovering (as in researching) and rejecting (as in checking out of a hotel — leaving behind the version of history he has been taught).
Examiner's tip: Agard's use of Creole is not just stylistic — it is political. Writing in Creole is an act of resistance against the English language and the cultural dominance it represents.
The speaker angrily describes how the British education system taught him about white European history and nursery rhymes (Dick Whittington, 1066, the Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon) while hiding Black history from him. He then celebrates the figures he has since discovered for himself: Toussaint L'Ouverture (leader of the Haitian Revolution), Nanny de Maroon (Jamaican freedom fighter), and Mary Seacole (Crimean War nurse who was overlooked in favour of Florence Nightingale). The poem ends with a declaration of empowerment: "I carving out me identity."
| Quote | Technique | Analysis |
|---|---|---|
| "Dem tell me / Dem tell me / Wha dem want to tell me" | Anaphora / Creole | "Dem" = they (the establishment, the education system). The repetition creates an insistent, angry rhythm. The Creole signals resistance to Standard English. |
| "Bandage up me eye with me own history" | Metaphor | History is used as a blindfold — the speaker has been deliberately prevented from seeing. Education is an instrument of control. |
| "Blind me to me own identity" | Metaphor / purpose | The blindfolding metaphor continues. The purpose of Eurocentric education is not just to teach white history but to erase non-white identity. |
| "Toussaint / a slave / with vision" | Line breaks / juxtaposition | Short lines create impact. "A slave / with vision" contrasts the low status of slavery with the high concept of visionary leadership. The line breaks force the reader to pause and consider each word. |
| "Toussaint de thorn / to de French" | Metaphor | Toussaint was a painful problem for the French colonisers — a "thorn" they could not remove. The metaphor elevates his resistance. |
| "Toussaint de beacon / of de Haitian Revolution" | Metaphor | A "beacon" is a guiding light — Toussaint illuminated the path to freedom. Light imagery contrasts with the "blindfold" of the opening. |
| "a healing star / among the wounded" | Metaphor | Mary Seacole is both a star (navigation, hope) and a healer. Her contribution was real and significant — yet she was hidden from history. |
| "a yellow sunrise / to the dying" | Metaphor | Seacole brought hope ("sunrise") to soldiers in their darkest moments. The colour imagery is vivid and warm. |
| "But now I checking out me own history / I carving out me identity" | Declaratives / Creole | The final declaration. "Checking out" and "carving out" are active verbs — the speaker is taking control. "Carving" suggests hard work, permanence, and craft. |
| Figure | Who | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Toussaint L'Ouverture (1743–1803) | Leader of the Haitian Revolution — the only successful slave revolt that led to an independent nation | Represents the power of resistance against colonial oppression |
| Nanny de Maroon (c. 1686–c. 1755) | Jamaican national hero who led the Windward Maroons in guerrilla warfare against the British | A Black woman who defeated a colonial army — doubly hidden (Black and female) |
| Mary Seacole (1805–1881) | Jamaican-born nurse who cared for soldiers during the Crimean War — contemporaneous with Florence Nightingale but far less recognised | Represents racial bias in historical recognition — Nightingale (white) became a national icon; Seacole (Black) was forgotten |
The figures taught in school are presented in a very different tone:
| Figure | What Agard says | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Dick Whittington | "Bout Dick Whittington and he cat" | A fairy-tale version of history — trivial, childish |
| 1066 | "Bout 1066 and all dat" | "All dat" dismisses the Norman Conquest as irrelevant to the speaker's identity |
| The Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon | "De cow who jump over de moon" | A nursery rhyme presented alongside "real" history — satirising the absurdity of the curriculum |
| Florence Nightingale | "Florence Nightingale and she lamp" | Acknowledged but presented alongside Seacole to expose the bias — why is Nightingale famous and Seacole forgotten? |
Code-switching: Agard alternates between Creole (for anger, personal identity, resistance) and Standard English (for the historical figures he celebrates). This is deeply significant:
Metaphors of sight and blindness: "Bandage up me eye," "Blind me to me own identity" — the British education system is presented as a deliberate act of blinding. The historical figures, by contrast, are associated with light: "beacon," "star," "sunrise." Education should illuminate; instead, it conceals.
Rhythm and performance: The poem is designed to be performed aloud. The Creole sections have a strong, driving rhythm (influenced by calypso and spoken word), while the italicised sections about historical figures are slower, more reverent. This rhythmic contrast is a structural feature.
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