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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 me Dem tell me Wha dem want to tell me Bandage up me eye with me own history Blind me to me own identity Dem tell me bout 1066 and all dat dem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he cat But Toussaint L’Ouverture no dem never tell me bout dat

Toussaint a slave with vision lick back Napoleon battalion and first Black Republic born Toussaint de thorn to de French Toussaint de beacon of de Haitian Revolution

Dem tell me bout de man who discover de balloon and de cow who jump over de moon Dem tell me bout de dish ran away with de spoon but dem never tell me bout Nanny de maroon

Nanny see-far woman of mountain dream fire-woman struggle hopeful stream to freedom river

Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson and Waterloo but dem never tell me bout Shaka de great Zulu Dem tell me bout Columbus and 1492 but what happen to de Caribs and de Arawaks too Dem tell me bout Florence Nightingale and she lamp and how Robin Hood used to camp Dem tell me bout ole King Cole was a merry ole soul but dem never tell me bout Mary Seacole

From Jamaica she travel far to the Crimean War she volunteer to go and even when de British said no she still brave the Russian snow a healing star among the wounded a yellow sunrise to the dying

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

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

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.

Evidence from the poem to support my ideas about this statement

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.