Hi there.

Welcome to a lesson today on analysing the poem, checking out my history by John Agard.

I'm Miss Sutherland and I'll be teaching you today.

For this lesson, you are going to need your copy of the AQA Power and Conflict anthology, so make sure you go and get your anthology before you continue with this lesson.

Your learning outcome for today is to be able to explore how Agard uses language and structure to present conflict and create a didactic tone.

Our four keywords for today's lesson are didactic.

Didactic means determined to teach often a moral lesson.

We can describe John Agard's poem as didactic and we'll delve in to exactly why that is in today's lesson.

The next key word is colonisation.

Colonisation is the act of settling and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area.

Remember, indigenous means people that inhabited a land before the colonisers came.

Precedence.

If something takes precedence, it is considered more important than something else.

And dual, dual means consisting of two parts.

Pause the video and reread and write down if you want to those keywords.

Off you go.

So in today's lesson we are going to start by exploring the theme of conflict in "Checking Out Me History" and then we'll explore exactly how this poem could be seen as a lesson or in other words, a didactic poem.

So let's start off with exploring the theme of conflict.

In "Checking Out Me History".

There is a dual structure in "Checking Out Me History", meaning this poem has two parts to it.

Can you explain where the dual structure of this poem occurs? You are going to need your anthology open for this task.

Pause the video and reflect, where is the dual structure seen in "Checking Out Me History"? Off you go.

Let's go through the two part structure of this poem.

One part of the dual structure of this poem is where Agard talks of the history he was taught.

And the second part of the dual structure is when Agard talks of Caribbean history.

So Agard talking of the history he was taught makes up one part of this poem and Agard talking about Caribbean history makes up a separate part of this poem.

Let's look at how these parts are different.

How does Agard visually differentiate between these sections? Pause the video and have a think.

When Agard talks of the history he was taught, he uses a normal font.

When he talks of Caribbean history, he uses italics.

That's how Agard visually differentiates between these two parts of the poem.

Now let's have a think about what methods Agard employs when talking of each of the histories.

Pause the video and reflect how are the methods different in each of these sections? When Agard talks of the history he was taught, Agard uses monosyllabic words meaning words with one syllable only.

He also uses plosives.

That's words that start with very harsh sounds like p, b, d.

And Agard also uses repetition in this section.

When Agard talks of Caribbean history, he uses light and natural imagery and he uses descriptive language.

So the methods Agard uses in each of those sections are very different.

We must now talk about the effect of each of these methods that Agard employs.

This will allow us to understand how Agard presents his differing feelings about both histories.

So what is the effect of Agard's techniques when he talks of Eurocentric history? So what is the effect of the monosyllabic words? What is the effect of the plosives and what is the effect of the repetition? Discuss the effect of each of those techniques.

Now, off you go.

Let's go through some ideas.

The monosyllabic words when talking of Eurocentric history adds an abrupt tone as if Agard does not want to give any more time or attention to this history.

The plosives.

The plosives creates a harsh and caustic tone reflecting Agard's indignation.

And the repetition.

The repetition reflects the tedious nature of learning about one type of history.

If something is repeated, it becomes monotonous and it becomes tedious, and that's how Agard seems to explain his education because he only focused on one type of history and did not look at diverse curriculum.

Now let's move on to exploring how Agard presents his Caribbean history.

What is the effect of each of Agard's techniques here? So what is the effect of his descriptive language? What is the effect of his natural imagery and what is the effect of his light imagery? Pause the video and get discussing.

Let's go through what you may have said.

The descriptive language shows the attention and care Agard wants to give to this history.

He educates the reader by providing great detail.

Now that is in huge contrast to the monosyllabic words which seem to lack detail in explaining Eurocentric history.

Natural imagery.

The use of natural imagery suggests Agard is reclaiming his roots.

It suggests he's paying, paying homage to indigenous populations, but something because if something is natural, it belongs in a place, it makes up that place.

So that could be Agard alluding to the natural history of Guyana.

And the light imagery.

Agard's use of light imagery suggests he places great significance on Caribbean figures as sources of guidance and hope to him and it could also symbolise the discovery of his identity.

Well done on discussing how Agard presents the two different Well done on discussing how Agard presents the two histories in contrasting ways.

Let's check your understanding of what we've just discussed.

Which of the below best demonstrates how Agard is weary of the monotonous history he has taught? Pause the video and answer that question.

Agard seems weary of the monotonous history he has taught and he shows that through his use of repetition.

Remember how we said his repetition reflects that he was taught about Eurocentric history over and over again and there was nothing different, nothing inspiring about his education.

What might the dual structure reflect in this poem? Pause the video and answer that question now.

The dual structure in this poem may reflect a conflict between the history Agard was taught and his own heritage.

Through the dual structure of this poem, Agard creates a separation between the history he was taught, Eurocentric history and the history he is proud of and the history he wish he was taught, Caribbean history.

And through this separation of the two histories, Agard shows the conflict between those two histories.

Now I want you to write a paragraph responding to this question.

The question is how does Agard present the theme of conflict in "Checking Out Me History"? You could mention the dual structure of the poem, the methods employed to talk of Agard's Eurocentric education and their effects, the methods used to describe Caribbean figures and their effects and Agard's personal connection to the story of this poem.

Here are some sentence starters.

Conflict is firstly shown through when talking of Agard uses to show.

Whereas when Agard talks of he uses which shows and Agard myth separated the two histories to.

Pause the video and get writing that paragraph.

Off you go.

Very good effort there everyone.

Conflict is a key theme of this poem and indeed of the wider and anthology.

So it's very important to be able to write about conflict effectively in this poem.

Here are some ideas.

Conflict is shown for the dual structure of the poem as Agard separates the Eurocentric history he learned from Black history.

Ultimately though we see the Black history triumph because Agard subverts his own experiences and gives it more precedence in this poem.

So basically what we're saying here is that throughout Agard's education, Eurocentric history was given precedence.

But in his poem, Agard gives Caribbean history more precedence.

The poem may reflect the effects of colonialism.

It demonstrates how Agard's Eurocentric schooling led him to inner conflict not knowing his true identity.

The poem is Agard fighting aback against oppressive systems. And another way in which the theme of conflict is shown is through the poem's tone.

The tone seems frustrated when discussing the tedious nature of Agard's history lessons.

The second stanza also seems accusatory towards oppressive systems. So there are three ways in which the theme of conflict is shown in this poem.

Well done if you said any of that and well done if you had your own ideas.

Now let's explore how this poem could be seen as a lesson.

In other words, let's explore the didactic nature of this poem.

I want you to discuss this question.

Can you truly know who you are without knowing about your history? Pause the video and discuss.

There are likely differing opinions to this question.

Agard though, suggests that it is impossible to know who you truly are without knowing the history of your ancestors.

Why do you think Agard holds this view? Pause the video and discuss Perhaps Agard thinks it is impossible to know who you truly are without knowing the history of your ancestors because the history of your ancestors makes up your heritage and ultimately shapes who you are.

Perhaps knowing your ancestors' history is a key to knowing your heritage and thus unlock a key part of your identity.

In the last stanza of the poem, Agard suggests that through researching the history of his country and his ancestors, he comes to know himself better.

Thus, in the process of writing this poem, perhaps Agard was learning.

Agard talks of learning about his own history and thus learning his own identity.

What do you think he wants his reader to learn? Pause the video and discuss that question.

Let's go through what two Oak students thought.

June says, I think Agard wants the reader to learn more about figures in Black history as they may not have have much knowledge on this history.

Sam says, I think Agard wants people to learn that they can shape their own history by taking control and not accepting the history told to them as the sole truth.

Agard may want his reader to learn a variety of things from this poem, so perhaps you agreed with June or Sam or perhaps shared your own idea.

There are many different things that Agard wants the reader to take away from this poem and we can thus describe the poem as didactic.

So Agard perhaps intended his poem to teach a lesson.

Discuss now what does Agard teach us about Black history? You may want to talk about who Agard teaches us about, what he teaches us about them and how he wants us to feel about them.

Pause the video and discuss that now.

Let's go through what you may have said.

Agard teaches us about Mary Seacole.

He teaches us that she healed injured people.

He uses words such as star and sunrise to show that Seacole was a source of hope and positivity during difficult times, and this makes the reader feel in awe of Seacole.

Agard also teaches us about Toussaint L'Ouverture, that he was the leader of the Haitian Revolution, which emancipated the Haitian people.

He uses words such as Thorn to show L'Ouverture's courage in fighting against colonialism and again uses light imagery such as Beacon to show L'Ouverture was an inspiring figure.

Let's consider this question now.

Why is it so important that Agard to teach us about Black history? To ask this question, we can take a look at the type of history that was given precedence throughout Agard's education and analyse this further.

Agard references all of these figures in his poem.

He references Dick Whittington, Old King Cole and Hey Diddle Diddle.

What do these all have in common? Pause the video and discuss.

All of the examples above are English nursery rhymes or folktales.

So why might Agard reference English folktales and nursery rhymes in his poem? Pause the video and have a think.

Let's look at two ideas from our Oak students.

June says, through the reference to English folk tale and nursery rhyme, Agard suggests that trivial stories about fictional characters were given precedence over real Caribbean history throughout his schooling in Guyana.

We can sense a caustic tone when Agard discusses these mythical stories, he may be indignant that they were given more value than Black history.

Sam says through the reference to English folk tale a nursery rhyme.

Agard could be suggesting that British history is nothing but myth to him as it doesn't assimilate into his identity.

In this sense, he could be mocking the importance of British figures like Nelson and events Waterloo, giving them as little consideration and importance as folk stories.

Perhaps you agree with June or Sam.

Perhaps you have your own idea.

Either way, both Oak students come up with brilliant perceptive ideas and it's worth taking a note of both of them now.

So pause the video and reread and reflect upon those two really perceptive ideas now.

Ultimately one of Agard's priorities in this poem could be allowing the reader to realise a more balanced perspective on history and acknowledge the importance of all historical figures, especially the neglected ones.

Let's check your understanding now of what we've talked about in this learning cycle.

How is the poem "Checking Out Me History", didactic.

Pause the video and have a think.

The poem "Checking Out Me History" is didactic because it teaches us about Black history and also Agard may use this poem to teach us to shape our own identity.

True or false? Agard uses folk tales and nursery rhymes to reflect how his education was fun.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think.

That statement is false.

Agard does not use folk tale and nursery rhyme to reflect how his education was fun.

So why does Agard use nursery rhyme and folk tale? Pause the video and justify your answer.

Agard uses nursery rhymes and folk tale to show indignance at the precedence of Eurocentric history in all its forms. Now, for your last task of this lesson, you are going to discuss two important questions.

The first question is, how does Agard succeed in making "Checking Out Me History", a didactic poem? So in other, in other words, how does Agard succeed in making "Checking Out Me History" a poem that teaches a lesson? You could mention the methods Agard uses to teach us each lesson and how each method is successful in allowing us to take away something from the poem.

The second question I want you to discuss is what you think is Agard's most important lesson in "Checking Out Me History"? You could mention the effect of colonialism, the brilliance of Black historical figures, the need for schools to diversify their curriculum, the need to shape your own identity.

Pause the video and discuss those two very important questions now.

Brilliant discussions there.

Here are some ideas.

June says, Agard succeeds in making, "Checking Out Me History" didactic, a didactic poem for the italicised sections, which act as mini history lessons teaching us about the inspiring Black figures.

Agard is aware that people may not know about these figures, but instead of being ignorant like he once was, he allows the reader an opportunity to learn about these figures through his poem.

Sam says, the light imagery that Agard uses when describing Black history is powerful and awe inspiring.

He doesn't let the reader forget about these figures.

The likening of Nanny of Maroons to fire evokes feelings of strength, determination, and bravery, which shows she deserves recognition over the fictional figures of folk tales and nursery rhymes.

Thus, I agree with June that this poem is successfully didactic.

Which ideas from Sam and June's discussion could you make a note of to help you the next time you discuss this poem? Pause the video and reflect.

Well done on a great discussion task and well done for being so self-reflective.

Here's what we've learned in today's lesson.

Dual structure highlighted by the use of italics shows the separation between taught history and Black history.

Plosives and monosyllabic words convey an indignant tone showing the harm that is caused by colonial control.

Agard's poem is didactic teaching the reader about Black history and encouraging them to find out about their own identity.

Natural imagery and light imagery is used to portray figures from Agard's Heritage, celebrating their power and importance.

The final stanza's volta shows Agard's move from passively learning history to actively researching culture and identity.

Thank you so much for joining me in today's lesson, and I hope to see you in another lesson very soon.