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:books: Checking out me history :books: - Coggle Diagram
:books: Checking out me history :books:
John Agard (Poet)
Born in Guyana in 1949
Writes in his own dialect/accent
Writes with themes of race and people attitudes towards race
Moved to Britain in 1977
Poems to Compare
The Emigree
Similarities
Both have strong emotional attachments to their culture- Agard becomes frustrated and passionate shown by him repeating 'dem tell me' similar to Rumens and her maternal feelings towards her culture shown by the metaphor 'i comb its hair and love its shining eyes'
Both poets cling to the language they know and love- COMH is written in creole language meaning he speaks in a way that shows he has multiple cultural backgrounds attached to his accent, Rumens clings to the words she spoke as a child 'Child's vocabulary'
The conflict between the speakers culture and the one inflicted upon him by the colonial rule, violent language to represent the conflict- COMH, 'bandage up me eye with my own history, Emigree, 'branded by an impression of sunlight
Differences
Agard writes with a more angry tone due to him being frustrated that he was taught insufficiently which is shown through the separation of the stanzas and how his learning was disjointed, this contrats the emigree as she speaks positively of her home using an extended metaphor of sunlight which is a beautiful thing.
Key quotes
"bandaged up me eye with me own history"
use of violent language to physically represent the conflict in which he is affected by due to his cultural differences
"bandaged" suggests that he is physically hurt by the fact he does not feel represented
shows he cannot see himself within the topics he learnt about in school
"dem tell me"
use of anaphora to highlight his frustration
also creates an accusatory tone and represents the speaker's anger
refusing to speak in standard english
'dem' could be related to anyone in power
'de cow who jumped over de moon"
Takes him back to his childhood and makes his feel like he lost his past
Mocks the people in power by showing them explicitly how pointless the history they learn is
Structure/ Form
Dual narrative
one part is written in italics and is moved further into the page
could be used to show his history is always a second thought
Rhyme scheme
ties together the sections concerning black and white history