Grade 9 'Checking Out Me History' Revision - Power and Conflict Poetry
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Course
English
Institution
GCSE
Detailed resource produced by a Grade 9 student, taught by a teacher experienced in marking for the AQA exam board, revising quotations for the theme of the power of authority/humans in ‘Checking Out Me History’.
The analysis of each quote is broken down into bullet points, covering AO1, AO2...
Power of Humans/Authority
The poet presents the power of authority as controlling – “Bandage up me eye”
Usually, the verb “bandage” would have positive connotations of aid, however here
the poet has used it as a metaphor to illustrate how those with authority have blinded
the speaker to his heritage, which causes the verb to become negative; it also suggests
a physical barrier, which highlights how the speaker was blocked from learning.
The colloquial “me” used here highlights the speaker's accent, which could link to
how the poet grew up in Guayana and is proud of this; by using colloquialism, the
poet may be implying that the power of oppression can be defeated, as those with
authority have failed to hide the speaker’s identity and he is refusing to follow the
rules set by them.
The poet presents the power of authority as vincible – “balloon” “Nanny de maroon”
By using rhyme throughout the stanza similar to a nursery rhyme, the poet diminishes
the significance of white history and culture and could even be considered as
demonstrating a child-like stubbornness. He is refusing to learn and forces the reader
to combine black and white figures, blocking out the segregation which he would
have experienced in reality as a child.
Through the structural climax, the reader is forced to acknowledge the importance of
black figures like “Nanny de maroon”, an outstanding female military leader who is
emphasised at the end of stanza five.
By changing font during the description of her in the next stanza, the poet illustrates
how he is using his own power to educate – the italics bring focus to the history that
has been neglected by authority.
The poet presents the abuse of power by those in authority as provoking – “a yellow
sunrise/ to the dying”
In the penultimate stanza, the speaker describes how Mary Seacole, a well-known
nurse who assisted the wounded during the Crimean War, was “a yellow sunrise / to
the dying”. The use of the plosive “dying” here ends of stanza on a rather fierce and
serious tone, which indicates that the speaker wants to reinforce the importance of the
woman and is irritated that he hadn't been told about her sooner; the fact that the poet
uses this plosive instead of a full stop and refrains from using punctuation throughout
the whole poem implies that the speaker is willing to break the rules he was taught by
the whites and illustrates the continuity of his anger.
However, the noun “sunrise” also used here has connotations of light, hope and new
beginnings, which could be inferring that as well as giving the soldiers a new chance
at life, Mary Seacole has inspired the speaker to discover his identity and to no longer
allow himself to be overcome by the power of oppression.
Poems to compare to:
Power of Humans/Authority – London (controlling, provoking, finds a solution vs
focus on damage due to oppression)
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