The Annotated Edition
Checking Out Me History by John Agard
Read aloud in ~1 min
John Agard's poem boldly and playfully challenges a British school curriculum that taught Caribbean children about European history while ignoring their own.
- Poet
- John Agard
- Composed
- 2007 · Contemporary
- Core theme
- Freedom
In copyright · excerpt not reproduced
Read the full poem at Bloodaxe Books, 2007.
Our analysis below quotes only short phrases from the poem under fair-dealing criticism and commentary. The complete poem is available through the publisher above.
identitycolonial powervoice
§01Quick summary
What this poem is about
John Agard's poem boldly and playfully challenges a British school curriculum that taught Caribbean children about European history while ignoring their own. The speaker highlights important figures from Black and Caribbean history—such as Toussaint L'Ouverture and Mary Seacole—contrasting them with the nursery-rhyme nonsense he received instead. By the poem's conclusion, he firmly asserts his right to explore his own history.
§02Themes
Recurring themes
§03Tone & mood
How this poem feels
The tone is bold and lively, but it never crosses into bitterness. Agard maintains a playful vibe— the nursery-rhyme sections carry a teasing, almost sarcastic lightness— while the stanzas about real historical figures feel warm and celebratory. The overall impression is more like a victory speech than a sorrowful reflection: this is someone taking back something, rather than merely grieving its absence.
§04Symbols & metaphors
Symbols & metaphors
- Dem / Dem tell me
- The unnamed 'dem' symbolizes the colonial education system and the larger power dynamics that determined which histories were deemed worthy of teaching. By not naming them directly, Agard emphasizes the speaker's experience instead of providing the oppressor with a platform.
- Nursery rhymes and folklore figures
- Dick Whittington, Robin Hood, and similar figures represent the trivial, Eurocentric content that filled the curriculum. Their inclusion isn't just irrelevant to a Caribbean child; it also pushes aside the history that could help that child develop a sense of identity.
- Carving
- The act of carving at the end of the poem represents a conscious, physical process of self-creation. Identity isn’t something we simply receive; it’s shaped from stubborn material through effort and determination.
- Light imagery (beacon, star, flame)
- Agard frequently employs light to portray Black historical figures—Toussaint as a beacon and Seacole as a healing star. In a backdrop of historical darkness, light represents not only visibility but also guidance: these individuals ought to have been the ones illuminating the path all along.
- Creole dialect
- The poem's language serves as a symbol. By using Caribbean Creole instead of Standard English, the poet directly resists the system that the poem critiques — the language that faced suppression now becomes the voice of protest.
§05Historical context
Historical context
John Agard was born in Guyana in 1949 and moved to Britain in 1977. He wrote "Checking Out Me History" as a reaction to his experiences with a British education system that focused on European culture while largely overlooking the histories of the Caribbean and Africa. The poem appeared in his 1996 collection *Get Back Pimple* and eventually became one of the most commonly taught poems in the GCSE English Literature syllabus across England and Wales. It belongs to a larger tradition of Caribbean protest poetry that features voices like Linton Kwesi Johnson and Louise Bennett, who intentionally used Creole dialect as a form of political expression. The historical figures Agard highlights—Toussaint L'Ouverture, Nanny of the Maroons, Mary Seacole—were nearly absent from British school curricula at the time he wrote, and their inclusion serves as both a recovery of history and a call for recognition.
§06FAQ
Questions readers ask
The poem contends that a colonial education system robbed the speaker of his identity by focusing on European history and folklore while sidelining the stories of Black and Caribbean people. Ultimately, the speaker rejects this erasure and asserts his right to shape his identity based on his own history.
Because the dialect is part of the argument. The British education system that overlooked Caribbean history also dismissed Caribbean language. Writing the poem in Creole asserts: my language matters, my culture matters, and I'll use both to share my story.
The key figures include Toussaint L'Ouverture, who led the Haitian Revolution and is a crucial figure in the fight against slavery; Nanny of the Maroons, an 18th-century freedom fighter and a national hero of Jamaica; and Mary Seacole, a Jamaican-British nurse who served during the Crimean War but was mostly overlooked in British history.
The short, clipped stanzas reflect the curriculum — dry, dismissive, and as simple as nursery rhymes. In contrast, the longer, more lyrical stanzas embody the history Agard is reclaiming — richer, more vibrant, and deserving of genuine storytelling. The difference in form visually sets up the argument before you even read the words.
It means taking the initiative to shape your identity instead of just accepting the identity given to you. Carving is tough, physical labor — Agard emphasizes that reclaiming your history requires genuine effort, but it's a personal journey you undertake, rather than something you expect an institution to do for you.
Broadly, yes. Agard grew up in Guyana, where he experienced a British colonial education system, and later moved to Britain. The speaker's frustration mirrors his own experience of learning from a curriculum that excluded the history of people who resembled him.
It creates a rhythm reminiscent of a drumbeat or chant, linking the poem to the Caribbean's oral and musical traditions. This repetition makes the indoctrination feel unyielding — the same message keeps repeating, drowning out all other sounds. By the end, when the speaker breaks this pattern, the shift feels like a true liberation.
It explores key themes in the curriculum—identity, power, history, and language politics—while presenting them in a technically engaging way (with its two-style structure, use of dialect, and repetition). Additionally, it critiques the British education system, making it notably self-aware for a poem being studied within that same system.
Citation
Cite this poem
MLA
Agard, John. "Checking Out Me History." 2007. Storgy, https://storgy.com/poems/checking-out-me-history-john-agard/.
APA
Agard, J. (2007). Checking out me history. Storgy. https://storgy.com/poems/checking-out-me-history-john-agard/
TeacherAQA scaffold — preview
AO1 — Interpretation + textual reference
In 'Checking Out Me History', Agard presents the speaker as someone actively reclaiming a stolen sense of self, arguing that colonial education has deliberately suppressed Black and Caribbean heritage. The repeated refrain 'Dem tell me' …
- AO2 — Language, form, structure (with effect)
- AO3 — Context woven into close reading
- Comparison hooks
- Common student errors
Unlock the full scaffold
Available on any Storgy plan — model paragraphs, band callouts, and common student errors for every poem.