Checking Out Me History

Checking Out Me History

1. London

   • Inequality and Anger
     • "mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe"
     • "wonder through each chartered street, near where the chartered Thames does flow"
     • "in every infants cry of fear ... the mind-forged manacles I hear"
     • "chimney sweeper's cry"
       • Regular structure and rhyme scheme, e.g. "chimney sweepers cry" and "hapless solders sigh"
         • Reflects the repetitive nature of life for the Londoners and ilustrates how they are trapped in their situation
           • Perhaps trying to order the chaos
     • "hapless soldiers sigh runs in blood down palace walls"
     • "bandage up me eye with me own history Blind me to me own identity"
       • Metaphor illustrates the frustration of the poet at the injustice that he has experienced
     • "Dem tell me wha dem want to tell me"
     • "But now I checking out me own history I carving out me identity"
     • Metaphor "mind-forged manacles"
       • Shows the psychological effects of poverty and suffering
         • Illustrates the feeling of loneliness and helplessness felt by the Londoners

2. The Emigree

   • Identity
     • "my memory of it is sunlight clear"
     • "bright, filled paperweight."
       • Metephor
         • Treasured memories
           • Contained and cannot be altered
     • "I am branded by an impression of sunlight"
       • Juxtaposition of "branded" and "sunlight"
         • illustrates he conflicting views about her country and how she is torn between her golden childhood memories and the war torn and broken place that she sees today
           • Hints at the abuse of human rights and terrible goings-on in her former home
     • "The white streets of that city, the graceful slopes glow even clearer as time rolls it's tanks"
       • Has an idealistic view of her city and is determined not to let her view be altered by the terrible goings-on in her country
         • Militaristic language is a subtle reminder of the war affecting the woman's former home
           • Shows how she is constantly affected and troubled by the situation in her former country and it underlies her life in her new home
     • The child's vocabulary I carried here like a hollow doll, opens and spills a grammar".
     • "Soon I shall have every coloured molecule of it."
     • "It may by now be a lie, banned by the state but I can't get it off my tongue. It tastes of sunlight."
       • Language is part of her identity and connects her to her former home even after she has left
     • "My city comes to me in it's own white plane."
       • Her city remains part of her despite the fact that the law/border control ("I have no passport") prevent her from returning
         • The unsentimemental and unemotional formalities of modern life do not stop her from feeling connected to her city
     • "my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight"
       • Metaphor
         • Contrasting images of "shadow" and "sunlight" illustrate the change in the woman after leaving her home
           • As she looses her home and language she feels to some extent like she is loosing her identity
             • Misunderstood by society
               • "They accuse me of being dark in their free city"
     • "Dem tell me Wha dem want to tell me"
       • Language is very important to the narrator
         • He is determined to express himself and is proud of his culture even when it has been hidden from him by Europeans throughout history
     • "Bandage up me eyes to me own history Blind me to me own identity"
       • Metephor
         • Shows the anger of the man and illustrates how he has been lied to and deceived
           • Verb "bandage" is active and deliberate
             • Highlights injustice
     • "Dem tell me bout de dish ran away with de spoon but dem never tell me maroon"
       • Shows that his history has been neglected and forgotten
         • Insulting and frustrating that nursery rhymes were widely known but his history went untold
           • Use of human reminds us that it is almost laughable that he was taught fictional and insignificant children's nursery rhymes but couldn't discover his own history
             • Rhyme is used to emphasise this, but the rhyme scheme is broken in the verses about historical figures, and the tone becomes more serious and reflective
     • "fire woman"
       • Admiration for the heroic and influential figures in his history
         • Powerful and emotive imagery
     • "hopeful stream to freedom river"
       • Sections about his history are in free verse
         • More poignant and it breaks the conventional structure so forces readers to pay attention
           • Reflective and respectful tone
     • "a yellow sunrise to the dying"
       • Full of beautiful natural imagery
     • "I checking out me own history I carving out me identity"
       • Metephor
         • Empowering
           • The verb "carving" is active and strenuous which shows we must actively seek out our past
             • Ending the poem with the voice of the speaker shows how he feels empowered by this new-found sense of identity, and wants to stand up to the injustice he has discovered

Imagens e arquivos do mapa