Checking out Me History

1. Word of the Day: Affinity (n.): a spontaneous or natural liking or sympathy for someone or something. She had a natural affinity for this style of music. Checking out Me History • Question for Learning:Can I comment successfully on the impact of individual word choice in a poem? Starter: ‘Checking out Me History’ refers to the importance of a personal and cultural identity Creative Task- Write an acrostic poem using your own name which refers to things that relate to your own cultural ‘identity’. Challenge: Can you think of one word which sums up the cultural identity that is being suggested by your poem? GIBBS God at the centre of everything Interested in literature and music Believes in Jesus Believes in her students School teacher Monday to Friday

2. Feeding back your poems • Can you identify the sense of character and culture in the poems you hear? • When you have heard an example can you think of one word which sums up the cultural identity that is being suggested?

3. Annotation Task Group Work: 15 minutes In your groups you will be given one section of the poem. Each section has 2 existing annotations. You have 15 minutes to read these and consider your own interpretations and then add some further annotations/word choice analysis /linguistic technique spotting to the stanza. You will be feeding this work back to your classmates. Challenge: Are you always considering the ‘alternative’ response? How many interpretations of a single word could you find?

4. Your stanza has some existing annotations on it. Read through them and check your understanding of the comments. Then, add at least 5 more of your own! Hint; Consider word choice and techniques used and their specific significance in terms of the poetic message as discussed yesterday Plosive ‘b’ sound = resentment Dem tell me Dem tell me Wha dem want to tell me Bandage up me eye with me own history Blind me to me own identity Dem tell me bout 1066 and all dat dem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he cat But Toussaint L’Ouverture no dem never tell me bout dat Irony: bandages should heal but here they harm/prevent a connection with the narrator’s cultural past

5. ½ rhymes: (vision/Napoleon/battalion/de thorn/beacon/Revolution) suggest a chant/ a proclamation of achievement • The layout and broken sentence structure forces the rhythm to slow down: • the reader pauses over almost every word – stresses their importance • suggests the poem is meant to be spoken aloud • as if the narrator is recounting a memory Your stanza has some existing annotations on it. Read through them and check your understanding of the comments. Then, add at least 5 more of your own! Hint; Consider word choice and techniques used and their specific significance in terms of the poetic message as discussed yesterday Toussaint a slave with vision lick back Napoleon battalion and first Black Republic born Toussaint de thorn to de French Toussaint de beacon of de Haitian Revolution

6. Dem tell me bout de man who discover de balloon and de cow who jump over de moon Dem tell me bout de dish ran away with de spoon but dem never tell me bout Nanny de maroon Nanny see-far woman of mountain dream fire-woman struggle hopeful stream to freedom river Mystical images: suggest she can see the future; is a revolutionary who can look ahead and change things Faith and optimism Your stanza has some existing annotations on it. Read through them and check your understanding of the comments. Then, add at least 5 more of your own! Hint; Consider word choice and techniques used and their specific significance in terms of the poetic message as discussed yesterday

7. Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson and Waterloo but dem never tell me bout Shaka de great Zulu Dem tell me bout Columbus and 1492 but what happen to de Caribs and de Arawaks too Dem tell me bout Florence Nightingale and she lamp and how Robin Hood used to camp Dem tell me bout ole King Cole was a merry ole soul but dem never tell me bout Mary Seacole Told in fragments: this story is not linear and complete – creates a sense of mystery, a puzzle Echoes rhythm of the nursery rhyme (trivial; light hearted) Your stanza has some existing annotations on it. Read through them and check your understanding of the comments. Then, add at least 5 more of your own! Hint; Consider word choice and techniques used and their specific significance in terms of the poetic message as discussed yesterday

8. From Jamaica she travel far to the Crimean War she volunteer to go and even when de British said no she still brave the Russian snow a healing star among the wounded a yellow sunrise to the dying Imagery: A shining example of light and hope References ‘the yellow doctress’ from her autobiography; this is also her effect on the dying men she treated Your stanza has some existing annotations on it. Read through them and check your understanding of the comments. Then, add at least 5 more of your own! Hint; Consider word choice and techniques used and their specific significance in terms of the poetic message as discussed yesterday

9. Dem tell me Dem tell me wha dem want to tell me But nowI checking out me own history I carving out me identity. • Verb Choice: he is actively deciding to read, question and discover; he is no longer passive • To carve is to create something enduring • Sense of triumph – he has learned • His heritage will help create his identity Your stanza has some existing annotations on it. Read through them and check your understanding of the comments. Then, add at least 5 more of your own! Hint; Consider word choice and techniques used and their specific significance in terms of the poetic message as discussed yesterday

10. Sharing Annotations Peer Feedback. Number each member of your 1-5 (or as applicable) Form a new group with each of the matching numbers. You have 3 minutes each to explain your annotations for your section of the poem so that the rest of your group can note these down. Challenge: Can you ask any challenging questions to the presenter? How could you consider the alternative impressions of their idea and add these to your annotations?

11. Plenary: Key Term: Resonate: To suggest specific images, emotions. To meet with agreement. To what extent does Agard’s message resonate with you as a reader? Consider in school, do you feel that your education is completely heterogenous? Write a personal response with at least two examples.