"Checking Out Me History" and "Medusa" poem comparison

John Agard’s ‘Checking out me history’ is written in dialectical non-standard English, where he has tried to input the natural sounds and phrases of a Caribbean dialect. This is important because one of the major themes of the poem is that of his personal identity; this use of language really highlights his different background and puts emphasis on his differences.
His use of repetition, especially of the phrase “dem tell me” gives a sense of repetition and exaggerates the amount of things he was told which he didn’t want to be told about because it isn’t his history. End rhyme is also heavily used where he has strong rhyme in some of the last words in lines, it is emphasised by sections of nursery rhymes; for example it says “de dish ran away with de spoon” and before that was said, the word “moon” was used which rhymes with spoon very strongly.
The sections on individual black historical figures have stronger imagery, with use of nature metaphors for great effect. Toussaint L'Overture is a "thorn" and a "beacon". Nanny de Maroon is linked with a mountain, fire and rivers. Mary Seacole is described in as a "healing star" and a "yellow sunrise" to the patients she treats. All three are linked with light, a beacon, fire-woman and a star; suggesting that they play metaphorical roles; maybe he is using this as a metaphor in itself, illuminating the poet's true historical identity.
In the third stanza John Agard uses the nursery rhyme of Dick Whittington, this nursery rhyme is very white British and therefore makes it show the oppressive side of things, relating to the discrimination and force used by the first class (at that time) white citizens.
The fourth stanza has a slower pace, this allows the reader to easily keep up with everything that is being said and notice a serious tone; this makes you think about it as you wonder why there is a change in pace, tone and structure. It also has a fluent rhythm so that it seems almost endlessly from line to line and doesn’t sound sudden and out of place. The tone is very aggressive and the words and imagery give a strong sense of war and revolution by using military related words such as “battalion”, his aggressiveness may be because he wants things to change for the black race and for white people to stop the oppression.
The second to last line “But now I checking out me own history” suggests determination in the narrators voice, it adds a sense that things are going to change and he’ll do things himself if he has to. And finally the last line provides a sudden ending which could be metaphoric for that he is creating himself by researching or he’s trying to show others his identity.

Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Medusa’ is about how the Greek myth of Medusa became evil. Carol Ann Duffy uses plenty of adjectives in the poem to give very vivid imagery and best describe the events so they are easier to picture in your mind and with better detail; an example of this is “buzzing bee”, buzzing being the adjective.
A lot of metaphors are used in the poem to describe the object better. “bullet tears”, you can’t have bullets as tears so you know that it must mean her tears are flowing fast like a bullet would.
The first person narrator, Medusa, sometimes addresses the reader directly using direct speech, usually very suddenly so it surprises the reader; “Are you terrified?”, it’s a rhetorical question so the answer would be yes; it begs the question ‘Who wouldn’t be terrified of a woman with snakes on her head with yellow fangs?’. This isn’t the only thing Carol Ann Duffy uses to directly address the reader; she uses some instructions so the angry Medusa tells the reader what to do. “Be terrified” intimidates the reader, and it would make you feel scared as it’s coming from an angry half human creature, it’s a surprise from some of the calmer and more loving phrases such as “it’s you I love”.
From stanza three and onwards it progressively gets more aggressive; it starts off with turning a bee into a pebble and moves on to a pig into a boulder, this shows Medusa’s rise in evil and her embracing her power, the difference in the size of a bee and a pig is fairly great so this shows that she is becoming more evil very quickly. The phrase “in a heap of shit” shows her frustration and anger as she is using foul language, it could also be that she is being spiteful and doesn’t care about others anymore. This change in tone is similar to ‘Checking out me history’ as it changes fairly quickly as it does in stanza’s four, six and nine of John Agard’s poem.
On line 33 it says “I stared at a dragon”, this confuses the reader as it could mean two things, perhaps she could be calling herself a dragon metaphorically as she is fierce and deadly as a dragon would be; or maybe it’s a literal dragon which could also be true as it is in a mythical story. This lets the readers decide for themselves.
Carol Ann Duffy shows Medusa’s regret on lines 40 and 41 as she questions herself and her past, this shows that there are still some parts of her that still don’t want to fully embrace her new power. It then has a very sudden finish which also has a dual meaning, an instruction that she wants the reader to see her regret of what she has done in the past that made her into this beast; but it could also be an evil threat, because if you looked at her then you would turn to stone. This sudden ending also happens in ‘Checking out me history’, and both have dual meanings.