The Power of Words

Martin Luther king’s most famous speech, “I Have A Dream” carried one very powerful message; the key message, that all  human beings are  created equal and have equal rights, irrespective of race, colour or religion, especially in America. King wanted to make a change in the future. Besides the main message, he also included other ideas to strengthen his speech.  I find the structure of the speech ‘I Have A Dream’ quite captivating. If we look closely at the pattern of the speech, we can clearly see that he talks about the dreadful life the American black were going through at that time, but it ends with a wish for a better beginning for all American people. The very key phrase or words ‘have a dream’ paves the way for a better future. He gives the black Americans some hope by using words such as ‘freedom and security’.  He uses creative dramatic pauses on purpose on a regular basis to emphasize what he is saying. The words” I have a dream” and “Now is the time” are repeated often in his speech to create a sense of necessity about the current situation and encouraging people to act. I was very moved by the way he employed his emotive words to create awareness for the need to be free men and women, to be given equal opportunities socially, economically and intellectually, to live and work among the whites as equals. . Words are the most powerful tool in influencing change.

ELEPHANT OH ELEPHANT

  

WRITING AN ESSAY

After reading George Orwell’s essay on Shooting an Elephant, I ask myself will I attempt to shoot an elephant that runs amok?  Will I be brave enough to face an elephant and kill it everyone watching me? Err.. Definitely not! First and more most, I am an animal lover; no matter what kind of animal. Rather that killing the elephant, I would have tranquilized it then transported it to where ever it should go. That’s me and my standing.

As a teacher, well that’s a whole different scenario. If I am given a good form 4 class, I will give them this piece of essay to read because I find this piece quite interesting and there are parts which are funny. After reading, I will ask students to write down their opinion on how they would have handled the situation if they were the sub – divisional officer. They can write a short story/ essay. This is to test their writing skills and allowing them to stretch their imagination. I will be good to see what they can come up with.

              

DIARIES AND SECRETS

DIARIES ARE THE ENTRIES OF THE SILENT HEART

When were young…I mean much younger most of us would have diaries in which we wrote your deepest secrets, joy, happiness, heartaches and silly things. These diaries would be locked away from prying eyes and guarded with our dear life. I had diaries too. I wrote practically every day when I was in form 2 because I had a crush on a guy. By the time I was 16, the novelty of writing diaries wore off. I rather just talk to my friends about my crushes. Now in this 21^st century, we do not see students writing or hear them talk about diaries (when we teachers tend to ‘accidently’ eavesdrop). All we hear is about blogs, twitters, watssup. Half of what they talk sounds greek to me. Part of writing a diary is practicing their writing skills. We can ask students to write short entries for a duration based on a topic or when they are assigned group work. It will be like a journal. They can have it in a book form or in a file. The entries do not need to be long but at least grammatically correct. We teachers can check the entries either on a daily basis or weekly. It doesn’t take much work to help the students because guidelines will be given to the students to follow. Try it and who knows, we teachers might start writing in diaries too!

The Freedom Writers Diary
The Freedom Writers Diary is an interesting and realistic depiction of everyday life through the eyes of real high school students. The diary entries, although most likely edited for a polished product, offer a fresh glimpse into modern social problems of all types, including the tensions that arise from living within a culturally diverse environment.
The teacher, Ms. Gruwell, must adapt her curriculum to students who aren’t inspired to read. Her involvement with inner city children also raises controversy, and her public image is tainted, but she remains devoted. She even is harassed verbally by members of society for her devotion to her students, regarding their race.