Speak With Convection

In my opinion Taylor Mali is a very good poet because I can relate to what he is saying and writing. I chose to write about his poem Speak With Authority. I chose to write about this poem because this Taylor Mali poem conveys a message that is worth fighting for. I think that his poem makes people think about what they say, and encourages them to speak with conviction. He does this so that people can change for the betterment of themselves.

His poem imitates some of the ways that teenagers speak. In his poem he gives examples such as the way people use the word "like," "you know." People use these words and phrases to fill spaces while figuring out what they want to say. They also use them, according to Mali, to show that they don't really care about what they are talking about. Another example is "I'm just saying" which is a way of saying that whoever is listening doesn't have to take in what I am saying or take it seriously. Word choice is also very important to get people to listen to you. I can relate to this in my daily life. Some of the people that speak with conviction and do not use these kinds of words are most of the American Presidents. These include Obama or Bush. They are two of the presidents that we don't hear say or use these words. Instead of using these word they use words with meaning. This is one of the main reason's why so many people listen to them.

When people use these phrases, listeners will not think that they know what they are talking about. People think this is because the words ("like" and "you know")that they use do not have meanings and are use to fill in sentences because they have nothing to say. It is hard to convince someone what you are saying if most of the words that you are using have no meaning. The result will be that people will not take them seriously because they do not think that they are sure about what they are saying. If you were to have an argument with someone, they might not agree with you because you do not sound confident because too many of your words are empty.

I think that this poem means that if you speak with authority and conviction, people will listen to you. If you have a habit of always speaking with "likes" and "you knows" then it will be harder for you to be able to speak with conviction. Many people in my daily life are people that speak with conviction. Some of these people include my parents, my teachers and my sport coaches, so I listen to them. Most people when they write choses certain words. So why wouldn't they chose to speak like this. If a person says "like" and "you know" all the time, then the listener will be tired of always hearing you say those words. You even run the risk of being boring. If you can speak with conviction, then you may also be able to write with conviction as well.

Taylor Mali challenges us to "To speak with conviction. To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it." Being able to speak with conviction and authority is something worth fighting for and something I will try to work on.

Somalia In Crisis

Fatuma Hassan Yarow, above at left, a 12-year-old Somali girl, rested after arriving in Dadaab, Kenya, home to tens of thousands of refugees.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/world/africa/06somalia.html

Somalia In Crisis

Somalia is in crisis as a result of famine, which has come about because of lack of rain, crop failure and food shortages. The United Nations has estimated that 4,000,000 Somalians are in crisis and 750,000 could die. Somalia is in need of urgent humanitarian aid. It is essential that the UN and other humanitarian organizations such as the Red Crescent go into Somalia and bring the people food and health care. Helping the Somalian people right now located is something that is worth fighting for.

Somalia is in East Africa on the coast of Indian Ocean. It borders Ethiopia and Kenya. Somalia’s biggest problem is the internal conflict and civil war. The central government has had no control over most of the country’s territory since 1991 when the civil war began. Only a small part of the country is experiencing peace.

I feel that sending humanitarian aid is a cause worth fighting for because the people need help immediately, and without that help hundreds of thousands of people including children will die. The people of the UN or any other company should provide food, health care and water. There have been many times when Somalia was in crisis in the past, and as a result, governments may feel they have already helped Somalia enough. That is not a good reason to not help the people now. It is very important that people and governments help the Somali people and show them that people care.

If you look at pictures and videos of the Somalian people today, you will feel very sad. When I look at the pictures I can see mainly children who are thin and look sick. The children are just lying there. They are not having a fun time and playing around like most children should. The reason for this is because You will feel that people will have to do something in order to help these people. I know that I want to help the people. The important thing is that we should try to help people even if we feel that we have done enough. Helping the people who are in crisis in Somalia is a cause worth fighting for.

Additional Sources:

Wikipedia Article on Famine

Dictionary.com-Encyclopedia2 Article on Somalia.

Equality for everyone

In 1776 in The Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." If I could create a new world better than the one we live in today, there are many qualities that I would hope to have. This new world would be free, peaceful and sustainable, but the most important characteristic that I would hope for would be equality.

Equality means equal treatment for everyone in a way that people will feel that their treatment is fair. This is important because people want to be treated fairly. If people aren't treated equally and fairly, then they will feel sad and will not be happy. They will feel angry and frustrated with the people in power who make the rules and laws. People who are treated equally in my new world will feel that the rules of this new society are just and fair. People who are treated equally should be treated the same way as everyone els no matter if they have different religion, they are a different color, you are rich or poor you should still be treated the same.

Equality also means having equal rights for everyone. This is also very important because everyone wants to have the same rights as others do. If people don't have the same rights as others, then they will feel angry toward the people with the rights that they don't have. This will create differences among groups in the new world that will lead to conflict. If someone is different most people would treat them differently because of their race or religion. People should be allowed to do the same thing as others no matter who they are, what they do or what they believe in.

Equality also means having equal opportunity for everyone. This is important so that everyone gets to have the same opportunity as everyone else no matter who you are or where you come from. Without equal opportunity, people will feel excluded. If people feel excluded, they will be frustrated and unhappy with their situation. This, too, can cause conflict. People should have the opportunity to do the same things as other's even if they are different even if they want to try something new such as a new career or a new job.

My new world would have many qualities, but equality is the most important because equal rights, equal treatment and equal opportunity can help prevent conflict between people. When Thomas Jefferson wrote, “All men are created equal”, he did not mean that everyone is the same. He meant that all men should have equal rights and opportunities, and they should be treated equally no matter who they are. In my new world equality will help prevent conflict.

Frimtatious

During our Field trip to Frim with our grade (7 th grade) we had many activities some of which involved our Humanities activity. The activity was based on the hunger games. In the story called The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins). In this activity we were different people from a certain District competing for life and death.

One of the challenges involved each group to choose five specific items. The items were: twine, mirror, first aid kit, compass and a whistle. There were a few groups who finished before us and they had some of the things that we wanted. We were very frustrated because we did not get what we wanted.

Another challenge for us to complete was a skit/song. We had trouble planning our dance because we were the second group. We didn't feel very happy because they did not tells us before hand so that we could not prepare. The cornucopia enjoyes our dance and gave us Titanium Tree climber and some water.

We placed our camp at a very good spot. The reason was because we could see every single group, we could see the carrier tributes and we were quite away from danger. I wish that our group got an invisibility cloak the reason was because it had many advantages. Such as spying, stealing and many other things. Some of our strengths were our dance and being able to plan and working together.

I really enjoyed the field trip because I got another chance to hang out in nature. I learned that I was very good at hiking. This field trip involved the (SLR) Live Ethically.