Democracy -Langston Hughes

Democracy

by Langston Hughes

read by Sofia
Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.
I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.
I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.
Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.

I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you.

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Haiti Podcast

14, February 2010

Like today we used to seat all together and eat the chocolate cake my mama made for my papa. The only day of the year my mama buy chocolate, it was expensive. And now, now we have nothing, not even money for cheap food. We are homeless. My mama is crying all the time and I have no strength and no words to cheer her up. I am the oldest, I do understand that we have no food, we are badly injured and we have no clean water. My family has 7 members, my mama and papa, my 4 younger brothers and I. Even if we had a little food, it couldn’t feed all of us. Added to the no food-and no water-situation, we have no home. The house we lived in before wasn’t big; it was a tiny garage with 2 beds that the Red Cross has given us. But now, now we are H-E-L-P-L-E-S-S. By all the mean of the word we are. I understand some English because the Red Cross gave us free lessons, so I could understand what the Doctors and the people that helped us clean our wounds said. They said they have already run out of supplies. Also they said that our situation will get even worse. I don’t understand how worse it could get. We have no home to live, and its raining all the time. We have no food to eat, so we can’t keep healthy and strong. My dear dear papa that I love so much is the most injured of all and the doctors said we have to be prepared because he will get worse-that I didn’t tell my mama. Also we have no water. The most valuable thing in the world and we don’t have it. Before I saw on a photo some people that were in a large box that looked like a room, it was full of crystal-clear water. I never saw that much water before in my life.

I know the truth, we have no chance to be saved. And I feel calm, I know I wont survive for long, even though my mama fights to give us some food, she even steals to take some food, but I know we will all die in the days to come. I am one of the only people here that is calm, not frustrated, and not angry. There is no one to blame so it was our destiny to end up like this.

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Taste of Salt-Antisipation Guide

1. Politics and political problems are a problem for adults to deal with.

1. I agree and disagree about this because it depends to what we mean by adults. If we are talking about people older than 18 then its different. Sometimes people from 20-30 years old and even a little bit older, have great, new, fresh ideas about the politics, which is if they are studying and having a good idea of what’s going on in politics. That will make our government refresh and we will have better ideas and ways of solving some problems. Where on the other hand if we mean adults above 50, who don’t take be wrong but they have the same standards and beliefs like their great grandpa had. So this way if we are stuck on the past and the past way of dealing with politics, then the world, and the government will not go forward. But of course older people have more experience than young adults. That’s why I believe that people who are involved in politics should not only be young people nor old people. So therefore we have the experience and the knowledge from the elders and the fresh and new ideas from the young adults. On the other hand if you are talking about young kids under 18 years old then I strongly agree they shouldn’t be involved. They may follow if they are interested in what is going on but they shouldn’t be practically involved.

2. All scenarios have a happy ending if those involved work towards it.
2. Because this statement is so general I disagree and agree again. It always depends on the people but also in the environment the scenario takes place. For example, lets say we have this couple that they really work to keep their relationship healthy and enjoyable by both of them, but the woman had grown up in a palace and she is extremely rich, where her dear husband is from a poor and big family. They can’t continue being in this relationship because the woman’s parents don’t approve this husband for their daughter. So there is no happy end since it didn’t depend on how hard this people worked but on where they lived and this scenario took place. But if we have to people that are deeply in love and they work very hard to keep a good relationship between them and the environment around them is positive. Then we defiantly have a happy end.
3. Literacy (being able to read) is a form of freedom.
3.I totally agree, because if you can’t read and write then it’s like you are isolated from the rest of the world. You can’t read the newspaper, magazines, books, laws, menus and many others. So if an earthquake is about to happen and the meteorologists reported that on the newspaper you wouldn’t be able to read it and you would depend on others to tell you. Also if your country has applied some new rules that you have to be aware of and you should read them from a document. Then for sure you loose your freedom since you will end up in jail! Magazines and books free the mind and help the people get an image of what goes around the. Books also help people by giving them the chance to “live” a life they are interested in and learn new things, and become intelligent and valuable people in life. So it’s a kind of freedom from the present you live in. also if you go away with your friends to a restaurant then you can’t order from the menu. And that makes you codependent to your friends, and I don’t think that’s cool!
4. Civilizations without a written language cannot effectively document history. (No technology)
4. I agree with this statement strongly. Because like poems or songs that we know from our grand elders are changed from generation to generation, either on purpose or by a misunderstanding; like this an important history fact that have changed the world then or even a not so important history fact could be transformed into something completely different and untrue. So let’s say the only way to keep history without it being written down everything would be a mess. The story from mouth to mouth will change and people will maybe forget something and replace it with something else. And then some people will say that this happen and others will say that that happen. So we wouldn’t know who to trust and they wouldn’t know if the story they say its true or the generation before them has changed it in someway. Also a story from a generation without ancestors would be lost and from mouth to mouth those history-stories won’t stay forever in our memory.

The Outsiders Characterization-Glogster

The Outsiders Persuasive- Blog

Hey Chelsea,

I know you have to choose between being a Soc and a greaser. But it’s very easy to choose, you want to be a Soc! Maybe things are rough all over, but they are a lot better when you are a Soc; you get a better chance to have the life you always dreamed of.

Greasers are mean and lifeless people, but We are fun and full of life! The little hoods grow up with no parents no families and they have no clue what love and care means. Our parents though care deeply for us and they love us very much, they give us whatever we ask for! Greasers don’t know how to behave and they don’t have good and polite manners to girls. But our guys, Soc guys, are amazingly polite, loving and they spoil us usually with expensive clothes and jewelry. Those rats talk rude and dirty to girls and they don’t give a damn if they are offending you!

Those poor dogs have no money, well you might say, what do I care if they have no money? But do you want to have friends that steal their cokes, they don’t pay to go to the drive in movies, and like dogs they slip under the fences? No, because you want to be around rich kids, that have Mustangs, organize huge-fun parties that really cute guys attend, and with girls that go shopping 24/7 in the most stylish shops in town. Most of us are cheerleaders and that means that we are popular and everyone wants to be our friend.

The most serious thing is that you have a better chance to make your dream come true. And if, lets say, your dream is to be an actress, then you can go to the best universities in all over the world. When those tramps are drop outs from school, they have no goals in life and they just like to smoke and bit the crap out of each other.

But you don’t want to be around guys who swear like sailors, and girls that are ugly tramps. You don’t want to be friends with guys that make little kids pee in their pants. You don’t want to hang out with people that use the 5-finger discount to feed themselves, and carry guns with them. That have no point, no goal in their life. No, you want to hang out with Us, people that have good manners, are polite, come from good and rich families; that have Mustangs, fancy clothes, and care about life and their future. Because you really want to have a beautiful life, travel and see many things with your friends, later get a job you love, and get married to a guy that respects you. You can have all these, that’s why you must be a Soc!

See you soon,

Sofia