My College Essay

From Black to Light by Ogechi Nwaogu

Black is what I see. When I look around it's all there is. Then they come. They fill the spaces. They are everywhere around me. Hitting me. Passing me. Existing within me. They entice me. They fascinate me.

This is what I live for. The opportunity to do more. I dream of ways to save a nation with these thoughts. The blackness is constantly being filled with ideas. I wish to share, but these thoughts are too strong to express.

Where do I go from here? I can't just save the world in a day. Even Moses didn't walk the world in one day. He saw that he had to see it all. I want to see this world, all of it, with my own eyes. I want this world to see me, to hear me and what I have to say because there is so much.

I want to be somebody beyond who I am today. I want to contribute to the saving of our nation, not to stop global warming, or the ongoing war, neither to ask for the clichéd term of "world peace", but to bring it with no ulterior motives in mind.

I won't do it for the money or for the fame. I will do it to save the next generation and give them a proper lesson on what our world should be because that is far from what it is today.

It is said that there is a one out of a million chance that anything is possible and that you or I are not that one, but I say that we are all that one, like on the show "One Tree Hill" when Brooke said that she was that one out of million person that was going to become a world known fashion designer, when her own mother tried to put her down by telling her that she wasn't that one, but she was.

See, I'm a person just like everyone else. I can stay awake up to one o'clock in the morning watching TV. I love to watch the show "Numb3rs" because it is Charlie in the show that has inspired me to do what I once would have called the impossible. He has shown me that the flying objects through the blackness can be incorporated into everyday life.

These people, Brooke (Sophia Bush) and Charlie (David Krumholtz) didn't initially set out to make a difference with the script that was given to them, but they have made one to me. If I can make even this slight attempt to change the world, so can anyone else. That is what I want to set out to inspire. I want to "pay it forward" to the world because the movie "Pay it Forward”, paid it forward to me by giving me hope for what I once thought was a fallen nation.

In what was once black, it is now bright with no longer numbers alone. My mind is no longer black. It is now filled with flying ideas of numbers and words to inspire those who so strongly look for a sign of hope like the one I found or to inspire those who have lost all hope and to give them the assurance that I will be there to restore their faith in all things, but first hope.

As an aspiring mathematician/accountant I wish to not only calculate numbers to increase the rate of money coming in for the company I work for. I wish to broaden my ideas and the ideas of others to think of math in the outside world and to make it an escape to sanctuary for someone else as it has for me.

Man Up

Man Up

His face is augmented by the shadows that surround him

His haphazard is like a cool breeze on the skin

He walks as if emoting for all to see

But is recluse

He vindicates his role as a virtuoso

He smiles but is in oblivion to those who are engraved by him

He doesn't dilatory

He is spontaneous

But not too haphazard

When looking into his eyes you feel like you’re in an asylum

You are cajoled by how he infiltrates your thoughts

He doesn't dictate or give adulations

He doesn't say the reciprocal of what he feels

Nor does he repudiate what is thrown at him

He is not arid when he extenuates his thoughts

His statements aren't hackneyed or skeptical

He mitigates the truth to make a replica to the harsh facts of life

He speaks of disparity with deplore

His thoughts and ideas are perpetual towards volatile

All he entreats is jubilation

For fidelity to venerate

Those who wish to change the perquisite ways of the world

Man up

Classwork on 5/6/08

Do Now

Based on the research you have done on the college essay, list three things that you have noticed about the requirements for writing a college essay.

1)attention grabber(introduction)

2)1 page, single-spaced

3)originality

4)good conventions(grammar)

5)must address the topic

Classwork on 5/2/08

Do Now

-What makes a good personal narrative for a college essay?

Something that you have experienced that makes you original from others with similar backgrounds. An experience that only you can experience because of its connection to you.

-weakness
-strength
-achievements
-lessons learned from experiences/failures
-life changing experience

-What does it mean to be a dynamic person(character)?

Character who goes through changes.

-Is this essay rich in imagery? Identify them.

Yes. "I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed."

-Do you notice any alliteration?

Yes. "Woo Women"

-Is the vocabulary extensive,eloquent(well expressed)?

Yes.

-What makes it memorable, fluent & persuasive?

He's basically saying that he has done all this and now he's ready to do more in their school if they persuade him.

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Write an experience that has changed you and then express how you feel about it.

Result of Failing City-Wide Test on purpose - angry, sad, upset, deprived, stupid, depressed, nervous

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (Ad-libbed Speech and Biography)

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Speech on Vietnam War

First we provide an inferior education for black students. Next we give them a series of tests which many will flunk because of an inferior education. Then we pack these academic failures off to Vietnam to be killed.

What is the thing that we loosely call freedom? This word is sanctioned with lies in the time of this war. Why restrain what we have taken the time to build so heavenly. An education is given to explore the mind but is wasted on this senseless war. Who are you? Who are we? Who I am to stop the birth of a mind that can grow beyond measure, which can one day lead us to liberty?

The tests were designed to select out the culturally gifted for continued college education and consign the intellectually deprived to the armed services. Implicit in the draft deferment tests is the theory of a race of Aryan supermen and the belief that rare great minds alone are fit to direct the destinies of a nation and to dispose of the lives of its untutored masses. Instead of a social democracy where equality is encouraged to flourish these draft deferment tests lay the foundation for a racial aristocracy. These tests are reminiscent of Hitler's twin system of eugenics and education -- weed out the intellectually deprived or socially undesirables by conscripting them for cannon fodder."

Bibliography:

http://www.aavw.org/protest/politics_powell_abstract05.html

Classwork on 4/30/08

Do Now

What do you think is the objective(s) for college essays?

I think college essays exist to give the college you are applying to, something to single you out from the rest. They want to know what makes you so special and so unique that you should be accepted to their school out of the many applicants.

Classwork on 4/10/08

Do Now

Why write a resume?

I think that a resume is written to show your quality skills and is required to see if those skills fit the criteria for the job appointed.

Things To Have On A Resume- Objective(plans,goals), Skills(Language), Reference(available upon request), Work Experience(where,when,title,description), Awards/Achievements, Abilities, Extra Curricular Activities, Education(HS degree/GPA), Volunteer Experience, Name & Contact info

Classwork on 4/1/08

Anti-(Vietnam)War Speech (Martin Luther King)

-He speaks about how he is against the war and points out the Vietnam War as one of the wars he is against.

-It is found wrong to have an opinion against your country especially during a time of war.

-Many find the will to tell the truth about what they think of their country, an inner battle.

-"Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war."

-We (Americans) are in desperate need of guidance that will lead them to a righteous path.

-"Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movement well and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us."

Classwork on 3/31/08

Do Now

Can you recall a quote, speech parable or lesson that inspired you, changed your perspective on life, or made you stop and think? Identify it and explain reasons why.

A quote that I know that inspired me was requoted by Danielle from America's Next Top Model because it basically meant that the only one who can bring you down is yourself and it's only how you look at yourself that could inspire you to become something bigger than what is expected of you.

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"I am profoundly sorry" speech -Bill Clinton
Why is this a persuasive speech?

Clinton tries to redeem himself to the American people and he tries to regain our trust by persuading us to put ourselves in his place and relate. He uses Ben Franklin and his statement when he once said "our critics are our friends, for they do show us our faults." He apologizes to the American people for his conduct and asks for a second chance to redeem himself.

Today's Classwork

Do Now: Can you recall a quote, speech, parable or lesson that inspired you, changed your perspective on life, or made you stop and think? Identity it and explain reasons why.

A quote that I know that inspired me was re-quoted by Danielle from Cycle 6 of America's Next Top Model. Even though I can't remember the quote word for word, one thing that I can remember is that the quote symbolized the will to rise after have taken a hard fall. It inspired me to look past my faults and make them my best accomplishments.

"Good afternoon.

As anyone close to me knows, for months I have been grappling with how best to reconcile myself to the American people, to acknowledge my own wrongdoing and still to maintain my focus of the work of the presidency.

Others are presenting my defense on the facts, the law and the Constitution. Nothing I can say now can add to that.

What I want the American people to know, what I want the Congress to know is that I am profoundly sorry for all I have done wrong in words and deeds.

I never should have misled the country, the Congress, my friends or my family. Quite simply, I gave in to my shame. I have been condemned by my accusers with harsh words.

And while it's hard to hear yourself called deceitful and manipulative, I remember Ben Franklin's admonition that our critics are our friends, for they do show us our faults.

Mere words cannot fully express the profound remorse I feel for what our country is going through and for what members of both parties in Congress are now forced to deal with. These past months have been a torturous process of coming to terms with what I did. I understand that accountability demands consequences, and I'm prepared to accept them.

Painful as the condemnation of the Congress would be, it would pale in comparison to the consequences of the pain I have caused my family. There is no greater agony.

Like anyone who honestly faces the shame of wrongful conduct, I would give anything to go back and undo what I did.

But one of the painful truths I have to live with is the reality that that is simply not possible. An old and dear friend of mine recently sent me the wisdom of a poet who wrote, "The moving finger writes and having writ, moves on. Nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line. Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.''

So nothing, not piety, nor tears, nor wit, nor torment can alter what I have done. I must make my peace with that.

I must also be at peace with the fact that the public consequences of my actions are in the hands of the American people and their representatives in the Congress.

Should they determine that my errors of word and deed require their rebuke and censure, I am ready to accept that.

Meanwhile, I will continue to do all I can to reclaim the trust of the American people and to serve them well.

We must all return to the work, the vital work, of strengthening our nation for the new century. Our country has wonderful opportunities and daunting challenges ahead. I intend to seize those opportunities and meet those challenges with all the energy and ability and strength God has given me.

That is simply all I can do -- the work of the American people.

Thank you very much."

President Bill Clinton - December 11, 1998

President Clinton addresses the subject of his unlawful conduct with the woman he had the affair with and is asking for the American people and those who once believed in him and are now hesitant to do so, to forgive him and give him a second chance because everyone makes mistakes. I think that Clinton tries to persuade his viewers to forgive him for his wrongful doings because it is only humane to make them(mistakes) when he says, "I remember Ben Franklin's admonition that our critics are our friends, for they do show us our faults.". I think that he is right in asking for a second chance to redeem himself and clear his name because I believe that everyone deserves that second chance that can give them the opportunity to make them someone better and higher than the expectations set for them.

Song That Represents Slavery

This song is annotated and represented by pictures that symbolize the meaning of the lyrics.

Classwork on 3/27/08

Do Now

-What do you think is the meaning of the word activist, and give an example of an activist through the works we analyzed and discussed. Use the texts to support your answer.

I think that an activist is someone who protests against what they don't believe in our speak out for what they think is right. An activist from one of the works that we analyzed is Pat Mora in Legal Alien because she is protesting that she is a person of more than one culture, but that doesn't stand for who she is.

-Who would you say is an activist in todays' society or historically and why?

John Lennon because he was against the war.

Chief Joseph's Speech

“The Earth is the mother of all people and all people should have equal rights upon it." (Chief Joseph).
Chief Joseph states this to interpret his thoughts on why he thinks no one has the right to rule, neither him nor the whites. He says them as equals because they were both placed on the Earth and did not create it and were not born from it. He sees them as equals of human beings. He basically states that if the Indians are tried for a crime so should the whites for the same crime.

How is the art of rhetoric evident in Chief Joseph’s speech?
The art of rhetoric is event in Chief joseph's speech by how creatively he phrases his words and the imphases he puts on each word to make his story inspirational and to inspire those who read the tale of his journey will feel his struggles as if it were there own. An example of this is when he says ""

Who is he addressing in this speech?
Chief Joseph is addressing those who relate and will be inspired by the struggle of him and his people.

Who is he indicting and why?
Chief Joseph is indicting the white government because they are staeling the land that has freely been given to them and it is there mother homa.

Identify any heroic characteristics?
Chief Joseph and his father embellish bravery in the way they stand up to the white government say no to fighting and yes to peace and communication.

Why is this speech Protest Literature?
It shows Chief Joseph's resentment towards the white government and how him and his people were treated.

Research about Chief Joseph

-Born on March 3, 1840.
-Born in the Wallowa Valley in northeastern Oregon in 1840.
-Named "Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain".
-Called "Young" Joseph when his father was alive.
-Active supporter of tribal peaces with the whites.
-Chief of the Wallowa band of Nez Perce.
-Led 800 Nez Perce toward freedom at the Canadian border with other Nez Perce chiefs.
- Went to Washington D.C. to plead for his people to return to the Pacific Northeast to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1879. Was granted in 1885.
-Died September 21,1904.

Classwork on 3/12/08

Do Now

-How can you connect man and nature from your researched folklores?

My folklore can relate to man and nature because it shows how Native Americans in Alaska symbolize the creation of the owl with this folklore.

-What is imperialism?

When a stronger power overpowers and takes control of a lesser being.

-In the documentary, small pox showed imperialism over the Native Americans.

Classwork on 3/11/08

Classwork on 3/10/08

Do Now

Compare your folktale to the documentary we saw last week on Native Americans. How is your folktale representative of Native Americans? Does it represent a specific Native American tribe? What is mythological about your folktale? What literary terms did you identify in your folktale?

My folktale represents how Native Americans can make one object or thing can symbolize an event in their history. My folktale represents Native Americans in Alaska. The girl turning in an owl at the end makes my folktale mythological. In my folktale there is foreshadowing, symbolism, setting, theme, and imagery.

Classwork on 3/7/08

Do Now

-What is creation mythology?

A myth created to serve a certain purpose that will symbolize a significant meaning.

Homework on 3/6/08

-What is an oral tradition in your family in amongst your friends?

When I complain about school, my father will remind me how he walked three miles to school everyday, going and coming back and how I should be grateful that I have public transportation to rely and to take advantage of that because it's one less stress.

-What is a myth?

A myth is a traditional story accepted as history.

-Do you know any?

If you see a rabbit in broad daylight, something bad is going to happen.

-What is a Folklore?

The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people,transmitted orally.

-Can you recall a folklore?

When a child disrespects their parents then the same will happen with their own children.

Classwork on 3/5/08

Think critically->What kind of revolution do you think the speaker is calling for? Explain. Analyze the poem as an effort to persuade. Who do you believe is the intended audience, and what do you think the poet wants the audience to do, think, and feel?

I think that the speaker is calling for a Revolution that will bring all people together to stand as one with no label to their nationality and only call them the name that they were both with. He is fighting for equality. When he says "Whatever I call myself, I look the same, I feel the same, I cry and sing the same. I am the masses of my people and I refuse to be absorbed. " I think that the intended audience are people who are constantly labeled and immigrants who migrate to a new location. He wrote this to them to give them something to be inspired by and to step out of their shell to be who they were born to be without the restriction of the labels posted on them. He wrote this to gather followers who will form a Revolution to stop this segregation he talks about.

Epic Characteristics	Evidence from Poem
Hero with high ideals	"My fathers have lost the economic battle and won the struggle of cultural survival."
Courageous deeds	"I must fight and win this struggle for my sons, and they must know from me who I am."
Large-scale setting	"in the barrios of the city, in the suburbs of bigotry, in the mines of social snobbery, in the prisons of dejection, in the muck of exploitation and in the fierce heat of racial hatred"
Universal idea	"I am Joaquin." "I am still here."

Classwork on 3/4/08

Do Now-> What kind of revolution would you like to fight for and why?

I would like to fight for the rights of the people. We as the people have our individual to a certain point until it's time for the government to take over. An example is with voting rights. We may vote but our vote doesn't really matter in the end because in the end it is the government with the electoral college and delegates that really matter and pour thoughts and opinions not required in the final decision.

Comprehension check->According to the speaker, what struggle have his fathers won and what struggle have they lost? What does the speaker wish for his children?

They have won the struggle to stand up and fight for who they are and their equality. H wishes for his children to not fade into the background. He wishes for them to be somebody beyond the limitations set for them.

Vocabulary from "I am Joaquin"

Gringo-> a foreigner in Latin America

Paradox-> a seemingly contradictory statement that may be true

Neurosis-> a mental disorder marked by anxiety or fear

Sterilization-> the procedure of making some object free of live bacteria

Anguish-> agonizing physical or mental pain; torment

Shroud-> a cloth or sheet in which a corpse is wrapped for burial

Mediocrity-> ordinariness as a consequence of being average and not outstanding

Clamouring-> loud and persistent outcry from many people

Barren-> not producing results that will profit with gain

Endure-> to bear without resistance or with patience; tolerate

My Version Of "Ending Poem"

Ending Poem
by Ogechi Nwaogu and Nicholas Nwaogu

I am what I am.
A child of the Africans.
A fair-skinned Igbo of Aba.
A child of many cultures, born into this state as a family.
I am Nigerian.

I am a Queens New Yorker.
A free-born, community-bred, homegrown Oberete child,
up from my mother, a New York Nigerian Christian.
A product of Abia State.

I am not an immigrant,
but the daughter and granddaughter of many immigrants.
We didn’t know our ancestors names with a certainty.
They aren’t written anywhere.
First names only or enyi, nwa, ada.

I came from the fertile land where food grows.
My people partied when the work was done and enjoyed themselves to the fullest.
I am Nigerian indigene.
Igbo is in my flesh, ripples from my tongue, wiggles in my hips,
the language of papayas and pears.
Igbo. As Igbos come from Eastern Nigeria.
I am West African, rooted in the history of my continent.
I speak from that body. Just black and brown and full of drums inside.

I am African.
Africa waters the roots of my tree and I can return.

I am not American.
I am a root which has sprouted from what my ancestors have grown for me,
and my roots reach into the soil of two continents.
American is in me, but there is a way back.

I am not Australian, though I have dreamt of those cities.
Each voice is different.
Some soft, some slow, some loud and some low.
Australia lives in me but I have no home there.

Your table has a cloth made from my people.

Woven by one, dyed by another, and embroidered by another still.
I am a child of many mothers.
They have kept this culture we celebrate all going.

All the civilizations have been erected upon their backs.
All the joy that has come from their labor.

We are you.
We have lives that keep us going,
that have brought us to where we are.
Born at a crossroads.
Come and endure in the wealth of my peoples generosity. Eat, dear, eat.
History is said to have made us,
But will not eat ourselves up inside any longer.

Because we are whole.

And I am one.

Vocabulary from "Ending Poem"

Mestiza-> a woman of mixed racial ancestry, especially of mixed European and Native American ancestry

Diaspora-> the dispersion of Jews outside of Israel from the sixth century BC, when they were exiled to Babylonia, until the present time

Jibaro-> a rural inhabitant of Puerto Rico

Shtetl-> a small Jewish town or village formerly found throughout Eastern Europe

Forbears-> ancestors

Caribeña-> a person from the Caribbean region

Bóricua-> people of Puerto Rican descent

Notes on the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement

The Mexican American Civil Rights Movement-> 1960s. Problem with restoration of land grants, farm workers rights, enhanced education, voting and political rights. Tejanos (Mexican or Spanish Texans) organized protection for themselves from official land private of discrimination. The movement was strongest in Texas.

"La Raza"-> "The People". Hispanics and Chicanos from the Aztec heritage. Originated from the book La Raza Cósmica written by a Mexican writer Jóse Vasconcelos. People of Mexiacan descent. Camraderie among different oragnizations.

The Young Lords-> Political organization in Chicago. A well-known Chicago street gang. Committed to human rights and the liberation of Puerto Rico. Brought attention to the economic, social, and political conditions in Latino communities. Lost existance do to goernment interference in 1976.

Cesar Chavez-> Mexican American labor activist. Leader of the United Farm Workers. Leading voice of migrant farm workers. Spoke of laborers bad working condition which led to the improvement of such matters.

Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales-> Leader of Denver War on Poverty Inc. Organized the Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in Denver, Colorado in March of 1969. Established the La Raza Unida Party of Denver in 1970. Said to have defined Chicano activism, politics, and culture.

La Raza Unid Party-> Called"Party of the United Race" by the Texans and "United People's Party" by the Mexicans. Established on January 17,1970 in Crystal City, Texas by Jóse Angel Gutiérrez and Mario Compean. U.S. third political party.

Reies Lopez Tijerina-> "Tiger King"-> 1960s. Leader of struggle to restore New Mexican land grants to Spanish and Mexican descendants. An image fro the Chicano Movement. Raided Tiera Amarilla courthouse in 1967.

What is rhetoric and how important is it in protest?

Do Now -> Select one of the literary works discussed and analyzed in class and give reasons why this work can be considered the best work that represents protest literature.

Olaudah Equiano can be considered to represent protest literature because the imagery of the tortures that were endured by slaves is expressed effectively. In writing this slave autobiography, Equiano has survived it all to share his story. His willpower and braveness to survive shows why his story is worth listening to.

Letter to Tom O'Brein

Ogechi Nwaogu
116-23 Brookville Delly
Jamaica, Queens
N.Y., 11243

February 13, 2008

Dear O’Brien,

While reading your short story “Ambush” I was extremely impressed by it because it showed how even the strongest individual on the surface can have a daily ecstasy of regret and sorrow.

I liked the way you took what you did and realized it was wrong. That is what makes you a hero in the war in my eyes because others would’ve taken that situation as an initiation to go on a killing spree. You, on the other hand, took that as a sign to start a new life that wouldn’t bring you to feel the pain you felt watching that boy die.

By reading your literature you can already tell how repelled you feel about what you had to do, especially when you said “All I could do was gape at the fact of the young man’s body.” because you couldn’t believe that you were capable of such a thing. You didn’t know that if you hadn’t taken his life, he would’ve taken yours or you would have been seen as a traitor and punished for your hesitation in not acting on command.

You can’t blame yourself for what you were trained to do. You didn’t know if he had a concealed weapon or had an intension of causing painful harm to others. Even at the age of twenty you were too young to make such a decision in the situation that you were put into.

You now have something to tell your daughter when she is old enough. You can tell her that “Daddy made a mistake and has lived with it for more than two decades, but now he wants to be better for you, so you never have to suffer or endure such an unbearable pain.

I can only imagine what it will be like when that day comes that you will have to tell your daughter the truth. Who knows? Maybe, you will fully be released from regret when you tell her what you did and can move on to a better life than what you have had for all those years of regret.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my letter. It is such an honor to know a survivor and hero of a nation which I like to consider myself apart of. You story is an example of true life and heartache and I am glad you decided to share it with me because it gives me the strength to believe that I can be stronger than what I am.

Sincerely,
Ogechi Nwaogu

How can we compare protest literature?

Thematic Focus Journal entry-> What specific images, lines or scene from each work makes these two works anti-war stories.

In "Autumn", the fact that the man regretted knowingly killing an innocent man and lives with it everyday shows a protest against the war. He is too ashamed and worried to tell his daughter what he lives with everyday.

In "Dulce et Decorum Est", you can tell by the way that the author describes and reenacts his memories, that he sincerely regretted a war that he saw had no meaning and took innocent lives.

-----------------------2 Scans(Venn Diagram, Do Now Vocabulary Handout)

How can we use a Graphic Organizer to better identify and compare Equiano’s similarities and differences to Harper’s and Whitfield’s poems?

Do Now-> Compare One of the poems to Equiano’s narrative.

I was reminded of the part when the men jumped from the ship to sacrifice their lives to spare the torture they were enduring when the poet says "My rest shall be calm in any grave".

I noticed how the poet's phrasing simulated Equiano when he said "I would sleep, dear friends, where bloated might can rob no man of his dearest right." They simulate in the way they showed a dedication to their rights.


--------------------3 Scans(Venn Diagram, Ambush, Dulce et Decorum Est)

Olaudah Equiano

Comprehension Check Questions:
For what crimes were slaves punished? And what was the punishment?
Slaves were punished for stealing fish. Their punishment was to be flogged(whipped).

Critical Thinking Questions:
Interpret: Why does Equiano blame the illness aboard the ship on the “improvident avarice” of the traders?
Equiano blames the traders because they overlooked the capacity of people who could stay in such a little space. Their greed pushed them to think that the more people their were on board, the more money that came their way.

Support from the text: How can you tell that Equiano has a great zest for life despite his assertion that he wanted to die?
His willingness to speak out for what he thought was right and waiting for that day of freedom to shine upon him and his fellow people(slaves).

Infer: What does this passage reveal about the author?
Through the way he speaks, you can tell that he is educated and shows pride in what he has accomplshed for himself. He is astonished by everything he saw because he is in a new surroundung. He has a strong sense of character because he went through a lot due to his protest against slavery.

Draw conclusion: Explain what a variety of languages indicates about the slave trade.
Slavery was diverse. It was integrated among different countries.

Thematic Focus: When one culture dominates another, what troubles might society face?
There are clashes in communication through language, culture, religious beliefs and much more that humans find the need to argue and disagree on.

Identify:
-Genre: a style of expressing yourself in writing
Example- Slave literature is an autobiography that expresses the struggles that slaves went through and what they had to endure.

-Symbolism: the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character
Example-"countrymen who were chained together ... somehow made through the nettings and jumped into the sea" They gave up hope of being free

-Imagery: the ability to form mental images of things or events
Example-"so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself"

-Plot: the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story
Example- protest against slavery

-Sequence of events: the order in which things happen
Example-Got on board, went under deck, crowded together, sickness,death, chaos

-Characters: A distinguishing feature or attribute, as of an individual, group, or category
Example-"Every circumstance I met with served only to render my state more painful, and heighten my apprehensions, and my opinion of the cruelty of the whites."
He grew stronger through his determination to show what he could rise above.

-Setting: the surroundings or environment of anything
Example-"we were all put under deck"

-Conflicts (internal/external): opposition between characters or forces in a work of drama or fiction, especially opposition that motivates or shapes the action of the plot
Example-"stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so in tolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air", "that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers"
they were suffocated daily by harsh odors.

-Point of View: a mental position from which things are viewed
Example-"But this disappointment was the least of my sorrow." Equiano

Vocabulary:

Loathsome (adj.)- arousing intense dislike and disgust

Pestilential (adj)- likely to cause disease

Copious: (adj)- plentiful; abundant

Improvident (adj)- shortsighted; failing to provide for the future

Avarice (n)- greed for riches

Apprehensions (n)- feeling of anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen; taking of a criminal into custody, the power or ability to grasp the importance, significance or meaning of something

Procured (v)- to obtain something, especially by effort, to provide somebody for prostitution

Dejected (adj)- feeling or showing sadness and lack of hope, especially because of disappointment

Accursed (adj)- enduring the effects of a curse; horrible or hateful

Quadrant (n)- a 90 degree arc representing one fourth of the circumference of a circle. The area bounded by a quadrant and the two perpendicular lines that connect it to the center of the circle.

Kindred (adj)- close to somebody or something else because of similar qualities or interests. Related to somebody by blood. (n) closeness to somebody not related to you by blood based, e.g. on similarity of character or interest. Relationship by blood, or less strictly by marriage

KWL Chart

Do Now-> insert three columns in your journal (KWL Chart).

-----------------3 Scans(KWL graphic oragnizer, Bury Me In Free Land, America)

What is a slave narrative?

Do Now->Explain in one paragraph what you've been taught about slavery in Social Studies.

I have learned that slavery is when people are imprisoned with full disregard to their rights, whether shackled or roaming. Slavery is apart of history because it has surrounded all nations and all people, whether black or white. Anyone could be enslaved. In our present time today, slavery is still ongoing even if it is not labeled so.

Slave Literature = Autobiography for slaves

Who am I?

"I am nobody who are you?"

-Emily Dickinson

I am Ogechi Nwaogu. I am sixteen years old. I am a junior. I love to sing and dance. I strive and look for the best for myself and try to encourage my friends to do the same. I am of Nigerian descent from both of my parents but I was born here in the U.S. I love math. I am sociable when I see deemed necessary. I am the youngest of three. I have an older brother and sister. I have a lot of friends and acquaintances. I have five best friends. I love to have fun, whether acting cooky by myself or hanging out with family or friends. I love life. I like to make the best of the time that I have with no regrets.

Interpreting a quote said by D.H. Lawrence

"I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough' without even having felt sorry for itself."

-D.H. Lawrence

This quote said by D.H. Lawrence interprets self-pity unprejudiced. It can be in someone who is perceived as a "wild thing" or a wild child that seem like that they have nothing to lose or it can be in something as frail and fragile as a small bird who has lost all hope in life. D.H. Lawrence basically states that self-pity can't be judged by what is plainly shown on the surface.

How can we integrate technology is this English course?

Do Now->Write a paragraph on how you think technology should be integrated in an English class. What things would you like to do using technology?

I would like to use technology to interpret our English class by using it to create podcasts. We can make a podcast that can show what we see when we think of English. We can show our interest in how we come to like or dislike English. Either way you do it it's still English because your writing your thoughts.

How prepared are you for college?

I plan to take the SAT in May. I plan to take the SAT 2 in Math. I plan to score for a perfect 4.0 on my GPA. I plan to go to a college that has a very spacious suite dorm. I plan to apply for more scholarships. I plan to finish all my regents and graduate with the class of 2009, with an advanced regents diploma. I plan to apply for grants and Financial Aid. I plan to organize all my past essays that have received high grades and the scholarship programs that I have done. I really haven't thought about what college I will go to. I plan to go to college fairs.

I feel that I am prepared for college because I know the plans I wish to make.