Our work with American history is coming to an end for now. A great way to wrap it all up is to see the film "The Butler"!
This film looks at the life of a White House butler who served eight presidents from 1952 to 1986 and had a unique front-row seat during a tumultuous period of American history. The film is loosely built on a true story, and filled with prominent actors such as Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker, Robin Williams, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr.and many more.
Come and see it - you will not regret it :) Meet up at U11 on Thursday at 2 p.m.!
One of the things you will be asked to discuss during the writing session on Monday is Martin Luther King Jr.'s world-known speech "I have a dream". Read the excerpt below, make sure you understand it and that you know what the "March on Washington" was. This text will also be handed out in class today. You should also see the video clip above - Martin Luther King Jr. was known for his great speeches and the way he delivered them. If the video does not work - click here!
"I have a dream"
Speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. at the "March on Washington", 1963 (abridged)
"[…]
I say to you today, my friends, though, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream . . . I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today . . .
[…]
This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning. "My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountain side, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountain side. Let freedom ring.
When we allow freedom to ring—when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, Free at last, Great God a-mighty, We are free at last."
Read through the timeline you made in the beginning of the semester. Look at the blog, notes from class and homework, and the compendium "American History".
Read the excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I have a dream". See blog post above.
Read the tasks thoroughly! Make sure that you understand the tasks and that you know what the task is asking you to do.
Show your knowledge, but make sure that you stick to the topic.
Show that you have expanded your vocabulary by using words such as civil rights, independence, abolition, declaration, constitution, segregation, freedom fighter, equality, emancipation correctly.
Read through your text thoroughly before you hand it in. Check for errors, typos, and verb conjugations. Your message must be clear – rewrite sentences if you are unsure. Make sure you don’t do the same mistakes as you have done earlier.
Remember:
That you can bring all the aids you need - but you cannot use the Internet.
That you only have two school hours to complete the task - so come prepared.
