What's in a Word? Amanda Gorman etc.

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 4,5

Our central theme for Period 3

Which word is the most powerful in the English language?

In what ways can you use words?
Examples, please!
E.g. song

Which [famous] people made important speeches?

Dr. Martin Luther King made an important speech.
What was the title of his speech?

1. I have a vision.
2. I know a story.
3. I have an idea.
4. I have a dream.

Dr. King on August 28, 1963

"I have a dream that one day my four little children will 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 today."

De rede wordt als een retorisch meesterwerk beschouwd. King paste allusies toe als citaten uit de Bijbel, de Amerikaanse Onafhankelijkheidsverklaring, de Grondwet van de Verenigde Staten, en de Emancipatieproclamatie en de Gettysburg Address, beide van president Abraham Lincoln. Het gebruik van anaforen en de wijze van voordracht is typerend voor de preekwijze in het methodisme.

Een voorbeeld van een anafoor is het moment waarin King de mensen aanspoort het moment aan te grijpen, met "Now is the time...", en dat vier maal in zes paragrafen te herhalen. De anafoor I have a dream wordt zelfs acht maal herhaald.

What was his speech
about, do you think?
Key words.

The USA now has a new president. What did the former [ex-] president talk about the most?

1. money and the economy
2. #metoo
3. fake news
4. respect for old people

On 20 January 2021,

Inauguration Day

Which words did
President Biden use in
his first speech?

One of the guests spoke about unity.
Please use a photo from your personal library that expresses "unity" to you.

This lady was (one of) the guests.
What was her role at the ceremony?

Let's listen to the poem bit by bit

Get ready to write down some words... 

select those you think you should know.

The Hill We Climb - Amanda Gorman

When day comes we ask ourselves,

where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry, a sea we must wade.

We've braved the belly of the beast,

We've learned that quiet isn't always peace, 

and the norms and notions

of what just is

isn't always just-ice.

Which two things does she
compare here?

1. water and fire
2. clear and unclear
3. day and night
4. truth and lies

And yet the dawn is ours 

before we knew it.

Somehow we do it.

Somehow we've weathered and witnessed

a nation that isn't broken,

but simply unfinished.

We the successors of a country and a time

where a skinny Black girl

descended from slaves and raised by a single mother

can dream of becoming president

only to find herself reciting for one.

What does "descended and raised" mean?

1. before and after
2. come down, come up
3. broken and healed
4. died and born

And yes we are far from polished. 

Far from pristine.

But that doesn't mean we are

striving to form a union that is perfect.

We are striving to forge a union with purpose,

to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us,

but what stands before us.

"cultures, colors, characters and conditions" is an example of ...

1. assimilatie
2. assonantie
3. assassinatie
4. alliteratie

"we are far from polished and pristine"
what does this mean?

1. perfect
2. careful
3. careless
4. imperfect

We close the divide because we know, 

to put our future first,

we must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms 

so we can reach out our arms to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true,

that even as we grieved, we grew,

that even as we hurt, we hoped,

that even as we tired, we tried,

that we'll forever be tied together, victorious.

"We seek harm to none and harmony for all".

Which words go together?

__________     __________

__________     __________

__________     __________

Not because we will never again know defeat,

But because we will never again sow division. 

Scripture tells us to envision

that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree

and no one shall make them afraid.

If we're to live up to our own time,

then victory won't lie in the blade.

But in all the bridges we've made,

that is the promise to glade,

the hill we climb. 

If only we dare.

Which words rhyme?

"then victory won't lie in the blade"
meaning ?

1. we won't win using words
2. we won't win using our eyes
3. we won't win using leaves
4. we won't win using force

It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit, it's the past we step into and how we repair it.

We've seen a force that would shatter our nation

rather than share it.

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed,

it can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith we trust.

For while we have our eyes on the future,

history has its eyes on us.

This is the era of just redemption

we feared at its inception.

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs

of such a terrifying hour

but within it we found the power

to author a new chapter.

To offer hope and laughter to ourselves.

So while once we asked,

how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

Now we assert,

How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was,

but move to what shall be.

A country that is bruised but whole,

benevolent but bold,

fierce and free.

We will not be turned around

or interrupted by intimidation,

because we know our inaction and inertia

will be the inheritance of the next generation.

Our blunders become their burdens.

But one thing is certain,

If we merge mercy with might,

and might with right,

then love becomes our legacy,

and change our children's birthright.

So let us leave behind a country

better than the one we were left with.

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,

we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.

We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west.

We will rise from the windswept northeast,

where our forefathers first realized revolution.

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the 

midwestern states.

We will rise from the sunbaked south.

We will rebuild, reconcile and recover.

And every known nook of our nation and

every corner called our country,

our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,

battered and beautiful.

When day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid,

the new dawn blooms as we free it.

For there is always light,

if only we're brave enough to see it.

If only we're brave enough to be it.

"If only we're brave enough to be it."
Be what?

1. Powerful
2. Strong
3. Light
4. Clever

What did you think of the poem:
"The Hill We Climb"?

Would you like to see more poetry on our programme?

😒🙁😐🙂😃

Do you have tips for us, materials to use in class for lessons such as this one?