SPEAKING TEST

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

SPEAKING AND LITERATURE

How do I start?

For instance: the topic you get is WAR.

Then you may choose the poem and short story.

I'm going to compare the poem Norman Morrison by Adrian Mitchell to the short story The Hero by Sue Ragland.

The thematic link between the poem and short story is that everybody can become or be treated as a hero, however, only few are real heroes.

My claim is that the topic of war is the same in the poem and short story, however, the theme, the message of the poem is different from that of the short story.

Although they both are about heroism, Norman Morrison was a real hero and the young soldier in the short story was only shortly treated as a hero.

Ordinary people like you and me can be real heroes because of how we act, how we stand up against injustice. and that is what Norman Morrison did.

I will now explain this and give arguments.

The poem was written by Adrian Mitchell as a protest against the Vietnam War. He wrote it in the contemporary period. The Vietnam War took place from 1955 until 1975 and many people protested against this war, both in music and literature. The Americans burnt the Vietnamese citizens by throwing millions of bombs, like it is said in the poem: people were being set on fire in the dark corners of Vietnam where nobody could see. 

To protest against this Norman Morrison set himself on fire where everybody  could see him and by doing so he became Vietnamese.

On the other hand, in the The Hero author Sue Ragland tells her memories about her uncle in World War I, which started in 1914 and ended in 1918. She wrote it in 1918, the Modernist Era. He was going to fight in the war but never really had to because when they were in the train the war was over. 

In that time people thought it was an honour and glorious to die for your country.

Although he wasn't a hero, it is said: 'his little sister was ecstatic, now she could brag about her soldier brother going off to war' and ' they were paraded down the street, as returning heroes to be welcomed home"

Therefore, Norman Morrison was a real hero who gave his life to make people aware of the atrocities of the war, while the young soldier just returned to his job.

The topic of war and the themes of the poem and short story are still relevant because people haven't learnt yet from the past. There must still be people who dare to stand up and protest against injustice. Look at our world today with Russia, North Korea, China, Afganistan, countries that still threaten with war.

 For instance: Your partner has the topic of Race.

When I compare the topic of race to the topic of war I see many differences, but also many similarities.

When I think about the struggle people have because of their skin colour, they also have to fight a kind of war. They have to stand up against those who discriminate them and some of them also become heroes. What do you think?

.........

I totally agree with you, war and race have a lot in common. Amanda Gorman expresses this beautifully in her poem 'The Hill We Climb'. She says: By letting hear our voice and putting our differences aside we can make a better world.

Yes, I understand what she means. There is race in war and war in race.

etc  etc  etc.

I'd also like to know if you appreciate the poem and short story I have chosen.

................................

I do really like the ones you chose but from the reader I like the poem 'Grass' by Carl Sandburg the most. It warns us not to forget the past so we won't make the same mistakes again. 'The Bully' by Roger Dean Kiser is my favourite short story because of the fact that he is able to forgive what has been done to him. Only then it is possible to live on.