The Flowers by Alice Walker

 

 

Read The Flowers here

Read about Alice Walker here

Amanda Gorman National Youth Poet Laureate

Amanda Gorman at the Presidential Inauguration

Mister President

Dr. Biden

Madam Vice President

Mister Emhoff

Americans and the world

One day comes we ask ourselves "where can we find light in this neverending shade?"

The loss we carry, a sea we must wade

We 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 is."

And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it

Somehow we do it

Somehow we weathered and witnessed

A nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished.

We the successors of a country in 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.

And yes we are far from polished, far from pristine

But that doesn't mean we aren't 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.

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 our arms to one another

We seek harm to none and harmony for all

Let the glow 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 be forever tied together victorious

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 should make them afraid.

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

Then victory won't lighten the blade but in all the bridges we made,

That is the promise to glade,

The hill we climb.

If only we dare it 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 it 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 laugh or to ourselves,

So while once we ask "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 know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.

Our blenders because their burdens

But one thing is certain.

If we merge mercy with might,

And might with right,

Then love becomes our legacy in change

Our children's birthright.

So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left

With every breath from our bronze-pounded chest

We will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one

We will rise from the gold-limb hills of the west

We will rise from the wind-swept northeast

Where our forefathers first realized revolution

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states

We will rise from the sun-baked 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 balloons as we free it.

For there is always light if only we are brave enough to see it.

If only we are brave enough to be it.

 

The Way Up To Heaven (1D)

Earlier this year we read the short story by Roald Dahl Lamb to Slaughter. This month we are going to read another of his short stories, The Way up to Heaven, first published in The New Yorker in 1954
Read and listen  to the story here.

After you've read the story,  WRITE A REVIEW of about 150 words (You can find some ideas on how to write a review here - you don't have to include all the questions) 

DEADLINE: THURSDAY 26TH

Kamala Harris Speech

 

NY Times videos

Go to the NY Times Film Club and choose a video. Take some time choosing. Remember to scroll down. There are pages and pages of different videos to choose from.

Send me an audio recording explaining:

1. why you chose it
2. what it is about
   
3. what messages, emotions or ideas stood out for you
   
4. what connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience...)

 

 

Please make sure you do not read, just talk about your video!

Lamb To Slaughter ( 1D BachiBac)

This week we are going to read a short story and do some grammar revision.

1. Grammar revision. Download and complete the following  Mixed tenses exercises.  for Monday 28th. 

 

2. Short story Lamb to Slaughter by Roald Dahl. Tuesday 29th

As you all know,  Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, fighter pilot, and screenwriter. 
 He is the author of Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,The Magic Finger, and so many unforgettable stories which we have all read and enjoyed. 
This week  we are going to read one of his short stories.
Click here to read Lamb to Slaughter

3. Presentation of Projects. Thursday 30th

How the World is Preparing for the Second Wave (1C /1D)

VOCABULARY . Click here for a list of Covid related vocabulary.

Part 1: Read the article in The Guardian Global Preparation  and answer the questions.

   What determines the success of a good policy to        control the spread of the virus?      

     How is New Zealand dealing with the situation?   
    
     Name two countries that were well prepared for         the second wave and explain why.
      

     Compare Australia’s and Spain’s approaches. 

 

Explain the following expressions found in the article:

• buying a window
• at the heart of every effective system
• stamp out
• Spain courted summer visitors

Deadline:   

1 C: Wednesday 23rd/Thursday 24th (in class)

1D:  Thursday 24th

Part 2: Choose a country other than Spain. Read about it in different media (in English) and write a brief report  to explain to the group  how the country has dealt with the pandemic and its current situation.

Deadline: 1 C: To be presented to the group on Friday 25th

Boris Johnson's speech to the nation

UNIT 4 PROGRESS TEST B1F

Here is some C1 practice to keep you entertained

UNIT 4 progress test

Unit 4   LISTENING 

ANSWER KEY